News - 692/942 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[Deal Alert] Refurb Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 16GB WiFi/3G On Woot For $265 Shipped

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Deals, Galaxy Tab, News

The O.G. Samsung Galaxy Tab (7") may not pack quite the same horsepower as the Viewsonic gTab, but it's still a damn fine piece of kit, and today Woot is selling it for just $260 + $5 for shipping. Even better, it's the 16GB Sprint 3G + WiFi model, meaning those of you who want to sign up for a service plan can do so. The catch: it's a refurbished model.

A refresher on the Galaxy Tab's vitals:

7-inch 1024×600 display
1GHz Hummingbird processor
3.2MP rear camera
Front-facing camera
4000mAh battery
Android 2.2 FroYo with TouchWiz UI
16GB storage
3G/WiFi

Sound like a bargain to you?

May

HTC "Reviewing" Its Bootloader Policy - We'll Believe It When We See It

Posted by Nate Kimmey in HTC, News

Last Updated: June 1st, 2011

Update: If you've somehow ended up on this page, please note: HTC has since changed its bootloader policy - all future phones will be unlocked.

Once a great example of how open Android phone manufacturers could be, HTC has taken a lot of heat from its fan base over recent decisions to lock its devices' bootloaders (such as with the Sensation and EVO 3D), endangering the possibility that these devices will be able to support custom ROMs. Fortunately, there is a chance that could be changing, as HTC announced on its Facebook page that the company is reviewing its bootloader policy:

Thanks so much for providing feedback, we hear your concerns.

May

[Updated: It's Gone] Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 Now Available On Amazon For $229

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Player 4.0, News

UPDATE: ...and it's gone. Did anyone successfully place an order before Amazon pulled the listing?

If you're the type that would rather have a dedicated MP3 player instead of using your phone for such a task, but still want to show your love and support for Android, then you'll be glad to know that the Samsung Galaxy Player 4 is now officially on sale at Amazon for $229.

This 4 inch iPod Touch competitor features a 1GHz processor, 8GB of internal storage with SD card slot (expandable up to 32GB), 3.2 MP rear camera, VGA front camera, Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth, and Android 2.2 with Market access.

May

[Rumor] Throw Out Your Credit Cards And Grab A Nexus S 4G - Google May Be Rolling Out Mobile Payment Services Using NFC On May 26th

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Google, News, Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Rumors, Sprint

The tech world has been abuzz about NFC (near field communication) for the last several months, and it appears that Big Goog may be rolling out the mobile payment service that utilizes it in a couple of days. According to Bloomberg, Google has a press event set for May 26th, where the service should be officially announced. The initial launch is rumored to include five cities - New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

Once implemented, the system will allow owners of the Nexus S 4G on Sprint to pay and use coupons with a simple wave-of-the-phone.

May

News360 Brings User-Specific News Aggregation From Your Personal Cloud To Android Honeycomb Tablets

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you're into accurate, concise, well organized news stories and you have a Honeycomb tablet, then News360 is the app for you. It brings over 1500 news sources into one stream, neatly organized into appropriate categories. You can select which companies, people, providers, and locations to include in your feed, so you only see the news that interests you.

News360 gathers information from your cloud (with your permission, of course) - Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Google Reader, etc. to create a personal stream just for you. You also have the choice to connect News360 directly to your Facebook account so it can pull your interests and import them into your news feed.

May

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Play Tegra Zone Games On Non-Tegra Devices With Chainfire3D

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Development, News

Yesterday, we told you about the OpenGL video driver Chainfire3D. At the time, there was a common question: what can you really do with this? Some crafty XDA users have set out to prove exactly what you can do using CF3D, and here at AP, we all think it's nothing short of awesome.

In the past, we've highlighted several games specifically for Tegra devices, and we felt the backlash from users that wanted these games but lacked the proper hardware (read: no Tegra). Now, however, it is possible to play Tegra-specific games on non-Tegra devices, thanks to the CPU emulation and a few plugins in CF3D.

May

Barnes And Noble Unveils The Next Nook: 2 Months Of Battery Life, Android, E-Ink, And More For $140

Posted by David Ruddock in Barnes & Noble, News, Nook

It seems Barnes and Noble gave everyone a bit of a surprise today. It was expected that the bookseller would be launching a 3G version of its wildly popular NOOK e-reader (or maybe even a 3G NOOKcolor), but instead, B&N went straight for the competition's throat, launching the 6-inch e-ink display sporting, Android-powered (albeit Android 2.1) NOOK Simple Touch Reader. And all for the low, low cost of $140 - a price suspiciously reminiscent of a certain other e-book reader.

Look mom, no buttons!

Anyway, as I said, the screen is e-ink - so you're only getting black and white. But you're also getting absolutely ridiculous battery life: B&N claims 2 months on a single charge with Wi-Fi turned off.

May

Pantech Vega No.5 To Be Released In Korea This Month, Sports A 1.5GHz Dual-Core Snapdragon And 1GB Of RAM

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Pantech

If you've been looking for a not-small-enough-to-be-a-phone-but-not-big-enough-to-be-a-tablet device (and the Dell Streak 5 just isn't your cup of tea), then the upcoming Pantech Vega No.5 may be just what the doctor ordered. Before we dive into the specs, you should be aware that there is no word on when (or if) the Vega No.5 will ever become available internationally, but it will be available in Korea later this month.

With that out of the way, here are the deetz:

5" 800*480 display
1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
1GB DDR2 RAM
16GB On-board storage
8MP rear camera with 1080p video capture
front camera (no exact specs given)
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

And a 5 minute video demo:

It definitely looks like the Vega No.5 packs a nice punch underneath its semi-large hood.

May

[Rumor] Acer To Unveil Intel-Based Honeycomb Tablet At Computex Next Week?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Acer, News, Rumors

Remember last month when Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that they were actively working on porting Honeycomb to x86 processors with hopes of providing us with Intel powered Honeycomb tablets within the year? Well, it turns out that Acer may unveil the first tablet of the bunch at Computex this year: a 10.1 inch, Oak Trail sporting beast, according to Digitimes.

It's rumored that we could see this yet-unnamed tablet on the streets as early as July, but we'll just have to wait and see how that pans out.

That's really all that's know at this point, but I have a feeling that we should get a lot more info when Computex starts one week from today.

May

Confirmed: EVO 3D's Bootloader, Recovery, and Kernel Images All Locked Down

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Development, EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News, Sprint

Last Updated: June 1st, 2011

Update: If you've somehow inexplicably ended up at this article, please note, HTC has since announced the 3D will be unlocked (at some point) and their future policy is to have unlocked bootloaders on all devices.

It seems HTC has finally caved to what are likely the security demands of wireless carriers with its newest phones, and is locking down its handsets Moto-style. Latest case in point: the EVO 3D - which sports the same sort of security we found on the Sensation earlier this month. In other words, good luck cracking into this thing.

Before we get any further, there seems to be some confusion on what exactly is "locked down." Let's clear that up: the bootloader image itself is not encrypted.