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February, 2011 Articles

Download Samurai II: Vengeance For Your New Tegra 2 Device

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

With the release of the Motorola XOOM and the availability of the Motorola Atrix 4G, game developers are now starting to publish their Tegra-optimized games to the Android market. Today, Samurai II: Vengeance has seen its release and is now available for about $4.76. (3,49 euros.) I had a chance to play this at Mobile [...]

AOSP Code Says AT&T Nexus S Indeed on its Way

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

Digging through the Android Open Source Project’s git isn’t something we like to do for fun, but our friend Jerry from Android Central happened to be doing that yesterday and came across evidence that an AT&T version is indeed in the works. We’ve seen it hit the FCC before, so we figured it’d make an [...]

Verizon: Motorola XOOM No Longer Requires One Month of Data to Unlock WiFi

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

Verizon’s heard the uproar over rumored activation practices they were reportedly using to make sure all XOOM owners bought at least one month of data service from the carrier. The practice would see all purchasers of the off-contract 3G model having to pay for at least one month of data service in order to activate [...]

T-Mobile G2, MyTouch 4G, + More T-Mobile Phones Getting Price Bumps

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

It’s not often we see prices getting bumped up – they’re usually going on sale. But the T-Mobile G2 and MyTouch 4G have both gone from $199.99 after a mail-in rebate to $249.99 without a rebate option. Not technically a price bump as you’ve always had to pay $250 at the point of sale, but [...]

Trademark Wars: ChaCha, XOOM Taken to the Gauntlet

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

It’s nothing new to hear about patent and trademark infringements in the Android market. Whether it be OEMs or developers, someone’s registered patent or trademark is always being infringed upon. Even Google “stole” Android at some point. That’s been settled with some ridiculous amount of money, of course. And now HTC and Motorola find themselves [...]

Clear Shots of the NEC Medias [Anorexic Smartphones]

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

Were intrigued by this device. Not because it has amazing internal specs (though those aren’t bad by any stretch of the imagination), but because it’s so freaking thin. It’s like the Hollywood diva of the mobile industry, throwing its guts up to be as thin as it can be in hopes that some googley-eyed man [...]

[Update: Confirmed?] Roseville Best Buy Says Thunderbolt Delayed Until March 4th?

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

It’s February 24th, folks, and guess what phone you can’t go out and buy right now? As the Motorola XOOM sees its self put onto store shelves, the HTC Thunderbolt has yet to be given an official launch date. Getting a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? One eager Roseville Best Buy says you may want circle [...]

Motorola XOOM is Now Available from Verizon Wireless

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 24th, 2011

Today’s thee big day, guys: the Motorola XOOM is the first Android tablet to be running Google’s tablet specific version – Honeycomb – and it’s finally available. You can get it from Verizon Wireless contract free for $799.99, or $599.99 on a two-year contract. Best Buy is also taking $800 for it. Remember that you’ll [...]

Gmail for Android Update Adds Enhanced Copy Feature for Gingerbread Users

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

Google’s just issued a quick and minor upgrade to Gmail in the Android market. Aside from one glaring issue fixed – the previous version’s odd failure to sync custom label colors – they’ve added a new long-press to copy feature for those running Android 2.3 and higher. Not the most exciting update, of course, but [...]

Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [Feb. 23]

by Kevin Krause on February 23rd, 2011

Lots and lots of stuff happened today, as usual. Pre-orders, FCC, tablets, phones, etc etc etc: it’s never a dull day in the world of Android, is it? Go ahead and run through the list. You might even find something you like. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is up for pre-order through mobiles.co.uk, Expansys, and [...]

Epic 4G Owners: Calendar Not Syncing After EB13 Froyo Upgrade? [Forum Talk]

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

Many of you have already gotten the upgrade to Android 2.2 – either through a manual install or from Sprint’s official over-the-air process – for the Samsung EPIC 4G, and with that comes the usual bug or two. One that I noticed personally that has been driving many crazy over at Android Forums is calendar [...]

Nexus S Now Shipping from Vodafone UK

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

Nexus S fans in the UK can now order a Nexus S from Vodafone and have it shipped to their doorstep. It’s 199 pounds on a two year, 25 pounds per month tariff, or you can get it for free for 10 more pounds. More details on the tariffs available can be had at their [...]

Motorola XOOM 4G Upgrade Process Detailed

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

We’re just one day away from the grand launch of the very first Honeycomb tablet – the Motorola XOOM. Motorola, in conjunction with Verizon, have committed to giving everyone the ability to use their shiny new play-things over big red’s 4G LTE network, but we didn’t know exactly how that was going to go down. [...]

Android Activations Visualized [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

The folks behind the Android Developers YouTube Channel have posted the visualization video from MWC that showed the progression of Android activations since its inception. I’m not exactly sure how accurate the visualization is, but the huge spikes after the Motorola DROID’s and the Samsung Galaxy S’s respective launches are close enough for me. Expect [...]

Amazon Prime Members Can Stream 5,000 Titles on Google TV Devices

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

If you haven’t heard, Amazon has given their Prime users free streaming access to over 5,000 movies. That’s awesome in itself, but if you have a Google TV device, those 5,000 movies can be streamed quite effortlessly. Google’s quite proud of that, it seems, though we’d prefer it if they would actually work with partners [...]

AT&T, Rogers’ Froyo for Dell Streak Rolling Out

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

Dell has finally announced the beginning of the Froyo rollout for their Dell Streak (5 inch) on both Rogers and AT&T. The update has been available in leak form for quite some time now. We once believed it may have been shipping on new devices, but that never ended up being the case. It’s finally [...]

HTC Aria’s Froyo Update Still in the Works, Says AT&T [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

In a move I wish most cellular companies would start emulating, AT&T’s took to YouTube with a Q&A session from within. They sat their “Android guy” into the hot seat with the questions you guys are always asking here: where’s the Aria update and, hell, where’s the update to 2.2 for ALL of AT&T’s phones? [...]

Motorola Giving Away Gold XOOM Tablets on Twitter [Contests]

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

Want the XOOM? Don’t want to pay $600-$800? Well this may just be your lucky day. Motorola’s holding a contest on Twitter where they’re looking to give away a couple of special Gold-donned Motorola XOOM tablets – just like the kind that were present at the Oscars. It’s a very simple contest – retweet something, [...]

WiFi-Only Version of HTC Flyer Looking to Cost 499 Euros, Says Pre-Order

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

Sticker shock plagued the eyes of many when we learned of initial pricing for the HTC Flyer: it would appear most would have to spend upwards of 669 euros for the Android 2.4 tablet with a bigger version of HTC Sense on top. A WiFi-only model is in the works, though, and one pre-order page [...]

The Daily for Android May Land This Spring

by Quentyn Kennemer on February 23rd, 2011

All Things D is reporting that News Corps-owned digital paper – The Daily – will soon see its iPad exclusivity end and should find its way onto at least one Android tablet this week. The daily seems to be a big deal as Apple and Rupert Murdoch have touted its success since the day it [...]