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March, 2011 Articles

Last Minute Update for HTC Thunderbolt Comes Online Before Launch Day

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

Just a day shy of the official release of the HTC Thunderbolt and we have word that what should be a final updated version of the firmware for the phone has leaked onto the internet. It won’t do the everyday user much good but might come in handy for those hoping to make quick work [...]

HTC Shooter: Could this Be the Next EVO for Sprint?

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

At next week’s CTIA show in Orlando, Fl, Sprint is expected to unveil a brand new lineup of smartphones including the successor to the original HTC EVO 4G. . Signs point to that handset being tagged the EVO 3D, and a new database entry on GLBenchmark, the site cataloging records of phones running instances of [...]

Military Once Again Turning to Android for Battlefield Solutions

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

The US military’s flirtations with Android date all the way back to 2009, so it should come as no surprise that the operating system originally intended for civilian mobile devices is once again being turned to for advanced battlefield technology. This time the military is contracting Harris and Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS) with the aim [...]

Official: Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Lands March 27th at Seven Retailers for $599

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

Amazon.com, Best Buy, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Staples, and Costco. What do all seven of these retail chains have in common? They will be the places to be come March 27th for the launch of the Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi only version of the world’s first Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet will go on sale [...]

Benchmark Shows HTC Pyramid’s Dual-Core Snapdragon Can’t Best Tegra 2

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

The HTC Pyramid (that we saw pictured yesterday) is rumored to be among the first devices to use Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon chipset in a field of phones and tablets opting for NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 platform. Over the past year, the Snapdragon chip has set the standard for processing power in mobile devices, but supposed benchmark [...]

Lay Off the Doughnuts, FatBooth for Android Now Available

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

Ever wonder what you might look like if you keep up your binge diet of delivery pizza, fried fast food, and sugary soft drinks? Yeah, I don’t want to face that reality either, but if I did I would use FatBooth. If you have a friend or family member with an iPhone you have no [...]

Infamous Android Hacker Koush Turns Down Interview with Sony ‘Out of Principle’

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

In an effort to strengthen their development team it seems Sony has been scouring the interwebz for talented developers and in at least once case offered a meeting to infamous Android hacker Koush. Without much hesitation, Koush declined any request for an interview. He says he turned down the offer “out of principle.” More exactly, [...]

Google TV Receiving Update, Still No Android Market

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

The headline says it all. Google TV has received an update, and much to the disappointment of one particular Android blogger it does not include the much awaited launch of the Android Market. Instead comes a list of things in the update to v1.3 that seems comparatively more mundane: Better WMA audio file support in [...]

Motorola Droid 3 Bares All to Reveal Its Keyboard, Now a 5-Row QWERTY

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

Yesterday we got our first look at the exterior of the upcoming Motorola DROID 3, but one major element was left veiled in mystery: the trademark keyboard that sets the Droid family apart from much of its upper-echelon smartphone kin. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait to long to get a look at what we [...]

Samsung CTIA Teaser Gives Us a Fleeting Glimpse of the new Galaxy Tab 8.9

by Kevin Krause on March 16th, 2011

Gearing up for their press conference to be held next week during CTIA in Orlando, Samsung has released a teaser trailer that once again asks the question “What is your Tab life?” This time we actually get some snippets of answers to that question from various users talking about their experiences with the Samsung’s slate [...]

Thunderbolt Multimedia Dock, Extended Battery & Wireless Charging Battery Door Leaked

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

Although Verizon has finally officially announced the HTC Thunderbolt’s launch today – it’ll be in stores this Thursday, for your info – we haven’t gotten many details on what you can pick up beside it. New images sent to us confirm they will be offering an extended battery and a multimedia dock with it, though. [...]

Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [March 15th]

by Kevin Krause on March 15th, 2011

A couple of major device announcements were made today and a bunch more unannounced devices were leaked. It was a good day of news, but there is more that we didn’t get a chance to check out. Below lies a lot of good stuff so be sure to take a look at your earliest convenience. [...]

Carphone Warehouse Sells 1 Million Androids and Sees 2000% Increase in Sales, Debuts Unique Ad

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

Carphone Warehouse – a major mobile device retailer in the United Kingdom – has announced that they’ve sold over 1 million Androids last year, a 2000% increase over the year before. Carphone Warehouse are sworn promoters of Android with their shops plagued with little green robots, and now they have a new ad to let [...]

SPB to Bring Tablet Version of Mobile Shell to Android [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

SPB – the folks who are making an Android version of their mobile shell application – are working on a tablet version. It explains why development on the phone version may be taking a while as that one is still in beta with a close-knit group of folks testing it. Unfortunately, the applications won’t be [...]

Netflix for Android APK Leaked

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

What do we have here? One of the most sought-after applications that has yet to be released? Someone has gotten their hands on this .APK file that seems to install Netflix for Android. Don’t rejoice yet, though: most folks can’t get the app to actually stream any video, including yours truly. I can at least [...]

HTC Thunderbolt’s User Manual Now Online

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

If you’ve been waiting to get the HTC Thunderbolt and want to pass some time until Thursday, why not check out this shiny new user manual that has popped up on Verizon’s website? It’s the usual round of information you’d expect to know about any Android phone, but there may be a few surprises tucked [...]

Add T-Mobile, Sprint to List of Carriers Offering Free Communication to Japan

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

Just as we expected, Sprint and T-Mobile have followed Verizon and AT&T in offering free calls and texts to Japanese residents following a devastating tsunami caused by one of the biggest earthquakes ever to be recorded. Both carriers’ promotions are retroactive from March 11th, but T-Mobile’s ends on March 31st while Sprint’s will end on [...]

Facebook for Android Update Allows You to Add Photos to Groups & Friends’ Walls, Implements Landscape Mode on Homescreen

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

Facebook has just issued an update to their application in the Android market. Version 1.5.2 adds the ability to upload photos to not only groups, but your friends’ profile walls too. It’s yet another addition in Facebook’s race to get their application up to par with the iOS offering. Other changes include fixes to allow [...]

Desire, Desire HD & Milestone to Get Gingerbread in Spring on Telus, More Androids Slated for Upgrades

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

The folks at MobileSyrup have pinged Telus and asked them what’s up with updates for various Android handsets. Of note were the HTC Desire and Desire HD: both are said to be getting Gingerbread sometime this Spring. (It wasn’t said if this would include the latest version of HTC Sense or not.) Other phones include [...]

Here’s a Full List of Unity3D Games for Android

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 15th, 2011

Following the release of Unity3D’s SDK for Android, many titles have been ported over from iOS or have been released from the ground up for Android. A ton of these titles offer quality gaming experiences, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park to find them. The folks at Unity have compiled a list [...]