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Dec

ADWLauncher EX Receives Huge Update To Version 1.3.3.5 Just In Time For Its Birthday (And Google's 10 Billion Download Celebration)

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Deals, News

ADWLauncher EX, one of the most popular launcher replacements on the Market, has received a major update just in time for the app's birthday, and Google's 10 Billion app download celebration, which is set to bring 10 apps a day to the Market for just $0.10 each over the next 10 days. ADWLauncher EX is set to be one of the promoted apps, so new buyers should hold off until it appears in the promotion.

ADWLauncher EX's update brings a lot to the table, including an enhanced dock bar, ICS-style folder creation, hardware acceleration (on specific features when possible), and much more.

Dec

Verizon Wireless Says It Isn't Blocking Google Wallet, Blames Integration Issues - Orly?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Galaxy Nexus, News, Verizon Wireless

Yesterday, a Google representative confirmed that the upcoming Verizon Galaxy Nexus will not support Google Wallet, Google's NFC payment service. The news was disappointing - it is a Google phone after all, but understandable to a degree, since Verizon Wireless is part of the competing Isis consortium, which also partners with AT&T and T-Mobile.

Verizon Wireless, however, today posted a statement and wants everyone to know that it isn't blocking Google Wallet (they actually say "Verizon does not block applications" - orly?). "Instead, in order to work as architected by Google, Google Wallet needs to be integrated into a new, secure and proprietary hardware element in our phones."

Update: "Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product," a Google representative told CNET.

Dec

Google Employees Are Receiving Ice Cream Sandwich OTAs On Their Nexus S Phones - Dogfooding Has Begun

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Samsung

Google has started the dogfooding process of testing the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" update for the Nexus S, according to one of Google employees Adel Saoud. Dogfooding is a practice of having company employees use products before releasing them to the public ("eat your own dog food" in this sense apparently originated in Microsoft back in 1988), thus weeding out bugs while the products are still revolving in a relatively contained environment.

The tweets and Google+ posts are now deleted, but thanks to several screenshots, re-shares, and caches, we can reconstruct these 2 messages that were posted by Adel:

Just got Ice-cream Sandwich update on my Nexus S & it's looking great :)

and

Yeah an OTA, but it's an early one for Google employees so we test it further so it's even more awesome when you guys get it.

Nov

[New App] Google Catalogs Lets You Browse All Your Favorite Catalogs From Your Android Tablet

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Who doesn't love casually paging through catalogs just looking at... whatever? Wouldn't it be nice to kick back on the couch and have access to dozens of different catalogs at your fingertips without having ridiculous stacks of books laying around? Enter Google Catalogs, an app for Android-powered tablets that allows you do to just that.

The app offers access to a slew of different catalog categories, like women's fashion, jewelry, beauty, home, men's fashion, gift, toys, and more. Each category offers several different catalogs to choose from, including some of the most popular names in their respective business.

Want to buy something?

Nov

[Update x2: Dan Morrill Confirms Software Fix With Sensible Explanation] Google: Galaxy Nexus Volume Bug Is Fixable In Software - Fix Already On The Way

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Galaxy Nexus, News

There's been quite a stir caused in the past few days about a mysterious volume bug which surfaced on the Galaxy Nexus. The bug began drawing attention over at XDA's forums, where several users reported ostensibly random muting, and erratic response from the Nexus' volume rocker.

It was quickly discovered that the issue seemed to have something to do with the use of 2G signal, specifically the use of a 900 MHz frequency used by many European carriers. The bug could also be replicated using other phones situated near the Galaxy Nexus, leading to concerns that perhaps the bug was hardware-related.

Nov

[Getting To Know Android 4.0, Part 5] Everything Changes In Contacts, Even The Name!

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

GTKA4.0 is back! (That's right. We're cool enough to abbreviate now.) Welcome to Part 5: Contacts. The Contacts app has seen the biggest change of any app from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich. Everything is different. It's not even called "Contacts" anymore, It prefers to be called the "People" app. We've got a lot to cover.

Unfortunately, unless you have a Nexus device (I don't), it's almost impossible to get a hold of a fully functional, stock Gingerbread contacts app. The closest I can get is a non-syncing emulator, which doesn't have enough options, and the Cyanogenmod 7 contacts, which has way too many options.

Nov

[Weekend Poll] Google Music Is Here, But Will You Use It?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications

Last Updated: November 26th, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see How Many Apps/Games Do You Have Installed (Excluding Pre-Installed)?

Google debuted its official music store this week, and it's clear that the company has made a serious effort to bring to market a product that is geared towards consumers and artists alike. But can it crack a market that's already well-saturated (not to mention lead by the juggernaut that is iTunes)? Let's take a quick look at some of our post-launch coverage of the service:

Google Music is now out of beta. Contrary to what was initially planned, the cloud music service will remain free up to 20,000 songs.

Nov

[Download] Updated Android Market v3.3.12

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Last Updated: April 26th, 2012

An update to the Android Market bringing it up to version 3.3.12 surfaced late Friday night. This version seems to be an incremental update to the previously available 3.3.11 - in fact, we're not really sure what exactly changed between the two. A cursory run through all the menus didn't yield any obvious additions, although these improvements could be all under-the-hood.

My initial thought was it's somehow related to the Music announcement, but since the Music tab started showing up without any Market updates in 3.3.11, it must be something else. The only hint on the entire Internet comes from T-Mobile which insists you will need 3.3.12 in order to see the free songs every week, but I am skeptical.

Nov

Google Snags A New Lockscreen Patent, Could Mean New Features For Future Versions Of Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, News

Who's ready for some Friday morning hotness? Alright, it may not be that hot, but probable new features are always welcome in my book. Looks like the Big Goog has been awarded a new lockscreen patent, which could bring some new features to our good buddy pattern lock.

Pattern lock is no stranger to Android; in fact, it has been part of the mix since the beginning. With this new patent, though, the old dog may be learning a couple of new tricks, like custom gestures to launch specific apps.