Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:28 PM PDT  If you grew up playing sports videogames during the 90′s you probably remember the phrases “Boomshakalaka”, “He’s heating up”, and “He’s on fire!” NBA Jam was one of my favorite games as a kid, so I was thrilled to see that EA Mobile ported the iOS version to Android this week. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that NBA Jam supports Android 4.0 devices, so I can’t play it on my Galaxy Nexus or Transformer Prime. From the early reviews coming in, it looks like this port lives up the the classic. NBA Jam features an average review score of 4.5, which is rare for EA Mobile games. Highlights of NBA Jam include:
This week EA also released FIFA 12. I’ve never been a fan of soccer games, but I know the sport is huge in about every country but the United States. So far the early reviews are what we have come to expect from EA’s Android ports, as the game averages a mediocre 3.7. If you are looking for a good soccer game, keep in mind Gameloft has Real Soccer 2012 available for free. Highlights of FIFA 12 include:
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Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:48 PM PDT  Here we go again. It seems like every time we’ve written a story about HTC this week, it had something to do with Android 4.0. This time around, the HTC Rezound is getting in on the Ice cream Sandwich action with a leaked Android 4.0 update which includes HTC Sense 3.6 and updated radios. There’s no guarantee that this will be the final build that Verizon and HTC will be pushing out to the HTC Rezound in the near future, but we are hearing that this build is a lot more stable than previous leaks. In order to flash the update (including the new radios) to your HTC Rezound, you will need to have a completely stock device. Those who have a custom recovery or have used the HTC bootloader unlock tool will need to flash a modified build of the leak which is already rooted. If you own the HTC Rezound and want to flash the leaked Android 4.0 update to your phone, click on the source link below for the files and detailed instructions. Don’t forget, flashing a leaked Android build to your phone can be dangerous and may void your warranty. We’ve known that the HTC Rezound would be updated to Android 4.0 from the day it was announced. We’re not sure how much longer HTC and Verizon will need to finish up their testing, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the Android 4.0 OTA update for the Rezound showed up during the first few weeks of April. Do you think AT&T will push out the Android 4.0 update to the Vivid next, or will Verizon’s Rezound owners get it first?      |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 01:46 PM PDT  Today Gameloft released their popular iOS hit Six-Guns to the Google Play Store. I haven’t played the game and you probably won’t read what I write anyways, so just check out the video below. It looks like a pretty good number of devices are supported, but unfortunately the Transformer Prime is not. As some of you know I love Gameloft, so I’ll be off for the rest of the afternoon playing this on my Galaxy Nexus. Check out the game and then come back to let us know what you think.      |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 01:36 PM PDT  Welcome back to our weekly Top 10 Android App Updates column, where we take a look at the most upgraded apps for the week. I've found that one of the best ways to discover useful apps is to look at what people are actually updating, and not focus on which apps have the most installs. To find the most updated apps, I turn to AppAware. It’s a great tool that shows me which apps have active support from their developers and sometimes reminds me of an old app that I might have removed long ago. Make sure to install it so your activity can help determine our weekly top 10 list. The following is a Top 10 list of apps which were updated in the last seven days and received the most updates during that time period on AppAware. Based on previous feedback, I am filtering out apps that have over 10 million installs since most are well known. I hope you enjoy this weekly feature and discover some apps that you might find useful. AppAware – Version 3.1.0 What’s new in this version:
Wifi Analyzer – Version 3.0.6 What’s new in this version:
Pulse News – Version 2.8.2 What’s new in this version:
Beautiful Widgets – Version 4.0.2 What’s new in this version:
Go Calendar Widget – Version 2.99 What’s new in this version:
Firefox – Version 10.0.3 What’s new in this version:
Foursquare – Version 2012.3.9 What’s new in this version:
TeamViewer for Remote Control – Version 7.0.335 What’s new in this version:
File Expert – Version 4.1.4 What’s new in this version:
SoundCloud – Version 2.2.4 What’s new in this version:
Go Weather – Version 1.9.16 What’s new in this version:
