Android Community |
- Samsung Galaxy Note LTE heading to Rogers in February too
- Lenovo promises Ice Cream Sandwich update for ThinkPad Tablet in Q2
- Astdroid project helps your phone navigate in low Earth orbit [UPDATE]
- Sony Nypon rumored to come to market as “Xperia P”
- No objections – Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy coming to Android
- Official: Samsung Galaxy Note launches on AT&T February 19th
- ClockworkMod Recovery Touch beta ready for download
- Samsung’s expanding Galaxy now includes dual-core Galaxy S Advance
- Motorola offers bootloader-unlocked RAZR XT910 Developer Edition
| Samsung Galaxy Note LTE heading to Rogers in February too Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:29 AM PST The Samsung Galaxy Note has been in the news plenty as of late, and we’ll be seeing more soon with AT&T and now Rogers both getting a 4G LTE version coming next month. While we got our first look at the LTE model back at CES, Rogers official blog RedBoard has just outed they’ll be getting the 5.3″ phone/tablet hybrid too.
As I’m sure you all know, the Galaxy Note rocks a 5.3″ 1280 x 800 resolution AMOLED HD display and now comes complete with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Not to mention the 8 megapixel camera on the rear and the huge 2,500 mAh battery. The international version launched with Samsung’s own 1.4 GHz dual-core but the recent North American version on the AT&T Note and now Rogers both appear to be using a different 1.5 GHz chip — most likely a Qualcomm. According to the official post at RedBoard Rogers will be getting the Note LTE in February just like AT&T here in the US, although no exact date or time frame was given. Just like Samsung and AT&T, it is nice to see Rogers using our very own picture from Android Community in their on-device news widget (in the picture above). Expect this 5.3″ device and that awesome WACOM-powered S-pen stylus to hit early February up in Canada on more than a few carriers as we’ve also seen reports that TELUS should receive the device around the same time-frame. Stay tuned for more details. [via RedBoard]
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| Lenovo promises Ice Cream Sandwich update for ThinkPad Tablet in Q2 Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:07 AM PST Lenovo’s got some pretty exciting things lined up for 2012 as far as Android hardware goes, but apparently they haven’t forgot about users of their buttoned-down ThinkPad tablet. ITWorld reports that the company has committed to upgrading the Honeycomb tablet to Ice Cream Sandwich some time in the second quarter of this year. Specific dates weren’t given, but the should put the release at somewhere between 2 and 5 months from now, barring and delays.
The ThinkPad Tablet was released last summer to generally favorable reviews, especially among fans of the company’s no-nonsense line of laptops. The 10.1-inch tablet still runs Android 3.1 Honeycomb with a few of Lenovo’s custom UI overlays. The ThinkPad Tablet is pretty solid as a first-generation Honeycomb device, with a 1280×800 screen, Tegra 2 processor and an integrated stylus (which, incidentally, nails the “red nub” ThinkPad style). Retail prices are still hovering in the $400-500 range, but the tablet is often seen on sale or reduced. Fans of the hardware caught a break last week, as the unusually hard-to-crack software was finally rooted for the first time. In almost no time at all a version of ClockworkMod recovery was installed, paving the way for custom ROMs and other modifications. Though it’s almost certain that someone will get Ice Cream Sandwich running on the ThinkPad tablet before the official update (likely based on CyanogenMod’s public code) it’s nice to see Lenovo supporting its more pedestrian users. The release will also help modders to get a more stable and reliable version of custom ROMs working. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on an updated version of the ThinkPad Tablet’s hardware. We’ll be keeping an eye out. Device Info
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| Astdroid project helps your phone navigate in low Earth orbit [UPDATE] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 09:18 AM PST We’ve seen Android slip the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God (or at least slip past the upper sections of the atmosphere) before, but at least one developer wants to make it an everyday occurrence. Various weather balloon and rocket delivery systems from students and hobbyists have given us dirst-cheap photos and videos of the Earth in the last few years (including this nifty Lego-themed project from Canada) and Denver-based developer Danny Pier thinks the whole process can be streamlined with an Android phone. To that end, he’s developing an app that will record pictures and video as well as GPS information in an all-in-one package.
Pier hopes to send his own phone into space first, using the now familiar combination of a weather balloon and deploy-able parachute. When the helium balloon reaches a height where the pressure from the gas on the inside is too great (about 20 miles above sea level) it explodes, and the rig parachutes down. Generally people like to set a video camera going while it does so, and the Astdroid app will do this while recording data from GPS, though the satellites are pointed in such a way that GPS data only works up to a bout 60,000 feet. Once the rig falls into an area where it can receive GPS signals again, the app sends out a homing location and the user can recover his or her phone. Pier’s project is located at Kickstarter, where he’s already reached his $1800 goal to fund equipment and development. He hopes to be able to send limited video from the app itself, live as it goes up – though of course, even the best phone can’t receive a signal past a few vertical miles. Once he’s made a successful flight, Pier will release the app to the public, and good times will be had by all. Good luck Danny! UPDATE: Developer Craig Isakson let us know in the comments that he has a similar app that’s already available. If you’re planning some astronomical awesomeness, check out SpaceTracker in the Android Market.
