Android Community |
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 with Verizon 4G LTE coming soon
- Halo Waypoint brings Halo: Reach to Android
- Vizio 8″ VTAB Gingerbread tablet just $159 today only
- New Sony Ericsson Nozomi photos ooze style
- Toshiba’s 7-inch Thrive available now
- 10 Billion Apps promo, day 7: Super KO Boxing 2, Flight Control and Doodle Jump for 10¢
- The Galaxy Tab gets some iLuv with ArtStation Pro speaker dock
- Facebook tops Nielsen’s list of most popular Android apps
- Barnes & Noble readies massive Nook Color update with Netflix and Marvel Comics
- European Union slams the breaks on Google-Motorola antitrust review
- LG Spectrum/Revolution 2 pics surface
- Android Community Weekly: December 11, 2011
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 with Verizon 4G LTE coming soon Posted: 12 Dec 2011 11:48 AM PST If those new DROID XYTBOARD tablets aren’t what you were hoping to buy this holiday season it looks like the sneaky Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE will be headed to Verizon shortly. After hearing nothing since it was announced at IFA, lately we’ve seen a little stir at the FCC and now it appears to be ready to hit Verizon with 4G LTE on board.
If you remember, we received some hands-on video back at IFA and then the Tab was removed from the showroom floor and wasn’t heard from again — until recently. This 7.7″ Super AMOLED HD 1280 x 800 resolution packing slate will also rock a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor and Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Add 4G LTE to that and it sounds quite amazing if I don’t say so myself.
The past few weeks a few different online retailers have started taking pre-orders and now systems from Verizon (pictured above) are starting to show the 7.7″ tablet is on the way — 4G LTE included. the 12/7 pictured above was when the device went into Verizon’s system so there is a chance we could see this tab before the end of the year. As soon as we get more details we’ll be sure to update but for now the full specs are neatly provided below. Galaxy Tab 7.7 Hands-on Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
 Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
 [via Droid-Life] )
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| Halo Waypoint brings Halo: Reach to Android Posted: 12 Dec 2011 11:28 AM PST This weekend Microsoft released their new Halo Waypoint Android app that aims to bring Halo: Reach multiplayer stat tracking and more to our robot-powered devices. Also available for the other popular platforms Microsoft made sure to include Android in the fun. For Halo fans this app actually has tons of awesome features with all sorts of stat tracking and multiplayer overhead views to help with those intense gaming sessions.
Microsoft is calling this the official app for all things Halo and we’d have to agree. Waypoint tracks your career and campaign, stats, and more. It breaks things down by enemy or weapon too. You can connect with friends and even make custom challenges all from the new Halo Waypoint. It offers real time tracking so you can see your location on map in real-time during multiplayer sessions. Providing an overhead view that will show weapon, vehicle, and even player locations — making this your Halo multiplayer companion app. Many of these awesome new features are in what they are calling Waypoint ATLAS although that will be an additional purchase from what I understand but will bring your gaming to a new level. The main app however, is absolutely free and available now in the Android Market. Currently it works on all Android 2.2 and above devices although they do mention no support for qHD devices but will update shortly to include more compatibility. Give it a try and let us know what you think.    [via Androinica] )
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| Vizio 8″ VTAB Gingerbread tablet just $159 today only Posted: 12 Dec 2011 10:54 AM PST In the usual Woot.com fashion today we have another excellent deal for an Android tablet to share with our readers. We don’t have Honeycomb on board but this tablet still has plenty going for it. Today Woot is offering the Vizio 8″ VTAB Gingerbread tablet for a mere $159 complete with a folio case and just $5.00 shipping. That is over $170 less than retail although the unit does come refurbished.
More details on the VTAB can be found here and while their tablet may not be the best or most powerful around it does play extremely nice with Vizio TV’s and has a pretty great price too. You can see our sister site SlashGears full review here.
