planetandroid - 10/16 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

[Exclusive] How To Easily Root The Amazon Kindle, Regardless Of Its Software Version

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Amazon, Development, Exclusives, Kindle Fire, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Update: Justin has repackaged the Kindle Fire root app apk, removing encryption and open sourcing the file.

Update: BurritoRoot may not work on version 6.0 firmware. If you're having trouble, update your firmware and try again.

On the historic date of December 20th, 2011, Amazon pushed out software version 6.2.1 to its Kindle Fire. The update was fairly minor -- its main additions had to do with improved scrolling and WiFi passwords -- but it brought about one devastating change: it broke all previous methods of root.

Seeing the issue, our own Justin Case got right to work; and after a night's worth of coding, with a group of fellow devs helping him through the testing process (namely, Vashypooh, Trevor Eckhart, and IOMoster), he developed a new method to root the Kindle Fire -- a method that works not only on software 6.2.1, but on all currently known versions of the Fire's OS (future updates make break this).

Dec

34 Best (And 3 WTF) New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (12/9/11 - 12/22/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

This edition focuses only on new apps. The game roundup is coming up soon.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Tasks N Todos - ToDo List Manager

Tasks N Todos is a TODO manager from Handy Apps, the developer of such well received apps as Easy Money and Tip N Split Tip Calculator.

Dec

[Update: Now Available In The Market] NVIDIA Posts Gameplay Video For Tegra 3 Edition Of Shadowgun, We Gape In Admiration

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News, Videos

Last Updated: January 29th, 2012

Update: The Tegra-3 optimized version just landed in the Android Market. If you're one of the lucky ones who has a Transformer Prime (or has one on the way), then get ready for some amazing graphics.

Shadowgun THD

The very first quad-core Tegra 3 tablet will be launching soon, and with it comes the promise of a whole new class of Android games. We've already previewed a few such masterpieces; now, with the release of MADFINGER GAMES' Shadowgun, we can add another to the roster.

And what a stunning addition it is! As you can see, its graphics are nothing short of stunning, and the frame rate appears to be smooth as can be.

Dec

The First Fruits Of The Nuance-Swype Buyout Come To Light: Swype Updated With Dragon Dictation And Improved Language Modeling

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Nuance, the company behind Dragon Dictation, bought out Swype almost three months ago, but the results of the deal haven't really been exposed since. No longer -- Swype has just been updated with a "Dragon Flame" key that, when pressed, initiates a voice-to-text system provided by none other than Dragon Dictation. In its current form, it features support for French, Italian, German, and English, with Swype representatives claiming more languages are on the way in 2012.

Additionally, Swype's language modeling algorithm has been improved. What's that mean? In the company's words, this will "increase the accuracy of the suggestions we offer (such as knowing that you mean 'mosh pit' instead of 'mosh pot')." The system analyzes your writing and shapes its predictions around the context of your sentences.

Dec

Episode 1 Of Duke Nukem 3D Free For The Next Two Days

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, Deals, Games, News

Duke Nukem 3D, the good ol'-fashioned 1991-style Android FPS, is quite the game: sure, the plot is focused on invasion by sex-crazed aliens, but as the developers themselves said in the app's Market description, "that's what makes it fun!"

And for the next two days, the game is completely free, down from $0.99! Of course, if you want to try out episodes 2 and 3, you'll still have to cough up an additional $0.99 a pop - but still, it's not a bad deal considering the game's rather impressive quality.

Better still, this version of Duke Nukem 3D is free not only of charge, but also of ads - and you won't have to jump through any hoops to obtain it, either; simply scan the barcode below or click the Market link to get started.

Dec

Dropbox Preview Build 1.3.0.6 Now Available On The Dropbox Forums

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, News

Everyone knows and loves Dropbox, and with build 1.3.0.6, its Android version is about to get even better. For now it's but a preview -- a "forum build," by official Dropbox terminology -- though we'd expect that to change soon, as in my experience it seems quite stable.

The main addition here is "optimization" for Android 4.0, presumably consisting mainly of performance tweaks. Additionally, the update features:

support for foreign languages
quick offline access to files ("favorites")
the ability to bulk upload photos and videos
the option to rename files and folders
single-tap access to all file and folder actions
an improved gallery
uploading from and exporting to local storage
the obligatory bug fixes

Interested?

Dec

28 Best (And 3 WTF) New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From Last Week (11/28/11 - 12/8/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here and the tablet app roundup here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Apps

Google Currents

Android Police coverage: Google Introduces 'Currents' - A New Way To Enjoy Your Favorite Sites On The Go

Formerly rumored as Google Propeller, Currents is finally here to take on Flipboard and other competitors.

Dec

34 Best New Android Games From Last Week (11/28/11 - 12/6/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

This edition focuses only on new games. The app roundup is coming up soon, and you can find the tablet app roundup here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Games

Android Police coverage: Twisted Physics Game 'World Of Goo' Now Available In The Android Market

World of Goo Demo

World of Goo is the most awaited game since Minecraft.

Dec

5 Best Android 3.0+ Apps For Tablets From Last Week (11/28/11 - 12/6/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News, Tablets

Last Updated: December 8th, 2011

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

This edition focuses only on new tablet apps or ones that added Honeycomb support. Regular apps and games are coming soon.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

For Tablets

Google Catalogs

Shop All Your Favorite Catalogs in the Same Place. A new, rich, and engaging way to interact with all your favorite catalogs.

Nov

37 Best (And 3 WTF) New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (11/14/11 - 11/27/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here and the tablet app roundup here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.