Android Community |
- Gameloft Allows Re-Download of Purchased Games
- AT&T 3rd Party App Installation Activation Official
- KDDI INFOBAR A01 Presents Impressive Android Interpretation
- Gingerbread Promised for Galaxy Devices by End of May
- Entire Vodafone New Zealand XPERIA Play stock stolen
- Verizon XPERIA Play arrives May 19 with seven game bundle
- Acers Iconia Tab A100 misses May 14 launch, now delayed until 2H 2011
- Motorola Droid X2 lands on Motorola and Verizon sites, specs confirmed
- T-Mobile offers Android users and others free WiFi calling
- Android Community 101: Amazon Appstore
- Amazon Coyote and Hollywood Tablets on the Docket
- HTC Flyer Review
- HTC Puccini 10-inch Android Tablet Leaked
- Samsung Delays May 24th Event – Galaxy Tab 10.1 Issues?
- Verizon Rolls Out 4G LTE in New Cities This Week
- Pandigital 7-inch Planet Tablet Sees FCC
- HTC Lead Dual-Core AT&T Phone Specs
- Gingerbread Test Build for ThunderBolt Leaked
- DROID Charge Released with Slew of Ads
| Gameloft Allows Re-Download of Purchased Games Posted: 17 May 2011 11:01 AM PDT Good news! Gameloft has modified their DRM policy to allow you to re-download purchased games when you get a new Android device. Previously, you would need to go through customer service to accomplish this feat. No more.
Gameloft has been making other changes lately as well, like finally launching their games on Android Market. The DRM policy change will make having all your games on all your devices much easier. Previously you would need to either back up all your games on your SD card and then transfer them over, or you could deal with customer service to get the job done. Now, you can just go to the Gameloft site and re-download the games you already purchased onto your new Android device. This is a very nice change, and a very welcome change. It will undoubtedly save Gameloft customers some serious time. Try it out and let us know how it goes. The change has been confirmed by Gameloft staff, so hopefully there will be no problems. If there are, check with customer service. Note: Any old .apk files you saved as back-up of Gameloft games will no longer work. [via Droid Gamers] )
|
| AT&T 3rd Party App Installation Activation Official Posted: 17 May 2011 10:55 AM PDT It appears that AT&T have listened to the millions and billions of cries from the republic to take the hold off the option to sideload apps. Up until now, AT&T phones running Android were not allowed the same option that other carriers kept available, that being the ability to install applications from sources other than the Android Market. All that changed, it seems, when the Infuse 4G was released into the wild less than a month ago. It’s been confirmed here by a mail that’s being sent out to AT&T developers saying that this change will be standard through the future.
Joy unto the mountains! Now I can load Gameloft games and whatnot! Having an Android phone that disallowed sideloading apps was like owning a car that only allowed you to put one kind of gas into it. Sure it worked ok, but what if I want premium gas? AT&T turning the switch back to optional is like a renewed ability to do anything to their devices, including pouring super tasty sugar into the tank. And what about that Infuse 4G? It was and is a big deal that the Samsung Infuse 4G allows the 3rd-party installation of apps because it’s the first AT&T phone to do so. It’s also a big fat amazing fantastically bright display-having Samsung phone having the largest Super AMOLED Plus display in the world, so loading up some non-market games is certainly a perk for those wanting utterly excellent bigtime winners via the Amazon App Store, for example. Freedom forever! [Thanks Frank!] )
|
| KDDI INFOBAR A01 Presents Impressive Android Interpretation Posted: 17 May 2011 10:07 AM PDT Behold an excellent vision for the very capable Android 2.3 Gingerbread Google mobile OS. This is a vision as constructed by Japanese industrial designer / user interface specialist Naoto Fukasawa who takes the very popular INFOBAR design from KDDI and upgrades it to face off against the iPhone. While you may say “wait, why would he make this phone’s UI look like Windows Phone 7 to compete with iPhone”, you’ve got to appreciate the excellence of the layout.
It’s a big block-oriented interface and it’s right up in your face. What do you think of having what appears to be a screen completely full of widgets? What does it feel like to have TouchWiz 4.0 hit you with no borders? That’s what’s going on right here and it’s certain to inspire some USA XDA ports if it ever ends up being real. Can’t wait to use it! Meanwhile I’ve got a question for you Android Community members – how interested are you in Japanese import phones? Imagine a world where changing the radio (and therefor the carrier capabilities) of a phone was as easy as flipping in and out your SIM card. Japan (and China, and Korea, and etc) have a slew of excellent Android devices with no ties to Google’s approval process – what else are we missing out on? Behold a much more diverse market than the English-speaking West. Specs for the INFOBAR A01:
              A press release for INFOBAR A01 can be found below, translated terribly from its original Japanese: )
|
| Gingerbread Promised for Galaxy Devices by End of May Posted: 17 May 2011 09:49 AM PDT Samsung’s sent out an update for all you owners of basically every Galaxy device under the sun promising no less than Android 2.3 Gingerbread before the end of this month. The update comes officially at the end of yesterday, those of you living in the UK and other Nordic countries having the best luck will be seeing this update first. From there, starting in mid-May (now,) the rest of the world will see such lovely treats: Euro markets, North America, Southeast Asia, Middle East Asia, Africa, and the rest. This update will be rolling out via Kies. This release solidifies months of whispers of similar such reports on the same cookie.
This update to Gingerbread will be coming specifically to the following devices: Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Gio, Galaxy Fit, and Galaxy Mini. Cookies for all! If you’ve got this update already, be sure to let us know what region you’re in so we can report the spread as accurately as possible. Of course you’re fully encouraged to cry and weep as you wait as well, comments galore. Amongst the things this upgrade is said to bring to all of you who haven’t had Gingerbread for months now via ClockworkMod are Faster Performance and Upgraded Usability. For a taste of what you’ll be seeing, head over to our Nexus S 4G review – a Samsung device with a super sensual dose of Gingerbread that can’t be beat. )
|
| Entire Vodafone New Zealand XPERIA Play stock stolen Posted: 17 May 2011 07:33 AM PDT
The carrier shared a (tiny) photo of what looks to be a store with a boarded-up window, though it’s unclear if this single retail location actually had all of the Vodafone stock on-site. The handset is yet to be listed on the carrier’s site. Vodafone hasn’t said exactly when would-be mobile gamers can expect more stock to arrive. Conspiracy theories already abound, however, with some Facebook commenters going so far as to suggest that the carrier has staged a fake robbery to cover up a more mundane delay of the XPERIA Play. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!] )
|
| Verizon XPERIA Play arrives May 19 with seven game bundle Posted: 17 May 2011 06:48 AM PDT Verizon Wireless has confirmed launch details for the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, which will drop on May 19. Priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement, the Android smartphone will be pre-loaded with seven bundled games. They will consist of Madden NFL 11 (EA Sports), Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior (Digital Legends), Asphalt 6: Adrenaline (Gameloft), The Sims 3 (EA), Star Battalion (Gameloft), Crash Bandicoot (Sony Playstation) and Tetris. There’ll be a further fifty titles available in the V CAST Apps store for download. Online availability will kick off on May 19, while the Play will arrive in Verizon stores on May 26. More information on the smartphone in our full review. Press Release: )
|
| Acers Iconia Tab A100 misses May 14 launch, now delayed until 2H 2011 Posted: 17 May 2011 04:57 AM PDT Earlier this month we were tipped that the Acer Iconia Tab A100 tablet would be launching on May 14. The tablet sounds pretty good to use and we have been looking forward to it. Sadly, the tablet has now been postponed with the 14th coming and going with no A100 launch. The table has been postponed and it will be later in 2011 before it comes to stores and you can buy it. The tablet now has a 2H 2011 expected launch date.
Acer UK has confirmed to sister site SlashGear that the A100 will still be coming in the 2H window, some reports had said that the tablet was cancelled. If you haven’t been following the A100 tablet the machine has a UK price of £299 and packs in some nice features. Those features include Android 3.0 Honeycomb and a Tegra 250 processor inside with dual-cores operating at 1GHz. It will also have 8GB of storage. The screen on the tablet is a 7-inch unit with 1024 x 600 resolution. There is now word on the exact reason for the delay. I wonder if Acer decided to wait for a better processor? [via SlashGear] )
|
| Motorola Droid X2 lands on Motorola and Verizon sites, specs confirmed Posted: 17 May 2011 03:54 AM PDT Last week we talked a bit about the Motorola Droid X2 when we learned that the smartphone was set to land on May 26. That day will be here before we know it and today the specs of the X2 have again been confirmed via support pages for the X2 on the Motorola website. I guess at this point the smartphone is not exactly a big secret any longer, especially with Motorola offering the full user guide in PDF form. This is your chance to learn all about the smartphone ahead of its expected launch next week.
Other than the PDF user guide on the Motorola website, the Droid X2 has been spied along side some accessories on Verizon’s site as well. The specs of the smartphone will include a big 4.3-inch display, and it will have a 1GHz dual core processor as well. That big screen is the qHD resolution offering we expected. The smartphone also has a micro USB port on the side along with a HDMI port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The smartphone has WiFi and Bluetooth naturally along with GPS. It’s nice to see the Droid X2 getting ready for the big time. One of the only things left to learn at this point is what the phone will cost. Other specs that have surfaced since the phone was unveiled include an 8MP rear camera with 720p video recording, 8GB microSD card for storage, and Android 2.3 for the operating system. The price is not known at this time, but I would think it would be the typical $199.99 or very close. [via Engadget] )
|
| T-Mobile offers Android users and others free WiFi calling Posted: 17 May 2011 03:18 AM PDT If you are a T-Mobile user who has an Android smartphone and like to use WiFi calling some good news has surfaced today. T-Mobile has finally offered users of Android smartphones, and other devices free WiFi calling. It’s really about time since WiFi calls should have never counted against your minutes since the calls were going through your WiFi bandwidth at home or in the office. T-Mobile has now fixed that issue for users.
