manufacturer - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

NVIDIA Project Shield: Built On Blood, Sweat, Tears, And Fried Chicken Grease

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, NVIDIA, Project Shield

Just in case you slept through the first week of January, take a peek back at our coverage of Project Shield, NVIDIA's attempt to inject the Android gaming market with a Tegra 4-powered supersoldier serum. There's still no word on exactly when shield will hit the market, but the boys in green want to make sure it stays in your mind. To that end, they've just posted a short run-down of a year's worth of Shield development on their blog, including the frantic construction of show-ready units less than two weeks before NVIDIA's CES presentation. Fried chicken was apparently a vital component of the limited manufacturing process.

Nov

OtterBox Acquires Boston-Based Protective Film Manufacturer Wrapsol 'To Expand World-Class Product Lineup'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Off-Topic

OtterBox, one of the leading names in protective cases and accessories for just about every popular mobile device under the sun, announced today the acquisition of Wrapsol, a Boston, Massachusetts based manufacturer of several lines of protective film wraps for smartphones, tablets, and e-readers, and makers of an interesting "Grip Pad" line introduced at CES 2012 that provides a, well, grippy surface to hold onto so your device can avoid the drops Wrapsol's films protect it from.

For those unfamiliar with Wrapsol's work, here's a quick demo:

Exact details of the acquisition are as yet unknown but Brian Thomas, President and CEO of OtterBox, assures readers the deal is a match made in heaven.

Jul

[Weekend Poll] In A Perfect World, Who Would Manufacture The Next Nexus Phone?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Will You Buy Magazines From The Play Store?

Google usually releases a new Nexus phone in Q4, and we're already firmly into Q3 - which means the rumors should start heating up any day now. In fact, given just how little we've heard on the subject (presumably because everyone is too busy gushing over the Nexus 7), we should probably (hopefully) be hearing something any day now.

Our question to you is, if you could pick the manufacturer of the next Nexus phone, who would you choose?

Apr

[Video] HTC Helps Viewers "Get To Know" The EVO 4G LTE From Design To Manufacturing In New Video

Posted by Liam Spradlin in EVO 4G LTE (Jewel), News, One X (Endeavor), Sprint, Videos

In a fascinating new video titled "Get to know the HTC EVO 4G LTE," HTC explains the ins and outs of Sprint's One X variant, from the conceptualization of its design, to decisions surrounding build quality, materials, and a pretty interesting explanation of the new EVO's soft-touch unibody form.

Senior Director of Advanced Materials Chris Porter details the EVO's soft-touch feel in the video, explaining that the device has a "warm, velvety, soft-touch feel as opposed to a harder, rougher, cold metal feel." Porter explains that creating the effect involves sand/grit-blasting the device's frame, followed by a light chemical etching process to remove the sharp "peaks." The EVO's design also utilizes around 100 custom-designed machine cutters, used to create exactly the right geometry and feel for each device.

Mar

HTC Says Sense Got Too Bloated (And So Did Their Product Line), But They're Going Back To Simple

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, News

Back in the early days of Android, HTC's Sense UI really stood out as a much-needed step up in the UI department, compared both to stock Android and to competitors custom UIs. Like a hard-partying rock star, though, it just didn't age well; it went from sleek, helpful, and attractive, to bloated and borderline obtrusive. Sense 4.0 - which we spotted slapped atop of Ice Cream Sandwich - was definitely a step against that direction in some ways, but still offended some people - Cameron included.

Earlier today, Kouji Kodera, HTC's chief product officer, addressed these concerns in an interview with Pocket Lint at MWC.

Feb

[Editorial] Sense 4 On Ice Cream Sandwich: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back For Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Editorials, HTC, Ville

Yesterday, we saw the first glimpse of Sense 4 on Android 4.0 on the HTC Ville. While watching the video, I assumed that the handset was running Gingerbread since it looked just like previous versions of Sense (save for the updated launcher). The only thing that even slightly resembled ICS is the Roboto font in the clock.

Then it showed the version information, which made me feel physically ill. This is Sense 4 on ICS? Say it ain't so!

I use a Galaxy Nexus as my main phone and the Transformer Prime is my main tablet, so I spend a substantial amount of time using stock ICS.

Jan

Corning To Showcase Gorilla Glass 2 At CES, Exhibit New Applications For The Next Generation Of Damage-Resistant Glass

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News

Last Updated: January 7th, 2012

It seems that Corning is gearing up for an exciting CES this year (which is just a few short days from beginning), publishing a news release earlier today which details the glass giant's plans for the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow.

Corning's most significant offering at CES this month will be the unveiling of Gorilla Glass 2. The latest generation of Corning's hugely popular damage-resistant glass is said to deliver higher functionality in thinner devices, and "enable broader touch technology penetration," according to James Steiner, Senior VP and General Manager of Corning Specialty Materials. Corning promises to reveal more details in an announcement set for January 9th.

Nov

Report: Security Vulnerability In Many Android Phones Allows Malicious Apps To Record Audio, Track Location, And More Without User Permission

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2012

According to a group of computer scientists at North Carolina State University, a vulnerability exists within many Android devices that would allow hackers (or malicious apps) to bypass the permissions request process and tap into audio and location, wipe apps and data, or send unauthorized SMS messages, all without the user knowing.

This news may sound a bit sensational, but the researchers have created and tested a dummy app which effectively demonstrates the exploit:

Among the eight phones tested with the researchers' diagnostic app (Woodpecker), HTC's Evo 4G seemed to be the most vulnerable, able to "leak" eight different capabilities to their dummy app, which was not explicitly granted appropriate permissions by the user.

Aug

[Weekend Poll] What Type Of Custom ROM Are You Running?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

I'm curious to see what percentage of our readers who run custom ROMs are using AOSP (Android Open Source Project - something pretty close to vanilla Android, such as CyanogenMod), and what percentage are using something based on stock device ROMs. More specifically, I want to find out if people on certain manufacturers are more likely to go AOSP than others - in other words, is Blur/NinjaBlur pushing more people to AOSP than TouchWiz, or is there no difference?

^{Left to right: AOSP (ex. CM7), Manufacturer's Stock (ex. HTC Sense), MIUI}

So here's the deal: below you'll see the possible choices.

Aug

IDC: Apple Is The Largest Smartphone Manufacturer In The World With Samsung Close Behind

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

Hot on the heels of the report from the analytics firm Canalys, market research firm IDC has reaffirmed Apple as the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Unlike the findings from Canalys, which grouped smartphone OS platforms together irrespective of manufacturer, IDC's study has broken down shipment numbers in Q2 2011 according to device vendors. The findings (courtesy of Engadget) are as follows:

Smartphone shipments in Q2 2011 totalled 106.6 million, an increase of 42.2 million from last year. Out of that pie, Apple's total number of smartphones shipped is 20.34 million putting them in first place with a share of 19.1%.