Off-Topic

Jul

[Weekend Poll] Amazon Has Now Given Away More Than 100 Apps - Which One Is Your Favorite?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

The Amazon Appstore has received very mixed reviews since its launch March 22nd of this year, most recently taking the heat from the Apparatus developer, but one thing is for sure - the free app deals it offers daily have become very popular among the folks here in the U.S. I for one religiously check the Appstore every night, hoping to pick up the next best app. Speaking of which...

The Amazon Appstore has now given out more than 100 free apps - some incredibly useful and some outright awful. I'm curious to see today which app deserves the highest marks in your grade book.

Jul

[Weekend Poll] Which Is More Important To You In A Phone, Size Or 4G?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in 4G, Devices By Manufacturer, Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Can Google+ Succeed?

From a manufacturer standpoint, 4G (for the purposes of this post I mean LTE and WiMax, not 3G+) is a bit of a nightmare. The immaturity of the technology means that chips are expensive and bulky, and realistically offer benefit to only a small portion of consumers. (Compounding the issue, "4G" has become yet another buzzword that consumers don't understand but think they need anyway... but I digress.)

Consider a diminutive device such as the Samsung Galaxy S II. It's thin and light, but could a 4G chip be integrated without expanding the dimensions in one or more directions?

Jul

[Weekend Poll] Can Google+ Succeed?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see How Much Cellular Data Does Your Device Use Per Month?

This week, Google revealed its most serious attempt at social networking yet, Google+. Despite being released just a few days ago, it's easy to see that it's a much more accessible, polished attempt than Google's previous attempts, namely Google Wave and Google Buzz. It brings a familiar interface, but clearly bears the Google mark: clean, minimal, but with some well thought-out improvements. That's to be expected, given that the service is Google's next big push - they closed the beta rather quickly and only a small number of users have been invited thus far, all in the name of using a sort of control group to improve the service before opening the flood gates.

Jun

[Weekend Poll] How Much Has Owning A Tablet Impacted Your Computer Use?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Devices By Manufacturer, Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Manufacturer UIs: Love 'Em Or Hate 'Em?

I have to admit: as a newly-former starving college student, it's hard for me to see the same sort of value in a $400 tablet that I see in a $200 smartphone or a $600 laptop (or even a $300 netbook). During my month or so with the O.G. Galaxy Tab, I found the tablet to be more of a complement than a replacement - though certainly the new crop of tablets with docks and keyboards has pushed them closer to laptops than ever before.

Jun

Tesco Now Testing In-Store Navigation System Accessible From Your Android Phone

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, News, Off-Topic

Let's face it: large physical retail stores can be difficult to navigate at times, especially for first-time shoppers. To help alleviate this problem, UK retailer Tesco (informally known as the European Walmart) has developed and is now testing an in-store GPS system that can be accessed from an Android phone.

Upon opening the app, you'll be greeted with an empty shopping list which you can fill with any and all products available at Tesco. This isn't just any shopping list, however; step into the Tesco Extra store in northeast London and a comprehensive store map will appear on your handset, complete with the locations of all the items on your list.

Jun

[Update: Over] PSA: Psst - You Can Get One Last Sprint Premier Yearly Upgrade, Here's How

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Off-Topic, Sprint, Tips

Last Updated: October 14th, 2011

Please note that this offer ended on July 31, 2011. Please do not contact Sprint about getting an override on your upgrade anymore!

Last week we posted a poll asking Sprint customers which phone they were hoping to get next. A few commenters complained that they were victims of the Sprint Premier split, wherein people who were at the lower end of Premier previously were moved to Premier Silver, thereby losing their annual upgrades. We've heard quite a few people ~~bitch~~ complain about this since the split happened, but we're happy to report that Art from the Sprint Premier team stopped by to let us know that Premier Silver customers can actually get one more upgrade restored.

Jun

Mugen 4500mAh HTC Thunderbolt Extended Battery - Put A Real Bulge In Your Jeans

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Off-Topic, Videos

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I would love it if my phone had better battery life - in fact, I wouldn't mind it being roughly three times thicker and infinitely more cumbersome to handle, either." Have I got a product for you.

Yes everyone, a 4500mAh extended battery for the Thunderbolt, just what we've all been waiting for - you'll have so much equipment jammed in your pants that Representative Weiner will be jealous.

Hey baby, is that a 4500mAh Mugen Power(R) Extended Battery in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

The folks over at Mugen have introduced yet another one of their signature ridiculously large extended batteries, and they've taken it to the extreme for the famously juice-thirsty Thunderbolt.

May

[Awesome] Shirts By Droidarmy - This Is The Army You'll Want To Join

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Off-Topic

We love Android shirts. Really. To the point of considering wearing something like this.

So when Malc Foy emailed us a tip about a group of like-minded artists working on a series of mashup Android characters, we had to check it out.

It's called Droidarmy and so far contains over 20 designs, about a third of which I suddenly want to wear. Here they all are:

My Favorites

Here are some of my favorites:

Droidbird

Droidberg - though I already own this one.

Darth

DroidBorg

Bonus

I actually like this shirt the most, but for some reason it's not tagged as Androidarmy.

Apr

Android Takes Over Rogers.com - This You Need To See

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Off-Topic, Rogers

Rogers, one of the top Canadian ISPs and carriers, wants you to know that it has some Android phones you can buy. It really-really wants you to know, in the most awesome way I've seen in a while (possibly ever). Have a look at the Android takeover of Rogers.com, which includes a brilliant intro and a landing page packed with Android news, videos, device info, and even a contest.

Alright, enough with this reading business - get to the watching part.

Source: Rogers via Mobile Syrup

Apr

Take Me Back, Baby: 3 Reasons I'm Staying With Android And Coming Back To Android Police

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Android OS, Editorials, Off-Topic

If you’ve been an Android Police fan for a while, you may recognize my name from some of my past posts. Beyond that, I was mostly active behind the scenes until I dropped this little bomb when I departed earlier this year.

The reaction to that article was pretty much what I expected - it was divisive and the conversation surrounding it was often heated. Ultimately, though, my goal was accomplished: people were talking about the problems surrounding Android and software updates.

You may be wondering, “If that was your departure letter, why the hell am I reading this? Go away iFanboy”.