Nothing excites me more than a new app for my poor, neglected tablet. Today, Astro is joining the party with version 3.0 of their venerable file manager. The new Astro sports a completely redesigned UI and icons, and drag and drop support. Look how pretty:
And it still works with all the cool Astro plug-ins, like Bluetooth and SMB networking. You know the drill, Astro is available in the Android Market. Go. Download.
An update started rolling out to the Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi earlier today, bumping the build number up to HTK75D. While we're not entirely sure of everything that this update brings, there is one obvious difference: the Market.
Yep, a long-awaited update to the tablet Market is definitely in full effect, and it looks nearly identical to the phone Market. This is no coincidence, either-- remember the minor update that El Goog pushed to phones last week? It turns out that is the same exact version that's being pushed to the XOOM. Yeah, that means you can simply download the 3.1.5 apk and install it on your tablet to get the new Market.
When we first reported on Motorola's alleged Xoom 2, very few - if any - details were certain. An anonymous tipster has been piling on the information since then, however, providing photos, (some) specs, and perhaps the most interesting detail of all - a second, smaller version of the Xoom 2, expected to be billed as an "e-reader replacement."
The Xoom 2's smaller relative appears to have the same rear buttons (power and volume rocker) as its larger counterpart, and a generally similar form factor, if not yet completely polished.
Obviously a full list of specs has not been confirmed, but here's what we think we know so far about the Xoom 2, thanks to the tipster:
The smaller tablet, suspected to be a "media version," supposedly shares the same specs as its larger relative, but is rumored to add an onboard IR remote and subwoofer, as well as an 8.2" HD IPS display.
If you've been holding out on that Acer Iconia A100 purchase for the price to lower a little more, now might be your chance to pick up a pretty sweet deal from Walmart. Effective from Sunday, August 14th through to Saturday, August 20th, you can grab the tablet for just $328 and get a $50 gift card for free while you're at it. For the mathematically lazy, that effectively makes the price just $278.
The offer is available both online and in-store, so if you've been tempted by the Iconia A100 before, you have the rest of this week to do something about it!
If you've spent any significant amount of time with Honeycomb, then you know that it has its fair share of shortcomings. Not saying that I don't love Honeycomb -- I'm simply saying that it could use a few improvements. In fact, some of the bugs or missing features that I've come across in Honeycomb make me scratch my head, as I don't understand such simple oversights or how basic functionality can be missing.
Of course, thanks to Android's open source nature, there are steps that we, as users, can take to help further development by letting devs know what bugs bug us the most.
Motorola XOOM 3G owners, today is your lucky day. Okay, well, maybe not lucky, but still good - the OTA update to Android 3.2 has officially started rolling out. This update brings some subtle, yet nice new features to the Motorola tablet:
+ Screen Scaling Compatibility Mode:
Ability to switch to double pixel mode for selected applications.
When selected, application sub-windows and drop down menus are
also doubled. In addition, pixel doubling settings are saved for each
application.+ SD Card Support:
New microSD card support allows you to use a file manager to view
all the important files, pictures, music, videos and more stored on
your SD card, as well as write content to your SD card via connection
to a PC or Mac.
The Android 3.2 update for the Verizon 3G (soon-to-be 4G) XOOM can be flashed right now, before it hits your device over-the-air.
If you've flashed a custom recovery (and gave up the warranty), you can find update instructions over at MDW - in this case, you don't need our instructions below. This option is good for those with unlocked bootloaders (though if you're rooted, it seems the only update option right now is to install a pre-rooted update which will wipe your device).
However, if you decided that unlocking the bootloader is not worth voiding your warranty or simply don't feel comfortable unlocking, you can still install the update before Verizon decides to push it to you, using the stock recovery.
Well, it's only taken about five months, but Verizon XOOM owners will finally be able to make use of that lovely microSD slot on the side of their tablet. Of course, the OTA update in question does a fair bit more than allow you to up your XOOM's already robust storage. Take a look at this list:
While Verizon (they're the ones publishing the update) doesn't explicitly state that the update, dubbed HTJ85 (has a nice ring to it, right?), brings Android 3.2 to the XOOM, it's clearly implied by the addition of "Screen Scaling Compatibility Mode" - a feature of Android 3.2 that we talked about a while ago.
Heads-up, Revue owners! We've got a nice little surprise for you all this morning. A member of the GTVHacker forums has posted about a leaked beta of Android 3.1 for the Google TV device, and the good news is that you can download it right now!
The update looks like is an official one (signed and hosted by Google/Logitech), as you don't need to be rooted to flash this on to your device; you can apply it like you would any other operating system update with no root necessary. However, as this is a beta version it will have some bugs lurking around in it and more importantly you cannot roll back to a previous version once you have updated the software, so do this at your own risk!
Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
This edition focuses only on new tablet apps or ones that added Honeycomb support. Regular apps and games are coming soon.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here:
Android Police coverage:
The makers of the popular Dolphin, Dolphin HD (which happens to be my personal favorite), and Dolphin Mini browsers released a tablet-optimized browser earlier this week, called Dolphin for Pad.
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