The Ice Cream Sandwich Gallery Is Likely Getting A Built-In Photo Editor; We've Got The Feature List

Google is working on building a photo editor into the Android Gallery. That much we're certain about - we've got the icons for it. It's not 100% confirmed that this will actually ship, or if these features or icons are final, but do you really think they'd do all this work and throw it out?

Rotate

With the disclaimer out of the way, here's the icons and descriptions, ripped right from Ice Cream Sandwich's creamy center.

Tools

Redo

Undo

Colors

Exposure

Fix

Artistic

Crop		Flip
Straighten	Sharpen	Redeye

Note: All the tool icons were white on transparent, so I gave them a black background. The sizes are exactly how they were when we got them. Just because the icons look black and white doesn't mean they will look like that in the app itself - they can be tinted, colored, "gradiented," etc. Think of them as base icons.

The "Colors" button also has art for an adjustable slider control. There is also a slider called "Generic", which could be for anything.

Wild speculation time: The small icons are probably on-screen the whole time. I bet "Fix" brings up the large icon tools and "Artistic" (the FX icon) brings up the effects.

This is all built into the Gallery APK (which doesn't run on older versions of Android, sorry) so expect an "Edit" button while you're viewing your pictures.

Effects

Autofix Cross Process Documentary Doodle Duotone Fill Light

Fisheye Grain Grayscale Highlight Lomo-ish Negative Posterize

Saturation Sepia Shadow Temperature Tint Vignette

A whopping 19 icons for photo effects."Fill Light", "Highlight", and "Shadow" have their own slider control art, and again, there's that "Generic" one that could be for anything.

That's it for now, you'll get more when we do!

Thanks, Geek Vundotra!

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Samsung Galaxy S II HD speeds through FCC

A Samsung phone with model name SHV-E120L has recently passed through the FCC and after some initial digging around sources have now confirmed it to be the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE HD. Yes the name is long, but the phone sounds amazing and I’d love to get my hands on one. Back in September Samsung announced the SGSII HD was headed to Korea and while initially we didn’t get a launch date or any news regarding a US launch, this FCC filing should clear up some doubts.

Samsung’s Galaxy S II has sold over 10 million worldwide already but its nice to see Samsung already making the phone better, not to mention the upcoming Galaxy S III. With the fast improvements to the line and naming scheme we may soon be calling our phone the Samsung Galaxy S III LTE HD+ with a Super AMOLED HD+ display — SGSVLTEHD+ and a quad-core is what I want.

Back to the FCC filing, the Galaxy S II LTE HD features a 4.65″ HD display (same as we’ll see in the Nexus) with a 1280 x 720p resolution, a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor and 4G LTE, basically the perfect phone if you ask me. Mix that with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich coming next week and we are in for a treat. Nothing in the FCC documents gave us any other details but most likely this will be the same variation that was announced last month. Feel free to dig around in the filings and see what you find, hopefully we hear more details from Samsung in the coming weeks.
[via Engadget]

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Free Android App of the day: Trial Xtreme

Today’s free Android app from the Amazon Appstore is Trial Xtreme. This app usually sells for $2 and it can be yours for free today only.
Have you ever player Trials HD on Xbox Live? If so, Trial Xtreme can almost be its mobile version. Basically, you ride a motocross bike over obstacles and perform jumps and flips. There are over 30 levels. The goal is to finish as fast you can, you could also post your results on OpenFeint to compare to other players. Here are the game’s features according to its developer:

• Speed through 60 levels of bike racing action
• Use the accelerometer to jump, climb, and flip
• Enjoy realistic 3-D graphics
• Choose tilt or button control
• Post your high scores to OpenFeint

If you like what you see, you may head to the Amazon Appstore and grab the game. Link and QR code are included below. What’s your best score?



Mobile viewing link

(How to use QR codes)
Amazon AppStore Link

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HTC Security OTA Appearing On European Sensations [Update: And Now The GSM EVO 3D, Too]

It's been eleven days since Android Police published this story detailing the discovery by Trevor Eckhart of some serious security issues within HTC's more recent software. Three days after that HTC responded, and now, a further week or so later, we are seeing reports of an "important security update" being pushed to HTC Sensations throughout Europe.

Screencap by FG1234 of Android-Hilfe.de

While HTC does not specify exactly what the ~9 MB update addresses, the timing seems right to relate to the preceding story. Besides alluding to some positive-sounding "performance improvements and new features", the update description does not mention any further details, and HTC certainly doesn't dwell on the nature of the security update itself.
The OTA version is 1.45.401.3, and may be polled for by prompting your system to check for an update in the phone settings. A full release log has yet to be found, so we can only presume that it deals with the vulnerability previously reported.