Gigaom received an email from a T-Mobile rep who said as of now all T-Mobile users can add free WiFi calling to their rate plan and calls placed using WiFi will no longer count towards the number of minutes they are allotted for the month. The new offer is good for all customers on Even More and Even More Plus postpaid plans with WiFi calling capable handsets. Apparently, the Android devices need to have the Smart Wi-Fi app pre-installed and configured for T-Mobile. With competition increasing and the number of alternatives to T-Mobile available that don’t charge for WiFi calling, it’s a good thing that TMo is finally getting with the times. The free WiFi calls are apparently only for USA customers who have phones with UMA support. Gigaom reports that so far, T-Mobile hasn’t issued the official press release on the new offer, but that should come soon I would imagine. [via Gigaom] )
|
| Android Community 101: Amazon Appstore Posted: 16 May 2011 06:29 PM PDT So you got yourself a brand new Android device and it’s time to take it for a spin. You’ve got a couple of apps pre-loaded but you want to see what everyone else is messing around with. You want some bird-related games, some scanners of codes, some live cameras watchers and whatnot – where do you go? You might go to the Android Market if it’s loaded on your device, Google’s official store for apps, or you might consider going to Amazon, that online sales giant that you’ve grown to trust after purchasing 10 billion CDs in the early 2000′s – they’ve got an App Store too? Yes they DO have an app store – want to know more? [Amazon Appstore] Android Community 101 the re rescue!
The BasicsThe way you get the Amazon Appstore on your phone is to submit your email address or phone number to Amazon via their browser-based representation of the app store. They’ve got a list of carriers that work with the download, noting that normal data fees apply (as you’ll be downloading data, of course.) You’ll be receiving a message via email or text with a URL directing you to a download of the store directly to your Android device. More than likely you’ll need to go into your Settings on the device, clicking Applications then checking the box next to “Unknown Sources” so that you can install the Amazon Appstore (and consequential apps downloaded from the store.) Once you’ve got the Amazon Appstore downloaded and installed, you’ll be able to open the store like you would any other app, accessing then Amazon’s collection of apps to download. To download an app from this Appstore, you’ll be using your Amazon account. You will have to sign up for an Amazon account to purchase apps from the Amazon Appstore. Once you’re signed up and are prepared to purchase an app, you’ve just to approve of any purchases you make and the apps you purchase will be downloaded to your Android device. They’ll be downloaded in a manner that’s slightly different from an app download from the Android Market in that you’ll have to, again, have “Unknown Sources” check in order to install. Why Would I Want to Use Amazon’s Appstore?Amazon is in a rare position where they’ve got brand leverage as well as developer backing, enough to present a real threat to Google’s Android Market for business. The following reasons are amongst those leading people toward the Amazon Appstore, away from the Android Market: 1. Trust : there’s both loyalty and brand trust going on here – while there’s still a general distrust of Google’s Android Market for one reason or another, Amazon is a worldwide proven winner when it comes to online sales of products of all shapes and sizes. People already have Amazon accounts and they trust the name. 2. Exclusive Releases : The best example of an exclusive release on Amazon’s Appstore at the time this post is written is Rovio’s Angry Birds series. Their game Angry Birds RIO has been released on Amazon’s Appstore both initially and for its first big update several days before any other source, driving business to Amazon’s Appstore via them being a loss-leader. They certainly don’t lose much in giving the app away, but as the traffic goes toward Amazon and away from alternate stores (who at first do not have this exclusive app,) they win. 3. Door Opening : While to get the Android Market on a device a manufacturer wants to produce requires that Google approve both the hardware and the software on a device, Amazon has no such requirements. You can release a phone with Android without Google’s permission without the Android Market and to do whatever you like with the device, now with the Amazon Appstore you can also have a viable source for bigtime apps. App TestingAmazon Appstore offers a test-drive system via their Amazon EC2 system. With this system you’re allowed to test out apps without any obligation. This is different from the Android Market’s test system which only allows you to test apps after purchasing them, allowing you to return them if you’re not satisfied after a certain amount of minutes (this minute amount has changed several times.) Developer BenefitsDevelopers are either paid 70% of their sail price or 20% of the developer’s list price. If the app is offered by Amazon for free in their Free App a Dar feature, the developer is given 20% of their list price. Free App a DayAmazon’s Appstore has a free app a day, the first of which was Angry Birds RIO, a game that was then not available from any other app store for several days. Each day a new app is given away for free – more often than not this app is a game. This [Free App a Day] promotion is still active when this post is written.
|
| Amazon Coyote and Hollywood Tablets on the Docket Posted: 16 May 2011 04:06 PM PDT Word is that Amazon is prepping not one, but two new tablets to be released inside 2011. The first is a dual-core tablet by the name of “Coyote” and the second is a quad-core tablet by the name of “Hollywood.” This information comes via tipster to Boy Genius Report, and besides the basics, (names and processor possibilities,) not a whole lot more is known. They’re probably going to be wild and crazy though, as without the need for the Android Market, Amazon will be able to do whatever they like to the Android system placed on their devices – that means no requirements for any pre-loaded apps, for example.
