planetandroid - 9/16 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

[Update: First Look Video, We're Kind Of In Love] CES 2012: Lenovo Announces K91, The World’s First Ice Cream Sandwich-Powered TV

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, K91 TV, Lenovo, News, Videos

Last Updated: January 11th, 2012

Lenovo wasn’t on the list of Google TV partners, but for good reason: the company has just announced that, in addition to its new tablet and smartphone, it will soon be launching a “Smart TV” powered by none other than Ice Cream Sandwich.

Indeed, Lenovo hasn’t abandoned all hope of an Android-based TV OS; in fact, the situation is in reality quite the opposite – with the K91, it’ll be embracing everyone’s favorite robot completely. Its (presumably heavily) modified version of the OS will feature:

Video on Demand that tailors itself to your viewing history
“Internet applications” (it’s not quite clear whether this indicates something outside of ICS’ regular contents, or just Google’s traditional web browser)
“Traditional TV programs” (again, it’s not quite clear what’s meant by this)
Access to the Android Market (of course)
Access to the Lenovo Store
Voice control
Cloud support (yep, that’d be the “personal cloud”)

Powered by a dual-core Snapdragon 8060 CPU, the K91 Smart TV will ship with a 5MP (!) webcam for video chat and a full HD IPS display at 240hz with SRS TruSurround.

Jan

27 Best (And 1 WTF) New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (12/23/11 - 1/8/12)

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.

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.

Jan

20 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (12/24/11 - 1/8/12)

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 games. The app 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 Game

Scrubs

Today's roundup is sponsored by HeroCraft's new game, Scrubs - yup, the official game for the TV show with the same name (one of my favorites).

Jan

[CES 2012] ViewSonic To Introduce ViewPhone 3, Bring A (Dull) Knife To A Gun Fight

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, ViewPhone 3, Viewsonic

In spite of all the exciting pre-CES announcements we’ve been seeing over the last few days, one company has been preparing a somewhat less-than-enticing device – specifically, ViewSonic with a new low-end handset that’s been dubbed simply the ViewPhone 3.

While this won’t be Viewsonic’s first foray into the low-end Android market, it will be the company’s first US smartphone – and let’s just say it won’t exactly be sparking a revolution. Have a look at the specs that have been made official thus far:

3.5-inch display (unknown resolution, but don’t expect miracles)
5MP camera
800 MHz Qualcomm processor (presumably single-core)
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
3G (no 4G)
Support for two SIM cards

Described by ViewSonic product manager Mike Holstein as a phone for the “value seeker,” the ViewPhone 3’s perhaps single defining feature is its price tag: $250 – off-contract.

Jan

IM+ Pro Now On Sale For Just $0.99 – Formerly $9.99

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, News

Social butterflies have been enjoying SHAPE Services’ maxed-out instant messaging application IM+ Pro since last year, but the privilege certainly came with a price – it cost $9.99. Recently, however, SHAPE dropped the price to just $0.99, considerably increasing the app’s value.

As a reminder, here’s what IM+ Pro is capable of:

As of yet, we have no idea as to how long this sale will last, so if you’re interested, you might as well pick it up now. All the information you’ll need is provided below.

IM+ Pro

QR code for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.shapeservices.implusfull

Dec

[Exclusive] TacoRoot By Justin Case And Reid Holland: A New Temporary Root Exploit For All HTC Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Exclusives, HTC, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Our own Justin Case has been collaborating with Reid Holland (erishasnobattery) on TacoRoot – a tool that should root just about any HTC smartphone – for some time now, and with the recent additions to HTC’s official unlocking tool, they’ve decided to release it.

At the moment, it’s quite gnarly – it’s only a temporary root for now, and there are various issues with it (see below). That said, it’s incredibly useful for downgrading phones like the myTouch 4G, which can’t be unlocked or rooted with the most recent version of their software. Besides, who could say no to a universal HTC root tool?

Dec

[Updated x3] HTCDev.com Now Unlocking HTC Rezound, Vivid, Jetstream, Rhyme, And All HTC Devices Released After Sept 2011

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, HTC, Jetstream, News, Rezound, Rhyme, Vivid

Last Updated: December 29th, 2011

HTCDev.com has been unlocking the bootloaders of select HTC smartphones for some time now, but up until today, the Rezound was not among their ranks.

Update #1: HTC Vivid is unlockable as well - thanks again for the tip, jcase.

Update #2: HTC just updated the bootloader unlock site and announced that "All HTC Android devices launched after September 2011 are unlockable. The website will be updated accordingly to reflect this in the coming weeks. We continue to work on models launched prior to September 2011, please check back often for the status of older devices."

Here's the changelog if you will:

We've confirmed the Jetstream is also unlockable.

Dec

ZAGGsparq 2.0 6000mAh Portable Battery Review: Powerful On Paper, Underwhelming In Practice

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Other Reviews, Reviews

The stakes for the ZAGGsparq 2.0 aren't low -- after all, the 6000mAh charger won not one, but two innovation awards at CES 2010, and its claim to charge a smartphone up to four times is downright stunning. But underneath the shiny black exterior and all the fancy marketing prose, is it really all that? Well, not quite...

At A Glance

The ZAGGsparq 2.0 features:

6000mAh of juice
Dual charging ports -- one labeled "general," and the other "optimized"
Compatibility with both phones and tablets

The Good

6000mAh – It’s not the most powerful or juice-filled portable battery we’ve come across, but with 6000mAh under its hood, the ZAGGsparq 2.0 still isn’t anything to scoff at… at least not on paper.

Dec

[Part 2] 44 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (12/7/11 - 12/23/11)

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 part 2 of the game roundup. Part 1 is here. The app roundup is 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

Crazy Bricks

As if a 3D brick breaker is not cool enough already, just wait till you see bazookas and AK-47s come into play.

Dec

[Part 1] 44 Best New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (12/7/11 - 12/23/11)

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 part 1 of the game roundup. Part 2 is here. The app roundup is 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.