Android Community |
- AT&T HTC One X release date rumored for May 6th
- HTC tells us the “One” series can make all the difference
- DoubleTwist adds support for Google Music and separate Alarm Clock app
- Samsung Galaxy Beam pre-orders begin in UK
- Sony announces Ice Cream Sandwich delays – no OTA updates either
- TurboTax offers free tax filing on Android tablets this weekend only
- Temple Run Android gets a whopping 1 million downloads in three days
- Google Drive leak points to 5GB of free storage
- Manually update your GSM Galaxy Nexus to 4.0.4
- NVIDIA CEO hints at $200 Tegra 3 tablets
- HTC One V spotted in the wild – looks impressive [Video]
- Wall Street Journal says Google will sell its own tablets this year
- LG Optimus Elite pictured – doesn’t sound too Elite
- Sony releases official ICS beta for Xperia Play
- Qualcomm releases more drivers for Adreno, should help ICS development
- T-Mobile angers customers with ads in Android notification bar
- HTC One X caught in the wild being unboxed on video
- Missing purchased apps from Play Store? Google’s working on a fix
- Hulu Plus updated with brand new tablet UI for Android
- T-Mobile confirms ICS updates for Amaze 4G and Sensation 4G coming soon
| AT&T HTC One X release date rumored for May 6th Posted: 30 Mar 2012 11:25 AM PDT HTC’s new flagship smartphone the HTC One X is about to be launched worldwide starting next week. Being available in the UK and throughout parts of China. While we are still hopeful to hear more details regarding this impressive phone landing in the US. We already know a dual-core LTE version is headed to AT&T. Now new emails from Best Buy claim the phone has been delayed until May 6th.
HTC’s One X is their first quad-core smartphone and powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. Over on AT&T you’ll be getting the impressive Qualcomm 1.5 GHz dual-core S4 processor that claims equal or better performance. The difference here being the AT&T model will come with 4G LTE speeds. Announced back at the end of February by AT&T we haven’t heard anything regarding a release date other than coming in April. According to the folks at AndroidCentral Best Buy is sending out emails to users that ordered the AT&T One X, stating that the release date for their pre-ordered item has been “moved” to May 6th. We never had a solid date, and this could just be a mistake but at the same time Best Buy might know something we don’t and simply let an email or two slip through the cracks. With tons of other markets getting this phone starting next week I sure hope HTC and AT&T have plans to get it here sooner than May. This is just a rumor for now, and until AT&T makes an official announcement on the LTE-powered One X anything is possible. Stay tuned for more details coming soon. Device Info
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| HTC tells us the “One” series can make all the difference Posted: 30 Mar 2012 10:51 AM PDT So far for 2012 the HTC One series of smartphones looks to be near the top of most peoples purchase list, that or the Galaxy S III of course. With the One series starting to finally break cover this week, and being available as soon as Monday around the world it’s about to make a big entrance. We loved it at MWC and surely will love it once it’s available in the US. Today HTC has released a nice ad spot, but it doesn’t show the phone much.
This heartfelt commercial is aiming to give everyone that little personal touch from HTC. It tells us that One can make all the difference, and that HTC has listened to its users and the One X is all about us. To be honest I’d have to agree. The phone is awesome in almost every way, and they’ve toned down the effects and crazy parts of Sense UI to give users an overall awesome experience. The commercial is a little soft hearted, and doesn’t show much for smartphone hardware. They do however want to get the point across that they aren’t worried about the phone. They don’t think they need to brag it up because “we” the users will love it, and share our thoughts and recommendations with family and friends. Pretty interesting way to advertise but we’ll take it. In case you didn’t see the videos of the One X from yesterday check out the links below and stay tuned as we’ll have tons more on the One X right here at Android Community soon. Device Info
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| DoubleTwist adds support for Google Music and separate Alarm Clock app Posted: 30 Mar 2012 10:21 AM PDT DoubleTwist burst onto the Android scene as an alternative and bridge for iTunes, but now that Google sells its own tunes, they’re getting with the program. The DoubleTwist app can now recognize music from the Google Play Music service and plays them back through its app alongside any of the standard MP3s or other songs you’ve got stored on your Android devices’ internal storage or SD card. There’s just one hitch: like Cloud Music Sniper, the updated app can only “see” the music you’ve selected for offline access in the Google Music app.
The service can’t pull down music directly from Google’s servers, but then, no third party app can do that at the moment. DoubleTwist still integrated with iTunes better than just about any app we’ve seen (though I prefer to just keep my music in folders and let VLC do the grunt work). The app is still a free download on the Google Play Store – and it’s got many features that Google’s only thinking about adding to Google Music, like album art downloads. They’ve also added a separate Alarm Clock app. The app is something of a non sequitur, since it’s got nothing to with either the music player or AirSync. It is a pretty sweet-looking alarm clock app, though, with all the bells and whistles: multiple and recurring alarms, a couple of slick-looking full-screen faces, and a snooze function. Naturally you can use any music or sound stored on your phone for the alarm, in addition to the defaults. Unfortunately there seems to be a distinct lack of widgets. The app is currently on sale for 99 cents – after it’s downloaded 10,000 times it’ll go up to $1.99.
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| Samsung Galaxy Beam pre-orders begin in UK Posted: 30 Mar 2012 09:33 AM PDT You love smartphones. You live in the UK. And you’re a martyr to the 20-pound projector that you constantly carry around in your backpack. Congratulations, you’re the perfect candidate for Samsung’s Galaxy Beam, with its integrate pico projector – and you can reserve your unit now. UK web retailer Clove has the Galaxy Beam up for pre-order for £369.00, £442.80 after taxes. That comes out to just over $700 USD. Ouch. The release date isn’t mentioned on Clove’s website.
For that considerable chunk of cash, you get a mid-range phone constructed around a tiny projector. The 15-lumen lamp is capable of projecting a 640×480 display up to 50 inches. The phone itself is a little uninspiring: Android 2.3 with TouchWiz runs on a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor. The 4-inch LCD screen is 800×480 (just a little more resolution than the projector is capable of displaying) and the internal memory is a roomy 8GB. Cameras are 5 megapixels on the back with 1.3 megapixels on the front, and the phone features an oversized 2000mAh battery for the projector. While it’s not the slimmest or prettiest phone around, the Beam’s form follows its unique function. A manual projector button just out the side and focus controls get their own hardware buttons. Even so, it’s hard to think of someone who’d prefer an expensive mid-range phone with an integrated projector to a cheap pico projector with video going to it from an HDMI-enabled phone. For the limited amount of time you’d need this, does it really justify the cost? Samsung hasn’t said when it’ll bring the Galaxy Beam to the European or Asian markets, or if it’s coming to North America. [via Know Your Mobile]
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| Sony announces Ice Cream Sandwich delays – no OTA updates either Posted: 30 Mar 2012 08:38 AM PDT Sony’s been uncharacteristically forthcoming when it comes to their plans on updating phones to Ice Cream Sandwich. The manufacturer committed to updating all of its 2011 Xperia phones to Android 4.0, a promise it’s already starting to make good on with ICS betas for The Xperia Play and others. Unfortunately, it looks like users will have to wait a little longer than they’d previously thought. Sony said in December that the first updated phones would be the Xperia Arc S , Neo V and Ray would be getting official updates in March, but they’ve bumped them back to mid-April. No word on the rest of the Xperia line, previously said to be updated in April or May.
In addition, Sony said that they won’t be sending out any updates over the air, as most Android manufacturers do in conjunction with mobile carriers. If you want an Ice Cream Sandwich update (when it becomes available), you’ll need to download it directly from Sony’s website and install it via their desktop clients, PC Companion and Bridge for OSX users. Sony says that they want to make sure customers make an informed decision before the major upgrade. As unconventional as this approach is, I kind of dig it. One, anyone who’s Android-savvy enough to want Ice Cream Sandwich will be more than willing to put in a little legwork on their computer. And two, this may well get updates into the hands of consumers faster, helping to solve a problem that plagues the mobile platform. Who knows, maybe Sony can even skirt around US carriers, who almost always delay updates by a significant factor when compared to international contract-free phones. If you’ve got an Xperia Play, Arc S , Neo V or Ray, you can download a beta ROM of Ice Cream Sandwich right now and avoid the wait (so long as you’re not particularly attached to your warranty). Everyone else should be getting their updates in less than two months… we hope. Kudos to Sony for keeping us informed, at least. [via PocketNow]
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| TurboTax offers free tax filing on Android tablets this weekend only Posted: 30 Mar 2012 07:43 AM PDT Death and taxes and early termination fees: the bane of civilized man. At least one of those has gotten easier in the last few years for US taxpayers thanks to tax preparation software, and this weekend, you won’t even have to pay for it. TurboTax is offering free 1040 EZ returns on Android devices between March 30th (today) and April 1st (Sunday). That’s a steal as long as you’ve got a pretty standard salary or hourly income – the normal state and federal filing through TurboTax costs $67.
