WiFi - 3/5 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

[Weekend Poll] Tablet Fight: 3G/4G Vs. Wi-Fi Only?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Devices By Manufacturer, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see What Is Your Maximum Screen Size For A Phone?

Tablets come in two flavors: either Wi-Fi only, or packing 3G/4G from a carrier. In the former, it can be purchased without a contract and usually for a lower price. The 3G/4G model typically costs more (although it may be cheaper thanks to a carrier subsidy, which is offset by the cost of the plan), and comes on contract. The benefit of that added radio and contract is fairly obvious - you have access to data nearly anywhere you go.

Sep

Motorola Photon 4G Receiving A Small OTA Update With Improvements To Wi-Fi

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Motorola, News, Photon 4G, Sprint

Sprint's Motorola Photon 4G, one of our favorite devices on this network, is receiving a small over-the-air update that will bring it up to version 4.5.1A-1_SUN-154_6/45.2.7.MB855.Sprint.en.US. The only publicized fixes are related to Wi-Fi, with users over at Android Forums reporting improved performance.

As always, wait for the update to pop up or force the check by going to Settings > About phone > System updates.

Source: Sprint, Motorola

Aug

Geek Overload: Turn Your Computers On Automatically When Your Android Phone Connects To Wi-Fi

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Tips & Tutorials

Today's geek recipe is one of those nerdily awesomelicious things you can do with your Android phone that you probably never even thought you could - imagine coming home and having your computer turn on the moment your phone connects to the Wi-Fi network. My computer is on 24/7 in case I need to connect to it remotely, but for those who turn their PCs off in the morning and on after work, this tip could be right on the money.

There are 2 options you could go with - both use the WOL (wake-on-LAN) capabilities most modern computers should have baked in (though you may need to enable them in the BIOS and power management settings of your network card).

Aug

[Deal Alert] Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi 32GB For $440 With Free Shipping From eBay Daily Deals

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, News, XOOM

Ah, the Motorola XOOM. What can we say about this tablet that you don't already know? Perhaps that you can get the 32GB Wi-Fi only model for $430 with free shipping from eBay Daily Deals for today only. Sure, it may not be the newest tablets on the market, but it is definitely still one of the most capable.

Spec reminder (as if you need it):

10.1 inch 1280*800 display
1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor
1GB RAM
32GB built-in storage
5MP rear camera, 2MP front
Android 3.2

So, if this is your cup of tea, head over to eBay Daily Deals and pick yours up before they're gone!

Jul

[Deal Alert] New XOOM WiFi 32GB Available For $429.99 Plus $5 Shipping At Daily Steals

Posted by John Thompson in Deals, News, XOOM

We've seen some great deals on XOOM as of late, with Staples offering the tablet for just $450 brand new earlier this month, and a refurbished model going for a mere $399.99 a few days later.

If, despite those deals, you still haven't pulled the trigger on the XOOM, this latest offer may just tempt you even further. Daily Steals is offering the tablet brand new with Wi-Fi and 32GB of storage for just $429.99 plus $5 shipping until the end of the day.

Although the price may not be as low as the refurbished one from a few weeks ago, it certainly is a rock bottom price for a new tablet which is still very capable with a dual core 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM.

Jul

[Woot.com Deal Of The Day] Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi 32GB For $399.99

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Deals, News, XOOM

If you think the $450 Staples sale on the Wi-Fi version of the 32GB Motorola XOOM Honeycomb tablet that we covered earlier this month was a good deal, prepare for even better news. Woot.com, a popular deals site that puts one product up for sale per day, is selling none other than the 32GB version of the XOOM today for only $399.99 + $5 shipping.

There is only one caveat - the tablet is refurbished, but considering that most of them were probably returned items that went through a series of tests to make sure they're in good condition, I wouldn't stress too much.

Jul

PSA: Amazon Appstore Allowing Downloads Over 4G (WiMAX, At Least) For Wi-Fi Only Apps

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Apps/Games, News, Tips & Tutorials

The Amazon Appstore's 'Wi-Fi Only' tag on certain large apps (read: Plants Vs. Zombies) has been a frustration for those with consistent access to 4G while they're on the go. I mean, come on Amazon, if I really want to download that 75MB PopCap game, it's my data connection! I'm sure there's some reasoning for this (like reducing the active # of connections on the Appstore's servers), but when you're on 4G, it only makes sense that you should be able to do the things you would on Wi-Fi.

Over the last few days we've heard from a number of people claiming the Appstore now allows Wi-Fi Only downloads over 4G, and we tested it out, sure enough, it works:

Now, we've also heard it doesn't yet work on Verizon 4G LTE - but Sprint's WiMAX is a definite go.

Jun

T-Mobile Appears To Be No Longer Blocking gTalk Calls Over 3G - Is It Working For You?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), T-Mobile

When the new Google Talk with voice and video calling was launched, those of you on T-Mobile who wanted to place calls on 3G quickly found out that it wasn't at all possible. Rather than connecting you to your dog for an afternoon chat, the application stubbornly insisted on only operating through a Wi-Fi connection. At Google I/O 2011, I was able to dig up some more technical details surrounding this limitation, even further upsetting hopeful customers. Bummer.

The light at the end of the tunnel appeared out of nowhere today, when reddit user ep311 was suddenly able to call a friend from his Nexus S running Android 2.3.4, all on 3G while driving home from work.

May

PSA: Using An Unapproved Tether App On Your Verizon Device? Expect To Have Your Data Session Cut Off With An Upsale

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: September 16th, 2012

Looks like Verizon Wireless has taken a page out of AT&T's playbook, as the latest Gingerbread update for the Droid X now seems to detect tethering apps not approved by the carrier and cut off users' data, replacing all requests with an upsale page for the official hotspot add-on. This is now the 2nd wave of attacks against free tethering, following a global carrier block (with the exception of good old Sprint) of the most popular tethering apps on the Android Market.

According to a Reddit community member with a melodic name Poop_Cooper, all data on his Droid X was suddenly cut off after he updated his Droid X to the latest Androd release and started using the popular Wireless Tether application to share his mobile connection with devices around him.

May

Security Vulnerability In Most Versions Of Android Allows Attackers To Steal Your Login Credentials

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, News

Regardless of where you sit in the tech world, there is one thing that affects us all: security vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, our little green robot is no exception this rule, and The Register recently dropped a report on a potentially bad exploit.

Apparently, in Android 2.3.3 and below, there is a vulnerability that would allow attackers to collect digital tokens that are stored on the device after users login to Google Calendar, Facebook, Twitter, and "several other accounts."

Here's how it works: when you login to an account, an authToken is stored locally on your device for 14 days, allowing you to re-access the service without hassle.