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- Android domination continues, remote iPhone 4 unlocking, Google Maps updated: US Update
- Google Maps version 5.3.1 arrives: manage my places and auto-checkins fixed
- Geohot and Sony reach a settlement: vows never to buy a Sony product again
- Remote iPhone 4 unlocking lasts forever, comes with a hefty price tag
- Angry Birds Sync to unify game play: no more replaying levels!
- Android activations jump 16 percent, 350,000 happy customers served daily
- HTC Sensation lands, the best Android apps and a tablet dated: Teatime Tech
- Best iPhone apps: app of the day = Viddy
- HTC Sensation preview: The HTC HD2 laid to rest at last
- Best Android apps of the week
| Android domination continues, remote iPhone 4 unlocking, Google Maps updated: US Update Posted: 12 Apr 2011 06:24 PM PDT 
Still not convinced Android is on a hot streak? A report over on Yahoo! Finance has confirmed Google is enjoying a healthy 350,000 device activations per day — not bad considering a year ago they were doing just 60,000. Angry Birds creators Rovio Mobile have confirmed via Twitter that they plan to release a syncing solution which will unify game play. Very soon you'll no longer need to replay the same levels when jumping back and forth between your iPhone and iPad. If you have the cash the best way to unlock your iPhone is a remote solution. Join Apple's official whitelist with a lifetime unlock at either of these two solid retailers. The lawsuit filed against George Hotz by Sony has finally come to a close. According to Sony's official PlayStation Blog, Hotz consented to a permanent injunction and vowed never to purchase another Sony product again. Did he go down without a fight? Last up this morning is an update for Google Maps for Android (version 5.3.1). The new version is very much incremental, offering mostly bug fixes. We've got the full scoop. That wraps up the latest and greatest in the world of tech on this fine Wednesday morning. As always I'm Nick Marshall and I'll see you again tomorrow. Related posts:
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| Google Maps version 5.3.1 arrives: manage my places and auto-checkins fixed Posted: 12 Apr 2011 06:15 PM PDT 
If you haven't received the Google Maps update notification, head on over to the Android Market and grab yourself a free update. As first reported by Android Central, version 5.3.1 looks to be a bit more stable than its predecessors and a bit faster. Over on the official Google Mobile Blog, more details of the update have been highlighted: Today, we're happy to announce Google Maps 5.3 for Android, which lets you see your Google Location History dashboard, check in at "home," and add your own aspects for places when rating them. To find out more about the update, head on over to Google's Mobile Blog. Out Now | Google | Free Related posts:
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| Geohot and Sony reach a settlement: vows never to buy a Sony product again Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:57 PM PDT 
There have been quite a few twists and turns in the SCEA lawsuit filed against Hotz, but in the end it was quite anticlimactic. The most interesting aspect of the case was not the settlement, but the outcry from commentors, many of whom donated money for legal fees, who felt outraged that Hotz didn't put up more of a fight. Originally Hotz outlined what his demands would be in a potential settlement with Sony, "I want the settlement terms to include OtherOS on all PS3s and an apology on the PlayStation blog for ever removing it". Unfortunately this is not how things played out, in fact all of the terms of the today's settlement agreement are 'confidential' and cannot be discussed. One of the more notable comments left on Hotz website was from a user known as Night Breed who said, "so basically you settled for a job and took people’s money giving them a false hope of settling for their rights? What do you plan to do with the money that was donated to you to provide a cushion for the legal battle? I hope you will be paying all those people back since you obviously didn’t live up to your word.” Before we jump the gun here, George Hotz promised that "none of [your] the money will end up in my pocket". He also said that he would address the donations in a forthcoming post and he thinks people will be happy. How happy remains to be seen, but early signs look promising as Hotz left us with one final tidbit, "I am fighting your fight, in the best way I know how. You’ll just have to trust me.” via Escapist | PlayStation Blog Related posts:
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| Remote iPhone 4 unlocking lasts forever, comes with a hefty price tag Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:35 PM PDT 
The two most popular solutions for unlocking an iPhone involve a software jailbreak or use of a micro SIM adapter. Yes, both of these solutions work, but neither offers the finesse of an official unlock and being added to Apple's whitelist. For those not in the know, the whitelist is the creme de la creme, once added to this list your phone is unlocked forever. Here's how it works: You'll need an iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4 and your phone's IMEI number (simply dial *#06* to display). Then you'll need to provide this information to Cut Your Sim or GSM Phone Source and provide the necessary funding ($169.99 or $179.99 respectively). After one to two days you'll receive a confirmation email letting you know the service is complete. Simply connect your iPhone to iTunes to sync and you're home free. Out Now | Cut Your Sim or GSM Phone Source | $169.99 or $179.99 [via Crave] Related posts:
