Android Community |
- Star Command: Trekkie RPG with Game Dev Story style
- Tenqa REMXD Bluetooth Headphones bring DJ style with an affordable price
- More evidence for an official Xbox Live Android app
- BBC News app updated for Android tablets
- Toshiba BookPlace DB50 takes the color e-reader craze to Japan
- Android tablets gain ground with 10.5 million sales in Q4 2011
- Ice Cream Sandwich Face Unlock has issues with dark skin tones
- WebOS app favorite Glimpse coming to Android
- Sony ‘Tapioca’ and ‘Nypon’ spyshots leaked
- Sony ‘Kumquat’ could launch as XPERIA U
- Philips Soundbar streams DLNA Android content to any TV
- Acer Iconia Tab A700 gets official, priced in Europe
- Rooting exemption to the DMCA set to expire, EFF fights for permanent solution
- Sony Crystal tablet could be headed to AT&T in February
- Anomaly Warzone Earth HD “Tower Offense” game lands on Android
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I available now, doesn’t play nice with Galaxy Nexus
- Samsung Galaxy S III launch delayed according to new rumors
- Surprise! The HTC Rezound may be Verizon’s first LTE world phone
- CyanogenMod 9 lands on the Original Galaxy Tab [Video]
- Kurio is the latest kid-friendly Android tablet
| Star Command: Trekkie RPG with Game Dev Story style Posted: 26 Jan 2012 10:29 AM PST Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of War Balloon Games, a tiny indie game developer with a love of all things Star Trek. Their continuing mission: to develop and Android game that combines the classic spacegoing stories of TV’s greatest scifi series with 16-bit RPG gameplay. To boldly go where, um, many, many people have gone before, actually. But in an awesome way.
Star Command is an upcoming game for Android and iOS with a lot of buzz behind it, thanks to an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign. The basic idea is to combine the turn-based mobile RPG framework with a universe that should be very familiar to fans of Gene Roddenberry’s magnum opus. It’s not just a pretty face, either: players will have to assemble away teams, repair and customize their starship (USS DROID DOES, NCC-2009) and recruit new crew members to keep the story going. Ground and space-based combat will play out differently, and your success or failure will depend upon your own skills and the team and tech you’ve assembled. There’s also a considerable amount of wry humor. Check out the video below for some GladOS-style fun, and forgive their poor choice of demo hardware: All this is wrapped up in a framework and graphical style that mimics Kairsoft’s Game Dev Story, a tried and tested formula for open-ended gaming on the small screen. The developers are creating huge world, which is why they’re months late on a release. But if the small glimpse available on their website is any indication, it’ll be well worth the wait. When launched the game will be a paid app, but War Balloon Games is promising free DLC for the life of the title. We can’t wait to try this one out – just remember not to give your crew members red shirts unless you’re okay with employing smoking piles of ash.      
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| Tenqa REMXD Bluetooth Headphones bring DJ style with an affordable price Posted: 26 Jan 2012 09:41 AM PST Bluetooth headphones are not the revolution we hoped they’d be way back in the early 2000s. Partly that’s because the A2DP streaming protocol only has so much bandwidth, but mostly it’s because the vast majority of Bluetooth headphones cost much more than most people are willing to spend. Fortunately, the last few years have seen some improvement on that, culminating in a new set of DJ-style over-the-ear cans from small accessory maker Tenqa. The “REMXD” Bluetooth Headphones come in at a wallet-friendly $39, and are scheduled to launch in early February.
The standard A2DP features are present, including integrated playback and volume controls. A microphone is hidden away somewhere inside the plastic casing, so you won’t have to remove the headphones to make or receive calls. A USB cable (hopefully with a standard MiniUSB or MocroUSB port) provides charging, and thanks to the large cups it should last for quite a while. Tenqa’s website claims that the REMXD headphones will go for 22.5 hours of talk time and 280 hours of standby on a 3.4 hour charge – that should mean about 15 hours of music-only streaming. And the best part? You can plug in a standard headphone cord for good old-fashioned analog listening. This solves a lot of problems all at once: if you should forget your charger on a long trip, you can still connect to your Android phone or tablet; if you want to connect quickly to a non-Bluetooth device or just don’t want to mess with pairing, you can; if you’re in the mood for a more hi-fi experience, the wired connection provides higher-quality sound from the same set of headphones. The Tenqa REMXD Bluetooth Headphones should be arriving at retailers in the next few weeks.    
