Android Community |
- Evernote for Android Updated to 2.6 (speed, editing power)
- Motorola Stops Updates to Four Older Devices
- Samsung Galaxy Indulge brings 4G Android to MetroPCS
- DzyPlastic shows off more Series 2 plastic Android toys
- Sony Ericsson Xperia Play may be headed to Verizon
- American Airlines launches Android app
- OliveSmart V-S300 promises Gingerbread for India
- Adam up for sale again as Notion Ink kicks off more orders
- Sony XPERIA Play Extended “Thumbs” Ad Spot [video]
- Kyocera Echo: Are You Serious?
- Walmart to offer the Samsung Galaxy S 4G for under $150
- Android gets bricky with custom Lego ROM
- Wirefly unboxes the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt
- Is AT&T adding Froyo support to the Samsung Captivate?
- Verizon upgrades LTE support with voiceover for the LG Revolution
- Sprint doubles down on Android for 4G
| Evernote for Android Updated to 2.6 (speed, editing power) Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:40 AM PST The most lovely of elephant related note taking applications Evernote has been updated to version 2.6 which includes several new features including, but not limited to: Snippets, Notebook Stacks, Editing of styled notes from your Android device, and a speed increase of around 6x. The editing of styled notes looks particularly enticing, as a video demo is included courtesy of Evernote, a video demo which is very obviously simulated, but appears impressive nonetheless.
Take a peek at all the new features you’ll be grappling when you download the brand new version of Evernote:
New View: Snippets
Notebook Stacks Edit Styled Notes from your Android Device Plus More! Evernote for Android is currently available FREE in the Android Marketplace.      )
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| Motorola Stops Updates to Four Older Devices Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:58 AM PST All those with Motorola devices on the new list of the abandoned phones list, at least as far as updates to Android. This list includes the Motorola Clique Xt, the Motorola i1, Motorola Flipout, and Motorola Charm. Both the Flipout and the Charm are currently (and will be forever more) at Android 2.1, while the Xt and i1 is and will now forever be on Android 1.5. Owners of these devices are more than likely going to be neither surprised nor emotionally damaged by this decision, especially since this is a basic procedure for a load of brands pushing out Android phones this day and age.
If you’d like to get a phone you’re sure will be upgraded to Android 2.3 Gingerbread, your best bet is to buy a Nexus S or head to India to grab an OliveSmart V-S300 which is not only India’s first Gingerbread phone but also one of the very few phones in the entire world right not to have Android 2.3 at all. Just this week there was another brand new Android phone Sprint hopes to be a blockbuster, the Kyocera Echo, that also will not be released with Android’s newest system Android 2.3 Gingerbread. One must sit back and consider that this situation is not the same as the newest version of an operating system on a desktop computer, at least not yet, in that the majority of the smartphone buying population does not expect the newest upgrade to be on their phone. Instead, like what’s being shown quite clearly with the new Sprint phone, a double screen and a hinge will suffice. Hardware over software? You bet. [via Computer World] )
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| Samsung Galaxy Indulge brings 4G Android to MetroPCS Posted: 09 Feb 2011 06:42 AM PST MetroPCS has announced its second 4G LTE smartphone, and this time around it’s Android doing the honors. The Samsung Galaxy Indulge is a 3.5-inch Android 2.2 Froyo slider packing 4G connectivity along with the 1GHz Hummingbird processor.
Specs are relatively basic, with a 3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth, but the Galaxy Indulge is really all about the pricing. MetroPCS will be offering unlimited data for $60 per month on a non-contract basis, while the phone itself is $399 (again, with no agreement). It’ll be in stores later this week. [via SlashGear] Press Release: )
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| DzyPlastic shows off more Series 2 plastic Android toys Posted: 09 Feb 2011 05:11 AM PST We like our Android Os around here and we like toys too. When DzyPlastic first showed off its plastic robot toys, we were pumped and now as we move into Series 2 we are still excited. We saw a few new bot toys surface at the end of January and today we get a glimpse at a couple more of them.
My favorite is called Racer. It is green with white racing stripes and has a windshield printed on the front with another tiny little Android bot driving. Do want. The other one will be great for the lady Android geeks out there and is called Rupture. It reminds me of what an Android toy made by Tim Burton might look like. The last of the new unveilings is simply called Bluebot. It’s blue and boring compared to the others. These things are cool.    Via Android Guys )
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| Sony Ericsson Xperia Play may be headed to Verizon Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:44 AM PST We have seen all the images and know just about all there is to know about the Xperia Play smartphone. We know the smartphone is coming on February 13 for its official introduction. We also know that in the UK the smartphone will land on the Vodafone network.
