release - 18/28 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Skype App For Android Updated To 1.0.0.983, Fixes Personal Info Vulnerability And Adds 3G Calling In The U.S.

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Skype released an update to its Android app this morning, remedying the vulnerability which exposed tons of personal info that we revealed last week. Our own Justin Case who originally found the issue has taken a look at the updated version of the app and confirmed that the exploit he developed to demonstrate the vulnerability no longer functions.

Specifically, Skype has changed the permissions of the databases (which contain the personal information) in question. This update will not remedy the vulnerability on the leaked video version of the app, so continued use is at your own risk. Skype will incorporate the fix into the video version of the app when it is officially released.

Apr

Samsung Is On A Roll: Two Kernel Source Code Releases In As Many Days (Droid Charge And Fascinate Froyo)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Charge (i510), Development, Fascinate, News

We all know about the update woes that owners of Samsung handsets have faced over the past several months - owners of the VZW Fascinate are still waiting on their update to Froyo. It looks that wait may be coming to an end as the source code has finally shown up on Samsung's Open Source Release Center. Even if the official OTA doesn't hit phones soon, you can rest assured that XDA devs will be hard at work hacking and compiling this source, so you'll be able to enjoy all of the Froyo goodness that you can handle soon enough.

Apr

Samsung DROID Charge Shows Up On Walmart Site, Still Unannounced

Posted by David Ruddock in Charge (i510), Samsung

Verizon's doing about as well keeping the Charge under wraps as Sprint did with the EVO Shift 4G - and now, the Samsung DROID has shown up on Walmart's online wireless store, albeit only in the form of a stock photo:

For a phone that's still unannounced (technically), and reportedly being released tomorrow, Verizon doesn't seem too concerned with generating fanfare for its second LTE device.

After the release date flip-flopping on the Thunderbolt, it wouldn't surprise in the least if the Charge was facing a [sort of expected] minor delay.

Droid-life

Apr

Dual-Core HTC Sensation Official, Coming To T-Mobile USA As Sensation 4G This Summer

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), T-Mobile, Vodafone

HTC just announced via Twitter that the Sensation is a go - posting pictures on its Facebook page of the device at various seductive angles, as well as this video:

Did we mention it's coming to T-Mobile? And it'll be sporting an HSPA+ radio to take advantage of T-Mobile's 4G network. Unfortunately, it won't be available until this summer.

Earlier, Mobile Bulgaria (which, as of this writing, is down) stumbled upon a Vodafone product page for HTC's upcoming dual-core Android handset, the Sensation (aka the Pyramid). Availability for Europe and Asia will be throughout Q2 - no exact dates have been announced.

Apr

Samsung Galaxy S II Invading The UK On May 1, Bringing 1.2GHz Of Firepower With It

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S II, News, Samsung

In a press release sent out this morning, Samsung has announced that the Galaxy S II will be hitting UK shelves on May 1 - and that it will be targeting all major networks and retailers. The flagship of Samsung's Mobile Division has had its armament upped prior to release, cranking the device's dual-core Exynos processor to an impressive 1.2GHz.

We got to spend a little time with the Galaxy S II at CTIA last month, and the device's slim proportions (8.49mm thick) and light weight were difficult to believe in light of its dual-core status - it's a stealth fighter among jumbo jets like the ATRIX or BIONIC.

Apr

CyanogenMod 7.0 Final Is Here With Support For More Than Two Dozen Devices

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, News

CyanogenMod, or simply CM, is hands down the largest and the most widely used Android custom ROM family on the planet, with support for 30 devices, both tablets and phones, from hundreds of developers all over the world. Over the past 4 months, these developers have been sweating day and night upgrading CM6's Froyo codebase to Gingerbread, and today CM7 is finally fully baked.

Most CM 7.0 mirrors are already up (with the rest going up shortly), so if you are anxious to try out the version for your device, head over to the CyanogenMod Stable Downloads page and download away.

Apr

Motorola Droid X2 Benchmarks Confirm Tegra 2 Processor And qHD Display

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid X2, News, Rumors, Verizon Wireless

The rumors surrounding the Droid X2's hardware have been kind of sporadic, but it looks like we are starting to get a more definite look at what will be packed under the hood of this device. Some benchmarks that have appeared over at Nenamark are basically confirming the presence of a Tegra 2 dual-core processor and a qHD display, the latter via the device's reported resolution of 960x540.

This new information suggests the device is most likely a finished product and that release is upon us, making a launch sometime in May seem even more plausible.

Source: Nenemark via Droid Life

Apr

Samsung Galaxy S II Delayed Until June - Spec Changes To Blame?

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S II, News, Samsung

According to Samsung Mobile's India Twitter account, the Samsung Galaxy S II ("SGSII") has been delayed globally by "at least a month."

Relatedly, GSM Arena has confirmed that the SGSII has undergone a change in specification - bumping its dual-core Samsung Exynos processor up to a screaming 1.2GHz. The official SGSII microsite no longer lists the device's exact processor specs - furthering speculation that the change will probably be officially announced by Samsung at some point.

Could this be related to the decision to manufacture Tegra 2 versions of the SGSII? The Exynos is a fairly new chipset, and there's a possibility that Samsung has decided to have it power the company's upcoming tablets, the Tab 8.9 and 10.1, as well.

Apr

ASUS Compares Eee Pad Transformer To Duct-Taped iPad And Keyboard

Posted by David Ruddock in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Well-known budget electronics manufacturer ASUS has a big splash-page promo up on Best Buy's website right now for the upcoming Eee Pad Transformer, the manufacturer's first Honeycomb (Android 3.0) tablet, and it's not exactly subtle:

It's a fair comparison - both will probably break their hinges around the same time

The (unintentional) irony here being that ASUS's product aren't exactly known for their top-notch materials (I'm not saying their products are faulty - just a little flimsy). Still, the Transformer is a kind of neat idea - we'll have to reserve judgment on how ASUS's execution of the concept fares in the real world.

Apr

PowerAMP Updated With App To SD, Dolby/SRS Support, Open API For Developers

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, Development, News

The popular Android music player PowerAMP received an update this morning with new features and numerous bug fixes. Take a look at the change log below:

New:
- PowerAMP now has open API for 3rd party developers. Please check PowerAMP site for reference, samples, and complete Widget Pack sources
- PowerAMP now can be moved to SD card. You can still use PowerAMP widgets if you install PowerAMP Standard Widget Pack
- added Dolby/SRS support for HTC Desire HD (and few other HTC phones with Dolby/SRS) (Equalizer => DHD button)
- added song number/total counter (Settings => Look And Feel Tweaks => Show Track Counter)
- auto-advance option for queue (Settings => Auto-Advance Settings)
- PowerAMP now re-shuffles lists on repeat
- playlist/queue reordering can be now toggled on/off via special icon in list headers
- PowerAMP now shows embed lyrics from tags in its Album Art area.