Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Android Community

Android Community

Olivetti OliPad 100 Android Tablet Hands-on and Unboxing [Cute Little Italian Number] [VIDEO]

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:15 AM PST

Well would you look at that, a group of fellas over in Italy have their hands on an Olivetti OliPad 100, an 10-inch Android tablet running Android 2.2 Froyo with a slightly unique physical build. This isn’t exactly an iPad killer by any stretch of the imagination, but it is interesting to see the different iterations of tablets coming out on this 2011 wave to be sure. This tablet has a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution on it’s multi-touch display and a sassy ARM Corex A9 dual-core processor running the engine.

There’s a lovely little welcome in the center top of the front of this tablet, it’s got Wifi and Bluetooth, a 3G modem, and can connect to other devices via USB and SD card. Have a peek at the unboxing video here, and note the thickness and unique Olivetti overlay on Android. Doesn’t look half bad!

They mention “full HD” which could mean anything, to be honest, and SW eReading, and a large set of availability in flexibility features, working with you for all your “business needs.” We’re always on the lookout for tablets that are business oriented, especially since it really does seem, no matter what they say, that the mainstream tablets and smartphones of today are definitely busting at the seams with fun apps and games. Is this Italy’s tablet BlackBerry?

This tablet is said to cost 394 € (VAT included) and will have an official docking station available for purchase as well.

olivetti_olipad_100_android_unboxing olivetti_olipad_100

[via NotebookItalia]

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HTC EVO 4G Hosts Love Profession from Country Singer, Sprint Sponsors

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 09:22 AM PST

So you’ve got a Country Singing career that you’d like to get off the ground, yes? You know the way you can get a bunch of publicity? You can talk to Sprint, you can say hey, Sprint, I’ve got this song, it’s called “Crazy in Love,” and my name is Lauren Rainey, and I sing this song, and I want to do a music video for it, what can I do? Sprint will say to you hey, we’ve got a great idea, let’s film it on one of these HTC EVO 4G phones we’ve got here on our desk? And the rest will be history.

Indeed the following video was filmed entirely with an HTC EVO 4G, and it is by the country singer who did ask Sprint that very thing, probably through her people though, not personally, and they shot this video with the HTC EVO 4G straight out of the box without any enhancements. Of course to edit the video they needed to take it off of the phone, adding then the audio in post, as well as the text. They’re saying that this video is one that shows that “anyone, anywhere, can record a broadcast-quality video simply and easily using the HTC EVO 4G." We must say, the prospect is quite enticing.

What do you think? Sprint lets you know that this, the “first 4G phone in the country” and one of their 19 4G speed devices offered. You can access more info and songs and whatnot from Lauren Rainey over at http://www.laurenrainey.com/ She also has some tweets going on, that being sort of where we found out about this whole situation via @sprint, they’ve got some sweet tweets going on there, I’m telling you.

[via @sprint]

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CyanogenMod 7 RC2 shows its reach, passes 150k downloads in 24 hours

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 09:21 AM PST

The developer that everyone knows, or should at least. The name is CyanogenMod and they’ve been building the best, fastest, and most stable ROM’s for Android phones for a while now. It is a free, community built distribution of the most current Android OS. At the moment that is Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread. CyanogenMod brings it to many, many devices, and at a faster speed than any manufacturer. Monday they released the latest CM7 RC2.

The CyanogenMod team has been growing ever so fast lately, have you ever thought about just how big they might be? They now support about 20 devices of all different models and sizes. Monday night the CyanogenMod 7 RC2 (Release Candidate) was released and went live on the download mirror system and within 24 hours it saw well over 150,000 downloads. That is almost a quarter of a million downloads, Not to mention by now they’ve probably went far over 250k as it’s been over 72 hours. Can you think of any ROM, or OS that is free with that kind of power? I can’t.

For those that don’t know much about CyanogenMod it allows you to get the latest iteration of Google’s OS way before any manufacturer updates to it, as well as advanced performance and features not found on any stock devices. They support devices from the Motorola Droid, to the Nexus One, EVO, MyTouch4G, Desire, Droid Incredible and more. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out now over at the CyanogenMod Site.

After you flash what I consider to be the best of the best (CM7), feel free to mod it even more to your own personal liking. Check out our CyanogenMod 7 Pulldown Bar Mod story, after that you can then make CM7 become Android 3.0 Honeycomb, or close at least. For the latest RC2, or Nightly build for any and all supported devices, follow along to the TD Download Mirrors to download the latest and greatest for your device. Enjoy and don’t flash to many nightlys, it can get a little adicting. I know from experience. Tell us what you think about CM7 below in the comments, or in the AC Forums

[via CyanogenMod Blog]

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Google I/O Sends Out Last Call [WIN TICKETS]

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 08:25 AM PST

The official Google Code blog has sent out a call for all those that don’t yet have tickets to Google I/O, are developers, and still WANT tickets. Instead of just giving the remaining tickets away, however, Google has decided to launch this “Last Call for Google I/O,” a contest that will run ten days, starting on the 16th of March, one developer challenge for each of the 10 days, this contest providing 100 chances to win tickets to the completely sold-out Google I/O 2011 conference. You’ve got to go, you need to go, you love challenges, you’d better get into it, and give your fellow developers NO MERCY!

Each of these challenges will be announced on the contest site, which you can access [here], on each of the select dates at one of two times, 9am or 4pm PDT. Each of these contests will last 24 hours, each of the 10 days having 10 winners, creating again, 100 winners in total. The days and their themes are thus:

March 16 – Android, 9:00 am
March 17 – Chrome, 9:00 am
March 18 – App Engine, 9:00 am
March 21 – YouTube APIs, 9:00 am
March 22 – Game Developers, 9:00 am
March 23 – Google Maps / Geo, 4:00 pm
March 24 – Commerce, 9:00 am
March 25 – Developer Tools / GWT, 9:00 am
March 28 – Accessibility, 4:00 pm
March 29 – Google Apps / Enterprise, 4:00 pm

One of Google’s developer products will be focused on each day, each day containing then two rounds. You’ll need to be in front of your computer during the first half-hour the challenge starts, Round I, in order to be set to answer a series of questions that will then qualify you for the main coding challenge in Round II.

To qualify, you must be a citizen of the United States, one of the 50 United States that is, or of the District of Columbia. The winners will be announced on April 4, 2011. If do not win, Google asks you to remember that they’ll still be livestreaming all of the keynotes and taping sessions during Google I/O so noone has to miss the events. Full contest rules can be found on the [contest site].

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Verizon DROID X2 leak tips smaller memory card not refreshed phone

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 07:58 AM PST

Motorola’s DROID X is getting on, but it seems the replacement Motorola DROID X2 may not be a huge improvement. An SCK Kiosks (a subsidiary of Radio Shack) tipster has sent in a screenshot from the company’s internal systems that tips the DROID X2 as merely a DROID X with a 2GB pre-loaded memory card rather than a 16GB card.

According to the leak, the DROID X2 is more of a shorthand to differentiate the models in the system, rather than a truly new version. It will be priced the same as the original, and there’s no talk of the Tegra 2 processor and other specs in the last leak.

Motorola may have boosted internal storage to counter the smaller memory card, but it seems that this is merely a cheaper way to ship the original DROID X now that the smartphone is ageing.

[Thanks anonymous tipster!]

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AT&T capping 4G Android upload speeds?

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 05:56 AM PST

If you have a new Atrix 4G smartphone on the AT&T network or if you are thinking of buying one you new to know an important detail. Evidence has surfaced that AT&T is capping the upload speed of 4G Android handsets like the Atrix. The caps significantly decrease the upload speeds the handsets are capable of.

The real kick in the pants for 4G Atrix users is that on the AT&T network the iPhone 4 with the 3G radio out performs the 4G Android handsets. Is this a way for AT&T to still funnel buyers to the iPhone while offering Android handsets or what?

Phandorid reports that testers have found that the iPhone 4 averages 1.5Mbps upload speeds and the 4G network that is supposed to be faster see uploads of around 300kbps on the Atrix thanks to the cap. The radio inside the device is capable of up to 5.7Mbps uploads. So what gives AT&T?

[via Phandroid]

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TetherGPS brings navigation to Nook Color and other Android Devices with no onboard GPS

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 05:01 AM PST

If you have an Android tablet device that lacks onboard GPS, but you would like to use its larger screen for navigation while you drive a new app for Android devices has surfaced that will let you do that. The app is aimed at use on all sorts of Android tablets like the Nook Color that lack onboard GPS. The app is called TetherGPS.

You can gather from the name that it allows GPS navigation by tethering your tablet with an Android device that has GPS onboard via WiFi rather than Bluetooth as you might expect. The software has two parts to make it work.

You have to install the TGPS server on your smartphone and the TGPS client on your Nook or other tablet. Once the software is installed, you can get navigation all you want using your tablet. The app is available right now for $2.99 for the full version and a trial lite version is expected as well.

