Android Community
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- Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 headed to MWC
- HTC announces “early access previews” for Ice Cream Sandwich updates
- HTC quad-core debut to be called the HTC One X
- Verizon may get white Galaxy Nexus with reduced price and storage
- CyanogenMod 9 may use Onskreen’s Cornerstone multitasking engine
- Samsung Galaxy Nexus 32GB GSM canceled according to online retailers
- Scalado Remove unveiled, removes subjects to make a perfect photo
- Portal ported to Android, the cake is not a lie
- Samsung Galaxy Note [AT&T] unboxing and impressions
- Yahoo! Mail for Android updated with custom notifications
- Android Collectible figures now available from local retailers, get them today
- Motorola DROID 3 update coming soon, two builds leaked
- HTC up next to offer Playstation certified devices and gaming
- Acer Iconia Tab A510 quad-core hitting shelves in March
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Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:10 AM PST
Some new screenshots and details have appeared, confirming that Samsung has prepped and will be announcing the Galaxy Note 10.1 at Mobile World Congress later this month. Yes a 10″ Samsung Galaxy Note. Samsung’s developer day announcement and invitation calmly mentions the Galaxy Note 10.1″ along with S-pen SDK, the Wave 3 and a few other non Android devices. Check it out.
 Samsung casually mentions the already available 5.3″ Galaxy Note and then drops the 10.1″ model right after, with nothing other than the small tip as a teaser. It was spotted on their official blog but has since been removed. At first you’d think this was just a mistake but according to some text documents found by The Verge for a casting call by Samsung for a commercial this same device was listed again. Showing a Galaxy Note 10.1 used for educational purposes.  We don’t expect the new device to have phone capabilities and will basically be Samsung’s first 10″ Android tablet with full stylus “S-Pen” capabilities. We are also hopeful this will come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but cannot confirm that at this time. I’m praying it will not run on Gingerbread. A Samsung S-Pen SDK has been released for developers, and the WACOM digitizer makes it offer the best stylus support we’ve seen thus far. Samsung has mentioned in the past the options and great expectations they have for the S-Pen technology and this is their now obvious next step. What do you guys think? Would you buy a 10″ Note for the stylus support, or just stick to full keyboard options like the Transformer Prime? [via SlashGear] |
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Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:39 AM PST
Good news for all the HTC Sensation and Sensation XE owners. Today HTC has literally just announced that the updates to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for both devices that was recently detailed, will actually be available as an “early access preview” in the coming days. Essentially this is a limited public beta test before the official OTA update coming end of March.
 Others such as Motorola run limited “soak tests” of their updates, better known as a beta test. Basically this is HTC finally doing the same thing. Giving actual users an early taste of updates to try and test before officially rolling said updates out to the general public on a mass scale. The first public beta or as HTC is calling it, “early access preview” will begin for the Android 4.0 ICS update to the Sensation and Sensation XE to a few hundred users in Europe. We can expect this same type of preview to shortly follow for the US HTC Sensation. HTC also mentioned this same approach will be taken with other devices in the future, too. They would like to continue working on backend and overall performance, while giving their users an early look of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC’s Sense UI. Here is the official quote from HTC: “HTC is doing something new and pretty cool in the coming days: we’ll be releasing an “early access preview” of our ICS upgrade for the Sensation and Sensation XE. This will be limited in scope (just a few hundred users and only in Europe) because we’re still scaling up back-end resources for general availability worldwide, and our hope is people will play with it and enjoy getting used to the ICS experience with Sense. We’ll be doing similar previews for other devices in the future, too.”This is great news. HTC will now be offering public beta tests for their software updates for all the popular HTC devices moving forward. I have a feeling a few of these updates might also get the developer treatment and you can expect builds of ICS for the T-Mobile Sensation and others to shortly follow, ahead of official updates from HTC. Again this first run will be in Europe only but we’ll update when we know the details for more markets and devices. Get ready for Ice Cream Sandwich in the “coming days”. |
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Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:10 AM PST
We’ve been hearing a lot regarding HTC’s upcoming smartphones slated to be unveiled in a few weeks at Mobile World Congress, and with good reason. They’ll be debuting their new and first quad-core device in what we are now hearing will be called the HTC One X. Previous reports and leaks called this phone the HTC Edge and Endeavor but the official retail name will be the One X.
 Reports from our friends at PocketNow have confirmed the new naming scheme. Which lines right up with our own tips received detailing that the dual-core HTC Ville will launch as the HTC One S. Obviously they may release the phones on different carriers with another name but we are hearing they will launch under the new “One” branding. This makes perfect sense given HTC’s earlier comments where they outlined they’ll release less devices, and focus on quality over quantity for 2012. Just like previous reports the One X should come with a 4.7″ HD display, that Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 8 megapixel camera and still be amazingly thin. The HTC One S will come with a 4.3″ display and their popular 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor. It should be their thinnest device to date. We will be live at Mobile World Congress later this month as HTC unveils these new phones and can’t wait to see what comes from their new studio of employee’s working on “hero devices”. All the details can be found from the links in the timeline below. Keep an eye on our MWC 2012 portal for all the news from Barcelona later this month. |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:19 PM PST
If the Galaxy Nexus LTE on Verizon Wireless seems a little bland to you, and if for some reason you just hate having lots of storage space, you may soon find the perfect phone. Droid Life reports that Verizon will be getting a localized version of the Galaxy Nexus, just like the UK has already. Hold your wallets, Android faithful: their (anonymous) sources claim that this version will be reduced to half storage for a total of 16GB, and that’s no small matter when the phone is already without a MicroSD card slot. This jives with earlier rumors that the 32GB version has been scrapped all together, for both HSPA+ and LTE varieties.
 On the plus side, a reduced storage option may indicate a lowered price as well. When Verizon stripped the 16GB card out of the DROID RAZR (which is also available in white) it dropped the price by a cool $100, giving the flagship phone a lower barrier to entry and sending bargain hunters to Google in droves to check the price of a 16GB card. The carrier still offers the 32GB version (16+16) for a full $299 on contract, so it might be using the addition of a white Galaxy Nexus to offer the same phone at a lower price point. This would leave the DROID RAZR MAXX and the HTC Rezound as the last of Verizon’s LTE headliner devices with only a $299 option. The source claims that the basic metallic gray will also come in at $199 with a reduced 16GB capacity, for those who… just really like gray plastic, I guess. What’s the likelihood of this all being true? Given Verizon’s actions over the last few weeks, we’d say it’s as least as likely as not – keep in mind that the DROID RAZR has been on the market for a month longer than the Galaxy Nexus, so if Verizon’s pursuing a staggered price drop strategy, the timing would make sense. Since Verizon remains the only US carrier to offer the Ice Cream Sandwich developer phone at present, we’d be happy to see it within the grasp of more budget-conscious buyers.
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:00 PM PST
Android’s always been pretty handy with multitasking, but if CyanogenMod is your custom ROM of choice, it may soon be getting even better. The CyanogenMod team stated on a Google+ post that they’re investigating the possibility of including Onskreen’s Cornerstone software in their final CM9 build, based on Ice Cream Sandwich. The sudden addition is due to Cornerstone’s recent move to the world of open source, allowing modders like the CM team to include it in their ROMs for free. “We will probably include this into CM9. it needs some polish, but the concept is just great,” said an official update.
 If you haven’t seen our previous posts on Cornerstone, here’s the skinny: it’s a method for Android tablets to display multiple apps on screen at the same time. The software sits in a secondary action bar on the right, and loads up one or two apps in addition to your active app, utilizing a combination of tablet screen real estate and smartphone formatting to create a pretty seamless multitasking experience. Cornerstone is not an app, and needs to be “baked in” to a ROM or OEM software update in order to function properly. This is far from a sure thing – in an update, the CyanogenMod team noted that they’d only include Cornerstone if it worked well within Android and CyanogenMod itself. “If it is done, it needs to be done right and not break apps all over the market or be a nightmare to upkeep down the line.” Still, it’s yet another example of custom ROMs adding functionality that just doesn’t exist in either “pure” or OEM Android. At least a few lesser-known ROMs have already taken the plunge and begun integrating Cornerstone. As an alternative, check out WebOS favorite Glimpse, coming soon to an Android tablet near you. |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 05:45 PM PST
Bad news has just surfaced today for those looking to get the 32GB version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The GSM model was announced with both a 16 and 32GB model being available but we’ve yet to see the larger of the two. Today according to online retailer Expansys-USA Samsung has canceled the item. It’s possible that it has only been delayed but so far things aren’t looking good.
 For those unaware, the Galaxy Nexus does not feature a micro-SD slot for extra storage. Instead we must reply on the built-in storage options available. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus comes with 32GB of storage, but for for the rest of the world and all GSM models they currently only come equipped with 16GB. We’ve been waiting for online retailers to start shipping the 32GB version and have yet to see it come in stock. If the official comment from Corey at Expansys is true, Samsung has for some unknown reasons canceled or delayed the model but at this time we have no official details. Here is the official comment: We’ve just been notified this morning that Samsung have dropped the Galaxy Nexus 32GB from production. At this time it looks like they will not be releasing it. Not good news at all.This might not be a big concern for some, but I know many have been waiting specifically for this version to come with more storage. The 32GB GSM Galaxy Nexus was showing as discontinued earlier today over at the online retailer, but now seems to have disappeared completely from their site. We’ll keep digging for more information and will update if we hear more.
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 05:14 PM PST
Have you ever snapped the perfect picture only to have it ruined by someone walking in the frame, or wanted to take an ex out of that awesome picture from your vacation? Well now you can with a new feature from the photo technology firm Scalado, called Scalado Remove. Their app is being called the world's first optical removal software for smartphones. It builds a composite shot from multiple frames captured in swift succession, picking out possible flaws – such as passing cars or people – then lets you delete them with a tap of the screen.
 So technically you can’t remove old ex’s from pictures in the past, but you’ll be able to edit out anything that is not stationary. The object has to be moving for Remove to capture and delete the subject. While it will have a few limitations the possibilities and overall functionality is extremely impressive. Once you take a picture you’ll need to keep the camera still on the particular subject. Scalado will then be able to remove moving objects based on the stationary background. All you do is touch the moving subjects you want gone and it does the rest. We must mention that this will not actually be an application we can all download and use. Instead this will be software added to smartphones and hopefully Samsung, HTC, and others will partner with Scalado to bring this to Android soon. Scalado will be showing off this neat new technology and software at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona Spain and I’ll be sure to stop by and get some hands-on time with it. This will surely help me get what I call the “money shot”. Would you use this software if your smartphone had the capability? [via SlashGear] |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 04:47 PM PST
Oh man this news is just awesome. One of my favorite PC games of all times has been unofficially ported to Android. Portal, the popular shooter/puzzle game by Valve has been tweaked and ported with the Unity engine to run on our Android tablets and so far it looks amazing. While graphics are obviously missing and it can be a little glitchy at times this is a very early beta look at the game and we can expect huge improvements to follow.
 The cake is a lie! Or according to these developers the cake is not a lie and indeed we will get a surprise in the form of this brain-twisting game on Android. If you’ve never played Portal the above saying wont make any sense, but trust me it should. The video below only shows one of many levels that will soon be coming. For now this is clearly a work in progress but I can’t wait to see what else they have in store. The Unity engine is what makes this possible and the folks developing this awesome port will update accordingly. For now those looking to get into the action and run some aperture science tests on their Android phone or tablet can do so if they please. You can find a pre-developed and highly unstable APK of the game from this forum post. If you are feeling brave give it a try but you should probably wait for a better, more stable version to be released. The chance that I can almost fully play Portal on my Android tablet is mind blowing. I sure hope Valve is reading this and plan to bring some games like this to Android in the near future. Portal isn’t the only one and an unofficial version of Counter-strike has also seen a port for Android. If you do give this a try sound off in the comments and let us know how it goes. [via SlashGear] |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 04:26 PM PST
Big phone, small tablet, or unnecessary hybrid? Our man Chris Davies said it best during his initial review of the international Galaxy Note, but today we have the AT&T 4G LTE powered Note on our tables for a quick glance. Below we unbox it, compare the differences from the international version and the size boost over the Galaxy Nexus. Not to mention a few LTE speedtests and pictures so check it out.
 First off this device should need to introduction but just in case I’ll run down the impressive specs Samsung has packed into this large phone. The Galaxy Note features a massive 5.3″ Super AMOLED HD display coming in with a 1280 x 800 resolution. Making this one of the highest resolution and best looking displays on a smartphone. Powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor (not the 1.4 GHz Exynos like the international Note) and 1GB of RAM. Samsung’s added 16GB of internal storage although only about 10GB is available for usage. You pair all of that with an 8 megapixel camera on the rear, 2 MP up front for video, a built-in stylus called the S-Pen with extreme accuracy and pressure sensitivity all ran off Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a huge 2,500 mAh battery it’s destined for success. Or is it too big? For now we’ll quickly show it off, test the LTE speeds and let you check out the video. Then stay tuned for our full review and complete thoughts once we’ve had some time to enjoy it and decide what we truly think.  For those familiar with the international Galaxy Note the AT&T model has a few key differences. For one like mentioned above is the dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm, not Samsung’s in-house Exynos running at 1.4 GHz. So the AT&T model will perform differently. Speaking of performance it might also get better, or worse battery life depending on that new processors efficiency — and how much the 4G LTE sucks down on power usage. All of this will be looked over for our review. If you are on AT&T the choice is pretty clear as this has 4G LTE and will fit nicely as an upgrade from a previous device. The last difference is the hardware home button being replaced with 4 capacitive touch buttons — but that was expected for a US release. So where do I begin? The phone is big, really big. I thought the Galaxy Nexus was pushing my limits and it clearly is. The Note is huge! This will definetaly be for a certain crowd for the sheer size and lack of portability. If you can get over the size however, this is a truly versatile device. The fact that it’s actually thinner than the Galaxy Nexus really helps, the rounded edges makes it feel smaller than it really is — helping its cause given the size. The display is gorgeous, and I mean that. The colors are extremely crisp, vivid and bright and it is absolutely impressive to say the least. I love the Galaxy Nexus, but the Note’s screen is just WOW worthy. Throwing the phone to your ear in public might get a few of those “Wow’s” too though. AT&T’s 4G LTE seems to be chugging along just great here with the Note. In a solid signal location in Las Vegas I’m averaging around 12-15 MB/s down and around 7-10 up. Not the fastest we’ve seen but I’ll take it. We’ll be sure to test in more locations later too.  I’ll be sure to test out the S-Pen and the WACOM digitizer and see just how well it really performs for day to day use, and decide if a stylus is something I see myself using daily. For some that wont matter but I’m sure a few are interested in hearing. Enjoy our video unboxing and stay tuned for a full rundown and review coming in a few days.           
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 01:59 PM PST
Yahoo! has just pushed a much needed update out to the Android Market for their Yahoo! Mail for Android application. Do people still use Yahoo! Mail? Apparently they do because it has tons of users passing 10 million downloads. You’ll all be happy to know the update has brought multiple ways to customize notifications and more.
 This isn’t Hotmail we are talking about here. It is the popular Yahoo! Mail for Android and now users will be able to completely customize their notifications based on how they want to be notified. With sound, vibrate for silence, and they can even include or exclude the notification bar up top to keep things clean and simple. The screenshot below shows the new settings as well as the what’s new change log.  The new Yahoo! Mail for Android is freely available and was just updated late last night. Along with the changes outlined above we also now have a select all checkbox similar to the “edit” option before to select and manage multiple emails at once. Something you’d think would be standard but apparently wasn’t available until now. Get the new app from the link below and enjoy. Yahooooo! Market Link |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 01:11 PM PST
Who loves Android? If you’d like to show your spirit or simply love the Andrew Bell Collectible Android series we have some excellent news. Previously these were only limited edition toys that sold out in minutes but it appears they are about to go big. They’ve announced the Open Big Box Edition series 1 today that will be available in large retailers around the country instead of only online.
 Local malls and shops such as Urban Outfitters, Barnes & Noble or even F.Y.E are currently, or will soon be offering these Android Collectible toys right in their stores. What’s even better is these aren’t blind boxes either. You’ll be able to see and choose the one you’d like instead of hoping for a good one like the blind boxes sold online. This new box edition will differ from the special and limited edition sets that have exclusively launched from DYZPlastic but will still be collectors items and wildly popular that is for sure. We are hearing they will cost around $9.99 a pop and are available now. Sure beats paying the high eBay prices we’ve seen since they’ve became so popular as of late. We are still expecting the special edition series 3 to come soon, and were just leaked yesterday so check out the details below. I’d be headed to my nearest store before all the die-hard Android fans scoop up all the stock on these awesome little figures. I have plenty myself and am about to get a few more. [via DYZPlastic] |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 12:53 PM PST
It looks like Motorola is prepping a few updates to soon roll out to the DROID 3. For starters, no this is not Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and merely just maintenance updates. So far we haven’t heard reports of an update or a soak (beta) test for these updates but they have leaked and are available now for those interested.
 Both of the leaked builds (linked below) can be flashed with the stock recovery and on unrooted devices, and are officially signed from Motorola and all. Basically these are beta builds that are pretty final and have been leaked. Good times! Obviously these are nothing official so users should still use caution while flashing, and there is no way to revert back to your previous state so keep that in mind. So while non-rooted users can flash this, we’d recommend you know what you are doing before you proceed. We are however hearing reports of a better camera, more stable connection, and even increased battery life with the new build and ratios included in these leaks. All the information and downloads are available over at this XDA thread.
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 12:26 PM PST
New reports are coming in stating that HTC will be the first manufacturer outside of Sony to offer Playstation certified devices to their customers. Bringing awesome games and titles like Crash Bandicoot to HTC phones and tablets. This will be a great move for Sony and allow more customers access to their apps than the smaller group of current Sony Ericsson devices such as the Xperia Play.
 Late last year Sony announced that the official Playstation Suite of certified games and applications would be headed to other manufactures and devices come 2012 and it appears that things are right on track. According to trusted sources from Pocket-Lint HTC will be the first to be certified and we could be seeing an announcement as soon as late this month, possibly at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain. Sony’s Playstation Suite is now a full cross-platform system with games available to the PS VITA, and many Android devices from Sony. With HTC on board they will expand even further. We might even see some official gaming smartphones from HTC in the future with slide-out game controls similar to the Xperia Play but that is unlikely. Most likely gaming will be completed with on-screen controls but anything is possible. Interesting news and once either party confirms or shares more details we will update accordingly. [via SlashGear] |
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Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:58 AM PST
Acer is all set to release their next venture into the Android tablet market with the Iconia Tab A510. We’ve seen countless rumors of the new NVIDIA Tegra 3 tablet and after unveiling it back in January we are now hearing it will officially hit the streets and consumers hands in March — complete with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and that quad-core processor.
 Acer announced two new Android 4.0 quad-core tablets in the A510 and the 3G/4G sporting A511 and while we currently have no details regarding a US launch like the smaller sibling the A200 that is available now. We do know the A510 will be available across Europe starting next month. Priced around 399 Euro’s ($499 USD) it will be right up there with the Transformer Prime in both price and specs. Other than the impressive quad-core processor the specs are similar to other tablets. We have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a 10.1″ 1280 x 800 resolution display, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. One area that separates the A510 from others is the huge 9,800 mAh battery under the hood that should provide hours of usage. The Acer A510 will be available in black and silver and initially only the WiFi model will be for sale with announcements for the A511 coming later. As soon as we hear more details regarding the release date and availability here in the US we will be sure to update. I’m sure many would love an alternative to the often out of stock Transformer Prime, but still want a quad-core Android 4.0 tablet. [via NotebookItalia] |
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