Android Central |
- Bell rolling out Android 4.0 to the HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Raider 4G
- HTC One X leak performance, What keeps you on Android? [From the Forums]
- Android A to Z: End of life
- Sprint and HTC hope a free case makes up for EVO's customs delay
- Hands-on with the Chameleon skin for Android tablets
- First fifty Galaxy S III owners to win Olympic tickets
- BBM will not be heading to Android, still need to buy a BlackBerry for it
- BlueStacks beta-1 [Android App Review]
- ShopAndroid Daily Giveaway #80: Jawbone JAMBOX, OtterBox Commuter for Galaxy Note & more
- Sony confirms ICS not coming to Xperia Play
- Memorial Day Sale: Save 15% on ALL Android accessories this weekend at ShopAndroid.com!
- T-Mobile UK pegs the Sony Xperia U at the low, low price of free
- Bump update easily moves photos from your phone to your computer
- Google picks up key members of HP's Enyo team
- Late-night poll: Are you liking the Google+ update?
- HTC AT&T One X now has unofficial bootloader unlock
- HTC EVO 4G LTE is rooted with a simple script
- Galaxy S III rumored dates, EVO 4G LTE snagged [From the Forums]
- TripAdvisor expands City Guides, releases apps for 30 new cities
| Bell rolling out Android 4.0 to the HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Raider 4G Posted: 25 May 2012 04:07 PM PDT
Although it's coming later than expected for Bell users, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for both the HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Raider 4G LTE is now rolling out. Previously, Bell delayed the updates until "June" so having them arrive now is certainly a good thing to have happen. Have either device? Go ahead and check for software updates if you haven't already got the notification -- it may be there waiting for you. That said; we're not sure how exactly Bell is rolling them out but they are indeed out there so you'll seemingly just have to keep checking until they pop up for ya. Thanks, Robert! 
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| HTC One X leak performance, What keeps you on Android? [From the Forums] Posted: 25 May 2012 03:16 PM PDT
We've steamrolled through plenty of content this week despite the fact we skipped the Android Central podcast. Missed out on something? Get yourself get up here on the blogs and in the Android Central Forums. On that note, stay safe this long weekend folks and enjoy your Memorial Day:
If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today. 
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| Posted: 25 May 2012 02:19 PM PDT
End of life is a term none of us ever want to hear. We envision it means the death of our phone, and we should just throw it away and get a newer model. After all, it's at the end of its life, right? Not really. End of life means something different to carriers and manufacturers than it does to enthusiasts like us. The easy way to look at it is that when the folks in suits get together and decide that a phone isn't going to make enough money so it's worthwhile to keep producing it, it has reached the end of its life. That may mean a refreshed, newer model (like the Droid RAZR MAXX), or a shift to a newer model with new, and arguably better, features like the EVO 3D. We have to remember that the folks who make these phones do it so they can make money, and like any good business they want to maximize their profits. But what does end of life mean in the real world? First off, it means that once the current stock sitting on the shelves is sold there won't be any more new ones to replace them with. There may be refurbished units floating around, but no more new phones of that model are being made. It doesn't mean that the phone is done getting updates, but don't expect too many new features to come along -- things are in maintenance mode and bug fixes and security patches are the only things that will be addressed. It also doesn't mean your warranty is affected in any way. Even if you were to buy a brand new phone that has already reached the end of life status, you'll still get the full manufacturers warranty. Most importantly, it doesn't mean that the phone is going to stop doing anything it already does today. The HTC EVO 4G is a great example. It was a huge hit for HTC and Sprint, and actually stayed in production longer than any of us would have thought. Some places are still selling them new (although they're getting harder to find), and those EVO 4G's sold new today are every bit as good, and have the same warranty from HTC, as the ones sold in 2010. Sprint still offers customer service, and it's still one heck of a phone. Don't be put off by the words end of life. While we wouldn't recommend you search out a new phone that's already been discontinued, they still perform as they should and you'll find lots of folks who still love them. Check out the complete Android Dictionary 
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| Sprint and HTC hope a free case makes up for EVO's customs delay Posted: 25 May 2012 01:02 PM PDT
So there's this:
We're not ones to turn down a free case. But how about you guys? 
