Android Phone Fans |
- Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [March 9th]
- Sense ROM For G2 Now Available [Sense 2.1/Gingerbread]
- Marketing Blunder: Verizon Sends “Thunderbolt Available” Flyers to Customers
- Read It Later for Android Available
- What a Cruel, Cruel Joke [Photoshop Fail]
- New Limited Edition Dead Zebra Toys Coming, Prepare Yourselves!
- Toshiba Says Their Tablet is Better Than iPad 2, Will Be Priced Competitively
- StatCounter: Android Surpasses Blackberry in Mobile Web Traffic
- LG Revolution Dances With the FCC
- PhanCast 35: LIVE at 2PM Eastern
- Lenovo LePad Shows Up at FCC as the Skylight Slate
- CyanogenMod 7 RC2 Reaches 150,000 Downloads in First 24 Hours
- Hextacy Game Review
- HTC Desire S ROM Leaks Ahead of Launch
- New OTA Update Bringing FRG83G to the Motorola Droid for Verizon Starting Today
| Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [March 9th] Posted: 09 Mar 2011 04:04 PM PST
Not a whole bunch has happened today, but there was enough to round it all up. A Galaxy Tab with WiBro (really? WiBro?) radios inside, new Gingerbread/Sense ROMs, and more applications. Never a dull moment, but these failed to make it to the forefront of our radar. Take a look below.
|
| Sense ROM For G2 Now Available [Sense 2.1/Gingerbread] Posted: 09 Mar 2011 03:45 PM PST
Are you a T-Mobile G2 owner looking for Gingerbread but would rather use HTC Sense? Boy is it your lucky day: A Sense 2.1 ROM based on dumps from the ‘S’ series of HTC phones is now available for the device. The ROM is named GingerSense and was cooked up by the gracious folks from VillainRom. There are some issues – including a broken camcorder and borked Bluetooth – but if you don’t care for those two things then the list is minor. Take a look at the full list below and if it’s to your liking, head here to download it. [via Into]
|
| Marketing Blunder: Verizon Sends “Thunderbolt Available” Flyers to Customers Posted: 09 Mar 2011 03:06 PM PST
This has easily become the greatest device joke in the history of Big Red, and it’s getting even sillier. Reports have come in suggesting Verizon customers are now receiving promotional flyers for some new devices Verizon’s trying to push. Alongside a Samsung messaging phone, a Blackberry of some sort, and some other phone that I really don’t care to identify lies an HTC Incredible and – you guessed it – an HTC Thunderbolt that Verizon wants you to know is “Now Available”. (The irony here is that we’ve had to suffer through the same circus that was the aforementioned HTC Droid Incredible ) Really, Verizon? I used to laugh, but now it’s just downright mean. I think I feel a tear trying to squeeze out of my eye socket. [via Droid-Life]
|
| Read It Later for Android Available Posted: 09 Mar 2011 02:06 PM PST
The folks at Read It Later have just chimed in to inform us that their new Android application is now available. The service allows you to take articles and sites you find online and save them for reading on any other supported platform later on. (Imagine going from tablet to smartphone to PC – bookmark sync might get a bit cumbersome.) It even has offline mode so you’ll have something to take a gander at if you ever find yourself slipping away from data coverage. Find Read It Later as a 99 cent download in the Android market. Read more about the application at their website.
|
| What a Cruel, Cruel Joke [Photoshop Fail] Posted: 09 Mar 2011 01:29 PM PST
Look, we know that you know that we want Android on Nokia phones. You don’t have to rub it in our faces, alright Orange? And is that iOS in there, too? And just who in the hell is Deezer, anyway? Get it together! [PointGPhone, Thanks Adrian!]
