News - 748/946 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Nostalgic For Heroes Of Might & Magic? Highborn From The Guys Who Made Command & Conquer Is Now Exclusively In The Amazon Android Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Games, News

When I was growing up in the 90s, one of my favorite games I probably spent a combined year of playing time on was Heroes Of Might And Magic, a turn-based strategy that you can play for weeks. Since each move lasts as long as you want, it's easy to keep playing whenever you have a free moment (or a block of 5 hours in my case), and the vast number of strategies, heroes, units, and resources provided for almost infinite replay value.

While not exactly HOMM, today I was very excited to see a new game, called Highborn, made by the guys at Jet Set Games, who in turn used to work in Westwood Studios, the company that made equally as infamous Command & Conquer (+ Red Alert) back in the 90s.

Mar

HTC Releases First Ad For EVO 3D - Plays And Captures 3D, Makes Popcorn

Posted by David Ruddock in EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News, Videos

HTC launched the EVO 3D's ad campaign today with a YouTube video, and it's full of all sorts of multi-dimensional panning and various "woosh" noises:

Thanks Abhishek!

Mar

First One-Click Root + S-OFF For HTC Thunderbolt Out Now

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

If you've been looking to unlock your HTC Thunderbolt but have been putting it off until a one-click solution springs up, you may start rolling up your sleeves - you've got some downloading to do. dbzfanatic from xda released the first one-click easyroot + S-OFF, which uses AndIRC's lengthy, yet effective, instructions, but wraps them up in one easy to use package. The program runs on Windows and weighs in at over 800MB, so fire up your PCs and get ready for some heavy downloading.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting
Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About: Part 1 (Apps 1-8), Part 2 (Apps 9-16)
Custom ROMs Explained And Why You Want Them
How To Fully Back Up And Restore Your Android Phone Using Nandroid Backup
How To Flash A Custom ROM To Your Android Phone With ROM Manager + Full Backup & Restore

Disclaimer: As always, Android Police, team AndIRC, and dbzfanatic accept no responsibility for any damage to your device, including potential bricking.

Mar

Rumor: Motorola Is Developing Its Own Mobile OS, Android "Shooting Itself In The Foot"

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Motorola, News

In what can only be described as a truly "WTF" moment, an inside source has informed Information Week that Motorola is in the process of developing its own web-based mobile OS. The question everyone is undoubtedly wants to ask is "why?"

The insider cites Motorola's frustration with Google's support of manufacturers, Android's fragmentation problems, and the difficulty of product differentiation in an Android-saturated smartphone market. These things together, says the tipster, have led Moto to believe Google is "shooting itself in the foot." The source of this rumor cites the fact that Motorola has quietly been picking up numerous former Apple and Adobe employees to work on the project over the past few months.

Mar

The Super-Thin Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 And 10.1: As Seen From Outside A Glass Box

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Samsung

Yesterday at CTIA, Samsung unveiled its revamped Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the all-new Galaxy Tab 8.9 (check out our live coverage of the event). Unfortunately, that's about all Samsung did with them - neither was ever powered on. Samsung's CTIA exhibit housed the new devices in glass security cases (as you can see below), while early "prototypes" of the 8.9 and 10.1 running Honeycomb with Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 overlay were available for hands-on time, in order to demonstrate some of the software the company plans to include when the devices are released.

Why no demonstrations of the thinner, lighter, sexier Tabs?

Mar

Official Formula 1 App Crosses The Android Market Finish Line, Puts You At The Heart Of The Action

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, News

The 2011 Formula One season is set to start this Sunday, and what better way to kick it off than with the introduction of the official F1 timing app for Android.

There have been a number of F1 apps available in the Android Market, however they have all had their shortcomings. Some have been slow, some have prematurely crashed, some have had cumbersome and ugly interfaces, and some just plain did not work. So, I am ecstatic that Formula1.com have finally decided to launch their own app, and I can't wait for the Australian Grand Prix this weekend to test it out.

Mar

Hands-On Video And Photos of The HTC View 4G

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in EVO View 4G, HTC, News

The second of our HD videos from yesterday's Sprint press conference has finally been uploaded (no thanks to the ultra-crappy WiFi everywhere...). Once again, a quick recap of the specs:

1.5GHz single-core CPU
1GB RAM
32 GB internal storage
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), will be updated to Android 3.0
Sense UI
WiMAX (4G)
Stylus

As mentioned in our hands-on with the EVO 3D, the View 4G features a new connector port dubbed MHL. It combines the functions of microUSB and microHDMI into one port. For more details, hit up our primer.

All things considered, the View 4G has potential in a lot of ways.

Mar

Hands-On Video And Photos Of The HTC EVO 3D

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO View 4G, HTC, News, Sprint

After the Sprint press conference officially ended, they quite literally pulled back the curtains to reveal a large viewing area, with a team of Sprint and HTC employees available to demo the HTC EVO 3D and View 4G. While we weren't allowed to get our mitts on the EVO 3D, we were allowed to play with the View 4G a bit. In both cases, the employees on the floor provided a quick hands-on of the devices. We managed to snag some HD video of the demonstrations for both devices, as well as a few photos.

As a reminder, the EVO 3D specs:

1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU
1GB RAM
4GB ROM
8GB microSD card in box (supports up to 32GB)
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Sense UI
Glasses-free 3D display
WiMAX (4G)
Dual 5MP cameras for 3D recording

The EVO 3D uses a new port called micro high-definition link (MHL), which combines microUSB and microHDMI into one port.

Mar

HTC EVO 3D And View 4G Use A Single MHL Port That Allows For Both MicroUSB And HDMI Charging - Yes, Your TV Will Charge Your Devices

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO View 4G, Galaxy S II, HTC, News

Something that surprised me at the CTIA conference yesterday was the connector port used in both the HTC EVO 3D and View 4G. Instead of 2 distinct standards, like on the EVO 4G - MicroUSB and MicroHDMI - the new EVO devices have only 1 port that uses the brand new MHL technology (Mobile High-Definition Link). And it is brilliant.

The MHL 1.0 standard, finalized a few months ago, uses a single port to connect both HDMI and MicroUSB, and get this - it is able to charge via HDMI as well. Your MHL-enabled TV, connected to your mobile device via an MHL-HDMI cable, will be able to charge it much faster than MicroUSB.

Mar

EVO 3D and EVO View 4G Officially Announced - Dual-Core EVO 3D Doesn't Have A Kickstand

Posted by Will Shanklin in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO View 4G, News, Sprint

As expected, Sprint just unveiled their upcoming EVO 3D handset and the EVO View 4G tablet. Both devices will have WiMax capabilities on Sprint's "4G" network (there was no mention of LTE, as Sprint is rumored to be transitioning to). No prices were announced today, and the release was announced as "this summer" (we expect a June-July release to compete with the iPhone 5).

HTC EVO 3D

As seen in our live blog of the event, the EVO 3D will have a 4.3" stereoscopic (for glasses-free 3D) qHD display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and dual 5MP rear cameras that capture 3D.