For the processors there’s going to be, if the sources is right, an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor for the entry-level tablet Cyote. For the bigger gun Hollywood there’ll be NVIDIA’s super processor, the king of 2011, NVIDIA T30 “KAL-EL”, quad-core and ready to take all prisoners. Five hundred percent performance increase? Sure, why not? Have a bit more information on that if you please back in our original post back from Mobile World Congress 2011. Just today there was a bit of an update on such a situation – confirmation for 2011 via NVIDIA themselves. And what of previous rumors? Last we heard of an Amazon Android tablet it was a “Family of Devices” – sound like the same idea? Will these Amazon tablets have anything on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab family? Sort of hard to believe given the awesome feedback on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, what a whopper! [via BGR] )
|
| Posted: 16 May 2011 03:56 PM PDT Our buddy Chris Davies has done a review of the HTC Flyer, that cute little 7-inch HTC handheld tablet, over on our sister site SlashGear. What you’re about to view is a bit of a re-write review based on what he’s told us about the device thus far. This is the first tablet we’ve seen from HTC since 2008, the last being a Windows device by the name of HTC Shift. So how is the Flyer? We got a tiny glimpse of this piece of candy back at Mobile World Congress 2011 and a much longer look at its USA cousin via Sprint at CTIA 2011 – that one was black, this one’s white, that one has the stylus sold separately while the Flyer has one that comes with. Will this Euro HTC superstar add up?
HardwareThe Flyer’s HTC pedigree is obvious, looking somewhat like an oversized Desire S with its unibody-style aluminum and white plastic insert-sections. It’s chassis measures 7.7 x 4.8 x 0.52 inches, a little longer and thicker than the original Samsung Galaxy Tab. Its also heavier because of the metal, but that makes this tab feel more sturdy than the Galaxy. The 7″ size makes it comfortable to hold in one hand, and the screen bezel is wide enough that we could hold the Flyer like a book without tapping the screen on accident. The only physical controls are the power/lock button on the top edge, with an integrated status light, and a volume rocker on the right edge. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top, and a microUSB port on the bottom. Going to the back, there is a 5-megapixel autofocus camera (no LED flash), and stereo speakers. Pulling off the lower plastic section reveals the SIM slot for the triband HSPA/WCDMA (and quadband GSM/EDGE) modem in our 3G review unit, and the microSD card slot. There is 32GB internal storage, though the WiFi-only Flyer has half that amount. The Flyer also has WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, an ambient light sensor, g-sensor and digital compass, as well as a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls. Unboxing and First ImpressionsHTC has opted for a single-core, Qualcomm’s MSM8255 1.5GHz chip in the Flyer, paired with 1GB of RAM. The Flyer can’t be used as a phone, and has 3G radio only for data connectivity. Similar to the Galaxy Tab, the Flyer’s screen is a 7 inch, 1024 x 700 capacitive touchscreen. The LCD panel is bright and clear with decent colors. The rotating buttons that we like so much on the Incredible 2 are missing, but there is a second set of touch-sensitive keys. If you hold the tablet in landscape orientation and you get backlit home, menu, back and "stylus" buttons underneath the short edge of the display; rotate it into landscape orientation and you get the same buttons underneath the long edge. Unfortunately, we sometimes wanted the alternate set of keys, so a choice would be nice. Ok, so the stylus. HTC offers a “Magic Pen” with the tab for text entry, annotation and sketching. Using N-Trig's active digitizer technology, that allows for far greater accuracy (as well as pressure sensitivity) when writing on the screen. The tab also automatically shuts off the regular, multitouch capacitive touch panel when the pen's nib is near, so that you can rest your palm on the display without accidentally triggering anything. In Europe, the Magic Pen will be bundled with the Flyer; in the US, it will be a roughly $80 accessory. Since we are all so used to, and love, our touchscreens, the thought of a stylus seems like going backward. But wait. HTC has done a good job of adding digital pen functionality to Android, and the Flyer’s pen glides smoothly across the Gorilla Glass on the display. We’ll go into more stylus details in the software section. There is no physical place to put the stylus, however, unless you use the leather slip case with magnetic flap with a loop on the back for it. This is bundled in the UK edition, but you can bet we’ll have to pay for it here in the US. We weren’t crazy about the white finish – although matching the Flyer's color scheme – it seems to invite scuffs and blemishes; and leaving the pen on the outside and unprotected feels risky. The case also adds bulk, so it can be a pain if you want to fit the tab in your pocket. I would lose the stylus, there is no question about it. Software and PerformanceHTC has opted for Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the latest version intended for smartphones. They've added HTC Sense with some significant modifications to the familiar UI to take into consideration the tablet form factor. Unlike HTC phones, the Android homescreen now works in both portrait and landscape orientation. Both get a carousel-style interface, with endless rotation; flick the homescreen fast, and the perspective pulls back to show the eight panes spinning. A pinch-zoom gesture