News - 759/938 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Marketplace Coming Soon To A Google TV Near You

Posted by Josue Alamo in Google TV, News

We now have yet another reason to rot in front of our televisions: Google will be expanding their Market to include its experimental television platform, Google TV. Ashish Arora, Product Manager of Google TV at Logtitech, broke the news at OTTCon on Tuesday.

“It will happen shortly.” said Arora during a panel discussion. “It’s a given that it will happen this year, 100 percent. We’re talking about a very short term.” Arora hopes the Market will bring about some ambitious ideas into its television sets. "It won't just be weather apps," he said. "What will be really interesting will be to tie the content to what you're watching." Cisco has begun to experiment with such tie-ins, toying with the ability to “live tweet” during broadcasts.

Mar

Wi-Fi XOOM Pre-Orders Now Live in UK: Available Next Month

Posted by Will Shanklin in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

Following an eerie silence regarding the Wi-Fi-only version of the Motorola XOOM after the launch of the Verizon model last week, we heard that it would (at some point) sell for £449.9 in the UK. How quickly things change: it now appears, in a new listing on PC World, that the price has been jacked up to £499.99. Pre-orders are now a go at the UK site, and they promise an availability date of "the first week of April."

Only UK customers can reserve their XOOM now, as we attempted to order from the US, and under the country code option, the only possible entry was "United Kingdom" (no surprise there).

Mar

[Update: Plug The Hole Yourself] Malware Monster: DroidDream Is An Android Nightmare, And We've Got More Details

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Last Updated: March 6th, 2011

Update: Google has officially acknowledged DroidDream and is taking further steps to correct it. Details can be found here: Google Acknowledges DroidDream: Remotely Wiping Apps, Removing Exploit, Making Changes To Prevent It From Happening Again.

Wow - from our perspective, it's almost like the world exploded overnight. We have more information and details on the virus - which Lookout has named "DroidDream" (the word was consistently used in package names by the malware developers) - and some updates on where things stand.

First, we're absolutely amazed at how quickly Google reacted. As mentioned last night, our own Justin Case pinged a contact and the apps were pulled from the market within minutes.

Mar

The Mother Of All Android Malware Has Arrived: Stolen Apps Released To The Market That Root Your Phone, Steal Your Data, And Open Backdoor

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Last Updated: March 6th, 2011

Update 2: Google has officially acknowledged DroidDream and is taking further steps to correct it. Details can be found here: Google Acknowledges DroidDream: Remotely Wiping Apps, Removing Exploit, Making Changes To Prevent It From Happening Again

Update: For more details on DroidDream, check out out the follow-up post. It includes more information about the virus and how it works, who's to blame, and provides a link to a flashable .ZIP that prevents the virus from working.

Openness - the very characteristic of Android that makes us love it - is a double-edged sword. Redditor lompolo has stumbled upon a perfect example of that fact; he's noticed that a publisher has taken "...

Mar

45 Best (And 2 WTF) New Android Apps, Games, And Live Wallpapers From Last Week (2/22/11 - 3/1/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Last Updated: June 28th, 2011

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous week's roundup? Find it here: 30 Best (And 2 WTF) New Android Apps, Games, And Live Wallpapers From Last Week (2/16/11 – 2/21/11)

Apps

Notifo

The first app today is not really an app - it's an app and a service, called Notifo.

Mar

If You Drive A Saab, Your Car May Soon Be Android-Powered

Posted by Will Shanklin in Android OS, News

Auto manufacturer Saab today announced the arrival of their IQon "Infotainment system," which will use Android to power a variety of functions in vehicles.

While used largely for entertainment (music, video), it will also incorporate Navigation and will even monitor the car's on-board computer (external devices are generally used for this purpose now). They boast that it will allow upgrading, personalizing, and even "downloading apps like a smartphone" (I can see the 'don't play Angry Birds and drive' PSAs now). The promo video below shows this taking place in an on-board panel, much like a mounted tablet.

No word as of yet to whether the Saab will be rootable or if Cyanogen will be developing it.

Mar

Updated: Verizon Confirms What It Has Been Saying For A Year: Unlimited Data Is Going Away, Say Hello To Tiers

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Verizon Wireless

While some people were unable to contemplate the possibility that Verizon's all-you-can-eat data plans would be coming to an end, Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo again affirmed the carrier's commitment to move to a tiered system today. When will life start to suck for new or upgrading Verizon customers? This Summer, apparently.

"But David, I already have an unlimited data contract, they have to honor that!" Why yes, they do. Until you want to upgrade to a 4G device, and you have to sign a completely "new" rate plan contract. AT&T is already doing this with the Inspire 4G - if you upgrade from any previous device to the Inspire, AT&T forces you into their limited data plans because your "service" has changed (to "4G").

Mar

LG Optimus Pad (G-Slate) For T-Mobile Apparently Priced At $700

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Optimus Pad / G-Slate

More news has trickled out for the high-end tablet releases we are about to see. This time it appears that the upcoming Optimus Pad/G-Slate from LG will be priced at $699.99 on T-Mobile, according to a pre-order listing on Mobile City.

LG's 8.9" tablet will be the first to incorporate 3D technology, and, like most other new tablets we will be seeing soon, it will have Android 3.0 'Honeycomb' under the hood. No firm release date has been set.

The off-contract price for the 4G-ready tablet is in the same ballpark as the first generation iPad 3G (which obviously weighs heavily in determining costs), but if the same pattern holds as with the Motorola XOOM, we may not see a Wi-Fi-only model at release.

Mar

Amazon Appstore Developer Blog Is Packed With Details, From The Appstore Requirements & Layout To Tips To Help Your App Succeed - Android News, Reviews, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets, Tips, Mods, Videos, Tutorials - Android Police

Is Amazon's Android Market Set To Launch This Month?

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

That Android Market rival that Amazon.com has been preparing may be set to launch soon. If a recent tweet by advertising platform Millennial Media is correct, then it will be going live later this month.

While much is still unknown of the web retail behemoth's answer to the Android Market, their Developers' Blog did recently reveal several tidbits, including:

Your apps are linked to your Amazon account, and any apps you purchase will be pre-installed on Android devices you order from them
The style of the app listings will be consistent with Amazon.com's pages for any other product

Is there currently room for another store for Android apps?