Thursday, July 12, 2012

Android Phone Fans

Android Phone Fans

Return of the Nexi – Galaxy Nexus Now In Stock on Google Play Store

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:09 PM PDT

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There’s probably no better way to stick it to the man and #BoycottApple than by celebrating real innovation and buying yourself a brand new Galaxy Nexus. Where can you get one? Why, the Google Play Store of course, where the device has made its triumphant return, being offered for only $350 sans contract. There’s no saying how long it will stay there. After all, Samsung was only granted a temporary stay of the ban while the US Court of Appeals awaits Apple’s response (due tomorrow). For now, celebrate love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by grabbing yourself dat Jelly Bean.

[Google Play Store]

Unannounced Samsung Galaxy Note Offered Up In T-Mobile’s “Spin To Win” Contest on Facebook

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 05:15 PM PDT

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Better late than never, I suppose. Looks as if T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy Note is nearing closer to an actual release on Magenta (I’ve spared you from my “imminent release is imminent headline), or at the very least, nearing some kind of official announcement.

The 5.3-inch device has been officially outed as part of one of many prizes in T-Mobile’s “Spin to Win” Facebook contest. Facebook users can follow the below link and play for a chance to win everything from a Samsung Galaxy S3, to giftcards, Samsung Smart TV, Galaxy Tab and yes, the Samsung Galaxy Note.

Wonder when T-Mobile will stop playing coy and finally announce this thing already. I’ll secretly keep my fingers crossed on the long hope that it’ll come with an upgraded S4 processor.

[Facebook | TmoNews]

Nexus 7′s Hidden Feature Revealed: Magnetic Sensor Wakes Tablet, Perfect Fit For Smart Covers

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:45 PM PDT

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While I wouldn’t classify this type of thing as “breaking news,” it is a fun little tidbit that wasn’t exactly broadcast by Google, and went completely unnoticed in the tear down we posted earlier today. Apparently, the Nexus 7 has the hidden ability to awake itself when a magnet is placed over the side of the device, then removed. A video was uploaded to YouTube today demonstrating the secret feature that will make the device even more easily accessible when paired with the official Nexus 7 “smart covers,” coming soon to Google Play. Have a look see.

[Android Police]

HTC says it’s sending a unique tablet to the UK

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 03:39 PM PDT

Some interesting news has come out of the HTC camp. A spokesperson for the Taiwanese company said the’y'd be bringing a unique new tablet to the United Kingdom. It’s rather odd for HTC to tease something in this manner so there are a couple of different ways to go. The first way to go is the most obvious: HTC could have a brand new tablet we’ve never heard of coming out. That was easy, right?

Well, considering they only said they’d be bringing it to the UK, and considering the UK only received the HTC Flyer, there’s reason they could be talking about the Jetstream or a direct variant. We can’t say for sure that whatever the UK is getting is new to the rest of the world. For a wild card, there’s a possibility this won’t run Android at all, though there’s reason to doubt that. But the one thing for certain is that it’ll be getting something they haven’t seen yet. [via PC Advisor]

Source code for Google I/O 2012 app now available

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:18 PM PDT

As you may know, Google releases the source code of their Google I/O app every year. This allows developers to pick the code apart and use them as examples for their own apps. Google tends to try new things with their app every year so this should give developers a good collection of examples to use alongside those already available at their developer site. If you want to see the underlying code that made this Android app tick head to the source link to get started. Be sure to click the “Source” tab at the top of the page. [Google Code]

O2 UK experiencing outages

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:02 PM PDT

 

If you’re a customer of O2′s in the UK and you’re having trouble with cellular service, do not panic: your phone is not self-radiating and causing all your signals to go haywire. Instead, the network seems to be experiencing outages for many users across the United Kingdom. Many folks have been affected, and problems range fro data to text to calling. As usual, O2 came with the usual “we’re working on it” spiel. Keep your eye on their Twitter account for up to date information. [thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Phandroid News App Update – New Stack Widget, Greater Device Compatibility, and More

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 12:10 PM PDT

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Ask any developer and they’ll tell you that cooking up applications for Android is tricky business. Many times, initial releases are plagued with force closes and something as simple sounding as getting an app to run perfectly across a vast sea of Android devices is easier said than done.