shows all eight thumbnailed. It's slick and swift, the 1.5GHz processor showing its grunt. Pull down the notification bar and there are shortcuts to the last ten apps used as well as settings shortcuts and alerts; in portrait orientation the latter are on different tabs, while in landscape they're all visible at once. Along the bottom of the display there's the app menu button, then shortcuts for HTC's new Notes app, HTC Reader and HTC Watch, which we'll cover separately later. The usual Customize button is also included, which allows you to change the wallpaper, add icons, shortcuts and widgets – both the standard Google fare and HTC's own – and, for the first time, tweak the lock-screen. That, as we saw on the HTC Sensation, can now show the weather along with four app shortcuts – user assignable, of course. To unlock the Flyer normally, you drag up the large ring at the bottom of the screen; to instantly unlock and load an app, you drag that icon down to the ring. It works well, though we did spot some glitchiness in the animation before the apps loaded. The usual HTC array of software is preloaded, so you get FriendStream with Facebook and Twitter feeds, the Media Control app for handling DLNA streaming, and the heavily-animated Weather app complete with homescreen widget. There's also Amazon's MP3 store app, HTC Hub for wallpaper, ringtone and other downloads, HTC Likes with suggestions, Locations, the Teeter game, a Task Manager app and WiFi Hotspot, for sharing the 3G connection with up to eight WiFi-tethered clients. Some of the standard Android software comes into its own on the Flyer. The Car Panel, which offers chunky, finger-friendly shortcuts to navigation and multimedia for use while driving is particularly suited to the tablet's 7-inch display. HTC also throws in Dock Mode, which shows weather, recent FriendStream activity and some app shortcuts (plus has a backlight dim button so that you can use the Flyer as a bedside clock). It can be set to automatically load when you drop the slate in the (optional) dock – which we didn't have to review – as well as optionally turn on WiFi Hotspot sharing as well. In addition to the standard camera and camcorder apps, there's Snapbooth, a somewhat gimmicky app that uses the front-facing camera to take vanity shots that can be mangled with various special effects. It's good for a few minutes fun, at least. HTC's online Sense suite also gets an outing, offering remote access, tracking and locking of the Flyer. Unfortunately, you can only have a Sense account active on one HTC device at a time – signing in on the Flyer prompted us to unlike the account from the HTC phone it was currently being used with. Considering the Flyer lacks phone functionality on its own, that means the HTC-faithful will have to pick whether they want to use their Sense account with the tablet or their smartphone, rather than having it on both. HTC Flyer Highlights Most of the time, HTC Sense means that the absence of Honeycomb isn't felt. But that's not always the case. Like Samsung did on the Galaxy Tab, HTC has reworked its Mail and Calendar apps to suit the greater screen real-estate on offer, with a two-column email view when the Flyer is held in landscape orientation, and various day, week, month and year views in the calendar. Both support multiple accounts and are far more usable than their phone cousins. The gallery, too, uses the same two-column layout, with albums on the left and previews – with sharing buttons – on the right. Similarly, the browser has a tab preview bar along the top, showing live thumbnails of all your open pages. Unfortunately, you don't get Google's own tablet-version of Gmail, instead you have the regular smartphone app. That's fine on a phone, but is stretched and wasteful with space on the Flyer's 1024 x 600 panel. Similarly Google Talk is the basic phone version. 7-inch displays are often ideally-scaled to type on with both thumbs, and the Flyer is no different. HTC's custom keyboard doesn't stretch to a dedicated number row, but does have navigation keys, sensible auto-predictions like @ and .com in email text boxes, and simple access to Android's voice recognition. The auto-suggestions are also accurate, with prompted words popping up with no lag or delay. Performance overall was mixed, depending on quite how much we stressed the Flyer with multiple-running apps. In Quadrant Standard, the tablet scored 1817, while in Quadrant Advanced it managed 2166. Linpack Pro came in at 55.009 MFLOPS. That is similar to what we've seen from Tegra 2 based Honeycomb tablets. Magic PenSay stylus and most people immediately think of the fiddly toothpick that came with Windows Mobile phones, or the old Palm Pilots. The Flyer has more in common with Windows tablets, though again, don't let that put you off. Basically, rather than a resistive touchscreen that simply responds to pressure, or a capacitive stylus that pretends to be a blunt fingertip so that the screens used by the iPad, XOOM and other recent slates are tricked into recognizing them, the Flyer uses a special battery powered "Magic Pen" that communicates with a second layer sandwiched with the regular, finger-friendly touchscreen. That second layer knows not only where the pen nib is, but also how hard you're pressing: that way, lines on-screen are thin when you press lightly, or thick when you press harder. The pen matches the Flyer's brushed aluminum, and has a pair of buttons on its side. One puts the stylus into highlighter mode, the other text selection. It runs on an AAAA battery – HTC reckons you should get a few months use out of it. Places where the pen can be used are flagged up by the stylus button turning green; tap that, and a radial menu of pens, tools and colors