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| More evidence for an official Xbox Live Android app Posted: 26 Jan 2012 09:02 AM PST Earlier this month we reported that a job listing on Microsoft’s website pointed towards a possible Xbox Live app for Android devices. That’s looking more and more likely: a Microsoft spokesperson recently indicated that the company was looking to expand the social and remote features of the Xbox 360 with more mobile platforms. That would be a major boon to those who use a combination of Microsoft hardware on the console gaming side of things and Android (or iOS) on mobile – and given the high sales of both, that’s a large section of that particular Venn diagram.
Here are Microsoft’s words, exactly:
Xbox Live integration is a pretty big selling point5 for Microsoft’s own Windows Phone 7 operating system – but apparently not big enough. The latest revision to Windows Mobile has spent over a year in the retail market without any real impact, even as Nokia begins to release its first WP7 hardware. Never one to let pride get in the way of profit, Microsoft is probably looking to solidify the Xbox’s position in the gaming world by letting users connect to the cloud side of things however they’d like. This doesn’t mean that Microsoft isn’t behind its own mobile platform – they’re still pushing hard to regain the market share they’ve lost in the last few years. But the reality is that the Xbox division makes a whole lot more money than Windows Phone, and with Sony making its own impressive moves towards mobile gaming, now’s not the time to play favorites. With new hires and indications from PR, expect Android and iOS integration for Xbox Live sometime late this year.
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| BBC News app updated for Android tablets Posted: 26 Jan 2012 08:25 AM PST Anglophiles have been able to get their British Broadcasting Company News fix on Android for a while now, but if you prefer a larger screen, you were stuck with an upscaled interface on tablets. Until now, that is: the BBC just announced an updated News app that plays nice with Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich tablets. At the moment the app is only available to UK users, but according to the news service the international version will soon be updated as well.
Just as before, the app allows readers to access all the portions of the BBC News website in a mobile form factor. A useful addition is the ability to customize your homescreen (a la Google Currents) to see only the news that you care about. Video links contained in each story will play without opening another app. Like any good reader app, you can customize the size of the displayed font to your liking. A few features from the smartphone version have yet to make it to the tablet app, including homescreen widgets and Flash support. The app is a free download in the Android Market, though as mentioned before, it’s currently only approved for UK users. Early reviews of the tablet version indicate great success - if only all news outlets suported tablets to this degree! (Cough.) We await the international version with bated breath.
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| Toshiba BookPlace DB50 takes the color e-reader craze to Japan Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:55 AM PST 7-inch Android devices that blur the lines between a “color e-reader” and “budget tablet” are all the rage here in the US, bud purpose-built models are a bit thin on the ground elsewhere. Toshiba aims to change that, at least in its home country of Japan. The BookPlace DB50 combines a unique shape with a customized version of Gingerbread to create a device purpose-built for Toshiba’s proprietary bookstore, which now serves up “about 50,000″ Japanese books and periodicals.
The hardware isn’t much, but then an ereader doesn’t need to blast through benchmarks. The standard 7-inch, 1024×600 screen uses a TFT LCD screen, unlike the more readable IPS panels in the Barnes & Noble Nook Color and Nook Tablet. a 1.0Ghz single-core processor is a little weak, but it combines with a full gigabyte of RAM, so performance should be more than enough for reading and basic web browsing. WiFi and Bluetooth take care of the communications side of things, while users will have to make due with just 8GB of storage space. An open MicroSD card slot allows for up to 32GB of extra storage. The hardware design is unique, combining a sloping left side with exaggerated bevels on the right. Even more odd, all of the BookPlace DB50′s controls are on the top – Home, Menu, Back, Continue and the volume rocker. The tablet will go on sale in Japan starting on February 10th, with a price of 22,000 yen (a little over $280). Buyers will get a coupon good for 5000 yen in credit for the BookPlace book store. [via TechCrunch]
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| Android tablets gain ground with 10.5 million sales in Q4 2011 Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:25 AM PST Apple sells a lot of iPads – their recent financial disclosing leave no doubt about it. But looming behind the Cupertino giant is the specter of Android, ready to take over the tablet world as it already has the smartphone one. While Apple shipped more than 15 million iPads worldwide in the last three months of 2011, Android tablet shipments rose to 10.5 million, giving the two platforms a 57.6% and 39.1% share of the tablet market, respectively. Compared the the same quarter in 2010, Apple’s market share dropped my more than 10 points while Android’s rose by almost exactly the same amount. The latest numbers are according to Strategy Analytics.
