Android OS

Feb

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G Set For March Availability From T-Mobile

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Galaxy S Blaze 4G, Gingerbread 2.3, News, T-Mobile

T-Mobile and Samsung announced just moments ago that the Galaxy S Blaze 4G that was unveiled at CES earlier this year will be available beginning in "late March," priced at $149.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate card) for two-year agreements with qualifying voice/data plans. The S Blaze 4G will be a T-Mobile exclusive device, and will evidently include T-Mo's 4GPro App Pack, meaning the phone will come with apps like Dropbox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, Camscanner, and LinkedIn preloaded.

Besides coming with a few practical items of software, the S Blaze 4G packs some decent specs for a phone in ...

Feb

Twitter For Android Updated, But You'll Have To Be On Ice Cream Sandwich Or A Kindle Fire To Really Care

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Update: Here's the Market changelog, which brings a few more tweaks in the update to light:

Swipe shortcut
Improved scrolling and network performance
Improved support for devices running Ice Cream Sandwich devices
Confirmation dialog for Find Friends
Security improvements
New languages: Filipino, Simplified Chinese
Many other bug fixes, improvements, and polish

The official Twitter for Android app just received a substantial update, and you can download it from the web Market now, or wait until it's available on the device Market in the next hour. Twitter posted a changelog on its blog, but here are the excerpts you'll be ...

Feb

[Video] Canonical Employee Gives Us A Closer Look At Ubuntu For Android, Makes Us Want It Even More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Apps/Games, News, Videos

Earlier today, Canonical announced Ubuntu for Android, an incredible new system that will put a full desktop OS on your Android-powered phone. Now, one employee has taken the time to show us just a little bit of what Ubuntu for Android is capable of, and it's nothing short of awesome. Check it out:

As if we weren't excited enough after the initial announcement, seeing it in action really makes us want to get our hands on this and give it a whirl. Anyone at Canonical ready to hook Android Police up with some beta software?

On a side note, ...

Feb

Harris Corporation Chooses Android To Power Ruggedized Tablets For Defense And Public Safety Communication

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News

Harris Corporation, an international communications/IT company catering specifically to government and commercial markets, officially unveiled their own 7" Android-powered tablet today, meant to provide a rugged tool for the transmission of "mission-critical" communication for defense and public safety. The tablet is specifically aimed at military personnel and first responders, who "require secure real-time information at their fingertips to execute their missions."

The tablet has been graded as a ruggedized device, meaning it can stand up to extreme heat, cold, or other rough environments and still provide critical functionality to its users. Dana Mehnert, group president of Harris RF Communications ...

Feb

[Updated: Video] Ubuntu For Android Looks To Make Your Smartphone Even Smarter, Bring A Full Desktop Experience To Multi-Core Handsets

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, News

Imagine carrying a full desktop computer in your pocket. We're not talking about that crippled Webtop crap from Motorola, either. We're talking about a real desktop OS built in to your smartphone. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, wants to make that happen. Soon.

Ubuntu for Android is something that we've only dreamed about up to this point - one device to rule them all, if you will. In your pocket, it's an Android-powered smartphone. Not just any smartphone, either - it's your smartphone. Pull it out and drop it in a docking station, though, and it becomes a full workstation ...

Feb

LG Spectrum Gets Root Access Thanks To Dan Rosenberg

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Mods, News, Spectrum

Dan Rosenberg, a security researcher and rooting mastermind, has done it again, this time making quick work of the LG Spectrum. In a post to his blog just moments ago, Rosenberg simply states "Yawn. LG loses, users win," and gives instructions on downloading the scripts he provides for Windows, Linux, and OSX.

Considering all that Rosenberg has done (and continues to do) for the community, I'd highly recommend supporting him by hitting the donate button below. Having already taken that possibility into consideration, Rosenberg has the following to say on the subject of supporting his efforts with money:

I encourage

...

Feb

The CyanogenMod Team Needs New Servers - Here's How You Can Help [Update: The Goal Has Been Met]

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Mods, News

With over a million unique users, there's a good chance that some of you are running CyanogenMod right now. And if you've been running experimental nightly builds, you may have noticed that they've been getting updated more and more sporadically. According to a post at the CyanogenMod blog today, the problem will only get worse as CM9 and CM7.2 get closer to an official release.

The post explains that in order to get nightly builds released more frequently, the CyanogenMod team needs to purchase new servers, which aren't cheap. That's why they are asking the community for support. You can ...

Feb

In-Depth Analysis: Android's Notification Bar Patent (And How Apple May Or May Not Infringe It)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Legal, News

There has been a lot of interest of late in a patent filed (by Google) back in 2009 for what is obviously a rendition of Android's notification bar system. There are a number of pretty (well, as pretty as black and white gets) figures in the patent showing the notification bar we all know and love, and lots of language about notification systems and the like.

As many of the Android-faithful know, Apple recently implemented as part of iOS 5 the "Notification Center," and it looks an awful lot like Android's in some respects. This immediately drew criticism from the ...

Feb

Sony Wraps Up Sony Ericsson Buyout, Launches Sony Mobile Communications

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News, Sony Ericsson

Sony completed its $1.47 billion acquisition of Sony Ericsson today, launching an aptly-named venture, Sony Mobile Communications. The Japanese conglomerate stated the official goal of Sony Mobile Communications in a statement announcing the transaction back in October:

The transaction gives Sony an opportunity to rapidly integrate smartphones into its broad array of network-connected consumer electronics devices - including tablets, televisions and personal computers - for the benefit of consumers and the growth of its business. The transaction also provides Sony with a broad intellectual property (IP) cross-licensing agreement covering all products and services of Sony as well as ownership

...

Feb

HTC Staying The Distance, Opens Bootloader Unlock To Hero, Legend, Droid Eris, myTouch 3G and 4G

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Dev, HTC, News

HTC has added added a handful of devices to the list of those supported by the Taiwanese manufacturer's bootloader unlock tool. The newly-added devices include the Hero, Legend, both the myTouch 3G and 4G, and the aged Droid Eris. The announcement came via Twitter earlier today:

Some of the newly added unlock bootloader supported devices are the HTC Hero, Legend, Droid Eris, myTouch 3G, and myTouch 4G!
— HTCdev (@htcdev) February 15, 2012

As always, HTC warns that unlocking a bootloader is not for the faint of heart, and may preclude users from warranty coverage. If you've been waiting to ...