pops up in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. In most places, the pen is used to grab screenshots or "Scribbles", triggered by tapping the pen once on the display. The resulting image can be doodled on and annotated and then instantly shared – using the normal Android options – or pasted into a new Notes document (more on that later). It all works, but it's not perfect. While the Flyer uses a similar active digitizer to what you'd find in a Windows 7 tablet PC, it doesn't feel as accurate. That usually means making your handwriting slightly larger, which is frustrating on a 7-inch display. Meanwhile, although HTC claim a couple hundred levels of pressure sensitivity, there's little visible difference between the two extremes. There's also no handwriting recognition, and you can't handwrite emails or jot into text-entry boxes. There is some confusion between finger-touch and pen-touch, however. There are times when you want to use the stylus, and you can’t. So there is a lot of flipping back and forth between finger and stylus, and taking screen shots when you wanted to open a menu. HTC NotesNotes is where the Flyer's Magic Pen comes into its own, and is arguably the center-point of the whole tablet. As we said, HTC took it on itself to add active stylus support to Android, and Notes is where that energy pays off. On the face of it, it looks like any other memo app: a place for a title then room for notes. However, on the Flyer those notes can either be thumbed in using the on-screen keyboard, or written in using the Magic Pen. The same radial menu of pen types, colors and other tools – offering highlighters, pencils, felt-tips and more – pops up, and you can sketch or scribble away to your heart's content. There's also audio recording, which is indexed according to your note-taking. As you scribble, the Flyer automatically creates bookmarks through the recording that match text with audio: you can either see a thumbnail of the relevant note as the audio plays back, or skip to the relevant section of the audio by tapping on the note. It works, but it lacks granularity: a Livescribe pen, for instance, goes directly to the point of the audio recording, while the Flyer is a little less aggressive with its timestamping. Finally, there's a shortcut to the camera so that you can shoot an image, have it instantly pasted into a new note, and then annotate it as you see fit. HTC has also partnered with Evernote, which is a huge plus. You can synchronize your notes between all your devices using the service. HTC ReaderYou can of course load your favorite eReader app from the Android Market. HTC,also includes its Reader app, offering a variety of titles – both free public domain ebooks and newer, paid ones – for download direct to the slate. In Reader, you also get the opportunity to use the Magic Pen, you can annotate and sketch either keeping neatly to the margins or scrawling all over the place, as well as highlighting passages. Reader automatically slots in a bookmark on any page you write on, so you can find your notes later. HTC WatchHTC Watch is the company’s attempt to make money from the multimedia uses of the tablet. Basically a movie and TV episode store, it offers both rentals and purchases – depending on title – with prices ranging from £7.99 to £9.99 to buy 720p movies in the UK or £2.49 to £3.49 to rent them. TV episodes come in at £1.49. Previews can be streamed over 3G or WiFi connections – there's about 5-10 seconds of buffering before they play – but purchases can only be downloaded over WiFi. You can only watch your purchases on an HTC device, though, there is no way to transfer it elsewhere. It will be interesting to see what happens with this in the US. OnLiveStreaming gaming service OnLive is currently only available in the US, and since this was a UK Flyer, we couldn’t test it. When the US version of the tablet goes on sale, it will offer the chance to play full games – the sort you'd normally need a beefy PC or a proper console – on your slate while on the move. We'll revisit OnLive on the Flyer when the service is operational. Camera and MultimediaThe Flyer's main camera claims to be 5-megapixels, but some of them seem to be missing. Camera performance is plain disappointing, falling well short of what HTC's current crop of 5-megapixel smartphones can manage. Stills are fuzzy, lack definition and have uninspiring, muted colors, while video is somehow even worse. HTC claims the Flyer is shooting 720p HD, but as you can see in our sample clip below it hardly looks that way. The upside is that close-ups of text – such as grabbing a snapshot of a magazine article – come out reasonably well; that's handy when you then import that shot into Notes, and sync it over to Evernote for OCR. Media playback is another mixed bag. HTC says the Flyer will work with AAC, AMR, OGG, M4A, MID, MP3, WAV and WMA audio files along with 3GP, 3G2, MP3, WMV, AVI and Xvid video files, up to 720p, and indeed we had no problems with those. Trying more ambitious files, however, and the Flyer's processor began to struggle. The stereo speakers lack voice, sounding insipid and reedy; better to plug in headphones or use an A2DP pair. The Flyer lacks a dedicated HDMI output. However, like the Samsung Galaxy S II, its USB port apparently supports MHL. We were unable to test this, however. BatteryThe Flyer's 4,000 mAh battery is non-user-replaceable, and HTC says users should see up to four hours of video playback or between 820 and 1470 hours of standby. In practice, we found that with a mixture of push email turned on, various social network apps updating, and a fair amount of GPS mapping, browsing, music and video playback and some camera use, the Flyer made it comfortably through