Total tablet sales nearly tripped across all platforms in 2011, meaning that both Android and iOS are selling an order of magnitude more devices than even a year before. Windows 7 and “Other” tablets (presumably including the Blackberry Playbook and remaining stock of the HP TouchPad) made up less than 1% of combined sales. Even as the tablet market grows by leaps and bounds, Android is stealing sales from the iPad at an alarming rate – not at all unlike Android’s rise on the smartphone side of things from 2009-2010. Of course most of Android’s sales are coming from small, inexpensive tablets in the $200 range, comparing favorably to Apple’s cheapest iPad at $500. The Kindle Fire and Nook Color/Nook Tablet are the reigning kings of thrify Android tablets in the US, with options from smaller Chinese manufacturers making up a big chunk worldwide. Almost all of these tablets run Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Now that the more tablet-friendly Ice Cream Sandwich is available as an open source OS, we’re seeing more and more low-cost tablets launch with an interface to take advantage of the larger screen size. Forthcoming models like the Asus MeMO 370T (above), which packs a 720p display, quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and Ice Cream Sandwich into a 7-inch body and a $250 retail price, give hope that 2012 can see Android’s potential combine both low cost and high functionality across all price points.
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| Ice Cream Sandwich Face Unlock has issues with dark skin tones Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:02 AM PST
Let’s start off by getting this right out of the way: Google isn’t racist, or at the very least, problems with face detection don’t make them so. Differing skin tones, particularly for those of African, Indian, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent, present problems for cameras of all kinds. Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect peripheral has a lot of the same issues, as do other facial recognition systems. Unfortunately, detecting faces in areas of low contrast is still pretty difficult, even for modern camera sensors and software – it’s more of a physical limitation of light refraction than anything else. The original poster said that the issue persists in both dark and overly lighted areas. Face Recognition is more of a toy than a security feature, at least at the moment. As far as biometrics are concerned, fingerprint reading is still a much more secure method of logging in and/or unlocking a device – ICS’s facial recognition can even be fooled by a well-printed photo. Here’s hoping that Google can improve the software in future versions, for everyone’s sake. Hey Apple, when you patent the tech that’s already in Android, maybe you can make it “just work”.
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| WebOS app favorite Glimpse coming to Android Posted: 26 Jan 2012 06:33 AM PST As anyone who’s actually used it will tell you, the death of Palm/HP’s WebOS really is a shame. The little operating system that couldn’t had a lot of great ideas (more than a few of which made their way into Ice Cream Sandwich) but low sales and almost nonexistent app support doomed the platform. That isn’t to say there were no good apps, and one of the best is coming to Android in the future: the multi-faceted, multi-talented Glimpse. The HP TouchPad app does more multitasking in a single window than certain iDevices can manage all day.
Glimpse uses WebOS’ system of panes to divide a work area up into different sections, essentially creating a series of small apps running in their own windows. Functions include a standard Web browser, Twitter and Facebook clients, Google Reader, Read It Later, YouTube, and a collection of more standard features like weather, a notepad and a calculator. Users can customize their screen to divide it almost however they like, and change sections on the fly. As a heads-up display for your various connected services, Glimpse is unparalleled on any platform, at least as far as I’ve seen. Observe: The division of sections in WebOS is hard to duplicate on other operating systems, but now that HP has made the open source code available, developer Inglorious Apps posted an early version of the iPad port on Twitter. Unfortunately he seems to have his priorities backwards and is waiting until the iOS version is complete before starting on Android. We at Android Community respect developers’ choices to work on the platform of their choice, and certainly do not encourage our readers to pester him mercilessly until he commits to equal support for Android. We’d be very disappointed if you contacted him via his website to do so. So you shouldn’t do that. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
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| Sony ‘Tapioca’ and ‘Nypon’ spyshots leaked Posted: 25 Jan 2012 10:39 PM PST Spyshots of the Sony Tapioca and Nypon have leaked, and each show us a little bit more of what may be shown off at the end of February in Barcelona, Spain during Mobile World Congress 2012. We had recently seen what looked to be the Sony LT22i ‘Nypon’ a few days back, but now it seems the device shown was a different one altogether. In the previous picture, the mystery device is obviously running Android 4.0, and absent of physical softkeys.