In the US, the carrier has been tipped as Verizon. The tip comes by way of Wirefly with a comparison of the Play and the iPhone 4. In the chart from the photo above the carrier for the play is noted as Verizon. That would be no surprise really; I would be more surprised to see the Play hit AT&T. If you managed to miss the specs of the Xperia Play, you can see them in the chart. The phone runs Android 2.3, has a 4-inch screen, and slide out game controller that should make it a serious portable gaming device. Via Phone Arena )
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| American Airlines launches Android app Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:03 AM PST
The app allows the user to check in for flights, receive gate and seat information as well as flight status details. The app also has terminal maps and has lots of other features as well. One of the cooler features is a reminder that can be set for where you parked. The app will allow the monitoring of the standby list for flights, elite status progress, and mobile boarding passes. The device also uses GPS to locate airports nearby that American serves. For the times when you are stuck in the terminal, it also has Sudoku to keep you busy. The app is free to download. )
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| OliveSmart V-S300 promises Gingerbread for India Posted: 09 Feb 2011 03:32 AM PST Indian mobile device company Olive Telecom has announced its own Android 2.3 Gingerbread handset, the OliveSmart V-S300, an HSPA+ smartphone with a 4.1-inch capacitive touchscreen. OEM is unclear, but the V-S300 has a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with 720p HD video support, 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8255 processor, 512MB of ROM and WiFi b/g.
There’s also a front-facing webcam, WVGA display, GPS and Bluetooth 2.1, along with HDMI and a digital compass. The whole thing is expected to measure 122 x 66 x 9.9 mm. Release date isn’t clear, and the fact that Olive has used a screenshot of an earlier Android version than Gingerbread doesn’t exactly fill us with confidence, but we’ll hold judgement until the smartphone emerges into the wild. Olive had previous promised an Android 2.2 device in the first week of March. [Thanks Fransiscus!] )
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| Adam up for sale again as Notion Ink kicks off more orders Posted: 09 Feb 2011 02:22 AM PST Notion Ink is throwing open the order books for the second round of Adam tablet orders, though you’ll still have to be pre-registered if you want to get in first. According to CEO Rohan Shravan, a “huge” number of order invite emails are already making their way to would-be customers.
Shravan also confirms that Adam will skip straight over Gingerbread and instead “will be directly migrating to Honeycomb in future,” though no timescale for that update is given. As for the missing Android Market, “Adam does not have market access because it is not a phone” he suggests, and “Android Market is an app store for phone apps.” [via SlashGear] )
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| Sony XPERIA Play Extended “Thumbs” Ad Spot [video] Posted: 08 Feb 2011 05:38 PM PST If you’ll recall a few days ago we showed you a severely disturbing ad spot from Sony Ericsson depicting a man running through some dark streets, past dingy workers in a rush to deliver something or other to what turns out to be a man performing surgery. The surgeon is hard at work doing no less than grafting human thumbs onto a 3 foot tall Google Android. This commercial was leaked in a terrible quality video, then replayed during the Superbowl, and is now here for you in full quality, in a totally extended video that’ll creep you out just as hard as it did in the short mix.
The thumbs of a human give an Android the ability to use the XPERIA Play. I’m sure whatever cadaver the surgeon stole the thumbs from wasn’t going to use them, and the Android seems pretty happy at the end of the spot, his antenna flipping back and forth with glee. This video reminds me of an art/music video featuring Daft Punk entitled ELECTROMA. In this video, the two robot DJs are living in a world where everyone has either one of their helmets or the other. Partway through the video, Daft Punk are given human faces made of clay. In a display just as gruesome, Sony Ericsson has turned Android into a functional human as well, able to play games as it never has been able to before. Now let’s rip those thumbs off, get this metaphor out of the way, and start playing some Mortal Kombat and Tony Hawk. Check out the full commercial here: And don’t forget to stick around for the part where the Android exits out into the street, as you’ll be able to see a lovely site: a live action Android floating above the ground. Just like a landspeeder!    )
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| Kyocera Echo: Are You Serious? Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:44 PM PST Yesterday we were treated to a rather odd show in New York, one featuring a short magic show by David Blaine followed by a reveal of a human-sized phone that only turned out to be a mockup of a tinier phone. That in itself I found to be an outrage, as I was very excited about dual 4-foot screens. Then came the big reveal: Kyocera, a name not oft spoken aloud when it comes to notable Android phones. The phone Sprint and Kyocera shook hands for one full minute to release was called the Echo, Kyocera Echo, or Sprint Echo, however you want to title it. This phone is one that can be a single screen phone or fold out to a laptop or single giant screen mode. It’s 3G, it’s running Android 2.2 Froyo, it’s got a single 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and it’s less than a week away from MWC 2011. Why would Sprint and Kyocera release such a wild card?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, Sprint and Kyocera don’t care about early adopters – and that’s not a negative. I suppose the more accurate way to say it is that these companies are not tending to early adopters, developers, hackers, and general power-phone enthusiasts the same way the following phones have and still do: Nexus S, EVO, and all manner of iPhone, I’d argue, believe it or not, What this phone relates a lot closer to is the Samsung Continuum. The double screen bit is an obvious similarity, but they relate to one another the most in the support Verizon and Sprint know they’re going to have to supply for them: hardware primarily, then the occasional “how do I do this simple thing” from the newbies. As far as I can tell from here, the wave of smartphone about to be released at Mobile World Congress 2011 right in front of my eyes, I’d say the Kyocera Echo wont see more than a couple firmware updates before it’s left to die by Sprint and Kyocera. On the other hand, the Nintendo DS crowd might be excited to see a clone of their favorite gamine system put out here with the capability to call people – but then again, there’s no Pokemon.      )
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| Walmart to offer the Samsung Galaxy S 4G for under $150 Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:32 PM PST Earlier this year, T-Mobile announced it would be carrying the Samsung Galaxy S 4G smartphone and now, we have a leak which states the phone will be available at Walmart for $148.88 ($150 in disquise) with a two year service agreement or upgrade. Those interested can also purchase the Galaxy S on a 2 year flexpay agreement for $248.88 or outright for $650.00 with no commitment.
