Monday, April 18, 2011

Android Phone Fans

Android Phone Fans

The Future Of Wireless Charging

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 04:37 PM PDT

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When we last heard from Texas Instruments they had been hard at work absorbing business rivals, but today they showed off what they do best. Technology.

The most recent fruits of their labor is a little something called the bq51013. Its a wireless induction charging chip that’s close to 80% smaller than technology we’re using now. If you’re unfamiliar with wireless charging its the same tech found inside your Sonicare toothbrush or the Palm Pre’s Touch Stone.

I’ve never been a fan of wireless charging. With my busy lifestyle I, at most, have only have a few precious moments to find wall socket to plug in. I quickly realized wireless charging was much too slow at powering up my energy thirsty Evo. Thankfully, TI is promising a 93% efficieny rate when compared to AC charging.

It may come in handy if we start seeing this technology become heavily adopted by cell phone manufacturers. Who knows, in the future we may only have to lay our phone down at a restaurant table to find it fully charged by the time we received the check.

[Via Electronista]

Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [April 18th]

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 03:53 PM PDT

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On a day bearing news that Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung over the stylings of the Galaxy line of devices, it might be easy to overlook some of the smaller happenings around the Android world. Never fear, the good stuff is distilled out below in bite sized doses of Android goodness.

  • The Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 4 and 5 inch versions have gotten software upgrades in Korea.
  • Guinness World Records has released an Android application for gamers. [AC]
  • The Samsung Vibrant has gotten a quick maintenance update via Kies Mini.
  • The Acer Iconia tablet is up for pre-order in Canada via Future Shop.
  • It’s time for Adult Swim in the Android Market. The late-night television block is launching Robot Unicorn Attack, its first Android app. [Joystiq]

 

Facebook for Android Updated with In-Status Friend Tags

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 03:25 PM PDT

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Facebook has updated their Android app, slowly rounding out their mobile portal with features we have enjoyed on desktop browsers for some time now. The biggest addition in version 1.5.3 is the ability to tag your friends in status updates. Just as on the desktop equivalent, typing ‘@’ and a name will bring up a list of friends to be hotlinked from the status.

Additionally, the Find Friends feature has been added for easier searching and you can now add your phone number to your profile, allowing other friends on Facebook mobile to call you. Other bug fixes abound, but we still await the day that Facebook will cease to needlessly bump us out to the browser when navigating to certain items.

Android Market Link: Facebook for Android

[Thanks, Tim!]

Motorola XOOM Passes the FCC Looking Prepped for AT&T

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:40 PM PDT

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A couple months back it was mentioned in an interview with AT&T’s Chief Marketing Officer David Christopher that the carrier was slated to receive their own version of the Motorola XOOM later this year. A recent FCC filing could be all the confirmation we need that the plans are indeed in motion and a release may not be that far off.

Listed as the IHDT65ME1 and described as a “wireless tablet,” the Motorola filing shows support for GSM 850 and 1900 bands and WCDMA bands II and V. Translated, this device would feel right at home on AT&T’s network. The XOOM is already out through Verizon and has popped up with Sprint branding more than once, though a contract-free, wireless-only version is also available.

[via Ubergizmo]

Apple Sues Samsung Over Galaxy Lineup’s Resemblance to iPhone

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 01:23 PM PDT

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When I first compiled my review of the Samsung Galaxy S last summer, one of my minor gripes with the device was it’s overwhelming resemblance to the iPhone. The silhouette of the device, it’s singular “home” button foregoing Android’s typical four, and a user interface looking a bit too Apple-inspired made the device feel like a knockoff in some ways. Don’t think Apple didn’t take notice. In a lawsuit filed April 15th, Apple is suing Samsung over “slavishly” copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad in their Galaxy lineup of Android devices.

Apple representative Kristing Huguet called the similarities between Galaxy devices and those using iOS “blatant,” while Samsung has yet to comment. This is not your typical patent lawsuit hinging on a small aspect or feature a phone offers. The Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Galaxy Tab, and even the Nexus S are named. If Apple comes out on top, the implications could be big for Samsung, not to mention the payout Steve Jobs and company will surely demand.

[via Reuters]

T-Mobile G-Slate Set to Launch April 20th

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 12:58 PM PDT

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With units already arriving in stores, a new internal memo going around T-Mobile is confirming what many suspected: the T-Mobile G-Slate will launch on April 20th. T-Mobile has an event planned for that day to celebrate the release of the G-Slate and G2x, two LG devices making an exclusive American debut with the carrier. Also joining the two new Gs is the Sidekick 4G from Samsung, the Android incarnation of the popular messaging phone line. Pricing details aren’t 100 percent confirmed at this time, but we expect an official press release any minute now.

[via TMoNews]

First Shipments of the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Sold Out

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 12:23 PM PDT

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If you are looking to get your hand’s on the newly released Eee Pad Transformer from ASUS, you will be waiting a bit longer. Initial shipments of the tablet have sold out in the UK, according to the manufacturer’s Facebook page. The Honeycomb tablet comes at a fairly reasonable price (£380 without laptop dock/£430 with), so the Transformer’s popularity isn’t too surprising. ASUS advises those wanting to get their hands on the device check with their local ASUS Facebook page for availability details.

[via AndroidCentral]

Grooveshark Returns to Android as a Third-Party Download

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 11:58 AM PDT

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Google can keep Grooveshark out of the Android Market, but they sure can’t keep Grooveshark off of Android altogether. The app has returned in the form of a third-party download direct from the Grooveshark site. It still isn’t all that useful to those not paying the premium subscription fee — you only score a two-week trial and miss out on the ability to access your stored library or save tracks for offline listening. Whether or not the app ever formally returns to the Android Market has yet to be revealed.

[via Lifehacker]

Samsung Releases Android 2.3 Source for Galaxy S Gingerbread Update

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 11:45 AM PDT

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After launching the update last week, Samsung — on a bit of a source code frenzy — has released Android 2.3  for the Galaxy S to their Open Source Developers Center. With the release, we expect the speedy creation of all sorts of custom Gingerbread ROMs for installation on Galaxy S devices yet to receive the latest version of Android. The official update is currently rolling out to Samsung’s flagship Android device in Europe, though the exact plans for a wider release are unknown. Given the long wait owners of US variants of the device endured, this source code might be the only hope for many for the time being.

[via AndroidPolice]

Droid Charge Captured on Video, Does Little to Excite Us

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 11:01 AM PDT

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The name may have changed a time or two since, but the Samsung DROID Charge seen in the above video is looking mighty familiar to the device we first saw at CES earlier in the year. It wasn’t doing a whole lot to excite us then, and in this new footage it isn’t getting us all that excited now. The guys at TechnoBuffalo spent some time with handset off camera and echo that it’s single-core processor and other hardware might be feeling a bit dated. Reports are that the battery life really stinks, as well.

The latest rumors suggest April 28th for the release of this handset, but with the way Verizon has been going with their recent handsets who knows if that date will stick.

[via TechnoBuffalo]

Royal Wedding Gets Its Own App with Westminster Abbey 3D

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 10:41 AM PDT

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Just because you won’t be anywhere near Westminster Abbey doesn’t mean you can’t experience the upcoming royal wedding first hand. An official Westminster Abbey application is Android Market-bound giving users a first hand look at the historical royal church and location of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. The application, called Abbey 3D, presents a digital recreation of the church created using a combination of laser scanning techniques and 3D modeling typically reserved for big budget Hollywood spectacles.

You enter the church through the Great West Door and follow down the aisle to the alter, with information about the Abbey presented along the way. If you want the dirt on some of the wedding’s honored guests, bigoraphies are included for key participants. Historical archives host photos of previous ceremonies. It is all part of an application the Very Reverend Dr. John Hall called “very apt for our fast moving world of communications” as the Abbey that saw the first printing press set up on its doorstep hosts the first royal wedding of the 21st century.

