Android OS - 17/165 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

[Download] Official Android 4.1 RUU For Unlocked HTC One X

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Device Updates, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, One X (Endeavor)

Update: It appears this RUU may be improperly labeled, as we're hearing it fails to flash on a number of CIDs which it should be compatible with.

If you're the owner of a European model HTC One X, you're probably chomping at the bit to get your update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. While that update has begun rolling out in parts of Asia, it has yet to show up anywhere else. Today, though, HTCRUU published an official RUU file (a full, flashable ROM) for the One X in its unlocked European flavor - software version 3.14.401.27, based on Android 4.1 with Sense 4+.

Dec

Motorola Updates Android Software Upgrade Page

Posted by David Ruddock in Device Updates, Jelly Bean 4.1, Motorola, News

Motorola has once again updated its device update page, clarifying the Jelly Bean situation for a number of pieces of hardware. The following notable devices have had their update schedules changed or more precisely laid out:

ATRIX HD: Jelly Bean rollout in Dec. 2012
XOOM LTE: Jelly Bean rollout in Q1 2013
Electrify M: Jelly Bean rollout in Q1 2013
RAZR HD (Canada): Jelly Bean rollout in Q1 2013
ATRIX HD (Canada): Jelly Bean rollout in Q1 2013
RAZR i: Jelly Bean rollout in Q1 2013

There have been changes for other regions, as well, and you can check them out on the software upgrade page, here.

Dec

HTC's Cross-Licensing Deal With Apple Is About As 'Two-Way' As The Streets In Manhattan

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

A redacted version of the HTC-Apple patent licensing agreement was published in the public record today as part of the Samsung v. Apple trial, and AllThingsD has a copy. It's 143 pages long (to be fair, only about a fifth of that is the actual settlement), so let me give you the skinny.

First, what has HTC agreed to? Well, it's actually not super complicated to distill down: basically, HTC can use Apple's functional software patents under the license, except those covered under an "anti-cloning" rule and which are part of the "distinct Apple user experience" - unless those features are part of the core Android OS that HTC does not control.

Dec

[APK Teardown] Google Search - Reply To SMS With Voice, Post To Facebook & Twitter, An Android@Home Card, And More

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, Applications, Features, Jelly Bean 4.1, Jelly Bean 4.2

Ok - here's the deal. A Google Search update happened, which means it's teardown time. Normally I post about unreleased, work-in-progress stuff, but Google Now is so context dependent, that it's pretty much impossible for me to tell if something is implemented or not. The one thing I've learned from my months of using Now is that Google Now is in charge, and you're just along for the ride. So, for today's post, we're just going to shoot for "new things that didn't make it onto the 'What's New' list." If you can get them to show up, awesome. Send me a screenshot and I'll update.

Dec

Google Now Offering Up Play Books And Movies In Brazil

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, News

After the successful launches of Play Music in Europe, Magazines in Canada, and Movies in a handful of countries, Google has made another step in its international Play crusade, today bringing Movies and Books to Brazil.

Android users in South America's largest country will now have access to thousands of Brazilian titles from Google's collection, along with movies and TV shows. Interestingly, Google's own international availability page hasn't been updated at the time of writing to reflect the expansion to Brazil, but just the same, users can access the store and look for their favorite titles.

Of course, the addition of Brazil only brings the total number of countries with access to Play Books and Movies to around ten, but it's still nice to see Google continuing the arduous task of expanding their media services globally.

Dec

Google Search Update - Tons Of New Now Cards, Plus Voice Post To Google+ And Song Search

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

Google Search received a pretty significant update this morning, adding yet more Google Now cards, speed enhancements, and three new voice actions. The now cards include nearby events, "suggestions to help you with your research" (whatever that means), QR code boarding passes (!) from Gmail, location-sensitive search by camera (aka Google Goggles), weather at places Now thinks you're travelling to based on Calendar and Gmail, and monthly summaries of your walking and biking activity. Wow.

Here's the full changelog:

For Android 4.1+ (Jelly Bean), Google Search keeps getting faster, plus:

New cards:
- Events nearby
- Suggestions to help with your research
- Boarding passes from Gmail (United only, more to come)
- Search by camera when at museums or shops
- Weather at upcoming travel destinations
- Approximate monthly summary of walking and biking activity
- Birthdays (the cards now have new options, like post a happy birthday wish to G+ from the notification bar)

New voice actions:
- Post to Google+
- Say "What's this song?" to find the song you hear
- Say "Scan a barcode" to find product info

Barcode scanning is pretty neat, though it's been built into Goggles for ages - a product that, frankly, should be merged with Google Search at some point.

Dec

These 28 Android-Powered Spheros Dance The Dance Of Their Robotic People To The Sounds Of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Android OS, News

Alright, yes. We've spent over a month getting upset because Christmas starts just way too dang early these days. It's December now, though. Is it finally okay to get in the holiday spirit a bit? Cool. Because these Spheros—robotic balls that can be remotely controlled by Android and carry an array of sensors and lights—are beautiful. The company behind the bots choreographed these 28 units to the tune of Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, as performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

For the unaware, the song is a mashup of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen and Carol of the Bells, originally recorded by Savatage on the album Dead Winter Dead.

Dec

Google Releases November's Platform Distribution Numbers – Gingerbread At 50.8%, Jelly Bean Up To 6.7%

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

With the end of another month comes a fresh batch of Android platform distribution numbers. Like clockwork, Google has once again updated their numbers, showing Gingerbread's cold, withered hand still holding almost 51% of the pie (though it's down from 54.2% in October), with Jelly Bean making gains to 6.7%, up 4% from last month.

Predictably, Ice Cream Sandwich is still making some gains, rising about 2% to 27.5% from October, Honeycomb is holding tight at 1.6% with a mere 0.2% change for API level 13, and pre-2.3 releases are still dropping off (though Cupcake and Donut are still holding on for dear life).

Dec

[APK Teardown] The Mysterious Leftovers Special: The Jandycane Logo, Google+'s Coffee Mug Notification, And Lightcycle Instructions

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, Jelly Bean 4.1, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Normally I rip apart APKs looking for news-worthy items and unreleased features, but I've covered everything that's currently out, so this teardown session is going to be a little different. During my usual digging for features, I've stumbled across a surprising amount of unused files, movie references, and canceled beta assets. I've always thought it was a shame that no one knows about them, so today we'll be exploring all the crazy leftover files that ship on our phones and tablets. If you've ever checked out the deleted scenes section of a DVD, this article will be right up your alley.

Dec

Google Play Services Receives Two Awesome New APIs: Vector-Based Google Maps, And Photo Sphere Viewer

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Applications, Development, News

OK, stay with me here - APIs are important. Case in point, ever notice how whenever one of your favorite apps uses a built-in Google Maps viewer, you suddenly want to open up the real Maps app? (Read: because the web maps viewer is old and ugly and terrible.) Today, that's all about to start changing. With Google Play Services 2.0[.10], Google's introduced a brand-new vector-based embeddable Google Maps view. That means that instead of sending you to a crappy WebKit browser map, apps can now directly call up the engine that powers the Maps app, and presto: native Google Maps in any app.