Friday, 4 February 2011

Android Community

Android Community

NOOKcolor Shipments Halted – Why?

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 11:35 AM PST

News has it that Barnes & Noble have stopped shipments of their successful NOOKcolor Android tablet ereader. This color reader has seen great coverage in the Android developer community because of its enticing hardware and locked nature. While Barnes & Noble have intended this device to be used strictly for reading, sharing, and purchasing books (and down the line apps for reading as well,) it’s been met with some fast moving code tricks and hacks that have allowed avid coders to break its system wide open. When open, this ereader becomes more of a fabulous looking, nicely sized, fully functional Android tablet. What’s all this got to do with shipments?

One of the possibilities here is that they’ve stopped shipments directly in the face of the fact that their locked-down system has been broken into so easily. Another, possibly more realistic reason is the one that’s been floating around, apparently straight from Barnes & Noble themselves:

"B&N's short-term solution to the problem is to move stock from one store to another to cover demand, with cooperation at the local level between stores."

What do you think? Is there some third option? Perhaps Barnes & Noble wants to boost sales of their non-color NOOK for some reason? They DO have a valentines promotion going on right now – suspicious!

– thanks for the tip, CCard!

BONUS let’s watch a video of Honeycomb on NOOKcolor, for fun:

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Motorola Superbowl Ad Not 1984, Instead… 1984

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 11:27 AM PST

Remember the advertisement we showed you a few days ago, the one that everyone was thinking was going to be the Superbowl ad for Motorola? It had a planet, some words floating toward the screen, black and white converting to color, and a joke about how 2011 wont be like 1984 – a direct calling out of Apple and its followers (aka Podlings, called thus because of their tendency to have those white iPod earbuds in their ears all day long.) Turns out now that either Motorola didn’t mean for that ad to leak, and has quickly made up another one, or that ad was just a pre-preview for the real ad, which they’re now just previewing here.

Take a look at the ad, see the similarities to the one from the other day. Still making fun of Apple, now showing the podlings with all their sameness walking around in a bus station. This is only a 15 second clip of the full commercial – will it be enough to turn the hoards of Apple fans back from their everloving iDevice lives? Or will Motorola’s XOOM tablet only work on those already outside the Apple circle?

Screen shot 2011-02-04 at 1.25.40 PM Screen shot 2011-02-04 at 1.25.31 PM Screen shot 2011-02-04 at 1.25.23 PM Screen shot 2011-02-04 at 1.25.17 PM

Check out both ads below, the newest one first, second is second, Apple’s original 1984 commercial is last.

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Samsung TV Remote App Now Available for all Android 2.1+ Devices

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 10:44 AM PST

We’ve got word that the fabulous Samsung TV Remote App that’s been in Samsung Apps for a while now on Galaxy S / Galaxy Tab is now available for all Android devices version 2.1 and higher. We’re having mixed results, however, and wonder if this announcement came just a bit too early. The App is indeed appearing in the Android Marketplace (where it was not appearing at all whatsoever in the past,) but does not appear on several of our non-Galaxy devices.

This app is one you can use by connecting through Wifi to your brand new TV that accepts such a connection. You’ll be able to use your remote app’s on-screen QWERTY keyboard, control settings, and run Samsung Apps on your TV. A four-way directional pad is another control you can use, and televisions included in this neat project are thus, as listed by Samsung: “including the LED C6500 series and higher, the LCD C650 series and higher, and the Plasma C6500 series and higher.  It will also support select 2011 smart TVs.”

The image above is what the app will look like to you in the Android Marketplace if you’re able to see it. Once you download it, or if you’re unable to see the app in the market, let us know below – we’re interested in which phones this app works with.

Samsung Continuum – Yes
LG Optimus U – No
Samsung Nexus S – No

snap20110204_122433 snap20110204_122153 )


DROID 2 Global and DROID X Cheap on Amazon

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 10:16 AM PST

Amazon, you are such an awesome sale machine. Today Amazon is offering up two majestic Motorola Android machines, one being the Verizon DROID 2 Global, the other being the DROID X. While the DROID X is only getting a slight drop in price since it was already only $30, chopped down now to $19.99, the DROID 2 Global has received the ultimate chop: one penny.

That’s $.01 that the DROID 2 Global now costs, not just one penny reduced. This is a great deal on either of these phones, and if you’re not the sort of person that needs a gigantic group of developers (hackers) behind you for odd computing, they’re more than likely going to be the big-faced Android touchscreen phones you’re going to love for a very long time. Check em out.

AND this deal includes both the DROID 2 Global Sapphire AND the DROID 2 Global White – everyone knows that this is the gold of the phone world. And DROID X is just black, as always.

[Via Unwired View]

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Android Market Web Store Backdoor Discovered by Naked Security

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 10:02 AM PST

If you’re familiar with the goings on with Google as of late, you know that Android has just received a significant bump with a fully functional browser-based store. Up until now, Android users had to rely on the tiny Android Marketplace based on their handheld devices – this new store allows apps to be downloaded simultaneously to each and every one of these devices (if the user has several) all at once, direct from the cloud. What’s the problem with this? Doesn’t this all seem like flowers and candy? How about if someone grabs your password?

That’s right, this security hole isn’t some intricate set of hacks flown in from Anonymous, it’s a simple password protection situation, one that us human beings must be as careful as possible about. The danger in this situation is if indeed someone does get the password to your Google account, they’ll be able to download applications to your devices from wherever they are in the world – since Google has these apps downloaded straight to your devices from the cloud, if someone has access to your Google account, they’ll be able to insert whatever apps they wish into your phone. Harsh reality.

What Vanja Svajcer suggests, and we agree, is that there should be at least one more step in this process, that being a simple “accept download yes or no” notification that pops up on the user’s device whenever an app is attempting to transfer from the cloud. Simple enough!

[Via Naked Security]

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HTC Desire 2 Appears in Vodafone System

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 09:49 AM PST

It appears, according to a source reporting to German Android website HTC Inside, a stocklist from Vodafone has just had a new phone by the name of Desire 2, aka HTC Desire 2, entered in. Does this point toward imminent release as well as an announcement in Barcelona? We’ve got a hunch.

Another possibility is that this phone will end up being the European version of what’s soon to be announced as the HTC Pyramid. This Pyramid phone is said to be HTC’s first dual-core Android smartphone, using a 1.2GHz Snapdragon MSM8260 processor running a heafty 4.3-inch qHD display. HTC Pyramid is also said to support HSPA+ browsing and will have a 960 x 540 on the display.

[Via HTC Inside]

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Android Community Wants Workers!

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 08:07 AM PST

Android Community is in search of a new writer (or two!) to join our team of dedicated Android news publishers. We’re in search of seasoned writers who are flexible, confident in both research and execution, and have a passion for the Android platform.

Writers hoping to join the Android Community news team must be able to craft articles out of sometimes massive, sometimes minuscule bits of information, converting this information into easy to comprehend paragraphs of text for publication. Both the ability to work under pressure and in a fast-paced environment are required. Android Community writers will occasionally be asked to work odd hours, review products, or travel about the country to conventions or press events – because of these things, a writer for Android Community must be able to communicate well on camera and in person.

The ability to work with and publish in WordPress is essential to this position. The applicant must have their own computer from which they can work on a daily basis.

Preferred qualifications that will gain an applicant early access to a writing position:
Knowledge of and the ability to develop for or hack Android devices.
Previous experience with a publication, print or digital.
Reliable contacts in Android related fields and/or the Android developer community.

We are currently in need of two part-time workers who would be able to work mid-day (USA time) approximately 3 to 4 hours, 3 times a week.

Being based in the SF or NYC areas is a plus but not essential. If you think you've got what it takes, email us at jobs@androidcommunity.com with your bio and CV for more information.

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Happy Chinese Android New Year!

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 07:14 AM PST

Android Community would like to wish everyone in the world a very happy new year, with special greetings from Cai Shen Dao, the Chinese god of wealth! Technically having switched over to the new year yesterday, today is what we consider the first full day of complete new years celebration. This is the year of the RABBIT! That means that while you should continue your quest for greater operating systems and functionality in your digital life, you should also remember to take it easy and have a super hoppy time.

Also we’ve got a bonus greeting from one of our official mascots, miss Santi the bunny, who has in fact a special greeting for all you Android developers out there.

Happy Chinese New Year from Android Community!

