Devices By Manufacturer - 420/533 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

Whoa: Verizon's New VZ Navigator VX Might Just Give Google Navigation A Run For Its Money. Yes, Seriously.

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Applications, Apps/Games, Droid X (Shadow), Fascinate, Incredible, News, Verizon Wireless

Based on the press release and official video, Verizon's new VZ Navigator VX is awesome. Really awesome. Potentially better than Google Maps 5/Google Navigation - and yes, I can hardly believe I'm saying that either, since the new GMaps combo provides a hell of a punch. But check out the short (just over two minutes) promo video, and you'll see what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRV8-u7adeQ&feature=player_embedded

Two major items of note there: first, assuming everything works, then big red did a hell of a job on the app. Second, they've delivered just what we've all been asking for: more Bing! As the video proudly shows, there's a serious degree of Bing integration in the app.

Jan

HTC EVO Shift 4G Joins The Permanent Root Club

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), HTC, News, Sprint

The title says it all, people: those enterprising individuals over at XDA-Developers (where else?) have conjured up a permanent root for the EVO Shift. As this is the first method available, the process isn't quite so easy as it's become for other devices. Still, it's not too outrageously complicated, either.

The steps:

Step 1
ok download this file and extract it to the root of your sdcard
www.thebcblends.com/shift/Shift-root.zip

Step 2
make sure you have adb properly setup on your computer before continuing
temp root using either visionary or z4root
open up command prompt and cd to your sdk platform-tools directory
then type adb shell then su
if you havent already u must press allow on your device to enable su perms

Step 3
check the md5sum of both of the files to make sure they match

Code:
md5sum /sdcard/Shift/hboot_orig.bin
Code:
md5sum /sdcard/Shift/hboot_eng.nb0
386c19451e8dd18f9b98fad6b11be4c0 hboot_orig.bin

60ec1006e6ec2e8acb370d6aad35b17e hboot_eng.nb0

if these do not match do not continue redownload the files then check the md5's again

Step 4

Flash the eng spl!!!

Jan

Notion Ink Adam Tablet Already Rooted, Market Access Unlocked

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Adam, Development, News, Notion Ink, Videos

Well, this didn't take long - the hackers over at NotionInkHacks.com played around with Notion Ink's dual-core Adam Android tablet that finally started shipping last week and already managed to root the device.

The next logical step and the primary motivation for rooting Adam was, of course, getting the absent Android Market onto the tablet. As we all know, those with almighty root privileges are not easily stopped, so I'm happy to report that full Android Market is now also available on the Adam.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting
Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About: Part 1 (Apps 1-8), Part 2 (Apps 9-16)

Screenshots

Check out these screenshots I've taken from videos by FreezerBite1 and Inspiron41 of their rooted Adams - the first one showing the Android Market, the second one playing Dungeon Defenders installed off said Market, and the third one of Launcher Pro that replaced the Eden UI (good riddance, in my opinion - I've always thought of it as too crude and poorly designed):

Videos

And here are the aforementioned videos:

Rooting + Market Instructions

Here are the latest available instructions, as per this NotionInkHacks post.

Jan

Google: OTA Fix For The Nexus S Reboot Issue Coming In 1-2 Weeks

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung

Nexus S owners, listen up. If you own Samsung's flagship "Google Experience" device, it's likely you've experienced a random reboot bug that we reported on over 2 weeks ago. The Google bug tracker thread for this issue has been a roller coaster of emotion - after getting filled with a large number of comments, it was declined by a Google employee, only to be reopened shortly after due to a public outcry.

As if adding fuel to the fire, the thread was closed yet again in the past hour by a different employee. His action were reverted mere minutes later, which is making me wonder whether Google engineers sometimes need to talk to each other a bit more often.

Jan

Amazon Accidentally Leaks Pricing Of Motorola Atrix 4G ($150/$600) And HTC Inspire 4G ($100/$500)

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Atrix 4G (Olympus), HTC, Inspire 4G (Ace, Stallion), Motorola, News

The launch of the Atrix 4G is drawing near - yesterday, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha himself reminded us of this on the company's earnings call, and today Amazon hinted at the same thing by putting up its order page for the phone.