However, as you can see – the LT22i ‘Nypon’ is sporting three physical buttons. From the right photo, the curved shape leads one to believe it may pack quite the battery. Official specs are completely absent for this device, so there’s clue how the Nypon compares to the likes of the XPERIA S or even the newly named XPERIA U.
And then there’s the Sony Tapioca; a lower tier smartphone in Sony’s lineup. This smaller device is supposedly carrying a 3.2″ HVGA display, and running a currently unknown 800MHz processor. It is also said to have 4GB of internal storage, and 512MB RAM – so don’t expect the Tapioca to fly as fast as the others. We should see the device sometime around July. [via AndroidGuys]
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| Sony ‘Kumquat’ could launch as XPERIA U Posted: 25 Jan 2012 10:02 PM PST We saw a picture of the Sony ST25i, codename “Kumquat”, leak last Friday. Now sources suggest it will debut as the Sony XPERIA U, likely at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. Earlier reported, this new XPERIA device will not be the top dog in their lineup, but more like a middle man. It will sport a 1GHz dual-core processor and have a smaller screen than their other newly announced devices, likely right around 3.5″.
Like all new XPERIA devices moving forward, “Ericsson” should have dropped from its official name. But as you can see in the picture demoed above, this one may end up carrying it. The XPERIA U will also have a 5MP rear shooter, and it’s hard to make out from the picture – but there may be a front facing cam as well. Overall, the device is much smaller than the XPERIA S seen at this year’s CES. Though not a powerhouse like the XPERIA S, this phone could still have a proper following. With a decent battery and build, it could have some serious potential. You can also assume the XPERIA U will show up on GSM airwaves as usual; excluding the XPERIA Play, Sony hasn’t quite taken a liking to CDMA networks. [via BGR]
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| Philips Soundbar streams DLNA Android content to any TV Posted: 25 Jan 2012 07:22 PM PST Philips is all in when it comes to Android support, and for that, we thank them. In addition to a wide range of Fidelio speaker docks and Android-specific headphones, they’ve recently unveiled the Soundbar CSS5123. But this isn’t just your run-of-the-mill all in one speaker system: the Soundbar packs in a DLNA receiver and video-out functionality. This means that even if your HDTV or projector doesn’t pack in Digital Living Network Alliance support, you can add it with a swanky speaker set.
Like most of the similar products that have come out in the last three or four years, the Soundbar CSS5123 packs in 5 “virtual” surround sound speakers into a package that’s designed to fit below your television. There’s an added bonus of a wireless subwoofer as well. Also crammed into the Soundbar is a WiFi adapter and enough computing power to handle 1080p HD and basic management. Audio and/or video is streamed from a Philips SimplyShare app on your Android smartphone or tablet connected to a local WiFi network. You can also stream from any PC on the network, or just plug in a flash drive or hard drive to load up video, music or photos directly. The Sounbar will come in snazzy black or white, and is scheduled for release in April. at $349 it’s significantly more expensive than the basic speaker bar sets available now, but it also does a lot more with what it’s got. It’s nice to see accessories and home theater equipment being made with Android in mind – keep up the good work, Philips!    [via GizMag]
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| Acer Iconia Tab A700 gets official, priced in Europe Posted: 25 Jan 2012 06:56 PM PST 2012′s crop of high-end tablets is shaping up to be nothing short of mind-blowing, and Acer is keeping pace with its competitors thanks to the Iconia Tab A700. After teasing it at CES 2012, the tablet is now official after being unveiled in a press event in Hamburg. The Tegra 3-powered 1080p Ice Cream Sandwich tablet is the equal to just about anything we’ve seen thus far, but one thing concerns us is the price: how will Acer keep its reputation as a low-cost manufacturer while cramming in suck high-end parts? Apparently that concern is justified. According to German site Tablet Test, the A700 base model will have a price tag of €549, about $720 in United States dollars.
