Beautiful Widgets passes 1 million paid downloads, celebrates with Google

Hopefully everyone is well aware of Google’s latest news that the Android Market has surpassed 10 billion downloads. Today LevelUp Studios is celebrating something similar as the first paid app to pass 1 million downloads from the Android Market. I know things like Angry Birds comes to mind but it didn’t launch originally on the Android Market and most of its downloads were on GetJar. The extremely popular weather and clock widget Beautiful Widgets is the first to 1 million downloads on Android and gets to claim the crown.

Now since Google is celebrating their 10 billionth download they’ve been kind enough to offer 10 apps for the next 10 days — at just $0.10 cents. We’ve been following the news and yesterday Beautiful Widgets was one of the lucky few on the list. Running just 10 cents for 24 hours yesterday Beautiful Widgets saw a huge surge in downloads and thanks to their participation, and Google’s sale they’ve boosted above the 1 million mark. Congrats guys!

The info-graphic above will give you some additional details on their achievements. 1 million downloads, over 100 updates, thousands of skins that get downloaded daily Beautiful Widgets is by far the biggest and best when it comes to Android apps. We’ve been fans for a long time here at AC and have covered them more then a few times. Here’s a quick hands-on with BW back when tablet support was added. Hopefully yesterday you were lucky enough to get in while the amazing application was only $0.10 cents but if not you should definitely get it today because it’s worth the small price. If you haven’t gave it a try yet we highly suggest you do so soon.
Beautiful Widgets Market Link
[via LevelUp Studio]

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Macro camera for any smartphone with the Macro Lens Band

The thought of additional lenses or Macro attachments for smartphones has always been a neat idea. I’ve seen plenty in the past but they were large and inconvenient an required assembly before use. To make things extremely quick and simple thanks to Photojojo we present you with the Macro Cell Lens Band. Essentially a macro lens on a durable rubber band that will fit on any smartphone.

Their motto is: “Shockingly detailed phone shots at the snap of a band!” and that is exactly what we have here. Shown in the photo above you simply toss on and snap the band in place and you’re ready to rock. As long as you don’t need the top 20% of your display of course. Now you can snap away and get as many close up shots as possible thanks to Photojojo.
Most of the image samples were using an iPhone so I couldn’t bring myself to post them front and center although for a better idea of the product I have added a few photos to the gallery below. This neat and ingenious novelty item can be yours for just $15.00 and would make a great stocking stuffer for the photographer in your life. There isn’t much to say about this awesome product other than it comes on a credit card sized holder that fits safely in your wallet or purse. Head over to Photojojo and get your own today.
[via SlashGear]

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Twitter for Android Gets Design Overhaul to Bring User Interface and Experience Closer to Desktop

Twitter for Android has gotten yet another update. This one’s another overhaul in both design and functionality. Four tabs bring all that Twitter has to offer – Home, Connect, Discover and Me. Home is just your streaming timeline of incoming tweets.

Connect is where you can find not only your mentions, but notifications about new followers, retweets and direct messages. Discover is where you find the ever-so-popular trending topics, the search function and a place to get suggestions for new accounts to follow.
Finally, the Me tab is pretty much your profile. Update your photo, your information, see who you’re following and who’s following you, manage lists, privacy and more are all possible under this tab.
It really simplifies the mobile experience and it’s about as aesthetically pleasing as the Twitter application has ever been. You can find the update in the Android market (the web Market is not showing the update yet but it’s there).

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Google+ photo tagging now features automatic facial recognition

Google’s social network site just keeps getting better and better these days. Now I know when you read automatic facial recognition you feel like John Connor from Terminator might hunt you down and recognize your face but this new system is completely opt-in. This feature is being called “Find My Face” and will make photo tagging even easier in Google+ land.

What we essentially have is a semi automatic system that Google has in place similar to how Facebook does it these days and when you add photos the facial recognition software will find matches to a face you’ve already tagged, and give you an easy drop down to make things simple. There is one huge difference with this vs Facebook and that is Google has this disabled and you can opt-in, while Facebook does this on its own without asking.
Next time a friend uploads your picture the Find My Face will make it simple for him to tag you — if you have opted-in of course. Being disabled at the start many users probably wont be using this feature but it has launched today and will be prompting users to opt-in so we should be seeing this more and more over the coming weeks. If you’d like to get all set up you can opt-in on the settings page located here.
Between this and upcoming features in Android 4.0 ICS like facial recognition to unlock the screen it seems Google is keen on making this type of technology a part of our daily lives. We’ve seen news of various facial recognition software before and most of it gets pushed behind for privacy reasons but with this being totally opt-in users shouldn’t have much concern.
Head down to Google+ and give it a try and while you are there don’t forget to Circle +GoAndroid.
[via SlashGear]

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Sony’s Xperia Play has more than 200 optimized games

When Sony Ericsson launched the Xperia Play last year, one of the primary concerns was a dearth of games to take advantage of its PlayStation-style slide-out gamepad. Those concerns appear to have been unfounded: AndroidGuys reports that the company confirmed the availability of more than 200 Xperia Play-optimized Android games. That doesn’t hold a candle to the wide array of games availabe on the Android Market, or for that matter, any major gaming console you’d care to mention, but it’s an impressive feat none the less.

Most of these games are stand-alone, high profile titles from the likes of EA and Gameloft, but there’s a pretty good selection of more indie-style games to choose from as well. The Android version of OCD enabler Minecraft premiered on the device, and months before a standard Android Market release. If you’re rocking the Play, try searching for “Xperia Play optimized” in the Market to get a good look at what’s available.
Sony has promised an Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Xperia Play, and all current Xperia phones, sometime in 2012. That’s a good thing, since we haven’t seen hide nor hair of an updated model, and with quad-core processors becoming the new standard for high performance, one would not go amiss. If you happen to have an Xperia Play and an Android tablet, be sure to try the latest version of Droid Note – it’s a great, geeky way to get that console experience on a bigger screen.

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Verizon LTE is back up, Motorola DROID 4 is a no-show

Yesterday Verizon had an embarrassing hiccup in its nationwide 3G and 4G LTE service, with no prospective time for repair. Well, reports are coming in that service has been restored around the country, including the Midwest, where the outage was particularly severe. But there may have been at least one casualty: the Motorola DROID 4, which was set to release today in various internal documents.

There’s no official confirmation on the latest entry in the original DROID line, so it’s not as if the phone is delayed. And perhaps the company had already pushed the launch back, as it appears to have done with the Galaxy Nexus. Again. But a major outage of 4G service just before the LTE-equipped DROID 4 appears in stores may have dampened the company’s zeal for a big release – it’s certainly caused no end of frustration to to its customers. The outage came just a day after Consumer Reports ranked Verizon the most reliable wireless provider in the country.
If you’re craving LTE speeds with a full QWERTY keyboard and cutting edge specs, the DROID 4 is pretty much your only option on Verizon, unless you’d like to settle for the Samsung Stratosphere. The DROID 4 matches the DROID RAZR almost note for note, with the exceptions being its 4-inch LCD screen, removable battery and an understandably thicker profile. It’s quite likely that Verizon will make the official announcement soon, as they’ve already officially shown two new DROID XYBOARD (AKA XOOM 2) tablets and a white-clad DROID RAZR.

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Costco prices the Galaxy Nexus at $290, no, you still can’t buy one

More than a few of you probably have at least $299.99 in your wallet at the moment, saved against the day when the seven trumpets sound, the moon turns blood red and Verizon finally decides to release the Galaxy Nexus in the US. If you live near a Costco you can save a few bucks when it actually arrives; PhoneArena reports that the retail chain is preparing the phone for a debut at $289.99, exactly ten dollars less than the rumored Verizon price. Naturally you’ll still need to sign or renew a two-year contract.

Costco is also including a “Costco Member Bonus Accessory Pack”, but there’s no information on exactly what this entails. Some Samsung accessories would be nice, but a cheap-o case, car charger and perhaps a screen protector is more likely. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and ten dollars off is ten dollars you wouldn’t have had before – the better to buy a $50 extended battery with. Costco’s internal system is showing a December 9th launch for the Galaxy Nexus, but multiple insiders are saying that it’s the latest in a long line of missed dates.
This is the part of the Galaxy Nexus article where I close. I typically describe how Americans have been waiting for the Galaxy Nexus for far too long, and how upset US Android fans are with Verizon for its horrible timing. I mention how the complete lack of communication with its customers is a major disservice, and how it’s probably going to lose potential converts from T-Mobile and AT&T, who may just wait for the Galaxy Nexus to arrive on their carriers instead of switching. But I’ve done that a lot already, so I won’t mention any of Verizon’s poor policies like booting out Google Wallet and saddling the phone with bloatware. Nope, not at all.

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Google Images gets a makeover on Android tablets

Google announced via its Mobile Blog that the standard image search on Android and iOS tablets is getting a significant update today, not unlike the previous standard search update. There’s some adjusted UI settings to take advantage of the larger form factor, most notably an infinite scroll feature that will continually load images as you flick the web page down. I gave it a try on my Galaxy Tab 8.9, with a subject that no one could object to.

The gallery view has also been updated, with a bug focus on the image itself and a strip of website information below it. Simply swipe left or right to navigate through the “carousel” one at a time. The updated interface looks like it takes full advantage of HTML5 – since it’s running on Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich and iOS, it probably doesn’t have any Android-specific properties. Unfortunately, that means you probably won’t be seeing it any time soon on a Gingerbread tablet, hacked or no.
You can see Google’s official video below.




After running through the new layout myself, I can report that it’s admirably smooth and intuitive, even on my less than ideal Internet connection. It’s a definite improvement over the old hunt-and-peck layout. Remember that the website is looking at your browser profile, so if you’ve got Dolphin Browser HD or some other third-arty app set to Desktop Mode, you probably won’t see it. One more for the road:

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Toshiba Excite AT200 gets a February 2012 release in Canada

Many were somewhat underwhelmed with Toshiba’s Android tablet debut, the 10-inch Thrive, even with its fabulous marketing strategy of telling consumers how smart they were through Tony Bennet-style singing. The second revision, now renamed the Excite, is headed for a release up north in February of next year. Mobile Syrup quotes an anonymous source that contradicts its January date on the website. Canadians looking for a super-slim Honeycomb tablet, try to contain your excitement.

All joking aside, the Excite AT200 is a pretty impressive piece of hardware, cramming a 10.1-inch display into a 7.7mm thin body. That’s just barely thicker than the skinny part of the DROID RAZR, and beats out the upcoming Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime by .6 millimeters. It’s a considerable improvement on the Thrive, which got a lot of complaints for its 16mm profile. On the inside you get a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor and either 16GB or 32GB of storage, with 2 and 5 megapixel front and rear cameras. Despite the svelte frame, Toshiba still found room for a MicroSD card slot and a Micro HDMI jack.
The tablet will launch with Honeycomb, which is a shame, since at that point Ice Cream Sandwich will have been available for about four months. There’s no word on an upgrade. Technically there’s no confirmation of a United States release either, but it seems like a given considering the FCC filing. If Toshiba had only gotten this attractive hardware out before Christmas, and at a price lower than the Transformer Prime and Galaxy Tab 10.1, it might have made a splash this year instead of next.
Be sure to check out our hands-on video of a pre-release Toshiba Excite.

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