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| Hands-on with the Chameleon skin for Android tablets Posted: 25 May 2012 11:41 AM PDT
Canadian design firm Teknision recently announced Chameleon, which promises to be an interesting twist on Android tablet home screens. Besides having streamlined, resizeable widgets that span a bunch of third-party apps like Netflix, Twitter. Spotify, Flickr, and others, Chameleon's signature trait is its ability to automatically change modes based on its surroundings -- hence the name. By setting up certain rules, you can set up Chameleon to shift to a different home screen layout depending on the time of day, GPS location, or which Wi-Fi network you're connected to. In short, it's a smarter version of "scenes" that you might find in various manufacturer UIs. The build that I played with here in Ottawa was still very much in development, and all of the apps being shown were canned, but the animations and transitions were definitely slick. Teknision is hoping to get outside developers interested in making their own Chameleon widgets with HTML5, but the current sampling that they cooked up with publicly available APIs is pretty sweet. It sounded like it will be a ways off before we'll see these widgets coexisting peacefully with other home screen widgets, so be prepared for an all-or-nothing affair. Teknision previously worked on the BlackBerry PlayBook operating system which, say what you will about the app ecosystem, was very nicely designed. Most of the time, these guys work behind the scenes with partners, so it's really interesting to see them step into the limelight a bit and pump out something that's entirely their own. Here's hoping it pays off and they consider doing more slick custom work on Android. Chameleon is due out this August, and Teknision is using Kickstarter predominantly to handle preorders and speed up the release. Right now, they're at $31k out of a $50k goal, which is due in 20 days. You can pitch in $5 to get Chameleon before it goes public, and if you're really jazzed about the project, you can help out by providing Android tablet diagnostic information to ensure compatibility. Check out our hands-on video, a few screenshots, and their pitch below that. Any takers? 
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| First fifty Galaxy S III owners to win Olympic tickets Posted: 25 May 2012 10:40 AM PDT
An email from the Samsung store at Westfield Stratford City, London has just arrived in our inbox, with details of the Galaxy S III launch event on the evening of next Tuesday, May 29. As we've already reported, Samsung's kicking things off a little early for pre-order customers at its branded store at the London shopping center. Invites are being sent out for 5pm, with the first sales taking place an hour later at 6, assuming you've pre-ordered your S III. And to sweeten the deal, the first 50 Galaxy S III's sold at the Samsung store will win free tickets to this summer's London games. Being the official phone of the Olympics, it's not surprising to see a little cross-promotion from Samsung. (Earlier in the week we reported on limited "Olympic editions" of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y being sold through O2 UK.) Anyone planning on heading down to Stratford for the Galaxy S III launch next Tuesday? Shout out in the comments! 
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| BBM will not be heading to Android, still need to buy a BlackBerry for it Posted: 25 May 2012 10:39 AM PDT
For a long old time now, we've heard various tales of the jewel in the BlackBerry crown, BlackBerry Messenger, breaking free and heading over to Android. We've seen "screenshots", just as we've seen the rumors get dismissed. It seems now though that we can finally lay the whole thing to bed. BBM will not be coming to Android. The final installment reads a little like this. A new report from the WSJ claims that RIM was indeed testing BBM on other platforms, cunningly disguised as "SMS 2.0." Then enters new CEO Thorsten Heins, who apparently has taken the option completely off the table. Sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ "it was not up for discussion." So there we have it. Anyone disappointed? Maybe not. The world remains as it always was -- if you really want BBM, you sure as gosh darn it don't buy an Android phone. Source: WSJ via Crackberry 
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| BlueStacks beta-1 [Android App Review] Posted: 25 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT
BlueStacks has been around for a while. We first saw it in an early alpha, that while usable, wasn't ready for prime time. After lots of toiling and hard work (I assume), we finally saw BlueStacks enter beta, and boy, was this ever a different program. So what exactly does BlueStacks let you do? It lets you run Android applications right on your PC, just as though you were using an Android phone or tablet. It manages to pull this off using some sort of Getting BlueStacks going is simply a breeze. Once you've got it all installed, you simply open it up and there's a list of preinstalled apps. You have access to a couple of different app stores to download other apps you might want, and to top it all off, you can install apk's directly into BlueStacks, right off of your computer's hard drive. (There's also an app syncing tool that lets you sync apps from your phone to your computer's client, which skirts the whole apk issue, but just know that it's there if you need it.) When you've finally got an app loaded up in BlueStacks, there's always a bit of experimenting to see what button or mouse click controls what. For something like Angry Birds Space, it's all pretty straightforward; use your mouse like you'd use your finger. For something more complex (and visually demanding) like Shadowgun, you've just got to mess around. For the most part, mouse clicks transfer pretty well, and more often than not, arrow keys will move your character. The few times I ran Shadowgun, it was either kind of stuttery or buttery smooth, so your mileage can definitely vary. Overall, BlueStacks is pretty darn cool, especially if you've ever wanted to get the Android experience on your computer. Its uses might seem a bit novel right now, but as prices for games in the mobile space continue to come in lower than their desktop counterparts, BlueStacks looks like it could offer some market disruption. You can download the BlueStacks Windows component from the BlueStacks website at no cost. We've got video after the break. 
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| ShopAndroid Daily Giveaway #80: Jawbone JAMBOX, OtterBox Commuter for Galaxy Note & more Posted: 25 May 2012 09:14 AM PDT We're wrapping up another week of giveaway's here at ShopAndroid.com and the last four items we're featuring today include the Jawbone JAMBOX, OtterBox Commuter Case for Galaxy Note, Ballistic Shell Gel (SG) Series Case for HTC One X, and the Body Glove Snap-On Case for EVO 4G. Choose the accessory that best suits your Android's needs and leave it in a comment below. One lucky winner will be selected and announced next week. Jawbone JAMBOXThe Jawbone JAMBOX delivers stunning hi-fi audio in a portable wireless speaker so compact you won't believe it when you hear it. With an output capacity of 85 decibels, JAMBOX fills even the largest rooms. Unlike other portable speakers, JAMBOX is powered by a pair of proprietary, highly sophisticated acoustic drivers, unmatched in their ability to produce extreme high (tweeter) and low (woofer) frequencies from a single, ultra-small dome speaker. 
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| Sony confirms ICS not coming to Xperia Play Posted: 25 May 2012 08:41 AM PDT Remaining 2011 Xperia ICS updates to start next week
Bad news for Xperia Play owners today. Sony Mobile has confirmed that the planned Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the PlayStation-certified smartphone has been canned, and that the device will remain on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Sony explains that the decision stems from concerns over stability and compatibility, particularly where the Xperia Play's gaming features are concerned. So there'll be more than a few sad pandas among the Xperia Play-owning masses today. Not least due to the fact that the entire 2011 Xperia line-up was previously promised ICS, and Sony published an early beta ROM for the Play a few months back to show its development progress. Nevertheless, we'll admit it makes sense to stick with a working OS, rather than forcibly updating users to something that's going to break gaming compatibility. However, despite the problems affecting the Xperia Play, other 2011 Xperia phones remain on track to receive an update to Android 4.0.4. Sony's confirmed that the Xperia arc, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will begin to receive 4.0.4 as an optional update through the PC Companion app from next week. What's more, Xperia arc S, Xperia ray and Xperia neo V users currently running Android 4.0.3 will get an update to 4.0.4 around the same time. In other Xperia ICS news, Sony reports that the Xperia S update is on track for late June, followed by the Xperia P and Xperia U sometime in the third quarter. Source: Sony 
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| Memorial Day Sale: Save 15% on ALL Android accessories this weekend at ShopAndroid.com! Posted: 25 May 2012 07:07 AM PDT
In honor of the Memorial Day long weekend you can save a very special 15 percent off all your Android accessory purchases at ShopAndroid.com (yes Canadians, the coupon will work in our new ShopAndroid Canada store, too!). Simply enter the Coupon Code mem12 at checkout, under billing info, to have the 15% discount applied to your entire cart of accessories. This offer is not valid with any other coupon and expires at Midnight PST Monday 5/28/2012. Don't forget about our Fast Free Shipping on US orders of $50 and higher. Be sure to share this great coupon code with your friends and family. Enjoy this special sale while it lasts! And have a Happy Holiday! Start Shopping and Saving at ShopAndroid.com now! 
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| T-Mobile UK pegs the Sony Xperia U at the low, low price of free Posted: 25 May 2012 06:55 AM PDT
T-Mobile UK today announced that it'll be selling the slinky Sony Xperia U (that's the one with the slick clear band toward the lower end) for free with a £15.50-a-month two-year plan. With that you get 100 voice minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of data. T-Mo says the phone should be hitting stores in the next few days. More: T-Mobile
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| Bump update easily moves photos from your phone to your computer Posted: 25 May 2012 05:32 AM PDT
Bump has been hard at work updating their application to bring a new functionality to users. Today, they've unveiled what exactly they've been up to and to put it plainly -- it's pretty awesome. The concept is simple really. You have photos on your device and the desire to transfer them to your computer. Now you can with just a bump. No wires, cables or fuss. How does it work?