The VTAB rocks an 8″ display, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1 GHz processor with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, micro-SD support and HDMI-out for those in need. It also has a full suite of applications catering around their smart TV’s and functions as a remote control at the same time. Again this may not be the biggest or the best but at that price it’s a great way to get into a decent Android tablet. If you ask me I think this is a pretty awesome holiday gift — especially at that price. Head down to Woot and get one today. )
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| New Sony Ericsson Nozomi photos ooze style Posted: 12 Dec 2011 10:06 AM PST Say what you will about Sony Ericsson’s current lineup of Android phones, but the Nozomi (AKA the Arc HD) is a looker no matter how you break it down. A tipster delivered a new set of leaked photos to GSMArena, showing off the high-end handset’s sharp corners and chrome accents. This is the first we’ve seen of the phone’s back, and while it’s a little thicker than we’d like, there’s just no denying the appeal of the slate.
Notably the Nozomi may be Sony’s first device to launch with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, as seen in this press shot. Then again, that may just be Sony’s latest customized version of Gingerbread, since today’s leaked shots feature a launcher that certainly isn’t ICS-native. On the inside you get a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon processor, and on the outside you get a delicious 1280 x 720 screen, though you’ll have to make due with whatever on-board storage Sony sees fit to include. There’s no MicroSD card slot to be found. Even if the Nozomi doesn’t launch with Ice Cream Sandwich, it’ll likely get it soon enough. Sony has committed to an ICS upgrade to all current XPERIA phones, to the delight of owners stuck in two-year contracts. Though there’s no mention of a release date, the phone is coming sooner rather than later, since it features the soon-to-be-scrapped Sony Ericsson branding. We’ll probably be seeing this one at CES or Mobile World Congress early next year, so stay tuned.      )
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| Toshiba’s 7-inch Thrive available now Posted: 12 Dec 2011 09:28 AM PST I’m sure there’s at least one person out there who absolutely loved everything about Toshiba’s 10-inch thrive Honeycomb tablet (even the headache-inducing commercials) except for its to-inch size. Well rejoice, One Guy, because the long-leaked 7-inch variant is available from Toshiba now, and should be hitting US retailers in the near future. The 16GB and 32GB versions will set you back $379.99 and $429.99, respectively.
Under the hood you get the same 1Ghz Tegra 2 dual-core process and 1GB of RAM, speedy enough to handle the vanilla Honeycomb 3.2 interface with ease. The display is an impressive 1280 x 800 pixels, matching competitors like the T-Mobile Springboard and the upcoming Galaxy Tab 7.7 for resolution and density. Expansion options are varied, with a mini USB port (not micro USB), HDMI out and MicroSD card support, plus a physical lock switch. Unfortunately a proprietary port is the only way to charge and sync, and that probably means no trickle charging from a computer, either. WiFi is the only way to access the Internet, but the junior Thrive does feature Bluetooth 3.0. It inherits the rather chunky profile of its big brother, and Toshiba claims six hours of battery life. Built-in apps include Kaspersky, Silvercreek’s suite of board games, MOG Music, QuickOffice and (sigh) Need For Speed Shift. Don’t break out your wallet just yet, folks. Aside from the fact that the excellent Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus lies right in between the 16GB and 32GB models as far as price goes, Toshiba’s razor-thin Excite tablet is expected in February of next year. If portability and weight is a concern, the new model will definitely beat out the Thrive, though the battery life issues experienced on the former may still be a problem. )
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| 10 Billion Apps promo, day 7: Super KO Boxing 2, Flight Control and Doodle Jump for 10¢ Posted: 12 Dec 2011 08:23 AM PST Google’s celebration of 10 billion Android Market app downloads continues into its seventh day, with a catalog of heavily discounted games and entertainment apps. The Android creator is partnering with top developers on the Android Market to mark down paid apps to jut 10 cents / pence, focusing on the ever-popular game section. Today’s deals include Super KO Boxing 2, Flight Control and Doodle Jump.
Here’s the list of today’s newly discounted apps: Doodle Jump, When I Get Bigger (another “Little Critter” motion book), Flick Soccer, SUPER KO BOXING! 2, Blow Up, Roll in the Hole, Block Breaker 3 Unlimited HD and Flight Control. SoundHound and Beautiful Widgets, the first paid Android app to reach a million downloads, are repeats from previous days. To see and buy all the apps on one page, click here. With Google repeating two apps every day in the ten-day promotion, it looks like the final tally of almost-free paid apps will be somewhere in the 85-90 range. That’s a lot of money saved if you’ve been keeping up daily, since most of the apps go for between $2 and $6, and a full collection of the discounted apps would set you back less than $10. As usual, yesterday’s apps are still at their discounted prices right now, but they won’t stay that way for long – get to it!
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| The Galaxy Tab gets some iLuv with ArtStation Pro speaker dock Posted: 12 Dec 2011 08:01 AM PST Despite beating the pants off of iOS in basically every market, Android’s plurality of devices and form factors makes it tough for accessory manufacturers to commit to anything more risky than cases and chargers. But iLuv is serving users of one of the most popular Android tablet lines with its very own speaker dock, to the joy of Galaxy Tab owners and the sorrow of their suddenly slimmer wallets. The ArtStation Pro Audio Dock is compatible with the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9 and 10.1.
Samsung’s tablets use a proprietary iPhone-style dock connector for charging and syncing, much to the consternation of those of use who have a few dozen Micro USB cords lying around. That makes it incompatible with universal docks like Philips’ Fidelio line, which relies on a Micro USB connector for charging. But iLuv’s dock sports the proprietary Samsung connector for both charging and audio playback, meaning no extra cables and no Bluetooth audio quality loss, as in the Philips dock. The dock retails for $149.99 – pretty pricey for a single-function accessory that only works with four devices. But on the plus side, it comes with a full set of big, easy-to-use playback controls on the dock itself and an infrared remote for good measure. The ArtStation Pro’s unique styling won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but with the market starved for Android-friendly audio docks, beggars can’t be choosers. The dock goes on sale this month at retail outlets.    )
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| Facebook tops Nielsen’s list of most popular Android apps Posted: 12 Dec 2011 07:29 AM PST I know, I know, stop the presses: Facebook is the most popular app on Android. The statistical wizards at Nielsen reached this conclusion based on active usage, not total downloads, noting that the recently-updated Facebook app has the most penetration across all of Android’s user groups after the Android Market itself. The fact is at least a little surprising, since Facebook beat out Google’s entrenched apps like Search, Gmail and Google Maps, which all had slightly lower user groups in every category.
Nielsen breaks down the distribution of most-used apps by how many users opened the app in the last 30 days. So while nearly 4/5th of the Android population uses Facebook on a regular basis, only about three quarters actually use Google Search, which is built right into the framework of Android. When it comes to third-party apps, Facebook absolutely kills the competition, with Angry Birds getting less than half the active users that Facebook enjoys from the 35-44 crowd. Other notably popular apps by usage include Pandora, QuickOffice, Yahoo Mail, Adobe Reader and Advanced Task Killer Free, despite the latter being unnecessary for almost all current Android devices. The Android Market beats all, but since it’s a gateway to almost all third-party apps that’s understandable. Strangely, younger users actually seem slightly less inclined to download apps than their 25-44 counterparts. Among 18-24 year-olds, 89% use the Market regularly, compares to 92-95% for older users. Angry Birds is also significantly more popular in the older age group, a fact that lines up with some personal observations. Don’t install Angry Birds on your grandmother’s shiny new DROID this holiday season, unless you’re keen on hearing a dozen different varieties on the theme of “SQUUAAAAK” all weekend. [via Androinica] )
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| Barnes & Noble readies massive Nook Color update with Netflix and Marvel Comics Posted: 12 Dec 2011 07:05 AM PST It’s always nice to see a company supporting its products after an erstwhile successor has been introduced, and it looks like Barnes & Noble is doing just that with its Nook Color tablet-reader. The bookseller just released a huge update to the Nook Color’s software, well over a year after its original release, and almost a month after the Nook Tablet relegated it to the second tier of Barnes & Noble’s hardware offerings. Customers who weren’t swayed by the incremental updates in the Nook Tablet will no doubt be appreciative.
The update focuses on more media consumption, with the most notable addition being baked-in support for Netflix streaming. Flixster is also coming along for the ride. Barnes & Noble is also touting “the largest collection og Marvel graphic novels” coming to the 7-inch tablet, apparently integrated into the Nook bookstore instead of in a stand-alone app on the Android Market. The comics are formatted specifically to look and read well on the Nook Color, making the jump from the more expensive Nook Tablet where they debuted. All this is likely to pass nearly unnoticed by the Nook Color’s active community of Android modders. CyanogenMod 7 continues to be the most popular aftermarket ROM for the easily-hacked tablet, and CyanogenMod 9 will likely make Ice Cream Sandwich available to them early next year. That at least is one reason to go with the Nook Color over the Nook Tablet; Barnes & Noble placed a locked bootloader on the newer hardware, putting the kaibosh on most custom ROMs. Stock Nook Color users can download the update from Barnes & Noble’s website. )
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| European Union slams the breaks on Google-Motorola antitrust review Posted: 12 Dec 2011 06:50 AM PST Excited at the prospect of Google having its own in-house hardware branch? Prepare to curb your enthusiasm: Bloomberg reports that antitrust proceedings for Google’s acquisition of Motorola in the European Union will take even longer than normal, after the European Commission has halted its investigation to allow for more discovery. The Commission is requesting “certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction”, with no ETA on the continuing process.
This sort of thing isn’t entirely unexpected from the European Commission, but it does serve as a considerable roadblock for Google’s high-profile purchase of Motorola’s hardware division. While the EU couldn’t actually stop the two American companies from merging, it could essentially bar them from operating in its member nations, meaning that the merger almost certainly will not be finalized without the EU’s consent. Dedicated followers of technology news will recognize the pattern: the EU has a long history of strict regulation on large American tech companies. A Google spokesperson in Brussels notes that the request is routine, and doesn’t expect it to seriously impede the merger, now expected to complete some time next year. “We're confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we'll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.” said Al Verney, in an email with Bloomberg. Motorola’s stockholders have already approved the merger, so approval form regulatory organizations is now the biggest hurdle for the two companies to overcome. )
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| LG Spectrum/Revolution 2 pics surface Posted: 12 Dec 2011 03:12 AM PST Some photos of a new smartphone from LG called the LG Spectrum have surfaced. The phone will head to Verizon and be called the Revolution 2 on the Verizon network. The photos surfaced after the rumor that the handset was coming reports PocketNow. The Spectrum has now been confirmed as the Revolution 2, which surfaced in the Verizon system last month as model number VS920.
A photo showing the phone from just about all angles has surfaced and a few specs are tipped as well. The phone will run Android and pack a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It will have an 8MP camera and will rock LTE connectivity for the Verizon 4G network as shown with the little 4G logo on the back of the smartphone. The phone appears to be reasonably slim and has the three buttons on the bottom of the screen that are seen on most of the Verizon Android devices recently. Hopefully, we can learn a bit more about the hardware in the coming weeks and see how well the smartphone performance against the other high end Android devices like the Razr and Galaxy Nexus that Verizon has in its line. [via Pocketnow] )
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| Android Community Weekly: December 11, 2011 Posted: 11 Dec 2011 09:38 PM PST We’ve finally finished a couple excellent reviews, have a better understanding of whats been holding up the Galaxy Nexus, and learned of some cool new accessories for your new (or older) device! The first review definitely worth taking a look at is of the ASUS Transformer Prime. Cory Gunther put it to the test through some rigorous benchmark tests and great video demonstrations. To date, it has performed better than any current Android tablet on the market. Next up, Michael Crider posted a review of the new Nitro HD by LG. It turned out to have quite a crisp IPS LCD display, but turned out to be a quite bland device in general.
In other news, the legendary HTC Universal – a 6 year old Windows Mobile device – received a functional port of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). For a clunker with only 64-128MB of RAM, this is a definitive feat. Tuesday, Verizon’s Motorola DROID XYBOARD was officially released to the press in both 10.1″ and 8.2″ models. We had been told the XYBOARDs would be available on the 9th, and sure enough – tablets went on sale later that day. As for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus – there is still no definite release date. We had seen that phones were arriving in stores suggesting a retail date of December 9th, yet that day came and passed. To make things worse, boxes of the device were seen at Verizon and RadioShack but store workers state they can’t sell them until they receive the “OK” from corporate. If they are waiting on a software fix, it might be better to just start selling the devices and push the update afterwards. At this point, we would all understand. Also, be sure to check out the Macro Lens Band that can fit over any camera to help take sharp closeups with your smartphone! It looks amazing, and I’ve got one in the mail headed my way now. Finally, due to Google’s 10 Billion Apps promo, you guys will be able to pick up a nice group of apps for the next 4 days – so keep checking back here on Android Community for a daily list, or navigate yourself to the Android Market! )
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