box - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

ASUS CUBE Review: Doesn't Fix What Is Broken (That Being Google TV)

Posted by Liam Spradlin in ASUS, CUBE, Other Reviews

Announced at CES this year, the ASUS Cube has managed to get a decent amount of attention for a Google TV Box. Formerly known as the Qube, this angular, textured device came to market toward the end of last month, and I've been living with it ever since, trying to get a feel for the product and decide whether ASUS has something special on their hands.

In reviewing the Cube I wanted to answer two main questions that I think underlie every GTV device: Is the user experience a good one, and does the product successfully make Google TV something I actually want to use on a daily basis?

Apr

ASUS Cube Hits Online Availability For $139.99

Posted by Liam Spradlin in ASUS, News, Qube

ASUS' Cube (formerly known as Qube), is now up for sale. Yes, the plucky Google TV-packing square we saw at CES this year can be yours for around $140, unless, that is, you were hoping to buy from Newegg.

According to ASUS, the Cube should be launching with three online retailers: Newegg, Amazon, and Adorama. Happily, Adorama is showing the device as in stock and ready to go. Amazon briefly showed a 2-4 week wait, but now indicates the Cube is in stock with a possible one to two day delay "to process." Newegg meanwhile says the device is launching on April 25th, but gladly offers customers a pre-order.

Jul

Vizio Co-Star Now Available For Pre-Order For $99, Ships By August 14th

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Vizio

Google I/O has come and gone with nary a mention of Google TV. Disheartening to say the least, but that doesn't mean that the platform is dead. Not while manufacturers keep making products for it. Products like the Vizio Co-Star. For $99, the Co-Star sits in the right sweet spot for Google TV device pricing. Combine the price with a remote that's smaller than a plank of wood, and OnLive gaming built right in, the little box actually looks like a pretty sweet deal. If Google TV is your thing, that is.

Estimated shipping for this device starts on August 14th.

May

[New App] CloudOn Gives You Access To Microsoft Office On Android Tablets, Stores Files In Your Preferred Cloud Storage

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Tablets have, historically, been less-than-ideal for productivity. Part of the problem is that developers are still trying to catch up to the new world of connected devices. One solution, as CloudOn demonstrates, is to bring together the best options from various platforms and merge them into a fluid product. CloudOn lets you use what appears to be remote access to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint from an Android tablet.

The app might be best utilized if you have a connected keyboard and mouse at times, as the UI is still very much the Windows-style. No special, touch-centric designs here. However, since Android supports the use of a keyboard and mouse, having the option is a huge boon.

Mar

[Deal Alert] Transcend 32GB Class 4 MicroSD Card Just $23.99 At Amazon

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Deals

A high capacity microSD card is a good upgrade for any power user, even if at first blush you don't think the space is required. From my own experience, I never thought I needed one for extra space - I always had plenty enough storage as it was, or so I thought. But then I tried rooting a tablet and realized I needed a microSD card to do so, so sure enough, I ordered one. And today, I have no regrets; I keep music on it for local playback (since music streaming can still be spotty at times) and a few movies and photos that can be swapped from device to device seamlessly.

Mar

Titanium Backup Updated To Version 4.8.4 With Box.net Integration - Finally Gives Those 50GB Accounts A Purpose

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Titanium Backup, a widely popular backup solution for root users, got an update today to version 4.8.4, adding a handful of improvements and functions, not the least of which being support for Box.net backup syncing.

If you're wondering why Box.net support is significant, the reason is this: until now, mobile users have had little use for the cloud service's free 50GB account option, which caps the size of uploads at 100MB, and is only compatible with mobile devices (meaning there's no desktop syncing capability). Integration with an app like Titanium Backup should finally put free Box.net storage to effective use.

Jan

[CES 2012] Sony Introduces Google TV Set-Top Box, Blu-Ray Player

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google TV, News, Sony

Seems Sony’s making good on its promise to keep churning out Google TV devices – in fact, the company just introduced not one, but two such gadgets.

As of now, we don’t have tech specs for either of the duo, but what we do know is what you see above: both the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player (on the left) and the NSZ-GS7 set-top box (on the right) look splendid, and both have seriously overcomplicated names. Additionally, from the looks of it, they’ll support 3D TVs, so if you’re ~~rich~~ lucky enough to have one, I suppose that’s good news. Finally, they’ll both feature gesture and voice control, in addition to the usual Google apps and the following keyboard: