Devices By Manufacturer - 401/532 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

The XOOM's Rival Approaches - Galaxy Tab 10.1 Profiled In 11 Minute Video

Posted by Will Shanklin in Galaxy Tab 10.1, News

Have you been salivating over the Motorola XOOM, but holding back from taking the plunge until you have seen what Samsung, LG, and others have to offer in the 10" tab department? You can cross one of those off of the list as Samsung's upcoming slate has been thoroughly taken through the wringers in a full 11 minute video.

There isn't necessarily any groundbreaking information revealed, but seeing the tablet in action for such a lengthy period gave me a much clearer sense of what the tablet will look and feel like. It certainly looks very similar to the XOOM (as we knew it would).

Mar

FullHDMI For EVO App Now In Market, No Longer Requires Custom Kernel

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, EVO 4G (Supersonic), News

If you are an owner of an HTC EVO 4G, it's possible that one the contributing factors to your buying the popular smartphone may have been the HDMI output feature. After hearing that it can produce said capabilities, maybe your mind began dreaming up all kinds of situations where showing your phone's display on a TV in HD resolution could be very handy. If so, then chances are you were a little bit deflated as you saw the fine print that only Gallery and YouTube apps would work with this handy feature (is that a yawn I hear?). Today all of that has changed as FullHDMI for HTC EVO, previously in beta and requiring custom kernels, is now in the Market and can utilize most features with any kernel (cue the applause).

Mar

[Download] Retro Style BIOS Boot Animation, Now Customized For The Motorola XOOM

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Motorola, News, XOOM

Yesterday, in the first part of the new Boot Animations series here at AP, we posted 5 boot animations that replace those boring stock snoozers your carrier ships your Android phones with.

One of the animations, called N1Bios, showed a BIOS boot screen so nostalgic to all PC owners, customized with some Nexus One info. Yesterday, xda member ihtfp69 created something similar for the Motorola XOOM, complete with XOOM system specs, the word Motorola, and an ASCII Android logo.

Have a look at some screenshots, then proceed to our download mirror, and installation instructions (hint: to save you some time, just rename the downloaded file to bootanimation.zip and copy it to /data/local/ on the XOOM - no root required with this method).

Mar

Adobe Flash 10.2.155.67 For Android Leaked, Includes Honeycomb Compatibility - Download It Now!

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Gingerbread 2.3, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Remember that new version of Flash we reported on this morning? Yeah, well it's still scheduled to roll out on March 18th - one week from today - but thanks to BBCrackman from My Droid World, you can download a leaked copy of version 10.2 now.

Just as promised, it (finally) includes support for Honeycomb, meaning you can now watch South Park, Conan, or any other Flash video on your XOOM. Artem and I briefly played with it on our XOOMs, but unfortunately, we discovered that the experience wasn't without its flaws - video quality wasn't exactly top-notch, some controls were hard to utilize, and no, Hulu still doesn't work.

Mar

HTC Dream/G1 And Sapphire/MT3G - First Devices To Ever Get The Boot From CyanogenMod

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, G1 (Dream), HTC, Magic, myTouch 3G (Magic), News, Sapphire, T-Mobile

There's no doubt about it - we've come a long, long way since the HTC Dream (whose relatives include the G1, myTouch 3G, and DoCoMo HT-03A) was released. Since that fateful October day, we've seen all kinds of crazy Android-powered gear, from snow goggles to handsets sporting more raw horsepower than a netbook. We've also been treated to heaps of community-created mods, including custom ROMs like CyanogenMod and MIUI as well as mind-blowing hacks of other sorts, such as 1.5GHz overclocks and apps that essentially manage your phone for you.

Unfortunately, all good things must one day come to an end, and for the world's first Android phone (the HTC Dream), today is that day - CyanogenMod, the most popular AOSP ROM in the business, has officially dropped support for the device (as well as the Magic/MT3G).

Mar

Nook Color Can Now Use Bluetooth For Keyboards And SIP Calling

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

We learned a couple of months ago that Bluetooth had been unlocked for Nook Color on a developmental level, but not until today has it been available for users. Developers fattire and verygreen have collaborated on a CM7 SD card bootable ROM that will let you sync your Bluetooth keyboard or headset to the "eReader." As trusted dev dalingrin noted earlier in our comments, the Bluetooth functionality has also been committed to the CyanogenMod 7 nightlies and is now available.

It has hardly been perfected yet, as early reports are saying that the Bluetooth range is currently ranging from one to five feet, but the fact that these ambitious devs have taken this eReader one step closer to having full tablet functionality is quite impressive.

Mar

Flyer Surfaces Showing Wifi Galaxy Tab Launching April 4 For $399

Posted by Will Shanklin in Galaxy Tab, News, Rumors

Take it as you wish, but a flyer that (according to Droid Life) was passed out by Samsung representatives at a technology fair today clearly shows that a Wifi-only version of the original 7" Galaxy Tab is set to hit store shelves on April 4 at $399.

If this turns out to be legit, it may be viewed as a mixed bag by Android users. On the one hand, it's a quality tablet from a major manufacturer offered for $100 less than the iPad, but on the other hand, this isn't November and the original Tab's specs are easily dwarfed by the current generation of Tegra 2 slates that are becoming available.

Mar

Samsung's Photoshop Deception: The Real Thickness Of The 8.9" Galaxy Tab

Posted by Will Shanklin in Galaxy Tab, News

If you saw our post the other day about Samsung's teaser image for their rumored 8.9" Galaxy Tab (expected to be announced at CTIA later this month), you may have seen what appeared to be an extremely thin tablet. At a casual glance, it looks svelte enough to give the .34" thick iPad 2 a run for its money in its lack of girth. Then a diligent tipster shared his homework with us and, well, it looks like Samsung has been using some Photoshop lighting effects to create a bit of an illusion.

First, see the image as presented by Samsung and posted on Android Police this week:

Unless you are viewing it from the perfect angle on your screen, it looks, as we described it, "razor-thin," does it not?

Mar

[Update: Rooted? Roll Back To Stock] First Motorola XOOM OTA Update Will Prepare It For The Upcoming Flash 10.2 Release; Rollout Starts Tonight

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Motorola, News, XOOM

As you may know, one of Motorola XOOM's current biggest drawbacks is the absence of Adobe Flash, necessary to view Flash-powered websites and play Flash games. While this feature is widely advertised, Motorola warned us that the tablet would actually ship without Flash support bundled in, but will be updated to include it in a few weeks.

Well, the "in a few weeks" part is almost here, as @Motorola just tweeted that the XOOM's first over-the-air update is slated to start rolling out tonight to get the device fully ready for Flash 10.2. This doesn't mean the Flash Player application will be rolled out - it will likely just show up in the Market when it's ready instead, but it does mean that your XOOM will be ready to have it installed right away.

Mar

Oops - Authorized Verizon Retailer Sends Flyer To Customers Claiming HTC Thunderbolt Is "Now Available"

Posted by Will Shanklin in HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Way to pour salt on your customers' wounds there, ~~Verizon~~ authorized Verizon retailer: pictures have surfaced of a new flyer arriving in customers' homes (obtained by Droid Life) that shows the HTC Thunderbolt with the words "Now Available" beneath it. No, this isn't an unexpected dream come true for Verizon customers, it seems like a flub by an authorized dealer (it's unclear to us which one) that certainly can't help calm the restless natives.

Despite the rhetorical wrangling we heard from a Verizon exec yesterday about being on track with LTE phones, this flyer appears to confirm beyond the shadow of a doubt that Verizon had originally intended for its first LTE smartphone to be available much earlier than that.