to the end of the day. With lighter, more sporadic use – as is perhaps common for tablets – we would probably see it run for a couple of days on a single charge. There are some sensible power management options, including the ability to turn off email checks overnight when you're unlikely to need the very latest messages. Wrap-UpThe Flyer has this going for it: It does not try to be an iPad clone. The Magic Pen could use some improvements, but it is a useful tool, and using it for notes is very handy. Pairing the notes function with Evernote is also a great idea. HTC has opened the API of the Pen to third-party developers, so we hope to see more functionality coming from that front. HTC needs to be clear that dual finger and pen interfaces are integral into its vision of tablets. The UK prices are £599.99 for the 32GB version, while the 16GB WiFi-only model comes in at £479.99 – users will want to know that HTC is sticking with the stylus concept. The Flyer has a lot of potential, and is a quality piece of equipment. It’s worth giving a try if you want something different in a tablet, with added functionality that comes with the Magic Pen. We’re anxiously awaiting our chance to take a peek at the US version soon – pens ahoy!                )
|
| HTC Puccini 10-inch Android Tablet Leaked Posted: 16 May 2011 02:45 PM PDT Behold the HTC version of the 10 inch surfboard – I mean tablet. Everyone’s gotta have a 10-inch Android tablet to compete these days, and HTC is no exception. After sending their HTC Flyer 7-inch tablet to our main man in Euro Chris Davies, they’ve got quite the followup coming up soon in a 10-inch iteration. That is to say if you’re interested in an Android 3.0.1 tablet in the future where Android 3.1 is already released. Oh Honeycomb, whyfor art thou playing on us the same Gingerbread tricks?!
This device is, again, known as the HTC Puccini (for now, anyway,) and is said to be capable of working on an LTE network with Cingular USA. Last we heard of this device it was showing up with AT&T attached to it and was already at that point ready for LTE. This device is also said to support the Scribe Pen as already working on the smaller Flyer tablet. It’s also got what may very well be a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8660 dual core processor and a WXGA resolution (800*1280) display. Could this be the extra super big EVO we’ve all been waiting for, or is this just another block in the tablet tower? Given the stampedes at CTIA and Mobile World Congress just to see a few tiny HTC items, we’re thinking a Pucciniing we shall go. And what does Puccini mean? Giacomo Puccini was a famous Italian compositor of operas such as Madama Butterfly and La Boheme – a tablet for all of your most excellent creating to be done! [via 911 Sniper] )
|
| Samsung Delays May 24th Event – Galaxy Tab 10.1 Issues? Posted: 16 May 2011 01:52 PM PDT It seems that Samsung has delayed their next event until a later date. This event which should have been taking place May 24th will now be taking place at an unspecified date which will be announced sometime later. This event postponing leads us to believe that the event is indeed the original launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, now only in the hands of the 5,000 attendees of Google I/O in a limited edition release. The horror of it all, what shall we ever do in the meantime? How about some review reviewing?
This announcement comes this afternoon to publishers across the internet causing many of them to say “SHOOT good thing I didn’t get a hotel yet.” Luckily for you, we’re still going to be going, rain or shine, no matter when the actual date ends up being. Meanwhile we’ve got the lovely Google I/O Limited Edition version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to keep us warm.
You can stay warm with us in our big fat review that everyone seems to love and noone can get enough of. Head back and bask in the warming glowing warming glow of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Google I/O edition and cherish these moments as they are truly rare.      )
|
| Verizon Rolls Out 4G LTE in New Cities This Week Posted: 16 May 2011 01:15 PM PDT Verizon’s 4G LTE coverage, the fastest 4G in the west, is coming to several new cities this week. Verizon made the announcement as a series of Twitter messages. The cities include Pensacola, FL; Mobile, AL; Denver, CO; Montgomery, AL; Gainesville, FL; Tallahassee, FL; Philadelphia, PA and more. The coverage officially begins on Thursday, May 19th.
The covered cities may be seeing occasional 4G LTE coverage now, but probably not a steady signal until Thursday. With the DROID Charge just released on Saturday, Verizon now has two 4G phones in its lineup. Back on April 27th, Verizon’s 4G LTE Network went down nationwide just a day before the Charge was to be released, and the Charge release was delayed for over two weeks. There is no question that Verizon’s brand of 4G is the fastest, and our own Chris “Burnsy” Burns was impressed with the 4G performance when he did a review of the DROID Charge. Press release:
Droid Charge unboxing video:
|
| Pandigital 7-inch Planet Tablet Sees FCC Posted: 16 May 2011 12:23 PM PDT Behold another eReader with access to Barnes and Noble Bookstore’s online store full of ebooks. This isn’t the first eBook reader that Pandigital has put out in their manufacturing history, and it’s certainly not the last, but it IS certainly the most recent, and Android IS present upon it. Earlier today we reported that NOOKcolor’s app downloads hit 1 million after only a week online – but that’s apps. Will this Pangitital device have access to the same NOOK Apps store? Given that it comes with “a host” of apps pre-installed, it might be possible.