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| Sony Nypon rumored to come to market as “Xperia P” Posted: 30 Jan 2012 08:46 AM PST Sony’s got a pretty wide range of Android phones on offer at the moment, and that doesn’t look to change any time soon. Just last week we saw some spy shots of the LT22i model, codenamed the Nypon. GSM Arena reports that the device may come to market as the Xperia P, as the other recently leaked smartphone, the Kumquat, may be labelled the Xperia U. Granted, these are probably better than naming your smartphone after an obscure Chinese fruit, but I was certainly hoping for better differentiation as Sony readies its newly integrated brand.
Sony seems to be aping Samsung, which has chosen a single moniker (Galaxy) and modified it for use with dozens of devices. Even as someone who covers this stuff daily, I have to check Device.ac to keep at the models straight. In what must be a positively unique event, carrier-added names are actually making these phones easier to distinguish: AT&T’s “Xperia Ion” is a lot easier to remember than “Xperia S”, the international version, in the same way that the Galaxy S II Skyrocket makes a better impression than the Galaxy S II LTE. The Nypon/Xperia P is likely to be one of the very first Sony phones released without any Ericsson branding, as the Japanese manufacturer has absorbed its stake in the Swedish telco. Early leaks indicate that the phone uses a 1Ghz processor and qHD display, putting it squarely in the mid-range of Sony’s upcoming lineup. At least one leaked photo indicates that the phone will run Ice Cream Sandwich, though that could simply be an early developer build. We’ll probably see more of both the Xperia P and Xperia U models at Mobile World Congress. [via Androinica]
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| No objections – Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy coming to Android Posted: 30 Jan 2012 07:55 AM PST Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years, odds are pretty good that you’ve heard of Capcom’s ultra-successful Ace Attorney series of detective/lawyer games for the Nintendo DS. Good news, legal eagles: the first three games in the series will soon be gracing your Android phone or tablet. The three titles will be made available on the Android Market. Developer Capcom didn’t say when the games would be made available, but they’ll cost 600 yen each or 1200 yen for the whole set – that’s about $8 and $16 in US currency. Only Japanese versions are confirmed at the moment, but the series has done very well in the US and Europe, so expect a localized release at some point.
The Ace Attorney series started with Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright on the Game Boy Advance back in 2001, with Nintendo DS ports making it a hit worldwide. The basic gameplay is in the style of point-and-click adventure, where Phoenix must defend his clients in the courtroom and find evidence of their innocence to identify the real culprit. The anime-style characters and over-the-top humor (there’s a detective character whose name is, no joke, Dick Gumshoe) have made it popular with children, while the mystery element makes it enjoyable for adults as well. The smartphone and tablet versions will have updated high-resolution graphics of the original sprites. Capcom has been admirably supporting Android for some time now, though with high-profile releases like Street Fighter 4 and Resident Evil 4, LG seems to have an exclusive stranglehold on its titles. Unfortunately, if the developer’s pattern continues, we’ll see the Ace Attorney games show up on Android months later than iOS and limited to devices sold by the highest bidder. I wish they’d take a hint from long-time rival Sega and release their games for anyone willing to pay up.     [via Siliconera]
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| Official: Samsung Galaxy Note launches on AT&T February 19th Posted: 30 Jan 2012 07:10 AM PST For those of you who salivated when AT&T announced that Samsung’s gigantic Galaxy Note smartphone would make its way to America, your wait is nearly over. The wireless carrier announced today that it would launch the much-anticipated device on Sunday, February 19th. As expected, the phone will cost $299.99 with a two-year contract or extension – there’s no word on how much the phone will cost without a commitment. Eager customers can pre-order the Galaxy Note starting on February 5th and get it delivered two days early. The Galaxy Note LTE will come in Carbon Blue and Ceramic White color options.
