Sunday, April 15, 2012

Update - 228



Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:11 PM PDT
Gameloft has been doing phenomenal work lately in the mobile gaming industry with hits like Brothers in Arms 2, and their latest iOS port to Android is no exception. Six-Guns is a beautiful throw back to the Neversoft/Activision western title “Gun” and the more recent “Red Dead Redemption” by Rockstar Games. I have always wanted to live back in the old west and this game doesn’t leave out any of the good stuff. From skinning animals to sell their hides, robbing Indians and classic bar fights, this game has it all without dipping into your wallet. As is the standard with most graphic heavy games, Six-Guns does have an additional 396 MB download within the app so prepare for a short wait. I guess you can polish your six shooter in the meantime. Check out the video below for some awesome video shots, no pun intended. If the cinema meets your approval, you can hit up the link to download it for free from the Play Store.
Click here to view the embedded video.

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Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:31 PM PDT
Hungry for a portion of Ice Cream Sandwich? Aren’t we all? Well they do say good things come to those who wait, but better things come to those who make it happen! The team over at Android Police got their hands on a freshly leaked, stable build of Android 4.0 with Sense 3.6 and it’s available right now. We must point out that this is not a final build, however early feedback has been positive so far. If you’re in possession of a Rezound then we suggest you strap yourself in while we talk you through the process.
HTC Rezound 4.0.3 ICS stock (note – will break root)Download Link
HTZ Rezound 4.0.3 ICS Rooted version – Download Link

  • Download the appropriate file and rename it to “PH98IMG.zip” (remove quotes)
  • Place the renamed file onto the root of the SD Card
  • Turn off the phone
  • Reboot into the bootloader by holding the Volume Down + Power buttons together
  • Sit back and watch as your phone updates
  • The device will reboot and you’ll be sporting some Ice Cream Sandwich
Check out the full changelog below and let us know your thoughts on the build in the comments. Happy flashing!
Features / Enhancements
  • Android 4.0.3 ICS
  • CMAS support added
  • IPv6 over eHRPD support
  • UI updated to Sense 3.6
  • Caller name ID application added
  • VMM/BUA plus updated
  • New storage UI (in settings menu)
Issues Resolved
  • Changing pin causes EULA to be displayed
  • Incorrect time displayed in Phoenix, AZ
  • EAS message – “Client/Server Conversion Error”
  • EAS message – “Exchange policies have changed”
  • EAS message – “Certificate Error”
  • Home screen view blocked with black bar
  • Hotspot data stalls
  • Removed power mode settings
  • Group messages not showing originating MDN
  • Call button not disabled when using voice commands
  • People widget displaying multiple birthdays
  • Verizon Location Agent removed – impacting battery life
  • SSO authentication fails for VCAST tones
  • “to” field deleted when device is rotated
  • Google Talk app formatting




Posted: 16 Mar 2012 01:54 PM PDT
If you are among the many Android users who are patiently holding off on buying a tablet now, yet anxiously waiting for the latest on the Google “Nexus Tablet”, then here is a juicy piece of rumor. An anonymous source has come forward and stated that the “Nexus Tablet” is indeed on its way and that there have been some modifications to the previously purported spec sheet. According to the undercover source, not only is Asus manufacturing the “Nexus Tablet”, but they have decided to scrap their plans for the upcoming Asus MeMo 370T that was previewed at CES 2012, in place for the shiny new Nexus. If you remember from our previous article on the MeMo 370T, it was reported to have Ice Cream Sandwich, the new Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, to sell at an incredible price point of $250, and to be the first 7-inch tab with an IPS display. The source goes on to say that the price will now drop to $149, the Tegra 3 is no longer in the picture and only the 7 inch display is a definite go at this point in time. Perhaps Asus and Google decided to use the basic blueprints of the MeMo 370T and install cheaper hardware to allow for lower, more competitive pricing. With the Kindle Fire still selling well at $199, I can understand the motivation. Of course this is still a big fat rumor, but perhaps we will see this new tablet revealed at the CTIA Wireless show in mid-May.
source: Android and Me