And that’s just for the 16GB model. A 64GB version will retail for €749, or just shy of one thousand dollars. That probably means that a 32GB model will slide in at €649. Keep in mind that these are target prices, given at a press event without any real commitment on the part of Acer – it’s possible that they could fluctuate up or down between now and the A700′s release sometime in the second quarter. Also consider that almost all electronics cost considerably more in Europe, even accounting for currency exchange rates. All that said, the specs of the A700 might just warrant a sky-high price. A 1920×1200 IPS panel is downright amazing on a 10-inch device, to say nothing of its quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Throw in Ice Cream Sandwich, HDMI capabilities, a USB host port, a 5MP rear camera, 9800mAh battery and all the standard bells and whistles like WiFi and Bluetooth, and you’ve got a tablet that will put any current Android model to shame. Even so, I think a US price of $600 is the absolute maximum that any manufacturer should consider for their lowest-capacity model. We’ll be keeping an eye out for more official word as Mobile World Congress draws nearer.     Device Info
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 [via UnWiredView]
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| Rooting exemption to the DMCA set to expire, EFF fights for permanent solution Posted: 25 Jan 2012 06:02 PM PST Did you know that your right to root your Android phone is actually protected by U.S. copyright law? It’s true. In a 2010 revision to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the US Copyright Office granted an exemption that made modifying copyrighted software legal for the purposes of unlocking phones. This was mostly aimed at the iPhone (as Apple was trying to establish a legal precedent for suing its own customers at the time) but the exemption applies to any cell phone, including all Android phones sold in the United States. There’s just one problem: the exemption wasn’t permanent, and it’s set to expire later this year.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lobbying group dedicated to Truth, Justice and protecting the rights of Internet users and electronics owners everywhere, isn’t down with that. They’re petitioning the Copyright Office to make the exemption permanent, and expand the definition to “personal computing devices”, neatly covering tablets, game consoles, PCs and almost anything else you can purchase at Best Buy. To help out, you can head over to their website and sign the petition, customizing your input for your own personal experience. Developers, academics, and plain old users are encouraged to send in their thoughts. Be quick about it, though: the application will close on February 10th. You may be thinking that the DMCA and other restrictive copyright laws doesn’t apply to Android because it’s open source, unlike iOS. And in most respects, you’re right – except where it isn’t. All of Google’s applications (Gmail, YouTube, the Android Market) carrier and manufacturer apps, and many Market apps are published as closed-source, copyrighted programs. Even some of the lower-level functions that manufacturers bolt onto Android’s code are copyrighted and in some cases protected by patents. The exemption to the DMCA makes modification to any of those elements legal for the specific purpose of “unlocking” a phone, be it for use on another network or just to use custom software. Were the exemption to expire, any root or bootloader exploit used to run custom software could technically become illegal – and those who distribute modified code or the instructions for modifying it could face civil or criminal charges. Rooting is one of the best parts of the Android ecosystem, for those who care to take part in it. Custom ROMs and many of the modifications we feature every week wouldn’t be possible on some hardware without it. Please take a few moments of your time to help the EFF in its efforts to keep phone and tablet modification free and legal in the United States. [via ZDnet]
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| Sony Crystal tablet could be headed to AT&T in February Posted: 25 Jan 2012 05:11 PM PST It seems like everybody’s getting into the 3G tablet game these days, especially on AT&T: Samsung, HTC, Acer and even Pantech have all released models within the last 6 months. But so far, Sony hasn’t seemed all that interested in anything but WiFi for its Tablet S, at least in the United States – back home in Japan, 3G models of both the Tablet S and Tablet P are available. According to a recently leaked roadmap, that may soon change, with a new Sony tablet code-named the Crystal.
Not much is known about the device’s hardware, except that it’ll be restricted to HSPA+ networks. That’s a shame, considering that even cheap tablets are using AT&T’s LTE data speeds now. However, the report states that the tablet will launch in the first quarter (possibly on February 18th like the Samsung Galaxy Note) for $409.99. That price almost certainly includes a two-year data contract, because every Android user wants nothing more than a 24-month lock-in while the hardware world whizzes by. So, what is it? Since we haven’t heard anything about drastically improved hardware, it seems likely that the Tablet S (above) will be getting a slight make-over and a new name. AT&T and other American carriers like to do that sort of thing: see also the Sony Ericsson Xperia S, given a slightly different shell and renamed the Ion for AT&T’s customers. That said, it’s always possible that Sony’s managed to keep brand new hardware under wraps for months. If that’s the case, a reveal at Mobile World Congress in February would be a likely scenario. [via BGR]
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| Anomaly Warzone Earth HD “Tower Offense” game lands on Android Posted: 25 Jan 2012 04:44 PM PST While Tower Defense games are hugely successful and loads of fun I can’t help but feel like we have entirely too many. What we have today though is the poplar “tower offense” game called Anomaly Warzone Earth HD from 11 bit studios. This game was extremely successful over on that iOS platform and now it’s finally here where it belongs — on Android.
