Devices By Manufacturer - 430/530 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

Fresh ROM v3.5 For EVO 4G Is Out With The Newest OTA, Radio, WiMAX, PRI And Improved Battery Life

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Sprint

It's no secret that my EVO 4G runs a custom ROM called Fresh - it is one of the best EVO ROMs, free of bloatware and full of tweaks that make it fast and efficient, while keeping stability rock solid. The developer, flipz, is very good - he's responsive to Sprint OTA updates and bug reports and usually sorts out any issues in a matter of days.

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

Due to the recent EVO OTA (3.70.651.1), flipz just released the newest version of the ROM, currently 3.5.0.1, also containing the latest HTC kernel, which is said to do wonders to the battery life.

Dec

More EVO Shift 4G Pics Emerge, Still Looks Like Mutant Offspring Of G2 And EVO 4G

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), HTC, Knight, Sprint

Last Updated: January 4th, 2011

Sprint's current WiMax-capable phones are no slouches, but there's no denying the lineup could use a third phone, if only for the sake of keeping things fresh. The HTC EVO Shift 4G could be just what the doctor prescribed - it looks like the love-child of the T-Mobile G2 and the original EVO 4G. In fact, according to PhoneArena's tipster, the G2 and the Shift 4G share the same processor - an 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7X30 unit - though the latter has inherited the EVO's plastic casing (lame) and HTC Sense UI (also lame). Additionally, the G2's optical trackpad has been moved from under the display to the keyboard.

Dec

[Update: Possibly Fake] Best Buy Reduces Price Of Verizon's Galaxy Tab To $500 Without Contract

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Deals, Galaxy Tab, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Though it previously retailed for $599, the Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab can now be purchased from Best Buy without a contract for just $499. The price drop may be an indication that the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab could retail for much less.

Update: It looks like this is fake! Our own source at Best Buy, as well as calls to various brick-and-mortar locations, suggest to us that this is just a case of Photoshop trickery. Sorry for any confusion! -- Aaron

Update 2: According to commenter K, this deal has indeed been going on for a bit - to get the discounted price, you have to sign up for at least the $20 plan, which can be canceled after the first month.

Dec

Motorola Tablet Teaser Site Goes Live With Countdown: Jan 5th At 4:15PM PST

Posted by David Ruddock in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News

As yesterday's teaser video implied, it seems that we can expect Motorola's much-anticipated Android tablet at CES. Motorola has launched a small teaser site to generate media buzz about the launch, with a countdown that expires at 4:15 p.m. on January 5th, 2011. You can also sign up to receive e-mail notifications of any news on the announcement.

Motorola's tablet will be sporting a Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip, and will presumably be the first consumer device to run Honeycomb, a version of Android tailored for tablet use. Coupled with Verizon's network, it could set the bar for Android tablets from here on out.

Dec

[Rumor] Playstation Phone To Be Called Xperia Play? Trademark Filing Says Maybe

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

It seems the blogosphere is abuzz with the news that an EU trademark for the name Xperia Play has been awarded to Sony Ericsson, filed the first of the month.

Companies file for trademarks a lot, so we'll see if this name pans out. If it does, it'll quite possibly be the worst marketing decision by Sony Ericsson yet, and may indicate that the Sony mother-ship wants to reserve the Playstation phone name for a later, cooler, probably proprietary-OS device. So, you may actually want this rumor not to be true.

Source: OMHI via Engadget

Dec

Miffed Over The Lack Of Notification LED On Your Samsung Galaxy S? Check Out BLN (BackLight Notification)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Captivate, Development, Fascinate, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, Vibrant

Take a look around Google and you can see that people are seriously peeved by the lack of notification LED in the Samsung Galaxy S line of devices (excluding the Epic 4G). Developer and i9000 owner Michael R. - better known as neldar on the XDA forums - was annoyed enough by the glaring omission that he decided to come up with a solution. The result: BLN (BackLight Notification).

The basic idea behind the app is quite simple: as there's no LED on the devices, the logical decision is to light up the soft-touch keys. Doing so isn't quite so simple as the layman might initially think, requiring a modified kernel to be flashed in conjunction with the BLN app.

Dec

Attention Loyal T-Mobile Customers: Get A Free G2 From T-Mobile's Loyalty Department!

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in G2 (Vision), News, T-Mobile

If you're a member of the T-Mobile Loyalty Program (like me), you're going to want to listen up. As of right now (and I’m willing to bet this won’t last long), T-Mobile is offering members of the T-Mobile Loyalty Program a G2 for free on any qualifying upgrade. If you're a member of the loyalty program or just want to find out if you qualify to be in the program and have a qualified upgrade, call T-Mobile customer service and say “contract” to the automated system. With this, you should reach the loyalty department. Get on it people, this deal won't last!

Dec

Motorola Teases Honeycomb Tablet, Promises Unveiling At CES 2011

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News

Samsung might have made some cool commercials for the Galaxy Tab, but you and I both know that when it comes to advertisements, Motorola still reigns supreme. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the first promo video for their upcoming Honeycomb tablet is nothing short of epic:

As you can see, Moto thinks it has what it takes to take out both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab - in fact, the video calls the former "a giant iPhone" and accuses the latter of running "Android OS for a phone." Furthermore, tablets of old (i.e. ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic tablets) are ridiculed as having "good graphics" but "difficult portability."

Unfortunately, the video doesn't reveal many new details on the tablet other than confirming that it will run Honeycomb, as evidenced by the bee seen at the end of the video.

Dec

Yet Another Galaxy S Feature Missing From The Samsung Nexus S: Gorilla Glass

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung

Given the incredible durability (and entertainment) that Gorilla Glass has provided the Galaxy S phones with, one might think that Samsung would be eager to carry the feature over to the Nexus S. Unfortunately, like 720p video recording, LED notifications (which are available on some Galaxy S variants but not others), and a microSD card slot, Gorilla Glass has not been included in the world's first Gingerbread phone.

The omission was probably necessitated by the curved glass that covers the phone's mug, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing, especially since the effects of the so-called "Contour Display" are barely noticeable (from what I hear).

Dec

Some Details Of Notion Ink's Proprietary "Genesis" Market Found In Developer T&Cs

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Adam, Development, News, Notion Ink

Earlier today, we received a tip regarding Notion Ink's yet-to-be-released developer program for its "Genesis" app platform. Indeed, while the developer homepage remains relatively useless, the leaked developer program registration page the tipster sent us does appear to be legitimate and even comes complete with terms and conditions.

Update: As some of you so eloquently pointed out, the developer program was indeed active at one point, and the registration has now been closed (at least partially, apparently). Nevertheless, we believe some details weeded out of the terms and conditions and displayed below are relatively unknown and quite valuable.

After registering and clicking the confirmation link in the email from Notion Ink, I found myself at the end of the road, as the actual pages for developers could not be found.