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| Angry Birds Sync to unify game play: no more replaying levels! Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:14 PM PDT 
Fan boy antics aside, iOS was largely responsible for making Angry Birds the success it is today. As an iPhone owner, like many of you, I purchased the game not long after its release. When the iPad came along with Angry Birds HD I couldn't resist taking the plunge and buying a second, albeit more expensive, copy of the game. My only complaint was that I had to replay all of the levels I had beaten on my smartphone. The Angry Birds sync solution is expected to be ready "before summer" and reportedly will sync your game play across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android platforms. Despite being a huge supporter of an Angry Birds sync feature, I'd be remiss if I didn't express my concern for fair gameplay. Much like the world of PC gaming differs from that on consoles, input methods used when playing Angry Birds may offer a significant advantage. In my own experience, playing Angry Birds on the iPad with its 9.7-inch display is far easier than the 3.5-inch display of the iPhone. Since Angry Birds does not offer a multiplayer experience this is probably not a deal breaker for most, but when the time comes (and we do expect it will) I'd like a level playing field. As ridiculous as it may sound, I'd like added kudos for beating the game with three stars entirely on a smartphone, wouldn't you? For those of you who play Angry Birds on different devices/platforms, what do you think about an Angry Birds sync solution? Coming Soon | RovioMobile | Free [via 9to5Mac] Related posts:
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| Android activations jump 16 percent, 350,000 happy customers served daily Posted: 12 Apr 2011 04:52 PM PDT 
If you haven't realized by now, just about every manufacturer on earth offers an Android smartphone. At CES 2011, Android dominated device announcements and that hot streak continued at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For investors, daily Android device activations equal dollar signs. With the bulk of Google's revenue stream coming from advertising, each smartphone activated becomes an advertising portal. According to a report by 'The Wall Street Transcript', Google is serving over two billion ad impressions per day through AdMob, the network feeding display advertisements in your free apps. We've seen our fair share of smartphone market share forecasts, but a 16 percent growth in three months is nonetheless an impressive feat. Is there anything that can stop the accelerated growth of Android? via Yahoo Finance Related posts:
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| HTC Sensation lands, the best Android apps and a tablet dated: Teatime Tech Posted: 12 Apr 2011 10:28 AM PDT 
First up, let’s talk HTC. The phone firm turned heads this afternoon, unleashing its new beast phone, the HTC Sensation. Naturally, we got hands on with to see what’s what, and we broke the news that HTC is considering its own music on demand service to match its Watch movie service. It also named the date for its HTC Flyer Android tablet to go on sale: click to find out when. Finally, speaking of Google’s mobile OS, we rounded up the very best Android apps of the week for your perusal. See them here! Still want more news? Roll on over to the homepage and help yourself to it all as it breaks! Related posts:
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| Best iPhone apps: app of the day = Viddy Posted: 12 Apr 2011 10:10 AM PDT 
It was inevitable really that in the wake of Instagram and Hipstamatic, someone would create a retro-filter-packing video app with social features plonked in there too. And lo the it has come to pass with Viddy which snug on to the iTunes App Store yesterday. If you’re familiar with Instagram, you’ll get Viddy, our best iPhone apps entry today…
 Viddy allows you to grab short video clips and then apply filters to them after the fact including black and white and vintage film effects (with flicker and artifacts). The app hasn’t taken off yet in the UK but with the ability to follow people, I can definitely see it getting traction with groups of friends or families who want to share movie snippets from events. Check out the app for yourself through the iTunes link and let us know what you think. You can also see Viddy on video below. Out now | £free | iTunes Related posts:
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| HTC Sensation preview: The HTC HD2 laid to rest at last Posted: 12 Apr 2011 09:25 AM PDT  It’s hard to believe that for all the design plaudits it’s earned, HTC has actually been relying on the same design for its four inch phones since 2009. That same HTC HD2 chassis that was once so sexy is starting to show the faintest hint of crow’s foot. The HTC Sensation, launched today, finally moves on, with a new design language that’s all its own.