[via ReviewHorizon]

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IN Media Set Top box runs Android 2.2

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 04:06 AM PST

IN media has announced that it has a new set top box that is set to launch for streaming media to your big screen that runs Android 2.2. The set top box promises more than just streaming media though. IN Media says the gadget will be able to run the latest games in addition to streaming on demand content and creating widgets.

The box will also be able to run applications from the web right on your TV as well. The box will integrate seamlessly with their Android mobile phones and tablets. That should mean that you could stream content from your Android tablet or phone directly to your TV through the set top box.

The set top box also has uses in the business realm as well with the ability to drive digital signage and kiosks where the public display can be adjusted through a browser. IN Media doesn’t offer photos, a firm ship date or pricing details on the new set top box at this time.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 gets super-skinny tease

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 12:58 AM PST

Samsung has already sent out the teasers regarding its mystery device reveal later this month, expected to be an 8.9-inch version of the Galaxy Tab Android tablet. Now another sliver of the slate has been shown, this time complete with what looks to be the tablet’s 3.5mm headphone socket, and it certainly appears to be thin.

The extra bowing around the headphone socket implies that the slate as a whole is little more than the width of that port. That could potentially make it thinner than the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab (which was 0.47-inches thick) and a decent rival to the waifish iPad 2.

The full reveal is expected on March 22, and we’re guessing we’ll see a tweener-slate fitting in between the original Tab and the newer 10.1-inch model announced last month. Android 3.0 Honeycomb seems likely too, along with a dual-core processor.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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HTC ThunderBolt 10/24 Pattern Tipped for Release Date

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 08:55 PM PST

We’ve received a tip from a fellow by the name of JR who has apparently recently had a chat with a friend of the family who works at corporate for Verizon. While we’re not always jumping at attention for tips from friends of friends, if you know what I mean, this one smells like peanut butter, looks like peanut butter, and you know what? We think it’s pretty much obvious that this is peanut butter. But before we get to the actual pattern she (the Verizon rep) gave that leads to the correct date, let’s talk about what else she said, the funny stuff.

First of all, this Verizon representative told our friend JR that they have a good laugh every time a new rumor spreads through the streets of these internets. In addition to this sweet giggle, the Verizon rep noted that it’s often Verizon employees that help “drop” the false dates that end up propagating sites like the one you’re on right here right now – you dastardly snides! She went on to say that everyone, in their excitement over the product, is making the situation much more complicated than it actually is.

This Verizon rep noted that they did indeed have “technical” issues with the HTC ThunderBolt, and therefor never set a release date. She noted to JR that she wished the record to be set straight that a device can’t be “delayed” if no release date was ever given. She went on to say that the last time Verizon held a conference mentioning the ThunderBolt, it was set for March. She would not give a specific date beyond the month, but made it clear that JR should “look at the pattern of device releases” and he might be clued in on when the device would be launched. What JR took from this last statement, and we agree, is that he ought to look at the big release dates on recent and soon-to-be-released devices carried by Verizon.

First there was the iPhone 4 on February 10.

Then there was the Motorola XOOM on February 24.

Next up is iPad 2 on March 11. [typo, one day difference, apologies]

Then here’s the kicker: HTC ThunderBolt on March 24.

Sound reasonable to you? Sounds reasonable to us. We’re going to go ahead and guess that this device is going to be a gigantically successful one just based on how much attention it’s garnered here for daily views and comments in the multiple release date rumor posts we’ve dug up – then there’s the ads.

Hooray for lightening!

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Android Code Scanning How-To [This is how we do it]

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 03:50 PM PST

Like Montell Jordan would, we’re about to tell you how to do what you came to do. What you’d like to know how to do is scan those square jumbles of pixels you’re seeing everywhere, those “codes” the sites keep telling you to scan with your Android phone. What the heck is going on there? This is what’s going on there: it’s a QR-Code, and all you need to scan it is one singular app called Barcode Scanner. This app is totally free and works super slick.

To get this app, head over to [this Barcode Scanner link] and download from the web or straight to your device from your device in the mobile Android Marketplace. We’d also feature the code so you could get it easier, except for the fact that… probably you’ve come to this post trying to figure out how to do such a thing, so more than likely you don’t have the app you need to scan the code to get the app to scan the code, if you know what I mean.

This app was developed by ZXing Team, the same team that created absolutely nothing else, ever. It’s like they came to this planet from another planet just to give us the simplest Android scanner in the world and give it to us for free. This is the app you use to scan the codes that bring you to the apps you want to download. Simple, quick, easy, free.

