support - 4/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

The Play Store Has A 24/7 Support Line You Can Call, And It's Actually Kind Of Good

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

Calling a support line sucks. You're already in a bad situation, or why would you be calling in the first place? As Google demonstrated with its support of the Nexus One, though, the only thing worse than calling a support line is not having one at all. Thankfully, Google now has a phone-based support system that lets users talk to a real person 24/7 about problems with the Play Store. Like most things Google, it's actually a pretty interesting take on the old tech.

Our People Will Call Your People

For starters, using Google's phone system is different in that you don't actually get a number to call.

Mar

Hulu Plus Update Finally Brings Tablet-Optimized UI To Select Devices

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Flyer, G-Slate, News, Tablets, VTAB1008, XOOM, XYBOARD / XOOM 2

If you're at all into TV, you've heard of Hulu. Chances are, you're watching something on Hulu right now on your PC, phone, XBOX360, Wii, Roku, PS3, iPad, 3DS, or any of the other supported devices. The list is pretty long, but until today it had one glaring omission - Android tablets. Sure, some tablets, like the Kindle Fire, HTC Flyer, or the Vizio VTAB, were already supported, but they were running Gingerbread and didn't have a proper tablet UI. Well, no more.

Hulu has released an update to the Hulu Plus (app available to Plus subscribers for $7.99 a month) that introduces a brand new tablet-optimized interface and support for the following tablet devices:

Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime
Motorola Xoom
Motorola XYBoard 10.1
Toshiba Thrive
Acer Iconia (although it's unclear which Iconia exactly, because the A100 is incompatible - they probably mean the A500)
LG G-Slate
HTC Flyer
Vizio 8" Tablet

It was puzzling to see no mention of any Galaxy Tab variants on that list, most notably the 10.1, and I've confirmed it's indeed listed as incompatible.

Feb

Motorola Is Preparing Gingerbread For CLIQ 2 Owners, Invites 1000 Customers To Give It A Shot Before It Hits The Masses

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in CLIQ 2, Motorola, News

Over on Motorola’s support forum, the company is recruiting 1000 customers to test and provide feedback on a Gingerbread software upgrade for the CLIQ 2. This usually heralds the coming of a software update available to the unwashed masses. While customers who buy devices like the CLIQ 2 may not be the same folks who are eager for the latest and the greatest software updates, Gingerbread will be arriving about 14 months after it was announced, and 13 months after the phone was released.

The CLIQ 2 is one of the few devices left that still uses the old-style MOTOBLUR interface that was first introduced with the original CLIQ.

Jan

[Updated x2: LG Thrill] CyanogenMod Team Brings Nightlies To A Handful Of LG Devices, Adds Official CM7 Support For Samsung Epic 4G

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, Epic 4G, LG, News, Optimus 3D (p920) / Thrill 4G (p925), Optimus Black (p970)

The minds behind CyanogenMod have done it again, bringing nightly updates to several LG Optimus variants, and adding official CM7 support for the Epic 4G (not to be confused with Sprint's Galaxy SII variant).

Among the newly-supported LG devices are the Optimus 3D (p920), Hub (e510), Pro (c660), and Black (p970) (which is technically seeing the return of nightlies). It may be worth noting that the Optimus Hub and Pro both received RomManager support tonight, making it excessively simple to get CM goodness on the devices.

Update #1: The Epic 4G (epicmtd) nightly just showed up as well.

Update #2 1/2/12: LG Thrill (p925) appeared today.

Nov

Adobe: Flash Will Be Updated To Support ICS Before Year's End, But Not Future Versions Of Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Earlier this month, Adobe announced that it would be halting development on the mobile version of Flash, which included support for Android devices. More recently, it was realized that the current version of Flash isn't compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich, leaving early adopters of the Galaxy Nexus without the ability to view flash content on the web.

Adobe has now confirmed that it will be bringing Flash to ICS devices before the end of 2011, but it will not support any version of Android past 4.0. Throughout the lifespan of ICS, Adobe will continue to push critical updates, bug fixes, and security updates to Flash for Android to ensure device security, but that will be the extent of development as far as mobile Flash is concerned.

Nov

[Updated: It's Official] Breaking: Adobe Calling It Quits On Flash For Android And All Other Mobile Platforms

Posted by David Ruddock in News

Update: It looks like we can strip the rumor tag from this one -- Adobe made it official. Flash for mobile is dead. Check out the full details at the Adobe Blog. RIP, mobile Flash. You will be missed.

To clarify, Flash isn't going to just disappear from the Market, and in fact Adobe will continue to provide security patches. However, since they won't adapt it to new browser, OS, and device configurations, there is a chance it will stop working at some point in the future or won't work at all on newer devices.

According to ZDNet, Adobe is throwing in the towel on Flash for all mobile platforms (Android included), and will encourage developers to use AIR and HTML5 in the future as alternatives to the company's iconic web plugin.

Oct

Timeline Graphic: US Android Phone Releases - We're Definitely Moving Faster, But How Fast Is Too Fast?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

There's been some discussion of late that, perhaps, Android phone manufacturers are iterating handsets at a pace which is detrimental to product polish and subsequent software support. In fact, a couple of days ago I took a look at the state of Android phones on US carriers with a few simple charts.

I also promised to write another post looking at how quickly, as opposed to how prolifically, Android handsets are moving in the US marketplace. I decided to look at two carriers - T-Mobile and Verizon. In the interest of cleaning up the timelines, I decided not to include budget handsets or QWERTY phones, because we all know the subtext of this whole conversation: the iPhone.

Aug

Dell Makes It Even Easier To Hand Over Your Hard Earned Cash With Its New Mobile App

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Have you ever been out-and-about and suddenly realized that you needed to order a computer from Dell? Well, you'll never have to deal with the panic that can ensue from such a situation ever again -- now you can just grab your Android phone, fire up the official Dell app, and order away!

You can basically order anything Dell related from the app; everything from TVs to laptops, cameras, printers, and monitors, all on the go. The app also allows you to compare up to three items side-by-side, read product reviews and ratings, track your order status, manage your account, and contact a Dell rep through email or by phone.

Jul

Google Maps Adds Live Traffic Coverage For 13 European Countries

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Google Maps continues the march of progress, officially adding traffic support for 13 European countries today. Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to see traffic in Maps, Navigation will now re-route you based on traffic conditions.

The countries:

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Poland
Slovakia
Spain
Switzerland

The new functionality is live on Android, iOS, and in the mobile browser.

[Source: Google Mobile Blog]

Jul

Google Videos (read: Movies) Android App Now Compatible With 2.2+ Devices, But You Still Can't Use It If You're Rooted

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 2.3, News

Coupled with the Market update that was announced and subsequently leaked earlier today, Google released a new version of the Videos app, previously available only on certain tablets. Because the new Android Market adds support for movies, among other things, the much needed update to Videos opens up access to devices running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and 2.3 (Gingerbread).

Now to some bad news: as suspected, if you are using a rooted device, you will be able to run the Videos app but won't be able to play any content through it. Paranoid Google is paranoid, some meme lovers would say.

It's interesting to point out that if you don't install the Videos app, the new Market will simply redirect you to YouTube in your browser when you press My Movies.