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March, 2011 Articles

Motorola DROID X, DROID 2 Gingerbread (2.3.3) ROMs Leak; How to Install Them

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 28th, 2011

We’d heard the Motorola DROID X could receive Android 2.3 Gingerbread this weekend, but that was only a rumor. We didn’t hear about a Motorola Droid 2, though, but the folks at MyDroidWorld have leaked the upgrade for all to apply and enjoy on both MOTOBLUR phones from Verizon. It’s not the official OTA but [...]

HTC EVO 3D Will Have HDMI Port Compatibility Without an HDMI Port Thanks to MHL [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 28th, 2011

The original HTC EVO 4G was dubbed the best smartphone on the market. Its HDMI port was one of many different factors that helped put it over the top, but its successor – the HTC EVO 3D – is missing one. Don’t worry, though, as HTC is one of many hardware partners teamed up with [...]

BodyMedia Fit Will Help Sprint Customers Track Their Active Life [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 27th, 2011

no The folks at BodyMedia introduced me to a new product they’re working on in conjunction with Sprint. It’s called BodyMedia Fit and is a wrist-band that records your vitals, calorie loss and sleeping habits as long as you’re wearing it. At first glance it looks to be a tool for workout buffs to track [...]

Monster Madness for Android Shows Ease of Porting Titles [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 27th, 2011

If you know anything about Android game development, you’d know that porting titles can sometimes be very costly in many ways. It consumes time, money, and other resources that studios could be putting toward creating their newest games. For this very reason, the gaming scene on Android wasn’t the greatest when it first launched. A [...]

Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [March 25th]

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

Yay! It’s Friday! Yay! Seeing as it is the weekend, I will keep this short. Check out some extra Android news you might have missed below! The Motorola ATRIX is now available at FutureShop in Canada. Ainol’s Honeycomb tablet has gotten spied on camera. The HTC Incredible S will be going to Bell April 4th. [...]

Sprint Resumes Samsung Epic 4G Froyo Updates

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

After briefly pulling the EC05 update for the Samsung EPIC 4G, reports are coming in that both this and the EB13 version of Samsung’s Android 2.2 Froyo update for the Galaxy S device have resumed. Many users are reporting new instances of EB13 being pushed to their devices from this morning onward, though there is [...]

Motorola Atrix 4G, HTC Inspire 4G to Receive HSUPA Support with April Updates, Says AT&T Facebook Page

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

It has been a thorn in the side of all those early adopters on AT&T’s HSPA+ network: despite advertisements to the contrary, the two devices featuring the “4G” tag have their HSUPA support gimped. According to a new posting on AT&T’s Facebook page, the Motorola Atrix 4G and HTC Inspire 4G won’t have to wait [...]

For Rest of Today Only, Shazam Encore Free through Amazon Appstore

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

Continuing the trend of offering one “freemium” app per day (that is, premium app priced down to free), the Amazon Appstore has something most people would call a steal for today. Shazam Encore, normally prices at $5, is available for download with little more than signing up for an Amazon Appstore acccount. The song identification [...]

Giant Android Invades in this Samsung Galaxy Player Promo [Video]

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

Here called the Samsung Galaxy Player 70, the 5-inch version of the Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi is put to good use capturing an invading giant Android. OK, so it isn’t so much as invading as it is a lazily listing parade balloon, but that doesn’t sound nearly as exciting. Check out Skype calling in action, [...]

Smartphone Market to Double Thanks to Android, Says Research Firm Ovum

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

By now it is becoming old hat to hear analysts spew smartphone figures with Android as the central theme, but here is one more for good measure. Research firm Ovum has taken a look at the current smartphone market and predicts that global shipments will double to 653 million by 2016. Where will much of [...]

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Bugs Lead to Delayed Launch for UK’s O2, Could Others Follow?

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

If the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play isn’t one of the most highly anticipated Android phones of all times, we don’t know what is. What began its life amid rumors of a PlayStation Phone, the handset is finally set to launch on various carriers starting at the end of this month and going into April…or is [...]

Sprint Follows Verizon’s Lead, Ditches Mail-In Rebates for Instant Discounts

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

Verizon may have started a trend when they opted to go rebate-less on their high-end handsets. Sprint has confirmed that starting March 27th, the carrier will offer discounts on handsets instantly instead of via a mail-in rebate system. For now it seems the company is simply offering the new model on a trial basis, and [...]

One Thing You Never Thought the Samsung Wave Could Do: Run Android

by Kevin Krause on March 25th, 2011

The Samsung Wave is no Galaxy S. It’s more like a sheep in wolf’s clothing. A smartphone that isn’t so smart. At least as not as smart as it could be with Android. We take it that is exactly why some industrious developers have been busy trying to get an Android port onto the device, [...]

As We Approach XOOM WiFi’s Launch Date, One Lucky Customer Got His Early From Staples

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

The Motorola XOOM WiFi is slated to launch at major retailers this Sunday, but one lucky reader of Droid-Life’s got his in the mail already. He pre-ordered his from Staples but did it over the phone instead of at the retailer’s website. This sometimes happens when you preorder devices with telecoms over the phone, too. [...]

LG Optimus 2X Gets Clockwork Recovery, Custom Kernel + More

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

On the fence about the LG Optimus 2X because you’re wondering how hackable it is? Throw those worries out of the window because Paul from MoDaCo got his hands on one and has been making substantial progress over the past couple of days. (This is also good news for those of you thinking of picking [...]

FCC Documents Show Forthcoming HSUPA Capability on Inspire 4G

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

Rejoice! Ma Bell customers were furious to learn that the carrier has disabled HSUPA on their new 4G Android phones out of the box. We saw it with the Motorola Atrix 4G and weren’t too thrilled to learn that the HTC Inspire 4G had received the same treatment. AT&T  has already heard your groans and [...]

Samsung Announces the New Line of Galaxy Tabs [Video]

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

Want to see how Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 but weren’t able to attend CTIA? No worries! They’ve uploaded video of the full announcement on YouTube for all to see. You can see the three “real life Tab users” who talk about how the Galaxy Tab fits into their lifestyle and which [...]

Internal Google Music Testing Has Begun

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

Following yesterday’s news that Google will soon be debuting in-app purchases and letting developers test the feature ahead of time for their applications, rumors out of CNET say Google is now focusing on pushing their new Music service out of the door and onto handsets and tablets. Google tipped us all off to Google Music [...]

Samsung Vibrant/Galaxy S 4G Passes FCC With AT&T Bands; Manages to Win Best of Show at CTIA

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

It’s been discovered that Samsung has submitted another version of the Samsung Vibrant to the FCC with AT&T 3G bands suggesting AT&T could be preparing to migrate customers over to their network soon. This is unlikely right now considering the deal between AT&T and T-Mobile has yet to be approved and according to recent murmurs, [...]

GameLoft To Use Amazon Appstore to Distribute Games

by Quentyn Kennemer on March 25th, 2011

GameLoft has announced plans to use Amazon’s newly-launched Appstore to distribute their titles for Android phones and tablets. If you’re wondering why they are so quick to jump on Amazon’s offering and not the one that Google provides, it’s because of piracy. They state they want their users to be comfortable downloading their games – [...]