There’ just one catch: the free offer only applies to the tablet version of TurboTax 2011 for Android. This one right here. You can download a similar app on the Kindle Fire, but smartphone users (and presumably those who are using Gingerbread tablets with legitimate or hacked access to the Google Play Store) are out of luck. Now there’s a value proposition for Honeycomb. The tablet version is designed to mirror the TurboTax website, something that isn’t really possible on a smartphone. Check the video below. TurboTax for Android can’t help you if you’ve got more complex tax needs, such as freelance workers or small business owners. It also doesn’t connect with an existing application if you’ve already started on the TurboTax website. But for the standard income/dependent/deduction calculation, it seems like a fast and easy way to file. Grab your 1040 and your Android tablet sometime this weekend and get the yearly chore out of the way. [via LaptopMag]
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| Temple Run Android gets a whopping 1 million downloads in three days Posted: 30 Mar 2012 07:09 AM PDT For months, you waited on developer Imangi Studios to bring its iOS hit Temple Run to Android. For weeks you filled our comments section with hundreds of replies (you kiss your mothers with those mouths?). And when Temple Run finally sprinted onto the Google Play store, you didn’t disappoint. In just three days the Android version of the game racked up a million downloads. And if the graph for new players on the Google Play Store is accurate, it isn’t slowing down any time soon.
For comparison, the iOS version has been downloaded 45 million times in the last seven months. With Android’s larger userbase and a ravenous gaming population, it should be able to match that figure fairly easily. The fact that the game is free on both platforms doesn’t hurt – just ask Rovio. Their free version of Angry Birds has somewhere between 50 and 100 million downloads, and the new Angry Birds Space has over 10 million installs on Android alone. Most have given Temple Run positive reviews in the Google Play Store, but it’s not all sunshine and roses. Owners of older phones are experiencing some serious slowdown, and the game’s stability leaves a lot to be desired. Considering how long the Android version took to arrive, that seems a little disappointing. Since the game’s launch on Tuesday it has not been updated. For those who can’t see it in the Google Play store or need the 3D graphics to be toned down a bit, check out some modded versions of the game for older phones.
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| Google Drive leak points to 5GB of free storage Posted: 30 Mar 2012 06:39 AM PDT Rumors of a “Google Drive” remote storage service have been around since before the current cloud craze, but if recent screenshots can be believed, it’s finally coming to fruition very soon. Talk Android got tipped on what looks like a Dropbox-style web service from the Big G offering 5 gigabytes of free cloud storage, considerably more than some would-be competitors. The style of the webpage matches Google’s most recent updates for other web services, and the triangular logo matches the one we saw in a previous leak. This could be fake, but I kind of doubt it.
One thing’s for sure: if Google’s planning its own cloud service, it’s bound to get a hearty dose of Android integration. If the green phone logo on the screenshot above wasn’t enough, just consider their latest additions to their web stable: Google+, Google Music, et cetera. And it’s not as if they don’t have a template to copy. Dropbox, Box.net and other long-standing services already have some impressive offerings on Android and other mobile platforms. So what could Google offer to beat these competitors? Aside from tight integration with your existing Google services, not much. True, 5GB is considerably more than Dropbox is offering, but HTC owners get 5GB automatically, and if you’re a savvy Android user you can get access to up to 50GB of storage from Box.net. The best way that Google could differentiate itself would be low prices for storage expansion and integration with other Google services – like, for example, placing all the attachments from your Gmail account in a dedicated folder. There’s no indication of when or if Google Drive may be coming, but a reveal around Google I/O in June seems likely.