Posted: 16 Mar 2012 12:47 PM PDT
The newest version of the Google Play store started to roll out last night and brings some welcomed new features. There is now a tabbed ‘My Apps’ section that shows you all the apps you have ever installed (up to 250) and an ‘All’ section that contains all the apps loaded on your device. You can also flip between multiple accounts under the All tab instead of going into your settings like in previous builds.
Another neat feature is the upgrade to the app reviews. If the Google servers can decipher what device the reviewer is using, the Play store will now reflect that in each review. You are also presented with new options in which you can display the reviews. You can see reviews from owners of your device only, or from the lasted version of the app, and you can also sort the way in which reviews are displayed, i.e. most helpful or newest reviews first. Pretty handy indeed!
This new update brings the Play store up to build 3.5.15 and should reach all devices over the next few days. If you are anxious to see what the changes look like right now then you can force the update yourself thanks to XDA member Joel Chan. No root required, just download this apk file and make sure you have ‘Unknown Sources’ checked off under the Security option in your device settings. Once downloaded, simply open the file and install but be sure to let us know what you think!
source: XDA






Posted: 16 Mar 2012 12:04 PM PDT
In yet the latest chapter of the Samsung i-9300 saga, an image has appeared highlighting what is possibly the upcoming phone’s camera features… which may be lackluster to say the least. An anonymous individual casually snapped an image of his or her desk using supposedly the Galaxy S III’s camera which shows this EXIF data as the end result. Considering the device the device has an 8.1MP camera, it’s quite possible the person who took the photo either has some unsteady hands or was perhaps fiddling with the camera features a little too much.
Yes this photo is not impressive, but let’s hope we have more photos taken from the phone’s 8.1MP camera which will truly highlight its potential.
source: Picasa Web
via: Phandroid




Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:33 AM PDT
We have yet another method to display PC content on our tablets everyone. After previously seeing an option for gaming on Tegra 3-based tablets, developer Jean-Sebastien Royer saw that option wasn’t enough and decided to do something different— in a better way of course— by developing the Kainy app for both tablets and smartphones. The app basically allows users to stream gaming content from their PC to their tablets over a WiFi, 3G or 4G connection. Sounds great and all, but I’m sure you’re all wondering what the special thing about the app is, right? Well, Kainy allows users to create specific and custom layouts of the controls for all games. In addition, the app provides Bluetooth support and 128-bit data encryption. Very nice indeed.
The app is available for all Android 2.2+ devices for a not-too-shabby price of $5.04. Hit the break to see a video demonstrating the app in action and to find the Play Store download link.


Click here to view the embedded video.

source: Android Police




Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT
I just reviewed Perfect Keyboard, which is one of the best keyboard replacements for Android. The folks over at Perfect Keyboard were gracious enough to provide 20 copies to give to our awesome readers. We’re going to keep things simple again. Just head over to our forum post and tell us what phone and/or tablet you are sporting right now. You have until Monday, March 19 at 11:59EST. We will randomly pick 20 winners and announce them on Tuesday, March 20. Winners will receive an email with instructions to the email account that is attached to their username. Good Luck!!!
Click here to enter




Posted: 16 Mar 2012 09:29 AM PDT
It’s official everyone— GO Launcher HD is now available for all Android 3.0+ tablets today. When we last saw the launcher, it was in beta and had some minor kinks to be worked out. Those kinks are ironed out and the developers want you to look forward to the noteworthy features in the launcher:
  • Support dragging operation on dock bar
  • Add / Delete screens
  • Self-define folders to categorize apps
  • Check running apps and clear all
  • Brand new adding interface
If you’ve got a tablet and are sick of those darn skins or want to jazz up stock Android a little bit, be sure to give GO Launcher HD a whirl today. It’s available for the low price of free for Honeycomb+ tablets.





Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:35 AM PDT

Ah yes, the variation of the Android platform. Some people love it while others hate it. Let’s face the cold, hard truth about Android: it’s an open-source platform in which any individual can take the basic source, tweak it a little and truly make it their own. Similarly manufacturers can take the basic open source and throw it onto all sorts of devices with all sorts of hardware configurations. What do both amateur developers and established manufacturers of Android devices have in common? Each want to develop and create an end result or product that is “unique” and more or less different from its competition, while also providing a need for its customers and consumers. Amateur developers have a different perspective from both the engineers/developers at Google and OEMS– that’s to take the Android platform which notoriously omits items such as built-in functions like the ability to take screenshots and make it available for all. OEMs and manufacturers conversely see the bare Android platform as too basic and will slap on enhanced features such as social communication widgets. Independent/amateur developers and OEMs/manufacturers have different visions, but again— they’re looking at the bigger goal of answering what they perceive to be Android customer’s need ands try to address them.
What Android users truly want or need can be subjective and there’s no real right or wrong answer. However, we all believe Android’s benefit to users involve the freedom of choice. There are a myriad of options prospective and interested consumers can look into when it comes to manufacturers. For those who want a simple phone which allows for web browsing, messaging (texting and Twitter) and basic phone calls, there are a ton of budget options such as the Pantech Burst smartphone. For others who are interested in watching videos, listening to music or gaming on the go, there are other devices which feature dual-core processors with built-in GPUs such as the HTC Rezound. Whatever it is a prospective user is interested in, they’ll find what they want. Now suppose I ask this question to you: considering Android is truly an open platform, is it fair that manufacturers generally market devices with various hardware profiles, but only one UI option? More importantly, what is the benefit of having an Android device with a custom UI and would manufacturers and ultimately consumers be better off having the option to choose between a device with a custom skin or no skin at all? I personally believe that not only is it unfair for OEMs to market most devices with custom skins, but also marketing devices with no skins may be a financial benefit as well as positive perception from the various levels of the Android community.

Let’s start off with a quick rundown of what stock or “vanilla” Android is and its purpose to Android users. Stock Android is a direct reflection of the Unix (Linux) operating system— a free, open source-based ecosystem at its most basic level. This basic level of the OS includes the bare minimum: a simple to use user interface complimented by basic Android apps and functions which co-exist with a device’s hardware in pure harmony. The basic level of the Android OS is meant to be cracked open and developed further whether it’s to improve aesthetics like icons, launchers, transitions, etc. In addition, devices with vanilla Android generally come with unlocked bootloaders (bootloaders are basically sections of your phone’s storage with specific partitions) or are easily to unlock with few steps. Amateur users and developers can crack open the bootloader and manipulate or change the Android OS. So in essence, vanilla Android is developer-friendly. It welcomes those who love to tinker and encourages further development of the OS which in turn— helps with its evolution. There’s also another side though: while developers appreciate vanilla Android most, there are more than a few Android users (including yours truly) who aren’t focused on development of Android— but rather interested in taking an Android device and making it “truly theirs”. This means taking the basic Android UI and throwing on an allotment of add-ons like say widgets and icons or changing the appearance of the UI to help those type of users distinguish their Android device from another Android device.
(Photo courtesy of Android Tapp)
While many Android users have an idea of their intentions for Androids, OEMs and manufacturers have another idea, so let’s talk about what a custom UI is. They are focused on addressing the perceived trends of today and tomorrow— the fastest, latest hardware in its devices, but keeping things especially simple and social-centric at the same time by mandating custom UI layers or “skins” on their devices. Let me explain: most consumers are not aware of the performance or benchmarks in devices— nor should they be aware. If an average consumer hears dual or quad-core, lots of RAM, high megapixel camera, that will raise their antennas and spark their interest. Similarly, the average consumer is focused and interested on what’s visually appealing– and we all know nothing is more appealing than a bunch of
useless and resource-hogging
icons and widgets on a device which distinguish it from the competition to the average consumer. Let’s face it— Apple’s iOS is one hell of a nice UI, yet it’s simple, clean and visually effective. Vanilla Android is well… generally not so attractive to the human eye (although Android 4.0 is a step in the right direction). The major OEMs realize this and take the basic platform of the Android OS, jazz it up a little bit by including a skin such as Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense UI and Motorola’s (MOTO)BLUR. Now that you have an idea of what a skin is, let’s talk about what type of devices have which version of the Android ecosystem.
 
