mobile - 9/12 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

HTC Desire HD, Desire Z, Incredible S Set To Join The Gingerbread Club, But...

Posted by David Ruddock in Desire HD (Ace), Desire Z (Vision), EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), G2 (Vision), Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, Incredible S (Vivo), Merge, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

SlashGear has confirmed with HTC today that the Desire HD, Desire Z, and Incredible S (along with the standard Desire) will be receiving the bump to Gingerbread some time in the second quarter of this year. But, there's a potential caveat: US phones might not be included.

It remains unknown if HTC was also referring to carrier-branded versions of the aforementioned devices in its statement, and if it was, if those devices would be receiving updates at the same time as their unlocked, HTC-branded siblings. Phones in this category include the HTC Thunderbolt and Inspire 4G (both based on the Desire HD), as well as T-Mobile's G2, the EVO Shift 4G, and possibly the HTC Merge (all based on the Desire Z).

Feb

Battle Of The Best: AnandTech Benchmarks 27 Devices, Including 4 Dual-Cores, 3 iPhones, An iPad, A Blackberry, And A WP7 Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Devices By Manufacturer, Galaxy S II, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990), Optimus 3D (p920) / Thrill 4G (p925)

In what's sure to be a hit with hardware nerds, AnandTech has run a suite of benchmarks on 27 different devices. The line-up is dominated by Android, but also includes the iPhone 3GS (both on 4.1 and 4.2.1), iPhone 4, iPad, Blackberry Torch, and the WP7-powered HTC Surround. The results? Broadly speaking, Android comes out looking damn good. As for the dual cores - well, as you'd expect, they performed even better.

The hardware was all over the map, including dual-core devices such as the TI OMAP 4430-powered LG Optimus 3D, the Tegra 2-powered Optimus 2X, and the Exynos 4210-powered Samsung Galaxy S II, all the way through today's run of the mill (single core) high(er)-end devices packing A4's, Hummingbirds, Snapdragons and beyond.

Feb

Android Movie Studio For Honeycomb Unveiled At MWC By Eric Schmidt, Looks Awesome

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Right now at MWC, Eric Schmidt is showing off a brand-new, Google-developed Android app: Movie Studio. The app, as the name may suggest, is a video editor. It's designed specifically for Honeycomb tablets, and as a video editor, that sort of makes sense. It's pretty rough trying to edit video on a smaller screen, though not impossible (which is to say, I imagine an XDA port for phones will happen as soon as an APK gets leaked).

Movie Studio will contain most of the features you'd expect in a competitive (*cough* iMovie *cough*) video editing app: transitions, audio import, splicing, A/V timeline, and multi-format export and sharing options.

Feb

Maxthon Mobile Browser For Android Released: Cloud Syncing, Gesture Support, And Personalization

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News

There's a new kid on the browser block, and it looks like he may be giving the others something to think about. Although it's been on the market for roughly a month and has between 10,000 and 50,000 downloads, this is the first we're hearing about Maxthon for Android. Take a look at the feature highlights:

Sync to the Cloud - Your bookmarks/favorites travel with you from desktop to mobile.
RSS reader widget - Find, manage and read your favorite content quickly and easily
Speed Dial - Quick access of the best sites on the web.
Download Manager - Makes it easy to sort, schedule and grab the downloads you need: wherever, whenever.

Feb

American Airlines Lands The Official App In The Android Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

While looking through the recent app list tonight, I noticed that not less than 2 hours ago, American Airlines landed its very own app in the Android Market.

Following the other big players in the flying business, American Airlines is now letting you:

view your reservation info
check in
access your mobile boarding pass - this is excellent
view your place on upgrade and standby lists
take pictures of where you parked (there are better ways, you know... *cough* GPS *cough* ParkDroid *cough*)
view your Elite status and progress
book flights
check flight status and schedules
play Sudoku (what the?..)

Not bad at all for what seems to be a great tool with a pleasant interface and thoughtfully positioned menus.

Feb

T-Mobile Valentine's Sale: All Android Phones Free February 11-12

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, News, T-Mobile

T-Mobile just announced their upcoming Valentine's Day sale: all smartphones will be free on a new 2-year agreement, upgrade, or the addition of a new line from February 11-12. This includes all two of T-Mobile's available HSPA+ devices: the G2 and myTouch 4G. Why this Valentine's day sale doesn't actually take place on Valentine's day is somewhat obvious: a slew of new Android handsets will probably be announced that day at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

If you're looking to get a solid Android handset (or "4G" subject to your definition) on the cheap, T-Mobile's deal is pretty attractive. Be wary, though - with devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and likely others to be revealed at MWC, you may end up kicking yourself within days of your purchase.

Feb

Dell Streak 7 Available Now - Are You Getting One?

Posted by David Ruddock in Dell, News, Streak 7, T-Mobile

The world's first 4G (subject to your definition) tablet is available now! Well, if you live on the East Coast, and assuming snow or rain or some terrible combination thereof aren't preventing you from going outside. Those of us west of the Rockies will have to wait another 2 hours before getting our Streak on, but I feel like my LA sunshine is worth it. Of course, anyone can order it online right now. Oh, and you can get it directly from Dell as well.

A quick reminder on the specs:

NVidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor
16GB internal SD storage plus SD card slot
7" WVGA display
5MP rear and 1.3MP front cameras
Android 2.2 w/ Dell Stage UI

While we were thoroughly unimpressed with the Streak 7 (see Brian's hands-on), there's no denying the attractiveness of Tegra 2 power and HSPA+ speeds.

Jan

Verizon Comparison Charts Show Thunderbolt's LTE Speeds Crush WiMax, HSPA+

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

A couple of leaked Verizon charts popped up on Droid Life this morning, their contents? HTC Thunderbolt propaganda - well, at least in one of them.

If Verizon's estimated LTE speeds aren't just hot air, then Sprint and T-Mobile (and AT&T) should probably be worried right now. Sprint's smartphone plan price hike probably isn't winning them any points, and T-Mobile's 4G handsets aren't exactly new and exciting (G2, myTouch, or a rehashed Vibrant - take your pick).

I don't know where Verizon gets their network speed estimates for T-Mo and Sprint, but they seem pretty forgiving - given the speed ranges shown.

Jan

[Updated: Maybe] Want To Port Your Number To Google Voice, But Don't Want To Cancel Your Contract? Call Ahead.

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Tips & Tutorials

Update: After contacting Sprint customer support a second time, they back-tracked and said there's no way to do it without incurring an ETF. The only options available are:

1. They can create an additional line on the account, then allow the first line to be pulled out - thereby cancelled. While doing so would allow you to maintain your account, you'd lose number history and would incur an ETF.

2. She also told me they may be able to work some voodoo and somehow simultaneously swap numbers, meaning that the existing carrier number is ported out to Google Voice, while the Google Voice number is ported to the carrier.

Jan

Worms Now Available In Market, Productivity Takes Another Massive Hit World-Wide

Posted by Brad Ganley in Apps/Games, Games, News

Worms, the much-anticipated game by EA Mobile, is now available in the Android market for $2.99. Between this and Angry Birds, you're never going to get any work done.

Worms is a turn-based strategy game centering around your battle worms duking it out with other battle worms. You get all the classic weapons from the original Worms, as well as the hilarious dialogue and animation. The game looks great and gameplay is buttery-smooth on my Evo. If you like bugs, crazy weapons, and/or explosions, this is the game for you.