Friday, March 4, 2011

Android Community

Android Community

Android Community featured on Pulse News!

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 11:05 AM PST

Would you look at that. Our good friends over at Pulse News by Alphonso Labs today have been kind enough to feature Android Community on their blog. Standing alongside The Atlantic, TV Guide, OK! Magazine, and more! Pulse News Reader is the best when it comes to tech news on your mobile device. Aside from the official Android Community App of course, which is always a fabulous choice for all of your Android news and community talks – which you can also access [here], of course.

The Pulse News Reader available for download in the Android Market and is available for essentially all Android phones, but is made for larger screen devices such as our shiny new Motorola XOOM. The news app is more geared for larger screen devices like i mentioned above, and has just been updated to fully support Honeycomb, including hardware acceleration. We must tell you, if you have a tablet or the Motorola XOOM, get this app now. It looks amazing and works like a charm.

If you’ve got the Pulse app all ready to go, add Android Community. If you’ve got multiple devices, you gotta have it for all of em! Encourage everyone you know who loves Android to add the feed to Pulse and one day we’ll simply be on the front page when you download the app automatically – win!

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[via Pulse News]

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New Tablet announcing at CTIA, hints of medical applications

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 10:37 AM PST

CTIA Vice President Rob Mesirow has hinted that a new Android tablet will be announced at the annual wireless trade show. And though he wouldn’t go into any detail as to who’s making it or what the specs are, Mesirow did go on to talk about how tablets in general are changing Heath care thanks to what he calls “M-health” and that M-health news at CTIA this year. And as if hinting to one spec, Mesirow went on to state that a 7″ tablet fits rather nicely in a lab coat.

To date, the only tablet provider that has reserved press time at CTIA this year is Samsung, so could this be an upgraded Galaxy Tab 2? Could very well be. Mesirow, however, goes on to say that this year is the year of tablets and since the nature of the business is to announce new platforms at the last minute, it could very well be that another provider will reserve press time between now and the confab later this month. The CTIA show is in Orlando, March 22-24.

[via PC Mag]

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Droid X powers a homebrew space satellite for capturing Discovery launch

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 09:58 AM PST

The space science group Quest for Stars built a home brew satellite with a weather balloon, a trio of ProHD cameras, and operated by a pair of Droid X Android phones. The phones were powered by 2600mAh extended batteries and were insulated against the cold of space with nothing more than a beverage cooler. The Droid’s were used for GPS tracking and for controlling the photo and video from the ProHD cameras. What’s really cool about the project was that it was timed to be at the edge of space during the final launch of the space shuttle Discovery. But that’s not all …

The mission of the Quest for Stars project is to bring awareness to space science and technology to today’s youth by showing them how they can take off the shelf products and create their own space program for studying science. The project payload, dubbed Robonaut-1, was not only able to get a great shot of the Discovery’s vapor trail as it powered it’s way to orbit, but it also captured dramatic footage of the weather balloon bursting and the payload free-falling tens of thousands of feet to the ground below. Engineers were amazed that the Droids not only survived the fall intact, but that they were able to track the payload via the Droid’s GPS within 5 feet of it’s location!

For more information on the Quest for Stars project, visit their website at http://questforstars.com/.

[via AndroidC]

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Google says Fragmentation? We’ll take care of it

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 09:24 AM PST

Android and its fragmentation has long been the discussion of many of its competitors as well as our own users. As much as we’d all like to agree, or disagree, there is some fragmentation that we all can at least agree on. With so many types, models, screen sizes, and CPU speeds being some large ones. Personally this has never been a large issue for me as most games and apps have always worked just about perfect. You can read about Angry Birds creators Rovio on Fragmentation. On Thursday Google came out with some information that will soon change all of that. The Fragments API.

Google has just released a new Fragments API, it is available now through the SDK Updater, it’s called the “Android Compatibility Package”. This is a very big step for Google and Android, as fragmentation has been a topic of argument since the beginning. On the Google developer blog they note that this API is a part of Honeycomb, and does not help developers that build for older versions of Android.

They have just released a library that will now also help applications that are compatible with Android 1.6 or later to take advantage of the Fragments API to make them also be tablet-compatible. Developers can start on this right away, Sounds to me like that knock on tablet app numbers Steve Job’s mentioned a few days ago, will soon be very wrong.

[via Android Developers]

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Droid Eris gets a firmware update OTA

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 09:24 AM PST

Verizon and HTC are encouraging Droid Eris customers to download and install the latest firmware update: ROM: 2.41.605.6/Radio: 2.42.01.04.27. The new update is designed to improve wireless connectivity and expand media sharing and social networking features. Included in the update is improved Bluetooth performance with Mercedes-Benz E350 automobiles, a streamlined Twitter authentication login, an easier to read received signal strength indicator display, and even Visual Voice Mail. In addition, Calendars can now be synced via Microsoft Exchange. Users can also send and receive videos, pictures and even audio messages with or without text and over multiple networks.

Users can plan on a software download and update time of between 10-25 minutes to incorporate the 13MB file which will come as an “over the air” (OTA) update. Users will be prompted to press the “Install Now” button and the Eris device will reboot to begin installation. There is an option to install the update later, but users will be nagged every 30 minutes until they install it. And to manually install the update after notification, users can go to “Home” > “Menu” > “Settings” > “About phone” > “System updates”, then press “Restart & install”. Users will be unable to make calls or use the Eris for other activities while the update is being installed since the device will restart several times during the install. If the update fails, users are advised to remove and reinsert the battery, then power the device back on. The original software will load and users will be prompted again to install the update.

Please note, however, that if users are roaming, there will be no system update notice in order to save on roaming charges. Users will then have to enable WiFi and select an available WiFi netork to receive the update via WiFi.

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[via Verizon Support]

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Bing Deals arrives for Android (ahead of WP7)

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 05:52 AM PST

Microsoft seems determined to frustrate its Windows Phone 7 users, by releasing a Bing Deals service that, so far, only works with Android and iOS. Available at m.bing.com, Microsoft promises Deals will offer 30-50% discounts from retailers and providers nearby.

There’s also categories and keyword searches to make filtering through the various deals more straightforward. Once you’ve found something you – or someone else you know – might be interested in, you can save it, redeem it at the vendor, or email it.

Business listings in Bing search results will also now include any Deal information currently being offered, and there’s a new icon for the service on the desktop version of the search engine too. Unfortunately it looks like this is all US-only at the moment; we’ve just fired up the page in the UK, and there’s no sign of Deals.

[via SlashGear]

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Nintendo 64 games on Android with N64oid

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 05:18 AM PST

I spent many an hour back in the day playing games on my Nintendo 64 and I bet a lot of other geeks did too. If you are looking to relive some of the fond memories of your youth on your Android device a new app has surfaced that puts those old N64 games on your smartphone.

The app is called N64oid and it comes to us from the capable hands of developer yongzh. This same geek designed other notable emulators like GameBoid, SNEsoid, Nesoid, and Gensoid. If you are an emulator fan, you have probably used his apps already.

The N64oid app promises decent frame rates on high-end Android devices and the devices can run some games at full speed with sound. The emulator has an onscreen control pad, supports the accelerometer and you can map keys. It has save and load capability as well. You can grab N64oid on the Android market right now for $5.99 and you have to get you own ROMs.

[via Pocketnow]

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 found lacking by Samsung compared to iPad 2, price cut may be coming

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 04:58 AM PST

There is no doubt that when Steve Jobs pulled the iPad 2 out on strange there were a lot of tablet markers that had to step back and reconsider how they were positioning their own offerings in the market. One of those firms that is doing some reconsidering is Samsung with its Galaxy Tab 10.1. Samsung is feeling a bit inadequate against the iPad 2.

Engadget reports that Samsung VP Lee Don-Joo has noted that Samsung is looking at the tablet and reaching to “improve the parts that are inadequate.” The exec doesn’t offer any hints on exactly what parts the company thinks are inadequate compared to the iPad 2. Lee does note that the iPad 2 is very thin.

That would seem to hint that perhaps we would see future versions of the Tab 10.1 with a more svelte profile than the tablet currently has. The most important change that may be coming to the tablet is a price cut. If the price of the Tab 10.1 was significantly less than the iPad 2 then I think a lot of us could possibly over look things that might not be perfect.

[via Engadget]

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Bizarre Japanese Dell Streak advert promises Android efficiency

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 04:13 AM PST

Was a group of Japanese robotic businessmen the only thing the Dell Streak needed to successfully quash the iPad? A bizarre “Dell Streak Man Project” advert has turned up for the Japanese market, in what we’re guessing is meant to imply that the Streak hybrid smartphone/tablet helps organize you into an efficient android machine.

Along the way, though, it comes across more than a little like those impromptu dances sometimes held in the middle of shopping centers, complete with bemused onlookers watching from the sidelines. As you can see at one point, too, the Streak itself isn’t actually turned on.

Still, it’s memorably – albeit in an odd way – and that’s generally a good thing in adverts. Airing in Japan this month, we’ll have to wait and see what, if anything, it does for sales of the Streak there.

