Android Community

TuneIn Radio Pro adds stream recording
Wuala takes Android safely to the cloud
Droid Incredible 2 Review
Samsung Galaxy S II Rooted by Chainfire
Fring Mobile Group Video out of beta
HTC Inspire ROM Update Enables HSUPA – Hands On Test
Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update brings Video Chat to Google Talk
Motorola Atrix update now official

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 10:39 AM PDT

Who knows how long this will last, but RadioTime has released an update to it’s popular TuneIn Radio Pro for Android app which allows for recording of radio streams. Users can simply tap on the red record button and the app saves the stream as an .m4a file. There’s also a DVR function that allows users to pause and backup. Users can then play back the file through the TuneIn Radio app, upload it to DropBox, or even email it to a friend.

The app provides more than 50,000 radio streams of music, news, sports and talk radio. Users can enjoy radio from all over the world and even some satellite stations like Sirius 98. Local radio stations are also available. Audio quality is streamed between 32kbps and 128. And users can also save their favorite stations as presets and create a sleep timer or alarm to record automatically.

When I was kid, you could record broadcast radio and there was nothing anyone could due thanks to the Fair Use doctrine. Then along came the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. So with the music industry going after legal use of music via fair use on every front, how long can this feature really last? So get it while you can. The app is available at both the Amazon App Store and the Android Market for $0.99.

[via Androinica]

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Wuala takes Android safely to the cloud

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 10:24 AM PDT

Android users looking for a safe and secure cloud storage option may want to check out Wuala. This online storage service uses an encryption method where the files on your Android handset are encrypted. Then when users upload them to the cloud, not even Wuala knows what they are. Users can also use Wuala to sync across multiple platforms and computers, so files are up to date everywhere.

Wuala also stores files redundantly, so that in the case of calamity, files are still available. And like Drop Box, users can select what files can be shared by who via invitation. Pro pay options include backup, sync, going back into time to retrieve an old version of a file.

To date, Wuala has stored nearly 500 million files securely. The application is free and comes with 1GB of cloud storage included upon sign up. Additional pay storage options start at $30 for ten gigs, and goes up to 250GB for around $290 a year. Users can also contact Wuala should more storage be required.

[via AndroidGuys]

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Droid Incredible 2 Review

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 08:22 AM PDT

Last April, when we reviewed the original Droid Incredible, we said, “the Droid Incredible is HTC's best-specified Android handset on the market”. At that time, it was a flagship. The Incredible 2, while a very nice phone, is now more of a mid-level device. It has a great camera, takes decent video, and a nice size 4 inch screen. It also has very good battery life, lasting all day with some to spare. Keep reading for all the details, speed tests and benchmarks.

The shape and size of the Incredible 2 is similar to the HTC Incredible S, now on sale in Europe. It has the same molded plastic chassis as the Incredible S, and the original Incredible. The construction feels solid and high quality.

This Droid also has a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, though it is the newer MSM8255 model. It has 1GB of ROM space, and RAM is 768MB. The GPU is the Adreno 205. The four inch touchscreen is a WVGA, Super LCD. The main camera is 8 megapixels with dual-LED flash and autofocus, along with 720p HD video recording capability. There is also a front-facing camera for video chat, but it is only 1.3 megapixels and is fixed-focus. It will do the job it’s intended to do, but not more. This phone is labelled a World Phone, with both CDMA and EVDO Rev.A connectivity for North America, and HSPA connectivity for use abroad.

This phone does not have the optical joystick seen on the Incredible, it has been replaced with on-screen cursor control in Android 2.2 Froyo. The standard four buttons are HTC’s trick rotating buttons, which turn 90-degrees when the phone is turned – a cool feature. The tapered sides on the phone make it feel a bit thinner than it actually is, and in my opinion anyway, make it very comfortable to hold.

Software and Performance

We really would have liked to see Gingerbread on this phone, but as of now we are looking at Froyo out of the box. However, there is likely to be a software update coming down the pike. HTC Sense keeps things running nicely, feeling fresh, and keeps us from being too disappointed.

The single-core Snapdragon processor means this phone is not a dual-core beast like the Motorola Atrix or LG G2X, but it does well enough. Unless you are planning to run dual-core intensive apps or games, the Snapdragon will keep things cooking along nicely. Included also is 3G Mobile Hotspot functionality, Flash Player 10.2 support, and SRS WOWHD pseudo-surround sound processing, which adds some extra depth to audio, but isn’t exactly Dolby.