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Motorola CLIQ XT to stay on Android 1.5

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 05:29 AM PST

If you own an Motorola CLIQ XT and you have been counting the days until the much anticipated Android 2.1 update landed of the phone we have some really bad news for you. Prepare to have your Friday ruined. Motorola has announced on its official forums that the update isn’t coming.

According to a Motorola forums manager called Matt, the company has decided that the CLIQ XT will stay on Android 1.5. The official statement reads, “After comprehensive testing of the Android 2.1 upgrade for the CLIQ XT, we have concluded that this device will remain on Android 1.5. We realize many of you were anxiously awaiting this upgrade, but we aim to deliver software upgrades only when it will provide a better customer experience.”

The reason Motorola has only now come out and said the update isn’t coming was due to the need to coordinate with T-Mobile and call center agents to alert them of the decision. I would imagine there was a good bit of deciding what to do when angry owners started to call in and demand refunds.

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Call function for Dell Streak 7 dug up

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 04:28 AM PST

Those in the Android tablet market might be interested in the Dell Streak 7 tablet. The tablet is on T-Mobile for about $200 and is an interesting offering. I would bet that there are some users that would be more inclined to try the Streak 7 if the thing could do voice calls.

Apparently the Streak 7 can sort of do voice calls and the geeks at StreakSmart have made a video to prove it. Apparently, the phone app is hidden away (and with good reason according to the video). When you tap the bar below the keyboard you use the tablet, call log, favorites, and contacts icons will appear and you can input a phone number.

The obvious issue with the hidden function is that it really doesn’t work. Calls fail unexpectedly and you can't receive them like you should be able to either. It looks to me like this is just a standard Android feature that made it into the tablet and wasn't meant to be found.

Via StreakSmart

streak-1 streak-2 streak-3

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LG Optimus Pad confirmed for MWC 2011 with Honeycomb

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 04:26 AM PST

LG spilled the beans on the T-Mobile G-Slate earlier this month, and now its European counterpart is getting ready to make its own debut. A Korean press release has confirmed that LG intends to properly launch the LG Optimus Pad at MWC 2011 in a little over a week’s time.

It’s been a long journey, too, from the first talk of the Optimus Pad back in mid-2010. The slate is expected to be a European 3G version of the G-Tablet, with NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor and an 8.9-inch capacitive touchscreen display along with a 6,400 mAh battery; as you can see from LG’s press shot, it runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

[Thanks Kai!]

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USA Today offers augmented reality Super Bowl coverage on Android devices

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 02:49 AM PST

The biggest game of the year is this weekend and I bet that most of you football fans out there are giddy with anticipation. The amount of coverage this weekend for the big game will be insane and USA Today has announced coverage for Android users that sounds really cool and uses augmented reality.

USA Today will offer augmented reality coverage leading up to the big game starting today. You can download a special app on the Android Market that will allow you to take a tour of Dallas Cowboys stadium with an introduction by Jerry Jones that covers highlights inside and outside the stadium.

After the big game on Monday USA Today will also offer some cool augmented reality images of key plays from the game. When the user points their Android device at the photos in the Monday edition of the paper, they will get 3D animated views of the plays. This actually makes me want to buy my first newspaper in years. The Augmented Reality is powered by an app from juanio.

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Froyo on 57.6% of Androids in latest Google distribution stats

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 01:44 AM PST

Google has updated its ongoing Android platform distribution charts, and Android 2.2 Froyo continues to dominate on devices in the wild, on 57.6-percent of handsets. Compiled from which devices have accessed the Android Market in the past 14 days (up until February 2 2011), it also shows that sub-2.1 versions of Android have almost dropped beneath the 10-percent mark.

At the other extreme, Android 2.3 Gingerbread has the smallest percentage of all, with just 0.8-percent distribution, since right now it’s only officially available on the Nexus S.

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Motorola XOOM and HTC ThunderBolt Release Dates Confirmed

Posted: 04 Feb 2011 12:06 AM PST

Well would you look at that. A Best Buy in Grand Rapids, Michigan seems to have revealed to the world the release dates of both the Motorola XOOM Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet AND the HTC ThunderBolt. The XOOM will be released on February 24th, while the ThunderBolt will be out on the 14th of February. Sounds like we’ve got a full and joyous month ahead of us. Not that we wouldn’t have already had a full an joyous month what with Mobile World Congress on the horizon, but heck, here’s the juicy bits right back in the states!