Honorable mentionsDid you see any Android apps that received notable updates in the last week? Share your suggestions in the comments below and we will add them to our honorable mentions list.     |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 10:04 AM PDT  Want to see a test photo from the Samsung Galaxy S III? We are not expecting the device until June, but rumors suggest the design has been finalized and now recent photos seem to confirm it’s currently being tested by Samsung employees. German blog AllAboutSamsung spotted a picture that was uploaded to Picasa from a device with the model number GT-I9300. Recent speculation has suggested that GT-I9300 will become the model number of the Galaxy S III, so these could be the first photos from the highly anticipated device. So what can we learn from the photo? It appears to be taken by a Samsung employee located in New York City. We can see a Samsung laptop, Samsung tablet, Samsung phone, and a row of Samsung chargers located in the picture. The resolution of the picture is 3264 × 2448, which suggest an 8.1 megapixel camera. The current Galaxy S II also features an 8 megapixel camera, but we know that megapixel count is not that important anymore when talking about picture quality. Keep in mind that this photo might have been snapped with a lower resolution, and the Galaxy S III could still feature a 12 megapixel camera like rumored. Whoever uploaded the photo to Picasa already took it down, which could suggest this is real and got online by accident. We only have the lower resolution image below to go by, so don’t let this single photo be the judge of the final camera quality. Some sites have already pointed out that this photo was captured with an HDR effect, which could explain the blurriness. Overall this isn’t much to get excited about, but the Galaxy S III is the hottest upcoming phone and we will devour any bit that gets tossed our way. Check out the picture below and let us know what you think about it.  This photo from the GT-I9300 was uploaded to Picasa with the title "20120308_175456_HDR(1).jpg"      |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 07:58 AM PDT  If you hadn’t heard, today is a big day for tablets. No, I’m not talking about that other tablet. I’m talking about the fact that we’re giving away a pair of quad-core Transformer Primes. We’ve paired with @NVIDIATegra to make sure this is a Friday you’ll never forget. To ensure we kept it big, these are the 32GB model AND they come with the matching keyboard dock. Taylor and I both run a Prime as our primary tablet. So if you don’t know how awesome of a prize this is, let me tell you: this is an awesome prize. As such, we’ve got a pretty kickass method for getting these bad boys into your hands. How to winSince we’ve got two Primes, we’ve also got two ways to win. The first is simple and just requires leaving a comment on this post. We’ll leave comments open for 24 hours, after which point we’ll select a random winner.The second tablet? That’s where things get interesting. To give it out, we’ll be hosting a live game show tomorrow over on our Google+ page. To win, users will need to join us in a live Hangout on Air and play a game of chance. In addition to the Prime, we’ll have a whole slew of other prizes, including free tees, cases from @speckproducts and even a Powerbag  .To participate, you’ll need to circle +Android and Me on Google+, but you’ve probably done that already, right? Tomorrow afternoon we’ll make a post on our G+ page looking for contestants. If you’re in the right place at the right time, that could be you. The only requirement is a camera and microphone so you can join us in the Hangout. Aside from giving away a fresh Prime, we’ll also use the Hangout to be announce the winner of today’s comment contest, so make sure you tune in even if you don’t want to join us live on air. If you’re somehow still not excited, check out the rad TegraZone game montage below that shows just how Tegra 3 rolls: So that’s it! Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a new 32GB ASUS Transformer Prime from @NVIDIATegra. Then join us again tomorrow on Google+ to see if you won. Or if you can win the other. Or if someone else will. The suspense is killing me! This contest is US only.      |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 07:36 AM PDT  Earlier this month we revealed that Google had chosen ASUS to produce their upcoming “Nexus tablet.” This report was later echoed by Digitimes, who said the 7-inch tablet could arrive as early as May. This has been the hottest Android rumor of the month so we have continued to ask around and dig up more details. We just received some new information, so read on for the full report. The RumorThe ASUS MeMo 370T that was revealed at CES has been scrapped after Google contracted with ASUS to produce their “Nexus tablet.” Earlier reports said the device would retail for $249-199, but we are now told the target price is $149-199. The quad-core Tegra 3 version that was previously leaked is no more. Other than the 7-inch display, no additional information has been provided on the specs.The SourceThis latest rumor comes from a senior employee at a supply chain company based in the United States. They wish to remain anonymous.One Android Insider's take on the rumor“It’s a done deal,” said the supply chain source. We have already heard countless rumors that Google was working on “a tablet of the highest quality,” and this latest report give us further confidence it’s going to happen.What’s most surprising about the latest rumor is to hear that the target price has been lowered to $149 and that the quad-core Tegra 3 processor is out. I’m going to assume these two bits are related. It sounds like Google wanted to undercut the Kindle Fire, so they lowered the bill of materials by going with a processor that was cheaper than Tegra 3. We heard similar stories last year that Amazon had originally chosen Tegra 2 to power the Kindle Fire, but they went with Texas Instruments’ OMAP4 at the last moment because they got a better volume deal. ASUS has a strong relationship with Qualcomm, so we might see a Snapdragon processor end up inside this “Nexus tablet.” We also found it noteworthy that our source called this device the “Nexus tablet.” The final product name has not been revealed, and we were curious if the Nexus branding was going to be used. I originally thought that this device might be called Google Play, but it turned out that was the name for Google's new online content store. I'll still go out on a limb and predict this tablet might be called Nexus Play. Many of our readers were excited about the ASUS MeMo 370T tablet as it stood, and I’m sure most will be upset to hear that it could be canned. Hopefully our source is wrong about that information. It could be that the MeMo 370T was slated to become the “Nexus tablet”, but Google wanted something cheaper so ASUS scrapped it and configured a lower spec’d device. I know a lot of people would buy a quad-core tablet at $249, so I hope ASUS still gives customers that option. However, ASUS did not show off the device at Mobile World Congress and they have been quiet about it, so who knows what’s going on with it. Wrapping up, we still expect this device to be announced at the CTIA Wireless show which takes place in New Orleans from May 8-10. Sources say it will ship with the latest version of Ice Cream Sandwich, but if this is truly a Nexus device it might become the flagship platform for the next version of Android, codenamed Jelly Bean. More information on Jelly Bean is expected to be revealed at Google IO on June 27-29th. Let us know what you think about this latest report in the comments below. Does the lower target price increase your chances of buying one? Will the lack of a quad-core Tegra 3 processor turn you away? Would you rather buy the $249 ASUS MeMo 370T as it was originally announced?      |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:42 AM PDT  Word on the street is that Google will start rolling out the Android 4.0 update for the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G within the coming weeks. This new information comes from one of Engadget’s trusted sources which we assume has provided accurate information in the past. As Dustin pointed out a few days ago, Google did push out an Android 4.0 update for the T-Mobile (i9020-T) Nexus S in December which was quickly pulled due to a number of bugs. We’re hoping that Google has finally been able to sort things out and will be able to deliver a stable update before the end of March. Will the Android 4.0 update for the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G restore your trust in the Nexus brand or will you consider an OEM branded phone the next time you make a purchase?      |
Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:39 AM PDT  CyanogenMod is one of the most popular custom ROMs in the Android ecosystem. There is a plethora of options out there, but this team has managed to get a great reputation. The CyanogenMod 9 ROM based on Android 4.0 is still in the works. But root and custom ROM users are dying to know whether their devices will be supported with Ice Cream Sandwich goodness. It seems the CyanogenMod team gets the same question a lot. “Will the _____ get CyanogenMod 9 support?” To make the answer simpler, they have just released a nice flow chart. It displays the possibilities of your smartphone getting CM9 support, based on general specifications. We have a feeling this chart won’t exactly stop users from asking. But if you want to see your odds, go ahead and follow the chart questions below. What percentage does your device fall under?      |
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Update - 230
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