The move probably wasn't intentional (clicking the 'Buy at AmazonWireless.com' button leads to an error message), but it certainly has revealed some juicy details. Most importantly, the on-contract price is said to be a mere $149.99 - not bad for America's first dual-core phone. As for the off-contract price, Amazon lists it at $599.99, which is pretty much in line with what you should expect to pay for a device like this.

Jan

T-Mobile Sidekick 4G To Be Manufactured By Samsung, Rocking Android 2.2.1 In Current Iteration

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Samsung, Sidekick 4G, T-Mobile

Been wondering when we'd hear more about T-Mobile's newest Sidekick? If so, today's your lucky day: TmoNews has some new info on the device, and a few blurrycam shots to boot. Perhaps the two most important facts: it will be manufactured by Samsung, and is apparently running Android 2.2.1.

^{You'll never guess where these images are from.}

That's not exactly great news, especially for those who had high hopes for the device. Why? Well, because Samsung doesn't exactly have a great reputation when it comes to Android updates, and for good reason. Further, T-Mobile has previously stated that they are committed to keeping their Android devices updated - and yet this phone is running Froyo.

Jan

Sony PlayStation Suite And PlayStation Store Official, Bring PSOne Games To Android Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News, Sony, Sony Ericsson

Sony's new PlayStation Suite isn't the PlayStation Phone (or the Xperia Play) we were expecting, but it's arguably something even better for those of us who love gaming but hate the idea of giving up our current Android device(s).

Sony claims that PlayStation Suite will offer "legendary original PlayStation content" and says it will be a "cross platform, cross device" PSOne emulator. In reality, it's limited to Android 2.3 and beyond - a version of Android only one currently available handset runs (and it's not Sony's own Xperia X10). Still, PS Suite does look intriguing, especially when you consider Sony's "PlayStation Certified" program for hardware manufacturers, which will, supposedly, ensure a high-quality gaming experience.

Jan

Leaked Samsung MWC Schedule Shows Galaxy S 2, Tab 2 Presentations Planned

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, News, Samsung

It looks like a bit of an oopsie has resulted in Samsung's official Mobile World Congress (MWC) schedule leaking out. The details of the slip aren't available and aren't especially important, because this looks and sounds legitimate - especially since it (sort of) reinforces rumblings we've heard before.

Surprisingly, we have absolutely no idea what kind of hardware to expect. What I do know, though, is that if The S 2 ends up being this... boy, will my face ever be red. But hey - I still feel fairly safe in saying it won't be. (I hope.)

[Source: Electronista via Mobile Crunch]

Jan

Abra-Kadabra! HTC Thunderbolt To Allow For Simultaneous Voice and Data On Verizon 3G!

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

With training for the HTC Thunderbolt starting today, a few Thunderbolt goodies surfaced. According to the leaked screenshot, the HTC Thunderbolt will be able to handle both voice and data simultaneously on Verizon 3G. As many of you probably already know, Verizon's CDMA network was incapable of producing this in the past (voice and data use separate channels on CDMA), but apparently HTC and Big Red have done some magic and figured out a way on this new 4G device.

For those who can’t see the text in the watermark in the image above:

There is functionality in the Thunderbolt that allows simultaneous voice and data while on the VZW 3G network, however, we cannot promise the experience will be one that is consistent with our brand. As a result, do not reference this functionality as a benefit during your conversations with customers.

Jan

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha: Atrix 4G, 3G XOOM Coming At The End Of February; Droid Bionic, LTE XOOM In Q2

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Bionic, Motorola, News, XOOM

You could say Motorola's earnings call ended on a high note - the company's CEO, Sanjay Jha, told analysts that the Atrix 4G will be launching at the end of February, as will the 3G version of the XOOM. That doesn't quite line up with the rumors we've been hearing about a February 17th release, and Jha later added that the XOOM might even be bumped to a release in March if things don't go according to plan. Bummer.