30
Jul
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[Weekend Poll] Amazon Has Now Given Away More Than 100 Apps - Which One Is Your Favorite?

Posted by in Off-Topic, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

The Amazon Appstore has received very mixed reviews since its launch March 22nd of this year, most recently taking the heat from the Apparatus developer, but one thing is for sure - the free app deals it offers daily have become very popular among the folks here in the U.S. I for one religiously check the Appstore every night, hoping to pick up the next best app. Speaking of which...

The Amazon Appstore has now given out more than 100 free apps - some incredibly useful and some outright awful. I'm curious to see today which app deserves the highest marks in your grade book.

24
Jul
a-galaxy-s-phone

[Weekend Poll] Does A Manufacturer's Android Update History Affect Your Purchasing Decision?

Posted by in Android OS, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Do You Actually Read App Permissions Before Accepting?

Android updates are a bit of a tricky subject for all involved parties. Obviously consumers and Google are on the same page in that they want Android updates to roll out to individual devices as soon as possible. But for manufacturers and carriers, updates are costly to customize, quality test, and roll-out. Further complicating the issue, it's unclear exactly who's to blame when updates take longer than expected.

A good illustration of all these complications: the Android 2.2 update for the original Samsung Galaxy S series.

17
Jul
2011-07-17 10h38_53

[Weekend Poll] Do You Actually Read App Permissions Before Accepting?

Posted by in Apps/Games, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Which Is More Important To You In A Phone, Size Or 4G?

Quite a simple poll this weekend, and one that requires little explanation: do you read app permissions before installing an app, or do you just install with reckless abandon? Sound off in the poll below and elaborate via the comments.

Do You Actually Read App Permissions Before Accepting?

10
Jul
SGS2

[Weekend Poll] Which Is More Important To You In A Phone, Size Or 4G?

Posted by in 4G, Devices By Manufacturer, Off-Topic, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Can Google+ Succeed?

From a manufacturer standpoint, 4G (for the purposes of this post I mean LTE and WiMax, not 3G+) is a bit of a nightmare. The immaturity of the technology means that chips are expensive and bulky, and realistically offer benefit to only a small portion of consumers. (Compounding the issue, "4G" has become yet another buzzword that consumers don't understand but think they need anyway... but I digress.)

Consider a diminutive device such as the Samsung Galaxy S II. It's thin and light, but could a 4G chip be integrated without expanding the dimensions in one or more directions?

03
Jul

[Weekend Poll] Can Google+ Succeed?

Posted by in Off-Topic, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see How Much Cellular Data Does Your Device Use Per Month?

This week, Google revealed its most serious attempt at social networking yet, Google+. Despite being released just a few days ago, it's easy to see that it's a much more accessible, polished attempt than Google's previous attempts, namely Google Wave and Google Buzz. It brings a familiar interface, but clearly bears the Google mark: clean, minimal, but with some well thought-out improvements. That's to be expected, given that the service is Google's next big push - they closed the beta rather quickly and only a small number of users have been invited thus far, all in the name of using a sort of control group to improve the service before opening the flood gates.

26
Jun
verizon-tiered-data

[Weekend Poll] How Much Cellular Data Does Your Device Use Per Month?

Posted by in Carriers, Editorials, News, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see How Much Has Owning A Tablet Impacted Your Computer Use?

It seems the explosive growth of smartphone use has had some unintended consequences: U.S. carriers are moving towards tiered data. While some carriers have had "soft" caps for years, we've recently seen a move towards hard caps. "Tiered" plans have long been standard in other parts of the world, but the simple difference is that US carriers charge significantly more across the board - be it basic plans (just minutes), add-on's (such as texting), or data (whether used on a plan or as-you-go).

12
Jun

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

Posted by 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.

04
Jun

[Weekend Poll] Google Doesn't Allow Rooted Devices To Use Android Movies - What Are Your Thoughts?

Posted by in Android OS, Applications, Development, News, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see What Manufacturer Will Your Next Device Be From?

Two weeks ago, an Android Central tipster noticed that Google had officially stated that they wouldn't allow rooted devices to use Android Movies.

2011-06-04 13h32_27

AC's Jerry Hildenbrand makes some very valid points about why that just doesn't quite seem right, if a bit (understandably) bitterly. As an Android lover and power user, I'm more than inclined to agree. But at the same time, we're effectively blaming the messenger; Google has little control over the situation. The entertainment industry as a whole is notoriously sluggish and behind the times, long resisting the move to the web and encumbering digital music and movies with unreasonable restrictions.

28
May
andy

[Weekend Poll] What Manufacturer Will Your Next Device Be From?

Posted by in Devices By Manufacturer, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week’s, see I/O 2011 Aftermath & Recap: What Has You Most Excited?

In light of this week's bootloader lockdown bonanza, it makes sense to ask something related. We know that as an Android-centric blog, our readers are likely to be a bit more hack-'n-mod oriented, so we're interested to see: who will manufacture your next device?

The "why" isn't crucial, though you're certainly encouraged to share your reasoning via the comments. Really, we're just interested in seeing how much HTC's new open policy has helped it, and how much Motorola's locked-down style is hurting it.

15
May

[Weekend Poll] I/O 2011 Aftermath & Recap: What Has You Most Excited?

Posted by in Android OS, Applications, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Polls
Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see How Important Will Customization Be In Determining Your Next Android Purchase?

Google I/O 2011 is all wrapped up, and boy was it eventful. In case you missed them the first go-round, we provided a handy-dandy list (with videos embedded) of the keynotes and Android sessions from both the first and second day. The first keynote, especially, was really quite fascinating and provided a good review of where Android is headed. But at 55 minutes, it's probably a bit much to ask people to watch something quite that long (alternatively, you can read my on-the-fly notes).

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