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Nov

Why You Should Never Buy A Low-End Android Phone On A Major US Carrier (Read: They’re Junk, And You’re Getting Screwed)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

Android’s massive worldwide popularity has, in large part, the availability of cheap, low-end handsets to thank. We all know this. In developing markets in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, Android powers almost all of the smartphones that are being purchased by growing numbers of prepaid subscribers.

Cheap Android phones are, for that reason alone, a great thing. They’re empowering consumers in developing economies, giving them access to the full web wherever they go - something that has generally been the privilege only of the wealthy and of Western nations in the past decade.

But there’s a dark side to cheap Android phones here in the good ‘ol US of A.

Nov

[Deal Alert] Toshiba Thrive 16GB For $330 From eBay Daily Deals

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, News, Thrive / Regza / Antares / AT100

With quad-core devices on the horizon, the current crop of Honeycomb-powered tablets may seem like old hat -- unless you can score one for a reasonable price, that is. Thus is the case for the Toshiba Thrive, which landed itself a place on eBay's Daily Deals site today. For a modest $330 you can grab the Thrive and its ports-o-plenty, along with 16GB of storage, a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, and Android 3.1.

This is by far the best price that we've seen on the Thrive -- no less than $75 cheaper than the previously posted deal.

Oct

[Deal Alert] Lenovo IdeaPad K1 On Sale At Best Buy For Only $329.99 ($120 Off Its Regular Price)

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Deals, IdeaPad K1, News, Tablets

The IdeaPad K1 from Lenovo, released earlier this year, is bursting with features and ports, but reviews suggest that it is perhaps not the best Android tablet available on the market today. Nevertheless, it is a powerful little beast running Honeycomb and for the next two days (9 to 10 October) Best Buy is offering this device for only $329.99, that's $120 discount of the regular price ($449.99).

In case you have forgotten, the K1 runs on Android 3.1 and has the following specs:

1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 T20 processor
10.1" (1280x800) display
Android 3.1
32GB of storage
1GB RAM
5 MP rear camera, 2MP front cameras
Built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN
Bluetooth 2.1
Mini HDMI output
microSD card slot

This deal probably won't appeal to Christy, who won an IdeaPad K1 in our banner design contest, but for the rest of you interested in Lenovo's Android offering, pick one up from BB by 10 October 2011.

Oct

[Update: Pricing Error] 16GB HTC Flyer On Sale For Just $100 At Best Buy Stores (Where Available)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Deals, Flyer, News

Update: Turns out this was just a pricing error, and Best Buy is not honoring the price. Sorry for the false alarm, everyone!

Just a few days ago, Best Buy dropped the price of the HTC Flyer to just $300, and today they've dropped it further to $100. At that price, it certainly seems like a fire sale (similar to the HP TouchPad), but at this point it's unclear what's prompting the uber-low price.

As a quick reminder, the Flyer has a 7" screen, single-core 1.5GHz CPU, front and rear cameras, an SD card slot, and 16GB of on-board storage. At the moment it merely runs Gingerbread, but HTC has long promised an update to Honeycomb (and/or hopefully Ice Cream Sandwich) sometime soon.

Sep

Deal Alert: Refurbished Motorola XOOM 32GB Wi-Fi For $355 Shipped

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Motorola, XOOM

If you head over to woot.com this morning, you'll find refurbished Motorola XOOM 32GB Wi-Fi tablets are being tossed off for a mere $355 shipped - that's $50 less than the best deal we've seen previously for a non-refurb, but honestly, you probably won't even notice they aren't new.

That's quite a bit of tablet storage for a pretty reasonable price, so we're inclined to say this deal is indeed a good one. Head on over to woot! to pick one (or 4) up.

Woot! via Droid-life

Sep

Deal Alert: Motorola DROID X2 Now Just $0.01 With An Additional $50 Gift Card At Amazon Wireless

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Deals, Droid X2, Motorola, Verizon Wireless

Let's not beat around the bush here: the DROID X2 is hardly the star of Motorola and Verizon's DROID production, what with its PenTile display and CDMA-only radio. But then again, it's not a complete train wreck; and besides, who doesn't love a free phone? Oops, did I say free? I meant you actually get $50 back in the form of a gift card due to a promotion Amazon is currently running. Not bad, huh?

As you can see, that's precisely (or at least almost precisely) what Amazon's mobile division, Amazon Wireless, is doing: it's now selling the DROID X2 for just one cent with a new two-year VZW contract.

Sep

Amazon Appstore Introduces 'Geek Week,' Drops The Price On Some Very Useful Apps

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

While the Amazon Appstore may have its downfalls, it also has its upsides -- namely good deals and free apps. Thus is the case with its new promotion called "Geek Week," in which some very useful apps designed for hardcore Android enthusiasts have received a nice price drop.

As for the apps in question, you'll find some well-known tools and utilities in the mix:

Easy Tether for $4.99 (normally $9.99)
Root Explorer for $0.99 (normally $3.99)
WidgetLocker for $0.99 (normally $1.99)
Wave Launcher for $0.99 (normally $1.99)
SetCPU for $0.99 (normally $2)
RepliGo Reader for $1.99 (normally $4.99)
Xtralogic Remote Desktop Client for $12.99 (normally $24.95)
BackupEverything for $0.99 (normally $1.99)

Among those, I highly recommend Root Explorer and SetCPU (for overclocked devices), but the majority of those apps are definitely worth the sale price.

Jul

The 5 Best Android Phones Under $60 (US Only) - July 2011

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Droid 3, Droid X2, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Revolution, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

I know, I know. The last one was under $50, and preferably free. But in our attempt to keep you updated with the latest and greatest deals on the latest and greatest devices, we had to make sacrifices. Fortunately, that means there are also no repeat appearances from last month's post, though you should still check it out - a lot of those handsets (aside from the DROID 2) are still viable choices.

So, you get a fresh batch of deals, on a fresh set of phones. Oh, 4 of the 5 are for Verizon - and AT&T and T-Mobile are left out of this month's roundup (though the $50 Infuse deal at Target gets an honorable mention).

Jul

Travelocity Comes To Android, Brings Another Way To Plan Trips From The Palm Of Your Hand

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

There are a variety of apps in the Market designed to help those who travel a lot get the best deal on hotels, air fair, round-trips, and more. Now Travelocity joins those ranks, so all the gnome-loving fanatics out there can rejoice while booking their next trip.

Travelocity covers the gamut of travel needs - all the deals that you're used to getting from the website can now be accessed on the go through the official app on-the-go. You can easily find and book a hotel, score a cheap flight and, once you make your way to your destination, use Travelocity to find restaurants, events, and even see what's happening with the night life.

Jun

The 5 Best Android Phones Under $50 - And Preferably Free: June 2011

Posted by David Ruddock in Carriers, Deals, Devices By Manufacturer, Tips & Tutorials

We've all seen "roundup" lists of smartphones before: who's got the best display, who has the quickest processor, the newest OS revision, the biggest battery - but let's face facts: that kind of stuff is for nerds (like all of us here at AP - and most of our wonderful readers). So we're going to try out something new - call it a pilot episode, if you will.

When you're attempting to convince the less geeky folks you know that they should pick up an Android phone, it can be a tough sell. Particularly when you're pitching a $200 handset to a person that has been quite happy with free flip-phones for the last 7 years.