News - 758/944 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

XOOM Owners Rejoice! Adobe Flash 10.2 Set To Launch In One Week, On March 18

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

Last night we told you about the update to the Motorola XOOM that has been rolling out which gives the tablet the promised capability to use Flash. Capability is the key word there, because XOOM owners still won't be able to experience Flash on their tabs until the final piece of the puzzle (Adobe's 10.2 Flash update) arrives. We now know when that will be, as Adobe has announced via their blog that it will be released next Friday, March 18.

As for the rest of us non-XOOM Android users, the update should also deliver some goodies, including enhanced performance for the Atrix 4G and LG Optimus 2X.

Mar

Android Survives Hacking Competition - iOS, Blackberry Get "Pwned"

Posted by Will Shanklin in News

With all of the recent concern about malware in the Android Market, it may lead one to make the generalization that the Android OS is nothing but a big loser in the mobile security department. It looks like that may be a faulty conclusion, if the results from hacking competition Pwn2Own are any indication. In this year's contest, held at the CanSecWest Security Conference, Android and Windows Phone 7 both survived unscathed, while iOS and Blackberry fell to the hackers.

Pwn2Own is a computer hacking contest where cyber attackers attempt to hack into a variety of devices and browsers, both mobile and desktop.

Mar

Samsung's Photoshop Deception: The Real Thickness Of The 8.9" Galaxy Tab

Posted by Will Shanklin in Galaxy Tab, News

If you saw our post the other day about Samsung's teaser image for their rumored 8.9" Galaxy Tab (expected to be announced at CTIA later this month), you may have seen what appeared to be an extremely thin tablet. At a casual glance, it looks svelte enough to give the .34" thick iPad 2 a run for its money in its lack of girth. Then a diligent tipster shared his homework with us and, well, it looks like Samsung has been using some Photoshop lighting effects to create a bit of an illusion.

First, see the image as presented by Samsung and posted on Android Police this week:

Unless you are viewing it from the perfect angle on your screen, it looks, as we described it, "razor-thin," does it not?

Mar

Angry Birds Seasons Updates For St. Patrick's Day, Brings The Drunken Heat To The Pigs

Posted by Brad Ganley in Apps/Games, Games, News

Last Updated: May 4th, 2011

If you haven't checked the Android Market for updates recently, you may not have noticed that Angry Birds Seasons updated to incorporate St. Patrick's Day into its pig-smashing holiday repertoire. Now you'll have something for your non-beer-holding hand to do while you pound those green brews (or green McDonald's milk shakes, for you youngins) during everyone's favorite celebration of superfluous, oddly-colored beer imbibition. They've re-done all the characters and levels in the usual Seasons fashion, and, honestly, this is one of my personal favorites:

You can grab it right now from the Android Market:

Angry Birds Seasons

As a rule, I don't condone drunken bird-throwing but, because it's a holiday, I may just make an exception.

Mar

[Update: Rooted? Roll Back To Stock] First Motorola XOOM OTA Update Will Prepare It For The Upcoming Flash 10.2 Release; Rollout Starts Tonight

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Motorola, News, XOOM

As you may know, one of Motorola XOOM's current biggest drawbacks is the absence of Adobe Flash, necessary to view Flash-powered websites and play Flash games. While this feature is widely advertised, Motorola warned us that the tablet would actually ship without Flash support bundled in, but will be updated to include it in a few weeks.

Well, the "in a few weeks" part is almost here, as @Motorola just tweeted that the XOOM's first over-the-air update is slated to start rolling out tonight to get the device fully ready for Flash 10.2. This doesn't mean the Flash Player application will be rolled out - it will likely just show up in the Market when it's ready instead, but it does mean that your XOOM will be ready to have it installed right away.

Mar

Latest SwiftKey Keyboard Beta Hits VIP Members, Offers Much Improved Prediction And Finally Adds Option For Arrow Keys

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Even though SwiftKey has always been my favorite keyboard in theory, I've never been able to truly make the move from the HTC keyboard on my EVO to it for one reason - it didn't have arrow keys exposed on the main screen. Prediction was also about the same - sometimes worse, sometimes better, so I stuck with the HTC stock offering, giving SwiftKey's new versions a try here and there.

Everything changed with the new beta that was just sent to VIP members (if you are one of them, you can grab the download link from here). Not only is the new prediction engine much better than before, but there is finally a checkbox in the options for arrow keys that users without trackballs need so badly.

Mar

[Deal Alert] Nexus S Only $100 (On Contract) At Best Buy

Posted by Will Shanklin in Deals, News

If you are looking to grab a Nexus S sometime soon, you might want to check out this deal from Best Buy. The retailer has just offered Google's latest flagship phone for $99.99 with a 2-year T-Mobile activation.

The deal on the Gingerbread-running smartphone runs from now until March 23, so you have a couple of weeks to take advantage of it. It looks like you have to be enrolled in Best Buy's Reward Zone program to be eligible and the promo on their website lists the offer as being "in store only." Those interested can head over to Best Buy for details.

Mar

Meet Scoreloop - A Helping Hand For iOS Game Developers To Come To Android

Posted by Will Shanklin in Games, News

The future of Android gaming is looking very bright these days. Just a day after news came that portions of a $100 million Chinese fund would be devoted to helping iOS developers port their games to Android, another company, Scoreloop, has revealed its own very different approach to the same goal. Scoreloop's method is to offer an entire assistance program that holds the hands of devs every step of the way from Cupertino to Mountain View.

If you run a business that offers a platform to handle the social elements of mobile games, you would naturally want to expand your business with new developer clients.

Mar

Another New RSS App? Feedly Is One That May Be Worth Checking Out

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

With no shortage of RSS reader apps in the Android Market, it's getting pretty hard for a new one to grab our attention. However, Feedly, which now has a (beta) version available in the Android Market, does manage to stand out above most of the crowd.

Having been available for some time as both a desktop browser extension and an iOS app, Feedly sports an extremely simple interface and syncs with your Google Reader account. Rather than presenting a text-only list of headlines, you get a full-screen view of your first item, complete with pictures, headlines, and the very beginning of the post.

Mar

Ticketing Marketplace StubHub Gets Punched Into The Android Market

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

Say you have some extra tickets to next week's A Flock of Seagulls concert that you want to unload, but you don't particularly want to stand outside of the gate four hours early, calling out "Need tickets?". Starting today, your Android phone can save you the time and humiliation. StubHub, the world's largest ticketing marketplace, has released an app into the Android Market.

Bought by eBay in 2007, StubHub is an online venue for buying and selling second-hand tickets. The popular website has been around for over 10 years, and thankfully, the new Android app does exactly what you would expect it to.