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| Manually update your GSM Galaxy Nexus to 4.0.4 Posted: 29 Mar 2012 05:52 PM PDT Are you a GSM Galaxy Nexus owner, but for whatever reason you can’t pull down the much-anticipated 4.0.4 update? Maybe you’re stuck in a low coverage area or you just don’t want to spend the data before (or after) you reach your cap. For whatever reason, you no longer need to wait: Google has posted the full ZIP update for earlier versions. Installing is simple, even if you’ve never done this sort of thing before – but you will need the proper Android ADB tools and drivers installed on your computer. Before you begin, click here to download the English GSM Galaxy Nexus update file, or check this XDA thread for localized versions in other languages or older updates.
Once you’ve finished the download, go to the Settings menu on your phone. Tap Developer Options, and make sure USB debugging is enabled. Connect your Galaxy Nexus to your computer and unlock it. Copy the ZIP file to the Internal Storage folder in your device. If you’ve downloaded it on your phone, use a file browser to copy it to the /sdcard folder. Open a Command Prompt or Terminal window in the same folder as your ADB install. Type “adb devices” and make sure that your Galaxy Nexus appears in the list. Now type “adb shell”, press enter, then “su”, then press enter again. Type exactly the following, without quotes: “cp /sdcard/7f97fbc19417.signed-yakju-IMM76D-from-ICL53F.7f97fbc1e.zip /cache/7f97fbc19417.signed-yakju-IMM76D-from-ICL53F.7f97fbc1.zip” (If you downloaded another language update, change the name of the ZIP file appropriately.) Type “exit”, then press enter. Type “exit” and press enter again. Now remove your Galaxy Nexus from the USB cable and power it down. Now press the Power, Volume Up and Volume Down buttons together to bring it into Bootloader mode. Press Down Volume twice, then the power button to enter the stock recovery. Use the volume buttons to select “Apply Update”, press the power button, and you’re golden. Once it finishes, reboot your phone. XOOM Wifi and Nexus S owners can follow the same basic guides if you find links for the official updates, though the exact method of getting into the bootloader and recovery varies. If you need a non-English update, check the XDA link above; it should have just about everybody covered. Galaxy Nexus LTE owners, you’re out of luck for the time being… unless you’d like to try your hand at some custom ROMs.
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| NVIDIA CEO hints at $200 Tegra 3 tablets Posted: 29 Mar 2012 05:04 PM PDT Here’s a nice side choice to compliment your main course of Nexus Tablet rumors this evening: NVIDIA CEO spoke with the New York Times about lowering the price of Android tablets. Quote mister Jen-Hsun Huang: “"We took out $150 in build materials, things like expensive memory. At $199, you can just about buy a tablet at a 7-Eleven." That’s a long way from any sort of confirmation, but it shows that NVIDIA is as anxious as we are to lower the price of Android tablets, especially those with high-end components like the Tegra 3 processor.
Most of the mainstream manufacturers out there seem intent on fighting Apple on its home turf, i.e. the $500+ market. To be blunt, that hasn’t worked in the year or so that Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich have been available… and it’s given Apple time to hit back with the reduced $399 iPad 2. ASUS seems to be the only company having any luck with high-end tablets, and even then they don’t hold a candle to the $200-250 “reader” tablets in terms of sales volume. A combination of power and rock-bottom price could finally break Android tablet sales out of the doldrums to join Android’s lead in smartphones. We had previously hoped that the ASUS MeMO 370T would be the tablet to do just that, but the current scuttlebutt is that it’s been scrapped in favor of an even cheaper Nexus Tablet. None of this is confirmed by anybody at the moment, so consider it firmly in the rumor category. As for NVIDIA, who knows: they’re a component supplier, not a manufacturer. If OEMs won’t find ways to lower the prices of tablets, there’s not a lot that anybody else can do about it.
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| HTC One V spotted in the wild – looks impressive [Video] Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:25 PM PDT HTC’s new line of flagship phones in the One series are starting to appear everywhere. With the One X being available in early April in China and the UK, and the One S headed to T-Mobile. The one we haven’t seen or heard much about since being first unveiled is the HTC One V. This is the lowest of them all but shows that HTC can get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Sense UI 4.0 both on a mid-range phone. Below is some hands-on video of the One V in action.
