Posted: 05 Mar 2012 04:10 PM PST  If you need to sell your used Android handset, or you're in the market to buy a new device but you're against paying the carrier prices, Swappa is your knight in shining armor.
A lot of these phones are rooted, with custom ROMs installed, and "every device sold on Swappa that has CyanogenMod installed results in a $5 donation to the developers of CyanogenMod." This is a great way to give back to the development community, and I commend Swappa for this policy. As if that wasn't enough, Swappa has promised that "if you are a Reddit user and you buy or sell a device on Swappa we will buy you a month of Reddit Gold to show our appreciation." Upon entering the Swappa site, from top to bottom, you have the site header and your information (if you're logged in), and some quick links (how to buy, how to sell, top devices, all, and more) situated next to a search box, for those who know what they're looking for. Beneath that you'll notice that whichever Android device has the most listings at that moment will make a headline appearance. They've conveniently categorized the devices, first by carrier, then by type (unlocked, tablet, 4G, keyboard and all devices) beneath which they have a yearbook-style listing of the 16 top stocked phones. After choosing a phone, you'll come to a page that lists each individual sale for that phone, with convenient icon tags that tell you something about the phone or it's accessories.  Inside each listing is a more in-depth description of the specific handset being sold and what, if anything, you'll receive with the device, along with public comments, where you can ask the seller questions (although they're more often used for haggling). After purchasing a device you are presented with a screen similar to the sale listing, where you'll confirm your shipping address and have the option to communicate privately, comment-style with the seller. The Swappa staff might even drop in and say thanks while you're there! The person from whom I bought my phone was kind enough to share his opinions on what it's like selling a device through Swappa.com From the seller's point of view, Swappa couldn't be easier to use. Creating a listing took me about ten minutes from start to finish. Swappa maintains a database of just about every Android device out there, so there's no reason to hunt for system specs or photos. You simply choose your device, and Swappa provides a stock photo and specifications.Overall, Swappa.com seems to be a hit from both ends of the deal. Check them out next time you're in the market, and if you've already purchased a device through Swappa, let us know in the comments what you think of it! Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY  |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 03:35 PM PST  There was a time when ICS was a trending topic, and now it seems it's being replaced by Jelly Bean. Android 5.0 is expected to be announced in Q2 (hopefully at Google I/O) and believe it or not, this update could be what pushes Android into the spotlight. It's also worth noting that Google confirmed it will be out this fall. The actual announcement is still far away, but Android OEMs are already starting to prep for it. HTC spilled the beans, admitting that they are in the race for the next Nexus smartphone, which will likely be the first to run Jelly Bean. Asus is also ready for Jelly Bean, as Asus Corporate Vice President Benson Lin told TechRadar: ASUS is very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update.The original Asus Transformer was the first to receive Honeycomb OTA, and the Transformer Prime was the first to receive Android 4.0, so it wouldn't be surprising if they will be the first one to offer the latest Android version. I really can't wait for the first glimpse of Jelly Bean, and it's expected that we will see the sweet stuff at the Google I/O event this summer. More on this as it develops. Anyone looking forward to Android 5.0 a.k.a Jelly Bean? Tell us in the comments below! Source TechRadar Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PST  I don't have an Ice Cream Sandwich-powered device right now, but believe it or not, I am a big fan of the camera application that Google implemented into their latest Android version. It's amazing and very user friendly, but unfortunately available to lucky ICS users only. Of course, this is Android we're talking about. The developers over at Moblynx have launched an application called as Camera ICS, and it brings an "improved version of the official camera app included in Ice Cream Sandwich." You can get this app, and the camera features that come with it, on almost any Android device. I am running it on my Nexus One, and I am in love with this application. However, if ads bothers you, then you can get the paid version for $1.31. That low price is available for a limited time, so grab it while you can! You can download the app by using the box below. Be sure to leave a comment below, and let us know what you think about Camera ICS conversione applicazioni iphone android Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:32 PM PST  It's not the first time we've heard whispers about the supposed Google Nexus tablet. Recently, we heard that Google is cooking up a 7-Inch tablet that'll run ICS and will be a proud member of the Nexus team. Rumors are pointing to a device that'll rival Amazon's Kindle Fire. Now word is on the street that Asus will be the one to manufacturer the first pure Android Nexus tablet. Asus has been impressive in the last few months, especially at MWC with an impressive line of products. It seems they got the search giant's attention, and they'll be the chosen manufacturer for the rumroed Nexus tablet. To compete with the Kindle Fire head-to-head, it will be launched with a wallet-friendly price tag of $199, sources say. Asus also told TechRadar that they're "very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update". What does "very close to Google" mean? It might indicate that they're involved in Google's future actions, but only time will tell. Until then, we'll have to ponder these latest rumors, and take with little more than a grain of salt until we get some kind of confirmation from Google or Asus. If such a tablet is coming, we'll probably see it at Google I/O. In any case, we want to hear from you. Should Google try their hand in the tablet market? If not Asus, what manufacturer would you like to see them choose? Source PocketNow Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:08 AM PST A long time ago, when Android was a newborn baby and was growing rapidly, HTC launched their very own user interface, Sense UI to run along with Android. First launched with the HTC Hero, it gave new users a bit of customization and personalization. Critics generally praised Sense and it became a selling point for picking HTC Android phones over others. But, as time passed, people began to complain about its intrusiveness and memory-eating UI. When asked about where Sense is today as how it has evolved even HTC says, "Yes, that's the problem". HTC admits Sense UI got cluttered, aims to fix with Sense 4.0 originally appeared on AndroidGuys.  HTC's chief product officer Kouji Kodera said he believes that HTC Sense was a true rocker in the beginning, but later on with each new Sense version, the UI became too cluttered. He said: "From the original Sense up to Sense 3.5 we added too many things. The original concept was that it had to be simple and it had to be easy to use and we had that philosophy, but over time it got cluttered. There where too many things in there. Even on the home screen we had four or five icons before consumers got a chance to add things themselves. For the HTC One range we have taken it down to Sense 2 again."It's always good to see a company who admits their mistakes and promise to fix them. At MWC, HTC introduced Sense 4.0 which is less cluttered and not killing the taste of the operating system you are running it on. Further more, he said: "What we've done right now is a good mixture of keeping Sense and Google's Ice Cream Sandwich element in a good balance. We haven't tried to change everything here. We have kept a lot of the ICS element but still added the Sense flavor on top of it."I hope the "balance" he is taking about will make the HTC fans happy. HTC knows that ICS has the required features and they didn't want to ruin the ICS experience by adding too much customer elements. Well, HTC is getting back to its old and powerful position, and I am sure that their One series will bring in some good revenue. Tell us what do you think about it in the comment box below. Source: Pocket-Lint Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 09:06 AM PST  Samsung today announced a successor to last year's Galaxy Player 50 personal media player, unveiling the dual-core Galaxy Player 70 Plus. Arriving as the company's first media player to boast a dual-core1GHz chipset, the Galaxy Player 70 Plus also offers consumers a 5-inch display, and up to 32GB of storage. Looking very much like a Galaxy Note, additional details include Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth, FM radio, a 5-megapixel rear camera, MicroSD support, and a very respectable 2,500 mAh battery. Look for the Galaxy Player 70 Plus to hit South Korea in two iterations: a 16GB (399,000 won/$357 US) and 32GB (469,000 won/$420 US). No word on whether or not this will come stateside but we venture to guess it will slide into Best Buy and Amazon at some point over the coming months.  Press release via UnwiredView Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 08:08 AM PST  Google is expected to formally announce its Siri-like experience later this year as it unveils Google Assistant. Rumored by one source to arrive by the fourth quarter of the year (Q4 '12), this is said to be the Project Majel stuff that was getting tossed around late 2011. According to TechCrunch the project is being worked on by members of the Android team and search engineer Amit Singhal and that things are pretty ambitious. Imagine taking all the voice technology that goes into Google Voice Actions, Nuance, or Vlingo and giving the tools to developers. This, potentially, could lead to apps, games, and websites that tie into the voice tools. The project is reportedly broken into three parts:
You design it!If you were able to build a voice-powered assistant, where would you place the focus? What would be a priority if you were in charge?Image source Follow AndroidGuys on Facebook and Twitter and download the free AndroidGuys app for your device! Save a bunch on your next Android. Check out Amazon's best sellers! UPDATED HOURLY |
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PST  If you're like me, you use your device heavily, which tends to drain the battery. Extended batteries are always an option, but they typically add noticeable thickness to a device. Motorola is seeking to solve this issue with the Droid Razr Maxx, a newer variant of the Droid Razr, known for its incredibly thin profile. The folks at Verizon were kind enough to send over a review unit, and I've been using it as my daily device for just over a week. So without further ado, the Droid Razr Maxx...Look & feel The Menu, Home, Back, and Search capacitive buttons  Motorola has added a few nice touches to the device, like the chrome power button.  The top of the Razr Maxx  The Kevlar back gives the Maxx an industrial feel Looking at the rear of the device, the first noticeable thing is the Kevlar back that we first saw on the Droid Razr. Near the top, we can see an 8MP camera with 1080p HD video capture, an LED flash, and the speaker. 
The Razr Maxx has a natural feel, and doesn't give the impression of cheapness The device itself fits nicely in the hand, without feeling too wide or awkward. It's very light, but it definitely has a quality feel to it, unlike some other devices that seem cheap and made primarily of plastic. It does look more uniform than the original Droid Razr, which had that hump at the top of the device where the camera and LTE radio were stored. I'm duly impressed with Motorola's ability to cram such a huge 3,300 mAh battery into a slim profile. Performance
Quadrant tests are average, mostly hindered by Motorola's UI 
Despite the suicidal screen bug, the Super AMOLED display is very colorful and crisp. 
Madden NFL '12 is one of the few preloaded apps that can be uninstalled. I'll go ahead and answer a question that several people have asked by telling you that out of the box, you get quite a bit of bloatware. The Razr Maxx comes preloaded with Amazon Kindle, Blockbuster, GoTo Meeting, Let's Golf 2, Madden NFL '12, Netflix, MotoActiv, Motoprint, QuickOffice, Slacker Radio, SlingBox, and some Verizon-specific applications like My Verizon, Verizon Video, and VZ Navigator. Most of the bloatware can't be uninstalled, and the only preloaded apps that you can get rid of are the games and a few others like GoTo Meeting. The Motorola and Verizon apps can't be uninstalled, so unfortunately you're stuck with those.  
The launcher is the same as that on the Droid Razr, with 5 homescreens and a nice transition effect. The app drawer that Motorola has implemented is actually pretty useful. There are options to view different sets of applications, like those that you've downloaded, recent apps, etc. Motorola has even given users the option to create their own folders to categorize apps.
 
Motorola has gone the extra mile to make this device as usable as possible with the implementation of Smart Actions. These are actions that a user can set or adjust, to make everything seem more natural when using the device. For example, the Work option helps to speed up the device, so users can "stay productive at work." The Meeting action sets the ringer to vibrate every time there's a meeting listed in calendar events, and even allows the user to select a predefined message to send to anyone that tries to contact them during the meeting. Useful? Extremely.
Camera
The rear 8MP camera is top notch  
 
 
 
The Maxx is touted because of its 3,300 mAh battery, but I would consider buying it based solely on the camera performance. Motorola has added a camera slider to the lockscreen, so users can quickly jump from a locked device to snapping that priceless moment.
The camera switching button is a nice touch. 
Motorola didn't go all out with the camera options, but the average user will be satisfied There are several standard options within the camera, like color effects, scenes, and geotagging. I was definitely pleased with the ability to switch between the rear and front-facing cameras with one click, as opposed to some other devices that require shuffling through menus to do this. The front-facing shooter performs just as well as a 1.3MP camera should. Browser
Naturally, I set the browser's homepage to AndroidGuys.com With a big screen like this, the average user is probably going to surf the web more than a few times. The browser was left largely untouched by Motorola, which is a plus in my mind. Pinch-to-zoom works great, with no lag or checkerboarding. Flash content plays fairly smoothly, with little to no buffering. Pages loaded quickly, especially with LTE speeds. I don't have LTE coverage where I live, but I was able to run some speed tests in an area where there is 4G coverage. The results were fairly consistent, and blew any 3G speeds out of the water. The download speeds peaked at around 20Mbps, and the upload at around 7Mbps. Some people may not like Verizon, but they can't deny that Big Red has some of the fastest speeds we've seen. Usability
Motorola's multitouch keyboard isn't amazing, but it gets the job done.  One of the biggest issues that some people have with Motorola's devices is their UI. I'll admit, I've never been a fan of Blur, or the Motorola Standard User Interface, or whatever they're calling it these days. But they have slimmed it down, and it's not as in-your-face as it used to be. There are actually a few Motorola services that I found to be really useful, like Motocast, which lets you stream content from a home computer while you're on the go. There are also several widgets that they've added, like a favorite contacts widget, social networking, sticky notes, tasks, weather, and a world clock. So Motorola has really thought through their UI, and after looking at the leaked screenshots of Motorola's Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Razr, I have to admit that I'm impressed with how far they've come since the disaster that was the Cliq. Please excuse me while I give a quiet shudder after that flashback..Battery
The Razr Maxx's thin profile is impressive, especially considering the oversized battery. 
After over 15 hours of hardly any use, with WiFi connected, the battery was staying strong at 80% Wrap-UpSo that's about it for the Razr Maxx. To sum up my thoughts on the device: Pros
|
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Update - 141
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment