Monday, 8 August 2011

Android Community

Android Community

Google Search App for Android Update Coming Soon, New UI and easier to use

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 11:39 AM PDT

Google has continued to update their list of applications such as Google Voice, Gmail, Market and more as things move forward and today they’ve let us all know about some exciting changes coming to Google Search for Android. I don’t know about you readers but I use the Google Search widget on my phone like 10 times a day so things are about to get easier and make life much more simple.

This was just posted earlier today but has since been pulled from Google’s Blogspot but I’ve still got the screenshot for all the details. They are finally bringing a few things I’ve been patiently waiting for. They have some great new things I’ll outline below, one of my biggest features I’ve always wanted will soon be here — the option to edit a suggestion result before sending it off to searchville.

– Suggestions grouped by type, with web suggestions at the top.
– Country-specific suggestions and search results for all countries with Google domains.
– Long press to remove history items.
– Faster, smoother performance, with an updated and simplified user interface.

Looking over the photo above you’ll see arrows on the search suggestions, tapping on the arrow will allow the user to select that suggestion but edit it before searching. It has a nice new user interface upgrade that looks similar with recent updates like the Android Market to bring things closer to the look and feel of Honeycomb. You can now get search suggestions from other apps on your phone — check out searchable items in Search settings.

It is not in the market yet and now the blog posting has been removed, hopefully they will push this new update out shortly and we will get the full details at the same time.

[via Google Mobile Blog]

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Motorola Droid Bionic Caught on Camera Again

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 11:18 AM PDT

Over the past week or so we have seen plenty of leaked Bionic pictures and today they just keep on coming. You can see it pictured here at the FCC, as well as even more leaked photos here and here. Today GottabeMobile posted a few more decent looks at this device and we have them right here.

These are some pretty clear photos and a few are much better than anything we have seen thus far, its nice to finally start seeing some better photos rather than blurrycam shots. Yesterday the FCC filing confirmed the screen will be 4.3″ rather than 4.5″ and also showed us one huge battery on this bad boy but we still don’t know how big that battery will be. Either way this device is continuing to get plenty of attention.

If you head on to the source they have even more photos with a side view and all. The device looks a bit fatter than I expected it to be but that could just be the photo or the angle. This phone just continues to leak out for everyone to drool over yet delay after delay has it slated to be released in September. So are you still planning on buying the Droid Bionic or would you rather get the Samsung Galaxy S II? Maybe the Samsung Hercules over on T-Mobile we saw yesterday, tell us in the comments below.

[via GottabeMobile]

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Samsung Galaxy S II Backlight Notifications Mod

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:47 AM PDT

Anyone that has recently went from another manufacturer like HTC to a Samsung device quickly realized they didn’t have a notification LED of any sort. While this may not be important to some, many that are use to the feature end up missing it. I know when I got my G2x I wished I had the notification like like the myTouch 4G, Nexus One, G1 and many others did. Today I have the Samsung BLN Mod for you all.

The BLN (Backlight Notification) mod uses the backlight on your capacitive buttons for notifications. The home and back button with flash when you have an incoming text, email, missed call — you name it this works for most native notifications and more. Take note the developer mentions this MOD will only work on GT-I9100 devices.

With wide support the mod is compatible with basically every firmware/ROM based on Android 2.3.3 or 2.3.4, but not compatible with CM7 (kernel incompatibility) as CM7 uses a slightly different kernel to keep things on the same level. They offer both a free version that will work for all native and standard notifications, and a paid version that should be fully customizable. For full details and all the info you need check out the source link over at XDA.

[via XDA Forums]

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Vizio V-Tab 8″ Tablet only $298 at Walmart and Amazon

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:24 AM PDT

We have seen the new Vizio V-Tab a few times as of late, it even received some hands on treatment with NBA superstar Blake Griffin back in June. This decent sized and priced 8″ Android tablet was originally launched for $349 but it’s already seeing a drop in price for those interested.