For those that missed the announcement of the HTC One V, this is their lowest device to carry the new “One” branding. Coming with only a 1 GHz single-core processor and 512MB of RAM. That isn’t what we’d even call mid-range phone these days. HTC making Sense UI 4.0 and Android 4.0 ICS look great on this phone is a good sign indeed. While we can’t expect every device from HTC with those specs to see updates, this is a start. The HTC One V was announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, but didn’t actually work during the show and was only a dummy unit during our hands-on (linked below). This video shows it out in the wild, and running flawlessly. When flipping through the images from the gallery you can truly see just how fast and smooth everything appears to be running. Sadly the video isn’t of the best quality, and is quite blurry but we are finally seeing Android 4.0 and Sense UI 4.0, Beats Audio and more all running on the upcoming HTC One V. We haven’t heard much from the four main US carriers getting the device but expect some to announce it soon. It would make the perfect mid-range phone for the summer months. – Thanks Jay   
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| Wall Street Journal says Google will sell its own tablets this year Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:07 PM PDT It’s been a while since we heard from the Nexus Tablet rumor mill, but it looks like its just been restarted by one of the most respected financial reporting firms around. The Wall Street Journal says (in its familiar and maddeningly vague way) that Google will be selling a tablet of its own design and branding later in 2012. Of course the WSJ didn’t reveal any of its sources, and they seem to know about as much as we do at this point – i.e., that there’s nothing official on deck at all, and ASUS is thought to be the most likely candidate for the device’s manufacturer.
All of the rumor and hearsay thus far points to a 7-inch tablet from Google, placing Android 4.0 in direct competition with the likes of the Kindle and the Nook. That would mean that the price would be $200 or less, an achievement requiring relatively low specs and perhaps even a small amount of subsidies. For Google, it might be worth it to combat the forked version of Gingerbread that have become standard on the most popular Android tablets out there – they don’t exactly present the best front against the iPad, and manufacturers don’t seem in any hurry to lower the price on more powerful hardware. We had previously heard that ASUS’ much-anticipated MeMO 370T had been scrapped in favor of a similar model that would become the “Nexus Tablet”, without the expensive NVIDIA Tegra 3 powering it. Neither ASUS nor Google are talking, but everyone else seems to be. A good time to expect the mythical device would be at Google I/O in June, where Google will be showing off the latest and greatest in Android software – and has been known to give away high-profile devices to lucky attendees. [via The Verge]
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| LG Optimus Elite pictured – doesn’t sound too Elite Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:40 PM PDT A new phone from LG has been leaked today in a set of official renders or press images. Being called the LG Optimus Elite although I’d go as far as to call it much less than that. We’ve seen reports on this phone before with a rumored name of the LG Optimus Net and Gelato, but we can now confirm this phone and its “Elite” status.
Made available to the folks at Pocket Now this phone will be launching on both the Now Network, and Virgin Mobile in the next couple of months. Most likely late April or sometime in May. The Elite will feature a measly 800 Mhz single-core processor, a 3.2-inch HVGA display, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and be paired with a 5 megapixel camera and LED flash. Looking at the image is that a mirror of some sort next to the camera? Like those old Sony Ericsson phones from 2007? (I loved my k750i) It looks pretty weird to be a speaker grill. One good thing here is the phone will be very competitively priced, and it better be with dual-core LTE phones like the LG Lucid being released on Verizon today for only $79. One feature you wont want to miss on the LG Optimus Elite is the phone is NFC capable and can take advantage of those Optimus Tags, or Android Beam if it ever gets Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – but that is doubtful. We should hear more from Virgin Mobile soon on the LG Optimus Elite so stay tuned if a decent budget smartphone would fit your needs.
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| Sony releases official ICS beta for Xperia Play Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:34 PM PDT Great news, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play owners: you can go get your Ice Cream Sandwich on right now. Sony has released a beta ROM of Android 4.0 for the gaming-centric handheld, and it’a available to the poor and the gentry on their download site. Sony previously promised to update all its 2011 Xperia phones to Ice Cream Sandwich, and it looks like they’re making good on both the promise and the timetable – this beta comes after a similar program for the Xperia Arc S, Neo V and Ray.
