06
May
unnamed (4)

TV Guide Mobile Version 3 Released With Interface, Experience Overhaul For ICS, Jelly Bean Users

Posted by in Applications, News

If you've been paying attention to TV Guide's official app, you know that it's needed some attention for a while. Its UI through version 2.x was an outdated pastiche of Gingerbread tabs and gradated iconography desperately in need of a redesign (and support for 4.0+). Today, TV Guide has fulfilled that need (for the most part), bringing to the Play Store TV Guide Mobile version 3.0. The update also brought "many cool new features" to the app, which we'll discuss momentarily. First though, check out the difference between the old and new interfaces.

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Before: ew.

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After: yay!

23
Apr
Pantech-Perception-366x251

Verizon Announces The Pantech Perception, A 4.8-Inch $150 Pile Of ICS-Powered Mediocrity, For Release On April 25th

Posted by in News, Pantech, Verizon Wireless, Videos
Last Updated: April 24th, 2013

If the phones that Pantech has released in America thus far have been your sole exposure to the South Korean manufacturer, you might be surprised to learn that the company has some legitimately awesome hardware in its home territory. The Pantech Perception... isn't. While it competes with the likes of the Galaxy S III on paper, at least in some respects, a combination of old software and expensive hardware makes this new Verizon phone a hard sell to anyone who wants a high-powered device. It launches on Thursday, April 25th for $100 on contract... after a $50 mail-in rebate. Remember those?

05
Feb
platformdist

Platform Numbers Are In For January 2013: Gingerbread Down To 45.4%, ICS Down (Wha-?) To 29.0%, Jelly Bean Up to 13.6%

Posted by in Android OS, Google, News

It's that time again! We get another glimpse at what the platform distribution numbers are like for Android. If you've been following along, you'll notice there aren't many changes: Gingerbread is still the biggest slice of the pie, Ice Cream Sandwich is second, and the two major versions of Jelly Bean together make up the third largest. 2.3 is down to 45.4% from 47.4% a month ago. That 2% difference seems to have gone overwhelmingly to Jelly Bean which went up to 13.6% from 10% a month ago.

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The most curious shift, however, was Ice Cream Sandwich. While the change was minimal, the version dropped from 29.1% to a flat 29%.

05
Feb
2013-01-31_16h08_21

[Update: Rolling Out Now] Verizon Pulls A Miracle Out Of Its Hat, Will Release ICS For The HTC Thunderbolt Soon

Posted by in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Update: The OTA is rolling out now. Go get it! Thanks for the heads-up, James!

We didn't think it was possible. We thought it was abandoned, left on the side of the road where no one would ever find it. Yet here, through the fog, a light comes shining through: Verizon is actually releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for the HTC Thunderbolt. Assuming that users haven't already thrown theirs into a lake by now.

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The support page says the update is "coming soon", so we can't confirm exactly when the OTA will roll out, but the important thing to take away here is that it's real, it's definitely coming, and it won't be long now.

16
Jan
atrixtiny

Motorola Atrix 4G Gets The Soak Test Treatment, ICS May Be Coming Soon

Posted by in Atrix 4G (Olympus), News

If you're an Atrix 4G owner, I've got a case of the feels for you. When the handset came out, it was one of the first pieces of hardware with a dual-core processor and it seemed like it would last forever. So far, though, it hasn't managed to get ICS. We all get burned by manufacturer updates but this one seems particularly harsh. Which is why I'm glad to bring a bit of good news: Motorola appears to be beginning its soak test program for the handset.

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A tipster has sent in the above screenshot announcing the program, and a thread on XDA corroborates the story.

06
Jan
image

[CES 2013] Dacor Cooks Up Android 4.0.3-Powered Wall Oven With 7" Display, Google Play, $7499 Price Tag

Posted by in Android OS, News

Back in 2011, Eric Schmidt (among others) predicted that Android would soon power home devices, including refrigerators and other appliances. Samsung fulfilled the refrigerator vision with the RF4289. We've questioned the wisdom of Android-powered appliances in the past, but today's pre-CES announcement from Dacor is definitely worth talking about. The California-based company, known for manufacturing quality home appliances, has just announced an Android-powered in-wall oven.

That's right – a (thirty inch) smart oven is on the way, and it's powered by a seven-inch device (called the Discovery IQ controller) with Android … ahem … baked in. And guess what – it runs the Play Store.

03
Jan
2013-01-03_17h21_40

Gingerbread Finally On Less Than Half Of All Android Handsets At 47.4%, ICS Shoots Up To 29.1%, JB On 10%

Posted by in Google, News

The long, hard road towards the future of Android slogs on. While Gingerbread still remains the largest major version of the platform, its dominance is decreasing steadily. As of January 3rd, Gingerbread only represented 47.4% (down from 50.6% in December)of all Android devices. The second runner-up was Ice Cream Sandwich with 29.1% (up from 27.5% in December). The two versions of Jelly Bean totaled up to 10.2%, though if you subdivide by the Summer and Winter releases, they get much farther apart: 4.1 accounts for 9%, while 4.2 is on a measly 1.2% of devices.

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The decrease in Gingerbread and increase in Ice Cream Sandwich is good enough news, especially since 4.0 saw the advent of the much more modern UI that has remained fairly consistent throughout subsequent platform releases.

14
Dec
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US Cellular's Samsung Galaxy SII Receiving Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 Update (FK19)

Posted by in Galaxy S II, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, US Cellular

If you're still toting the US Cellular-connected Galaxy SII, good news – it seems the device's update to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 is ready to go and can be installed using USC's "Simple Upgrade Tool" any time now.

The update, which carries software build number FK19, brings with it all the Ice Cream Sandwich goodness some other carrier variants already enjoy including Face Unlock, TouchWiz improvements, and more.

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Image: US Cellular's Ice Cream Sandwich Promo Document

While US Cellular's Galaxy SII may be a bit late to the Ice Cream Sandwich party, it's nice to see continued support for the device, 10 months after it first debuted on the carrier.

07
Dec
taskertiny

Tasker's Developer Is Working On A UI Overhaul Too, Plus A Bunch Of Other Updates

Posted by in Applications, News
Last Updated: December 9th, 2012

A few days ago, we were treated to a lovely look at what Tasker, the highly-customizable Android automation app, could look like if it got a nice facelift. Unfortunately, this was done by the Android team and was not representative of any real work being done by the developer. As it turns out, though, the developer behind said application is working on a holo conversion. There are quite a few obstacles to deal with in the meantime:

I started working on a holo conversion about a week ago coincidentally, with half the goal being use of the holo conventions and half replacing under-the-hood deprecated APIs for dialogs etc.

03
Dec
distro

Google Releases November's Platform Distribution Numbers – Gingerbread At 50.8%, Jelly Bean Up To 6.7%

Posted by in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

With the end of another month comes a fresh batch of Android platform distribution numbers. Like clockwork, Google has once again updated their numbers, showing Gingerbread's cold, withered hand still holding almost 51% of the pie (though it's down from 54.2% in October), with Jelly Bean making gains to 6.7%, up 4% from last month.

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Predictably, Ice Cream Sandwich is still making some gains, rising about 2% to 27.5% from October, Honeycomb is holding tight at 1.6% with a mere 0.2% change for API level 13, and pre-2.3 releases are still dropping off (though Cupcake and Donut are still holding on for dear life).

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