News - 842/945 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Nov

Rumor: T-Mobile G2 Getting WiFi Calling OTA Tomorrow

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in G2 (Vision), HTC, News, T-Mobile

It's always been interesting to me that although the $29.99 Optimus T ships with tethering capabilities, the G2 has no such feature. Of course, it's been rumored several times before that the feature is on its way, but as of today, G2 users are still in the dark.

That may all be changing soon though, as a recent leaked screenshot from TmoNews indicates that an OTA update that will begin rolling out tomorrow and finish its trip on November 8 will not only grant you tethering, but will also bring about WiFi calling. Interestingly enough, T-Mobile seems to be expecting users to discover tethering on their own though, as the screenshot instructs employees to tell customers that T-Mobile does not currently offer a tethering plan.

Nov

Exploit Found Allowing Permanent Deletion Of Files On G2's /system Partition (NAND Memory)

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Desire Z (Vision), G2 (Vision), HTC, News

You're probably aware of one of the slightly more irksome facets of the G2 that is stymying attempts at custom ROMs, namely the locked down /system partition, where the OS is kept. Heretofore it has been impossible to tinker with this internal memory in a permanent fashion. All alterations were reverted on the next boot, leading to solutions like Paul O'Brien's VISIONary soft-root.

Well, Mr. O'Brien isn't the kind of fellow you can restrain with NAND lockdowns, and with a flourish today he unveiled his latest hack. His program, G2 Google Goggles Remover, is a proof of concept which he says will permanently delete the Google Goggles application from your G2.

Nov

HTC Desire HD Receives Its Second OTA Since Launch, Fixing YouTube Bug, Solving Proximity Sensor Woes Too?

Posted by Brian O'Toole in News

Well, let it not be said that HTC are ignoring the hardships of Desire HD early-adopters. Merely a fortnight after its release to retail, the Desire HD is receiving its second over-the-air update. While the first one promised "screen control and photo message compatibility enhancements", that clearly wasn't enough, as today's update once again addresses "screen control" issues whilst also solving a hitch with crashing of the YouTube app.

Those affected by the dreaded proximity sensor issues we previously reported have yet to fully confirm that this latest update fixes the problem once and for all, but the smattering of positive murmurs spread about the XDA-Developers Desire HD sub-forum gives us hope that this may well be the case.

Nov

Samsung Continuum Makes An Appearance On Verizon Webpage, Labelled "Coming Soon"

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Continuum, News, Samsung

Samsung's got an event coming up on November 8th. Some of you out there may be pretty convinced at this stage that we'll be hearing of a phone named something like "In Excess" at this event, but that's all up in the air right now. What is pretty certain, however, is that we'll get an announcement of Samsung's previously-pictured Continuum, a dual-screen take on the Galaxy S line.

Appearing today on verizonwireless.com alongside the Galaxy Tab, the Continuum is encouragingly marked with a Coming Soon tag. This positively certifies the previous leak we saw pointing towards a November 11th release to retail.

Nov

HTC Finally Gives You A Dock For Your EVO

Posted by Brad Ganley in EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Tips & Tutorials

It's been a while since we've heard about the official HDMI dock for the HTC EVO 4G, but it looks like it's finally landed. You can go to a Sprint store right now and pick one up for $39.99, which is a fair price for an ultra-shiny docking station and a 6-foot HDMI cable.

As with a dock for any other phone, the EVO dock is no exception to the rule of not playing nicely with cases or extended batteries of any sort, provided they add even a millimeter of thickness to the bottom of the phone. Despite the fact that you have to make your phone naked to use it, the dock still definitely looks like a worthwhile purchase to me.

Nov

Samsung Galaxy Tab Gets A Traditional Tear-Down, Grudgingly Reveals Weighty Battery Pack [Video]

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Galaxy Tab, News, Videos

While many of us would be happy to have any kind of Galaxy Tab at all, there's a certain breed who won't rest until they've eviscerated their latest electronic acquisition for the greater good. One such fellow is Finnish mobility blogger JKK at jkkmobile.com, who took it upon himself to dismantle his shiny new tablet and show its insides to all and sundry.

As you can see in the video, the bulkiest component of the Galaxy Tab is easily its battery, with an impressively large 4000 mAh / 14.8 Wh rating. With a pack that is about a third of the entire device's volume, it's no surprise Google's Tim Bray found the battery life more than adequate.

Nov

Motorola Droid 2 Global Details Popping Up All Over Verizon's Site, Still Not Official

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid 2 Global, News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: November 2nd, 2011

The Motorola Droid 2 Global is really turning out to be the worst-kept secret since the Bay of Pigs invasion, isn't it? We've been hearing inklings of it since mid-September, including rumors that the CPU would be clocked at 1.2 GHz.

Now, Droid-Life's legion of tipsters have spotted two more official Verizon documents featuring the Droid 2 Global: a holiday ad featuring the D2G (above), and nothing other than a sheet listing the tech specs.

And quite a nicely-equipped phone it is. Think of it as a beefed up Droid 2, with an alternative color option:

1.2 GHz CPU
3.7" 854x480 screen
5 MP camera with 2 LED flash
8 GB ROM, 8 GB microSD included (16 GB total)
Dark Sapphire or Winter White

Seems a little weird to launch an upgraded product so soon after launching the original, but hey - I suppose they're trying to get a leg up on their competition.

Nov

Hands-On: 8pen Alternative Input Method Released To Market, Promises To Bemuse, Frustrate And ... Reward? [Video]

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Applications, News

A couple of days ago, French company 3qubits unveiled their unique take on what they imagined touchscreen keyboards of the future would look like. Starting with the notion that a full QWERTY layout could never fit properly on a handheld touchscreen device, they set about creating something entirely different. What they came up with is 8pen, which was released to the Android Market moments ago.

It's pretty crazy. Not quite as crazy as Dasher (free on Android), but indisputably one of the more radical input methods we've seen on Android so far. Will it oust Swype as the go-to slide-type keyboard?

Nov

Archos 43 16GB Tablet On Sale Now For $250 In US And Canada

Posted by David Ruddock in 43, Froyo 2.2, News

If for some reason you were lusting after the Archos 43 upon ogling the company's lineup of Froyo tablets, good news, you can buy one right now from Archos, for a tidy sum of $250 (this is for the 16GB model, the 8GB model is not currently available). What does a quarter of a grand get you? We've provided Archos' full tech specs at the end of the post, as they're quite lengthy. Currently, Archos appears to only be shipping the 43 to Canada and the US, via their online store - somewhat odd, as they are based in France (the French store shows the device is still "Coming Soon").

Nov

36% Of Android Devices Now Running Froyo - Donut And Cupcake Continue Steady Decline Into Dessert History

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

Google, as it does every month, has released updated Android platform version distribution charts today. What's changed? From last month, not a whole lot. Froyo expanded a solid 3%, from a little over 33% of the Android-verse at the beginning of October to over 36% as of yesterday, with Donut and Cupcake both losing more ground.

Pac-Man hungers for donuts and cupcakes

Éclair actually gained a few tenths of a percent, most likely due to continued sales of Samsung's Galaxy S phones, which are all shipping with Android 2.1 installed. Much of this will probably change come January, however, as Samsung has stated they hope to get all Galaxy S devices running 2.2 before the end of the year.