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August, 2011 Articles

RadioShack Outs September 1st Launch for Google Wallet?

by Kevin Krause on August 23rd, 2011

Google is putting a lot of stock into mobile payments conducted via NFC as the future of our daily transactions. For their part, they plan to debut Google Wallet with the help of a handful of retail partners. One such partner is RadioShack, and one RadioShack employee has spilled the beans on just when we [...]

Acer Iconia Tab A500 Receiving Android 3.2 Update Ahead of Schedule

by Kevin Krause on August 23rd, 2011

Earlier this month Acer announced that the Android 3.2 update for their Iconia Tab A500 would be delayed until August 25th. A couple days shy of the expected rollout, news is spreading that the update is already making its way to some A500 and A501 tablets in Poland. With the update, the Iconia Tab joins [...]

Samsung Gets a Bit Racy With New US Galaxy S II Teaser [VIDEO]

by Kevin Krause on August 23rd, 2011

Samsung just dropped a bold new teaser for the US release of their latest flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S II. While touting the phone’s thinness, dual-core processor, and worldwide popularity, the video manages to get a bit racy with images of women in sexy outfits, the Mona Lisa lusciously licking her lips, and an [...]

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet Now On Sale from $499, Shipping Soon

by Kevin Krause on August 23rd, 2011

Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet has gone up for sale over at the manufacturer’s website in all of its variations. Starting at $499 for a 16GB/WiFi-only version, the price rises incrementally for the 32GB/3G model ($569.99) and the 64GB/3G model ($669.99). The ThinkPad, announced last month, looks to be a true competitor in the Honeycomb tablet space [...]

Android Overload: Android Malware Jumped 76% In Q2, Android Browser Is Going Open and More

by Chris Chavez on August 23rd, 2011

Good evening, ladies and gents! Step right up, step right up. If you came looking to satisfy your late night Android cravings then you came to the right place. This is the one and only Android Overload. A veritable smorgasbord of Android goodies scoured from around the net and delivered on a silver platter for [...]

Google TV Supported Apps Already Popping Up In The Android Market?

by Chris Chavez on August 23rd, 2011

The Google TV preview for the Android SDK was barely announced earlier today and we’re already noticing some apps popping up in the Android Market announcing support for Google TV er- “Android TV.” Take myYTViewer for instance. This is an un-official YouTube viewer that’s new to the Market and the description reads, “suited for Android [...]

Microsoft Claims Motorola’s Android Devices Infringe On 7 Of Their Patents

by Chris Chavez on August 23rd, 2011

Here we go again. Today, in a trial before the International Trade Commission in Washington, the world’s largest software maker, Microsoft, accused Motorola Mobility of infringing on 7 of their patents (thanks in part to Android) and is requesting a halt on imports of several Motorola handsets — namely the Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq [...]

HTC Droid Incredible’s Official Gingerbread Update Leaked Online

by Chris Chavez on August 23rd, 2011

The last time we heard of the Gingerbread update for the “Dinc” was in Verizon’s leaked documentation displaying a 4.06.605.2 OTA update was ready to roll out but for unknown reasons, found itself delayed. Well, it’s been a long time coming but the official build of the Gingerbread update (as documented in the Verizon leak) for [...]

Square App 2.1 Now Available In The Android Market – Makes Mobile Payments Easier Than Ever

by Chris Chavez on August 23rd, 2011

Mobile payment service Square app was updated in the Android Market today to version 2.1. With the update, came a few new tricks to make those sketchy Craigslist transactions easier than ever. There is now less downtime when checking out a “customer,” sending them on their way in as little as 4 seconds thanks to [...]

Ben Heck Uses Android ADK To Build A Car Seat That Will Put Your Child To Sleep

by Chris Chavez on August 22nd, 2011

Modder extraordinaire, Ben Heck of “The Ben Heck Show,” has been building custom mods for quite sometime now. All kinds of things like his world famous Xbox 360 laptop, to a controller monitor and guitar foot strummer are just some of his feats. This time, Ben Heck tackles Google’s own Arduino-based ADK (Accessory Development Kit), [...]