Update Oct. 15th: TrevE has done some digging in the subsequent EVO 3D update (GSM model - no sign of it on Sprint yet), and has extracted the "security update" routine. As you can see in the code below, it essentially deletes the contentious logging files once and for all.

ui_print("Deleting specific files...");
delete_recursive("/data/data/com.htc.loggers/",
                 "/sdcard/htclog/");
....
   "/system/app/HtcLoggers.apk", "/system/app/HtcLoggers.odex",
       "/system/app/NetLogger.apk", "/system/app/NetLogger.odex",
       "/system/app/QXDM2SD.apk", "/system/app/QXDM2SD.odex",
       "/system/bin/androidvncserver", "/system/bin/usbnet",
       "/system/lib/libhtc_loggers.so", "/system/lib/libhtc_netlogger.so",
       "/system/lib/libhtcqxdm2sd.so",

Source: XDA-Developers, Android-Hilfe.de

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iOS 5 Functionality has Already Existed on Android

We’ve seen what a strong developer following has done for both Apple iOS and Google Android; it both promotes/protects the future of its existence and it makes the operating systems resilient to our fast paced technological society. Most importantly, it helps us realize that one company does not make a product great – and that it’s only as great as the innovative pioneers that join their bandwagon. Though iOS 5 incorporates a wide variety of features, can we really consider them all new?

The one feature in iOS 5 I’ve found most amazing thus far has been Siri Voice Integration. And frankly at this point in time, any other voice interpretation service is left in the dust. With Siri, there is no “pre-defined” way of requesting a task, it simply understands. Pre-iOS 5, Android dominated iOS in voice commands from the very intuitive Vlingo application to the pre-installed Voice Search and Google Car Home applications. Apple’s innovation through Siri’s “fuzzy logic” will make Android stronger – and soon I’m sure.

Unfortunately, this appears to be the only new material that iOS 5 has really brought to the table. iMessage allows iOS 5  users to message one another over their carriers network or WiFi, a feature Google Talk has had since its first debut on the T-Mobile G1 – the first Android device. Yes, its great to include an application such as iMessage, but I can’t see it fairing well against modern SMS texting, Facebook Messenger, or even Google Voice for iOS.
Newsstand is a new application in iOS that collects one’s magazine subscriptions from the App Store. Is this really a new feature? If I buy a subscription from Nook for Android isn’t it doing essentially the same thing? Advertising relatively old functionality in technology as brand new seems silly to me. Along the same lines, “Reminders” was also introduced; a helpful tool that can be compared to Android’s Google Calendar and Jorte. Both released well before even the iPhone 4.
Yes, iOS 5 integrates Twitter right into the OS. This is a great feature, but can also be accomplished through a simple download of the official Twitter app or TweetCaster in the Android Market. When Apple introduced the App Store, they knew relying on developers to produce amazing programs would be a great success. In iOS 5 it seems they are trying to rely less on these third-party applications and tie their functionality straight into their own pre-installed software. What happens when a crafty developer pushes an amazing app to the App Store that tops Apple’s standards? In the end, users will always choose what works best. This is the ideology that the Android OS has built its empire upon.
And don’t forget, we will be live in Hong Kong, China for the Google/Samsung unveiling of the newest device to run Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Stay tuned-in 10PM EST on October 19th!

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LibreOffice team working on a free Android version

If you’re a Linux user, odds are you’ve already heard of LibreOffice, a fork of the popular open-source suite OpenOffice. The project has been gaining steam in the last year, and now the developers say they’re targeting platforms other than desktops, namely Android, iOS and a web app. That’s great news for anyone who isn’t satisfied with the Google Docs app and doesn’t want to shell out $15 or $20 for QuickOffice.

If you’re not familiar with LibreOffice, it’s an alternative to the Oracle-sponsored OpenOffice, and like the original it’s a free suite that replicates Microsoft Office on Windows, Mac and Linux. The LibreOffice team broke off of OpenOffice last year over concerns that the new owners would abandon the project or start charging for it. LibreOffice is now the default word processor/spreadsheet/presentation manager for Linux distros like Ubuntu and Mint.
The Document Foundation is actively developing an Android version, and they expect it to be ready by late 2012 or early 2013. They’ll be focusing on tablets at first with mobile versions to follow, though considering the structure of the multi-talented Ice Cream Sandwich, the porting process from tablet to phone may not be as difficult as it seems. Since LibreOffice is also getting a web version, we might be looking at a full-on Google Docs competitor, complete with cross-device syncing features.
By the way, if you want to download LibreOffice for your less portable computers, head on over to the download page.