[via Twitter]

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Catch Pro note taking app hits Android

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 02:51 AM PST

Catch.com has announced a new app for Android users that allows them to take notes on their smartphone using their voice and via other means. The new app is called Catch Pro, the app allows the user to access their notes online and offline as well, and the notes can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and via email.

Catch Pro is a premium version of the Catch Notes app and the main difference is that the Catch Pro app offers 1GB of new content storage each month. The app allows you to set the notes as private or to share them with other users if you want. The app allows the capture of text, images, sound files, Word documents and more.

Hash tags are used to organize the notes sort of like the tags that Twitter uses. The notes are also geo-tagged based on the location they were taken. The 1GB of storage is enough space for 165 hours of voice notes or 750 images. Catch Pro is available right now for $5 monthly or $45 per year.

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CEIVA Photos app now supports Android smartphones

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 02:40 AM PST

Digital photo frames are really cool little devices that allow you to show off all of those photos that you snap without having to print them out. The catch if you use a smartphone to take your pics more than a camera is that it can be hard to get the photos onto a frame to show off. CEIVA has a line of really cool digital photo frames that allow you to shoot photos with your digital camera that are automatically displayed on one of its frames anywhere wirelessly.

The company has had the app that goes along with those frames for a while on other platforms and has announced that the CEIVA Photos App for Android is now available. The app allows Android devices to access the photos that are on the Ceiva digital photo frame. The app will be coming soon for iOS devices as well.

CEVIA Snap is now on version 1.1 and it allows the Android geek to add captions to photos, send multiple photos, and post their photos to Facebook or Twitter. The cool part about that is that you can share pics as soon as you take them on a CEIVA frame no matter where you are rather than having to shoot the images, wait until you get home, and then upload them.

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Which tablet should I choose to buy? Don’t even bother looking at specs – or price for that matter.

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 09:22 PM PST

Before I begin here, allow me to address the cost factor – when begin thinking about purchasing a tablet, you’ve got to weigh the cost of the tablet against the benefits of owning it. This is the same thing you really ought to be doing, in my humble opinion, whenever you decide you’re going to buy a bit of technology, or a car, or a house, or whatever other item you’re going to purchase for the benefits of owning it. On the other hand, if you’re thinking of purchasing a tablet so you can use it for entertainment alone, you’ve got an ever-so-slightly different set of circumstances you’re going to deal with – BUT, as I’ll maintain through the entirety of this text, comparing one tablet to the other based on specifications is, as Erica Sadun puts it, “missing the point.” You must go forth and buy the tablet you know, in your heart, if you will, will be the one you’ll love the best.

As it was announced the other day, iPad 2 is not only the same price as the first iPad was, it’s 33% thinner that the original. And it’s got a white front. And it’s a good shape for your hands. And it’s got a super cool new magnetic “Smart” cover. But the XOOM has a Silver edition. And it’s got access to the Android Marketplace. And its operating system has been developed specifically for tablets. But none of that matters to the average consumer when they’re comparing the two – because not only do they not compare the two, they’ve decided on a product almost instantly after they’ve seen the first advertisement for it.

Then there’s the now-depreciated Mac vs PC war. That war is over. Mac has taken one batch of people and PC has taken the other. The Android vs iOS (vs BlackBerry?) battle is still raging. This is a race toward the ultimate easy-to-use set of devices (not a single device) that work in an environment that works. The brand that will take the gold in people’s minds will be the one that integrates itself into our daily lives the best, does everything the average consumer wants it to the easiest, and has the best logo.

Because whether we like it or not, branding and brand power are very real forces in our technology world, just as real as they are in the political world, selling us the belief that we’ve got to believe in a person to lead us, or in the food and drink industry, selling us the belief that something man-made is better than bits of nature. Well-set type and a catchy jingle can make us hope for, want, and need a product – case in point, “video mirroring.” This is what Apple is saying is a brand new feature for iPad, one that it’s essentially revolutionary in that you can plug your device in to a bigger screen and have it display everything that’s going on on your smaller one. Sounds great! I’ve been waiting for such functionality for what seems like forever! But wait – can’t I already do that on every computer I’ve owned for the past 10+ years at least? Yes indeed. But set next to things like “AirPrint” for wireless sending of documents to super-sharp photo-quality ink spreaders and a handheld touchscreen computer that weighs only 1.33 pounds, it sounds fantastic!