Physically, the HTC Sensation is higher specced than the HTC Desire HD, but its wider screen actually gives it the sensation (Thank you, we’re here all week) of being a shade smaller. The 4.3-inch screen is sharper, at 960×540 resolution, and now in a 16:9 ratio, which didn’t appear to affect any of the apps we tested – they all run without a hint of wonkiness. Best Android apps of all time: Top 100 Interestingly, though the material is clearly the same as that used on the HTC Desire S, it’s not actually a unibody phone – you can take the entire back panel off. We wouldn’t say it’s any less solid as a result, mind, and it still brings all the benefits of HTC’s metallurgy – this phone is surprisingly resistant to fingerprint smudges.
The display itself is certainly sharp, but as ever with HTC screens, its dark menus show up the poor black levels: we placed our Google Nexus S side by side with it, and there was no comparison. Still, the ability to see more on screen at one time is a big selling point, and one we could see more than making up for this. See our best Android phone Top 5 As attractive as the HTC Sensation is however, it’s the software that has to differentiate an Android phone these days in a crowded market, and HTC’s certainly tried harder than most. We think it’s paid off: HTC Sense has been nicely augmented with a lock screen you can customise as you please. You choose what apps are on it, drag them down and unlock the screen, automatically opening the app too (If you’ve got a PIN lock on, which you should, you’ll be asked for it after dragging the icon down).
You can also rapidly zoom through all your home screens on an infinite loop by swiping twice, and while the new 3D effects are superfluous, they’re also sumptuous. As we mentioned previously, the HTC Sensation is the first phone to support the company’s Watch movie on demand service. The idea is certainly a welcome one, especially since you can buy or rent – there’s a rather space hogging widget for it as well you probably won’t use – and you can store your purchases in the cloud for up to five supported devices to tap into.
Right now that’s just the Sensation and the HTC Flyer Android tablet: we asked a spokesperson whether existing models will get the service, but they declined to comment, though they did say that HTC was in “discussions” with networks and “positive” that the carriers wouldn’t remove the service in favour of their own offerings. Check out our best HTC phone Top 5 here We certainly hope they don’t though, because it works as advertised – that is to say, brilliantly. We fired up Be Kind Rewind in an instant, and video looked as good as you could hope for on a 4.3-inch screen – the screen ratio means that the black bars are a thing of a past. You’ll be able to play these videos through the phone’s HDMI connection, but we’ve sadly confirmed that you won’t be able to stream them to HTC’s own Media Link DLNA gadget due to DRM requirements. So it goes. Lastly, video editing – we were able to see this in action, and while it’s a welcome addition to Android, we can’t say it’s anything that’ll have the iMovie iPhone app team losing sleep over. You can trim clips and resave them, but that’s about the extent of it – it’s likely Google itself will provide a video editing app in the next mobile version of Android to match the one for Honeycomb tablets, so it’s not such a biggie. Having tested out the HTC Sensation today, we can put to rest any concerns that the company is stuck in a hardware rut. This isn’t just yet another iteration of the same slab it’s been pushing for a year and a half. The software still puts it far ahead of Android competitors, but it’s an evolution, not a revolution – give this and an Android 1.5 HTC Hero to your average Joe on the street and they probably couldn’t tell the difference. Is that good or bad? We’re not sure, but we’ll mull it over and let you know in a full HTC Sensation review: the phone is out on Vodafone in mid-May. Anything else you want to know about the HTC Sensation? Drop us a line in the comments! Related posts:
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| Posted: 12 Apr 2011 08:15 AM PDT 
As ever, tapping the title of each app will deliver you to the appropriate page of the aforementioned Android Market, but you can zap the QR Codes below using Barcode Scanner if you want to be a little more high-tech. We find it makes you feel a little bit like James Bond testing out a new secret weapon, although we sadly can't guarantee it will land you a buxom lady and an Austin Martin, so please accept our humblest apologies for that.  A.I. Type Keyboard
4shared
FlexT9
simplePLAY
PewPew 2
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