HD Widgets v2.1 now supports phones and 7″ tablets

The folks from cloud.tv that brought us HD Widgets for Honeycomb are back with an awesome update to their widgets pack. Their simply beautiful and stunning widget collection is the best you can get for Honeycomb and they’ve just updated to HD Widgets v2.1 and have added support for 7″ tablets and all Android smartphones. Originally just for 10″ tablets but now it is available for all.

From the photo above you can see they have almost every size imaginable and they are highly customizable too. Everything from the Honeycomb version is still there, we now have access to these truly stunning and HD widgets on our phones and smaller tablets, even if not on Honeycomb. You can change everything from the widget size, color, background, clock style and font, even add the power bar widgets instead of weather notifications and more. Here are a few screenshots on a phone:

Everything has been scaled down for the smaller screens, ranging from 3.2″ all he way to current 10″ 1280 x 800 resolutions screens are now fully supported. Now that we are starting to see more 7″ Honeycomb tablets like the recently reviewed T-Mobile Springboard or Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus I decided to test it out on my 7″ Honeycomb tablet and it works great. I’ve not experienced any issues or problems on any screen size I’ve tried thus far.

As you can see from my screenshot everything is highly customizable. Just swipe any of the options to change size, color, font and more and truly make your phone or tablet unique. The updated HD Widgets is available in the market now at a discounted price of just $1.99. We highly recommend you check it out.
HD Widgets Market Link
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New DROID RAZR commercial: it’s only for Batman

There’s a lot of folks out there chomping at the bit to get a hold of the Motorola DROID RAZR, and there’s only one more day for them to wait. In the meantime, Verizon has started airing the latest in its over-the-top stylized DROID commercials, and the RAZR edition might just take the cake. Apparently, the RAZR is so powerful that you really shouldn’t be using it without a souped-up stealth motorcycle, a full support team and at least eight square yards of black leather.

The TV spot has a very familiar look to it for anyone who’s seen The Dark Knight - I suppose the six of you who haven’t will be in the dark. It’s odd that a cosmopolitan action hero would go to such great lengths to steal a smartphone. Wouldn’t he just buy it? Those hydraulic steel-piecing spikes and exploding ninja stars have got to cost way more than $649. And why is the phone being escorted around California anyway, unless they’re trying to show off the Kevlar body panels. It occurs to me that I may be over-thinking this.
See the ad for yourself below:




In all seriousness, the DROID RAZR is an impressive device, and Motorola and Verizon are right to be proud – maybe even a little hyperbolic. You can puck up your own tomorrow, 11-11-11, if you haven’t already pre-ordered.
[via Droid-Life]

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AT&T introduces Call International VoIP app

Android users have been able to use Skype and other popular clients to make Voice-Over IP calls for a while now, but AT&T customers now have a more official option. AT&T Call International allows for native VOIP calls to international numbers. Prices for international calls start at 4 cents a minute, and AT&T users can download the app from the Android Market now. Blackberry and iPhone versions are also available.

Unfortunately, the app doesn’t really take advantage of the possibilities of VOIP, like automatically connecting to other AT&T Call International users for free calling. In fact, there really isn’t anything to recommend the app over Skype or Google Voice. There’s no additional charge for calling numbers in the US or Puerto Rico, but if you’re traveling and happen to be calling from a non-US location, you can’t use 3G or 4G networks – WiFi is the only option.
The app makes use of a custom phone dialer, but ties into Android’s Contacts application so retrieval of numbers is easy. Naturally only AT&T customers can see the app in the market. In an off move billing will be applied directly to customers credit card, not their AT&T bill. You can expect the AT&T Call International to be pre-installed on Android phones in the future.

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Samsung Illusion Specs Outed in Verizon’s Infocenter

Wondering just what the Samsung Illusion has in store? A recently uncovered Infocenter page through Verizon has all the vital details. The phone sports Android 2.3, a 1GHz Hummingbird CPU, and 512MB of RAM. A 3.5-inch TFT LCD display gets a resolution of 480×320. Perhaps most interestingly, the Illusion features a “curved design” not unlike that of the Nexus S and upcoming Galaxy Nexus (though from the image, the curve doesn’t look as extreme). No release date is mentioned, but going off recent rumors November 17th could be the date.
[via AndroidCentral]

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Sprint Express Coming Nov. 18, Android 2.3 Smartphone for $19.99

The BlackBerry-style portrait QWERTY design has become a popular option for mid to high-end Android handsets aimed at the business user, but Sprint is set to bring the form factor in at a much more affordable level. Unlike their more refined Motorola XPRT the Sprint Express will be a low-end Android 2.3 device featuring a 2.6-inch display, 600MHz CPU, and 3.2MP camera. The specs are a far cry from the dual-core beasties we have come to crave, but it creates an affordable option at only $19.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate.
[via AndroidCentral]

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Xperia arc, acro get PlayStation certified in Japan

Sony has been promising access to its PlayStation suite for more Android smartphones for a while now, though only the Tablet S and Tablet P have seen an actual update, in addition to the original XPERIA Play. Now one of Sony’s newest Android phones, the XPERIA arc [sic] is getting the gaming service, but only in Japan at the moment. The XPERIA acro, a Japan-only smartphone, is also getting updated.

