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May

AT&T Drops The Price Of The HTC First To $0.99, Probably The Best Damn Phone You'll Find For A Dollar

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, First, News

When I reviewed the First, I realized it was much, much more than just a Facebook experience device. Sure, it's sporting Home out of the box, flashes a Facebook logo during the boot process, and is adorned with that same logo on the back, but it's not just about Facebook. This little diamond in the rough is running stock Android 4.1.2 beneath Facebook Home, so you're quite literally three (or so) taps away from a Nexus-like experience.

No quicker than I could say good things about this device, however, people were trying to shoot it down, with the price playing a pretty large factor in that.

May

HTC First Review: The Phone You Didn't Realize You'd Actually Want

Posted by Cameron Summerson in First, Reviews

Facebook phone. Those two words in that order have been repeated over and over again for the last couple of years, simply as rumors for the longest time. Then the HTC Status hit the scene with an integrated Facebook button – still, Zuckerberg himself claimed that it wasn't Facebook's phone.

Many months later, the rumor mill started whirring once again about an alleged phone designed just for Facebook. This time, for some reason, the rumors held more water. And the more frequent the leaks got, the more we realized that this was probably the real deal – a Facebook phone was happening.

Apr

HTC First Lands On AT&T In The U.S. In Black, White, Red, And Pale Blue For $99 On Contract

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in First, News

Just in case getting chat heads in your Messenger app, and downloading Facebook Home wasn't enough for you, the social network die hards can pick up the HTC First from AT&T starting today for $99 with a two-year contract. The device comes in black, red, white and "pale blue."

As mentioned previously, the HTC First comes with Facebook Home pre-installed. This version is slightly more integrated than just downloading the app, though. For example, on the regular launcher, only Facebook notifications will appear as bubbles on the home screen, whereas all system notifications come in the same way on integrated devices like this one.

Apr

Video: This Is How Facebook Will Advertise Home And The HTC First

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, First, Videos

As we all know, Facebook had an announcement earlier this week. The most pervasive social media outlet on the planet announced Facebook Home – a product that essentially amounts to a highly integrated launcher for your Android phone. It also announced the HTC First, a phone optimized for Home, offering a fully Facebook-ed experience.

The launcher is actually pretty nice – features like the unfortunately-named Chat Heads are almost enough to sell this writer on the idea of making an Android hamburger out of a phone, with Facebook Home serving as the top bun (or maybe the lettuce). The key to its success, though, will be advertising.

Mar

ASUS Is The First To Roll Out Android 4.2 To A Non-Nexus Device, Starting With The TF300T In The U.S.

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in ASUS, News, Transformer Pad 300

Last Updated: March 13th, 2013

It's been over four months since Google officially announced Android 4.2 and slightly less time since the initial round of new Nexus devices running it went up for order. Much like the gunshot that kicks off the 100-meter tortoise race, that launch signaled the silent contest to see which manufacturer could get out a non-Nexus update first. Today, we have our winner: ASUS, with a shiny new version of Jelly Bean for the Transformer Pad (TF300T).

The manufacturer has also promised that there will be updates to its App Locker, Virtual Keyboard, Lock Screen, and Setup Wizard applications. Initially, the update will only be available via OTA for U.S.

Feb

To Celebrate A Good Day To Die Hard, Fox Releases Subpar Game In A Played Out Genre, Fails To Notice Allegory

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

We'll do our best to stay away from spoilers for the newly-released Die Hard movie (Happy Valentine's Day!), but the companion endless-runner game Fox just released to the Play Store isn't doing us any favors on that front. The app—which is somewhat shadily referred to as simply "Die Hard", trading on the name of greater movies—takes inspiration from titles like Temple Run. Just, not enough inspiration. (Note: some screenshots are very slightly spoiler-y, so if you're still planning on seeing the movie and you're a purist, you might want to wait to hit up the source link.)

One of the first things you'll notice about this game versus other endless runner titles is that it's in landscape mode.

Jan

HTC Holiday (Vivid/Raider/Velocity) Added To CyanogenMod Roster With First Official CM10 Weekly

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Holiday / Raider, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Vivid

After more than a month of unofficial CyanogenMod builds, the HTC Holiday (also known as the Vivid, Raider, or Velocity) has joined the ranks of devices with official CM support, receiving its first weekly CM10 build earlier today. It's not yet clear when or if the Holiday's build cycle will transition to a nightly schedule.

At the time of writing, the build's known issues involve Bluetooth Audio skipping, hardware video playback, tethering, and the inability to record video in 1080p. Otherwise, the Holiday's first weekly looks like daily driver material.

If you're still toting HTC's Holiday and want to be brought up to speed with Android 4.1.2 (plus the CM enhancements we know and love), hit the links below to keep up with the conversation and get the latest build.

Dec

Cricket's Samsung Galaxy SIII Gets Its First Official CyanogenMod (10.1) Nightly

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Cricket Wireless, Development, Galaxy S III, Jelly Bean 4.2

In a post to Google+ today, it was announced that Cricket's Samsung Galaxy SIII (otherwise known as d2cri) had received its first official CM 10.1 nightly, meaning Cricket-connected SIII users can enjoy the Android 4.2-based ROM with all the tweaks and features CyanogenMod fans have come to expect. Those who have followed the Cricket GSIII's progress toward an official nightly build will also be happy to learn that the device's camera woes have reportedly been solved.

If you're ready to treat your Cricket Galaxy SIII to a taste of CM 10.1, just hit the download link below to be taken to get.cm.

Sep

[Weekend Poll] What Was Your First Version Of Android?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Will You Be Buying A New Kindle?

Earlier this week, Ron gave us an interesting look at what codenames came before Android 1.5, Cupcake (spoiler: 1.1 was "petit four," and 1.0 didn't have any codename at all). It's hard not to read the post without taking a nostalgic walk down memory lane, isn't it? I still remember heading into my local T-Mobile store to play with the G1 when it launched.

My life with Android officially started on June 4, 2010, with the launch of the HTC EVO 4G - and with Android 2.1, Éclair.

May

Orange Announces The San Diego, Europe's First Intel-Powered Android Phone

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Orange

Intel has been conspicuously absent from the mobile arms race in recent years but 2012 is the year the company changes all that. After a significant showing at CES this year, Intel has now teamed up with Orange to deliver San Diego. No, not the city, and get used to making the distinction. The San Diego is Europe's first Intel-powered Android phone.

The 4.03" device will be powered by the 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460, and run on an HSPA+ network. The device also packs an 8MP camera, supporting 1080p video capture, and HDMI out. In an effort to keep up with the ~~Joneses~~ One X and the SGSIII, the camera also features a burst mode, boasting the ability to take up to 10 photos inside of a second.