On the other hand, it’d make a whole lot more sense for this device to be working with the Amazon App store, don’t you think? Having not seen an eReader with Android Market access yet (at least non-hacked-wise,) I’d bank on no market access or Amazon access. The device you’re looking at here is a 7-inch tablet with TFT LCD screen, Wifi access and access to Barnes and Noble for eBooks. The tablet features front and rear-facing camera, HDMI output and even a microphone. The “Planet” contains a slew of pre-installed apps including Facebook, Dictionary, Antivirus, and OfficeSuite Viewer. Wait, Antivirus? How can that be? I thought handheld devices couldn’t get viruses? Of course they can, young Jedi, they’ve just not seen any big attacks yet. In the very near future we’re going to have to be very attentive potential viral attacks on devices with Android, iOS, and the lot, and Android Community will be your go-to site for updates on such stuff. Stay safe and stay Android!      [via WirelessGoodness] )
|
| HTC Lead Dual-Core AT&T Phone Specs Posted: 16 May 2011 11:56 AM PDT It appears that there’s a new cowboy in down and its name is Lead. HTC Lead, that is, and it’ll be spurring your interest soon, probably inside 2011 if they’re smart since NVIDIA’ll be changing the entire game again with their KAL-EL quad-core processor by the end of the year. This phone looks to be basically identical to every other HTC phone that’s been released this year save for the speaker grill above, which instead of being a long silvery thing is now a short black thing.
This device will be rolling out with a 4.3-inch display blasting through your eyeballs with WVGA, will be toting no less than Qualcomm’s MSM8660 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, and will be rocking with 768MB of RAM. Also check out that gigantic honking volume dongle there on the left. Lookin great for audio adjustment in 2011! On the back there’ll be a 5-megapixel camera, on the front there’ll be NO camera, and there’s no word on a released date, version of Android, or version of Sense. What could this be, then? A mid-range HTC phone with a dual-core processor? What else could it be with such a small camera, and only one of them at that!? Furthermore, who releases a phone at only WVGA in these days of Super AMOLED Plus colorblasters? This is quite the mystery wethinks and one to keep pondering until it turns to metal or it turns to fluff. Perhaps it’s the first Ice Cream Sandwich – would that be enough for you? NOTE: according to additional specs, this device some with BlueTooth 3.0, Wifi 802.11 b/g/n, and Android 2.3.4. Gingerbread it is!
[via PocketNow] )
|
| Gingerbread Test Build for ThunderBolt Leaked Posted: 16 May 2011 11:39 AM PDT A buggy test build of Android 2.3 Gingerbread appears to have been leaked from our favorite source for all things HTC oddity: 911HTC! They’ve got a big fat build by the name of Mecha GINGERBREAD S Verizon WWE 2.01.605.0_ Radio_0.01.69.0501r_ _NV_8K_1.41_ 9K_1.64_test_190987.zip – all that make sense to you? It doesn’t have to! All you need to know is that Gingerbread is more than likely on its way to Verizon’s HTC ThunderBolt, and by the looks of it, it’s coming soon!
Before we continue I’ve of course got to warn you that ROMs in test stages such as this are often beyond buggy to the point where should you use them you really ought to prepare yourself for something rather broken. Be sure to back up your current build if you plan on working with this one, and be sure to report back to say how it goes! As you know, this is your humble narrator’s poison of choice and has been for some months now, so it’s pretty near and dear to my pocket to see something like this come through. Will this build help the battery life? That’s the biggest question here, and one you can answer should you be daring enough to try it out. Head over to 911HTC Resources for the download and fire it up! Then head down to the ThunderBolt forum for all your fun and amazing chats. Notice there also a lovely new ROM from Teampokerface. It’s hot! [via 911HTC] )
|
| DROID Charge Released with Slew of Ads Posted: 16 May 2011 11:21 AM PDT Joyous day! Now that the DROID Charge is released officially, Verizon has released what’s now one of their biggest set of ad efforts to date. This massively well produced commercial features suspicious looking folks running around left and right, converging in an underground laboratory / testing arena where two ultimate powers: DROID and 4G LTE will be combined to create the ultimate mega-power. Upon converging to the two, the DROID Charge is revealed, an I Am Robot force to be reckoned with.
Blues and reds abound! Have a look at all the different versions of this single ad spot and marvel at how although each ad is the same, tiny changes make for a slightly different look for your eyeballs. You’ll want to watch it over and over again and, like the Scorcher film series, you’ll wish this was much more expanded. Purchase the DROID Charge now and find out how awesome the loading screen is too – seriously excellent. Also note that we’ve got a full review of the DROID Charge for you just sitting in wait for you to take a peek. DROID Charge Review your way all the way down to your local Verizon or Target store for this fat amazing Super AMOLED Plus Samsung device that you’ll not regret purchasing for even a second. Brilliant looks indeed!
|
Vodafone New Zealand has been forced to delay its launch of the 
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android Community 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