Posted: 14 Feb 2012 04:45 PM PST  Those that read up on my most-used apps of 2011 will know that I am a big fan of Alphascope, the private alpha version of the BlackBerry favourite Socialscope. The application still isn't finished -- on either platform -- but the Android version just got a pretty big update in the Android Market that has made a notable difference. The addition that might make a difference in getting people inside the closed gates of Socialscope, is an improved invitation system. No longer are you required to be followed by someone on Twitter in order to send them an invite. Everyone you follow can receive one, as still can all your Facebook friends. The addition of email invites to the Android offering too will be a welcome one -- this is how I managed to get an invite from one of the fine people in the Crackberry Forums. As you would expect from a product still in the alpha stages, the update brings bug fixes galore. We get fixes to URL posting when using Twitlonger, posting large images, not alerting to new notifications, force closes and a fix to the long error window when entering a new line in a post. Additional to fixes and invites, Facebook links now pull in higher resolution images than they did before such as our glorious looking DroidDoodle here. An un-follow feature has also been added to your Tumblr functionality. The UI as a whole is really nice on the eye and this is an application that is genuinely getting better and better as time goes on. It offers a Tweetdeck type experience with it's variety of network integrations, but it's a lot slicker and pleasing to use. If this is what we're getting treated to in alpha, the finished article should be something well worth taking a look at. You'll find download links after the break, but after that it's down to you guys to find an invitation I'm afraid. read more
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 03:19 PM PST 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 02:49 PM PST Chrome Beta for Android brings a lot of cool features for users like you and me, but it also has a handy one baked in for the folks who build the Internet. Chrome developer relations engineer Boris Smus gives us a look at the debugger in action in the video above, and while I'm no web developer, I can see a lot of potential here. After a bit of setup, including the Android SDK, you can have a live view of a mobile site on your phone while you use the built-in tools for Chrome on your computer to edit and develop. As you hover over an element in the document inspector on your desktop, it's highlighted on the phone itself. You can manipulate those elements using the same tools you would use for the desktop. This is a pretty big deal, as watching changes take effect as you're making them is pretty hard to beat. In the past, developers would have had to make changes, save them, and host the html files on a local server to view from their smartphone. Taking most of the process out of the equation saves time, which leaves developers free to use that saved time to make great stuff for folks like us to see on the Internet. Cory Streater, our resident web developer, forums guru, and all-around awesome guy wraps it all up in a single sentence:
There you have it. Creating great mobile content with the same ease as one would have on the desktop means a better mobile web for all of us. 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST   The purpose behind this application is for users to be able to quickly and easily identify these unwanted and unsolicited calls or messages that they are receiving and putting an end to them right from their device. No more do you have to call customer service with the number and hope that they are able to put a block on it, instead you can do so right from the Block-It application. In addition users can also report Do Not Call Registry and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations with a few simple clicks, and reports are automatically filed on their behalf. The complaint data that PrivacyStar collects is automatically forwarded to the Consumer Sentine which houses over 1,800 law enforcement agencies, allowing them to properly act on these infringements. “We understand our customers’ needs and, with mobile devices being the primary phone and Internet device for many of our customers, recognize the need to provide them with a service that allows for uninterrupted use and control over their primary lifeline to the world,” said Tom Keys, president and chief operating officer of MetroPCS.Block-It is now available for MetroPCS customers using an Android powered device, and the first 30 days are free. After the first 30 days users can continue with the service for only $1 a month, and the application can be downloaded through the Metro App Store on your device. Full press release after the break. Source: MetroPCS read more
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 12:54 PM PST  An anonymous member (make sure you're logged in, folks!) uploaded this nice pic of snow falling in Sheffield in the past couple of weeks. "I just had to run out with the camera," the member said. "This is my favourite ferom the ones I took."