The Galaxy Note has created quite a following since the original model was announced way back in October, at the IFA show in Berlin. The phone’s outstanding feature is a 5.3-inch 1280×800 Super AMOLED display, easily the largest and most high-resolution screen for any phone being sold today. In addition, it packs a Wacom digitizer and old-school stylus (“S-Pen”) for pen-based drawing and input. Samsung has several customized applications to take advantage of the stylus, as well as the S-Pen SDK for developers who want their apps to integrate with the feature as well. If the Galaxy Note is well-received, the S-Pen may make its way to other future devices. The rest of the Galaxy Note is no slough: underneath that huge screen is a dual-core 1.4Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage space and an 8MP camera. To power all that you get an admirably large 2500mAh battery. The Note runs Samsung’s TouchWiz version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but an update to Ice Cream Sandwich is already in the works. The major difference between AT&T’s version of the Note and those already released overseas is the new radio, which will take advantage of the carrier’s LTE data network. Rumors of other US Galaxy Note variants, particularly the “Galaxy Journal” on Verizon, have yet to be confirmed. Device Info
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| ClockworkMod Recovery Touch beta ready for download Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:58 AM PST Tired of wearing out your volume keys navigating through a ClockworkMod Recovery interface to flash the newest and coolest ROMs? Good news, everyone! Now you don’t have to, assuming that you own a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (CDMA and GSM) or the GSM variant of the Nexus S. Clockwork developer Koushik “Koush” Dutta released beta versions of the custom recovery software for both phones yesterday. Instead of the basic button-based UI employed up to now, ClockworkMod Recovery Touch allows users to select folder, files and actions via the touchscreen.
There’s nothing wrong with the standard version of ClockworkMod Recovery, now in its fifth release and presumably still in active development. But as Android phones and tablets ditch physical buttons and scrollwheels to focus on on-screen navigation, getting around the sometimes complicated recovery UI is getting more difficult. The Galaxy Nexus and most Honeycomb tablets have just three hardware buttons (and in the case of the latter, the volume buttons can be kind of iffy for the delicate file selection needed in a recovery system). In addition to the touch controls, the new version of the software includes much bigger menu items, the better to select with your pudgy digits and to see on high-resolution screens. Though the three Nexus phones are the only models supported at the moment, you can bet that more will show up soon. To install the beta version of ClockworkMod Recovery Touch, you’ll have to put your device into fastboot mode. Downloads through the popular ROM Manager app will probably be available once the new recovery leaves beta testing.
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| Samsung’s expanding Galaxy now includes dual-core Galaxy S Advance Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:27 AM PST You can never have too many phones, right? Samsung sure seems to think so. The latest in its line of Galaxy-branded Android handsets is the Galaxy S Advance, a model that fits in between the first generation Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II as far as features and specifications are concerned. The biggest upgrade over the original is a dual-core 1Ghz processor. For those who can’t get enough of the curvy screens found on the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus, the new phone includes the slightly concave glass found on the developer phones. HardwareZone got an early look at a Galaxy S Advance (GT-i9070) in the Philippines.
Elsewhere, the phone resembles the original Galaxy S more than anything else: the 4-inch Super AMOLED screen uses an 800×480 resolution, 768MB of RAM should handle Android 2.3 Gingerbread without any major complaints, and the 5MP camera and 1.3MP front-facing cam are par for the course. The Galaxy S Advance offers a generous 16GB of storage space, along with an open MicroSD card slot. Like almost all of Samsung’s Android devices, it will include the current version of the TouchWiz interface and Samsung’s collection of proprietary media apps. An HSPA connection is maxxed out at 14 megabits per second. The phone is scheduled for a release in Russia in February, followed by a worldwide release just about everywhere except North America. The unlocked Galaxy S Advanced will cost somewhere in the $536 range, though obviously price and value will change based on local currency. Samsung continues to dominate the Android smartphone world, but we can’t help but think that they’re muddying the waters a bit with a staggering array of barely differing models – compare this approach to HTC’s 2012 strategy, focused on fewer devices with a “hero” mentality. Of course it’s hard to argue with Samsung’s sales… strength in numbers, indeed.    
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| Motorola offers bootloader-unlocked RAZR XT910 Developer Edition Posted: 30 Jan 2012 01:03 AM PST Motorola has announced a new variant of the RAZR, the RAZR XT910 Developer Edition, targeting coders with its unlockable bootloader. Currently up for pre-order in Europe, with a US version in the pipeline, the new RAZR is intended for developers looking to create and test Android apps on a recent handset.
Motorola’s regular range of consumer handsets come locked-down, a precaution by the company and its carrier partners to avoid modifications and tweaks to the core user-experience. However, Motorola says, the new Developer device “allows us to continue meeting our carrier and regulatory obligations, but also meets the needs being expressed by our developer community.” There are some compromises involved if you’re interested in the Developer Edition, however. The new RAZR is sold without a warranty, which means if you brick the device during your play you can’t expect much in the way of help from Motorola to get it working again. There are plenty of warnings – along with other information on unlocking and modifying the phone – at Motorola’s developer site. The European RAZR Developer Edition is up for pre-order now, priced at €499 ($657), though there’s no indication of when it will ship. The US version will go on sale “in the coming months” Motorola claims.
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