Android Market website updated to support rooted devices

Google has updated their Android Market website to allow any user, with the Android Market installed of course, to push applications for automatic download on their devices. Many rooted devices haven’t had a problem with this feature before the update, but those that owned a NOOK Color, HP TouchPad, or the new Kindle Fire were not recognized before the update.

And why wouldn’t Google want to offer their millions of applications to even more people? They clearly want its users to take advantage of the ability to download applications from their website and push them to their rooted phones and tablets. This update clearly helps both parties, although it still has a few bugs. One of which includes the Android Market constantly requesting to update applications that were not directly installed from the Android Market. I’m sure the kinks will get worked out soon.
Im sure developers are thrilled with this update even more than the average person. For instance, the new Android 4.0 ROM (still in development) for the Nexus S 4G doesn’t auto update applications once moving to it. It’s much easier logging into your account online and selecting your device to quickly push your daily applications back into place; and now this feature will forever be available to everyone.
[via liliputing]

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Archos Arnova 7b and 10b G2 specs released

Official specifications of the Archos Arnova 7b and 10b G2 tablets have been released, and these economically savvy devices look to be decently equipped. Both tablets will ship with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) on-board and available in 8GB and 4GB storage options. Front facing welcomes are included in both models, and they also include micro SD slots for expanding storage by up to 32GB.

Both will be powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 single core processor; though not the most powerful tablets on the block, they should be fine running most applications smoothly. The Archos Arnova 7B G2 will last up to 8 hours and 40 minutes during video playback – 40 minutes longer on a single charge than the 10″ model. The 10B G2 will sport a TFT LCD supporting 16 million colors and a 1024×600 pixel resolution while the 7″ settles for a lower 800×480 resolution.

These slates will be excellent for watching movies in full HD, and have very decent specs for their low price tags. Surprising enough, you can actually choose if you would rather a capacitive or resistive touchscreen! I couldn’t imaging choosing a resistive touchscreen over capacitive, but I’m also sure there’s someone out there who would.
[via Notebook Italia]

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Full Motorola DROID 4 specs leaked

The primary DROID line’s got a special place in our hearts, and if you want a powerhouse Verizon LTE phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, you’d best make a space in your wallet. The full specifications of the upcoming DROID 4 were leaked over at Droid Life, and this one is a doozie. The specs mostly match those of the DROID RAZR, with the obvious addition of some extra bulk for the sliding keyboard.

First of all, the 4-inch qHD screen seems to be a holdover from the DROID 3. The leaked promotional material doesn’t mention a Super AMOLED panel like the RAZR, so I’ll go ahead and assume LCD. Inside you get the same 1.2Ghz dual core/1GB processor-RAM combo from the RAZR, plus 16GB of storage, which can be augmented with a MicroSD card. The battery gets a boost to 1785mAh, and (YES!) you can replace it yourself, albeit with a supplied plastic key.
The keyboard gets an edge-lit makeover, but the 8MP 1080p rear camera stays the same. No word on the front camera, but it’s probably the same one found in the RAZR as well. All this gets crammed into a body 12.7mm thin, a hair thinner than the DROID 3. The exterior styling gets a tapered look to match the RAZR and the upcoming XOOM 2/XYBOARD models. Unfortunately there’s no official word on pricing, but December 8th is looking good for a release date.

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Motorola XT615 drops by the FCC

Dear Federal Communications Commission: this doesn’t get said often enough. We love you. We really love you. Whether you’re tipping us about shiny new gadgets headed for the states, slicing up wireless spectrum like a holiday ham or keeping certain carriers from merging and creating an anti-consumer megagiant, your subtle influence on the mobile industry is much appreciated by those of us in the tech blogging world. Case in point: the Motorola XT615.

This non-symmetrical phone has been spotted in China and Taiwan sporting a 9.8mm profile with a 4-inch, 854 x 480 screen, putting it in the upper end of the mid range. There’s been no word on a United States carrier just yet, but the version that the FCC is currently checking out is tuned to Radio AT&T quad-band. That probably means that the Gingerbread phone is several months away from release, if at all.
The design’s certainly unique, with a blue tabbed cutout on the glass front surrounded by white plastic. An 800mhz processor won’t fly, but it’s good enough for basic apps. The 8MP camera is pretty good for the mid-$300 unlocked price range (in China, anyway) and I’m happy to see that Motorola hasn’t completely abandoned the physical camera button.Once again, thanks, FCC – now how’s about getting rid of those annoying PDFs on your website?
[via Engadget]

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HTC Ville leaks again, thinnest HTC device yet

A few weeks back we got our first hint and glance at the upcoming HTC Ville but we only received a very generic rendered image and some details including Android 4.0 ICS and a super thin profile. Today we have our first official look at the HTC Ville — and it looks quite stunning although it still features capacitive buttons.

According to sources from PocketNow the HTC Ville will be the thinnest device yet from HTC and has some pretty impressive specs too. While we don’t have a quad-core like the recently leaked HTC Edge it should feature a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and a qHD resolution display. Not any qHD but an AMOLED panel too. Pair that with a 4.3″ screen and an 8 megapixel shooter on the rear it sounds like some of their more recent smartphones. With those specs it might come sooner then the supposed April launch.
Looking much like the Nexus One and the HTC Sensation this new HTC Ville has a pretty standard to HTC design, but that isn’t a bad thing. The report also claims it will come in under 8mm thick — making this the sleekest and thinnest HTC handset to date. For a comparison the DROID RAZR is 7.1mm and the Galaxy S II is 8.4mm give or take (hump and all).
We don’t have any additional details regarding what OS we can expect but if this hits the streets soon it should be Android 2.3 Gingerbread. If we don’t see the Ville til April 4.0 ICS seems much more likely. Just because we have capacitive buttons doesn’t mean it wont launch with Android 4.0 ICS, remember that. When we hear or see more we’ll be sure to update with the news.

