Apps/Games - 312/391 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[I/O 2011] Android@Home (And Project Tungsten) Announced, Lets Us Be Wizards

Posted by Matt Demers in Android OS, Applications, News

At Google's I/O Keynote Tuesday, it was announced that Android may be worming its way into your house in the near future - not just through your phone, tablet or TV, but through other appliances, as well. Android@Home is a system meant to be used as a conduit between your devices and appliances win your home, like the lighting or music systems.

As it was demonstrated for the keynote audience, the presenters had linked various lights to an application in the tablet, dimming them or turning them off as they performed different actions. These light bulbs were specially-made for the task; it looks like if you want access to the system, you're going to have to do some replacing in your home.

May

Happening Now & Continuously Updated: Highlights From Google I/O 2011 Keynote [Update: It's Over]

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Apps/Games, Devices By Manufacturer, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Artem's on the floor at Google I/O at the moment, but he's busy taking pictures and popping out highlights over Twitter. While he's busy with that, here are some highlights (via the Livestream).

"Momentum"
- Activated over 100m Android devices worldwide
- 36 OEMs
- 215 carriers
- 450k developers
- 310 Android devices
- 112 countries
- 100k activations/day in 05/2010
- 200k/day in 08/2010
- 300k/day in 12/2010
- today: 400k/day
- over 200k apps available in Android Market - "quality of these apps is phenomenal"
Honeycomb being updated to 3.1 starting today
- Android has true multitasking - now allowing more apps to run at a time with a new system that automatically halts/shuts down apps
- Widgets improved - can now be resized
- Whoa - they're ~~playing~~ (unsuccessfully) attempting to play a game on the XOOM using a 360 controller.

May

Google Music Page Is Live, Request A Beta Invite Now!

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Apps/Games, News

We got a tip this morning for the official URL for Google Music, and we've been randomly checking it (read: mashing F5 constantly) since then. A few minutes ago, something amazing happened - it went live. Hit the link, request your invite, and ~~patiently~~ wait for it! GO!

^{Landing page}

^{After clicking on "Request invitation"}

Although this just went up, we can pull out a few obvious facts right off the bat:

Honeycomb and Gingerbread will be supported
At least based on what's shown in the images above, Music doesn't appear to be a store. As expected, it seems to be cloud storage/player.

May

Skype Acquired By Microsoft For $8.5 Billion, Security Vulnerabilities Feel Right At Home

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

As of this morning, Skype is now officially tucked safely away in Redmond with its new Daddy: Microsoft. For a reported $8.5 billion MS has acquired the VoIP giant with plans to implement it into future products. The question on everyone's mind is, of course, what does this mean for Android? Aside from the guaranteed increase in security risks (I kid, I kid), MS claims that they "will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms," so we'll have to wait and see exactly what that really means.

REDMOND, WA, and LUXEMBOURG, 10 May 2011 - Microsoft Corp.

May

[Deal Alert] Guitar Hero 6: Warriors of Rock Only $2.99 (Normally $7.99) In The Amazon Appstore

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Deals, Games, News

I remember when the first Guitar Hero launched for the PS2 in early 2006, it was a ground-breaking concept. Since then, there have been far too many iterations of the game on virtually every device and platform conceivable. And now you can get your own personal copy of the latest Guitar Hero (Warriors of Rock) in the palm of your hand for the low price of $2.99 from the Amazon Appstore. The game costs $7.99 in the Amazon Market.

If you have never played or heard of Guitar Hero, it is a "rhythm music video game" where you have to match notes of (usually) rock songs by hitting the colourful buttons that appear on your screen.

May

Facebook For Android Dev Team Stops By Andreddit, Asks How They Can Make The App Better

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

We've all griped about Facebook for Android before, and rightly so. The app still trails the functionality of its iOS counterpart, and has had a string of compatibility issues. Just last week, Joe Hewitt - one of the developers of Facebook for Android - left the company. It appears that things are already being shaken up; the Facebook for Android team has taken to Andreddit to ask how they can make the app better.

Hello /r/Android,

We are the developers for the Facebook for Android app. We'd like to know what we can do to make the app better.

May

Google Goggles Gets Updated, Now Includes Notes, Better Business Card Recognition, And Result Suggestions

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Everyone's favorite search-by-picture app, Google Goggles, received an update today that brings a few new features to the table, like better history search with notes support, better business card recognition, and adds the ability to suggest a better result.

Now, when you snap a picture with Goggles, you can add a tag to the photo that becomes searchable within your personal history. For example, if I snap a pic of something and add the tag "this was great!", I can later search my history for the word "great" and get a quick display of both note and photo. Pretty rad, yes?

May

[Root Tools] Root Call Blocker Makes You Selectively Antisocial

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

I've had this problem with my cell phone for the past couple of years. Somehow, despite my best efforts, telemarketers have gotten ahold of my cell phone number. In addition to that, I'm STILL getting calls from debt collectors for the person I assume had my phone number before I got it, which was around 4 years ago. This is really annoying. Like, really, really annoying. I've got my own debt collectors calling, I don't need this "Sherry's" collectors calling me as well. Lucky for me, though, warranties are just a cute, ignorable line of text from the manufacturer and I promptly root all devices within 15 feet of me.

May

Adobe Brings PDF Creation To Android Tablets And Smartphones

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you've ever needed to create a PDF on the go, then you know that there really haven't been many options for doing so in the past, but that all changes today - Adobe just released CreatePDF for Android.

Using the same PDF creation as Adobe Acrobat, this app allows you to create a PDF on any Android 2.1+ device, including Honeycomb. It uses Adobe's online service for file creation, so the process doesn't actually occur on your device - but don't worry, Adobe says that the service does not keep a copy of the original file or the PDF.

Among many other features that you would expect to see from an app like this, it also offers PDF sharing and management, so you can easily send your newly created PDF's via email or Bluetooth.

May

[New App] WebMD for Android, For The Hypochondriac In All Of Us

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

We talk about a lot of different types of apps here at Android Police, but very seldom do we get to discuss an app that may actually save someone's life. WebMD for Android could be that app, and while I realize that may be a stretch, the possibility is still there.

This app really is an on-the-go doctor, as it offers a ton of extremely useful features. The symptom checker is a good starting point - it brings up a virtual body, where you tap the area that is troubling you, choose your symptoms, and then read about potential causes.