The Best Buy location that’s made the mistake of outing these dates early is otherwise known as Grand Rapids South, a fine location for spending your Best Buy gift cards if you wish – you could also choose to grab a Verizon iPhone 4 here starting on the 10th or a Samsung Presto mobile hotspot starting on the 17th, but blah, those are secondary. You want the Honeycomb. You want the lightning crashing down from above. Hopefully these dates hold across America, we’d be glad to wait this long to get these two gems. — a shout out of thanks to our lady in the field Alex Styler for the tip!

But wait! We won’t even be in the USA! Valentine’s Day falls on the same week we’ll be out to Barcelona! Follow along with us on our magical journey via the tag MWC 2011

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Android Ice Cream to Bring Honeycomb to Phones

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 05:38 PM PST

In a surprise call to Phandroid, an anonymous source “familiar with the matter,” as these things often go, has let the world know that Honeycomb will indeed be making its way to handsets, but not in the way anyone expected it to. Instead of evolving Android 2.3 Gingerbread to include elements from Honeycomb, they’ll be toasting up an essentially brand new version of Android by the name of, you guessed it, Ice Cream.

Considering the facts that both Gingerbread and Honeycomb were basically JUST released, this new version of Android probably wont be making its way to the public before 3rd quarter 2011 at the earliest. On the other hand, Mobile World Congress is coming up – perhaps an early preview? OH and one last thing – this project/branch of code is being worked on under the title “GRI17.”

[Via Phandroid]

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Dell Venue Unlocked on Sale Now

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:34 PM PST

Have you been waiting for the Dell Venue? No? Maybe it’s because Dell has done essentially no advertising of the phone whatsoever? Let’s talk about this phone for a moment, then we’ll speak about how it’s just become available for purchase through Dell today. It’s got a 4.1-inch WVGA AMOLED capacitive multitouch display, a generous 8 megapixel camera on the back, three navigation buttons on the bottom instead of four – reminding you that Honeycomb, again, may reach smartphones after all, and it’s running Android 2.2 Froyo.

Also, the Dell Venue has a 1GHz QSD 8250 processor, the display is 800×480 pixels in resolution, has a 1400 mAh battery, weighs 164 grams, and has the following connectivity options: Sync to PC, USB Mass Storage, USB Support, Wi-Fi, AGPS; Bluetooth ® 2.1 EDR, A2DP, and AVCRP. Also there’s a Micro-USB port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a potential 32GB of storage with micro SD — with curved Gorilla Glass on the front.

Bananas of fun!

And it’s unlocked! You can have this phone on any carrier you like, and it’s Dell so you know you’re going to love that if Dell’s your thing, and it costs $499.99. Sound like your kind of deal? Grab it [HERE] This phone ships February 18th, 2011. — thanks for the tip, SpiceMonkey!

Dell Venue Mobile Dell Venue OriginalPng2 Dell Venue )


How Honeycomb and Android Market’s New App Syncing will Sink Apple

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:11 PM PST

Before we begin, let’s just reconcile for a moment with the near-factual idea that iOS and the big fruit cart are a freight train that might never stop. That said, there’s no telling whether the tracks on either side of this train have slicker rails. Therefore let’s continue discussing how the other big mobile giant today, Android, will fare now that it’s making a serious grab for a piece of the tablet market. Today’s reason why Android is continuing its journey into superstardom in the hearts of millions of users across the globe is a set of features just introduced essentially silently during the Honeycomb event this week.

The first of these features has to do with Android 3.0 Honeycomb and the tablet platform (though the jury is still out on that singularity as well.) With Android 3.0, when you purchase a brand new tablet and would like to grab all of the apps that you’ve downloaded and the settings you’ve set on your handset (also running Android,) all you’ve got to do is make sure both devices are set up with the same Google account, and sync. This syncing process is simple, requires a relatively small amount of time, and of course encourages you to buy as many devices as you can to make sure you’re getting the best experience with your Android games, applications, settings, and other digital toys.

The second of two features we’d like you to deeply consider right this moment has to do with downloading an app from the Android Marketplace via the new browser-based system. When you download an app now, you don’t just download it to one device, and you don’t just download it to your device. You download that app to your account, aka your cloud, and you download that app to as many devices as you’d like, all at once.