Sure, there is a few other apps out there that will transfer photos to your computer from your phone. Dropbox being one choice that works but if you're not already invested into those other solutions, Bump might be just exactly what you are looking for. I tested it out quite a few times on different devices and worked each and every time. Give it a go and let us know what you think. Source: Bump 
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| Google picks up key members of HP's Enyo team Posted: 25 May 2012 03:46 AM PDT
A bit of a mobile software bombshell dropped overnight with news that some key members of HP's newly open-sourced Enyo team moving to Google, The Verge first reported Thursday evening. Enyo, as you're probably not aware, is the HTML framework that lived and (mostly) died with the Palm TouchPad and was later made open-source with the death of that project. Enyo also makes it relatively easy for webOS-type apps to make their way to, oh, say, Android, which we very quickly saw in apps like Paper Mache. HP gave the following statement to our sister site, webOS Nation:
The question now is what will that mean for Android in the bigger scheme of things. It's probably a little early to tell, but one can never have too many kick-ass software types supporting its platform. And Palm (erm, HP), for all its faults certainly wasn't lacking in that department. Stick around. this one could get interesting. Source: The Verge; more: webOS Nation 
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| Late-night poll: Are you liking the Google+ update? Posted: 24 May 2012 11:17 PM PDT
If you're a Google+ user and reading this site, you probably checked out the big update to the Android app earlier this afternoon. We'd been waiting a couple weeks since a similar update went to iOS users, and many were less than impressed with today's changes. It is a big of a mess, especially when everyone was posting screen shots of how messy it was, and the text can be pretty difficult to read depending on any picture attached. It's a big change. It has it's pluses (see what I did there) as well, the fly out menu is a nice touch, and when it's not being messy it's a beautiful look for picture sharing. I think it's a really good start, but still needs some attention. What about you guys? Liking it? Hating it? Let us know in tonight's poll. 
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| HTC AT&T One X now has unofficial bootloader unlock Posted: 24 May 2012 08:34 PM PDT
We don't have an official unlock through HTCDev yet, but that hasn't stopped the bootloader on the AT&T One X from being unlocked. After days of watching the devs do their thing on XDA, it seems that they have finally cracked it. This is the first thing we need to be able to flash all those custom ROM's we love, the next being a working recovery, which will probably follow suit in the next couple of days. Of course, there's a possibility that you'll brick your phone doing this, and it does involve a HEX editor and ADB skills. The thread has exploded, but it's worth doing the reading to see what kind of issues people are having, and what steps my give you some trouble. Hit that source link for the steps, and let us know how it went for you in the forums. Source: XDA-Developers 
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| HTC EVO 4G LTE is rooted with a simple script Posted: 24 May 2012 07:24 PM PDT
Now that some pre-orders are getting filled and the EVO 4G LTE is in the hands of Android fans, it was just a matter of time before it got rooted. It's a pretty simple affair, using the same exploit as the Transformer Prime after the Ice Cream Sandwich update. It's pretty simple -- install drivers if needed, then run a small script. The end result is a rooted EVO, which makes us all warm and fuzzy inside. Of course since it's brand new there won't be much happening on the ROM and hacking front, but that will soon change. As always, be careful and think about what you're planning on doing, because the developers can't be responsible for the things you might do. Now that you've been sufficiently warned, hit the link and check it out. How to root your HTC EVO 4G LTE
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| Galaxy S III rumored dates, EVO 4G LTE snagged [From the Forums] Posted: 24 May 2012 05:39 PM PDT
Although we're skipping out on the podcast tonight so that Phil may work on some epic content for you all, we have plenty of stuff to keep you all busy this evening if you happened to miss out on anything. Plus, there is always things happening in the Android Central Forums. If you're bummed about the podcast, hang out in some of the threads below!
If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today. 
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| TripAdvisor expands City Guides, releases apps for 30 new cities Posted: 24 May 2012 05:07 PM PDT
Traveling to new areas can be both fun and exciting but it also has the potential to be rather frustrating at times. If you're not familiar with the area you are going to you may not know the best places to stay, the best places to eat and the attractions around that you will want to take in. For such cases, TripAdvisor has released quite a few city guides in the past to help those in need find all those things when traveling and now, they've gone ahead and added 30 new cities to the mix bringing the grand total of cities offered to 50. In addition to the new city offerings, they've added some new features to the apps as well:
If you're looking to be planning a trip in the near future or have one already in the works, maybe TripAdvisor can help make that trip better. The full list of added cities can be found past the break and if you're looking for the full list of all TripAdvisor City Guides available, just hit the source link below to be taken to the Google Play Store listings. Source: TripAdvisor, Google Play Store 
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