News - 826/946 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

Deal Alert: Archos 5 500GB Android Tablet Sees Its Lowest Price Yet - $255 (49% Off MSRP)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in 5, ARCHOS, Deals, News

The Archos 5 has never been the most popular Android tablet - it has its plusses and minuses, but the 500GB version at almost half off that popped up on Amazon today may make you forgive and forget some of its flaws. Considering that with the Market hack, Archos 5 gets full access to the Android Market, this little device could end up being the largest portable media hub you can get for the price.

Handy price history, courtesy of CamelCamelCamel (I just love that site name) below:

Source: Amazon

Dec

All Droids (Excluding The Pro) Now Part Of Verizon's Holiday Buy One Get One Free Offer

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Deals, Droid 2 Global, Droid X (Shadow), HTC, Incredible, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

With the cheapest one costing $149.99, Verizon's Droids aren't exactly stocking stuffers, but at least the price comes with double the value now. That's right - the infamous BOGO (buy one, get one free) deal has now been extended to the carrier's flagship Android devices... all except the Droid Pro, that is. Additionally, the original Droid 2 is excluded from the ad despite being part of the deal, most likely because its global brethren already appears in the ad. However, why the Droid Pro is being left out of the fun is anyone's guess.

Source: VZW via Phandroid

Dec

Kite UI Is The Next Mind-Bending Android UI Concept, Looking For More Coders

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News

Despite the frequency with which I check the XDA forums, I'd never heard of Kite UI before today. You may think that another UI alternative is the last thing Android needs, but give Kite UI a glance and you'll realize it's pretty mind-blowingly awesome... or at least, the concept video makes it look that way.

At the moment, the project is still in the process of being coded, but the team is looking for help. Yesterday, they released a teaser video that provides a brief demonstration of what they have in mind, and it looks damn impressive. Check it out:

Think you've got the coding know-how to help speed this on its way to reality?

Dec

[Updated] "Similar"/"Related" Tabs Appearing In The Market For Android Users

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Last Updated: December 4th, 2010

Update: ~~Looks like it's not~~ We're not sure if it's the Flash update that does it - that was just a coincidence for Brian and utcarbs (update: And Bateluer in the comments). We're also not sure which phones this is affecting... I've tried updating Flash on my EVO, as well as uninstalling and reinstalling, to no avail. --Aaron

Update #2: As I expected, this is definitely not related to Flash. I updated Flash yesterday and didn't get the new tab. Today, I updated some random programs and the tab showed up. I'm pretty sure the Market UI is server-side, so checking the Market app's version does not help (my /system/app/Vending.apk is 1.82).

Dec

T-Mobile UK Delays Android 2.2 Update For Samsung Galaxy S Devices Yet Again After Announcing It Was Ready

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Froyo 2.2, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

T-Mobile UK is certainly digging itself into a ditch on this one, and seriously pissing customers off in the process. You can't really blame people for being upset: after promising the Froyo update for Samsung Galaxy S owners by November 30 via FOTA, then reiterating just two days ago that the update was ready to roll out, they've now pushed it back at least a week. Turns out they're also not going to be able to do it over-the-air, either - rather, it's going to be installed with Samsung KIES instead. The official post on T-Mobile UK's support forum:

Hi folks

I've been talking to the handset team and the Samsung people today and the latest news is as follows.

Dec

Android Gingerbread UI Gets Exposed In The Crispest Video To Date

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Videos

Wow, this went unnoticed for a while, didn't it? On November 23rd, Google's own GoogleinHK YouTube account posted a video walkthrough of the new Google Voice Search in Cantonese. With only 2100 views, this official Google-authored video did not grab anyone's attention, until someone noticed that it featured over a minute of the clearest Gingerbread user interface video we've seen to date. The greens, the blacks - it's all there. Have a look:

Update #2: the original video was pulled but luckily, I found another copy:

Update #3: another mirror, in case Google takes down our YouTube mirror.

Dec

Lookout Mobile Security Helps Track A Stolen DInc. Oh, And Recover The Car It Was In. And Arrest The Armed Robber

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News

You have a security app, like Lookout or Theft Aware, on your precious Android device, don't you? I hope you do, as you never know when tracking your handset's whereabouts may lead to not only a successful recovery of the little guy, but also the arrest of the perp who had robbed you a few minutes earlier and took your car with him.

A New Jersey man named Stalin (ironically, he was the victim here) was leaving his home when he was suddenly jumped by a robber, armed with a gun. The robber took Stalin's car and sped away, happily celebrating the easy escape.

Dec

Android Platform Version Stats Updated Again, Froyo Now Dominant

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Cupcake 1.5, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, News

If you love devouring Android stats, Google's Android Platform Versions sub-site, which is updated about once a month, just got refreshed with the latest batch of data. Last month, Froyo ate up some 36% of the pie, while Éclair was found to be running on about 41% of devices, with the remaining 23% being taken up by Cupcake and Donut.

As you can see for yourself in the graph above, this month was quite a turn-around - Froyo (at 43.4%) finally stole the throne from Éclair, which was left with 39.6%. As for 1.5 (Cupcake) and 1.6 (Donut), they each gobbled up 6.3% and 10.6%, respectively.

Dec

T-Mobile UK's Samsung Galaxy S Now Receiving Froyo Update Over The Air, T-Mobile US Still Sleeping At The Wheel

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Froyo 2.2, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

While Galaxy S owners here in the States are still (im)patiently awaiting the update to Android 2.2, it looks like users on T-Mobile UK's network are already enjoying the wonders of Froyo. Yes, the update that was initially scheduled for September is only now rolling out.

Luckily, T-Mobile's European brother has (slightly) sweetened the deal with a nice twist - although the update was originally supposed to be made available exclusively through Samsung's Kies software for Windows-based PCs, the carrier has seen fit to add an OTA version into the mix. That doesn't mean Kies has been completely left out of the fun, though - if "reasons out of our [T-Mobile's] control" interfere with the OTA update, users can still hook their phones up to their (Windows-based) computers, start up Kies, and download the update in the same manner most other European carriers are having users do.

Dec

Official Google Reader Android App Now In The Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Completely unexpectedly and without much fanfare, Google just dropped its official Google Reader app into the Market. I gave it a quick look and found that it's basically a great interface to the mobile version, lacking any advanced features (such as pre-caching) or settings.

The 3 great things about it are:

Google Reader login integration, which uses your phone's built-in Google auth, after you grant it permission. This means the app never asks for login credentials.
The app syncs everything with the web version very seamlessly.
It's fast and doesn't hang anywhere, unlike gReader.

Now the bad things: