update - 99/131 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

Google Shopper For Android Updated, Google Offers Now Live In New York City

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Google Shopper - an app that uses your phone's camera to locate products and prices on the web - received an update today that brings about some new features, as well as an interface overhaul. In an effort to streamline the experience, tabs have been added to the bottom of the app that highlight some of the newest features of Shopper, and the 'starred' and 'history' buttons are now located at the top.

Among the new tabs along the bottom is "Today's Offer" - part of Google Offers - which shows a single offer for specific products or services in certain areas: Portland, OR; the San Francisco Bay Area, the recently added New York City.

Jul

HTC Thunderbolt OTA Update 1.70.605.0 (Froyo) Rolling Out Now, Fixes Reboots, Enhances Data Connectivity, More

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Froyo 2.2, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Would you look at that - only hours after we leaked the long overdue update that, most importantly, fixes reboot issues, Verizon opened the flood gates and is now pushing the 74MB download over-the-air to HTC Thunderbolts all over the country.

The update version number is 1.70.605.0 and, unfortunately, it's not Gingerbread (remember how we told you that the June 30th Gbread rumor had to be fake?). The full list of improvements can be found in this PDF document, which I will include below for convenience:

Verizon Wireless is pleased to announce a new software update,
Build Number: 1.70.605.0 Baseband: 1.39.00.0613w, 0.01.69.0613w_1,
for your ThunderBolt™ by HTC.

Jul

HTC: Our Testing Has Gone Well, So We Will Begin Rolling Out Gingerbread For The Desire By The End Of July

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Gingerbread 2.3, News

Ah, what a turn of events the HTC Desire has seen as of late. It went from not getting Gingerbread, to okay, we'll give it Gingerbread, to testing, and now, to will be released by the end of July.

According to HTC's official Facebook page, the update should begin rolling out by the end of July - but we all know how these things work. I'm sure it's coming, but I wouldn't hold firm to any single date until you actually see the update on your device.

Of course, this also brings up one question: what has been sacrificed to allow Gingerbread to actually fit on the device?

Jul

[Updated With Screenshots] DROID Incredible 2 Gingerbread OTA Documentation Found On Verizon Site, Update Imminent

Posted by David Ruddock in Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Verizon Wireless

Well look at what we found. It seems the Dinc2's Gingerbread update is on the way, and should be arriving soon - very soon. This update differs from previous leaks (though it is still Android 2.3.3), here's Verizon's breakdown of the new features:

We're not sure when this update's coming, but when Verizon tosses up these support pages, it's usually a good sign that an OTA update has been given the green light. Let's hope it doesn't take them too long. Please note, when this update does come around, it will remove root access from your phone if you're rooted - and there's no way to get it back at the moment.

Jul

[Rumor] Is Android 3.2 Coming To The Motorola XOOM In A Few Days?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Rumors, XOOM

Here's an interesting tidbit of information for the XOOM owners out there: there may be a system update heading your way within the next few days that bumps you up to Android 3.2. Details are pretty scarce right now, but here's what we can tell you: in the comments of AOSP issue number 16992 - which is in regards to the lack of Exchange support post-3.1 update on the XOOM - one line stands out. The line simply states that "there should be a 3.2 update coming within days, and that should help those of you with Xoom [sic]." Now, while it may not be a lot to go on, and there is no confirmation of the source aside from the fact that s/he appears to be a Google employee - this is still quite promising information.

Jul

Comcast XFINITY TV App Updated With Honeycomb, Gingerbread Support - And It Looks Great

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Do you have Comcast XFINITY cable? If not, this app may have you considering a switch of providers. The Comcast XFINITY TV app has been around for a while, but a lack of Gingerbread and Honeycomb compatibility has left many users frustrated - and drooling. Why? Because this app is awesome. Take a look at these Honeycomb screenshots taken from a XOOM:

Sorry to take up a big piece of your screen real estate, but those images need to be seen full-size to really appreciate the layout. So, if you're not familiar with XFINITY TV, it's basically a near-total remote and DVR interface replacement that runs on your Android device.

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

Acer Iconia Tab A500 Android 3.1 Update Rolling Out Now

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Iconia Tab A500, News

We just got word that the Android 3.1 update is rolling out in the US for the Acer Iconia Tab A500. The update brings all kinds of Honeycomb goodies, like resizable widgets, performance enhancements, improved multitasking, USB host support, and more.

Other details are limited at the moment, so make sure to hit us up on the tip line or drop a note in the comments if you find other new features!

Thanks, Sergei!

Jul

[Updated x2] Google Maps Updated To Version 5.7, Brings Public Transit Navigation, Downloadable Maps, Other Improvements

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

A new update for Google Maps was released today and brings some impressive new functionality. Artem put it well (although perhaps not exactly eloquently): "it's #$%^ing amazing... Google keeps blowing minds." In a nutshell, Transit Navigation (as it's officially dubbed) brings exactly what you'd expect - it helps you navigate public transport. In their words:

Transit Navigation (Beta)
Google Maps Navigation (Beta) currently provides over 12 billion miles of GPS-guided driving and walking directions per year. Now, GPS turn-by-turn (or in this case, stop-by-stop) navigation is available for public transit directions in 400+ cities around the globe with Transit Navigation.

Transit Navigation uses GPS to determine your current location along your route and alerts you when it’s time to get off or make a transfer.

Jul

Words With Friends Gets Updated, Now Optimized For Honeycomb Tablets

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

Exactly one week ago we told you that Words With Friends dropped Honeycomb support. At the time, there was little explanation as to what happened (even Zynga support staff was completely clueless), but things are starting to make a bit more sense now (albeit not much).

Zynga pushed an update to Words With Friends today that brought something new to the table: full Honeycomb support. I'm still not entirely sure why they decided to drop Honeycomb support for one week - but it doesn't really matter now, as WWF is now fully playable on your Android-powered tablet.