Think of the implications of this set of new features. Where Apple now downloads apps to your desktop, for you to keep for your own (we could also debate about what ownership means when you can’t legally take apart the apps too,) Android keeps the apps in their storage, which you can pick from at any time. But wait, doesn’t that make Android like Big Brother? Does that make Android the owner of my apps, therefor making this situation terrible? No, of course not. You can download your apps any time you like, storing them on any device you like – I’d bet Google even encourages you to do so so the files have a better chance at surviving should Google’s infrastructure go down.

The main punch point here is that you can access the software you purchase from the Android Market from any computer and any Android device, and you can transfer not only your files but your settings from one device to the other without a hassle. It seems intuitive, but it’s not. That’s what makes it genius.

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Samsung Fascinate, Captivate, and Vibrant First Free Phones Revealed for Best Buy Free Phone Fridays

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 03:08 PM PST

Tomorrow at Best Buy Canada you’ll have the opportunity to participate in Best Buy’s “Free Phone Fridays,” a promotion where you’ll be able to grab any of the phones listed on a particular Friday’s list.* *With a three year contract, of course. Is it worth three years of being tied to one single phone? How about if you also participate in their Buy Back program? There might be a glitch in this plan…

Earlier today we mentioned a “Future Proof” Buy Back program that Best Buy was offering to customers, one that allowed you to exchange your Best Buy bought merchandise for brand new merchandise (aka grabbing an Atrix 4G after you’ve turned in your crappy old Atrix.) So what if you grab one of the free phones from tomorrows “Free Phone Fridays?” Couldn’t you just turn it in for money and get a much better phone, or since you get Best Buy gift cards, something different entirely? Not so much. The break in this plan is the fact that this exchange program works off of the amount you spent on the device when you first purchased it. If you were to turn in your Free Friday phone, you’d get nothing.

But what if you like keeping phones for long periods of time? What if you love the Galaxy S line of phones from Samsung? Well then you’re in luck, because this Free Friday features the Galaxy S Fascinate with Telus, the Galaxy S Captivate on Rogers, and the Galaxy S Vibrant with Bell.

Last time we spoke about this program in the USA, it was back in October of 2010. Should Best Buy have this promotion more often?

[Via Best Buy Facebook]

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Gingerbread Ported to Motorola Milestone

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 02:33 PM PST

So you’ve still got a Motorola Milestone lying around, yes? How would you like to upgrade to a much nicer phone without having to toss even a dollar out of your billfold? You can right now if you hang a left over to the thread on XDA Developers made by edgardastro, an avid developer of hacked items. This brand new ROM of Android 2.3 Gingerbread that edgardastro has baked up is based on AOSP, and there is still quite a bit of development going on, so don’t expect a perfect build quite yet.

This is the first release of this ROM, and it’s by no means a completely finished product. If you’d like to help in the development of this build, we’re sure edgardastro would appreciate the help. Find all instructions for the installation of this hack in the following XDA Forum thread: [939555]

[Via XDA Developers Forum]

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Android Honeycomb Designer HATES Task Killers

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:51 PM PST

As Mobilized’s Ina Fried adds another interview with Google executive and lead designer on Android Honeycomb Matias Duarte to her impressive body of work, she gets out of him what he believes to be the truth: “Humans shouldn’t have to do work computers are good at.” He expands by saying that it’s silly to think that a human should have to click a button to save their work in order for it to be saved, and that Advanced Task Killer basically flat out shouldn’t exist.

Duarte lets Fried know that he “takes issue” with the fact that Advanced Task Killer is used by so very many people, saying that Android does a good job of managing memory without the “help” of the user, adding that he’s never had the app installed on any of his devices. Duarte continued by noting the failings of the human brain, "Managing the computing resources, deciding what takes up resident RAM, what takes up resident cycles – this is not a task we should ask humans to do, because, first of all, humans don't do a very good job of it. They don't have enough information and enough context."

Duarte notes that another bit having to do with this topic is the idea that the user should be the one to decide if he or she is interrupted in any of his or her tasks. To accomplish this goal in Honeycomb, he notes, they’ve basically pushed all notifications to one spot [notifications bar, lower left of the screen] and have added “do not disturb” options that allow the user to be bothered by no note.

[Via Mobilized]

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