Android Central |
- Jelly Bean: When (and will) you get an update?
- Nexus 7 will wake when a magnetic cover is removed (it's an oldie but a goodie)
- Motorola confirms Atrix HD shipping with encrypted bootloader 'to meet requirements'
- Alarm Clock by doubleTwist for Android offers a few new ways to wake up
- Great Big War Game heading to Android on July 18
- Smartphone Experts Side Pouch case for the Galaxy S 3
- Wallpaper Wednesday - Oh, Yeah!
- Domino's Pizza USA app available in the Amazon App Store
- How to use Pop up play on the Samsung Galaxy S 3
- Programming note: We're podcasting a tad early this week
- Sprint Motorola Photon 4G gets a bugfix update
- O2 confirms UK-wide network problems
- Google Maps soaks in some culture with indoor guides to museums
- Samsung GALAXY S 3 for Sprint Special Offer - With buy it today, get it today option
- Google's ninja unboxing gets even weirder (or funnier) with the Nexus 7
- Amazon GameCircle introduces achievements, cloud saving, and leaderboards to Kindle Fire
- Seidio Active case for HTC One X review
- Motorola RAZR in China now receiving Ice Cream Sandwich update
- Big Android BBQ tickets now on sale!
- ZTE team up with Virgin Mobile UK and announce the ZTE kis, budget Android device
- Starbucks app update bringing coffee goodness to the UK and Canada
- Deal of the Day: OtterBox Commuter Series Case for Samsung Galaxy Note
- Google Wallet working again after EVO 4G LTE update
- T-Mobile USA announces the Huawei-made myTouch and myTouch Q
- LG VS930 photos and service manual leak, looks like an Optimus LTE II for Verizon
| Jelly Bean: When (and will) you get an update? Posted: 11 Jul 2012 03:29 PM PDT
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is official and coming soon to an Android smartphone near you. Maybe.It's that time of year again! We've got a brand spankin' new version of Android in Jelly Bean, and almost every device isn't running it. If you've got a GSM flavored Galaxy Nexus, or aren't afraid to dive in and hack the daylights out of your phone, you might be happily enjoying the latest sweet treat from Google. That means you know what all the fuss is about. Jelly Bean may look a lot like Ice Cream Sandwich on the surface, but the performance and polish are worlds apart. If you're using one of the many other Android-powered handsets or tablets, and don't want to (or can't) get hacking, you're waiting. And probably not very patiently. And lest we advanced users forget -- that describes the vast majority of Android users. So you're scouring the 'net, looking for news about your device and any potential Jelly Bean update. We have been, too. As usual, there isn't going to be very many "official" promises of Jelly Bean, but you'll find plenty of speculation. We are all Android, all the time. We like to think we have a bit of insight into how things work, and we love to share it with you. Hit the break, and see what we think on the matter. 
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| Nexus 7 will wake when a magnetic cover is removed (it's an oldie but a goodie) Posted: 11 Jul 2012 03:15 PM PDT
So apparently the Nexus 7 tablet has a little magnetic sensor hidden under the display that can trigger the display to turn on. Not exactly a new phenomenon, but interesting because until now, it's a feature that's gone unmentioned. The way it works is you have a cover or case that also has a magnet inside, and that second magnet lines up with the corresponding spot on the device. Remove the second magnet, and the phone says, "Hey! I'm alive, and it's time to wake up now!" Again, these are not new. Not now, not with the iPad's Smart Cover. We've been using them long since the bad old days of Windows Mobile. And it's a staple on BlackBerry. (Anyone remember when software could actually screw up this sort of thing?) But it leads us to believe we'll see that feature arise again in the official Nexus 7 case from Google, and probably in the ones from ASUS as well. There's video after the break if you need videographic proof of this force of nature. Here's the real question, though: How the hell did iFixit, which can spot the serial number on underside of the world's smaller circuit board, miss this one? Good thing we mentioned the magnetometer in our Nexus 7 review, eh? Via Android Police 
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| Motorola confirms Atrix HD shipping with encrypted bootloader 'to meet requirements' Posted: 11 Jul 2012 02:49 PM PDT
It became officially official only yesterday, but there's potential disappointment to be had for prospective buyers of the Motorola Atrix HD. Motorola has confirmed, via their Twitter page, when questioned, that the new AT&T LTE device will be shipping with a locked bootloader in order to "meet requirements." Cue the surprised gasps. On the flip side though, it isn't all doom and gloom. In a second tweet on the subject, Moto claims that their goal is to still provide a method of unlocking the bootloader at some point in the future. More details on that are promised at a later date. Source: Twitter (Motorola) 
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| Alarm Clock by doubleTwist for Android offers a few new ways to wake up Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:56 PM PDT
Awhile back doubleTwist decided to dabble in something other than media sync and cooked up a simple alarm clock Android app. Fast forward a few months, and it's now featured prominently in Google Play, but what's so great about it? After all, there's only so much you can do with an alarm clock, right? All of the core functions are there, such as repeating and multiple alarms, each with custom labels and user-picked sounds and volume. There are flip and analog-style faces with a low-brightness nightstand mode available, plus custom snooze durations and vibration toggles. Beyond that, things get a bit more interesting. Instead of setting alarms for just any ol' time, doubleTwist's app offers ideal times to set alarms in line with common sleep cycle durations. That way, you can either figure out what time you should go to sleep if you want to get up for a certain hour, or what time would be best to wake up without messing with your natural rhythm. Based on your location and the latest weather reports, the app can also figure out what time the sun is rising, if you're the type to go by Mother Nature's alarm clock. 