The usual set of warnings come down the pipe from Sony : this is as-is software, with no warranties given, expressed or implied. Yadda yadda. You’ll have to unlock the bootloader on the Xperia Play before installing the provided ZIP file. But to be perfectly honest, if you’re reading this odds are pretty good that you’re rearing to go in any case. If you do intend to do an early upgrade (which the manufacturer only recommends for “advanced developers”) be a good citizen and send in any bugs or complaints via the official survey. If Sony’s previous ROMs are any indication, the interface will have liberal doses of custom software all over the place. That said, it’s definitely worth a shot for the gamers out there: when we updated the HTC Vivid to Ice Cream Sandwich, it got a solid 20-30% boost in performance. On the other hand, some of the games that you’re used to may not be fully updated yet, so you might want to swing by their respective Google Play Store pages and see what the latest reviews are saying. Happy flashing! Device Info
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| Qualcomm releases more drivers for Adreno, should help ICS development Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:11 PM PDT The entire discussion about fragmentation and old devices not getting updated is a hot topic in the world of Android. A lot of the problem is based around older phones not having the hardware to support such updates. While many manufacturers don’t issue updates, the modding community does. With Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that task got a little harder, but Qualcomm is helping out.
The huge changes to Android 4.0 ICS especially in the graphics and hardware acceleration department is making porting Android 4.0 to older devices, or even some newer phones harder because developers need specific drivers for the graphics (GPU). Earlier this month Qualcomm released those needed drivers for the Adreno 2xx which is most of the devices running Qualcomm (HTC, LG, and Sony) from the past year. This is good news but tons of older phones didn’t have the same fate, until today. The older Qualcomm MSM7000 series includes tons of lower end phones like the WildFire S, the Samsung Galaxy Ace, Mini, and more. Not to mention tons of LG phones. A large list of these can be found here. Today Qualcomm has helped the developer community yet again and just released the Adreno GPU drivers for the Arm v6 platform listed above. This doesn’t mean anything to the end user or the average reader, but if you are hoping for a port of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to your dated and older device — this is the first step. After the developer community reached out for these drivers it’s nice to see Qualcomm responding by making them readily available. Now we are hoping NVIDIA will follow suite and do the same. For those interested you can find the download links from the source linked to below. [via Qualcomm]
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| T-Mobile angers customers with ads in Android notification bar Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PDT Here we go again: a mobile carrier is using Android’s notification system to enrich its advertising options, and customers aren’t happy. But this time it isn’t some regional carrier on the other side of the world, it’s good ol’ T-Mobile, champion of urban penny pinchers and (thanks to the Google G1) a patron saint of the Church of Android. TmoNews reports that a large number of customers have taken to company and independent forums to protest the annoying and invasive ads for magenta services like the T-Mobile VIP Zone.
The ads seems to be coming in after an update to the T-Mobile My Account app, a managing service that has smartphone counterparts on most carriers around the world. Previously the ads were limited to the UI of the app itself – something that didn’t really annoy most people, as it’s the kind of pervasive advertising that’s sadly typical with modern tech. But with ads showing up in the notification bar, where Android users expect to find more pertinent information like missed calls and emails, T-Mobile customers are understandably ticked. Many have called for either an opt-out option or the ability to uninstall the app completely, which is not default on most stock phones. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen ads pop up in the notification area – download a few shady and “free” apps from the Google Play Store and you’re sure to see some eventually. And it’s not like T-Mobile and other carriers don’t have some invasive advertising already; count yourself lucky if you don’t get one text message a month telling you how to add a line or re-up your contract. And since T-Mobile owns the bandwidth delivering the ads and develops the app and at least part of the phone service, they’re well within their rights to deliver ads however they like. Even so, this is understandably upsetting for paying customers. T-Mo, how’s about you reverse this unfortunate marketing tactic, unless you want the number of rooted users on your network to jump really quickly.
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| HTC One X caught in the wild being unboxed on video Posted: 29 Mar 2012 01:55 PM PDT The brand new HTC One X has been getting tons of attention, and with good reason. Being HTC’s new flagship quad-core smartphone with a huge 4.7-inch HD screen and more. We’ve been reporting on it all week, mainly that it will be available in parts of China and the UK the first week of April. Today it has already been caught on camera, being unboxed and shown off for all to enjoy. HTC claims “I’m the one you’ve been waiting for.”
We already know plenty about this impressive new flagship smartphone from HTC and had a chance to get our own hands on it during Mobile World Congress. This 4.7″ 1280 x 720p HD smartphone rocks a SLCD2 display, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a new and improved HTC Sense UI 4.0, and the 8 megapixel camera around back is supposed to be the best camera of any smartphone available. The video isn’t in English so you might need a translator to help you with the audio, but I’m sure most of you just want to see this beast on video showing off it’s smooth curves and excellent design qualities. HTC’s plastered a sticker on the from saying “I’m the ONE you’ve been waiting for”, and we’d have to agree. There also seems to be a SIM slot key included in the box but sadly it appears Beats Audio headphone are NOT included — at least not in that specific region. I’m sure we’ll be hearing and seeing more very soon with the release being only a matter of days away. With this being one of the first public appearances in the final form, we figured you’d all enjoy the video. It’s worth noting the guy on video seems to already have, and has been using the One S too because he compares the two briefly on video. Who wants the new One X? Or will you opt for the One S instead for the slightly smaller screen?     Device Info
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[via HTC-Hub]
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| Missing purchased apps from Play Store? Google’s working on a fix Posted: 29 Mar 2012 01:22 PM PDT Over the past couple of days we’ve received a few tips that users were experiencing problems with the Google Play Store, and some were reporting that their paid application lists were completely missing. Some went as far as to say the market was asking them to purchase said apps again. After receiving a few more complaints, and seeing several threads appear at XDA regarding the issue we now have good news.
It seems that users are receiving the above pictured error while trying to download previously purchased apps, and for many others the “installed” list is completely empty, or not showing all of their purchased applications. Apparently we weren’t alone because multiple other sites are reporting the same issues, although none of the Android devices on my desk (more than a few) have the issue currently. According to new reports and finding from The Verge the problem is actually quite widespread and Google has already acknowledged the issue. If you look through Google’s known issues page under the “fixed” tab they’ve confirmed the missing apps problem and are looking into the matter. Interesting that it’s filed under fixed, but either way we hope this all gets straightened out soon. Are you having problems? If you are you’re not alone. Google is working on a fix or already has one on the way so sit tight. If the app is urgent you can always email the developer and forward him your receipt.
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| Hulu Plus updated with brand new tablet UI for Android Posted: 29 Mar 2012 11:57 AM PDT Good news today for anyone that uses Hulu. They’ve finally updated Hulu Plus for Android with full tablet support with a sleek new user interface and fullscreen streaming. Hulu hasn’t been a very popular Android app and the user interface was quite poor if you ask me. After installing the new tablet-optimized app on my Transformer Prime I can safely say the new app is awesome, and looks great on a 10-inch screen.
It isn’t all good news though. Hulu states it will only work on 7 specific Android tablets all running on Android 3.0 and above, although I’ve found that to be false. Those include: Transformer Prime, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Motorola XYBoard 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia and LG G-Slate. I was able to install Hulu Plus with the new tablet UI on my Galaxy Tab 7.7, 8.9, and 10.1 with no problems, so it might work on others — and I see no reason why it wont so long as they run Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich. The new user interface is simple to use, fast, and works great on the larger screens of tablets. They’ve introduced a horizontal tile view for making selections, and you can easily swipe left and right to scroll through the thousands of movies, videos, and TV available to Hulu Plus subscribers. Get the new Hulu Plus available right now from the Google Play store by clicking here, and let us know how that full screen video streaming works for you. If you aren’t a subscriber you can join today for $7.99 a month.   
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| T-Mobile confirms ICS updates for Amaze 4G and Sensation 4G coming soon Posted: 29 Mar 2012 11:29 AM PDT Today T-Mobile has announced and confirmed that their impressive HTC Amaze 4G and the popular Sensation 4G will both be getting updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Obviously we all expected these to be among the first updated, and HTC themselves have confirmed this already too. Sadly while we did hear a confirmation from T-Mobile themselves, an expected date was no where to be found.
T-Mobile has just updated the support documents for both of the above mentioned devices specifying that they’ll see upgrades to Android 4.0 ICS but that the dates are still TBD (to be determined). Most likely they are awaiting HTC’s final approval and final tweaks before getting sent to T-Mobile, but this is a good sign.
The Sensation already received 4.0 in the UK, and multiple HTC phones on AT&T have received the update to 4.0 ICS and Sense UI 3.6 this month already. Most likely these are a matter of weeks away. We might see a leak or two in the coming days or months, but can’t guarantee it. Most likely the Sensation 4G will see the update first as HTC has previously stated in the past. More details are available at the T-Mobile support forums for the Sensation here, and the Amaze 4G here. [via Android Police]
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