|
| New Limited Edition Dead Zebra Toys Coming, Prepare Yourselves! Posted: 09 Mar 2011 12:46 PM PST
The guys at Dead Zebra have announced a new limited edition set of their DYZ Android toys that everyone – Google included – swoons over. New models will include Noogler – a Googler with a spinning propeller hat – and Iceberg who is sure to give everyone the chills whenever they look at him. The toys go on sale Thursday, March 10th at 11PM EST. Everyone is limited to 1 case per household to give all purchasers an equal chance. Still, it’s going to be a tough race to the checkout page so get your mouses ready, have your credit cards in hand, and prepare for battle. Take a look at this FAQ for more tips. [via Android Community]
|
| Toshiba Says Their Tablet is Better Than iPad 2, Will Be Priced Competitively Posted: 09 Mar 2011 11:49 AM PST Apple seems to bring out the “talk” in everyone whenever they announce a new product, and now the same has happened to Toshiba. Their general manager of information systems in Australia (we know it isn’t exactly a CEO or a vice president) has gone on record to say that their new tablet – being launched in just a couple of days – is better than the iPad 2. It’s not exactly shocking to hear someone extremely confident about their own product. The real story here is that the tablet will apparently be priced similarly to Apple’s device. The iPad 2 starts at $499.99 for the base model, but can get as high as $750 depending on which features you go for. Let’s hope Toshiba’s pricing teeters on the cheap side of the scale. [via Unwired View]
|
| StatCounter: Android Surpasses Blackberry in Mobile Web Traffic Posted: 09 Mar 2011 11:22 AM PST
StatCounter has recently published a study that shows – of the 3 million web pages they monitor – Android devices now browse them more than Blackberry devices. Android accounted for 15.16% of the traffic while Blackberry devices accounted for 14.52%. iOS and Symbian still beat both by a large margin, however. It’s not surprising considering just how many Android devices are being used by consumers today compared to just a year ago when its growth spurt was just getting going. The fact that Blackberry’s browsing experience still lacks in comparison to most of today’s modern operating systems also helps Android’s case. We expect that number to increase even more this year. Read on for full press details. [via IntoMobile]
|
| LG Revolution Dances With the FCC Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:46 AM PST The LG Revolution is another one of Verizon’s 4G LTE phones that has been announced but Verizon isn’t keen on sharing launch details about. We may be getting closer to the inevitable, though, as it has landed into the laps of the folks at the FCC. The filing didn’t reveal anything useful as you’d imagine. The LG Revolution is a looker with its 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 16GB of internal memory, and all of the other kibbles and bits you’d care about inside of a phone. It’s also the phone Verizon’s using to test out their VoLTE technology that we’ve been hearing about (and that was demoed for us at Mobile World Congress.) Check out the FCC’s site if you want to see it for yourself. [via Wireless Goodness]
|
| PhanCast 35: LIVE at 2PM Eastern Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:28 AM PST
You love Android. We love Android. I think we should spend a little bit of time talking about Android. We’ve done this 34 times previously and with each Phandroid Podcast we have more and more fun. Tune into PhanCast 35 at 2PM Eastern to get another weekly dose of Android talk. Tune in live at 2PM EST over at BlogTalkRadio or via the player below (old episodes will stream while off-air).
|
| Lenovo LePad Shows Up at FCC as the Skylight Slate Posted: 09 Mar 2011 09:57 AM PST
The 10.1-inch Lenovo LePad tablet has been talked about for quite some time now, word on when it’s US release might happen has been scant. It looks like it is sooner than ever now that the tablet has reached the FCC, though under a different name. Carrying the same 1280×800 resolution screen, Snapdragon processor, Android 2.2, and 1GB of RAM, it is apparent the so-called Lenovo Skylight slate is the LePad we saw back at CES in January. Again, no information is available on when we might see the Skylight hit US shores, but we hope that Android 2.2 gets bumped up to Honeycomb by that time. If not, the new tablet from Lenovo might come as too little, too late.