Benchmarks and Speed Tests

Benchmark-wise, in Quadrant the Incredible 2 scored 1509.

SunSpider – the test of JavaScript performance in the browser – came in at 5982.5ms.

Camera

The DROID Incredible 2′s main 8mp camera is quite solid. Stills are clear and crisp, at least in daylight conditions. There are also some cool features in HTC’s camera UI, like Distortion, Vignette (focuses on the foreground), Vintage, Grayscale, Sepia, Solarize, and Posterize. Below are some examples taken with the phone:

Regular camera, no effects

Vignette

Posterize

The color accuracy is good, and the flash is strong, giving a decent picture even in low light.

The front facing camera is just adequate, but it does the job it’s intended to do. Here’s a quick shot taken with it, you can see the quality difference:

The 720p HD video looks good, adjusting well in low-light situations and looking smooth and jag-free (unless you pan quickly, then you get blur and tearing). 1080p would be nice, but that isn’t realistic with the single core Snapdragon. Here is a quick video taken with the camera, my daughter filling you in on the important subject of “skunk safety”. She is an excellent test subject, because she never stands still.

Phone and Battery

Call quality was good, I didn’t have any problems hearing callers or vice versa, even in windy conditions. No doubt the integrated noise-cancellation system helped. Of course, you do not have the 4G LTE connectivity that you would get with the HTC Thunderbolt and the DROID Charge.

The DROID Incredible 2 gives you a full day’s use on a single charge. That's pretty much average for a current-gen smartphone, and of course you can extend runtimes by turning off some of the social networking integration or cutting back on how frequently they check for updates.

Wrap-Up

Priced from $99 (on Amazon) for a new, two-year agreement, and going up to $199 (for exisiting customers on contract), the DROID Incredible 2 by HTC is a cheaper option than Verizon’s 4G LTE smartphones. The technology it’s based on, a single-core processor with 3G, is on the way out, so this phone may begin to feel dated fairly quickly. Especially as devices like the Galaxy S II come out, which demonstrate that a dual-core processor doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice battery life.

But as a mid-range handset, the Droid Incredible 2 is a solid choice. HTC Sense running on top of Android 2.2 Froyo makes the OS feel fresh, this is not vanilla Froyo. And there is the likelihood that a Gingerbread update will be coming soon for this phone. The Incredible 2 may no longer be the flagship phone the original Incredible was, but for the price it is a good, mainstream handset with a fast-enough processor and decent battery life. The 8mp camera is a major plus as well. Overall, this phone will have everything you’re looking for in a mid-range smartphone. If that is what you are looking for, the Droid Incredible will not dissapoint.

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Samsung Galaxy S II Rooted by Chainfire

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 09:15 PM PDT

All you’ve gotta do is flash this thing down here and run SuperOneClick, and poof! It’s a root! Chainfire is a developer from over at XDA Developer Forums who’s about to go on a death-defying 10 day fast from dev work. Why, I do not know. What I do know is that before he left, he granted the world a lovely Kernel so that they may feast upon a rooted Galaxy S II. You’ll have to be one of the few lucky enough to already have one of these devices in your hands of course to have all the fun, but it’s nice to know it’ll be there for you once you’re part of the bigtime Samsung Galaxy S II party – and what a party it’s going to be!

This Kernel whipped up by Chainfire gave him a load of issues for one reason or another and he explains that it’s not a traditional or “proper” CF-Root. One of the reasons Chainfire has for this is that he’s like the majority of the rest of us, and also doesn’t actually have the device in hand! What he’s made this on is more than likely the early build of the phone released before the actual hardware is ready to take off across the whole world. What this project amounts to at the moment is the XWKDD kernel in “insecure” mode, this meaning that you’re going to be using “adb root” command followed by grabbing root shell using adb shell.

With this lovely shell you’re going to be able to remount / system read/write, push su / Superuser, busybox and everything else your box’o'root tools might contain. What Chainfire’s provided for you to use to get to this point is the XWKDD kernel and the new Odin. If you have NO IDEA what that means, it’s better that you just know that we’re well on our way to a completely free and open playground in an ultimate bigtime phone that isn’t even really released yet! Hooray! Check out the full XDA thread over here for full details.