Despite all this, we’ve been riding our app developer Steve pretty hard, hounding him to bring our recently revamped Phandroid News app up to snuff. Well, he’s been putting in work, addressing user concerns, offering greater device compatibility for our beloved app. This means, if you the app wasn’t working properly before, now would be a good time to give it another go. The app also introduces an all new “stack widget” for Honeycomb+ devices, giving your device a widget with added eye candy.

What’s New

Version: 1.5.2 (Build: 27)
NEW

  • Added ‘Stack Widget’ with counter. (Honeycomb+)
  • Changed look and feel of ‘News Widget’
  • Added additional background settings.
  • Improved news article layouts.
  • Improved news list layout.
  • Improved thumbnail quality.
  • Improved comment layouts and loading.
  • Improved Font Settings and now works with news list.

FIXED

  • Fixed memory loading issues on certain phones.
  • Fixed styles to work with more devices.
  • Fixed all reported bugs/errors.

Feedback

Of course, all apps — including ours — live and die by their Play Store ratings, so don’t forget to update and/or give the app the rating you feel it deserves. Oh, and to help bring you guys bigger ‘n better updates and features, we’re looking for some more of your feedback. If you can spare a minute, visit the link below and let us know where you think we can improve our app. Appreciate it, guys.

[Google Play Store | Feedback]

Amazon Kindle Fire gets Jelly Bean 4.1.1 beta port [VIDEO]

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 11:53 AM PDT

Amazon’s Kindle Fire isn’t the most ideal tablet for those who want the latest and greatest Android has to offer, and we aren’t necessarily mad about that — it was pretty much a given that we wouldn’t see the likes of Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich considering Amazon is quite fin with their heavily-customized UI running on top of Gingerbread.

We imagine things could change soon as Amazon might want to allow users to download Android 4.0+ apps, but for now that’s just not the case. There may be an alternative, though, as the device has gotten a port of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The port is VERY rough around the edges, but considering it’s a beta we can’t be too vexed about that.

All we know is that we’re happy the development community is as talented as it is because there’s nothing wrong with getting yet another option. Does this mean you should run out and buy a Kindle Fire? Not necessarily.

The device costs just as much as the Nexus 7 and is considerably weaker under the hood. Still, those who already own the device and have grown tired of Amazon’s walled garden may have something to look forward to soon enough. Head here if you want to give it a shot. Be sure to see it in action in the video above, courtesy of Liliputing. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

OUYA: Why the over-hyped Android game console is a bad investment

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 11:01 AM PDT

It isn’t hard to understand why OUYA has raised an astonishing $2.5 million and growing via Kickstarter in the past 24 hours. What doesn’t sound great about a cheap gaming console with solid hardware and access to Android’s growing library of quality games, all of which sell for a fraction of the cost of traditional console games (if not for free)? The answer, my friends, can be found in that very question. While OUYA sounds like a great concept through the lens of its sleek and glossy pitch video, the over-hyped Android gaming console is a bad investment, and I will tell you why.

For starters, OUYA is still in the developmental stages, and while its list of hardware matches up with the best smartphones and tablets currently available, by the time production units start rolling out the console is sure to feel a bit dated. Yes, quad-core Tegra 3 processing, 1GB RAM, and 8GB of internal storage sound like a steal for $99, but at the rate that Android hardware has been advancing I reckon these specs won’t sound so enticing by the time the OUYA launches. So the company will either push out hardware that can’t keep pace with the next generation of software and games, forcing consumers to buy a new model within a year, or they will scramble to release a product featuring revamped and updated hardware.

We’ve all seen what happens when a company lets advancing technology dictate their release strategy. Remember Notion Ink? When they first unveiled plans for what would become their Adam tablet, the tech world held high hope for the device. It was meant to be the first truly powerful Android tablet, a savior ready to do battle with Apple’s iPad. But Notion Ink fell into a cycle of constantly attempting to update their hardware and software  to keep pace with current trends as development pushed forward, resulting in a prolonged wait for the Adam. When the slate finally launched, it was plagued with issues and offered a rather lackluster experience, sealing it’s fate and leaving many to wonder what could have been.

I am here to tell you that the OUYA is the next Notion Ink Adam. Or perhaps it is more like the next Google TV, which brings me to my next point. Android games are designed to be played on tablets and smartphones. Aside from a few high quality titles designed with HD and larger screens in mind, most apps and games just don’t look right when ported directly to a TV. Their control schemes are designed for touch interfaces, and (spoiler alert) your television does not have a touch interface. It’s hard to imagine OUYA’s controller solving this problem efficiently without something akin to the Wii U’s controller setup. I don’t see that coming as part of the $99 price tag.

I hear your rebuttal already. “But just wait until developers start creating games exclusively for OUYA!” Sorry, folks, but they won’t. They have little incentive to devote time, money, and energy to developing for such a fringe platform. Remember the days when no developer wanted to touch Android with a 10-foot stick? I’m not talking back in the days of the G1, either. Android had a major smartphone, the Motorola Droid, on a major network and still developers were wary of porting their top iOS games. New, original games were even harder to come by. In fact, many developers still carry some hesitation about creating content for the Android platform. So why would any of these developers, indie or otherwise, want to modify existing games, let alone create exclusive titles, for OUYA?

If you count yourself among the 20,000 plus that have already donated to OUYA, I feel sorry for you. If you haven’t, don’t waste your money. This startup is hoping to ride on the trendy coattails of Android, but they are going about it in entirely the wrong way. OUYA, at best, will live a Dreamcast-esque existence, vanishing from the gaming world almost as quickly as it appeared. But that is even being generous. OUYA is no Sega. OUYA is a wad of cash swirling around a toilet bowl waiting to be washed down the drain.

Sprint Motorola Photon 4G receives OTA update

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:56 AM PDT

The Motorola Photon 4G on Sprint has gotten itself a brand new update that should now be pushing out to users on the Now Network. Improved music playback, easier importing of contacts to SD card, WiFi enhancements, and more are just a few of the changes in this much-appreciated maintenance upgrade. As with any update be sure to check for it in your settings menu, and since this may be a staggered process don’t be alarmed if your phone doesn’t find it right away. Find more details over at Sprint.

- More easily import contacts from SD card.

- Improved music playback, both streaming from Amazon Cloud or Internet Radio services and music saved to the

phone - minimizes occasional skips or -repeats

- Enhancements for WiFi hotspot in GSM/UMTS mode and adding new WiFi connections.

- Now supports 1080p HD video capture, and enhanced video settings for more responsive playback.

- Easier creating and accepting calendar meeting notices on the phone.

MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre stars as Dr. Paul in Nexus 7′s ninja unboxing [VIDEO]

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:40 AM PDT

As with all Nexus devices (save for the Nexus Q) up until now, Google’s tapped Patrick Boivin to make the most interesting unboxing video you’ll ever watch. This time the Nexus 7 lands into the hands of Dr. Paul who is being played by MMA fighter  Georges St-Pierre. The feisty ninjas have their work cut out for them, and we’re reminded at the end of the video that even our most hated enemies deserve some hospitality. We’re a bit saddened that this ninja unboxing isn’t interactive but it’s no less awesome. Go ahead and watch it above.

Samsung posts Ice Cream Sandwich source code for Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch, update rolling out soon

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 08:57 AM PDT

Samsung has posted the source code for the FF18 Android 4.0 software update for the Epic 4G Touch to their Open Source Release Center, a day or so shy of Sprint’s rumored rollout of Ice Cream Sandwich for their Galaxy S II variant. The code can be found by visiting the OSRC site and searching for the phones model number SPH-D710.

While the availability of the Android 4.0 source won’t do much for those awaiting the official update, which is now said to be commencing tomorrow, July 12th, it should come in handy for those looking to practice a bit of custom ROM development. At the very least it is confirmation that FF18 is the final build and further supports the idea that the update should be headed out this week.

[via Samsung OSRC | Thanks, Brendan!]

Jawbone Jambox update brings support for Android companion app

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 08:32 AM PDT

A firmware update is now available for Jawbone’s Jambox that should be of use to more than a few Android users enjoying the little speaker’s big sounds. The update to version 2.2 gives owners of the standard Jambox something that Big Jambox users have already had the luxury of: compatibility with the speaker’s companion app for Android. With the Jambox Companion, the Bluetooth speaker is now able to provide audible alerts for various operating system notifications that extend beyond music playback. Owners can head over to the Jawbone site to download the latest software for the amazingly loud Jambox.

