ui - 9/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Preview And Download: Leaked Galaxy Nexus/Nexus Prime Ice Cream Sandwich Audio Files, Including Brand New Alarms

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

The Ice Cream Sandwich leaks are continuing today with P3Droid's dump of the audio files found in the next Nexus' Ice Cream Sandwich innards.

From what I can tell, most of them aren't unique until we get to the alarms - a few of them are brand new based on my Google searches:

Fermium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Hassium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Neptunium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Nobelium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

The alarm sounds are quite futuristic and magical, instantly reminding me of Tron. Considering Honeycomb already started in this direction and ICS' theme is also Tron-like blue, I think we'll be hearing and seeing a lot more audio and visuals in a similar style.

Sep

[Editorial] Let Android Be Android: One Year Later

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Editorials

Introduction

It's now been exactly a year (minus one day) since I published my very first editorial for Android Police, Let Android Be Android. A lot has changed since - dual-core CPUs are now table stakes for a high-end smartphone; Android has evolved from an exclusively mobile OS to a software powerhouse for phones and tablets alike; and we've been given several seminars on stretching the truth about the speed of a wireless network (yep, that would be the "4G" drama).

Sadly, one thing has remained almost entirely stagnant: the diminutive amount of vanilla Android devices on the market. In fact, it would be more than accurate to say that the skin situation has been exacerbated since my article on it last year.

Aug

[Weekend Poll] What Type Of Custom ROM Are You Running?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

I'm curious to see what percentage of our readers who run custom ROMs are using AOSP (Android Open Source Project - something pretty close to vanilla Android, such as CyanogenMod), and what percentage are using something based on stock device ROMs. More specifically, I want to find out if people on certain manufacturers are more likely to go AOSP than others - in other words, is Blur/NinjaBlur pushing more people to AOSP than TouchWiz, or is there no difference?

^{Left to right: AOSP (ex. CM7), Manufacturer's Stock (ex. HTC Sense), MIUI}

So here's the deal: below you'll see the possible choices.

Jul

Vlingo Gets Major Update - Streamlined UI, Support For 7 New Languages

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

Second only to Google Voice Search in terms of popularity on Android, Vlingo received a major update today. What's new? The entire UI has been streamlined into a much more intuitive list format that makes learning Vlingo's various voice command capabilities, or quickly accessing them, a breeze.

You can send text messages, make phone calls, find places, open apps, get directions, buy movie tickets, and more. Vlingo also includes a handy InCar mode, which you can set to activate automatically whenever your phone connects to a Bluetooth headset.

More important than the spiffy new look, though, is the added support for more languages.

Jul

[Updated: Now With Nexus S 4G] Skype For Android V2 Brings Support For Video Calling On Select Devices, New UI, And SMS

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Skype, one of the most popular audio/video calling applications on the desktop and now property of Microsoft, has been long criticized for lacking any video support on Android and being generally unstable and prone to crashing. In an effort to rectify the situation and raise that 3.6-star Market average, the company released a major version update minutes ago from 1.0.0.983 to 2.0.0.45.

The update finally brings video calling, albeit to only a small subset of devices:

Google Nexus S
HTC Desire S
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo
Sony Ericsson Xperia pro

Update 7/1/11: The Nexus S 4G and the European Nexus S were added to the list of supported devices after a small 2.0.0.47 update today.

Jun

[Weekend Poll] Manufacturer UIs: Love 'Em Or Hate 'Em?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Devices By Manufacturer, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Google Doesn't Allow Rooted Devices To Use Android Movies - What Are Your Thoughts?

Manufacturer user interfaces (UIs) can be a bit of a hot-button topic in the Android world. Some prefer vanilla Android, à la CyanogenMod. Others have no issue with them whatsoever, and even actively seek to restore some of the functionality. (Others still prefer to roll their own, or like the ability to switch at will... but I digress.) Further, your feelings on manufacturer UIs may depend on which manufacturer and which UI we're talking about.

Jun

[Video] A Closer Look At Samsung's Upcoming TouchWiz UX/4 Tablet Interface - It's Not As Bad As You Might Think

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Tab 10.1, News, Samsung, Tablets, Videos

While we've had a chance to put Samsung's upcoming flagship Tab 10.1 tablet through 3 weeks of rigorous testing, there was one thing left that we could not touch - the custom TouchWiz UX tablet interface, also known as TouchWiz 4.0. If you remember, Samsung announced last week that the first tablet units would be running pure Honeycomb, just like our review unit, with the TouchWiz upgrade arriving over-the-air sometime after.

This didn't stop Phone Arena from acquiring some Tab 8.9 hardware with TouchWiz UX already pre-installed and digging through it, looking for goodies Samsung packaged with their soon-to-come overlay.

May

Dell Venue Review: It Really Is Better Than You Would Expect

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Dell, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Thunder, Venue

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

After being thoroughly unimpressed with the sleek and sexy DROID Charge last week, and knowing that the Venue was next on my device-review checklist, I was prepared for yet more disappointment. Let's face it - Dell has been the butt of quality control, technical support, and advertising (Dude! you're...) jokes for years now. Whether or not it has at all been deserved is another matter entirely - after all, Dell is a hugely successful company (I happen to be writing this review on a Dell netbook, in fact).

The Venue, then, is a device I went in having some doubts about.

May

Watch The Keynote And Android Sessions From Day 2 Of Google I/O 2011 Now On YouTube

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CR-48, Development, Google, Google TV, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Revue, Videos

Ahh, Google I/O, how we'll miss you for the next 365 days or so. The last 2 days have been filled with anticipation, knowledge, surprises, excitement, and fun - the perfect recipe for happy developers. As a developer myself, I've picked up heaps of new information, especially from the SDK Tools and ADT session by Tor Norbye and Xavier Ducrohet, and viewing the keynotes was simply a blast.

As you may have seen yesterday, day 1 keynote and sessions were already posted last night, and now the same fate reached the sessions and keynote from day 2. As before, you can view the whole list by visiting the YouTube page of GoogleDevelopers or simply watch the embeds on this page.

May

[Weekend Poll] How Important Will Customization Be In Determining Your Next Android Purchase?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

It's that time of the week again folks - time to hit the polls. This week's question is one that'll allow you to express what you think an Android handset should let you do in terms of customization, modification, and other various tinkering (think rooting, custom ROMs, kernels, etc). Basically, we want to know how important it is for you, as a consumer, that your next phone be easy to customize. Or if that really isn't important at all.

Let us know in the comments what ROMs, rooted apps, and other goodies only available to the rooted/unlocked users among us that you just can't live without.