Android Community |
- Samsung GT-I9300 coming in May with dual-core and ICS
- Transformer Prime doesn’t infringe on Hasbro’s trademark, says judge
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 clears FCC en route to AT&T
- Motorola XOOM WiFi gets the first official build of Android 4.0.4
- ASUS Transformer Prime update adds Ethernet and face unlock
- Epson Moverio BT-100 see-through Android video glasses available now
- Opera Mini updates to version 7 with hardware acceleration
- Samsung Galaxy Note sells 5 million worldwide
- AT&T’s Galaxy S II gets CM9 nightlies, Galaxy Note and Skyrocket are next
- ASUS teases Transformer Prime update with new features
- HTC designing iPod Touch rival with stereo sound and a kickstand
- Peter the elephant loves the Samsung Galaxy Note – naturally
- HTC One X and One V shipping April 2nd in China
- MAXXimize your DROID RAZR with a $110 kit
- LG Optimus 4X HD headed to market in May
- Qualcomm Snapdragon phone goes around the world on a single charge [Video]
- Google’s Summer of Code gives students a part time job coding
- Handcent SMS updated to v4.0 – adds ICS support and new UI
| Samsung GT-I9300 coming in May with dual-core and ICS Posted: 28 Mar 2012 11:15 AM PDT Another impressive looking Samsung Galaxy smartphone is in the news today. Previously suspected as being the Galaxy S III based on the model number being the GT-I9300, but some new details along with leaked info back in February has us thinking something else. Most likely this device will not be the highly anticipated Galaxy S III and according to Samsung is a mid-range phone.
Based on sources from GSMarena the GT-I9300 was actually listed in Samsung’s order system as the Samsung Galaxy M. If you remember Samsung’s naming change last year, the Galaxy M stands for mid-tier. The specs of this device are nothing short of impressive so if they think this is mid-tier, I can’t wait to see the Galaxy S III. The GT-I9300 comes with a 1.4 GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4-inch 720p HD AMOLED display, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Previous leaks suggested the GT-I9300 would come with a 1026 x 600 screen resolution so we are still unsure on the actual resolution of this device. Other than the 4-inch screen size all the rest of those specs are on par with, or better than their flagship Galaxy S II that is currently available. According to GSMarena the GT-I9300 will be available in early May and will be shipping with Android 4.0 ICS. Samsung looks to be getting rid of hardware and capacitive buttons with this phone as everything is on-screen. Hopefully the same holds true for the Galaxy S III. With this phone coming in May does that mean the Galaxy S III will be here before or after? I can’t imagine them releasing this first, but at the same time neither would surprise me. No matter what happens I can’t wait to see what the Galaxy S III comes equipped with since they are calling this impressive phone mid-tier at best.
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| Transformer Prime doesn’t infringe on Hasbro’s trademark, says judge Posted: 28 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT You’d have to be either really young or really out of touch with pop culture not to spot the similarities in the name of the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime and a certain group of autonomous robots. Transformers manufacturer Hasbro sure spotted it, and didn’t take the unofficial association lightly: they sued ASUS over the name, presumably taking offense at the similarity to Transformers mainstay Optimus Prime and similar fictional characters. The International Business Times reports that a US federal judge ruled that there was no possibility of consumers being confused by the name, and thus denied a sales injunction.
Trademark lawsuits get a little more leeway than patent lawsuits: basically, if a defendant can prove that their product would never be confused with the plaintiff’s by a reasonable customer, they can use whatever name they like. For example, you could sell Nike-branded medical supplies giving homage to the Greek goddess of the same name, with a reasonable expectation that no one would think you were selling sports equipment. The U.S. district judge seems to think that this established bit of civil law applies – after all, nobody would think that a 10-inch Android tablet would transform into a gigantic alien robot. Not that it wouldn’t be awesome. Quoth the judge:
ASUS is pretty much out of the woods, at least as far as the US is concerned; Hasbro’s motion was denied in full by the court. The civil case will go forward but is unlikely to result in a Hasbro victory. The toy maker could try to pursue the case in other worldwide jurisdictions, but odds would be overwhelming that the other courts would take the lead from the US and rule in a similar fashion. For our part, we think that Hasbro has missed a huge branding opportunity here – who wouldn’t want a chrome Autobot logo on their Android tablet? Oh well, I suppose they could always try going after LG’s ubiquitous Optimus smartphones… Device Info
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 clears FCC en route to AT&T Posted: 28 Mar 2012 10:35 AM PDT The sequel to Samsung’s 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab, being called the Galaxy Tab 2 10 has passed through the FCC again this week and has been given the stamp of approval. Originally the WiFi model hit the FCC a few weeks ago, but today’s model also is rocking some HSPA+ radios aching to AT&T’s network.
I must admit that Samsung really needs to figure out a better naming scheme then calling this thing the Galaxy Tab 2 10 because that is a bit confusing. Maybe if they didn’t offer every size under the sun they’d be able to come up with some clever names here. Either way it is good news to see this clearing the FCC, and with AT&T on board because as of now Samsung hasn’t made any plans clear regarding a US launch. Although we expect the tablet to arrive here in the US sometime here soon. The Galaxy Tab 2 (both 7 and 10) appear to be rocking the same dual-core Tegra 2 processors, 1GB of RAM, and come with 16 or 32GB of storage. They’ve been slightly redesigned over the original models with the speaker grills front and center to appease the lawyers of Apple. The biggest change here is they are running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, something all the current Galaxy Tab owners are still patiently awaiting. We’ve heard reports that Samsung will be issuing updates in Q2 for most of their latest tablets but still have no solid date to report. This FCC filing is good news for those stateside hoping to get the new Galaxy Tab models, especially one with 3G/4G HSPA+ connectivity. Until we hear more from Samsung we’ll just be patiently awaiting its arrival. [via Engadget]
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| Motorola XOOM WiFi gets the first official build of Android 4.0.4 Posted: 28 Mar 2012 09:10 AM PDT As a developer device, the Motorola XOOM has the enviable distinction of getting the latest Android updates as soon as possible. And as a WiFi-only device, those without a Verizon model get it without any carriers mucking up the update process. This being the case, the XOOM is the very first device to get an official update Android 4.0.4. Motorola let XOOM owners know via email that they should be expecting the over-the-air update later today. XOOM owners, you know the drill: head to your Setting>About Tablet menu to see if the update is available yet.
The 4.0.4 update is an incremental one for Ice cream Sandwich – there are no major new features, just a few enhancements. Faster screen rotation from landscape to portrait and vice versa, better Exchange support in the default email app, and better performance from the camera in both still shots and video can be expected. A few nondescript bugfixes should result in a little more stability. Finally, there’s a new Setting option that allows you to set a delay for the lockscreen after pressing the Power button. Owners of the Verizon XOOM, not to mention the Galaxy Nexus and both flavors of the Nexus S, have got to be wondering where their updates are. Everyone else, including modders and custom ROM developers, is probably wondering why Android 4.0.4 hasn’t been added to the source code directory yet. Between a seemingly disjointed release of recent updates and the continuing absence of Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S owners, Google isn’t winning any friends in the normally fervent open source community. Device Info
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| ASUS Transformer Prime update adds Ethernet and face unlock Posted: 28 Mar 2012 08:37 AM PDT Last night we caught wind of an update for the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime that, to ASUS’ thinking at least, was going to be “awesome”. Today the Italian arm of ASUS spilled the beans on the new features, and while “awesome” is a relative term, there are at least a few new features that Transformer Prime owners will be happy to receive. Chief among the additions in the 9.4.2.21 update is support for Ethernet networking, acheived via a USB converter. Ice Cream Sandwich’s Face Unlock feature is now fully supported on the Prime’s forward-facing camera.
Other small additions include updates to Google’s apps to conform with the new Google Play branding, an updated interface for the ASUS Vibe cloud storage pack-in app, and support for ad-hoc wireless networks. The HDMI-out connection has received a considerable overhaul, with the added ability to display in portrait mode. You can also choose between a full-screen upscale or a crop on 1080p television sets or monitors. Lastly, you can control incoming notifications directly from the lockscreen. ASUS Italy says that the latest update will be here on Thursday for Italian Transformer Prime owners. That being the case, you can expect the update to go out to all territories sometime between today and late Friday. ASUS is usually pretty consistent with its mass-market software updates. Prime owners, if you’ve just got to have Ethernet, face unlock or an updated icon for the Google Play Store, start checking your settings menu now. Device Info
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[via XDA]
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| Epson Moverio BT-100 see-through Android video glasses available now Posted: 28 Mar 2012 07:45 AM PDT Do you love Android? Of course you do, you’re reading this website. Do you love Android so much that you want to put in on your head and go around looking like an extra from Blade Runner? Have you got seven hundred dollars that you just don’t know what to do with? Then Epson’s Moverio BT-100 might be right up your alley. The video glasses include the standard micro-projection feature for a pair of virtual screens 80 inches in diameter, but interestingly, they’re also semi-transparent, and allow the viewer to see what’s in front of him or her while wearing them. On a bright day. Presumably with no one watching.
The glasses use Android to get their various audio, video and networking functions to work together. Specs include a WiFi connection for browsing, Android 2.2 (really?) with Flash pre-loaded, and a 1GB on-board storage capacity plus a MicroSD card (4GB card included). Controls are managed through a wired remote with a touchpad and the standard Android navigation buttons. Android is more of a means to an end than a feature in this case – it’s used to navigate the interface and manage content, but smartphone-style apps can be downloaded from various third-party stores. Epson publishes the kernel and an SDK, but developers will have to submit apps to the company for consideration rather than going through an app sore.
Ready for the kicker? The Moverio BT-100 glasses retail for a whopping $699.99 of anybody’s money. That’s not outrageous for a head-mounted display, but it’s still a lot more than most of us are comfortable spending on a niche product. $700 will buy you a great 50-inch TV, to say nothing of a brand new smartphone. Let’s wait and see what Google does with its Glasses project, shall we? [via SlashGear]
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| Opera Mini updates to version 7 with hardware acceleration Posted: 28 Mar 2012 07:05 AM PDT There are a lot of browser options out there for Android, but one from the “old guard” of desktop browser publishers is Opera Mini. This one’s been around a while (longer than Android itself, in fact) but recent updates may merit another look from those who have passed over it before. Version 7, released just today, includes a bevvy of new features such as an improved compression engine, hardware acceleration on certain devices, and support for Ice Cream Sandwich’s Android Beam. You can download the updated browser for free in the Google Play Store.
Opera Mini’s compression is what distinguishes it from other mobile browsers – requests for websites are processed through Opera’s servers, then the servers send your phone a reworked and optimized version of the HTML or CSS page. This feature’s called Turbo, and now it includes the ability for device-side hardware acceleration to add to the compression computation and performance. Interface tweaks to make the browser compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich and the Beam function of Android’s default browser are combined with a reworked Speed Dial start page. There’s still a few things holding Opera back. Its customized rendering engine still has trouble on a small but considerable number of websites, owing to Opera’s still tiny share of the desktop browser market. And while Opera Mini includes a lot of features that others are just now catching up on, such as the ability to sync bookmarks between mobile and desktop, it still can’t use popular plugins like Flash. But if you’re a regular Opera user on the desktop or any other platform, odds are pretty good that you can look past these foibles.
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| Samsung Galaxy Note sells 5 million worldwide Posted: 28 Mar 2012 06:35 AM PDT It’s not just pachyderms that love the Galaxy Note – the oversized smartphone seems to be a hit with those on two legs as well. Samsung has announced that its Galaxy Note has sold more than five million units worldwide, just five months after its introduction in Europe. As the phone has spread to Asia and North America it’s winning a share of the market that many thought impossible for a device with such an unconventional form factor – and the many millions that Samsung has spent on promotion doesn’t hurt, either.
The hardware merits of the Galaxy Note are impossible to deny: it’s got the largest screen of any smartphone currently on the market, and it uses Samsung’s excellent Super AMOLED panel at a stunning 1280×800 to boot. Add that to a fast dual-core processor, 16GB of storage, 8 megapixel camera and old-school S-Pen stylus, which uses a Wacom active digitizer for greater accuracy and pressure sensitivity. Though the phone launched with Gingerbread, it’ll get an ICS update in the second quarter. The oversized form factor had been considered something of a gamble (just to compare, the screen on the Note is almost as wide as the iPhone’s is tall) but consumers the world over have responded with enthusiasm. Samsung seems to have single-handedly created the a niche – sorry, Dell Streak fans, that one doesn’t count. But plenty of companies are ready to step up and fight for the marketshare. Ignoring all of the “normal” smartphones that are reaching into the 4.7-inch screen area, there’s LG’s Optimus Vu, with a 5.0-inch 4:3 screen, and Panasonic’s new ELUGA Power, with a 5.0-inch 720p screen. Neither of these models have hit the market yet, but you can expect a “Galaxy Note killer” from every major manufacturer before the end of 2012. Device Info
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[via SlashGear]
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| AT&T’s Galaxy S II gets CM9 nightlies, Galaxy Note and Skyrocket are next Posted: 27 Mar 2012 06:06 PM PDT Less than a day after AT&T’s flavor of the Samsung Glaaxy S II got its first leaked Ice Cream Sandwich ROM, the folks at the CyanogenMod team are hard at work incorporating the much-needed software into their modded Android 4.0 builds. AT&T Galaxy S II owners can download nightly builds of CyanogenMod 9 starting now, getting the latest and greatest in customized Android 4.0 straight from the source. Head over to the CyanogenMod Mirror Network to download the latest build; install by flashing in a custom recovery, as usual.
While the CyanogenMod team didn’t say so specifically, it’s more than likely that the updated kernel for ICS on AT&T’s Galaxy S II variant is the reason that the nightly updates have started. Changing around the Android software, even for something as complicated as a brand new version, is often hamstrung by limitations in the kernel if run on an older version. Since AT&T has three different pieces of hardware based on the Galaxy S II, the CM team is also changing the name of the internal build to the AT&T GSII model number, i777. There’s an extra bonus for other AT&T modders as well. CyanogenMod’s Google + post included some not-so-cryptic language at the end, indicating what’s next for CM9:
So, yeah, AT&T’s LTE version of the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S II Skyrocket (the Ma Bell name for the Galaxy S II LTE) will both be getting some nightly ROM updates sooner rather than later. The Skyrocket’s got a bona-fide official update already, and the Galaxy Note is getting one soon enough. If the pattern holds, nightly updates for HTC’s Vivid can’t be too far behind. Thanks for all the hard work, CM team =- gt to it, ROM aficionados. [via PocketNow]
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| ASUS teases Transformer Prime update with new features Posted: 27 Mar 2012 05:37 PM PDT Most owners would say that the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a pretty complete machine, especially after its Ice Cream Sandwich software upgrade. Aside form a few niggling hardware problems, it’s pretty much all anyone could want from an Android tablet – blazing Tegra 3 processor, all-aluminum construction, bright HD screen. Apparently that’s not enough for ASUS: they’ve posted on their official Facebook account that some “Awesome new features” will be added in the next software update.
What could these features be? We’re honestly kind of stumped. The Transformer Prime already has the latest version of Android and ASUS has released regular updates for bug fixes and performance enhancements. There’s not a lot more that they can add to the core software, so presumably that means adding it via new apps. Productivity seems likely, thanks to the Transformer Prime’s keyboard dock, but a few pack-in games wouldn’t be out of the question either. The Prime isn’t perfect: that all-metal body has caused some serious issues with WiFi and GPS reception. Unfortunately software updates are unlikely to fix these, and if ASUS had an easy solution they probably already would have implemented it. That leaves us back at square one, just wondering what kind of goodies they’ve got in store. We shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out, and ASUS tends to send out updates in all territories very quickly. Transformer Prime owners, check your Settings menu for an OS update tomorrow morning. Device Info
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| HTC designing iPod Touch rival with stereo sound and a kickstand Posted: 27 Mar 2012 05:10 PM PDT I’ve always been a huge fan of HTC’s build quality from the moment I received my Nexus One, the Sensation, and even more so when I enjoyed some hands-on time with the new HTC One X. Today though we have some interesting news about an upcoming HTC device that isn’t a smartphone, and instead could rival Apple’s iPod Touch and offer much better audio than anything from the fruit company. If the patent designs shown below are any indication HTC is looking to design a pretty awesome multimedia device.
Detailed in full by Patentbolt is an unknown HTC device that was filed back in 2011 and just finally making its way through the patent offices. The device appears to be very similar in design to most of their smartphones only both the top and bottom sides of the front face have large, stereo speakers. Then around back we have two more sets of speakers for true stereo surround sound. To cap everything off it has an awesome kickstand like the original HTC EVO 4G, and it appears to also offer a camera on the rear.
This could very well be a unique smartphone now that we have on screen controls with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and can use that Bezel space for speakers, not to mention HTC buying up Beats Audio. Only problem is the patent doesn’t mention standard wireless radios used in smartphones, only Wifi. If they packed all of that and Android 4.0 ICS into a Beats Audio-enabled media player with a crisp 4.5-inch 720p HD screen and offered stereo sound front and back for $249 I’d want one immediately. Would you? While the image above from PatentBolt is only patent drawings it appears to have micro-USB and possibly a micro-HDMI out port on bottom, the kickstand for hands-free watching of videos or movies, and then a 3.5 mm headphone jack for times you don’t want to blast all four of those speakers. This would be great for Android gaming, watching YouTube, sharing videos or clips with family and friends and more. Samsung has a few Galaxy Players that are similar to the iPod but the idea hasn’t been widely adopted. It is an interesting design that is for sure. With HTC owning Beats Audio, buying MOG music streaming, already offering HTC Watch movies, and possible being Sony Playstation certified in the future they could produce a pretty awesome little device if you ask me. With most people using their smartphone as their iPod or music device would you consider buying something like the above shown device from HTC?
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| Peter the elephant loves the Samsung Galaxy Note – naturally Posted: 27 Mar 2012 03:55 PM PDT When Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note way back in September of 2011, a lot of consumers dismissed it, saying that it was just too big for their hands. Samsung seems to have found at least one customer for whom small hands are definitely not a problem. Meet Peter the elephant, the latest and certainly greatest fan of Samsung’s phablet. This guy’s dexterous snozz might be a little much for more standard smartphones to handle, but Peter takes to music and photo apps on the Note like nobody’s business.
Elephants have finger-like lobes of muscle on the end of their trunks, filled with sensitive nerve endings. This enables them to make delicate movements that are astonishing for something so big. Peter (an Asian elephant – note the single lobe) demonstrates this on the Galaxy Note via its center button and doing a little doodling with the included S-Pen. He seems to pick up the ergonomics of smartphone use right away – check out the swipe action on that gallery app! The full ad is below. Samsung’s probably not going to find too many buyers among the Proboscidea order, but they’ve managed to find plenty elsewhere: at last count, the Galaxy Note had shipped over 2 million units worldwide. And that was before it came to the American market, in an LTE flavor courtesy of AT&T. The Note runs Gingerbread out of the box, but Samsung is planning a protracted upgrade to ICS in the second quarter, complete with a few new S-Pen apps. [via Reddit]
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| HTC One X and One V shipping April 2nd in China Posted: 27 Mar 2012 03:43 PM PDT The extremely impressive HTC One series smartphones are about to make their assault on the mobile markets. With the US, UK, China and more all expecting them to be available in April just like HTC announced back at Mobile World Congress during the unveiling of the One X. Today we’ve learned the One X quad-core phone and the mid-range One V will start shipping on April 2nd to those in China.
Reports from the China Times states that the HTC One X will actually ship before that and should be delivered on April 2nd for those that pre-ordered it early. We previously reported that operators like Three UK will start selling the quad-core superphone on April 4th but it appears China might beat them by a few days. We are still waiting for some official announcements for the dual-core powered AT&T version, and some reports suggest the One X will also land on T-Mobile with the quad-core Tegra 3 on board. The One X has already cleared the FCC in both dual and quad-core configurations so hopefully carriers start making announcements soon because it’s one awesome device. Check out our hands-on video from the links below. If you want a quad-core smartphone with the latest and greatest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and also an impressive 4.7″ display this will probably be the phone to get for a while. Stay tuned for more details as AT&T should be speaking up any day now. [via Unwired View]
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| MAXXimize your DROID RAZR with a $110 kit Posted: 27 Mar 2012 02:47 PM PDT The Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX is one of our favorite Android devices released this year. One of the only problems we had with it was that it was released so early this year… just a few weeks after those who had bought the DROID RAZR on day one were ineligible for a return. While the MAXX is an admittedly awesome long-haul machine, Moto and Verizon didn’t win any fans with the timing. Now there appears to be an admittedly expensive cure for that particular flavor of buyer’s remorse, in the form of an aftermarket kit that can transform a standard DROID RAZR into a DROID RAZR MAXX, massive 3300mAh battery and all.
The kit comes from the folks at Cellphone Repair Shop, who’ve bundled all the OEM parts you need to do the aftermarket upgrade yourself. The parts include the larger battery, an expanded backplate that stretched the phone out to a still-slim 8.9mm thick, a frame piece with the SIM and MicroSD card door, and a couple of pieces of pre-cut tape. There’s nothing in there that will help you open your original RAZR or disassemble it, but Cellphone Repair Shop will sell you a pry tool and some Torx screwdrivers if you need them. This little operation is made possible because the DRODI RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX are in so many ways identical. The software that runs on them seems to be exactly the same code – aside from some extra dimensional capacity, they’re exactly the same phone (which may be part of what got DROID RAZR owners so irate). In fact this process has been performed before by a talented amateur. Those who want the kit can place a pre-order now, but be warned: while all the parts are from genuine Motorola bins, doing this process yourself will void your warranty in a heartbeat. At present, it isn’t clear if the kit is compatible with the international Motorola RAZR model. Device Info
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[via Droid-Life]
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| LG Optimus 4X HD headed to market in May Posted: 27 Mar 2012 02:43 PM PDT LG is reportedly getting ready to launch their next flagship smartphone, the 4X HD in India starting in May. Along with the 4X Tegra 3 quad-core powered Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone they’ll also be launching the Optimus Vu, and the Optimus 3D Max in India around the same time according to Unwired View. That is a month sooner than we reported for the UK release date.
The LG Optimus 4X HD is one of many quad-core Tegra 3 smartphones we have seen over the past few months. If it also manages to launch in the US around May it should be among the first stateside, other than the HTC One X of course. According to The Mobile Indian LG will also be launching their Note rival, the Optimus Vu, and the 3D Max glasses-free 3D smartphone shortly after the 4X. Along with the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor in the X4 HD it also has a 4.7″ 720p HD IPS display, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, an 8 megapixel camera and is extremely thin. We haven’t heard much from LG since they announced all these phones for Mobile World Congress but should be learning more soon. The entire L series is also floating around somewhere too. Once we hear anything official from LG we’ll be sure to update on a possible US release date.
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| Qualcomm Snapdragon phone goes around the world on a single charge [Video] Posted: 27 Mar 2012 01:55 PM PDT Qualcomm is back this month with another interesting video showing off the power of their Snapdragon powered smartphones. Last year they released a video showing a Snapdragon processor being powered by a bug circus, as in real live bugs and spiders. This time around they tease the efficiency of the Qualcomm Snapdragon by sending a smartphone around the world on a single charge.
Obviously some will instantly have a few questions about the video, but it’s still neat to watch and imagine. No phone could realistically last on a single charge around the entire world. Most likely they tossed this thing on airplane mode, lowered everything to a minimum and proceeded to mail it across 8 different countries and 9 different cities as it goes around the world. Qualcomm’s new S4 dual-core processor will offer unparallelled battery life and performance, but this video is just a quick tease for fun. They recorded a few small clips in each location using the Qualcomm Snapdragon smartphone (looks like a DROID Incredible, but it isn’t) then tossed it in a box and shipped it off to the next destination. We aren’t sure if they turned it off after each time or not, but either way the video is neat and pretty awesome. I can’t wait for smartphones that actually last longer than a day or two with full use. My favorite part of the video is near the end where they pop the red balloon — awesome! While you’re here enjoy the Bug Circus Generator video I mentioned above. This is much more entertaining and extremely cool. So what do you guys think about the videos? Just nonsense marketing, or a neat way to show the power of Qualcomm and their Snapdragon processors that power tons of the most popular smartphones? Let us know what you think.
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| Google’s Summer of Code gives students a part time job coding Posted: 27 Mar 2012 01:06 PM PDT Want to work for Google? Want something better to do this warm summer season instead of wasting away hours playing Xbox or mowing lawns to earn extra cash? Google has released details on their Summer of Code 2012. A initiative to give college students a seasonal, summer long part time job making money by coding for various different Google open source projects. Sounds like fun right? Read below for all the information.
Obviously this gives you a look into the real world of open source coding on a career level, and gives students tons of experience that can help them land a job in the future — possibly even at Google. The Summer of Code is extremely competitive and they only have a limited number of spots. They have over 180 open source projects that will be open to the part time coders too. Look over the 180 projects linked to above and if any catch your eye you’ll want to head to the sign up page and register for the project(s) you are interested in. Registration for the Summer of Code was opened today, and ends April 6th so you better hurry and decide what you’re doing with your summer. Again each person accepted will have a 3-month summer long coding job where they will be paired with a mentor and enjoy a fun and competitive coding atmosphere all summer long. More details are available from the official Google Blog, and Google will have a Hangout with more details on the project so be sure and circle Google Students over on G+. Have fun and get to coding! [via SlashGear]
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| Handcent SMS updated to v4.0 – adds ICS support and new UI Posted: 27 Mar 2012 12:35 PM PDT For those that love to send hundreds of text messages per hour I have good news regarding one of the most popular 3rd party text and picture message applications for Android. The popular SMS/MMS app Handcent, downloaded over 10 million times has just be updated today in the Play Store to version 4.0 and has tons of new features and a shiny new user interface.
Many users probably just use the stock Android text message client but I’ve been a fan of Handcent for well over a year. Offering more customization than one would ever need and even quick popup notifications where you can easily reply to a text from the popup, then it closes and you continue exactly where you were.
The update to version 4.0 released today has a host of new features, improved UI and design, and support for even more devices. They now officially support Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and have fixed some problems for the Galaxy S II and others. My Galaxy Nexus 4.6″ screen was having issues with the popup not being centered but this update has fixed all of that. The what’s new tab sadly mentions a bunch of gibberish for the iPhone, even in the Google Play Store but most of the updates are geared for Android. They’ve added on-screen controls and back buttons for those using Ice Cream Sandwich, and the user interface has tons of grey colors and a much improved interface. Everything seems polished and it looks great. The new popup look will take some getting used to, but I think I can handle it. The update also brings universal free text messaging to all Handcent users. Send SMS messages on their network instead of using your text limit from your carrier. And soon they’ll offer cross platform SMS/MMS messages on Android and iPhone for free too. If you’ve been using Handcent for your texting needs get the new app available now. If you’ve never tried it, I’d have to say it’s at least worth checking out once. It has so much customization that some might get overwhelmed, but once you set it up it’s truly awesome. With over 10 million downloads they must be doing something right.
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(/bad puns)”
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