Android Central |
- Zynga releases Zombie Smash, turns Android statue into a zombie to celebrate
- HTC One S thoughts, Flashing Takju Galaxy Nexus [From the Forums]
- Turntable.fm founder hints at Android app 'coming soon'
- Great things, like the Android OS, change with the times
- Wallpaper Wednesday - Sky, Phil's Podcast Mic, Antique Flowers
- Acer Iconia Tab A500 ICS update now showing as available for some
- Google Maps update adds elevation data, graduates scale bar and zoom buttons from Labs
- Galaxy S3 spotted in Samsung Kies software
- Big Android BBQ 2012 dates announced!
- Angry Birds Space updated with 10 new levels, could Simpsons tie-in be next?
- Sony on track with its Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 rollouts for 2011 Xperia smartphones
- Mobile Nations 15: BlackBerry 10, HTC One, Lumia 900, new iPad
- ShopAndroid Daily Giveaway #58: Scriptum Folio Case for Kindle Fire, Nutshell Leather Case & more!
- What I'm using: Phil's current favorite smartphone of the week
- Deezer streaming music services launch in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, brings an Android app along with it
- Deal of the Day: Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster for Motorola DROID 4
- Fresh rumors on next Samsung Nexus, new HTC Facebook phone offered by Digitimes
- HTC One S available today on T-Mobile
- Facebook for Android updated with new icons for Camera and Messenger
- Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile getting Wimax devices
- Sprint adds 263,000 subscribers, posts $255 million operating loss, watches LTE start to flicker on
- Carphone Warehouse outs 'Samsung Galaxy S3' with tiny teaser pic
- Late-night poll: Did you set up your Google Drive?
- Coachella, through the eyes of the Samsung Epic 4G touch
- Another 'Next Galaxy' dummy unit appears, throws Android style guide to the wind
| Zynga releases Zombie Smash, turns Android statue into a zombie to celebrate Posted: 25 Apr 2012 04:41 PM PDT
Although it has been available in Canada for quite some time now, folks in the US are only just now getting access to Zynga's Zombie Smash which, is a castle defense came with a whole lot of unrelenting zombies. The game has some pretty cool features built into:
In addition to being a fun game, you'll also get a live wallpaper bundled with it to make use of that is both optimized for tablets and phones, like the game. To celebrate the launch, Zynga has also decked out the Android statue at Google in some zombie attire. Zombie Smash is available now in the Google Play Store for $.99 and be sure to check out the video past the break of the Android statue being zombified. 
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| HTC One S thoughts, Flashing Takju Galaxy Nexus [From the Forums] Posted: 25 Apr 2012 04:41 PM PDT
With all that has been happening as of late, it's understandable if you missed out on some things. If that is indeed the case, go ahead and get yourself caught up here on the blogs and in the Android Central forums.
If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today. 
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| Turntable.fm founder hints at Android app 'coming soon' Posted: 25 Apr 2012 03:56 PM PDT
Turntable.fm is one of those services that has caused a pretty big stir since its inception, at least in the US where the service is available anyway. When it comes to mobile, iOS has had an application for a while now while the Android faithful have been left waiting. The company's Chairman and co-founder Seth Goldstein has recently given cause for hope at the recent Rethink Music event. During a session in which he sat on a panel, Goldstein stated that "[an] Android [Turntable.fm app] is coming pretty soon." That's right, that old favorite date, coming soon. While it doesn't really give us anything to go on, it is at least an indication that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It'd be great if the planned international expansion happened prior to its launch, especially as the UK -- sorry folks, being selfish -- and Canada are likely to be one of the first expanded markets. Source: The Verge 
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| Great things, like the Android OS, change with the times Posted: 25 Apr 2012 02:53 PM PDT
Suddenly today, the Internet is all a buzz with the prototype version of Android devices from the mid-2000s. Maybe it has something to do the millionaires at Oracle and Google fighting each other in court today over the money in our pockets. Or maybe it's because Android is so awesome that every little thing about it makes for a great headline. Probably a little of both. In any case, we figured we'd have a look ourselves at how things that are great go through changes. Back in '06, Android looked a lot like Then, in late 2006 LG introduced the LG KE850, also known as the LG Prada. It was a 3-inch capacitive touch screen phone that put multimedia content into a smartphone. After winning multiple awards for design, and selling over a million units (which was an amazing feat back then), things had to change. On the heels of the debut of the KE850, a little company called Apple decided to try their hand at a touchscreen based smartphone. That changed everything, for just about everybody -- including Google. The anticipated 2007 release of the Sooner didn't happen, and instead we had to wait for Google and T-Mobile to have a love fest and deliver us the T-Mobile G1, which incorporated the QWERTY with a touch screen. Other companies didn't rest on their heels either, phones like the HTC Touch Diamond and BlackBerry Storm showed up with varying degrees of success. It was obvious that capacitive touch screens could add multimedia to the user experience, and the modern smartphone was born. Change is good. As long as it's done right, most of us can get on board. Heck, even old dinosaurs like myself now use touch screen phones with no keyboard, and secretly we enjoy it. It's significant because products that don't change to reflect what users want will slowly wither on the vine, and great engineers and designers keep a finger on the pulse of the users and deliver. Android, and all modern smartphone operating systems owe much to the pioneers of media-centric smartphones, and we hope things never stop changing for the better. More: The Verge 
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| Wallpaper Wednesday - Sky, Phil's Podcast Mic, Antique Flowers Posted: 25 Apr 2012 01:29 PM PDT
Looking for something sweet to set as you wallpaper? If you haven't already taken notice of our amazing free Android Wallpaper Gallery (shame on you) there is no better time than now! We have tons of great wallpapers to meet the needs of just about anyone out there, whether looking for some great custom designs, some candid shots, or some favorites from around the 'net, they are all here. If you don't see what you want in the gallery, and happen to find it somewhere else, do us a favor will ya? Spread the love to the rest of the Android Central Community and upload it, it's simple and takes only a minute. Be sure to log in before uploading so we know who they came from, and we can give you the proper credit when we show them off!
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| Acer Iconia Tab A500 ICS update now showing as available for some Posted: 25 Apr 2012 01:19 PM PDT
Acer not too long ago decided to let folks know their Android 4.0 ICS updates for the 7-inch A100 and the 10.1-inch A500 Tabs were well on their way. That said, Acer noted the A500 wouldn't see the update until April 27th in the US or Canada, yet some folks in the forums have already got their OTA update sent out to them. If you have a Acer Iconia A500, go ahead and check for updates -- you may find it there waiting for you. If you're looking to find out what all the changes are, head on into the Android Central forums where some folks having been going through the update. While most stuff seems intact, notably missing is the Acer added ring which many appreciated on the device but was an Acer customization. Discuss in the Android Central Forums
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| Google Maps update adds elevation data, graduates scale bar and zoom buttons from Labs Posted: 25 Apr 2012 12:18 PM PDT
Although Google most recently pushed out a critical bug fix for Google Maps, they've wasted no time un rolling out the next update. The changes are fairly small in nature, but for some folks it may improve the usage of the app overall and that's always a good thing. As noted in the Google Play Store, the changes this time around are:
The update is now live in the Google Play Store, so hit the link below to get updated or just simply fire up the store on your device and head to you're "My Apps" section. 