Also NOTE: There are other scanners that do essentially the same thing, and are also free. This just happens to be the one we’ve used most often and has never failed us. And the icon is super awesome. ZXing Team has another app on the market that’s got a zebra as an icon – do not download it, as it’s not made for consumers. It does essentially nothing and was uploaded as a test. Now go out there and scan all kinds of barcodes and QR-Codes and every single other kind of code you could ever want to code. And check out the bonus video below.

barcode_scanner_05 barcode_scanner_04 barcode_scanner_03 barcode_scanner_02 barcode_scanner_01

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Viewsonic ViewPad 10 Android / Windows / Mac OS X Tablet?

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 03:18 PM PST

No way. Not even pretending to be possible. Not out of the box anyway. The origin of the title of this post comes directly from our pals over at TUAW, that Apple blog, where they’ve identified a rather large mistake in the press materials sent out by Viewsonic today with the ViewPad 10. The application you see here, on the tablet shown in the release for the ViewPad 10, is PowerPoint for Mac. This isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened with press materials and it isn’t the last, but since this tablet already runs Android and Windows, heck, why not another?

It’ll be the people responsible for editing the photos released with this tablet that are about to have red cheeks here. The photographers aren’t to blame, on the other hand, as this application essentially cannot operate on Windows or Android, and even if it could, it really would make less than a lot of sense to use it to display the capabilities of this Windows / Android tablet. You silly guys n gals.

See the rest of the epic public relations story involved in this device (or devices) back in the post Viewsonic ViewPad 10 Dual-boot Android / Windows 7 Tablet Available Today it is there that you’ll also learn about the secret ViewPad 10 Pro which is said to feature Android 2.2 Froyo instead of the 1.6 this regular ViewPad 10 has running. How about that? All the details will be yours.

Screen shot 2011-03-08 at 5.07.30 PM 20916 (1)

[via TUAW]

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Verizon making headway on LTE Smartphone issues

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 02:32 PM PST

Verizon’s chief technology officer Tony Melone says that in spite of issues pertaining to getting 4g/LTE smartphones to work properly on their LTE network, the company is on track to launch a series of phones in the first half of 2011. Recently, the flagship of these 4G phones, the HTC Thunderbolt, as been getting attention over one slipped launch date after another. And stories have abounded that the problems range from poor battery life to transferring from 3G to 4G networks on the device. The problem is, the hype for these phones is beginning to fade, which is prompting Melone to reassure the public, and investors, that LTE will be launched on scheduled.

“A year ago, people didn't believe that there would be LTE smartphones in 2011,” said Melone. “First half of the year is what we promised, first half of the year is still on track. So we don't believe there are any new or surprising issues.

Melone went on to pin it down as saying we’d see the Thunderbolt and a host of other phones out by the end of the second quarter. He also went on to say that Verizon is pleased with the way they are handling issues as they crop up and at they were anticipated. As for battery life, Melone said that battery life has always been an issue, even on 3G and he’s confident that working with manufacturers, Verizon will optimize battery life and make it acceptable to users.

We broke the story last night that Verizon was having trouble transitioning from 3G to 4G and it may be that they bit off too much with it’s epic 200 city roll out. But the battery life issue, which has delayed the HTC Thunderbolt even after the marketing campaign has begun hasn’t helped either. But one thing seems certain, Verizon will have these phones and their 4g/LTE network out by the end of the 2nd quarter come hell of high water. Question is, will customers be happy with the result?

[via ZDNet]

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CTIA to showcase new LG Phones

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 02:16 PM PST

CTIA is adding LG Phones to it’s list of breaking news before the wireless confab later this year in Orlando. Although no details are offered, there is hint that along with the LG Revolution, these new phones are finalists for the annual CTIA E-Tech award. Other phones nominated include the Motrola Atrix and the HTC Thunderbolt. And while the identity of the LG phones remains a mystery, the talk is that T-Mobile will be the carrier that launches them.

WIth T-Mobile to be the benefactor of these news LG handsets, it could be that one of the nominees is the LG Optimus 2X, which will be the designation for the Optimus G2X that T-Mobile uses. The other could be the 3D Optimus that we saw at Mobile World Congress. Only time will tell, but CTIA has already created quite a buzz over upcoming Samsung Tablet announcements, so whatever they are, it’s sure to catch everyone’s attention.

The CTIA-The International Wireless Association conference is from March 22-24 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. It’s one of the largest trade shows in the world for mobile phones and now tablet PCs. There will be 1,000 exhibiting companies and over 40,000 professionals from 125 countries getting together to showcase new products and offer seminars on new ideas on how to further the wireless industry. And we’ll be there to give you all the latest. So stay tuned.