[Jawbone via Engadget]

AT&T’s Motorola Atrix HD will ship with a locked bootloader

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:19 AM PDT

Though Android manufacturers have made strides in becoming more developer friendly, the politics of service providers have gotten in the way on more than one occasion. So seems to be the case with the newly announced Motorola Atrix HD for AT&T. Motorola confirmed via their official Twitter account that the phone will ship with a locked bootloader “to meet requirements,” a phrase that seems to indicate AT&T requested that the device have certain safeguards in place to prevent tampering with its software. For those that are hoping to do just that, Motorola followed up by saying they plan to issue tools to unlock the phone’s bootloader at a later date.

It’s a tricky situation for manufacturers and carriers attempting to please the widest audience as possible. Reality is that hackers and modders make up only a small portion of the Android userbase, so it’s easy to see why their requests for more hackable devices are often ignored. Still, most major players in the industry have opened up to the idea, understanding that a major draw for some is Android’s large community of dedicated developers looking to create customized experiences for all.

But that won’t change the fact that the Atrix HD will ship with its bootloader locked. We imagine it will only be a matter of time before a workaround is discovered.

[via TheVerge]

Starbucks updates Android app with PayPal support, launches mobile payments in UK and Canada

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:21 AM PDT

Caffeine fiends, take note. Starbucks has issued an update to their Android app that makes paying for your morning fix with your mobile device easier than ever. In the latest version of the app, users can reload their Starbucks Card directly from PayPal, use enhanced tools to monitor Starbucks Rewards, and deploy a widget to track an account balance or locate a nearby store. The app gains an added level of security with PIN code protection.

The update coincides with the launch of Starbucks for Android in the UK and Canada, where eager coffee fans can now use their mobile devices to purchase  their venti mocha doubleshot latte caramel frappuccino…or just a cup of black joe. Personally, I will take a tea.

Google Play Link: Starbucks

Starbucks Expands Mobile Payment Footprint Globally with Launch of Starbucks® App for Android™ in the UK and Canada

Starbucks enhances the Android app experience for US customers, including PayPal™ integration

SEATTLE, July 11, 2012 - Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced the continued global expansion of the Starbucks mobile platform with the roll-out of Starbucks® app for Android™ to the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition, U.S. customers who download or update to the official Starbucks® app for Android™ will be able to experience new enhancements including a widget, PayPal™ support, PIN code protection, and viewing the My Starbucks Rewards™ history dashboard.

“The expansion of our mobile payment footprint to two of our most important markets is a strong milestone for us, but more importantly, it extends the number of customers who now have a faster and easier way to pay at Starbucks,” said Adam Brotman, chief digital officer at Starbucks Coffee Company. “We are thrilled to extend mobile payment capabilities to Android smartphones in the UK and Canada and enhance the experience in the U.S.”

Customers who download the official Starbucks® app for Android™ in Canada and the UK will now be able to access a range of features including Starbucks Card mobile payment, store locator, My Starbucks Rewards™ stars, check balance and reload, PIN code protection, widget and balance transfer capabilities. Through the Starbucks® app for Android™ expansion to the UK and Canada, Starbucks mobile payment will now be accepted at nearly 14,000 Starbucks locations worldwide.

Starbucks® App for Android™ Features:

Starbucks® app for Android™, available on Google Play, is available for phones running Android™ 2.2 or above and is designed to offer a rich user experience. Starbucks® app for Android™ allows customers in the U.S., UK and Canada to:

  • Pay with your phone: Enjoy the faster, more convenient way to pay at participating Starbucks stores. Just download the app, enter your Starbucks Card number, scan and go.
  • Pay and reload with PayPal™ (NEW): Pay and reload your Starbucks Card via PayPal on your Android device through the Starbucks® app for Android™ (US and Canada only). Additionally, you can use your smartphone to reload your Starbucks Card using any major credit card.
  • Manage your card account: Access your Starbucks Card balance directly from your phone.
  • Manage and check your My Starbucks Rewards status (ENHANCED): Find out how close you are to earning your next free drink through an easy-to-view My Starbucks Rewards™ history dashboard.
  • Find nearby Starbucks stores: Save time by finding a Starbucks store near you. The locator helps you view the stores through a map view or list view and helps you search for stores based on your needs.
  • Activate a widget (NEW): Core to the Android™ experience, a widget is now available so you can quickly and easily view your balance, My Starbucks Rewards™ star count, Store locator and Touch to Pay icon.
  • Leverage safeguards (NEW): Add another safeguard by including a PIN code protection.
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