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| Great Big War Game heading to Android on July 18 Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:50 PM PDT
Rubicon Development, creators of the popular Great Little War Game, has today announced a proper sequel to the popular strategy game. Titled Great Big War Game, it will arrive on Android on July 18 for $2.99, accompanied by a free, 'lite' version. The single-player campaign mode brings 50 all new levels, as you take charge of Jenkins as he tries to prevail in battle amid orders from the Generalissimo. Perhaps more exciting though, especially for a game of this nature, is the all-new, cross-platform multiplayer option. Take the fight to your 'enemies' on iOS, and prevail for the sake of the Android army. Or, something. Check out the trailer for Great Big War Game after the break Source: Triplepoint 
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| Smartphone Experts Side Pouch case for the Galaxy S 3 Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:45 PM PDT
The Galaxy S 3 is a beautiful phone. While it feels “sturdy” it still makes me nervous to just put it in my pocket.Phones scratch, they get dinged and they can break. Having experienced the sticker shock of a new – full price – Galaxy S 3, I would like to protect this phone when possible. 
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| Wallpaper Wednesday - Oh, Yeah! Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:27 PM PDT
Because you can't get enough Jelly Bean. 
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| Domino's Pizza USA app available in the Amazon App Store Posted: 11 Jul 2012 12:54 PM PDT
First today we had coffee and now it is pizza time, yummy. Domino's dropped us a line today to let us know that their new application for the USA is now available to download from the Amazon App Store. The free app will allow for a whole range of features including the following:
All this talk of food is making me hungry. Download the Domino's Pizza App 
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| How to use Pop up play on the Samsung Galaxy S 3 Posted: 11 Jul 2012 12:47 PM PDT
Pop up play might just be the “killer” feature you use to show off your new Galaxy S 3 and make iPhone users green with envy.Multitasking is not just a nice feature to have on a new smartphone – it is required in order to play in the same league with the big boys and girls. Our busy lives demand that we be able to do more than one thing at a time and not lose our place in one app to interact with another. 
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| Programming note: We're podcasting a tad early this week Posted: 11 Jul 2012 12:15 PM PDT
Just a quick heads up that we'll be podcasting a little early this week. Thusday's still the day, but we'll go live at the following times:
Someone remind me in the podcast chat, and I'll tell you why the move this week. It's kind of amusing. In the meantime, be sure to hit up last week's episode if you haven't already. It's a doozy. 
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| Sprint Motorola Photon 4G gets a bugfix update Posted: 11 Jul 2012 11:36 AM PDT
If you're still rocking a Sprint Motorola Photon 4G (all of, what, a year old now?), be on the lookout for a software update that's going to squash some bugs for ya. Here's the full list of what's ahead:
The Photon hasn't seen an update since October, so it's good Sprint hasn't forgotten about it just yet. Source: Sprint; more: Photon 4G forums 
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| O2 confirms UK-wide network problems Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:43 AM PDT
British network O2 says it's experiencing problems on its network which are causing some customers to have "difficulty making or receiving calls, sending texts or using data." Bizarrely, this latest bit of network turbulence seems to be affecting customers randomly, rather than based on location or cell tower. A quick Twitter search for "O2" brings up hundreds of angry tweets from O2 customers all over the UK who are unable to connect to O2's data or voice network. The outage also seems to be affecting users of Tesco Mobile and GiffGaff, which both operate on O2's network. The carrier has acknowledged the issue, and says its engineers are working on a fix --
For our part, we've not seen any interruption in our O2 coverage today, however that'll be of little comfort to anyone currently unable to use their phone. If you're on O2 UK, be sure to drop by the comments and let us know if you've been affected by today's technical problems. Source: @O2; More: O2 Network Status 
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| Google Maps soaks in some culture with indoor guides to museums Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:07 AM PDT
Google Maps for Android was recently updated their indoor location database with over twenty popular museums across the U.S, including the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cincinnati Museum Center, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and 17 Smithsonian museums. Indoor maps originally launched in November, allowing users to set routes within buildings, navigate by floor, and sort through points of interest. It's an awesome feature, and a sensible extension of Google's current walking directions. Who knows, maybe indoor maps will expand to include audio guides that are sensitive to where you are within a building. A full list of indoor Google Maps is available here, and if you're really into art, be sure to check out the Google Art Project. If you have the latest version of Google Maps for Android, you should be ready to start planning your next museum trip. Do you go often? Which buildings would you like to see with full indoor maps? Source: Google Lat Long 
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| Samsung GALAXY S 3 for Sprint Special Offer - With buy it today, get it today option Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:02 AM PDT
This week we have yet another surprise for people looking to get their hands on "the phone of the moment" and what Phil sees as "Easily the Top Pick on any carrier today" - none other than the superb Samsung GALAXY S3 running on the Sprint network. For a limited time, ShopAndroid.com in conjunction with Best Buy Mobile are bringing you a deal that is much too low to show as it is the very lowest price that you'll find anywhere for this amazing smartphone. How much of a deal? You'll need to first read the "hint" at the bottom of this post and follow the Buy Now link to find out but we can tell you that if you're looking to start a new Sprint account with a 2 year contract or upgrade your existing one you'll get the Samsung GALAXY S3 for significantly less than most options online (once you apply the "hint" found further below.) So if you've been lusting to get your hands on the HUGE display and power of the Samsung GALAXY S3 there probably hasn't been a better time to do so than right now via the link below... BONUS: If you fall into the category of liking "Instant Gratification" you might want to try Best Buy Mobile's new "BUY IT TODAY, GET IT TODAY" option. Basically it's a program that allows you to simply and conveniently save time by buying online and then pick it up at one of your local Best Buy Mobile specialty stores. At checkout you will get the option to either have the phone shipped to you or have it ready for pick-up at a local store. HINT: In order to get the best deal on this offer you'll want to use the special promotion code ACSAVE25 at checkout to get a full 25% off the cost of the phone. Additionally, you will also receive (within 45 days of shipment of your phone) a $30.00 off coupon code to purchase any accessories you like at ShopAndroid.com for your new Samsung GALAXY S3. Once you add the 25% off + $30 off accessories we think that we're looking at a pretty compelling offer. 
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| Google's ninja unboxing gets even weirder (or funnier) with the Nexus 7 Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:01 AM PDT Your call, really. 
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| Amazon GameCircle introduces achievements, cloud saving, and leaderboards to Kindle Fire Posted: 11 Jul 2012 09:17 AM PDT
Amazon has just announced a service called GameCircle, which will allow Android developers to add unified achievements, leaderboards, and progress cloud sync to their Kindle Fire games. Doodle Jump, Temple Run, and Triple Town are already making use of the new APIs. Amazon also took the occasion to remind devs that there's a fully-functioning in-app purchase mechanism too. It's too bad Google hasn't really taken the reins and offered a similar social gaming experience baked right into Android natively, but the gap has allowed third parties like OpenFeint to step in and build a network. iOS has Game Center, and though there's still a lot of room for improvement there, GameCircle could stand to include something similar to its friending system to promote social spread of games. For now, Amazon is limiting GameCircle to KindleFire, but who knows if they'll open up the service to other devices, so long as they can get people to sign up for Amazon accounts. Developers interested in getting involved can head over to the sign-up page. Kindle Fire owners, how has your gaming experience been so far? Was the device really hurting for this kind of thing? Developers, does GameCircle make a Kindle Fire port more palatable? Source: Amazon 
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| Seidio Active case for HTC One X review Posted: 11 Jul 2012 09:14 AM PDT
The HTC One X is one phone that I hate to put in a case because I love the look and feel. But that's exactly why it needs to be protected.HTC did an amazing job with the polycarbonate body on the HTC One X. It has a very Nokia Lumia-like texture to it ,and it looks and feels great. However, I need to also remember that this phone stores my life; it has all my contacts, calendar appointments, lots of apps and it wasn’t cheap. 
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| Motorola RAZR in China now receiving Ice Cream Sandwich update Posted: 11 Jul 2012 08:55 AM PDT
Motorola has been steadily rolling its Ice Cream Sandwich updates for the Motorola RAZR line across the globe. Next up for the update are the folks in China, as their OTA update has started today and should be available for download right now. If you happened to miss our hands on with the ICS update you'll definitely want to check that out while you wait for the download to complete. Any questions or concerns should definitely be handled by the fine folks of the Android Central RAZR forums, so be sure to hop in there and share some opinions and ask questions. Source: Motorola 
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| Big Android BBQ tickets now on sale! Posted: 11 Jul 2012 08:03 AM PDT
It's that time, boys and girls. Tickets for the Big Android BBQ -- that annual gathering of Android fans, nerds, family and friends -- are now on sale. The event's running October 19-21 this year, at the Hurst Conference Center outside Dallas. There are 1,000 tickets available. Starting today, you can get them for $50 each. We were at the event in 2011, and this year promises to be even better. Get your tickets now before they get gone! More: Big Android BBQ 
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| ZTE team up with Virgin Mobile UK and announce the ZTE kis, budget Android device Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:34 AM PDT
It looks like ZTE and Virgin Mobile UK and made friends as today sees them announce the ZTE kis, a small budget Android smartphone which should be on sale today. The kis will be an exclusive initially from Virgin and will retail at just £49.99 on pay-as-you-go. These budget Android devices seem al the rage at the moment. It was only yesterday we saw Motorola announce the MOTOSMART for T-Mobile and the Carphone Warehouse. This new ZTE offering certainly is the cheapest new release we have seen in the Android camp. A good result for Google if it will get the OS into new customers hands. Features of the ZTE kis include:
You can see the full press release below. 
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| Starbucks app update bringing coffee goodness to the UK and Canada Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:06 AM PDT
Attention coffee fans. Great news; the Starbucks app for Android has today received a large update bringing support to the UK and Canada. That means that coffee addicts on both sides of the pond can now enjoy mobile payments, the store locator, My Starbucks Rewards Stars, check balance and reload, pin code protection, a home screen widget and transfer capabilities. Good stuff! Users of the app in the USA still get a few added features including a widget, PayPal support, pin code protection and the ability to view 'My Starbucks rewards' history. You can find the full press release below or just grab your download of the updated Starbucks app here. 
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| Deal of the Day: OtterBox Commuter Series Case for Samsung Galaxy Note Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:25 AM PDT
The OtterBox Commuter Series Case is available for just $26.95, 40% off today only. Supplies are limited so act fast! 
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| Google Wallet working again after EVO 4G LTE update Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:15 AM PDT
Who's in the mood to squash a few bugs? The Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE has gotten a bit of an update this morning. The big feature is that Google Wallet working again. Also of note is that local search is still working -- you'll recall that Sprint and Samsung just stripped it out of the Galaxy S III -- so there's that. Other changes of note, per Sprint itself, include:
Looks like a healthy changelog. Make sure you're charged above 35 percent, then hit settings>system updates>HTC software update to get the ball rolling if you haven't already gotten the notification. Source: Sprint; more: EVO 4G LTE forums 
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| T-Mobile USA announces the Huawei-made myTouch and myTouch Q Posted: 11 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT
T-Mobile USA has today announced two new phones in its usability-focused myTouch series -- the new myTouch and myTouch Q, both manufactured by Chinese firm Huawei. The myTouch and myTouch Q sport a similar spec list, with the most obvious difference being the Q's inclusion of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Other specs for both devices include an unnamed (presumably single-core) 1.4GHz CPU, a 4-inch WVGA screen, 1500mAh battery and 5MP rear amera with LTE flash. On the software side, the new myTouch phones run Android 2.3 Gingerbread (sigh), with a custom UI and a Swype-based virtual keyboard. Tmo plans to launch the myTouch and myTouch Q from August 8, priced at $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate when purchased with a two-year service agreement. Both phones will be available in both black and white. We've got T-Mobile's press release after the break. 
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| LG VS930 photos and service manual leak, looks like an Optimus LTE II for Verizon Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:29 AM PDT
It’s been awhile since we’ve spotted a new LG flagship phone headed for the U.S., so those leaked shots you see above, purportedly showing the LG VS930, have arrived right on schedule. The pics, obtained by Engadget, show an apparently Verizon-branded version of the Optimus LTE II, and come with a list of alleged specs, too. It seems the VS930 (a possible Spectrum II, perhaps?) runs a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU, with a 4.7-inch 730p IPS display, 16GB storage and global radios, in addition to Big Red’s CDMA and LTE. Also said to be included is NFC support, 1GB of RAM and an 8MP rear camera. On the software side, Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich is running the show, along with LG’s Optimus UI 3.0. Design-wise, the phone is a spitting image of its international cousins, the Optimus LTE II and Optimus 4X HD. A leaked service manual has also emerged, showing in-depth technical info, along with screenshots from the device and photos of internal components. As for when the device will eventually appear on Verizon, the service manual suggests a shipping date of this Friday, July 13. Given that we don’t know how old this document is, and the fact that it’s pretty close to Verizon’s expected Galaxy S III launch date, we’d be surprised to see this device arriving so soon. Nevertheless, it looks like the VS930 is ready to go, so it’s certainly possible we’ll see it sooner rather than later. Source: Engadget 
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