The Vizio 8″ V-Tab is now just $298 at both Walmart and Amazon after only being on the market a week or two. For a full review of the Vizio tablet head on over to SlashGear’s Review. While this may not be the tablet you’ve been eying or wanting to purchase it’s offered at a great price and will go nicely with someones entertainment setup.

With no Honeycomb on board we do have Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1Ghz Marvell CPU, 512MB RAM as well as 4GB of storage with the optional microSD as always. It does however have great battery life, and comes with full Android Market support — something not all lower priced tablets offer. You also have an Infrared Blaster that will turn this tablet into a fully universal remote control for all your movie watching needs. If you’d like to give it a try then get it while it’s hot and the price is low.

[via Phandroid]

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HTCdev, your new home for Bootloader Unlocking

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:42 AM PDT

It’s a good day for all you HTC-specific developers out there as the three letter manufacturer of Android devices has opened its doors to their HTC OpenSense program through HTCdev. You can access this portal by heading to HTCdev.com, the same place you may have discovered and signed up at approximately one year ago when the site itself first popped up. What HTCdev will be now is a central online location for HTC developer engagement and growth, one place for all HTC-specific developers to speak with one another and grow using each-others ideas and helping one another work for a better HTC future.

This location will also be the place where developers will be able to access all HTC SDKs as well as features available through HTC in the future. This is also the place where you’re going to be able to grab the HTC S3D SDK, allowing you to create applications made specifically for the HTC EVO 3D environment. Another site-specific feature download here is the HTC Pen SDK which will allow you to make further customized apps with HTC Scribe technology (as seen on the HTC Flyer and HTC EVO View 4G.

Furthermore, you’ll be able to pick up kernel source codes for all HTC products AND this will be the home for all of your sweet bootloader unlocking instructions. More than likely you’ll want to bookmark this site as it’ll be the place you’re going to want to go to get every and all things HTC developer – they’ve even got an HTCpro section that’ll show you how to turn your business into a mobile experience, creating your own apps for your own situations. There’s a knowledge base, resources up the wazoo, and it’s all designed very, very nicely.

We’ll of course be providing you with all links inroad to this portal when they release any new info too, so stick around Android Community as well!

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10-year-old hacker girl pwns Android game apps

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:20 AM PDT

A 10-year-old girl going by her chosen Hacker name CyFi has shown off an exploit at Defcon for Kids that allows the user to exploit a security flaw in Android and iOS gaming apps. Apparently, the girl found the hack when she got bored waiting for crops to get ripe in her farming games. Her hack allows you to change the clock settings on your phone to advance time.

The hack isn’t something nefarious unless you count cheating in your games as nefarious. The hack involves more than just changing the clock settings. Game devs long ago blocked that simple cheat. The tiny hacker won’t give up the full details on how she exploits the system.

She is giving game devs time to patch the flaw before offering the details. However, her hack has been independently verified to work. It’s nice to see that some little hackers like to give devs the chance to fix flaws rather than just teaching anyone how to take advantage. The hack apparently works on both Android and the iPhone.

[via PCWorld]

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MyDateTrackerAlert app keeps people safe on dates and more

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:07 AM PDT

You never really know who it is you are meeting today, especially if you meet someone online. There is risk in going to any party or date with a new person and if you fear that you may need help, but don't want to tell your friends everything the new app myDateTrackerAlert may be just the thing for you. The app is now on Android and it will tell a contact list where you are if you don't check-in on time.

You can enter the contacts name along with their phone number and email and set a time and date for your meeting. The user can then set a time and date that they need to check in by. If the user doesn’t check in the message for the contact you enter goes out to let them know you may be in trouble.

The app is interesting and I can see it being useful for many things. You could use it to get your kids to check in when they get home from school for instance and a lot more. The app is 99 cents for purchase. It needs no WiFi or 3G connection to send the alerts, but you do have to have a mobile connection to send alerts but no connection is needed to receive them.

