21
Sep
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Plants Vs Zombies

I loved Plants Vs Zombies on my PC. LOVED it. I don't get excited by games much anymore but Plants Vs Zombies by PopCap captured my full attention for weeks when it just came out a couple of years back. A version for the iPhone came out later and enjoyed similar success to the original game. PopCap's Android page, however, has been quite empty. Literally:

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Will PopCap ever release an Android variant? It's possible, but in the meantime, we have to quench our PvZ thirst by finding existing alternatives in the Market.

Leave Devil Alone

A few days ago, a new game called Leave Devil Alone by a relatively unknown publisher GZORZ showed up in the new releases section of the Android Market.

20
Sep
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I'm not sure how much money Sprint spent on this but I'm sure whatever the amount was, they overpaid. In an effort to promote the recently launched Samsung Epic 4G handset and the new Media Hub, the company shot a series of short movies, all with the word "Epic" in the titles.

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The website layout, production quality, and presentation are all top notch. What is not top notch, however, is the most important part - the content. Plain and simple, it sucks. It is mostly the opposite of I would call funny or entertaining, ends way too abruptly (yeah, they really are short films), and makes no sense in the scope of effectively promoting both the phone and the new media service.

20
Sep
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Even with Street View, it can be hard to orient yourself in a strange area with a smartphone-based map. The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), an absolutely genius group of UI designers, wants to jazz things up by letting users shift dynamically from a flat object, like a map or a list of contacts, to a 3D one, which can be overlaid with additional information.

Horizon 2D-3D Maps

By allowing the user to seamlessly transition from a two-dimensional display to a three-dimensional one and back, TAT aims to make it easier to comfortably maintain a sense of space and orientation. At the heart of it all lies TAT Cascades, a UI framework for the production of advanced user interfaces.

19
Sep
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The New Fast Boot

If you haven't seen any demos from the recent HTC press conference showcasing the company's new Fast Boot technology available on the newly announced Desire Z and Desire HD handsets, you should stop everything you're doing and watch them immediately:

The new Fast Boot allows for boot-up times as low as 5 seconds. According to HTC, Desire HD and Z

... include the new HTC Fast Boot that enables people to quickly make a call or check emails by shortening the time taken to complete the power-up sequence.

Even Paul O'Brien, a genius Android ROM developer, was impressed:

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How Is This Possible?

16
Sep
10x0915n23r2engsd

Yesterday, Engadget got some hands-on time with the brand new HTC Sense upgrade that will debut on the Desire HD and the Desire Z. It will support all kinds of crazy stuff we've been waiting for like remote wiping, phone location, and backing up to and restoring data from HTCSense.com. Another cool feature is map pre-caching, which means that the phone will have pre-loaded maps on it.

The end result is a much more responsive map experience, allowing you to zoom in and out and pan around with "no waiting". It also means that you don’t need a data connection to get around, a notable foible of the otherwise excellent Google Maps.

09
Sep
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Remember the nice Galaxy Tab site that Samsung launched on September 2nd during the official Galaxy Tab unveiling? At the time, the video section of the site only included the official commercial and a very brief teaser.

Now, however, Samsung posted another addition - a video walkthrough of the Tabs main features - ones you would potentially use on a daily basis. The video was completely silent and embedded in their Flash site, so I "borrowed" it (I promise, I'll give it back) and uploaded it to Youtube for your more comfortable consumption.

It's also vertical due to the Tab's natural aspect ratio, so it may look kind of weird in the Youtube player - just maximize it, max out the quality (480P) and you should see everything pretty well.

08
Sep
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The R2D2 is coming later this month, but in the meantime P3Droid from MyDroidWorld ripped apart the system dump and weeded out the special edition Star Wars themed live wallpapers. He was also kind enough to shoot a few handy videos demonstrating them, and I must say, they're pretty cool and will definitely be appreciated by any Star Wars fan. Kudos, P3.

Update: The static wallpapers have now been leaked as well.

Millennium Falcon Asteroid Field

Download: AndroidPolice mirror

Jump to Light Speed

Download: AndroidPolice mirror

Interactive R2D2

Download: AndroidPolice mirror

Space Slug

This one has no video because P3Droid thought it was too crappy.

02
Sep
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The long awaited Samsung Galaxy Tab is now official. After finally getting revealed at the IFA 2010 conference just about an hour ago, all proverbial cats are finally out of their proverbial bags. While those members of the press who are actually present on location are playing with display units (unfortunately, that doesn't include us, this time), the rest of us can browse around the official Galaxy Tab site which Samsung launched following the announcement.

Site

The site is jam-packed full of well designed content - you will find:

  • an interactive Tab presentation,
  • a 360 degree model,
  • videos,
  • wallpapers,
  • specs,
  • and accessories.
24
Aug
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Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

When offered to preview Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S offering, the SPH-D700, also known as the Epic 4G, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. While my first personal-use Android device was the Nexus One, I’ve handled my share of Android smartphones, and my history of smartphone use has included several Samsung phones over the years. This being the first Galaxy S device I’ve personally handled, I’m glad to say that Samsung does not disappoint, and I can highly recommend the device to users who need a physical keyboard and can sign up for a contract with Sprint.

Update #1: added a 720P video sample.

23
Aug
Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

[Update: 8/24/10 @ 7:45 PM EST by Aaron] Tim Bray responded to Justin's article, but seems to have misunderstood the goal. Thus, Justin has written a follow-up article here.

Preface

This article was not written to teach people how to pirate or ridicule Google's Android License Verification Library (LVL) that handles communication with Google's Android Market Licensing Service.

I am very much against piracy, and very much pro-Google. I have spent more time researching copy protection for my applications than development of the applications themselves.

I would like to thank:

  • the author of Star Hunt for allowing me to use his application in my demo video
  • the author of Tasker for allowing me to use his application, which has the best implementation of LVL I found, in this article

Both of these applications are available in the market - I highly suggest you give them a try.

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