Android OS - 40/164 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Aug

HTC Rezound Ice Cream Sandwich Update Finally Starts Rolling Out (v3.14.605.12)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in HTC, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Rezound, Verizon Wireless

After countless leaks, a rumor of questionable origin, and a missed target release timeline of June-July, it looks like Verizon has opened the flood gates, and the HTC Rezound ICS update has started rolling out to the first batch of users, just a few days late.

Update: Verizon just officially confirmed.

The 299MB OTA bears the same version 3.14.605.12 that we heard about a few weeks ago and may take several months to become fully available to 100% of devices. That's the bad news.

The good news is that we've actually been in the possession of the full .12 RUU for a while but haven't bothered releasing it unless we could verify it was indeed the final OTA (it seemed too minor compared to the previous .10 leak).

Aug

Device Frame Generator Moves To Google's Android Developer Site, Becomes 'Device Art Generator'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Design, News

Following last month's major update to the Android Asset Studio, the studio's Device Frame Generator has been given a new home under the "Distribute" tab at developer.android.com. For those not familiar, the Device Frame Generator is a tool that allows developers (or anyone, really) to wrap their screenshots in high-quality images of real devices, creating a stunning context for your app (or mockup).

Along with its new location, the generator has a new name: Device Art Generator. Users of the old generator will be happy to know that it has maintained its original functionality (like options for adding screen glare or shadow to your generated image), and works just as well (if not better) than before.

Aug

New Jelly Bean (JRO03H) Binaries Up For Nexus S/4G, Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi, And Verizon, GSM Galaxy Nexus

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, AT&T, Development, Galaxy Nexus, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

In a post to Google's Android Building group today, Jean-Baptiste Queru once again acted as the bearer of good tidings for developers and tweakers everywhere, announcing that "a new set of proprietary binaries for Jelly Bean are available."

The new batch of binaries includes those of the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G (Crespo and Crespo4G respectively), the latter of which we just recently saw added into the AOSP fold.

The set also includes updates to the both the GSM Galaxy Nexus (maguro), and Verizon's Galaxy Nexus (toro, which itself is ever so close to full AOSP support).

Conspicuously absent from the party is Sprint's variant of the Galaxy Nexus, but there's no surprise there.

Aug

Android Platform Distribution Updated: ICS Up To Almost 16%, Jelly Bean 0.8%

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Android OS, News

Google has again updated the current platform version numbers, and they show a reasonably good uptick in the usage of Android 4.0 variants. However, Google's new baby, Jelly Bean, is still bumping along at less than 1% even with all those Nexus 7 tablets.

Last time Android 4.0 was almost 11%, so those new devices and updates are definitely helping. Gingerbread was, and still is the majority of devices, but it's dropped a few points from roughly 64% to a touch over 60% now. As a reminder, Gingerbread is 20 months old now, and there's really no reason for it to still be so prevalent when ICS has had over half a year to build.

Aug

Google Is Now Shipping Nexus Q's To At Least Some Pre-Order Customers

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Google, News, Nexus Q (Steelhead)

Update: We've received confirmation from Google that shipping is underway for pre-order customers.

We've just received information suggesting that some Nexus Q's have begun shipping to customers who pre-ordered the device before Google announced yesterday that its launch had been suspended while the device was reworked to not be quite so useless. All pre-order customers were promised their Q's "soon" and free of charge, and apparently when they said soon, they meant it.

We've reached out to Google for confirmation, but this seems like pretty solid evidence to us.

Thanks, Anon!

Aug

Google Wallet Updated To Support All Major Credit And Debit Cards, Goes Cloud Based

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Applications, News

Holy crap - Google Wallet just dropped a bomb on everyone and announced that the service now supports Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. We sort of suspected something like this would happen, and Google has managed to do it by making Wallet payments partially cloud-based, as opposed to a fully embedded system.

This means Wallet will work offline for the actual payment (it stores an encrypted card ID in the NFC chip), but does require an active internet connection if you want switch payment options or add a new one. Your card should stick in the system once selected, and as long as it is selected, payment should continue to work offline.

Aug

Julie Uhrman, Founder Of OUYA, To Host A Reddit AMA Starting At 10am PST

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News

OUYA, for those who may have forgotten, is the much-talked-about, Android-powered gaming console that recently hit Kickstarter, surpassing $1 Million in backing in under 24 hours (currently near $6M at time of writing with 7 days to go) and promising a dazzling sub-$100 game console and awesome gaming experience.

Hot on the heels of news that the console will pack OnLive support and feature games like Final Fantasy III as launch titles, OUYA's founder, Julie Uhrman has announced that she'll be hosting a Reddit AMA session today, August 1st, and will begin answering questions at 10:00am PST (1:00pm EST).

Jul

Google Updates Play Store Developer Policy, Puts The Smack Down On Intrusive Advertising

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

In an e-mail sent out to Play Store developers earlier, Google announced several updates to its developer program policy. The e-mail mentioned changes in policy including clarification to payment policy regarding subscription billing, the restriction of the "use of names or icons confusingly similar to existing system apps" (a statement that brings back memories of Facebook's "Messenger" gaffe), clarification regarding dangerous products, and practices that violate the Play Store's spam policy, all in addition to a stringent new Ad Policy.

Here's the full text of the e-mail:

Hello Google Play Developer,

We are constantly striving to make Google Play a great community for developers and consumers.

Jul

[New App] Sudo QuickLaunch Replaces Jelly Bean's Google Search Swipe Gesture With A List Of Your Favorite Apps

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Sudo Make Me An App has just released Sudo QuickLaunch to the Play Store, an app that handily replaces Google Search's swipe-up gesture in Jelly Bean with a list of your favorite apps.

If you're like me, you hit the search bar in Jelly Bean more often than you swipe up to get to Google Search, so Sudo QuickLaunch is a welcome addition that not only makes that gesture useful, but can keep your home screen clutter-free. Plus, those wanting swipe-up access to Google Search can place the Search app in their QuickLaunch tray.

Besides its functionality, one of the benefits of Sudo's new app is that it is simple – it works exactly how you'd expect, is ad-free, and requires absolutely no special permissions.

Jul

Sony Backpedals On Jelly Bean Plans For Its Xperia Devices, Still "Actively Investigating"

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Sony

Recently, a Sony representative took to Facebook to announce the company's Jelly Bean plans for some of its Xperia devices. As it turns out, Sony wasn't too pleased with this move and has now backpedaled on everything the rep said, adding that it was still "actively investigating" Jelly Bean upgrade options. In the meantime, the rollout of Ice Cream Sandwich to Xperia S and 2011 Xperia smartphones will continue as planned.