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| Galaxy S3 spotted in Samsung Kies software Posted: 25 Apr 2012 12:03 PM PDT
The latest appearance -- if you can call it that -- of Samsung's next Galaxy phone seems to give further weight to the possibility that it'll be called the "Samsung Galaxy S3". The name has appeared today in Samsung's Kies PC software, which is used for synchronizing personal media to Samsung smartphones and tablets. The entry is found in a very specific place -- you'll need to go to "Samsung Apps", select "France" as your region and then track it down in the list of phones that appears. There appear to be two variants of the device -- GT-i9300 (which we're already familiar with) and GT-i9300T. Unfortunately, though, there's no way of telling what separates the two devices at this stage. Also, don't get too excited about the tiny thumbnail image up there, it's just a Galaxy Note (compare it to the Note image directly below). So it's looking increasingly likely that "Galaxy S3" is indeed the name. But however things play out at the May 3 announcement event, we'll be there to bring you full coverage. In the meantime, you can chat it up in the Galaxy S3 forums. via SamMobile More: Samsung Galaxy S3 forums 
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| Big Android BBQ 2012 dates announced! Posted: 25 Apr 2012 11:50 AM PDT
Been wondering when the next Big Android BBQ is? Wonder no more. October 19-21, 2012 in the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas is when and where it will all go down. To help keep track of how many days are left to go, there has also been a Big Android BBQ countdown widget released. We're sure there will be more information to come in the next little while but for now -- the dates and venue are indeed set. You can grab the countdown widget from the Google Plat Store for which, you'll find a link to below. Source: BigAndroidBBQ 
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| Angry Birds Space updated with 10 new levels, could Simpsons tie-in be next? Posted: 25 Apr 2012 11:08 AM PDT
Rovio's updated its interstellar swine-smashing simulator Angry Birds Space with 10 new levels. The new challenges can be found within the 'Fry Me To The Moon' chapter, which sees the classic pig-versus-bird battle re-enacted on a series of icy worlds. Fortunately the new levels are available in the free and ad-supported phone versions of the app, as well as the tablet-only HD version, so everyone gets to play. If you've already got Angry Birds Space installed, you can grab the latest version by hitting that update button in the Google Play Store. If not, we've got links after the break. In an interesting twist, this latest update also adds a teaser zone to the main menu -- an unmistakable pink Simpsons-style donut. Could a Springfieldian crossover be in the future for one of the leading mobile gaming franchises? We'll have to wait and see. 
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| Sony on track with its Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 rollouts for 2011 Xperia smartphones Posted: 25 Apr 2012 10:13 AM PDT
Back in March, Sony highlighted some details surrounding their rollout of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the 2011 line of Xperia smartphones and at the time, their plans looked a little like something like this:
Sony has now taken to their blog to let everyone know the updates, especially for the Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V and Xperia Ray are rolling out as planned and they will continue to roll out the updates globally as soon as possible. To further address the matter, Sony has been listing the devices and their carrier related software version numbers so that folks may check to see if their device update has been approved. Although we're sure some folks will still be upset with the wait time, it's nice to see Sony keeping folks in the loop. Source: Sony Mobile Blog 
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| Mobile Nations 15: BlackBerry 10, HTC One, Lumia 900, new iPad Posted: 25 Apr 2012 09:08 AM PDT | ||
| ShopAndroid Daily Giveaway #58: Scriptum Folio Case for Kindle Fire, Nutshell Leather Case & more! Posted: 25 Apr 2012 08:54 AM PDT For today's ShopAndroid.com Daily Giveaway we'll be featuring the Aduro Scriptum Folio Case for Kindle Fire, Nutshell Natural Leather Case, Seidio ACTIVE Case for Photon 4G, and the Nite Ize Clip Case Sideways. Leave a comment below telling us which item you'd like to win for your Android device, and we'll randomly select one person as the winner. Check back next week when we announce the winner from today and the rest of this week! Aduro Scriptum Folio Case for Kindle FireThe Aduro Scriptum Folio Case is made from real leather, featuring soft microsuede lining on the inside of the case which protects your Kindle Fire at all times. The Scriptum Folio Case has a built-in stand that can be released for landscape viewing. There's access to all ports and controls through the precision cutouts on the case. 
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| What I'm using: Phil's current favorite smartphone of the week Posted: 25 Apr 2012 08:40 AM PDT
Asking me which phone is my favorite is like asking my which one of my children I prefer. Sure, I could probably come up with an answer, but there's no way in hell I'm going to tell you. I joke that my favorite smartphone is the one that's currently charged. And that's not far off, but neither is it a good answer. My daily driver really comes and goes with the release cycle. Much of 2011 was spent with an HTC ThunderBolt, before moving on to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Before that it was the Motorola Droid X and the Nexus One and the Samsung Infuse 4G and ... You get the idea. For the past few weeks, however, I've been using the HTC One X and the HTC One S. I've been using the One X more, mainly for radio reasons -- T-Mobile's just not that great where I live. But there's no denying that the display on the One X is gorgeous, if not a little big. So, yeah. The One X is my weapon of choice these days. It's no secret that I'm a fan of Sense 4. That's not to say it's perfect -- there are some bugs about and design choices I disagree with -- but it's a nice improvement over stock Ice Cream Sandwich (which I also really like). So there's that. I'm not running a third-party launcher on top of Sense. That's partially out of laziness, and partially because Sense is good enough. (I do miss vertical scrolling in the app drawer. But apparently I don't miss it enough to bother with a third party launcher.) I'm actually only using two of the seven home screens. Craziness, I know. But folders on the main home screen takes care of most things, as does the customizable dock. Check it all out in the video below. 