This game has picked up plenty of traction lately and not just on mobile. It’s currently available on Xbox live and even offered as a PC game so we are getting some intense graphics and awesome gameplay here. Obviously it wont look as it does on the PC side of things but the graphics are rather impressive for Android.
If you are a fan of “tower” type games you’ll want to check this out. It has received its fair share of awards such as Best Mobile Strategy Game from IGN and more from other mobile gaming sites. If the title doesn’t make things clear — this is the opposite of tower defense. Instead you’ll be on the offense throwing waves and waves of tanks into battle and hoping for the best. It’s all about strategy and choosing the right route, squad, and weapons. Anomaly Warzone Earth HD offers excellent gameplay, an immersive story-like campaign and great graphics to seal the deal. If any of this interests you it’s available today from the Android Market starting at $3.99 so head down to the link after the video below and give it a try. Some are reporting the additional download wont start — give it a try and let us know in the comments below what you think. [via Anomalythegame Blog] — Thanks MarK
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| Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I available now, doesn’t play nice with Galaxy Nexus Posted: 25 Jan 2012 03:30 PM PST After the news that Sega was planning on bringing its 2D platforming revival Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode II to Android, we were happier than a hedgehog in a hot dog stand – then a little miffed that the company had apparently completely passed over Android for part I, despite releasing it for every other platform including iOS. That small oversight has been corrected today, as Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 has been released in the Android Market. You can pick it up now for $3.99.
Hold on a minute, Sega fans – Galaxy Nexus owners might want to wait a while before dropping their four bucks. Being the die-hard Sega fan that I am, I immediately bought and installed the game, only to find that it would get past the initial loading screen and freeze. I haven’t tried it on the many Android devices lying around, but according to the early comments, the Galaxy Nexus seems to be the only major phone affected at the moment. Those of you with Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs on your Android phone or tablet might want to take a wait-and-see approach as well, especially since the 100MB download might eat through your 15-minute return window on a 3G connection. Considering the support that Sega has shown Android over the last few months, with Sonic CD, Chu Chu Rocket! and Fallen Realms, I’d expect these issues to be patched quickly. Sonic CD had some early trouble as well, and is now working fine on all devices. If you’ve got a Tegra 3 device or are planning on finding one before Episode II comes out, you’re in for a treat: a special version of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will take advantage of the quad-core processor for better graphics. There’s no indication that Episode I is getting a similar treatment.
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| Samsung Galaxy S III launch delayed according to new rumors Posted: 25 Jan 2012 03:23 PM PST Uh! The hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III quad-core superphone will not be announced or unveiled next month at Mobile World Congress 2012 according to latest rumors from The Verge. After initial reports lately including a few yesterday stating it would be announced in Spain for MWC 2012, we are now hearing that it has been delayed.
Members close to the subject are now claiming that the Galaxy S III will not be debuted at MWC 2012 and instead will be at a later date. However, sources are still saying we will see the device “before summer”, so that is good news. The last generation, the Galaxy S II was announced at MWC last year around the same time and we were expecting the same — but things appear to have changed. While MWC was a logical choice, it could be because they’d like their own event for the big day, or Samsung needs a few more weeks to get everything ready to go. Either way we are now hearing they’ll be sure to announce some “interesting stuff” at MWC 2012 but that is all we know. I’m hopeful for a new 10.1″ tablet with a quad-core but we’ll have to wait and see. Sad news, but it will be worth the wait in the end — that is for sure.
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| Surprise! The HTC Rezound may be Verizon’s first LTE world phone Posted: 25 Jan 2012 03:02 PM PST Rumors have been flying for a couple of months that Verizon is set to introduce LTE phones with world roaming capabilities any time now. But according to the practical experimentation of one XDA Developers member, the HTC Rezound already has this ability, somewhat hidden. When “i rule 123” disabled the 4G LTE radio on his Resound, he noticed a new option for a Global mode. He popped in a T-Mobile UK SIM card, and lo and behold, it both made and received calls – no hacking required.