Running Android 2.2 (Froyo), the Galaxy S Android 4G phone will come with a 5MP camera recording 720p HD video, a 16GB sd Memory card installed and a 4 inch super Amoled display. And users will also get the larger 1650 mAh battery for longer battery life. In addition, the Galaxy S sports bluetooth. The Galaxy S should make it to Walmart stores later this month. [via AndroidLife] )
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| Android gets bricky with custom Lego ROM Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:18 PM PST A trio of developers have created a playful custom Android ROM that’s based on the world of LEGO. Beezy, KSmith and Nick7 worked up the ROM for the Sprint Optimus S and have given the user the modular ability to choose any tweaks and theme edits they want. And the beauty is, there’s no tedious trial and error to see what features play together or not.
Users are advised to read the changelog VERY carefully, especially posts 1-6 before flashing, but the process includes placing the ROM on sdCard, booting into recovery and running nadroid backup. Flash the LegoRom.zip and fully boot. There are other optional downloads to flash as well including themes, build props, kernels and miscellaneous other stuff. Sounds playful. Well done, Boys! [via Android Central ] )
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| Wirefly unboxes the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt Posted: 08 Feb 2011 01:32 PM PST Wireless retailer Wirefly has unboxed a pre-production model of the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt and posted the video on Youtube. The phone comes in a mysterious black package that has all the traditional accouterments. And aside from some slightly comedic difficulty getting the phone out of the box, there’s some really interesting details.
The phone comes with a 32GB microSD card (amazing how huge those things are getting in capacity, isn’t it?), it has a 1Ghz processor, the same 4.3 inch touchscreen available on the HTC Evo, two cameras (forward facing 1.3mp for video chat and 8mp for HD video and still shots), a dual LED flash, and the cool “kick stand” made popular by the Evo. Currently, the Thunderbolt is being shipped with Android 2.2.1 (Froyo). And in addition, there’s apparently word coming out that Verizon may be delaying release of the Thunderbolt to costumes from it’s debut on Valentine’s Day. In addition, Verizon may also be delaying roll out of it’s LTE mobile hotspot feature as well. There’s no ETA as to when the roll out of the Thunderbolt will occur, but it looks like Valentine’s Day is out. That’s a drag for those hoping to get it as a profession of love from that someone special. [via Engadget] )
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| Is AT&T adding Froyo support to the Samsung Captivate? Posted: 08 Feb 2011 12:35 PM PST Samsung Captivate fans who have been languishing with older versions of Android can now rejoice as AT&T seems to be gearing up to update the Captivate to Android 2.2 (Froyo). According to it’s support page for the Captivate, users can drill through instructions on how to locate the Captivates firmware version and right there is a reference to firmware version 2.2 running TouchWiz overlaid. That offers a ray of hope for Captivate users who have seen other handsets, including the Galaxy S scream by with vs. 2.3 (Gingerbread).
Users can easily find out their firmware version by to settings, then about phone and looking at firmware version. And if this screen shot on AT&Ts website is to be believed, it may be that users will see version 2.2 pop up there real soon. More information on how to determine your Captivate firmware version can be seen here. [via BGR] )
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| Verizon upgrades LTE support with voiceover for the LG Revolution Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:57 AM PST When Verizon launched the LG Revolution at CES last year, there wasn’t much talk about voice calling over 4G. But with more and more states passing legislation requiring hands free phone use, and Verizon expanding their LTE network dramatically this year, it seems the telco has made a mid course correction and decided that voice calling over their LTE network is not only necessary, but immanent. And the LG Revolution will be it’s first 4G offering to support the new VoLTE standard.
And even though Verizon is expanding their 4G reach by over 200 cities this year, there are some areas where their LTE network won’t be available, and as such, voice calling will fall back to the CDMA network. The new VoLTE standard promise to offer higher quality sound that will likely resemble HD Voice. But don’t look for widespread adopting of the new voiceover standard right away as Verizon seems to be on the vanguard of this movement. [via Engadget] )
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| Sprint doubles down on Android for 4G Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:34 AM PST
Though details are sketchy as to models at this point, Sprint recently announced availability of the Evo Shift 4G, three other 4G phones, and a 4G enabled netbook powered by Dell. Sprint also recently announced availability Kyocera’s Dual Screen Android Phone known as the “Echo,” which we covered in detail yesterday. Look for phones to start rolling out this Spring. [via The Wall Street Journal] )
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American Airlines has had an app for Apple devices for a while now and has finally rolled out its Android app. This will be something that frequent fliers will want to grab to help them get details on their flights. The app is called the 
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