News - 783/942 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

CLIQ XT Owners To Be Forever Stuck In Android 1.5 Hell But Motorola Bets They'll Loooove The CLIQ 2

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ 2, CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), Motorola, News, T-Mobile

Even though Motorola's original CLIQ received a 2.1 upgrade a long time ago, CLIQ XT owners have been patiently (and impatiently) waiting for the good news ever since. Unfortunately, it will never come, as Motorola's official decision, posted on their Android Software Upgrade News, is to forever doom it to 1.5. It is hard to imagine which differences between the original CLIQ and the XT prompted Motorola to refuse the upgrade, because the phones are really very much the same, and the biggest difference between them is the physical keyboard on the CLIQ.

As if that wasn't enough, about a week ago, Motorola/T-Mobile sent a lovely targeted email to all CLIQ XT owners (in addition to Backflip and potentially some others), inviting them to upgrade to the CLIQ 2.

Feb

The Android Effect: HTC's Gross Profit Has Tripled Since Introduction Of Nexus One

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, News, Nexus One (Passion), Off-Topic

Business Insider took a look at HTC's gross profit, and noticed something interesting: since the introduction of the Nexus One, the company's gross profit has nearly tripled. Although the Nexus One was a flop by sales standards (although certainly not by consumer standards - I've yet to meet an N1 owner who doesn't swear by the phone), there were clearly positive implications in building the device for HTC.

It's hard to say what caused the massive increase - whether because building the flagship device provided the company with valuable experience, because it coincided with Android hitting its stride, or because of the attention the company received for being chosen by Google.

Feb

Mythical T-Mobile HTC Pyramid Rumoured With A 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in HTC, News, T-Mobile

Another day, another Android phone rumour. Android And Me received a tip from a "regular source" about HTC's first dual-core smartphone set to launch on T-Mobile in May 2011. The phone, codenamed the "Pyramid", will reportedly feature a 1.2GHz dual-core MSM8260 Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, a 4.3-inch qHD display (with a resolution of 960x540), and support for T-Mobile's HSPA+ network for 4G connectivity.

We do not wish to speculate on the veracity of this rumour, however Taylor from Android And Me has stated that the regular source has provided accurate information in the past and in this case, TmoNews has confirmed the rumour through another independent source.

Feb

Honeycomb Will Come With An "Encrypt Tablet" Feature - Business Users And Spies Rejoice

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

Earlier yesterday, Google demoed some of Honeycomb's most impressive features, however one of its best features seems to have slipped under the radar. While playing around with the Motorola XOOM, Engadget noticed an "Encrypt Tablet" option in the settings page.

At this time little is known about the encryption standard that will be used or whether the encryption process will affect the tablet's other features in any way. All that is known is that your accounts, settings, downloaded applications, media, and other files will be encrypted, and you will require a numeric PIN or password to decrypt the data. Additionally, it will take an hour (or more) to encrypt all your data.

Feb

For fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu Fans: Forever Alone SMS Widget For Stock Messaging App

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News, Off-Topic

Those of you who are familiar with F7U12 (FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU) comics will appreciate this: developer Jor dan has released a Forever Alone widget for the stock messaging app. When your unread SMS count is 0, the widget displays the Forever Alone face. When you have unread messages, it switches to the happy Forever Alone face (coincidentally, is there an official name for that?) and shows the count.

If this doesn't make sense to you because you're not familiar with the meme, perhaps the screenshots can help clarify:

^{Left: no unread messages because you're forever alone. Right: Yaaay, 2 unread messages!}

The app is free and available now in the market.

Feb

[Recap] Missed Today's Honeycomb Event? Here's All You Need To Know + Watch It In Full On YouTube

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Videos, XOOM

Today has definitely been one of the more exciting days this year, at least in the Android department. Last week, Google sent out invitation for a Honeycomb-related event, where we, of course, were expecting detailed walkthroughs of Android 3.0 and hands-on with the Motorola XOOM.

Rumors of the web store that was promised almost a year ago as well as Google Music, teased at the same time at Google I/O last year, were flying, and one of them definitely came true today - we've finally got ourselves a web-based Market with over-the-air app installations.

Instead of Google Music, we got a different present in the form of in-app purchases, which will, hopefully, put an end to multiple variations of apps (Lite, keys, Demo, etc), help curb piracy, and allow for easier microtransactions within existing aps and games.

Feb

SwiftKey Announces A Tablet-Optimized, Tron-Inspired Honeycomb Keyboard

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Videos

We can't say we didn't see it coming, considering we saw this preview of the tablet-optimized SwiftKey keyboard during CES, but what SwiftKey is announcing today looks quite a bit different, to say the least.

Allow me to introduce Swiftkey Tablet - a tablet-only Honeycomb keyboard set to launch around the same time as the Motorola XOOM tablet. Sticking with the 3-way-split design, the new holographic look reminds me quite a bit of Tron. If you watch the video below, you'll see that the UI is quite... magical, with suggestions floating up when clicked. The dual space bar design and the presence of arrow keys are very welcomed as well.

Feb

"Monster Madness" And "Great Battles" Demoed On Honeycomb Tablet, Coming Within A Month

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Games, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

We've already seen a few apps shown off at Google's live Honeycomb event, including two 3D games that take full advantage of both cores on the Tegra 2 processor. Monster Madness, ported from the PS3 to Android, is a hack and slash game with amazing 3D graphics and destructible environments, while Great Battles is an epic RTS that's also called an "educational game." While that doesn't sound that cool, just take a look at the pictures of the game in action. If this is what we can expect from Tegra 2 games, gaming on Android is about to get a whole lot better - and apparently sooner rather than later, as both games are expected to be released within a month.

Feb

Super LCD-Packing Samsung Galaxy SL Official, Could Replace GT-i9000 In Some Regions

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy SL, News, Samsung

I must admit that I was very skeptical of this morning's Samsung GT-i9003 rumors, simply because they involved a Galaxy S successor with a Super LCD display. This seemed suspicious to me because Samsung has spent a lot of time hyping up Super AMOLED, but it turns out the rumors are true - the Galaxy SL, or the i9003, is now official.

Besides the addition of the aforementioned Super Clear LCD screen, the SL differentiates itself with a 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 CPU; the original Galaxy S devices were powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 "Hummingbird" processor. The phone will also ship with Android 2.2, 16 GB of internal storage, and a 1650 mAh battery (the GT-i9000 had a 1500 mAh unit) - all in a 9.9mm frame (the i9000's thickness was 10.59mm).

Feb

Dell Streak 7 Available Now - Are You Getting One?

Posted by David Ruddock in Dell, News, Streak 7, T-Mobile

The world's first 4G (subject to your definition) tablet is available now! Well, if you live on the East Coast, and assuming snow or rain or some terrible combination thereof aren't preventing you from going outside. Those of us west of the Rockies will have to wait another 2 hours before getting our Streak on, but I feel like my LA sunshine is worth it. Of course, anyone can order it online right now. Oh, and you can get it directly from Dell as well.

A quick reminder on the specs:

NVidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor
16GB internal SD storage plus SD card slot
7" WVGA display
5MP rear and 1.3MP front cameras
Android 2.2 w/ Dell Stage UI

While we were thoroughly unimpressed with the Streak 7 (see Brian's hands-on), there's no denying the attractiveness of Tegra 2 power and HSPA+ speeds.