While the XPERIA arc doesn’t appear on any carrier list in the US, Americans can get an unlocked GSM version, and the arc has been released to some fanfare in Europe. Unfortunately PlayStation certification and by extension the PlayStation store aren’t available in these markets, but hopefully it won’t be too long before westerners get some PSX goodness on the arc. Owners of the Tablet S and the still-elusive Tablet P can already take advantage of both, though obviously they’ll be doing so without the XPERIA Play’s hardware controls.
If you’re a PlayStation fan who can’t (or won’t) switch Sony Ericsson for smartphone hardware, take heart: the company may be planning to expand its certification program to non-Sony devices. Considering that Sony’s still a ways behind the big Android players, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Sony to focus on its software and rich IP catalog. There’s only a dozen PlayStation games available for download at the moment, but if Sony can expand its library and open it up to a growing base of high-powered android phones and tablets. In the meantime, PlayStation Suite developers can get their SDK on.

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Amazon Appstore 2.0 brings UI refinements ahead of Kindle Fire launch

With the upcoming November 15th launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire, Amazon wants you to know that it’s got apps. Lots of apps. In addition to announcing major partnerships with Netflix and a myriad of app developers, Amazon has updated the generic Appstore program, giving the user interface some spit and polish before the Fire’s release later this month. You can download the new version now.

The new version of the Appstore brings a muted grey look to the interface, matching most of the screenshots we’ve seen of the Kindle Fire‘s heavily customized software. Unfortunately the new UI didn’t bring Netflix with it – it looks like a few goodies will be reserved for Fire users. Other than a slick look, the app doesn’t seem to have any major functionality upgrades, though it’s scaling a lot better on Gingerbread tablets.
With just a few days left until the Kindle Fire moves from digital desire to real-world e-reader, Amazon is looking to push its impressive app portfolio as much as it possibly can. The Amazon Appstore, combined with a wide library of streaming movies and TV shows, is the Fire’s biggest differentiator to distance itself from the Nook Color and upcoming Nook Tablet. The subsidized Kindle Fire will also function as a hardware storefront for Amazon, which is hoping to recoup its losses with digital and retail sales on the heavily customized Android tablet.
[via Android Central]

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Huawei will launch its Vision smartphone and Mediapad tablet

The Huawei MediaPad, which will launch in the US as the T-Mobile SpringBoard, is headed to the UK. The manufacturer confirmed as much, pointing to a release in early 2012. The 7-inch tablet was one of the first to give us a glimpse at Honeycomb (specifically Android 3.2) tailored for a slightly smaller screen, though others have since beat it to market in some regions. For £275, buyers in the UK will get a WiFi-only slate with a dual-core CPU, dual cameras, and HDMI output.

Also announced for the UK was the Android 2.3 Huawei Vision The handset will arrive in time for Christmas and be affordably priced at about £25 after carrier subsidies are accounted for. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it offered for free in many places.

[via PCWorld]

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Android dominates in Southeast Asia as smartphone sales leap 1,000%

Android has charted an unprecedented 1,000 percent increase in sales over the last year in Southeast Asia as the Google owned operating system topped the region’s smartphone industry.
The figures, which come from a report from GfK Asia cited by ZDNet Asia, have seen Android rise to the top spot as the only OS to have seen “unwavering” growth in Southeast Asia during every month over the last year.
The explosive growth reported by GfK, whose data is compiled from tracked sales in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines, has taken Android’s sales beyond those of Nokia’s Symbian and RIM’s BlackBerry which it previously trailed as recently as the first quarter of this year.
The three OSes have a combined 90 percent market share, but Android on its own is thought to account for almost 40 percent of the region’s smartphone market, which GfK estimates to be worth $1.5 billion. The industry is booming in the region with overall smartphones sales up 120% in the last year after 4.7 devices were sold in the third quarter of 2011.
The growing range of Android’s devices, which increased this year from 50 to 170, and handset partners is a key source of its success according to GFK’s Benedict Hong:

With the ongoing engagement and partnership model between Google and major manufacturers, we can expect more innovative Android smartphones to swamp the marketplace; at least, until there is another major breakthrough that can shake the dynamics of the smartphone OS industry.

Despite its impressive growth, Android is still yet to break BlackBerry’s dominance in Indonesia’s lucrative market or topple Nokia who still reigns in Vietnam’s smartphone industry.
All signs point to Android’s continued dominance in Southeast Asia and the Asian continentas a whole where shipments of its devices have been tipped to triple this year, according to ABI Research.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is currently in Asia on a tour that has seen him meet with operators and mobile industry executives in Taiwan and South Korea. Mobile has figured prominently on Schmidt’s agenda as the company looks to develop Android’s position in key markets in the continent.

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