See a non-embeddable demo video of the app over at the Abbey’s YouTube page. Abbey 3D sells for £2.99, though it doesn’t appear live in the Android Market just yet. Will update with a link when available.

[via Westminster Abbey]

US Cellular to Get Motorola XOOM This Quarter, Says Leak

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 09:33 AM PDT

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New evidence has surfaced saying US Cellular would be carrying the Motorola XOOM. Sweet, but that’s about all we know for the time being except for its expected launch window – Q2’11. No word on whether or not this will have 3G radios for US Cellular’s CDMA network, either, so all we know is that you’ll eventually be able to buy the XOOM in some unknown capacity sometime within the next 2.5 months. Not exactly the most exciting of leaks, is it? [via AC]

Leak Says Verizon to Launch DROID Charge on 4/28; Bionic Said to Have Been Scheduled for May 12th

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 09:10 AM PDT

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A new leak today suggests Verizon will have a huge launch day on the 28th of this month. In addition to the Xperia Play and DROID Incredible, the Samsung DROID Charge is the latest to be rumored to be launched on the aforementioned date. That seems a bit crowded to me.

It lends credence to another rumor that pegs the Incredible 2 for April 21st, though the evidence for that hasn’t been as strong. If Verizon were to launch it on the 21st, they’d need to announce it tomorrow to give room for presale opportunities.

And remember that it isn’t out of the ordinary for Verizon to launch a device just a couple of days after they formally announce it. The DROID 2 received similar treatment back when it was turning up in tons of leaks.

More from the same leak – the rumored-to-be-cancelled Motorola DROID BIONIC is on the timeline with a May 12th launch date. It does line up with what we’ve heard before, but it looks like that date may come and go if rumors of it being cancelled turn out to be true. The Motorola Targa is said to be taking its place on Verizon’s lineup. [Droid-Life]

Verizon to Launch 4G LTE in a “Mess of New Cities” This Thursday

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 08:15 AM PDT

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Verizon’s just tweeted about the ongoing expansion of their 4G LTE network – a mess of new cities will be getting the mobile broadband speeds they provide to select devices this Thursday. No exact number or list of cities was mentioned, but if it’s anything like their initial launch then a “mess” of cities will certainly produce quite a long list.

I’ll be praying for Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be lit up (where yours truly hails from) but be sure to check this upcoming Thursday and let us know if you finally see that awesome 4G icon in your status bar when you wake up that day. (Though we’re sure Verizon will afford us a list of all cities getting lit up at that time.)

It’s worthy to note that Verizon launched with 40 cities lit up, and said that the rest of their initial list – which you can find here – would get 4G 6 months from then. Let’s hope all 50 of those cities are included in Thursday’s parade. Verizon is looking to get 140 markets lit up by the end of this year and expects to cover their entire network by 2013. [via Droid-Life]

Dead Zebra’s New Android Collectible Series 02 Unboxing [Video, Future Giveaway]

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 08:00 AM PDT

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We’ve just received a nice little package from the folks at Dead Zebra who last month announced and launched series 02 of their iconic and insanely popular Android collectible figures. It was only right to do an unboxing, so I of course did just that. We take a look at one of four random figures included – Iceberg – as well as 1 of 12 solid blue figures – named Bluebot – that look an awful lot like our very own Phandroid logo.

Yea, there’s a striking resemblance there. (You can’t see it in the images above and below, but the shade of blue very closely resembles the shade we use in our logo. You can thank my ignorance on color correction for that.)

And as for that “future giveaway” tag up in the title, we’ll definitely give 16 of you folks a chance to grab one of these but we haven’t exactly figured out how we’re going to do that just yet. Be on the lookout for giveaway opportunities sometime in the very near future. Check the unboxing video out above. (Note: the greenie in the image below is my personal one gifted to me by a friend. It was not part of this package.)
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