Of course, this is XDA we’re talking about here. After enlisting the help of his fellow forum-dwellers, the Rezound owner managed to coax the phone into using both upload and download data, and receiving text messages. Unfortunately sending text messages is impossible at the moment, but plenty of folks are actively working on the problem. The international calling and data seems to work fine with home-made ROMs, including the latest AOSP Ice cream Sandwich build. For all of these, all that’s required is a few tweaks of the APN settings. The real question is, was the international functionality included at the behest of HTC or Verizon? HTC’s got a clear motive for including it: with some slight modification they can start pumping out Rezound-ish hardware for most world markets. But it’s hard to believe that they could sneak a GSM radio onto Verizon’s LTE phone without the carrier being aware of it. If that’s the case, why hasn’t Verizon enabled international roaming? Why wouldn’t they want to give their customers more options, not to mention hyping up their own product? The only reason that I can think of is that they’re waiting to unveil LTE/international roaming plans that aren’t quite ready yet. This discovery brings Verizon’s other recent phones into question – how many of them are hiding a stealthy global mode? I’m fairly certain that the Galaxy Nexus LTE isn’t hiding any surprises, but perhaps the DROID RAZR/DROID RAZR MAXX or LG Spectrum are. There’s not much I can do to test our review unit from North Texas, but we’ll be keeping a lookout for similar news for other models. Device Info
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| CyanogenMod 9 lands on the Original Galaxy Tab [Video] Posted: 25 Jan 2012 02:48 PM PST While Samsung went back and forth regarding the original Tab and its possibilities for an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, that hasn’t stopped developers from diving in head first to port the latest from Google to the slate. We’ve seen a few ports running on the original Galaxy Tab but today we have something even better — CyanogenMod 9 booting up and running great.
Ports are one thing but a build by CyanogenMod makes this even better. The folks from Netbooknews took it for a spin and while it’s not quite complete or fully stable, it looks great so far. This appears to be Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich and not 4.0.3 but I’m sure that will come in due time. Obviously the Galaxy Tab is a bit old and only sports a 7″ 1024 x 600 resolution display and a single-core 1.0 GHz processor but things seem to be chugging along great. If the Nexus S can run it fine, the Galaxy Tab should too even with the larger screen. According to the awesome folks over at the XDA thread just about everything works so far, although it still needs a little bit of work. WiFi, Bluetooth, touch, and everything else seems great although they still have a few issues to work out with the camera and overall performance. It’s a great start for CM9 that is for sure. Hit the XDA link above to get started yourself.   Device Info
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| Kurio is the latest kid-friendly Android tablet Posted: 25 Jan 2012 02:29 PM PST Kids are lucky these days. When I was growing up, I had to drag my Sega Genesis to my friend’s house and plug it into a 100-pound CRT television to play with electronics. Uphill, in the snow, barefoot, both ways. Now kids get apps and even entire tablets all to themselves. The latest contender for the pint-sized crown is the Kurio line of tablets from Inspiration Works. Pocket Lint reports that the 7, 8 and 10-inch tablets use a combination of custom software and (yes!) Google’s apps including the Android Market, running over Gingerbread. The tablets can manage profiles for up to eight children at a time.
Aside from the size and screen resolution, there isn’t much to distinguish the tablets from one another. The 7-inch model uses a standard 800×480 screen, the 8-inch model gets a 4:3 800×600 panel and the 10-incher gets 940×600. All of them include 2-megapixel rear cameras with a .3 camera on the front. 4GB will have to do for internal storage, though they can be augmented with MicroSD cards. Mum’s the word on the processor and memory, but the manufacturer says that the tablets are capable of 1080p HDMI playback and they’re preparing an Ice Cream Sandwich update, so presumably the internals have to be decent. Keeping with the kid-friendly theme, big, spongy cases will be available for the Kurio tablets, the better to absorb an impact when they’re inevitably dropped on the kitchen tile. This is right in line with the Nabi tablet spotted at Toys R Us over the holidays. Headphones with a volume limit will also be available. The tablets are planned for a UK release in July, with no international plans at present. Prices for the 7, 8 and 10-inch versions are currenltly slated at £150, £180 and £200.    [via Droid Matters]
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One of the myriad new features in Ice Cream Sandwich that got people really excited about Android 4.0 was 
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