There are few devices which operate on vanilla Android. The general thought is Google developer devices— specifically the Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus and XOOM WiFi— are the only ones that operate on vanilla Android. However you’d surprised at the number of devices that also run stock Android despite them being sold by OEMs such as the T-Mobile LG G2X (also known as the LG Optimus 2X) and the Motorola Triumph prepaid smartphone on Virgin Mobile. It’s no secret that Google developer devices have stock Android because well— you can’t really tweak and tinker on Android as easily if there’s some pesky custom UI lurking on top. However, the fact there are a handful of devices with vanilla Android sold by OEMs should raise the question: why are these devices being sold with basic Android? Is it because it would be cheaper to developer this type of device? My opinion in a simple word: yes.
Now let’s get to the inclusion of custom skins on the vast majority of Android devices and why they are there. As indicated before, manufacturers need to take the basic Android platform and make it better which will help them make a profit. That means having Samsung for example, take Android and include some useful functions like its Task Manager which I believe is away and by far one of the best custom UI utilities out there. Or it means HTC using its Sense platform to make Android visually attractive by including such gorgeous widgets as its famed Clock and Weather widget. These devices with the custom skins coupled by the fact they are on tailor-made devices consumers make it a no-brainer for the manufacturers. They are achieving Google’s ultimate dream which is to simply take Android and evolve it while simultaneously getting its reach to as many people as possible. In addition, senior executives will be quick to point out its the various wireless carriers who prefer their devices to be customized— likely because of an easy means of including carrier-branded 
junk
apps in addition to a manufacturer’s custom UI which again– is set to enhance a user’s experience on their mobile network. While the various OEMs and manufacturers provide users with a custom and unique Android experience, there are major pluses to manufacturing and marketing stock Android devices to consumers.
There are significant technical and especially financial benefits of having stock Android devices. The technical benefits are simple: the hardware of various Android devices would have freed up resources and not be overwhelmed due to a skin’s demand for constantly processing data in the UI. That means users would be able to see things such as improved transitions and even different applications opening up faster. Take this for example: you get a new device— even if it’s a single-core chip— and you flick through various homescreens or scroll up and down only to find it’s a millisecond behind with responsiveness when there’s a skin operating. You then find a launcher alternative such as ADW Launcher or slap on a custom ROM which takes out the unnecessary features of most skins only to find your device moves significantly faster? Yup that’s just the benefit of your device operating as it should at an optimal level. You see Apple’s iOS constantly being highlighted and featured in commercial advertisements, so why don’t Android OEMs highlight their custom “enhancements” on television ads specifically? My take— the skins stink. The skins are awful and not as appealing as the simple and basic layout Apple has.
It doesn’t stop there either folks. Stock Android devices generally get updates in a timely and immediate manner. Conversely, everyone should realize that when Google releases a new version of its Android software, it takes OEMs up to 18 months to push new Android updates to its devices due to you guessed it— the custom skins that have to be modified with the new Android software which is understandably no easy task. In addition, the mobile carriers must sign off and approve the proposed updates with extensive and costly testing before the update can be pushed out to its customers. All of these aspects of development and research is not cheap by any means and is very costly. Instead of wasting potentially millions of dollars on the R&D of custom skins on advanced devices, manufacturers need to take advantage of stock Android on their devices. Once that is done, they wouldn’t be so focused on spending millions on marketing and advertising on rolling out useless updates, but instead focusing on the quality and improvements of its device’s hardware. Moreover, if OEMs and its carriers are trying to brand devices as unique, why have multiple devices of a brand be based off the same skin? These devices with the same skins, but different hardware and price points make it confusing for Android users to choose… which ultimately puts the devices on the chopping board within months after not selling well and putting pressure on the manufacturers to push out more phones which also will be a bust and won’t sell well. It’s just a sad cycle and not what the effect of the Android platform should be.
And that’s the bigger picture everyone: OEMs need to take a step back and think about what Android is for consumers. The basic answer is that Android is a platform that lets its users customize shape what their mobile experience should be. OEMs should indeed offer some devices with their custom skins because yes— they may offer a few things that other competitiors may not. But when you offer every device with the same customization which tend to not only affect a device’s performance, but also ultimately wastes money and time with the costs of research and development. Every other person has an Android device, but not all Android users care about useless enhancements manufacturers force us to use, so why not cut back on the use of skins or at least give users’ the option to customize their device in their own way— without having to resort to hacking? Just a thought for you all to ponder.




Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:13 AM PDT
I have to be honest. I’m not really into keyboard replacements. I’ve found that most of the time they either respond slow or are buggy. I have tried a few, but I always end up going back to stock. I recently tried Perfect Keyboard, and it might actually be the first keyboard that I keep.
First of all,  the reason this is called Perfect Keyboard is not because it’s perfect, at least “out of the box.” What’s perfect for me may not be so perfect to you so that’s why they offer so many customizations. It’s the user that makes the keyboard perfect so the title implies that this keyboard is actually perfect for everyone because each user will tailor it to their needs. Isn’t that what Android is all about? Customization is what attracts most of us to Android and Perfect Keyboard delivers that.
There are various settings for the look, feel, touch response, and word suggestions. For example, if you want blue keys with pink letters, you can do that. Do you want vibrations? How about being able to set any image as the keyboard background? You can do that as well. They even have nine preset keyboard themes that include Basic, Honeycomb, Stone, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, HTC, iPhone, and others. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, there is a while bunch more that you can download from the Play Store.
Oh there’s still more. Perfect Keyboard allows for Gestures as well. You can set up to four gestures (swipe up, down, left, or right), and each one can be set to do things like delete the last word, launch settings, paste from clipboard, toggle voice input, open the user dictionary, or your choice of 13 others. Speaking of the dictionary, you can manually add to the dictionary for your convenience.
I’m still not done yet. You can even fine tune your keyboard as far as the height of the keys, gaps between the keys, and text sizes. There are also dozens of other tweaks like editing emoticons, setting the volume key to move the cursor, edit what punctuations show in the quick pop-up editor, and much more.
Are we done yet? I still haven’t gotten into the actual keyboard layouts. You have your choice of four layouts for portrait orientation and two layouts for landscape orientation. This means you can have two different keyboards set. In other words, you don’t have to have the same keyboard for both orientations. For portrait you have your choice of Normal, T9, Compact or Split. For landscape you have your choice of Normal or Split.
The T9 keyboard (pictured below) is much like the old number pads we had before QWERTY’s were available, but it tries to figure out what you’re typing so you don’t have to hit the “2″ key three times for the letter “C.” Of course, since Perfect Keyboard has so many customizations, you can quickly turn that feature off and revert back to hitting each key multiple times to get the word you want.
 
Compact (pictured below) is similar to T9, but only two letters per key, which results in more keys. I’ve been using this one for the last few days. The letters are in QWERTY style so it’s easy to type with less keys than a traditional QWERTY. Again, you don’t have to hit each key multiple times to get the right letter because Perfect Keyboard figures out what you’re trying to type. Just like the T9 keyboard, if you do run into any problems, you can quickly toggle it so that it works by hitting each key multiple times to force the letter you want.
 
The Split keyboard (pictured below) is offered in both portrait and landscape. It’s exactly as the name implies – it’s split into sections. The left and right side have the letters, while the middle has the numbers. I used this one a little in landscape mode. I found it to work, but I wasn’t wowed by it. Of course, what doesn’t wow me might wow you. Again this is what makes Perfect Keyboard so great – more options is a good thing.
All in all I found Perfect Keyboard to work well. I tend to type in portrait mode a lot so I was excited to use the compact keyboard. It amazingly worked great, however as with all keyboards, it can’t predict exactly what you’re saying 100% of the time. I did find instances where even though it didn’t have the right word, the other choices that were displayed weren’t even close to I was trying to type. This usually happens when you’re typing a name. In those cases I was either forced to switch to landscape mode where I had one letter per key or I could toggle off auto text which let me hit each key once or twice to “force” the letter I wanted. A little bit of a pain, but these are all learning curves and as I get the dictionary built up, it’s becoming a breeze to type texts quickly. The customizations and tweaks are top notch and I found zero bugs or issues.
With all of these customizations and settings, you might be asking yourself what you would do after a factory reset or if you buy a new phone. They already thought of that with the backup and restore feature. You never have to worry as you can always restore your keyboard on any device. Of course I recommend backing up that file to your computer or other online service like Dropbox or Box. Saving it to your SD card is nice, but if by chance you lose your phone, that backup is no longer available.
There are two versions of Perfect Keyboard, the free version and the paid, which costs $2.99. The free version gives you a good idea of what each keyboard is like, but you can’t edit the dictionary, select themes, configure keyboard colors, use gestures, or apply skins.
They say you can’t satisfy everyone, but Perfect Keyboard comes damn close. I guess the only people who won’t be satisfied with it is those that are fans of Swype. For now there isn’t anyway to swipe your words, and I know that there are a lot of you out there that do love it. I personally don’t, so Perfect Keyboard makes the ultimate keyboard replacement for me. Check out the demo video below and/or hit the links below to download.
Click here to view the embedded video.
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