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST  Pinterest allows you to collect and curate content from around the web. Find a cool picture you want to share? Pin it. Neat video? Pin that, too. How about a recipe for double-buttered pork loin? Pin that while you're at it. You can choose and create themes for your "pins" -- so say the pic you pinned was of a nice car, you would pin it to your cars section, also known as a board. Anyone who follows you on the service can see it and share it with others through Pinterest, Facebook or even Twitter. Simply put, it's a collection of things you find interesting and wish to share with others. Access to Pinterest is by invite-only for now, but invites are fairly easy to come by, and getting your content to Pinterest is pretty easy as well. You can add stuff from your computer using a toolbar bookmark they call the "Pin It Button" and they also have goodies for websites that allow Pinterest integration. Or if you're into this whole mobile thing, they also have an app available for iOS. But what about an Android app? Nope. No official app from Pinterest to access their services. To ignore such a large user base Pinterest must have looked into it and found there was no interest from the Android community in their services, right? Not exactly. If you look around Pinterest there are plenty of users wanting a dedicated Android app. Folks are sharing all sorts of things Android on Pinterest; it has even become a small hub for those wishing to share their Android apps. To their credit, they do offer a pretty nice HTML5 site and the iPhone app is fairly new so maybe they have an Android app in the works but if that is the case they've remained quiet about it. So what can you do as an Android user to access Pinterest? Well, you can use the HTML5 website -- it does work quite well. However, if you're looking to check out some new apps there are a few third-party Pinterest apps available in the Android Market. We round up a few Android Pinterest apps after the break. read more 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:22 AM PST  Amazon's just updated its Amazon MP3 app for Android to version 2.4. And with it comes a layout optimized for tablets, a new color scheme, personalized recommendations from the Amazon MP3 store (if you're in the U.S.), more prominent s huff and play-all buttons, and a lock-screen player if you're on an Android 4.0 device. Not a bad bunch of improvements. We've got download links after the break, if you need 'em. read more
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 09:35 AM PST Kicking off today's ShopAndroid.com Daily Giveaway, we're featuring some sweet new items such as the Samsung Multimedia Dock for AT&T Galaxy S II, Mobi Products Crystal Case for Motorola Droid RAZR, Seidio SURFACE Holster for Samsung/Verizon Galaxy Nexus, and the OtterBox Defender Series Case for HTC Rezound. Leave a comment letting us know which of these featured accessories you'd like to get your hands on, and we'll announce the winner of today's daily giveaway next Monday. Samsung Multimedia Dock for AT&T Galaxy S IIThe Samsung Multimedia Dock turns your AT&T Galaxy S II into a convenient desktop media center. You can listen to music via the built-in 3.5mm stereo port, watch movies in either portrait or landscape mode by simply tilting the unit 90 degrees, and keep all of your communication tools and favorite apps close at hand. The dock features a built-in speakerphone and comes with a microUSB travel adapter. read more 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 09:04 AM PST Oh, how I love me some tower defense games. Between classics like Robo Defense, Fieldrunners HD, and even GRave Defense HD, I'm never hurting for ways to stretch my brain and figure out the best way to mow down hordes of hapless enemies entering my territory. (As a matter of fact, should Earth ever be invaded, tower defense-style, I'm on retainer to get us out of the mess.) The problem with the myriad of tower defense games out there, though, is that mechanically, they're all the same. You can vary the enemy, add in cool, unique towers (suited to your game's environment, of course), but at the end of the day, it's the same. They walk in, I pew-pew, end of story. Anomaly: Warzone Earth HD looks to change this. Instead of you setting up the towers, the bad guys do that. What does that leave you to do? Be the hapless hordes of invaders trying to show them who's boss. At face value it sounds Let's start by just talking about the graphics -- they're gorgeous. When these guys say "HD," they mean it. On a tablet or on a phone, Anomaly: Warzone Earth HD shines. (Now let's all just ignore my little mistake in saying the HD version is only, for tablets, shall we?) Explosions are satisfying and, well, explosive. Firepower coming off of mechs from both sides looks impressive, and the environments are as beautiful as they are haunting. The destruction looks great. Simply put, Anomaly: Warzone Earth HD offers as much eye candy as it does great gameplay, and that's saying something. Because we're talking tower offense here, the folks at 11 bit studios had to get a bit creative in how you pick your troops, send them on their way, and keep them from being obliterated whilst in a mission. The first (and perhaps most impressive) of these is Tactical View. Tactical View is your first line of offense, and it's where you plan your route before you actually drop your units in and start fragging aliens left and right. It's a nice, bright blue, and has a real military operation feel to it, which I totally dig. You change your route by tapping the arrows on the map, and like magic, new routes are made (and displayed) right before your very eyes. Hostiles are colored red, and Tactical View makes sure you can tell the difference between different enemies by keeping a true outline of their shape. If you've got enough cash on hand, you can also buy your own units from the Tactical View page. Once you leave Tactical View (and your invasion starts), things heat up a bit. Your motley crew of diehards casually sashay into enemy territory, guns a'blazing. With a mere three of four units to start, how can you expect to survive the onslaught of guns firing at you? With power-ups, of course! Things like repair, smokescreen, and even unit upgrade will all be revealed to you, and for the first two, using them is as simple as tapping their icon and picking a place on the map for them to be used. For the repair, make sure it's always a little bit ahead of where your units are going or else they'll drive right past it (a lesson learned the hard way for me), but otherwise, it's all incredibly intuitive. You can also earn medals at the end of each successful mission, for both your ruthlessness and your efficiency. As far as I can guess, the former is for taking out as many enemies as possible and the latter is for accomplishing your mission objectives by taking the path of least resistance, so I don't think you can get a gold on both on a single pass-through. Still, it's something to consider, especially if you're an achievement hound. For a game so great, it's not without one hugely distracting niggle in my mind. You have to hold down the double-speed button to keep it going! What's the deal with that? If you're holding, say, a 10-inch tablet (especially one with a little extra heft), things get awkward, thumbs get tired, and you'll start asking yourself "Why am I not playing this on a phone, where my tiny, woman-sized hands are comfortable?" But that's not fair, because your hands are totally average-sized. Anyway, despite that one complaint, Anomaly: Warzone Earth HD is an absolutely stellar game with killer graphics, and awesome story, and gameplay that makes other tower-related games slink away in shame. It was part of the Humble Bundle for a reason, and even if you missed it there, you should definitely pick it up. Anomaly: Warzone Earth HD can be had for $3.99 in the Android Market. Download links are after the break. read more
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 08:37 AM PST  We've seen a wholesale switch to finger touch input since the iPhone came around, so it's a bit anachronistic seeing stylus-enabled devices popping up again. Pen input hasn't been popular since Windows Mobile and Palm devices, and even then, it was mostly because the resistive screens demanded them. Of course, the devices making the rounds these days are using pens more as a secondary input with a few tailored applications, rather than being a necessity. read more 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 08:28 AM PST  Sony Ericsson's ruggedized Xperia Active smartphone has walked away with a top honor at this year's iF (International Forum) design awards in Munich, and there were also nods for some other 2011 Xperia handsets. The Xperia Active received the top-level gold award in the telecommunications category, while the Xperia Ray, Xperia Mini Pro and Mix Walkman (a non-Android device) received product design awards. The iF design awards are held annually, and honor the best in product design quality. The gold award given to the Xperia Active is considered to be the "Oscar" of product design.
As we noted in our review, the Xperia Active has a solid aluminum construction and a unique profile with the wrist strap catch at the bottom of the device. While some earlier SE devices have been decidedly plasticky, recent phones like the Xperia Active, Ray and Ion have opted for a more solid aluminum chassis. We've got the celebratory press release in full after the break. read more
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 07:48 AM PST  Dual SIM devices are popular in developing countries, where many phone users operate multiple pre-paid SIMs on different networks, allowing them to take advantage of both networks' coverage areas. However, traditionally users would have to make do with a basic featurephone if they wanted two SIMs in the same device. The Galaxy Y Duos, Galaxy Y Duos Pro and Galaxy Ace Duos are due to go on sale in India in the coming days. All three devices run Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Samsung's TouchWiz 4 UI. Source: The Times of India 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 07:38 AM PST Georgia and Rene discuss sex and dating tips for Valentine's day, whether you're single, broken up, just starting a new relationship, ready to get serious, or been together forever and looking for new ways to re-light the sparks. This is ZEN and TECH!
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 07:13 AM PST  What do we have here then. Looks like it isn't just our iOS loving friends that get to have all the retro gaming fun. Following on from the colossal success of the iCade iPad cabinet, ThinkGeek have pulled the wraps off the latest concoction -- the iCade 8-Bitty. Only this time, the Android crowd gets to play as well. The retro-styled controller can be paired via Bluetooth to any Android device. It should be compatible with an array of game titles and as it is a completely open platform, building in compatibility is a simple task for game developers. Costing a very reasonable $24.99, this one is sure to be a hit. The only downside -- for now we don't have any kind of release date. 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST  The ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day for Feb. 14 is the Mobi Products Hard Shell Case for the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket on AT&T. This Hard Case from Mobi Products is designed specifically for the Samsung Skyrocket and has cut outs for all of the devices features while leaving the screen exposed for full functionality. It comes in pink, purple, red, blue or black today only for just $4.95 -- that's 75 percent off! Get yours while supplies last. 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 06:23 AM PST  That'll get you a 5.3-inch device with a HD SuperAMOLED display, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and pen input courtesy of Samsung's S Pen. The Note launches with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Samsung's TouchWiz UI, though an update to Ice Cream Sandwich is expected in the next couple of months. Stateside, AT&T will be releasing its own version of the Galaxy Note this Sunday, Feb. 19. For more on the Note, check out our review of the international version. 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 06:02 AM PST  So far PlayStation certification, which allows PlayStation titles to be played through an Android-based compatibility layer, has only been available on a selection of Sony and Sony Ericsson devices. The Xperia Play was the first to launch, followed by the Xperia Arc and Xperia Acro, then later the Sony Tablet S and Tablet P. Scoring PS certification would be a boon for HTC, as it looks to differentiate its 2012 line-up after a difficult Q4. HTC is expected to show off new handsets at Mobile World Congress, possibly including the "Ville" and "Endeavor", which we've seen in recent online leaks. As with any major announcement of this kind, it's possible that we'll see it at MWC, however today's reports indicate that an announcement during the second half of the year is more likely. Be sure to keep watching AC over the next couple of weeks for all the latest MWC developments. Source: Pocket-Lint 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 05:20 AM PST  With imminent launches in the U.S. and Canada, and strong sales worldwide, there's certainly a fair bit of traction behind the Samsung Galaxy Note. Now the Note looks set to extend its reach into Australia, with today's news that Vodafone Australia will be carrying the device at some point in the future. The Galaxy Note combines one of the largest screens ever seen on a smartphone -- a 5.3-inch HD SuperAMOLED display -- with WACOM-based, pressure-sensitive stylus input. Samsung's S Pen, as it's called, allows detailed notes or doodles to be taken on the screen, and the UI and apps can also be navigated using the pen instead of your finger. We reviewed the international HSPA+ Galaxy Note last year, and spent some time with the North American LTE version at last month's CES in Las Vegas. The Galaxy Note is also rumored to be coming to rival Aussie carrier Telstra, though so far there's been no official announcement. Source: @Vodafone_AU; via: Ausdroid 
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 04:50 AM PST  The EVO 3D's internals may no longer be bleeding-edge, but it's still a high-end product -- specs include a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 3D display at qHD (960x540) resolution. On the software side, you'll find Android 2.3 Gingerbread alongside HTC Sense 3.0, and the phone has been promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich later in the year. Even if you don't care about 3D (and we're mostly indifferent ourselves, these days), this is still the most smartphone muscle you're going to get for £229. If you're tempted, you'll find more info at the source link. Source: ASDA Direct; via: @paulobrien 
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Posted: 13 Feb 2012 10:31 PM PST  Gmail is one of Google's best products for many of us. Personally, if my computer or smartphone is on, Gmail is running either in a browser window or through a mail client, and while using an Android device it's the first app I set up. It's very well done on Android, and overall it's the best and most reliable way I've found to get my mail. But not everybody is like I am. During the Mobile Nations Podcast this afternoon, a question was posed about what percentage of Android users used the Gmail app, and this is the perfect way to find out -- we're a bunch of Android users, and we all love to answer polls. So let us know, do you use the Gmail application? 
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Posted: 13 Feb 2012 08:48 PM PST  There's an OTA update slowly being pushed out for the US Wifi version Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and no it's not Ice Cream Sandwich. It's a maintenance release of some sort we first saw back in January, and have been hearing a bit of news about it trickling out for the past week or so. It still doesn't seem to be pushing en masse, but it's picked up enough steam that we're pretty certain pushing it out something they've meant to do. The particulars are Android 3.2 and build number HTJ85B.UEKMP P7510UEKMP. Other notable improvements are fixes for email attachment issues, rotation issues, Wifi reconnect issues, other system file force close issues, and improved power consumption. It also brings the 3.4.4 version of the Android Market, so be sure to delete any shortcuts to the old Market and replace them. Check for your copy in your system settings, or grab the full version if you want to update at your own leisure below. Hit the forums if you need any assistance! More: XDA-Developers; Thanks, DaEXfactoR! 
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Posted: 13 Feb 2012 06:29 PM PST  
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Posted: 13 Feb 2012 06:07 PM PST  So how are you guys celebrating Valentines Day? Taking that special someone out for a romantic candlelit dinner? Perhaps a bunch of roses, chocolates, Champagne? Or, will you be downloading games from the Android Market? Gameloft would like to think it would be the latter of those choices, and in celebration will be reducing the price of its Android catalogue to $0.99/£0.99. Seriously though, if you're not fortunate enough to be celebrating with a loved one, why not drop a buck on something like Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation. Sure fire cure for any Valentines blues. It's likely to be a one day only deal, so make sure you don't miss out on the juicy bargains. via Pocket Gamer 
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Friday, February 17, 2012
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