[via PC Mag]

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HTC Flyer gets a million orders

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 01:34 PM PST

HTC is flying high with it’s new tablet. No, that’s not a sad play on words, it’s actually great news for Android handset company which has been reported to have secured over 1 million orders for it’s HTC Flyer tablet computer. That’s quite a feat considering that there’s been no official announcement of pricing or even launch date on this smaller tablet (although we leaked pricing in Europe here and here) designed to go head to head with the iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Analysts believe that the price for the Flyer will fall somewhere in between the Tab and the iPad 2, so a million orders is quite a feat.

The Flyer has been bucking conventional wisdom almost from the get go. As we noted in our hands-on, this smaller tablet is going old school with an active stylus input system. This can wreak havoc with the “palm test” as the 7″ capacitive touchscreen can get confused with multiple points of reference. So HTC has introduced a firmware update to compensate.

And with the trends of tablets moving towards dual core, the Flyer stays firmly in the kiddie pool with a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm CPU. It also has dual cameras for video chat and runs Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) which is promised to be updated to Honeycomb after product launch along with it’s heavily modified Sense overlay. But it also has some 3D features which makes for a pretty unique menu interface.

[via DigiTimes]

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For developers, Android platform looks to be most profitable

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 12:59 PM PST

Since Android surpassed the iPhone to become the most popular smartphone in the market last year, it was only a matter of time before the Google OS would also become the most popular platform for developers. But not only that, app development on the Android is now the most profitable. To the point that developers are pulling advertising dollars out of iOS based apps and doubling down on the Bot.

Apps not only generate sales, but also advertising and in-app purchase as part of their revenue trifecta. And many apps developers are finding that the larger Android footprint is translating to greater in-app purchases, as well as up to three times more ad clicks within Android apps. Coupling this with three times as many downloads, and the temptation to focus solely on Android is easy to embrace.

“We’ve just been blown away,” says Spacetime CEO Gary Gattis. “Android has become our primary interest.”

Spacetime is a company that has made the conscious decision to follow the money by taking all their advertising out of the iOS version of their popular Pocket Legends game and place it in the Android platform. The thinking is, that with Android’s focus on the gaming community, and the fact that more users play games on Android handsets than iOS handsets, Spacetime can be a big fish in a small pond. But the pond is getting bigger, as Google recently announced it was up to 150,000 applications in the Android Market, and is well on pace to surpass iOS by 2014.

“In some ways, it’s kind of like the wild, wild West,” Gattis says, “but that’s where the gold rush people made their claim…”

[via ComputerWorld]

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New Android Boot Animation lights up a rooted handset

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:47 AM PST

XDA Developers love to tinker with their Android phones and publish their results. And this one is one of my favorites. XDA user “Aph” has taken a cool particle ring animation he found in another thread and has tweeked the CM7 boot animation to make it really smooth. The result is our favorite little robot standing in a ring of plasma energy.

Aph felt that the original CM7 boot animation was too choppy and went out to smooth it out. To do that, he cropped the original image down, then resized it to makeit smoother, and then saved it as a PNG file to avoid compressing it as much as a JPG would. Then, he changed the frames per second from 30 to 24 to smooth out transitions from one frame to the next and give it a more cinematic look. The results are quite sweet.

You’ll have to use Root Explorer, CM7, the latest Gapps and the Savaged-Zen beta kernel. Then just download and copy the zipped files to the /system/media directory. The result is a smooth boot animation that stretches to fill the entire portrait screen. Users who like to install CM ROMs can check it out here.

[via XDA Developers]

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Google Instant Preview comes to Android

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:19 AM PST

Google Instant Previews, the search feature that shows snapshots of web pages along side search results has finally made its way to Android and iPhone handsets. Users of Android must have vs. 2.2 (Froyo) or above, while iPhone users must have iOS 4.0 and above to take advantage of the new search feature. Users don’t have to download or update anything at all to use the new feature either. All they need to do is search for a topic and the click on the magnifying glass on the right of the results (note, not the search bar).

This will navigate to a new page that will have snapshots of different pages that users can then swipe through, with titles of each page overlayed with more information of the page featured. To get back to original results, just hit the back arrow. The preview will also provide both full and mobile versions of the sites so that users can have a choice or to take advantage of a mobile optimized version of any given site. That’s a godsend for smaller screen smartphones where users have to spend time looking around with their finger constantly swiping.

Google has done a great job seamlessly integrating this useful and popular feature and it should make search even faster and more useful than before. The search function is available to phones in 38 languages starting today.

[via Slash Gear]

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