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Capital One launches Android banking app

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:53 AM PDT

If you do your banking with Capital One, a new app is now available to allow you to do some of your banking on the go. The app allows you to access all manner of information about your accounts and other details. The app will give access to basically the same details that the iPhone and mobile website the bank already has offers.

Using the app the customer can get current balances, make payments, view transactions, pay bills, and transfer funds. The users can also find local branch locations and ATMs using the GPS tech inside the phone. The locations can also be found using the zip code as well. The app is on the Android Market right now.

There is no charge to download the app, though you obviously need an account at the bank. It sounds like the only thing the app is missing is the ability to take photos of checks and deposited them using the camera in your smartphone.

[via Banktech]

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Huawei Vision Android smartphone turns up on video

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:14 AM PDT

Huawei hasn’t traditionally been known for high-end smartphones, but the company has some cool offerings that are somewhat interesting. A new smartphone is coming from Huawei called the Vision. The Vision is an interesting looking smartphone with a curved design and a nice size screen. The Vision runs Android 2.3 and the new video that has surfaced shows the device in use.

One of the interesting things about the Vision when we first heard about the smartphone was that it had a new 3D interface. That 3D interface is called SPB Shell 3D and we have reviewed the interface before. Other than the cool interface, the smartphone has many other cool features. The device has a screen that measures 3.7-inches and it has a 1GHz processor.

The smartphone also has a 1GHz snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM. The rear camera has 5MP resolution with auto focus and LED flash with 720p video recording as well. The rechargeable battery has 1400 mAh of juice. The phone is pretty thin as well at 9.9mm and weighing in at 121g. Check out the demo video below to see the smartphone in action.

[via Xatakmovil]

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Android Network Toolkit app for Android smartphones makes hacking easy

Posted: 08 Aug 2011 04:18 AM PDT

A security researcher at the Defcon conference unveiled a new hacking tool that is aimed at the white hat sort that looks to find vulnerabilities that can be patch to make the network or device more secure. Naturally, the app can also be taken advantage of by nefarious sorts that are looking to cause havoc and steal data from unprotected systems and networks. The new app is called the Android Network Toolkit and it will land on the Android Market soon.

The company behind the app is an Israeli security firm called Zimperium. The app has a series of tools that will help the hacker find networks that are unsecure and then find machines on that network that are vulnerable to certain exploits and make executing those exploits as simple as hitting a button. The app is dubbed Anti for short and will be offered free with a $10 corporate upgrade.

The app allows the user to scan for WiFi networks, open networks, and run a traceroute to find IP addresses for servers. Once the target the user wants to attack is found they can execute attacks like Man-in-the-Middle using vulnerabilities in out of date software. Zimperium says that the terms of use for the app will limit it to being used only for white hat testing. Hackers are known for adhering to rules and user agreements so all should be fine. Not.

[via Forbes]

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Motorola Atrix will be Graced with CyanogenMod Soon, Pre-Beta Ready for the Brave

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 02:51 PM PDT

Owners of the Motorola Atrix have been waiting for months now to get a port of CyanogenMod running on their fancy little Tegra 2′s, and that day is almost here. A talented team of devs has successfully ported the beloved ROM onto America’s first dual-core smartphone, and while it’s still not ready for beta even, there is a “pre-beta” build available for the braver among you to flash and test out. The bacon is almost ready, and those of us who snuck a strip early can tell you, its going to be worth the wait.

It’s been several months since the Atrix was released, and we already have rumors that a sequel is on the way. After fighting for the better part of those months for an unlocked bootloader that was finally achieved last month, devs weren’t about to give up. The Atrix Dev Team (see their github!) has been working on the port for a few weeks now, but just released their first public build yesterday under a “pre-beta” title. The build has its bugs for sure, but it shows a lot of promise and looks pretty close to being ready for nightlies.

The stock Android look suits the Atrix beautifully, even with the few oddities left over as a relic of the Atrix’s qHD resolution. There was also a significant performance bump, jumping up from Quadrant scores in the low 2000s with the stock AT&T/Motorola ROM, to around 3500 with the pre-beta build. I’ve seen no real lag in my initial impressions, and I expect things to only improve as the team makes more progress.

Given its current state there are plenty of bugs to be worked out though. GPS and the camera are the most obvious issues, but testers are helping report new bugs to the developers as they’re found. The build is probably not quite ready for everyday use, but it shouldn’t be too much longer until it is. Make sure you only flash this if you know what you’re doing, and as always backup first, and realize you’re taking full responsibility for your actions and any effects they have on your phone. With these warnings in mind, and a backup of your old ROM to revert to (use romracer’s CWM, with working nandroid), give it a look. Freedom is sweet.

[via ModMyMobile]

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HTC Ruby for T-Mobile Spotted Again for the Blurry Cam

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 02:48 PM PDT

While this might not be all that blurry it still qualifies for a Mr. Blurry cam title. What we have here is what is rumored to be the T-Mobile HTC Ruby. We first saw this device in the reflection of the HTC Flyer and later a front shot revealing part of the T-Mobile logo but this latest photo should clear up any doubts.

The Ruby is believed to be a mid-range offering and now we can safely say it’s headed for T-Mobile. The device has a very similar design to the HTC Sensation 4G while looking a bit like the myTouch 4G on top with the speaker grill — so it’s possible this might just be a very close twin to both of those devices. It is hard to tell from the image but it appears to be a 3.7″ or bigger screen with the bottom looking very similar to the Sensation it might even be 4.3″ but we don’t know for sure.

This could be another dual-core 1.2 Ghz phone like the Sensation and myTouch 4G Slide but if they are planning it to be a mid-range device it might just come with a 1 Ghz CPU instead. We can clearly see it features a front facing camera and the previous leaked photos showed a rear camera with dual LED flash so we might need to consider this a mid-high end phone.

HTC recently announced they will release an additional 6-8 devices this year and most likely the HTC Ruby is one of them. We will report back once we get any additional info or some official specs on the device.

[via PocketNow]

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Samsung Galaxy S II For T-Mobile Pictured Clear as Day

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 02:24 PM PDT

Yes Please! This is what we have been waiting for over at the Magenta carrier, a sign that they will in fact be getting the Samsung Galaxy S II superphone that everyone seems to love. Could this be the rumored Samsung Hercules. We recently saw this device pass the FCC under model SGH-T989 and now we know that is indeed the Galaxy S II. Now we must figure out if the Hercules will be something different or if it was just the codename for the SGSII.

These pictures are pretty clear evidence that is for sure. We are seeing a beautiful device stamped with Galaxy S II and T-Mobile nicely on the back, it’s a great sight isn’t it? These pictures were kindly leaked and they’ve got me pretty excited as well as the photo from pocketnow. Some sources are claiming this is the Hercules and since not only are these leaks claiming to be a 4.5″ display and the Hercules was said to feature the same size screen this just might in fact be the Samsung Hercules aka SGSII.

Then below is the revealed photo from pocketnow that shows the front of the device a little clearer for everyone. We don’t see much of the Samsung Touch wiz UX but we can clearly see that tasty Android 2.3 Gingerbread up top. The ninja’s that leaked these are claiming it has a 4.5″ screen and is blazingly stupid fast. We have heard Samsung might be increasing the CPU speed to 1.2-1.5 Ghz to better compete with other devices and hopefully we will find out soon enough.

These are all the pictures and details we have for now but at least this device has been confirmed as headed to T-Mobile. It’s out and in the wild so hopefully more details, pictures, and maybe even some video will be leaked in the near future — I’m sure we will be seeing more of this device soon so stay tuned.

[via TmoNews]

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Vortex Galaxy Live Wallpaper, It’s Awesome and Free

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 01:57 PM PDT

I’m back today with another awesome Live Wallpaper for everyone to check out and I’ve picked one that is completely free and has a few different versions available. Today I’m featuring the Vortex Galaxy LWP. It is a very simple idea but it looks incredible doing it. Just like market comments said I have found myself to zone out while watching this on my brilliant and vibrant Galaxy Tab 10.1 screen — This wallpaper is amazingly awesome.

This LWP is smooth and stable and so far my battery life doesn’t seem to be bothered one bit from all day usage. I’ve been using Vortex Galaxy on both my tablet and my HTC Sensation since last night and I love it. It’s almost peaceful to sit and just watch this LWP on your device. While I usually try to pick wallpapers that are full of features and options this week’s doesn’t come with many of those, but it doesn’t need to as it works great just the way it comes.

Don’t mind the music and just enjoy the video demo below:

Like I’ve said above it appears to work perfect on both phones and tablets and I’ve not noticed it causing any lag while scrolling through screens either, something other LWP have issues with. The developer maxelus.net has four of these Galaxy wallpapers and this is by far my favorite with Shadow Galaxy taking a very close second. This is one of those wallpapers I highly recommend you download and try — and hey it’s completely free so why not right?

For our other featured wallpapers head over to the Wallpaper Portal. Feel free to also hit the Android Market to check this and his others out, as always you can click or scan the QR Code below to directly head to the download of Vortex Galaxy Live Wallpaper.

Enjoy!

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 Gets some Hands-on Treatment [Video]

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 12:45 PM PDT

While the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 price and any sort of release date is still unknown we are able to watch the perfect sized tablet on video today. In a huge market of 10″ Android Honeycomb tablets and lightweight e-readers the 8.9″ Tab sounds like the perfect solution and something I have been waiting to see and handle for a while. I plan to get one of these bad boys in to review so make sure and check back when the time comes.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 was caught on video at BlogHer 2011 recently and lucky for you guys I’ll be posting that video below for you all to check out. While it is hard to tell from looking at the pictures and video it appears the 8.9″ variant may in fact be slightly fatter than its bigger sibling. We heard this rumor a few months back that it may be a little fatter in order to pack all the features into that small package but we’ll let you decide for yourself after looking at the video.

A few hardware and design changes are quickly noticeable and the volume rocker as well as power/wake button have been moved to the top of the device rather than the left side like the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Samsung also moved the stereo speakers that were on the top of both sides of the device down below and are now on the bottom next to the docking port.

From that picture above it might actually look a bit thicker than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 but then again it’s pretty hard to tell just from looking at a single image or two. Another change is the 8.9″ will in fact come pre-installed with Samsung’s new Touch Wiz UX update that we reviewed here. After watching the video you will see the new user interface runs extremely fluid and smooth on the smaller tablet and it’s looking better than ever. Hopefully we will get some sort of release date sooner rather than later — hit the source for more pictures.

[via Tecca]

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Archos Arnova 8 G2 Tablet Stops by the FCC for some Photos

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 12:07 PM PDT

Archos and their latest entry into the Android tablet game has just hit the FCC showing us some pretty views of the internals as well as accessories headed to store shelves with the device. We recently saw it in the FCC already, but today we get a much clearer view of things.

The new line of Archos Tablets were announced back on June 23rd and since then we have seen them appear a few times but nothing to serious. In case you were confusing these with the new G9 series the Arnova tablets will be sporting Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1 Ghz CPU, and a few other decent specs and will be aimed at the mid-range tablet market with a very aggressive price point.

If a Gingerbread tablet isn’t your thing and you’d rather get a great priced Archos G9 Honeycomb tablet lucky for you we have already received some hands-on time with those so click that link and see for yourself. Even more video showing these upcoming tablets can be seen here.

So are you interested in something like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or would you rather opt for the lower priced Archos options? The Arnova series should be a very cheap alternative for someone that doesn’t need the best. Are you interested in the Arnova line? Feel free to say hello in the comment section below.

[via FCC]

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