01
Mar
cloudaround_new1

We first discussed the impressively-featured, but somewhat ugly, CloudAround Music Player when it was released about two months ago. The developers promised a "slick new interface" was coming soon, and boy have they delivered - as well as brought some new, even more impressive features.

Let's start with the features first:

  • Full settings section including:
    • Caching limits
    • Cache Clearing
    • Ability to toggle hiding duplicates
    • Force album/artist art scan
    • Prevent artist metadata scanning
    • Wifi only settings
    • Artist art download quality
  • Completely new beautiful UI based on user feedback
    • We've had easily a hundred emails of requests
    • default background images that are easy on the eye
    • default art covers
  • New mini player on the songs listing page, with control as well as progress
  • Enhanced for tablet sized interfaces
  • Landscape and portrait mode for player pages
  • Artist Image Backgrounds
  • Fixed foundation layer to provide for a more reliable player under OS stress
  • Improved stream times
  • Ability to hide/unhide artists/albums/songs from user view
  • Performance boosts, which were critical for massive cloud accounts

When they say brand new interface, they really mean it.

29
Feb
moto-droid2global-veriz-blue-keyboard-sm

The Verizon support docs were recently updated with information on a new OTA that should start hitting Droid 2 Global devices within the coming days (if not sooner). While the update isn't anything major, it still brings some notable enhancements to the D2G:

Device Features

  • Device is enabled with the Wireless Alerting System.
  • A Google Security Patch has been added to improve security level.
  • Fixed issue where the device may power ON without user interaction.
  • Adjusted camera settings will be saved, even after the device is powered down.
  • Resolved possible device resets while playing music.
  • Reduced Out of Memory errors.

Email, Messaging, and Data

  • Improved ability to access and receive Gmail messages when the Mobile Hotspot is turned on.
25
Feb
image

My favorite gallery replacement app QuickPic, which is notorious for its speed and simplicity, just got updated with a brand new spiffy UI based on the new Android design guidelines that were published at the time of the Ice Cream Sandwich release.

The new UI in v2.0 is now much cleaner and more fluid, with action buttons at the top right and context buttons showing up dynamically on the bottom when they're needed. QuickPic did have to rebuild all the thumbnails, but once it's done so, it loads faster than it ever has.

v2.0 beta

  • New clean UI like Android 4.0(ICS), lots of UI optimizations
  • Replace list mode to explorer mode, support hierarchical folders
  • Bigger square thumbnails without border
  • Fix some minor bugs
  • App2SD for Android 2.2+
  • SC20120225-164134 SC20120225-164208 SC20120225-164245

    Check out the new 2.0 beta in the Market, and if you've never tried QuickPic before, I strongly encourage you give it a go.

    24
    Feb
    1

    A mysterious update for Chrome for Android just landed in the Market; at this point, though, it's not entirely clear what this update does, as a changelog is seemingly absent from the listing.

    Update: Here's the changelog:

    Chrome for Android Beta has been updated to 0.16.4215.215, picking up changes that have gone in through Chrome 16.0.912.77.  Beyond the Chrome changes, this update contains:

    • Android Beam support - now beam URLs from Chrome to other devices with NFC.
    • Support for additional countries
    • Compatibility checks to ensure system prerequisites for Chrome are met
    • Essential bug fixes

    Known issues

    • 112923 : No way to toggle between mobile/desktop UA
    • 113140 : Youtube Links Do Not Prompt For Which Application to Use
    • 113132 : Chrome for Android beta doesn't support configured proxy in wi-fi settings
    • Other notable issues listed here

    Screenshot_2012-02-07-16-12-27

    What we do know, however, is that the update brings Chrome up to version 0.16 and it appears to break support for devices running custom ICS builds (such as CM9).

    24
    Feb
    image

    Like clockwork this time, the Ice Cream Sandwich update is now being sent over-the-air to Transformer TF101 owners in the United States and Canada.

    ASUS UK, which also promised the OTA today, assured us it's still coming:

    To those asking, TF101 ICS update is scheduled to be with you all today. Please be patient, we have a whole world of Tablets to update ;)

    Update: Looks like it's rolling out worldwide at this point.

    So go ahead, check your Transformer and join the cool kids Android 4.0 club.

    image

    Thanks, @denrid0cks, Dude, Bert, and others!

    24
    Feb
    db_cameraupload

    Just three short weeks ago, we shared news of a major update to Dropbox for Android that, among other things, brought automatic photo/video syncing to the service. At the time, it was still in beta and only available for download directly from Dropbox, but now a final version of the update has hit the Market. The changelog:

    1. Allows you to automatically uploads photos and videos in the background using Wi-Fi or data plan
    2. Up to 3 GB of free space for uploading photos automatically (in 500 MB increments)
    3. Upload files of any size
    4. Various performance improvements & bug fixes
    5. Heads up, Dropbox can no longer be installed on your SD Card due to more secure credential storage.

    23
    Feb
    image

    Update #1: According to ASUS' Twitter, the Android 4.0 update should begin rolling out in the U.S. tomorrow, February 24th. Yay!

    Update #2: ASUS UK confirmed the same date.

    After numerous delays and much confusion (mostly due to ASUS Singapore being more out of touch with reality than other regional divisions), ASUS finally started the Ice Cream Sandwich over-the-air update process for the original Transformer TF101 today.

    The official ASUS Facebook account stated that the OTA with version number 9.2.1.11 is going to be available in Taiwan first, followed by other regions "soon after." Hopefully, that means the rest of the world will be able to enjoy ICS within the next few days, barring any unexpected issues.

    23
    Feb
    DroidX_Eye_Logo

    Droid X users, Motorola and Verizon haven't forgotten about you; not completely, at least. You may not be getting Ice Cream Sandwich (officially, anyway), but Big Red is pushing one hell of a bug-fix update (we spotted it last week) to your device right now.

    The OTA update brings fixes to a whole slew of issues that DX users have been dealing with for far too long:

    Over the Air Updates

    • Prevents lockups or resets after the Over the Air (OTA) update.
    • OTA update notice screen displays the correct estimated update time.

    Device Features

    • Improved browser security with the Google Security Patch from Android 2.3.6.
    23
    Feb
    hi-124-5

    While Box has been offering perks (like additional storage) to particular handset manufacturers for a while now, the majority of Android users have had to settle for what Box offers to the masses for free: 5GB. That changes today, however, because with the latest update, Box decided to throw a bone to every Android user who downloads the app within the next month and give up 50GB of free cloud storage for the duration of the user's account life.

    The updated app brings some new features to the scene, including the ability to view and add comments on files, invite others to collaborate on files, an improved uploader, an updated interface with support for ICS, and the addition of German, Spanish, French, and Italian languages.

    23
    Feb
    astridtiny

    Astrid has been one of the most popular To-Do list apps for Android for years. Today it's getting a facelift and a few extra features. Most notably, Astrid now has a spiffy tablet UI. Making use of the Fragments API, Astrid lays out your Lists panel, your individual tasks, and details on each individual task for easy access. Like so:

    astrid tablet

    Simple, straightforward, and easy. The new UI is being added to more than just tablets, though. It looks like Astrid has paid attention to Google's style guide. The new UI for phones is as slick as Ice Cream Sandwich itself.