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December, 2010 Articles

Gingerbread Source Released, Heading to AOSP Now

by Kevin Krause on December 17th, 2010

A couple of days back we reported that the Android 2.3 source would be pushed to the Android Open Source Project shortly after the release of the Nexus S. Shortly, indeed, as the code is on its way out the doors and headed straight for the AOSP as I type. So hang on to your [...]

Nexus S Camera Has Macro Mode; What other Goodies Have You Found?

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

The Nexus S has been out for a day now and folks likely can’t put the thing down. We all know of the big features in Android 2.3 and the device itself, but there are still new bits and pieces sprinkled throughout that could easily go unnoticed. One such feature is a Macro focus mode [...]

LevelUp Asked to Change Name of Touiteur by Twitter [HUH?]

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

A rather odd occurrence has been brought to everyone’s attention: LevelUp was asked by Twitter to change the name of their Twitter app. According to them, “Touiteur “can be seen as a misspelling of “Twitter”. No details were given regarding the request itself so we’re not sure if it was a friendly gesture or a [...]

DROID 2 Global Maintenance Update on its Way, Bug Fixes Galore

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

It’s not Gingerbread, but you absolutely can’t get mad at a round of bug fixes. (And yes, folks, I promise to one day stop referring to Gingerbread whenever a maintenance update is released.) The Motorola Droid 2 Global is set to get an over the air upgrade sometime soon, and it does little more than [...]

WiMAX Radios Working on Cyanogen Mod for EVO 4G

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

Lack of 4G keeping you away from Cyanogen Mod? The folks at XDA have been working day in and day out on getting the WiMax radios inside of Sprint’s most popular phone – the HTC EVO 4G – to work on AOSP ROMs. Donations have been pledged and over $2,500 is reportedly in store for [...]

Loopt for Android Hits 4.0, Looks Aesthetically Marvelous

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

Loopt for iOS got a huge update last week, but nothing was communicated about the Android version getting the same treatment. The folks at Loopt have given us good news, though: version 4.0 is now available in the Android market. Beside the fact that things just look a hell of  a lot better visually, it [...]

Dolphin Browser HD Bringing a Christmas Gift; What is It?

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

Dolphin Browser HD was recently updated. We didn’t report on it because the changes weren’t that exciting, but the market listing has since been updated to bring to light a change that’ll be prepping the app for a “coming Christmas gift”. Consider me intrigued. What could they possibly be “gifting” to the hundreds of thousands [...]

LG Confirms the “B” Will be at CES, Quickly Deletes Revealing Tweet

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

Just yesterday, we were tipped off to some pretty revealing shots of the LG B. It completely trumped the iPhone 4 as the world’s thinnest smartphone, and it’s just about the brightest display we’ve seen on a mobile handset to date. We didn’t get much more than that, but LG doesn’t seem to mind just [...]

Have You Been Seeing Longer App Descriptions in the Android Market?

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

I knew I wasn’t crazy. Ever since I got the new Android market on my device, app descriptions seemed a lot longer. A lot more winded. The initial change a while back added about 100 more characters and a “Recent Changes” feature in the developer backend, but somehow folks have been going above and beyond [...]

HTC Aria’s Froyo Update Spotted in Asia; When’s the AT&T Version Coming?

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

HTC has released an update to the smallish HTC Aria in Southeast Asia. It’s Android 2.2 and probably brings with it everything you’d expect, but let’s cut right to the chase: when will everyone else get it? We know there are some Aria users on AT&T here in the states. While it’s nice to see [...]

Kindle for Android 2.0 Brings Magazines, Newspapers, Install to SD

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

Amazon Kindle for Android 2.0 is out and it now brings more than just books to your Android device. Magazines and newspapers will now be available for purchasing and viewing, and to get them, you are no longer kicked to your default browser. (But the purchasing mechanism is still HTML-based. Amazon’s just added a WebView-based [...]

Is Honeycomb Being Released as Android 2.4 this February?

by Quentyn Kennemer on December 17th, 2010

It’s long been believed that the next iteration of Android – after the newly-launched Gingerbread 2.3  - would be Android 3.0. Honeycomb is to change the way people see and use Android, if not period then for a better tablet experience. From what we’ve seen so far in leaks and cameo appearances, Honeycomb definitely looks [...]

Velocity Micro Updates Cruz Tablet

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

Velocity Micro’s Cruz tablet was just quietly refreshed, altering its specs but gaining to real improvements. The 16:9 800×480 sreen and 512MB of RAM featured in the Cruz T103 give way to a 4:3 800×600 screen and 256MB of RAM in the updated Cruz T301. Other specs remain similar and pedestrian, and the tablet boasts [...]

Explore the Curves of the Nexus S Inside-Out in this Teardown

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

For those with a teardown fetish, iFixit has your fix once again. The innards of the Nexus S have been laid out right before your lustful eyes. If the curves of the phone’s screen had you going gaga, though, you may want to look away. The rest of the components are on your standard flat [...]

AndFriends Tackles Social App Discovery by Gathering Suggestions from Friends

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

Yet another application is taking a stab at making app discovery easier by approaching recommendations as a new phone buyer would: by asking their friends which apps they use. Once signed up with your Google account, AndFriends trawls your contacts (it can link up via Twitter and Facebook, too) and creates a list of suggestions [...]

And Just Like That, Nexus S Rooted and Running Clockwork Recovery

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

The Nexus S and its Gingerbread install haven’t even been out for the better part of a day, but famed Android hacker koush dove right in. What has emerged mere hours later is a rooted device running Clockwork Recovery. Considering the clean install of Android 2.3, the sky is the limit with what developers and [...]

New App Turns Your Android into a Chumby

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

In a strategy similar to that of the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, Chumby has released its own Android app that bucks the need for a standalone device and turns your smartphone into its own Chumby viewer. The app connects directly with you Chumby account and allows you to access the same Flash-based [...]

Sleek Fossil Connected Watch Syncs with Android Handsets, Displays Caller ID Info, Weather, and More

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

Who knew something as geeky as a smartwatch that syncs with your Android handset could look so good? Fossil decided to go more James Bond than Revenge of the Nerds with their most technologically advanced watch. The Fossil Connected does a lot more than your standard timepiece, hooking up via Bluetooth to your smartphone to [...]

[EXCLUSIVE] LG B Android Phone: Super Slim, Super Bright

by Rob Jackson on December 16th, 2010

If you thought LG would be relying solely on their newly announced LG Optimus 2X going into 2011 you would be absolutely wrong. One of our trusted tipsters was able to get their mittens on a secret project the manufacturer is working on, supposedly codenamed the LG B. In addition to a handful of details, [...]

*Spark Exits Beta, Premier Media Partners in Tow

by Kevin Krause on December 16th, 2010

HipLogic’s *Spark is a homescreen replacement application with a focus on real-time data streams providing you with up-to-date news, weather, and streams from your social networks. After a few months of beta testing the app has landed in the Android Market free of charge, and among its improvements and enhancements comes support from a bevy [...]