News - 764/976 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

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AutoDesk To Bring AutoCAD To Android On April 20

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you're a designer, architect, or construction contractor (or know someone who is) then there's a good chance that you've heard of AutoCAD. For those that haven't - AutoCAD is software made for 2D/3D design and drafting - and now it's coming to Android. There has been a version available for iOS under the name AutoCAD WS for some time now, and with the increasing number of requests for an Android version, AutoDesk decided that it was time to oblige.

The mobile versions of the AutoCAD software is not meant for exclusive use, though - it's more of a "lite" version.

Apr

Critical Vulnerability Found In Adobe Flash For Android, Probably No Cause For Concern

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, News

With a great plugin comes great responsibility - to avoid malicious Flash files, that is. A zero-day exploit has been discovered in Adobe Flash that affects all Android versions of the software, Adobe announced today.

The most common vessel for the exploit is (fortunately) a Microsoft document (.doc) email attachment with an embedded Flash file (.swf) - and I'm not aware of any Word document viewers/editors in Android that support embedded Flash. Once the Flash file is executed, the exploiter can run malicious code on the target device. How, or whether, this could affect Android is unknown.

Still, it's important to remember that Adobe's products, ever the target of hackers and shady enterprise, share common elements across operating systems - including, at times, potentially dangerous flaws and exploits.

Apr

Dual-Core HTC Sensation Official, Coming To T-Mobile USA As Sensation 4G This Summer

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), T-Mobile, Vodafone

HTC just announced via Twitter that the Sensation is a go - posting pictures on its Facebook page of the device at various seductive angles, as well as this video:

Did we mention it's coming to T-Mobile? And it'll be sporting an HSPA+ radio to take advantage of T-Mobile's 4G network. Unfortunately, it won't be available until this summer.

Earlier, Mobile Bulgaria (which, as of this writing, is down) stumbled upon a Vodafone product page for HTC's upcoming dual-core Android handset, the Sensation (aka the Pyramid). Availability for Europe and Asia will be throughout Q2 - no exact dates have been announced.

Apr

Sprint Motorola XOOM With WiMAX 4G Now Imminent

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, News, Sprint, XOOM

Boy Genius Report dropped a piece of information this afternoon confirming a long-standing suspicion that the Motorola XOOM will soon be available on America's most budget-friendly carrier, Sprint - and it'll be packing a WiMAX 4G radio.

The tip came via Sprint store employees, who found XOOM case SKUs in the Sprint inventory system, along with an actual case in an accessory shipment, as shown below.

Pricing has not yet been made public, but expect some kind of subsidy to be available with a 2-year agreement.

Is the WiMAX-ified XOOM just what you've been waiting for? Or do you like your XOOMs cheaper, contract-free, with only the wi-fize and fewer gee-beez?

Apr

[Download] Skype With Video Chat For The HTC Thunderbolt

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Well, well, well, look at what we've got here - it's none other than the elusive Skype for the HTC Thunderbolt! If you remember, Skype was supposed to be pre-installed on the Thunderbolt but didn't actually make it onto the final product. We also told you that Skype Mobile for Android with video was coming to all VZW LTE devices back in January, and it looks like we're finally getting what was promised. I don't have a Thunderbolt myself, but from what I've heard from our own Justin Case, it works flawlessly on 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi, all with superb video quality.

Apr

The ASUS EEE Pad Transformer Has Been Rooted, But The Method's Not Up For Grabs Quite Yet

Posted by Cameron Summerson in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer, News

The Asus EEE Pad Transformer has yet to hit US soil and it has only been out in the UK for a short amount of time, but thanks to a collaborative effort from Android hackers @PauOBrien and @BumbleDroid, it's already been rooted. The method is still very rough around the edges right now, and it's not ready for prime time use just yet - for example, there is no backup method (such as Nandroid) - but that should be coming down the pike soon.

This is great news for those looking to pick this little bad boy up once it's released in the US since a more stable method of gaining root (and possibly custom ROMs) will most likely be available by then.

Apr

[HTC EVO 4G] Undervolt Your AOSP Kernel To Improve Battery Life

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), News

This is for rooted users only.

We all want to squeeze every last little bit of juice out of our devices that we can, and if you happen to have a rooted HTC EVO 4G running an AOSP kernel (such as the one that ships with CyanogenMod), then XDA member -viperboy- just made your life a little bit better. Thanks to him, there is now an easy to way to undervolt your kernel, by way of four flashable .zip files.

Generally speaking, AOSP kernels are volted to support several different devices, so it stands to reason that some devices could handle lower voltages.

Apr

Adobe Makes A Trio Of Android-Related Creative Suite 5.5 Announcements: PS Touch SDK, Flash Builder 4.5/Flex 4.5, And Flash Builder 4.5 For PHP

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, News

Adobe, the maker of the Creative Suite of applications, such as Photoshop, Acrobat, and Flash, is starting out the week with a whole array of new CS 5.5 announcements, with many new or updated features that deal directly with Android.

These announcements are great news for:

developers interested in building Android tablet applications that can interact directly with Photoshop using the new Photoshop Touch SDK (download it here). Example applications using the SDK were introduced by Adobe, though only for iOS for starters.
multi-platform developers looking to build, test, and deploy Flash and Air apps for multiple platforms, such as Blackberry Tablet OS, iOS, and, of course, Android, with the new Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5.

Apr

9 Innings Baseball Brings Awesome, Statistically Correct Gameplay To Your Phone

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of baseball. Naturally, I don't spend a lot of time digging through the Android Market looking for the next great baseball game to spend some time with. However, every once in a while someone will share an app with me that catches my attention, regardless of what it's about. That's exactly what happened this weekend with Com2Us's 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011. Initially, I thought it was some sort of fantasy baseball style game, until I watched the video, which actually really surprised me. Check it out:

9 Innings strays away from the mundane, typical style of virtual baseball and offers three modes of play - Exhibition, League, and Homerun.

Apr

Samsung Galaxy S II Invading The UK On May 1, Bringing 1.2GHz Of Firepower With It

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S II, News, Samsung

In a press release sent out this morning, Samsung has announced that the Galaxy S II will be hitting UK shelves on May 1 - and that it will be targeting all major networks and retailers. The flagship of Samsung's Mobile Division has had its armament upped prior to release, cranking the device's dual-core Exynos processor to an impressive 1.2GHz.

We got to spend a little time with the Galaxy S II at CTIA last month, and the device's slim proportions (8.49mm thick) and light weight were difficult to believe in light of its dual-core status - it's a stealth fighter among jumbo jets like the ATRIX or BIONIC.