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Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound priced at $299 on Verizon, ads start 11-10

Whoa, Nelly! Verizon’s list of upcoming devices has leaked, and it includes a couple of names that should turn heads. Both the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound are listed at $299 with advertisements beginning on November 10th. Between this Droid-Life leak and a good bit of earlier info, this leaves little doubt that both devices will find there way onto Verizon’s shelves next month.

The Galaxy Nexus, AKA the Nexus Prime, is widely believed to be featured in Google’s Hong Kong announcement next Tuesday. Like previous Nexus phones it’ll serve as the development platform for the next version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. Google has been hyping up the new software with the standard statue unveiling, and numerous photo and video leaks have given us a pretty good indication of the phone’s look and capabilities.
The HTC Rezound was previously code-named the Vigor, and like the Galaxy Nexus it’ll use Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The phone features a 720p screen (also widely rumored for the Galaxy Nexus) and a top-of-the-line 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The Rezound has been a steady target of leaks since the summer.
It’s important to note that the leaked Verizon information doesn’t represent a release date – the “minimum advertised price” list is just a guide for official ads. But given that other members of the list like the DROID BIONIC and the HTC Rhyme are listed at their current MSRP, it’s a safe bet that three hundred bones is what you’ll be paying for both the Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound. This may or may not include Verizon’s frequent mail-in rebates.

Take a look at the version number of the Nexus – SCH-i515. It’s distinctly different than the GT-i9250, which passed through the FCC earlier this month with AT&T and T-Mobile radio bands. That’s a good indication that the Galaxy Nexus, or the Nexus Prime, or at least some comparable device will be making it to three different carriers soon.
Keep an eye on Android Community this coming Tuesday night as we cover the Samsung/Google Hong Kong event. SlashGear will be covering the Ice Cream Sandwich and Galaxy Nexus unveiling live in China, beginning at 10AM Wednesday local time. That’s 10PM EST Tuesday evening in the United States.
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Sony Video Unlimited now available on Tablet S, coming to other devices

Are Netflix, HBO GO, movie rentals from the Android Market and a half-dozen other video solutions just not enough for you? Well take heart movie buff, Sony Video Unlimited is available now for the Tablet S, and it’ll be coming to other Android devices soon. What’s interesting here is that Sony isn’t limiting its distribution to its own tablets and phones – other manufacturers will be supported as well.

That’s a surprising move from Sony, who’s historically been a big proponent of the Apple-style walled garden. (Anybody remember ATRAC? Ugh.) The company says that it will soon release the Sony Video Unlimited rental app (formerly Qriocity) for a wide range of devices, dependent upon the software’s hardware requirements. The complicated dealings of video licensing will play a part too. “Video is complicated by some of the technical aspects of our deals with the studios… we have to make sure that the quality of our service is something that lives up to our standards and is something our studio partners are happy with too.” said Sony vice president Mike Aragon.
Sony is uniquely situated among Android manufacturers. They have a historically strong brand and a decent following along with Sony Ericsson, but they bring something to the table that not even Google can match: media experience. Sony’s got properties and deals in TV, movies, music and video games, a position they’ve tried to exploit to push their own hardware in the past. There’s a fair bit of marketing going on here too, of course, but it’s promising to see the company opening up.
[via The Los Angeles Times]

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Screencast for Android updated, record right off your screen now with Audio

Surely this isn’t the first time we’ve mentioned this app. It is one thing to take a screenshot of what is being displayed on your Android device, but being able to record full video in perfect quality as you flip through homescreens, demo a new game or anything else your heart desires is what we have here. We recently posted a review of Screencast and screen recorder and our only complaint was we didn’t have audio, that all changes today as they’ve just updated and have introduced audio recording to the application.

Obviously this application will require you to be rooted, but essentially you can record everything you do on your phone right from this application with full 25 fps and high resolution quality. Then play it back and share it with whoever you’d like. We ran it a few times during our initial review and demo linked to above and while it was a bit laggy at times and occasionally had a graphics glitch, the latest updates have fixed all that. Developers can use this to demo their newest game and post the video preview in the market and more, the possibilities with this application are up to you. Now we can record video and explain things as you go or capture the game and applications audio making this an all in one solution. Check out our early video demo below:
ScreenCast screen recording demo (no audio)




The developers of ScreenCast seem to be very actively updating this app and we only expect more great things to come. Many users requested being able to also record audio and today’s update brought just that — a toggle for audio recording at the same time and it works great and sounds perfect, no hissing or buzzing. The next update according to developers is the option to stream your video live as you record, that would be awesome. For now head down to the Android market and give this a try by clicking here.
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