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LG Optimus Pad 2 image leaks

Last year LG launched the Optimus Pad better known as the T-Mobile LG G-Slate in a neat 8.9″ form factor and some 3D effects. While the tablet didn’t sell extremely well it was their first venture into the tablet game. Today we are seeing what is believed to be the successor to the Optimus Pad — possible the Optimus Pad 2.

Looking at the picture we don’t have a lot to go on. Sources are debating the legitimacy of the picture but the original Optimus Pad had the LG branding nicely on the back, not on the front. It appears to either be the same 8.9″ form factor or possibly a smaller sibling. I can’t imagine them putting the LG branding in that location for a larger 10″ slate that would almost always be held and used in landscape mode.
Apparently all we have to go on is the image above, so it doesn’t reveal much and any sort of discussion about specs would be purely speculative. Although most likely this will be an Android 3.2 Honeycomb or 4.0 ICS tab. The way things are going I’d expect the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside but we could very well see some sort of dual-core chip at the same time while a larger LG tablet gets the quad-core. Either way we’ll just have to sit and wait for a few more details or pictures to leak so we have a clearer picture of what to expect. Hopefully this go around LG doesn’t make us wear cheap paper sunglasses to view the 3D experience — or just leave that out all together, that is ok too.
LG was one of the first in line with the Tegra 2, chances are we are looking at a similar situation for the Tegra 3.
[via PocketNow]

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Chip maker Rockchip claims worlds first Android 4.0 ICS Tablet

We’ve already seen tons of ROM’s and ports slowly making their way to Android phones and tablets running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now that the source code is available. Today Chinese processor and tablet maker Rockchip claim to have the worlds first Android 4.0 ICS tablet and it will be ready to ship in the first weeks of December.

Rockchip may or may not sound familiar. They are in-part to blame for the masses of cheap Android tablets that hit Ebay with Android 2.2 and 2.3 back when Android tablets were just starting to hit the market, and many were branded as Rockchip tablets themselves or with 3rd party names. However, none of them had that great of performance sadly. The new RK2918 is a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex chip that should play a bit nicer and improve performance, not to mention we’ll have the butter smooth Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for our OS. Here is a video demonstration with the new Rockchip tablet below:


Chinese-made tablets powered by the Rockchip processor will most likely be among the cheapest tablets available. And if they do start shipping in December I’ll bet you money Ebay will be flooded with cheaply made and chunky clunky tablets with lucrative pricing very soon. Don’t get me wrong though, we could see a few nicely designed, sized, and priced tablets from these same chips that would make excellent presents or stocking stuffers. I’ll be letting the first few waves pass and most likely just snag the ASUS Transformer Prime instead.

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ASUS Transformer Prime kernel source code leaked, quickly removed

Last week the official ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime product page went live from ASUS and while we already know plenty about this quad-core packing tablet it was good to finally see everything official. Apparently the same product page over in Germany had the entire kernel source code nicely listed right on the download page last night, but has since been taken down.


While we are still digging for information, taking a look at the US product page we have no such luck and only some USB drivers and a few other unimportant things were available for download. According to our tipster from androidapptests.com the Transformer Prime kernel source code was up and available for download and they quickly snatched it up.

Shown in the screenshot above you can see the kernel (listed around 90MB) the product manuals and FAQ PDF’s as well as some sort of PC Suite application most likely for the keyboard dock. Looking at the date they were just uploaded yesterday so things are looking very new, and pretty close to being ready if you ask me — I just want it already! Apparently the kernel was downloaded before being removed and is available at the source link listed above, but we wont comment further as we are still looking for more information.
The Transformer Prime is set to launch in December so we should start hearing details and seeing more any day now. NVIDIA gave us an awesome demo video showing the Transformer Prime running Android 4.0 ICS earlier this week, and Gamestop has it listed for shipping December 9th. Either way I can’t wait to get my hands on this NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core powered tablet as soon as possible.

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SwiftKey X Keyboard half off for Black Friday weekend

I know everyone has probably been digging through internet and magazine ads, dealing with hoards of people at Walmart or Best Buy, and all those other crazy things people do on Black Friday but what we have is a simple deal you can do right from your phone. The extremely popular (and recently updated) SwiftKey X keyboard for phones and tablets is half off for the weekend. Get it while it’s hot!

SwiftKey has actually been “hot” since it was first launched and has continued to rise as they’ve updated it often and brought great changes. It’s currently an editors choice app on the Android Market right from Google and is still one of the most popular 3rd party keyboards available today. From cool themes to multitouch support this keyboard just keeps getting better and better.
The latest version has support for over 35 languages, improved multi-touch support, split key view (works amazing on tablets) and more so it’s definitely worth the price and even more so now it’s half off for the holiday weekend. Both versions are available in the Android Market and on sale right now. You can get them by clicking here.
[via SwiftKey]

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