08
Apr
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In California, Using Your Maps App Is Just As Illegal As Texting While Driving, Court Says

Posted by in Legal, News

Texting and driving is a pretty heinous crime. Bad enough that it's spawned entire ad campaigns devoted to educating the public on the dangers of such acts. Of this, you are no doubt aware. What you may be less aware of is the fact that figuring out where you're going is exactly as dangerous as sending someone a message that says "Doesn't the Peachoid look like a giant..."

California, despite having no known Peachoids, knows this very well and a court has ruled that using a mapping application is just as bad (and illegal) as texting behind the wheel. This isn't the first time California has come down hard against GPS in cars.

25
Aug
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[Quick Look] Satechi Car Headrest Mount For Tablets: Pimp Your Ride Without Xzibit

Posted by in Other Reviews

My significant other likes to pretend the next car we buy will have TVs integrated into the headrests to keep our kids occupied on long trips. I can assure you, it will not - after all, that's an option that costs thousands of dollars, and is usually only offered on luxury cars (which we can't afford) and minivans (just no) as it is. But, as it turns out, it's not all that hard to one-up integrated TVs: you can slap on a sleek, adjustable headrest mount.

The benefits of using a mount rather than buying integrated are obvious. The first is, of course, cost - most people can't afford to buy a high-end luxury car or topped-out minivan plus the few thousand dollars it costs for the option.  Even those who can will likely find outdated systems, and one that's probably not touch-driven and definitely doesn't have the flexibility of Android.

05
Jul
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[Quick Look] Arkon Dash Mount For Smartphones: The Most Versatile Dash-Mount Solution We've Found Yet

Posted by in Other Reviews
Last Updated: July 7th, 2012

One of the biggest benefits of having an Android phone is undoubtedly Google Maps/Navigation. However, it's a really bad idea to hold your phone and drive whilst using Navigation. Luckily, there are approximately 6.4 billion different accessories that can hold your device so you can focus on driving and not playing with your phone (not that you, our ultra-sophisticated reader, would do that in the first place... right?). Some of these mounts utilize your vehicle's cup holder, some use the 12v charging port, some stick to the windshield (which happens to be a no-no in some parts of the country), and others, like the one we're looking at today, mount directly to the dash.

30
May
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Google Now Offering Galaxy Nexus Accessories Through The Play Store

Posted by in Galaxy Nexus, Google, News

After surprising (and delighting) users by selling the acclaimed Galaxy Nexus directly from the Play Store (at a substantially reduced price), Google has upped the ante, offering a trio of handy Samsung-branded Nexus accessories for purchase starting today.

For now, customers can choose from Samsung's slick Vehicle Dock ($54.00) which includes a car charger, the HDMI Portrait Desktop Dock ($49.00), or the Desktop Dock ($54.00) with pogo pin connectors and a 3.5mm audio jack.

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While these reasonably-priced accessories are certainly enticing, Google reminds customers that they "will only work with the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus (as sold on the Google Play store)." This of course means that those with a Galaxy Nexus connected to either Sprint or Verizon looking for Samsung-branded accessories will have to look elsewhere (it's worth noting that Samsung offers similar accessories for the Nexus' CDMA/LTE variants).

11
May
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[Lightning Review] Bracketron Power Dock Flex: It's Not As Cool As It Sounds

Posted by in Other Reviews

I love gadgets. Not only that, but I love gadgets for my gadgets: cases, docks, stands, mounts, keyboards, and pretty much anything else you can think of. There's also a dark side at work here, though: I'm also a perfectionist. As such, I'm always on a quest for the perfect thingy-majig, which, in all likelihood, probably doesn't exist.

Ergo, when I saw the Power Dock Flex from Bracketron (I have to admit, I'm a sucker for most things with the word "flex" in the name), I thought it seems like a fantastic idea.

Alas, it's far from perfect.

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What is it?

07
May
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[Lightning Review] Arkon Mega Grip And Slim Grip Bicycle Mounts: Checking Your Email While Riding Has Never Been Easier

Posted by in Other Reviews

I recently took up bike riding as a good way to get outside and get active. Being a tech-junkie and overall stat-lover, though, I immediately wanted a good way to track my rides in detail, including real-time MPH, distance traveled, and all the other info that may help me better keep up with my progress. Instead of going the traditional "bike computer" route, though, I decided to use my smartphone to accomplish the task at hand.

After finding a couple of terrific apps to get the info that I wanted (Move! Bike Computer and MapMyRide+) and creating an NFC tag so I could quickly put my phone into "bike mode," I was still missing one key component: a way to keep an eye on my phone.

07
Apr
2012-04-07 18h06_27

The Slingshot Is A Mobile Phone Stabilizer, Tripod, And Universal Camera Mount, Made Of Pure Engineering Magic

Posted by in News

Ever since we started calling camera phones "phones," we've been trying as hard as we can to replace as much of our prohibitively expensive camera equipment as we can. Our phones' sensors have been beefed up to "actually pretty good" quality, we've seen several different attachable lenses. Now, thanks to Kickstarter, we've also found the last camera mounting accessory we'll ever need: the Slingshot, which functions as handheld stabilizer, mini tripod, and professional tripod mount.

As with all Kickstarter products, this little device isn't for sale yet, but if anything deserves a shot at being a proper product, it's this little guy.

26
Oct
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MobileMount - A Crowd-Funded Suction Mount Which Promises To Keep Just About Any Device In Place While On The Go

Posted by in News

The main factor that has kept me from buying a windshield mount for my Android phone or tablet is the fact that, for the most part, each device requires its own mount, adding a significant amount of clutter to my window.

Looking to change that, JR Sanchez has begun a project at kickstarter.com surrounding the MobileMount, a suction cup mount that will support just about any mobile device.

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The mount consists of two twist-to-lock suction cups, meaning you can mount your phone, tablet, or MP3 player on just about any flat surface. Besides its insane versatility, the MobileMount is interesting because it is completely crowd-funded, thanks to Kickstarter, a website which funds independent projects solely by donation.

25
Jul
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Tip: How To Enable Writing To Read-Only Partitions (Remount R/W) In Total Commander For Android

Posted by in Applications, Tips & Tutorials

If you've visited Android Police over the past weekend, you've probably already seen my enthusiastic review of Total Commander for Android, which for me is replacing both ASTRO and Root Explorer going forward as the top Android file manager. Ad-free, $0, root support, dual panes, plugin support, and other advanced functions, which you can read about in the review, make Total Commander an easy choice for both novice and advanced users.

However, one task that is not immediately achievable (or so I thought) with Total Commander is something that sits right at the core of Root Explorer - writing to read-only partitions, such as /system.

22
Jun
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Mount Your SD Card To Your Phone And PC At The Same Time With Dual Mount SD Widget

Posted by in Apps/Games, News, Tips & Tutorials

While I may love many, many things about Android, that doesn't mean that it lacks any annoyances. Of those annoyances, the inability to mount the SD card in the phone and PC simultaneously ranks close to the top of the list. Thankfully, there are apps like Dual Mount SD Widget to save the day.

This app is for rooted devices only.

What Dual Mount SD Widget does is quite simple, but extremely helpful: it allows you to mount your SD card to your phone and PC at the same time. This means that you'll be able to transfer files to and from your phone via USB without losing the ability to run apps that are stored on your SD card.