Early List of Today’s 10 Cent/10 Pence Apps Revealed

It’s the second day of Google’s 10 day blowout of applications and games for dirt cheap. If you haven’t heard, the Android market recently hit 10 billion downloads and Google’s celebrating by offering different premium apps every day for 10 cents or 10 pence, depending on where you live. Some great apps and games were featured yesterday and today’s crop of apps are already starting to show. The known list so far:

Beautiful Widgets
Fruit Ninja
Reckless Racing
Star Chart
Read It Later Pro
Christmas HD
AirSync by doubleTwist
Flick Golf!

A lot of these are worth a look and for $.10 it definitely couldn’t hurt. These are only 8 apps, though, and considering we saw 10 to start yesterday (those are still on sale, by the way) we wouldn’t be surprised to see two more pop up today.
Google hasn’t added these to the 10 Billion Promo category under the banner yet so be on the lookout to see what other apps they end up adding. Get started with the links above. [via EuroDroid]

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Galaxy Nexus Shows Major Bug That Makes Phone Unusable When Plugged in via USB [video]

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We’re really not too sure what to make of this but one of our readers slipped us this video that shows some weirdness going on with his Galaxy Nexus You can see that screen touches are not being registered correctly, the camera is on a never-ending snapping spree and upon exiting the camera the gallery rolls through all those photos on its own.

Their messaging app also starts up on its own and produces a series of keystrokes without the user even touching the keyboard. He says that the phone only begins acting this way whenever he plugs it in via USB.
We’re not sure what’s going on here, nor are we sure which update he’s working with, but it looks worrisome nevertheless. We’ll be in touch with Samsung and Google to see if they know anything about this. What do you guys think? Video’s above. [Thanks Yusuf!]

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Rumor: HTC EVO View 4G Getting Honeycomb Before the End of the Year

While the HTC Flyer’s Honeycomb upgrade is rolling out across Europe right now, the United States wasn’t given any rollout date other than “soon”. We have Sprint and T-Mobile with their own versions of the flyer and one of those networks (hint: they like the color yellow) may be getting it sooner than we anticipated.

Sprint is rumored to be getting the upgrade before year’s end, a great turnaround time if this turns out to be true. We won’t be mad if this doesn’t turn out to be true since HTC never gave a specific time window themselves but we’ll be all the more joyous if we can get to New Year’s Eve with a piece of Honeycomb on this 7 inch device. [via Sprint Feed]

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• T-Mobile G2x Gingerbread update goes live again, HTC Radar 4G and HD7 get software patches too (tech-gadget.co.in)

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AT&T Galaxy Note Appears at the FCC

It looks like the Galaxy Note could be poised for an American (or North American) launch after all. The 5 inch slate meant for note takers and sketchers has shown up at the FCC with AT&T radios in tow, though these could easily be meant for Canadian carriers. Either way, someone in North America above the Mexican border will soon be able to own one of these. Now to play the waiting game. Head to the FCC to check it out. [Engadget]

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Google TV 2.0 update lands

Logitech has killed off the Revue Google TV box after very poor sales and will not be replacing it. The good news is if you already own the Revue the device will still be supported with software updates. Today marks the latest software update for the Revue with Google TV 2.0 landing for the set-top box. Google TV 2.0 has already hit other devices using the software like some Sony smart TVs.

The update is an automatic one and brings Android market access to the box, which is something that many have been waiting for. The update also brings the Revue box to Android 3.1 for the operating system. Some of the issues with Google TV’s first software are addressed with the new update.
The UI is easier to use and the search system has improved consistency. The box now has a Quick Search Box that will look though TV content, online video, apps, and bookmarks as well as search the web. The update also brings a TV & Movies app that focuses on that content. If you have the update applied let us know how well it works.
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Android 3.1 Update For Logitech Revue Rolling Out Now

Great news for all you Logitech Revue owners out there. The Android 3.1 Honeycomb update for the set top box has finally begun rolling out and is trickling down to users everywhere. Also known as “Google TV 2.0,” the update brings a refreshed new UI and the addition of the Android Market. The Logitech Revue finally feels like a true Android device. Whether you recently picked up the Revue at the discounted $100 price or have been a long time user/early adopter, this update comes as a very welcomed upgrade. I’m going to power up mine and see if I’m one of the lucky ones. Check yours and let us know if you’ve received it.
[GTVSource via Engadget]

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Developer Gets Android 4.0 Up and Booting On The Amazon Kindle Fire [Video]

This is the moment many brand new Kindle Fire owners have been waiting for. The day a developer would successfully port Android 4.0 to the affordable little tablet. I don’t have many details regarding the developer, G1011999‘s work (will update the post once I dig around a bit), we can see Ice Cream Sandwich is up and booting. It’s all still very much a work in process and aside from the touchscreen, not much else is working. The dev did get up a quick video of his feats in action and while it did seem a bit laggy, I’m sure it’s something that can be optimized in the future. For now check out the video for some Android 4.0 pr0n.

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RadioShack Prepares For The Galaxy Nexus – Available Same Day As Verizon Wireless Stores

If you were looking to hit up another retailer on “ Galaxy Nexus Friday” in fear of the device selling out at Verizon locations, it looks like Radio Shack will be joining the ranks of retailers offering the device for sale. Pricing for the Galaxy Nexus wont be any cheaper than an “official” Verizon location — we’re still looking at the same $300 pricing with a new contract or upgrade. Thinking of going the off-contract route? Well, you may want to reconsider that when you see the $800 price tag the phone is retailing for outright. Pretty steep for any man’s wallet. Where will you be Friday? Ditching school? Calling in sick for work? Who’s ready!?
[AndroidForums via AndroidCentral]

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Google engineer tells us why iOS will remain more fluid than Android OS

We may be die-hard Android fans here at Android Community, but we’ve all at least given iOS a chance to shine its light. One of its best features is handling UI actions perfectly, thus leaving the user willing to wait for longer page loads. Over on Google+, Google engineering intern Andrew Munn explained to us precisely why Android OS will never be as fluid as iOS or Windows Phone 7 devices.


What it boils down to is that Android OS renders all graphics continuously – and on the same priority. What differs in iOS and WP7 is that graphics rendering is queued for when it’s needed. This is why when we open many applications at once within Android, we see the device start to slow down as it tries to keep up. In iOS, if an application isn’t done loading and you start touching your screen, it will only finish loading when you release your finger. This also helps keep the device from working to hard on multiple tasks – which eventually drains your battery.
Put in Munn’s words:

It’s not GC pauses. It’s not because Android runs bytecode and iOS runs native code. It’s because on iOS all UI rendering occurs in a dedicated UI thread with real-time priority. On the other hand, Android follows the traditional PC model of rendering occurring on the main thread with normal priority.

Personally, I love the way Android OS allows loading simultaneously to UI interaction. I’m pretty good at gauging the device’s capabilities to the point where I’ll know when the system may start to slow down. Also, hardware just keeps getting better and better. There will be a time when Android’s “sluggish threshold” is much harder to reach than currently.
[via SlashGear]

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