Beyond that, there’s usability. Where we are today in devices between us and work is the ease in which we attain our goals. If I want a device that allows me to do the following things: play movies, read texts (books, work files, emails,) access webpages, display images, and maybe even make video phone calls, I’ll choose the device that seems to attain all of these goals in the neatest package. What’s important to me and the majority of consumers in our modern world is that I’m going to be able to do the things I want to do in the package that feels best. Feels best. That’s the sort of thing that’s beyond specs, beyond aesthetics, even beyond price.

There is a synergy in a device, that being a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts, that brands are attempting to attain because that power is what sells devices, brings in the profit, and allows them to stay in the business of creating the next best singularly successful device.

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Vignette Photo App Explains their “Deprecated” Status in Android Market, Options for Updates

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 07:42 PM PST

As you may have noticed when checking on updates on your favorite 3rd-party photography app in recent days (and weeks?), Vignette is now listed as “Vignette (deprecated).” There is a new version that’s listed as “Vignette (new version)” as well – what gives? As Vignette’s creators Neil and Theresa explain, they made some sort of error in the original 2009 listing of the now very popular Photography app that made it impossible to continue updating very recently. As they explored their options, they found their only option to be to create a new version and provide ways for purchasers of the original app with a sort of refund in order to purchase the new app without troubles.

If you purchased the Vignette app before February 24th, 2011, your app will no longer be able to receive updates from the Android Marketplace. Instead, you’ve got several options on how to grab updates if that’s the sort of thing you like in an app. Of course there’s always the option to do nothing at all if you’re completely satisfied with the app as it is right this moment. Of course we’re in an age where the only satisfying situation with software is to have it updated every few days – so we want options!

Your first option is to purchase the new version of the app from the Market and uninstall the original. If you do this, make sure you purchase the app in the same place (either the mobile or the browser-based Android Market) to ensure a quick refund. The developers of Vignette will get a notification of some sort when you purchase the new version and had purchased the old version previously, allowing them to send you your money back relatively quickly. NOTE: if you do not get a refund after an hour or so using this method, contact the crew at neilandtheresa@googlemail.com with both of your order numbers (these numbers available to you by logging into Google Checkout with the same account you purchased the apps with.)

Your second option, the one you’ll want to use if you don’t want to lose your saved settings, is to download an install updates from [this page]. The Vignette crew also implores you to follow @VignetteUpdates for any and all teeny tiny updates in the future.

This is the kind of attention to detail we love to see in developers relationships with their apps – well played, Vignette, much much much better than leaving your customers in the dark as so many evil devs do!

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Motorola XOOM at Costco [Photos] [Price, Contracts] [EXCLUSIVE]

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 05:25 PM PST

So were were hanging out at Costco today and what do we find? A stack of Motorola XOOM Android tablets sitting around unassumingly — or at least, their cardboard placeholder counterparts. Did they have prices already? Of course they did! For a brand new Motorola XOOM tablet on a 2-year contract on Verizon in the $50-$80 range per month, you can get the otherwise $789.99 tablet for only $589.99. That’s the cheapest.

If you want to grab the tablet with a 2-year agreement in the $20-$35 a month range, you’re looking at $639.99 total. Then of course if you’d like the no contract model, you’re going to be paying the original $789.99. Will they be running out of units anytime soon? Doesn’t look like it. Per the post we’ve got up from just a few hours ago with a photo from Sam’s Club, you’ll be looking at a $539 price for the unit – but there we’ve got no details on the cost per month from the carrier. Is it too much to hope for a completely non-contract sub-$600 XOOM?

On the other hand, are we asking the wrong question? We’ve been considering the fact that trends have been pointing toward a completely price-independent system where a device can cost $600 out of the gate and be essentially free (on contract) only a few months later. Will the same be true of the XOOM? We’re thinking that in order to compete with the other Android tablets, all Motorola really had to do was what they’ve already done, declare that Google chose them to release the optimized Honeycomb product/OS combination. What about the iPad? More on that in another article.

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Farebot to read data from your Metro Card with NFC-capable Android Phone

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 03:07 PM PST

Back when Google announced the Nexus S and its NFC capabilities many idea’s came to mind. The amount of possibilities this technology can open is huge. A developer by the name of Eric Butler soon realized he could develop something easily that could read and hack public transit fare systems. Sounds illegal i know. This is just one of many many possibilities that Near Field Communications can provide.

When Google released the Gingerbread SDK with new NFC features, such as the Nexus S being able to read AND write NFC tags Butler decided it was time to look into things a little more. He picked up a Nexus S and really started testing the waters. He now has wrote an app that will read your public transit cards data. Pretty neat huh, Eric has now decided to release his project under the name Farebot. It can read and then display things like Balance, and travel history from Seattle’s ORCA Transit cards. It is said to also work with San Fransisco’s Clipper card.

