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Apr

Quick Look: Official Book Cover For The Nexus 10 – It's Something

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Accessories, Google, Nexus 10, Other Reviews, Reviews

In the interest of time, I'll spare you, dear readers, my usual spiel and say simply this: I like official accessories. In theory, anyway. I like the idea of accessories specifically made for specific devices by the device's original manufacturer. I've been delighted by the Nexus 7 pogo dock, and love the Nexus 10 pogo charger (though it isn't actually official yet).

Then there's the official book cover for the Nexus 10. We first saw this cover when the Nexus 10 was announced, and then it vanished into thin air for nearly six months before making a sudden appearance in the Play Store.

Jan

CyanogenMod Gets Cease & Desist On 'Chronus' Name, Wants To Crowd-Source A New One [Updated]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, News

Update: The CyanogenMod team has chosen a new name: cLock. According to the Google+ post, the new name was chosen by virtue of its simplicity.

In a post to Google+ titled "Pitfalls of being so big" earlier this evening, the CyanogenMod team informed followers that CM had been served with a C&D (Cease and Desist) request regarding their Chronus clock widget.

For those unfamiliar, Chronus is CyanogenMod's acclaimed lock screen (or home screen) clock widget, introduced last December, that displays the time in Android 4.2 fashion along with configurable calendar and weather information.

Specifically, the "entity" serving the C&D seems to have issue with the widget's name, which is similar to the entity's own "Cronus." CyanogenMod's post emphasizes that while the team does not agree with the C&D claim, they do not have the time or resources to fight it so, naturally, they're looking to crowd-source a new name for the clock.

Dec

CM Team Member Releases aeGis Open Source Security App - Remotely Lock, Wipe, Locate Or Alarm Your Phone With A Text

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

While there is no shortage of security apps on the Play Store, aeGis one stands out a bit for a few reasons. For starters, it's dead simple to use. Set up a specific trigger phrase and you can text your phone to lock the display, remotely wipe, find the address of, or sound an alarm from your phone. There's no web interface, unfortunately, but this app trades the elaborate suite of services of something like Avast for simplicity.

What's even cooler is this app is entirely open source. Built by a member of the CyanogenMod team as a side project, the entire codebase is available on Github here.

Sep

[Rumor] Surprise! The Bootloader Is Reportedly Locked On Verizon's Galaxy Note II

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Note II, News, Rumors, Verizon Wireless

We already know that the Big Four will be getting their own respective renditions of the Galaxy Note II. We also expect that it'll also be part of a unified release much like the Galaxy S III. We've even seen how Verizon defiled its home button. Turns out leaving its mark on the face of the device wasn't enough for Big Red, though; the carrier has also done some work to the bootloader.

They locked it, and there probably won't be any official method of unlocking.

Normally we don't post this type of rumor without confirmation from the development community, but at this point we have no reason to believe otherwise.

Jan

[Poll] Some Users Are Reporting Frequent Lock Ups And Reboots After Ice Cream Sandwich Update For Asus Transformer Prime

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Yesterday, Nvidia's CEO announced that the Ice Cream Sandwich (that's Android 4.0 for those of you new to the game) update for the quad-core Asus Transformer Prime would begin rolling out immediately. Sure enough, users started receiving the update, and we managed to snag and host the OTA ourselves (as well as help you prevent it from breaking root). For most, the update brought everything you'd expect from the hot new version of Android: even smoother, snappier performance, sleeker transitions, and various other perks. But for some, it appears that the update has seriously screwed up their device.

According to a six-page thread over at XDA, there are a number of users (though likely a very, very small percentage) who are having some pretty serious issues after updating, regardless of whether or not they were rooted beforehand.

Nov

[New App] Lock Your Important Or Personal Apps Down Tight With 'Ultimate App Guard'

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

We all have apps that we would prefer to keep prying eyes away from - SMS, Email, Facebook, banking applications... the list goes on and on. You can always lock your entire phone down with a pin, password, or pattern lockscreen, but it gets tedious and annoying to have to unlock each time you want to quickly check something.

Enter Ultimate App Guard, a new app that lets you lock down specific applications. The app features seven different unlocking methods, including PIN, password, pattern, force close, dialer, error message, and image screen. You can customize the interface, including the lockscreens, schedule specific apps to only be locked at specific times of the day or week, and organize lock-able apps into profiles.

Nov

Interactive MIUI Mario Lockscreen Can Unlock Your Phone (But Not World 9)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, News

In what is undoubtedly one of the coolest mods I've seen in months, developer picard666 has released an interactive Mario lockscreen for MIUI. So awesome, in fact, that words can't properly describe it. Take a look at the "diagram":

The top cloud shows the current time, and the two clouds below show calls and messages (left and right, respectively). To unlock into calls or messages, you take control of Mario and have to make him hit the corresponding coin box - a coin pops out (optionally with the accompanying sound), then your phone launches the appropriate app. To unlock normally, just have him jump into the pipe to the right of the boxes.

Nov

Awesome Mod: Slide 2 Wake Kernel Wakes/Locks Your GSM HTC Evo 3D By Swiping Across Capacitive Buttons – Support For More Devices In The Works

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, News

Developer bponury, the mind behind WifiKill and FaceNiff, has created something that looks pretty awesome, if you're the owner of a GSM-enabled HTC Evo 3D. That something is the Slide 2 Wake kernel, which allows you to wake and lock your device by sliding a finger across your Evo 3D's capacitive buttons. The kernel is still in its very early stages, but seems to perform quite well.

While the kernel is only running on one very specific device for now, there is hope for at least a port to the CDMA variant of the 3D, and perhaps other devices with capacitive buttons as well.

Nov

Lockitron Aims To "Replace Your Keys With Your Phone," Offers Intriguing Remote Lock Management Functionality

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Joining the race to replace all of your practical possessions with mobile apps, Lockitron is offering an NFC-based, key-free lock control solution for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry that has the potential for tons of applications, from letting people into your home while on vacation, to simply buzzing in a friend with no effort whatsoever.

Utilizing a system of "mobile keys," Lockitron's system communicates with a small hardware device connected to the user's internet router, which in turn communicates with your doors, either automatically, or through the use of an optional NFC tag that the user would manually slap onto a lock.

Jul

[Deal Alert] Theft Aware On Sale 70% Off For A Limited Time, Single Licenses Available For €2.99, Unlimited For €4.49

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, Deals, News

There are a number of security applications available for Android, such as WaveSecure and Lookout, which lock down your phone if it is lost or stolen, but few come close to being as secure and robust as Theft Aware 2.0.

We took a look at the application at the end of last year, and were thoroughly impressed by its ability to take advantage of rooted devices, installing itself into the system partition of your phone so that it isn't affected by even a full system wipe. It's also completely invisible on rooted devices, not only in the app launcher, but also in the app manager, to protect itself from being uninstalled.