Also don’t forget to check out our good man Chris Davies’ full review of this lovely phone, complete with the cutest transparent Android companion as helper!

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[via XDA Developers Forum]

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Fring Mobile Group Video out of beta

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 01:19 PM PDT

Earlier this month, we reported that Fring was beta testing a group video app which would allow users to make video chat calls. At the time, the App was available by invitation only. Now, as of today, Fring’s group video chat is now out of beta and is available for download. The Group video calling feature users to hold a group video chat with 3 other friends, even over 3G.

“There is no reason why users need to run home to their PC in order to have a 'spontaneous' video call with their friends and family,” said Avi Shechter, co-founder and CEO of Fring. “…we are the first to give users the ability to see all their friends on their phone at the same time, anywhere.”

Fring started the video chat revolution back in 2009, introducing mobile phones to mobile video chat that was one to one and largely fairly dodgy. But as phones have gotten more powerful and networks faster, so has the quality of the calls. And with smartphones moving towards multi-core processors, the ability make group video chat calls is a natural next step. So it makes sense that Fring would be blazing that trail.

The group video chat feature is also cross platform, meaning that Android, iOS callers, and even select Nokia handsets can enjoy each others lovely mugs on the same call. When making a four way call, the screen divides “Brady Bunch style” into four separate windows. And Fring calls are free (data caps do apply, however) . Look for it at the Android Marketplace.

[via PocketLint]

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HTC Inspire ROM Update Enables HSUPA – Hands On Test

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 12:54 PM PDT

When we heard that the HTC Inspire 4G has a ROM update enabling HSUPA for better data speeds, we had to give it a try ourselves. After some fits and starts, not finding the update, and then having some downloading difficulties, our own Ben Bajarin got it installed. So how did it do?

Here the speed test before:

And here it is after:

If you notice there isn’t much difference, and also that the speeds are pretty slow, that isn’t really a reflection on the update. Ben lives out in the boonies and can’t really get a great connection. We will be updating this post with a non-boonies test soon.

Meanwhile, have you updated? What kinds of speeds are you seeing? The update will be sent out over the air, but you can also check for it yourself, see graphic below and click for link:

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Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update brings Video Chat to Google Talk

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 12:14 PM PDT

The latest Gingerbread update, Android 2.3.4, as a treat for fans of Google Voice. Users can now use the Voice Chat app to make video calls. And not only to Android devices but also to Google Talk users on PC and Mac. And unlike Facetime, the app can use 3G and 4G networks rather than just Wi-Fi.

To make a call, users just go to the Google Talk app and press the video chat icon next to a contact’s name. In addition to making video calls, users can also send text messages that are incorporated into the video screen. Users can also continue the call, audio only, while using another application. The feature is currently running on Nexus S phones, with more Android Handset coming in the near future.

Wow. It’s yet another category that the bot is passing Apple by with. When first introduced the FaceTime feature on the iPhone 4, it was a fresh new feature, but it could only work on WiFi. Now, with applications like Google Talk, Skype, and Qik offering video chat not only over WiFi, but via 3G and 4G networks with Android, video chat is becoming a competitive feature set. The real question though is, with data caps in place by all wireless providers, how often will it be used?

[via PocketLint]

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Motorola Atrix update now official

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 11:54 AM PDT

Well that didn’t take long. AT&T has announced that the Motorola Atrix update we reported this morning is now official and out of Beta. Not only that, but there’s not one, but two updates. Firmware updates 4.1.57 and 4.1.83 offer improved battery life, multimedia with Bluetooth and other headsets, 2G/EDGE mobile hotspot capability, better data speed, Yahoo e-mail over WiFi and numerous other tweeks. The Atrix display will also now turn off while charging from a wall charger.

To update your Atrix phone, AT&T advises connecting to a WiFi hotspot or private WiFi network. Users will then receive an OTA update notification. Select “Download” and then “Install Now” once the download has completed. The Atrix will automatically restart. Please note that if not connected via Wi-Fi, users will not be able to start the download.

Should users be unable to update their phones, AT&T advises to verify WiFi connection and then disable WiFi settings under the Wireless and Networks tab. Then re-enable WiFi settings and reboot. Then reconnect and try again. If users need additional assistance, contact AT&T. Thanks to Zack at Droid-Life for the heads up!