Eric also has made this app completely open source so other developers will increase it’s usability and add other locations, cities, and other public transit systems like the NYC Metro System. If you are a dev get the source code here. Lets see what the amazing dev community can do with this.

[via Dangerous Prototypes]

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Motorola Xoom Wifi Only $539 at Sams Club Coming Soon

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 02:27 PM PST

By now I’m sure you have all read tons and tons about the Xoom by now, and if you haven’t you should at least check out our Motorola Xoom Unboxing. I have some great news for you. We have just got word from our friends over at Droid Life about the Wifi-Only Xoom and that it very well may launch at the low low price of $539 at Sam’s Club. This would be great news, and just in time with Apple’s recent iPad 2 announcement and pricing that I’m sure many of you saw.

Considering we recently heard that the Wifi model would be released at a $599 price point, hearing that it could very well be selling for lower is very exciting. I know I and many others will probably jump on that price. I expect others like Best Buy, and Costco to possibly have similar prices if this turns out true.

This news comes out after Sam’s Club had their annual Year’s Beginning Meeting, it was then followed with in-store pictures of boxes and prices tags. With them already setting up end isle displays, and price signs the release can’t be far off. Maybe they know something we dont, either way I hope it comes sooner than later.

For all the Xoom info you can handle. Feel free to follow the links below for more information.
Motorola Xoom vs iPad 2
Xoom Rooted Already
And don’t forget to read our In-Depth Xoom and Honeycomb Review

[via Droid Life]

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MIUI Developers For Android about to Drop Gingerbread ROM

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 01:58 PM PST

MIUI is a very sleek, smooth, and clean user interface and ROM for Android. You have probably heard of them, or seen video’s of their UI. Just like CyanogenMod, and MoDaCo, they build Rom’s and have a pretty large following. They are lovers of Android that have developed a completely unique spin on Android and it’s UI. Hold on though, Get ready for whats next!

At first some thought it was too iOS/TouchWiz but now that they have fine tuned the UI it has became the best of all worlds. It’s a little stock Android, with some iOS, TouchWiz, and Sense UI all tied into one beautiful user interface. With them also releasing English language packs they are quickly becoming very popular in the Android community.

The MIUI team yesterday released the above image on their forums and that is all they gave us, just a little tease. Mentioning that we should all stay tuned because something exciting would be coming soon to that spot. I have a feeling it will be any day now. For you readers that may not know a lot about MIUI, here’s a little info and a few video’s for you to see what they are all about, and their stuff in action. MIUI Dev’s Overhaul Android, and MIUI Beta 5 Released. Stay tuned on AC for more information as it comes in.

[via MIUI]

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Paypal X Developer Challenge for Android offers $50,000 in Prizes

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 12:21 PM PST

It’s back again, the Paypal X Developer Challenge. This time it is targeting everyone’s favorite mobile operating system, Android. The Paypal Developer Challenge is an event where they hold a contest for developers to build the best app that integrates Paypal secure payments into the mix. They have clearly noticed the extreme growth of Android over the past year or two and see a huge area to capitalize on.

Lets talk about Cash Prizes, Paypal has put some money where their mouths are and will be throwing some large sums of money directly into the paypal account for the winners of this years dev challenge.

* Grand Prize is $25,000
* 2nd prize is $15,000
* And 3rd prize is $10,000

They mention a few requirements and that they are looking for something new, something surprising, something with business potential, something that integrates PayPal payments.
The winning application will need to make us say, "Wow!", and that “Cool!”, or “Awesome!” will also work. If you would like to read more from Paypal here is a little post from the Paypal Blog. Or if you need it here is also the Mobile Payments Development Library Kit.

Important Dates for the Challenge:

* May 14 – Deadline to submit your application for approval
* June 3rd – Deadline for making changes
* June 7th – Application live in an Android Marketplace
* June 29th – Winners announced

Good Luck Devs!

[via Paypal]

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The Google/Apple Wars of 2023 [Looking Back]

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 11:46 AM PST

Looking back on all the Terminator movies, Day After Tomorrow type fims, and Wars, We bring you the Google/Apple Wars of 2023. Also know as the Cult of Jobs vs The Droid Army. The clever guys over at Malarkey Films have brought us this post war video clip where survivors of the Wars from 2023 look back at the tale of events leading up to it, and their experiences as things played out. Thanks to Scott over at Android Guys for the tip.

Whether it’s talking about the Jobsians killing the sun, or the fact that Microsoft is buried away somewhere underground. This video is sure to make you wonder about what is in store for us as we all watch the Google/Apple Wars unfold in the coming years.

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