Android Central |
- TuneIn Radio Pro, Radiant HD and more now free on Amazon Appstore
- From the mail bag: What the heck does deodexed mean?
- Tapatalk HD hits the Google Play Store in beta
- Free Gmail calls in Canada and U.S. extended through 2013
- ZTE announces high-end Nubia Z5 for China
- How'd your holiday Photospheres turn out?
- Our Google Play Gift Card giveaway continues today!
- The Kindle Fire HD
- ZTE Grand X passes through FCC with T-Mobile radio and branding
| TuneIn Radio Pro, Radiant HD and more now free on Amazon Appstore Posted: 26 Dec 2012 03:56 PM PST
Amazon is running a promotion that has many popular apps for free through its Appstore today. It has always run a free app of the day promotion, but Amazon is feeling a bit more generous today by dropping several different apps -- from TuneIn Radio Pro to OfficeSuite Pro -- to the nice price of $0.00. Some of these are regularly upwards of $15, so this is a pretty nice post-Christmas deal. This will surely help Amazon grab the eyes of users that are getting their first Android phone or tablet over the holidays. Use the Appstore and interested in picking up some good apps? Hit the source link below for a search listing of the apps on sale. Source: Amazon 
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| From the mail bag: What the heck does deodexed mean? Posted: 26 Dec 2012 02:43 PM PST
Clark writes,
Awesome question, Clark. And one I think we can answer in terms that most folks will understand. As you've noted, you see the terms odex and deodexed in many forums posts about custom ROMs or assorted hacks for phones and tablets both. It takes a lot of work for developers to create deodexed ROMs from "stock" ROMs, like the ones offered from both OEMs and Google alike. To begin, we need to know what an odex file is. It's a part of an application (the .apk file) that has been prebuilt to make the Dalvik Virtual Machine load it faster using less resources. If you look in the /system/app/ folder on your Android phone or tablet, you'll see that just about every application has both an .apk file and an .odex file. These files work together through the Dalvik VM to make the apps run as they should on our devices. Let's break it all down after the break. 
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| Tapatalk HD hits the Google Play Store in beta Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:51 PM PST
One popular method of hitting up your favorite vBulletin forums -- including of course, the Android Central Forums -- from your Android device, is Tapatalk. While Tapatalk does a great job at hooking you into a pretty wide range of forums, the versions out there on public release don't include a dedicated Tablet app. There was a special version released through Samsung Apps for the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, and we've known of a more general version in the works for a while now. It seems as though the finished product is almost ready for the big time, with the release of a beta version of Tapatalk HD into the Google Play Store for all to download and try out. And, with it being a beta product, it will cease to continue working once version 1.0 hits the Play Store, estimated to be sometime in late January. There are a few new features along for the ride, such a gallery view on larger forums -- ours included -- and push notifications. The biggest difference to anything we've seen before though, is the UI. As it's been specifically designed for use with tablets, we get a split pane view, adjustable fonts, and viewing posts fits the dimensions of a tablet display much better than Tapatalk 2.0. Grab yourselves a copy at the Play Store link above, and click on past the break for a selection of screenshots. 
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| Free Gmail calls in Canada and U.S. extended through 2013 Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:55 AM PST
Google has been offering Gmail users the ability to call standard phone lines for awhile, and it looks like the service will be continuing through 2013. Americans and Canadians can keep making calls for free, while international users will still have access to reasonable rates. It's not a huge surprise that the service is continuing, since Google has extended Gmail calling since launching in the summer of 2010. Right now it's still only for desktop, but it sure would be nice to see the feature folded into Android's Google Talk or Voice (for those that have it) at some point. How often do you guys use Gmail's phone calling service? How much do you figure services like this peeve carriers? Can Google reasonably expect to compete with Skype (and by association Windows Phone) on the VoIP front? Source: Gmail 
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| ZTE announces high-end Nubia Z5 for China Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:33 AM PST
ZTE has unveiled a phablet with a 1080p-resolution display, the Nubia Z5. ZTE had first kicked off their Nubia brand in late October, which included a mention of the Z5. At that point they didn't say much more than it having a 13 megapixel camera, 5-inch display, and quad-core processor, but now we've got a much closer look at the specs.
As you might expect, this handset is due for China first, without any mention of international availability. The real kicker here is that the Nubia Z5 will cost a rather steep 3,456 yen (or $1,260) when it goes on sale in January. Pretty slick, but odds are we'll see plenty of smartphones with 1080p screens in 2013. You can find more info about the Nubia Z5 over at ZTE's minisite. via Engadget 
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| How'd your holiday Photospheres turn out? Posted: 26 Dec 2012 09:46 AM PST
Google a couple weeks ago made a rather nice commercial out of the Photosphere feature, in which you make a 360-degree (more or less) panoramic photo that all gets stitched together on your phone. The holiday spot has someone taking a Photosphere in a (very) large house, with a bunch of family members in the shot. Now, we all know Rule No. 1 of taking Photospheres is to not have anything too close to you as you take the picture. Rule No. 2 is the fewer people, the better, as people tend to move. So I waited until things had died down a little bit. My result? Not horrible, especially since I didn't tell anyone to hold still. Check out the full Photosphere pic here. And if you took any over the holidays, be sure to tag them with #photosphere on Google+ so we can all see! 
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| Our Google Play Gift Card giveaway continues today! Posted: 26 Dec 2012 09:04 AM PST
Oh, and by the way -- all 31 winners (one for each day in December) will be entered to win a shiny new Nexus 4, still in its box, sitting here on our desk. (In case you had any concern for our ability to snag what remains an unsnaggable device.) So ... for today's entries: Leave a comment on this post and tell us the top Android-related feature you're hoping for in 2013. One entry per person, yadda yadda yadda. Good luck! 
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| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 06:04 AM PST
The Kindle Fire HD delivers a tablet experience many folks will love, but is it the right choice for me? Have a read and see what a total Android nerd thinks of Amazon's latest offering.Amazon’s new Kindle tablets don’t get the attention that other Android tablets get. Android purists tend to scoff at them, thinking that the operating system being used -- a true custom fork of Android 4.0 -- is entirely too basic, lacking many of the features and customization settings that stock Android or the more traditional OEM builds like Sense or TouchWiz have. But simple -- and consistent -- software has a place. Amazon’s removal of some of the more advanced parts of the Android OS are also part of the reason not much talk goes on about the Kindle Fire HD -- it tends to just work, and users have few issues they need to sort out. Amazon has perfected the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy of smart devices. I’ve had both Kindle Fire HD devices here for a while, and have spent a good bit of time playing with the hardware and Amazon’s operating system as shipped. It’s time I put down a few words about them. 
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| ZTE Grand X passes through FCC with T-Mobile radio and branding Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST
A revision of the ZTE Grand X (read our review) has just passed through the FCC, undoubtedly destined to land on T-Mobile. Not only does the device have FCC clearance to operate on T-Mobile's 1700/2100MHz AWS frequencies for HSPA+, but also has a nice bit of T-Mobile branding on the back. Other than the new radio and branding, we're likely looking at the same device that was released internationally a few months back -- a 4.3-inch qHD (540x960) screen, Tegra 2 processor, 5MP camera and stock Ice Cream Sandwich. T-Mobile regularly picks up some of these less than mainstream devices, and usually ends up offering them at pretty compelling price points. The Grand X is no slouch by any means, and should be a solid mid-range offering for many customers. Source: FCC; Via: PhoneScoop 
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