gingerbread - 20/27 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Sony Ericsson Announces PlayStation Certified Xperia Play - Coming To Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile UK This Spring

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, Sony Ericsson, Verizon Wireless, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

It's hardly a surprise, but it's welcome news nonetheless: Sony Ericsson just announced the Xperia Play, also known as the PlayStation Phone. We're still waiting for the full specs on this PlayStation certified device, so be sure to check back here soon for all the official details!

Update: The Play will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread at launch, and will be compatible with 50 games, including such titles as Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero, Dead Space, and Reckless Racing. Compatibility with PSOne games - presumably via the PlayStation Suite - is also in the pipelines.

Update 2: It's official: This spring, Verizon will become the first US carrier to offer the Xperia Play!

Feb

Android Intervention, Part 1 Of 4: Why Google Needs To Rein In Updates

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Editorials, News

I think it's safe to say that Android is the best thing to happen to smartphones since the iPhone (though, I'll admit, I may be a wee bit biased). Without a doubt, the massive success of the operating system is due in large part to its openness; the ability for devices to share fundamental code, while still allowing for an amazing amount of customization, has provided something for consumers, carriers, and manufacturers that Apple would never match. And it's for that reason that Android has taken off on such an unbelievable scale, clocking nearly 900% growth in 2010.

But despite all the things Android does great (and the list is definitely long), there are still a few places where it falls short.

Feb

Vodafone Makes It Official: Nexus S Launching Worldwide In Black And White

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Vodafone

Vodafone has officially announced they will be launching a black and white Nexus S on contract in 24 countries worldwide. Vodafone, which was one of Google's first carrier partners for the Nexus One, has listed the device as "coming soon" on their website. This should bump Nexus S sales a bit in the UK as up until now, the Google-branded handset was only available in the UK unlocked.

At this point, we do not have any details on a price or probable launch date, but look for this device soon. For those interested, hit the source link for more details.

Feb

Android 2.3.3 Update To Gingerbread Brings New NFC Capabilities (Including Writing/Transmitting) And Other Enhancements

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, News

When Gingerbread was launched back in December of last year, we learned that one of its main selling points was Near Field Communication (NFC) support, which allowed for NFC-enabled devices to communicate when placed near each other.

Using your Android phone as a credit card or sharing information by bringing 2 devices close to each other seemed like a dream come true until we found that NFC support in Gingerbread was actually quite limited - writing/transmitting was not possible and only a limited subset of reading APIs was available.

Today, Google announced a new Gingerbread update bearing version number 2.3.3. The update is concentrated mostly around NFC, introducing writing/transmitting APIs and support for a wider range of NFC standards.

Feb

Hands-On With The Honeybread Theme For CyanogenMod 7: It's The Bee's Knees!

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, Gingerbread 2.3, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Ever since the official Honeycomb video preview was unleashed at CES, the blogosphere has been aflutter with admiration for the update's stunning UI. It didn't take long for the developer and modder community to push out Honeycomb-like visuals, either - for example, the clock widget has been available for a few weeks.

Now there's an even better way to get that Honeycomb feel, at least for those running CyanogenMod 7 (CM7): Honeybread. I've been running the theme for the past few days, and I'm seriously impressed. (Side note: I had to flash CM7 to try the theme, and I'm hugely impressed with it, as well as Gingerbread.

Feb

[Rumor] Android 2.4 Coming Soon To A Smartphone Near You

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Gingerbread 2.3, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Pocket-lint has been told that the Viewsonic ViewPad 4 smartphone will be the first device with Android 2.4 when it launches in April of this year. Android 2.4 was confirmed over a month ago; however, this rumor lends credence to the fact that the update will not be a major release. Instead, the update will augment Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), allowing dual-core apps specifically designed for Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) to work on single-core devices.

Earlier last week, we heard that Honeycomb was designed exclusively for tablets and not for smartphones, though some of its features will be carried over to smartphones. This appears to be in line with Pocket-lint's rumor today.

Feb

[Weekend Poll] The Great Divide: Is The Tablet/Phone Split Going To Hurt Android?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

Welcome to the first of a new series of polls, where every weekend, we'll ask your opinion on a timely Android-related topic. The goal is to see where the populus stands on issues and foster discussion to broaden our view. So without further ado, let's get into our first poll.

The Great Divide

Ever since the SDK was released, there's been discussion on whether Honeycomb would make it to phones or not. Most of the team here firmly said no - but a few of us thought it could. The debate was fueled by the SDK preview release - specifically, as Ars Technica noted, the emulator could scale down to WVGA resolutions.

Feb

Half-Baked Port Of Cyanogen Mod 7 Hits Galaxy Tab - Why This Is Hurting Android

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Development, Editorials

There's been exciting news floating around the blogosphere today of a "working" beta of CyanogenMod 7 for the Galaxy Tab being released. Just one caveat - it isn't really CyanogenMod 7.

Before I go onward with this rant, I want to make it crystal clear that I have nothing personally against the developer who ported CyanogenMod 7 to the Galaxy Tab, people like him (or her, of course) are part of the reason I love Android. But they're also part of the reason I have become increasingly frustrated with the custom ROM community's professionalism and ethical standards at large. Let me explain.

Jan

Sony PlayStation Suite And PlayStation Store Official, Bring PSOne Games To Android Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News, Sony, Sony Ericsson

Sony's new PlayStation Suite isn't the PlayStation Phone (or the Xperia Play) we were expecting, but it's arguably something even better for those of us who love gaming but hate the idea of giving up our current Android device(s).

Sony claims that PlayStation Suite will offer "legendary original PlayStation content" and says it will be a "cross platform, cross device" PSOne emulator. In reality, it's limited to Android 2.3 and beyond - a version of Android only one currently available handset runs (and it's not Sony's own Xperia X10). Still, PS Suite does look intriguing, especially when you consider Sony's "PlayStation Certified" program for hardware manufacturers, which will, supposedly, ensure a high-quality gaming experience.

Jan

Froyo Update Now Rolling Out To The LG Ally

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Ally (Aloha), Froyo 2.2, News, Verizon Wireless

A few days ago it was revealed that Verizon would be finally updating the LG Ally to Android 2.2 Froyo. Now, less than a week later, users are reporting that the OTA update for Froyo has been pushed by Verizon.

While it is laudable that Verizon is updating the mid-range LG Ally (unlike certain other manufacturers), Froyo is already an out-dated version of Android thanks to Gingerbread. Nevertheless, this latest update ought to bring some nice improvements to the device, while increasing the number of users running Froyo by just a little bit.

Thanks to Miguel A. for the tip