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| Posted: 25 Apr 2012 08:21 AM PDT
If Slacker Radio, Rdio and the various other streaming music services out there aren't really meeting your needs, Deezer has now expanded their support to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Previously available in over 200 countries, the addition of new regions will help add to the already existing 20 million subscribers Deezer claims to have onboard and their Android app makes it easy to access all your music files from wherever you are. So what does Deezer offer?
You can sign up today and get yourself a free 15-day trial, though Deezer does somewhat require a Facebook account to get started. There are ways around that though, offered via the website -- just not through the app. You can jump past the break for some more screenshots of the app in action as well as the download link. Source: PRNewswire 
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| Deal of the Day: Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster for Motorola DROID 4 Posted: 25 Apr 2012 08:04 AM PDT
The Qmadix Snap-On Cover is available for $14.95 today only, 50% off the regular price. Grab yours while they're in stock! 
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| Fresh rumors on next Samsung Nexus, new HTC Facebook phone offered by Digitimes Posted: 25 Apr 2012 06:30 AM PDT
Let's offer a little context right off the bat -- Taiwanese tech rumor site Digitimes has an at-best patchy record when it comes to reports on unannounced devices. So naturally we'd recommend taking these latest Samsung and HTC rumors with a hearty pinch of salt. First off, it's reported that Samsung has once again been chosen by Google to produce its next Nexus handset -- the follow-up to the Galaxy Nexus that's expected to appear in late 2012. Digitimes says that Samsung's position as the leading Android smartphone manufacturer means Google will continue to co-operate with it on future Nexus phones, leveraging "its ability to control the supply of key components", according to the site's sources. This is the first rumored (and of course entirely unconfirmed) information we've heard regarding the 2012 Nexus, which would be the third Google flagship phone to come out of Samsung. The phone would presumably be the reference device for the next version of Android, said to be codenamed "Jelly Bean." In other news, Digitimes also reports that HTC and Facebook are preparing to team up on another Facebook phone, which will come to market "in the third quarter of 2012 at the earliest." The two companies co-operated on the HTC ChaCha (Status) and Salsa last year, though neither device was met with much success. The new phone, which is said to be running Android, "will have a platform exclusive to Facebook to enable and integrate all functions available on the social networking site", according to the site's sources. That's pretty vague, but based on the direction Facebook's taking its official Android app, we wouldn't be surprised to see Facebook integration baked into the native camera and messaging apps, at the very least. So there you have it -- two rumors, both completely unconfirmed. We'll have to see how things pan out in the months ahead, but we wouldn't be too shocked if either of these turned out to be legit. We've seen some pretty aggressive expansion out of Facebook recently, and we're sure no-one would be surprised to see yet another Samsung Nexus. Be sure to give us your take on this latest batch of rumors down in the comments. Source: Digitimes 
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| HTC One S available today on T-Mobile Posted: 25 Apr 2012 06:01 AM PDT
Today's the day, folks! The HTC One S is now available on T-Mobile here in the U.S., making it the first phone from the HTC One line to launch here in the states. (The HTC One X is coming May 6 on AT&T, and the EVO 4G LTE -- essentially Sprint's One X -- is coming eventually, with preorders beginning May 7.) If you're on the fence, here are the broad strokes: It's ridiculous thin, especially considering that it's a 4.3-inch phone. It's light. It's got a power processor. It's got Sense 4, which we like a lot. And it runs on T-Mobile's 42 Mbps network. Aww, hell, just read our complete T-Mobile HTC One S review. It'll make your day a little brighter. Buy now: T-Mobile HTC One S 
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| Facebook for Android updated with new icons for Camera and Messenger Posted: 25 Apr 2012 05:47 AM PDT
It seems Facebook's taken this criticism to heart, and today it's acted to make things a little more clear for users. In the new version, both app icons now display the Facebook logo in the bottom left corner, further differentiating them from pre-loaded camera and messaging apps. Hit that update button to grab the new version. Alternatively, we've got the usual Google Play Store linkage after the break. 
