News - 757/946 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Which Carrier's Network Is Really The Fastest? One Study Attempts To Answer

Posted by Will Shanklin in AT&T, News, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

They say "talk is cheap" - and these days it seems like every major US wireless carrier is claiming to have the fastest 4G (of course 4G is a highly debatable marketing term that describes three vastly different networks, but that's fodder for another post altogether). It's relatively easy to tune all of the marketing hype out but, when presented with some solid numbers, it gets easier to pay attention. PC World has tried to give us some raw data to work with in their profiling of the data speeds on the four major providers.

There are, however, a couple of very important things to keep in mind before viewing these results:

PC World measured the best service they could get (whether 3G or 4G) over 260 locations in 13 cities.

Mar

[Review] Wave Launcher Is Like Having WebOS On A Phone That You Actually Want

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

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

WebOS may catch a lot of flack because it never really took off but it does, in fact, have some really awesome features. One feature was the card view multitasking, which has already found its way onto Android. Another cool thing it did was that wacky swipe-up-from-the-bottom launcher gesture. Well, folks, guess what there's an app for now. It's called Wave Launcher - and it's great.

Wave Launcher's beauty is in its simplicity, just like its WebOS predecessor. You simply touch the bottom edge of your screen and swipe up. As you swipe up, so does a bar of five or more applications for you to select.

Mar

HTC Thunderbolt Launching March 17, Wirefly Taking Pre-orders Starting Tonight At Midnight

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

We have learned from a number of trusted sources that the much-anticipated HTC Thunderbolt will launch this Thursday, March 17. We have also learned that online retailer Wirefly will be offering pre-orders starting at midnight (PST) tonight. The site's Thunderbolt page has not yet been updated to reflect this, but they announced it via their Facebook page. Verizon's first LTE smartphone lists for $249.99, but Wirefly is promising a "special price" for their customers.

After a series of frustrating delays and false rumors, anxious Verizon customers can now breathe a sigh of relief as the launch is finally concrete.

Mar

Want To See Android's Meteoric Rise In A Graph? Appbrain Introduces "Android Stats"

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

With the recent release of Google's Android Web Market, app discovery site Appbrain's relevance has been threatened and perhaps they see a future in statistical reporting. The website has introduced a new tracking system for the Android Market, which they like to call "Appbrain Android Stats."

The initial offering from Appbrain's new service finds the following:

There are now 150,000 apps available in the Market (this contradicts a report from Business Insider, which claims that there are currently 250,000 apps - we tend to think Apprain's is likely more accurate)
The most popular Android phone among AppBrain users is the Samsung Galaxy S
The most used Android version is Froyo
The category with the most apps is 'Entertainment'

If charts are your thing, Appbrain has those too.

Mar

Sprint Says "The Wait Is Almost Over" For The Two Guys Awaiting The Kyocera Echo - Launching April 17

Posted by Will Shanklin in Echo, Kyocera, News, Sprint

Sprint's just announced that the upcoming Kyocera Echo will be released on April 17 and will sell for $199 (on a two-year contract, of course). Customers will be able to reserve the dual-screen flippity doo starting March 26.

The novelty phone sports two displays, each 3.5" with a resolution of 800x480. It has a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon processor and will run Android 2.2 Froyo at launch. While innovative designs are always welcome, an overhyped unveiling (featuring illusionist David Blaine) and ho-hum specs have led some to ridicule Kyocera's latest Android device long before its release date was announced. It has not exactly been the most anticipated smartphone around the Android blogs, so the announcement that "The Wait is Almost Over" in Sprint's press release is sure to draw a few guffaws.

Mar

Number Of Apps In Android Market Rapidly Gaining On Apple's App Store, But Android Tablets Aren't So Lucky

Posted by Will Shanklin in Android OS, Applications, News

If your Apple fanboy friends (surely you have at least one somewhere) like to taunt you with the old "iOS has more apps than Android" spiel, then you may not have to grudgingly agree with them for much longer. Business Insider published data this week that shows the Android Market's number of apps continuing to rapidly approach the amount of apps in Apple's marketplace. While the Market's trailing of the App Store by 100,000 applications would not, at a casual glance, appear to be encouraging, the rate of growth is clearly in Android's favor. In October that same gap was 185,000.

Mar

"The Donor" - Sony Ericsson's New Xperia Play Commercial Explains The Missing Thumbs, Creepiness Included

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Sony Ericsson, Videos, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

Remember the first Xperia Play commercial that aired during Super Bowl? The one with Andy getting human thumbs attached to his green hands so he can play games? Yeah, the one that sent creepy chills down so many kids' spines (although, personally, I absolutely loved it).

Have you ever wondered where the thumbs came from? Was it some homeless person they had to kill or do thumbs grow on trees around where Sony Ericsson execs live? Turns out, neither. I won't spoil it for you, but this video SE released clarifies it perfectly, in the same creepy, Saw-like manner as before.

Mar

All Signs Pointing To HTC Launching A 10" Honeycomb Tablet In June?

Posted by Will Shanklin in HTC, News, Rumors

After HTC's upcoming Flyer tablet was announced and previewed, many were bewildered that their debut offering in the tablet game was a 7" single-core slate that runs Gingerbread and totes a stylus. If recent leaks from retailers hold any water, then the Taiwanese manufacturer may have something else (much better?) in store. Two leaked internal document show a 10" Honeycomb tablet from HTC launching in June.

Two leaks from separate outlets show different versions of the same list. Droid Life cites the document coming from Staples, while Pre Central describes their similar document as originating from "a major retailer." The majority of the slates listed are nothing new (including the XOOM and the Galaxy Tab), but HTC's June release of a Honeycomb tablet with a "TBD" price certainly jumps out as new.

Mar

The XOOM's Rival Approaches - Galaxy Tab 10.1 Profiled In 11 Minute Video

Posted by Will Shanklin in Galaxy Tab 10.1, News

Have you been salivating over the Motorola XOOM, but holding back from taking the plunge until you have seen what Samsung, LG, and others have to offer in the 10" tab department? You can cross one of those off of the list as Samsung's upcoming slate has been thoroughly taken through the wringers in a full 11 minute video.

There isn't necessarily any groundbreaking information revealed, but seeing the tablet in action for such a lengthy period gave me a much clearer sense of what the tablet will look and feel like. It certainly looks very similar to the XOOM (as we knew it would).

Mar

Angry Birds Rio Will Be Exclusive To The Amazon App Store

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Games, News

With the film Rio set for release shortly, Rovio has partnered exclusively with Amazon to bring the hotly anticipated Angry Birds Rio to the Android platform.

Interestingly, Rovio has decided not to use their old partners GetJar for the launch of this eagerly awaited game; instead it will be available exclusively through the Amazon Appstore. It is unclear at this time exactly how long this exclusive agreement will last and when the game will debut in the Android Market. Suffice to say this is a major coup for Amazon's still nascent app store.

The developers of Rovio have been working with 20th Century Fox to bring the heroes of the film Blu and Jewel - two rare macaws - to life.