Amazon Free App of The Day: ZDefense by ZStudio

by Chris Chavez on August 22nd, 2011

Zdefense by ZStudio is being given away today in the Amazon Appstore. I don’t normally post on Amazon’s “free apps of the day” but I had so much fun with this one, I figured I’d let y’all know. Essentially what we have here is yet another tower defense game (the Android Market is FULL of [...]

HTC Evo 4G Was the Best Selling Android Phone in Q2

by Chris Chavez on August 22nd, 2011

According to NPD Group, the best selling smartphones from April through June (Q2), all happened to be devices that launched last year and not this year. So, even though we saw some great devices like the Motorola Atrix, HTC Thunderbolt and LG G2X — none of these managed take the top spot from last year’s [...]

HTC’s September 1st Unveiling Nothing More Than New Windows Phones?

by Chris Chavez on August 22nd, 2011

If you were one of the many HTC fanboys hoping to get a glimpse at some of HTC’s latest Android handsets for their special event at IFA in Berlin, Germany, well — don’t. Turns out the event scheduled for September 1st and that I spoke briefly about in my Weekly Wrap Up video, will will [...]

Android 2.2 Found Pre-installed On HP TouchPad – Gingerbread and Honeycomb Coming Soon? [Videos]

by Chris Chavez on August 22nd, 2011

Ever since the (now) affordable HP TouchPads have hit the market, people have been trying to their best to get Android ported to one of these bad boys. There’s even a $1,500 bounty for anyone that can get working versions of the OS onto the TouchPad. Now a few videos have surface from users who [...]

Apps of the Day: Bird Bar, Sandago, and More

by Kevin Krause on August 22nd, 2011

Every day we peruse the Android Market looking for the best, worst, interesting, and most unique apps in an effort to sift out a few gems. We call it Apps of the Day. We can’t guarantee that every app featured below is a real winner, but each is worth at least a quick look. It’s [...]

Google TV Preview Comes to Android SDK, One Step Closer to Apps on the Big Screen

by Kevin Krause on August 22nd, 2011

Back at Google I/O it was announced that a future update would move the Google TV platform over to a build based around Android Honeycomb. Along with the overhauled interface would come the Android Market, a feature promised since Google TV first hit the scene last year. While it is unclear when the Honeycomb update [...]

LG Enlighten Exposed in Promotional Renders

by Kevin Krause on August 22nd, 2011

What you see here is Verizon’s LG Enlighten, a mid-range handset that best fills the hole left by last year’s LG Vortex. Otherwise known as the LG Gelato Q, the Enlighten features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 800MHz processor, and 3.2-inch display. Rumors place the phone on Verizon’s shelves come August 25th with an attractive $100 [...]

Swype Update Headed to All Handsets After Brief Nexus S 4G Debut

by Kevin Krause on August 22nd, 2011

Members of the Swype beta program will soon gain access to the gesture shortcuts, enhanced dictionary, and improved capitalization provided by an update made available to Nexus S 4G owners last week. The update will find its way to the beta channel later this week sans the Sprint-specific skin found in the Nexus S 4G [...]

LG Thrill 4G Appears in Target Ad, Priced at $79

by Kevin Krause on August 22nd, 2011

Though the LG Thrill 4G has been delayed and delayed again, it looks like some retailers still believe it will be released sometime soon. Target has posted the glasses-free 3D big boy up in a recent ad, touting a low price of only $79.99 after signing a two-year agreement. The phone was originally slated for [...]

Hey Google, Why No Nexus Love for Verizon?

by Kevin Krause on August 22nd, 2011

When Motorola, Google, and Verizon teamed up for the launch of the original Droid smartphone during the holiday season of 2009, the course of Android was forever changed. The phone shipped with top-of-the-line specs for its day and featured a stock build of Android 2.0 Eclair. Its life as the first and only device with [...]