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| Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile getting Wimax devices Posted: 25 Apr 2012 05:27 AM PDT
That's particularly interesting for Android fans on the prepaid carriers because it almost certainly means Wimax Android devices. Hesse promised additional information later this year. 
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| Sprint adds 263,000 subscribers, posts $255 million operating loss, watches LTE start to flicker on Posted: 25 Apr 2012 05:20 AM PDT
Sprint this morning announced its Q1 2012 earnings. The big strokes are that it added 263,000 postpaid subscribers but posted a $255 million operating loss. (A little less than half of that was for in operating costs for its new "Network Vision" strategy. You have to spend money to make money.) Sprint now boasts more than 56 million customers (32.8 million postpaid, and 15.3 million prepaid. Churn was up slightly at 2 percent. And, yes, Sprint sold some iPhones -- some 1.5 million. What we're really interested in, of course, is Sprint's LTE rollout. It's still set to have six LTE cities running by mid-year, and more than 12,000 sites (different than citites) by the end of the year. Source: Sprint 
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| Carphone Warehouse outs 'Samsung Galaxy S3' with tiny teaser pic Posted: 25 Apr 2012 05:12 AM PDT
What's also intriguing is the slow gravitation we're seeing towards the "Galaxy S3" name rather than anything else. Over the past few days we've seen references to that name exactly -- Galaxy S3, not S 3 or S III -- leak out on Amazon, the official "Unpacked" app in the Google Play Store, and now CPW. Despite rumors that Samsung may attempt to ape Apple's naming scheme with a "new Galaxy S", we think the S3 name makes more sense in terms of branding. A "new Galaxy S" is too confusing for consumers upgrading from the S II, considering how schizophrenic Samsung's Galaxy branding already is across its phone and Tab lines. And a "Galaxy S III" with three as roman numerals isn't as instantly recognizable -- your brain takes a few more seconds to process those pesky three lines and differentiate "III" from "II". Whatever the case, we're still in rumor territory with regards to much of what we "know" about this device. And we're not expecting that to change until the Galaxy S3, or whatever it's called, is unveiled in London on May 3. Source: Carphone Warehouse 
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| Late-night poll: Did you set up your Google Drive? Posted: 24 Apr 2012 11:37 PM PDT
All the rumors and murmuring came to an end today, as Google unleashed Google Drive on the world. Some of the rumors were right, some not, but in the end anytime someone wants to give us more, we'll take it. I hope in the end Google gets things a bit more unified, but that's another story. I'll use it, so I set mine up. Did you? Let us know in the poll!
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| Coachella, through the eyes of the Samsung Epic 4G touch Posted: 24 Apr 2012 09:20 PM PDT
By all accounts folks that went to Coachella had a blast. Music, food, beverages, X, you name it -- it was there. So was AC member ramonm2 and his trusty Epic 4G Touch, and he has an entertaining tale about the funs times, and more importantly, how his Android phone helped him out and held up to a day in the desert. Check it out! 
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| Another 'Next Galaxy' dummy unit appears, throws Android style guide to the wind Posted: 24 Apr 2012 07:26 PM PDT
Ladies and gents, I present to you the Samsung Galaxy S III. Except it ain't. It's another bit of secrecy in the never ending chain of Samsung Galaxy Next S III tales, and this one from the Taiwanese forum mobile01 truly takes the cake. The casing, yellow friction tape and all, is clearly not the finished product and the monstrosity of a navigation bar across the bottom makes me hope the view on the screen is faked as well. Don't get me wrong -- I'm a fan of buttons, including the coveted menu button, but forcing it off to the wrong side as in the above screen is not only against the Android style guidelines, but it's a giant mess for app development waiting to happen. At least HTC's offerings would look right when (if) apps get updated with the ICS UI. But this? There's no rhyme or reason. I want to see this phone as much as the next guy. I'm excited to see what Samsung counters the HTC One series with, but if this is it I'm going to have to say no thanks Samsung. That's why I'm not buying it. Source: mobile01 (since pulled); via The Verge 
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Last week we saw the the first retailer listing for the 
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