|
| CyanogenMod 7 RC2 Reaches 150,000 Downloads in First 24 Hours Posted: 09 Mar 2011 09:44 AM PST
We give a lot of credit to the Android mod and root community for the hard work they put into cracking devices, unlocking features, and developing new Android firmware for every handset imaginable, but lest you forget, they are no small community indeed. As a testament to that fact, the CyangonMod 7 release candidate 2, which just went up for download yesterday, has reached a combined 150,000 downloads among its various versions. It brings a bit more punch to the notion that hardware manufacturers might want to think twice about the measures they take to keep developers from gaining access to modifying the software of Android handsets. After all, it is a large market of people who may otherwise avoid purchasing that shiny new handset, especially if it comes with a hard to crack bootloader. We’re sure the two sides will continue to butt heads, but keep fighting the good fight Cyanogen and all those who root. [via CM]
|
| Posted: 09 Mar 2011 09:25 AM PST
A new game called Hextacy has left beta and hit the Android market recently. It’s a very polished puzzle game with simple, yet addicting gameplay. The objective of the default game mode is to get rid of 3 or more adjacent hexagons by swiping your fingers through the shapes. After clearing the entire board of moves, a new row of blocks will fall in. You lose when there are no possible turns after a new set of hexagons have fallen. There are power-ups in certain game modes to help you get out of a pinch. One will clear the entire column of hexagons it sits in, while another will active hexagons that are disabled leaving every piece available to make a move on. Hexagons are disabled and enabled after each turn allowing you to set your next move up before you’re even able to make it. Things get a bit tricky when new hexagons disable themselves after falling. (This happens more frequently as you get to higher levels.) I’m not sure if it’s random or if there’s some algorithm that determines which new hexagons are disabled, but don’t break your phone in anger whenever you’re lead to believe you’ll be able to make a move on the next turn and instead find out that your game comes to an abrupt ending. It makes for interesting gameplay, but it feels too much like chance for my taste. I’d like to think that I have some say-so in controlling the outcome of the game in situations like that, but that’s not up to me to decide. Still, I find myself coming back for more and more trying to beat my previous high-score (which is posted both locally and on online leaderboards). To make things interesting, the developer has included two different game modes. Hardcore will limit you to hexagonal clusters of three, while Pure won’t afford you any power-ups to help you get out of a bind. (Sounds to me like the names should be switched around, but who really cares?)
There is only one song and one sound effect throughout the game, but there is an option to turn the sound off if you get tired of it. The only technical issue I’ve run into so far is when receiving a call – I was met with a frozen game when trying to return. (I had to manually force close it in order to start it up again.) That’s only one oddity, but something I hope will be fixed in future updates. I really have no other complaints, though. It’s a very solid puzzle game and the developer – Magnus Lorentzon – prides himself on the job he’s done here. The game is about $2.37 in the Android market, but there’s a lite version that gets rid of the online leaderboards and extra game modes if you don’t care about that stuff. Go ahead and check it out. Disclosure: We received a free copy of the full version of the game from the developer for review purposes.
|
| HTC Desire S ROM Leaks Ahead of Launch Posted: 09 Mar 2011 09:04 AM PST
The HTC Desire S is still a bit away from its official release, but just like its cohort, the HTC Wildfire S, has already seen its ROM leaked onto the internet. It brings along with it Android Gingerbread and the latest version of HTC Sense. As you might expect, Android modders are already knee deep in getting the new ROM functional on the original Desire, an accomplishment that will make the older handset feel a lot like the newer one thanks to only marginally increased specs. The HTC Desire S is on track for a launch in Europe next month, and the Android 2.3 update for the current lineup of Desire devices will follow shortly after. [MoDaCo via AndroidCentral]
|
| New OTA Update Bringing FRG83G to the Motorola Droid for Verizon Starting Today Posted: 09 Mar 2011 08:36 AM PST
I am sure fellow Motorola Droid owners would much rather here news of an update bringing our handsets up to Gingerbread, but with no word on whether or not the phone that kicked things up a notch for Android will ever receive an upgrade to the latest version of the OS we may just have to settle for an update to Android 2.2.2, which has begun rolling out today. The update is labeled as FRG83G, the build of Froyo that was last seen on the Nexus One before it received its calling to Android 2.3.3. FRG83G is a small 3.4MB download that once installed will fix a text messaging bug that resulted in the phone displaying a message other than the one selected and in some cases sending messages to the wrong recipient. Nothing major, but certainly nothing to complain about. Now the questions is: could this be the final update the Motorola Droid receives? Or is it still destined for bigger and better things? [via DroidLife]
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android Phone Fans To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment