Samsung Announces Dual-SIM Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos

Take the Samsung Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro, slap on dual-SIM support, and you have the pair of handsets announced by the Korean manufacturer today. Just with the original lineup of Galaxy Y phones, the new handsets feature 830MHz processors, 3MP rear cameras, and VGA front-facing cameras. The Galaxy Y Pro Duos gets a 2.6-inch touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard found below, a BlackBerry-esque staple of most handsets with the ‘pro’ label. The Galaxy Y Duos foregoes the keyboard for a 3.14-inch display.

Folks in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa can expect to see the two new offerings in January, though pricing has not yet been announced. We fully expect the Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos to make an appearance at CES in Las Vegas.
[press release]

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Kindle Fire: how to prevent automatic updates

Amazon’s latest update for the Kindle Fire is said to remove root access and disable the SuperOneClick root method – something that definitely upset a number of Kindle Fire users. The worst part is, Amazon doesn’t give you a choice when it comes to updating the tablet – they push it out automatically as long as you’re connected to WiFi.

Well, if you’re one of those people who would like to keep root access more than update your tablet, you’re in luck. The folks over at Gizmodo have come up with a solution to the problem: by using an app from the Android Market called DroidWall.
All you have to do is install the app on your tablet, set the mode to White list, and manually select which apps to give WiFi access to. In this case, you can give access to your email, browser, Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand etc. Hit apply, and that’s it. You should be able to re-enable WiFi and not receive automatic updates from Amazon anymore.

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Real Racing 2 Speeds Into The Android Market – Leaves Part 1 In The Dust

Electronic Arts has just released another arcade racing title in the Android Market with Real Racing 2. If you’re wondering why you never heard of part 1 well, that’s because it was only available for that other App Store until EA wised up. No matter. Real Racing 2 ups the ante from the previous version with absolutely insane visuals for Android devices, delivering ultra realistic environments and shiny car models. I mean, seriously — just look at those screenshots!

The game allows you to jump behind the wheel of 30 different high-performance cars in 15 different locations around the globe. Jump quickly into a 15 car race with Quick Race mode or take your time with circuit racing in Career Mode — however you decide to play, you’ll have a good time doing it. Full features include:

Test your racing prowess on a 16 car grid against highly skilled AI drivers.

• Select from 30 officially licensed cars including the 2010 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, 2010 Nissan GT-R (R35), 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, and more!
• Work your way from rookie to pro in a robust Career Mode, offering 10 hours of racing enjoyment. Jump into a Quick Race for instant fun - or race against the clock in Time Trial Mode.
• Race in 15 beautiful locations, with 40 miles of highly detailed race tracks, speedways and city circuits - including twilight and night races.
• Touch or tilt to steer, as you experience state-of-the-art handling with customizable options that tailor to your personal driving style.
• Experience the intensity of head-to-head racing with 5 unique camera angles and breath-taking graphics powered by Firemint’s exclusive high performance Mint3D™ engine.

Keep in mind that while Real Racing 2 is free to download, unlocking the full version of the game comes through an in-app purchase. The only problem I encountered was the same one others in the Market had with the game’s 470MB resource failing to download. Also, the game isn’t compatible with a good amount of Android devices (even high-end ones like the Evo 3D). But if you guys want to give it a go for yourselves, buckle up and test drive Real Racing 2 for free right now in the Android Market. Remember — no texting while driving.
[Market Link]

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Improve your Android device’s display resolution

Ever wondered how you wished your Android-powered smartphone would have a higher pixel count for its display? Well, those who own a rooted Android smartphone, you can “force” the resolution of your handset’s display to be different compared to what it came with, thanks to an app known as LCD Resolution. Bear in mind that you are unable to cram in more pixels than the original count, as that would be impossible, but you can improve the resolution with this particular program. For best results, a high resolution display Android device would work best, such as the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note, the HTC Rezound, or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I would presume that folks who mirror video from their smartphone to a HDTV will find this useful.

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Dell Streak 5 receives official Android 2.3 Gingerbread ROM

Dell might have stopped selling the Dell Streak 5 in the US, never mind the fact that this little puppy has been cleared for use at the Pentagon, but that does not mean the Texas-based computer manufacturer has stopped all forms of support for the Streak 5. In fact, Dell has just rolled out the official Android 2.3 Gingerbread ROM for said device. If you are one of the few folks out there who own a Dell Streak 5, just head on to the link here and begin the 155MB .pkg file download. Having said that, I would recommend your device is plugged in to a power source, or has full battery capacity, while you perform the download over a Wi-Fi connection.
Also, do remember to make a backup of your device and all the information inside as you can never tell just when something might go wrong. Installation should be a fast and painless effort, assuming you have the right stock recovery version installed (version 350). Those who have already made the update, how do you find your Gingerbread experience compared to Froyo?

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Amazon No Longer Blocking Kindle Fires From Accessing Web Version Of Android Market

A lesser known fact about the Kindle Fire — when entering “market.android.com” in the device’s web browser, the device would actually forward you Amazon’s own Appstore instead of Google’s world famous web version of the Android Market. Pretty frustrating and somewhat alarming to some users as they were essentially being blocked from accessing a website which in this case, was Google’s app Market.
Well, some good news came out of that “root breaking” update we told you guys about earlier. Apparently, Amazon wised up and is no longer blocking users from accessing the web version of the Android Market in their device’s browser. And although Kindle Fire owners wont be able to install any of the apps from the Android Market (web), they can still browse music to upload to Google Music or movies, books, etc. Yay, freedom!
[Via GigaOM]

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Motorola DROID 4 launch date pushed until February 2, 2012

To be honest, this shouldn’t be a surprise. The Galaxy Nexus was postponed for more than a month, and we all figured the Motorola DROID 4 wouldn’t see a pre-holiday release 3 days before Christmas. It was rumored we may see the device tomorrow, but evidence was still thin. Now we have some concrete info from a Verizon document stating a February 2, 2012 launch date.

It’s much better that the device has been pushed a few months, rather than every couple of days like the recent Galaxy Nexus LTE. This way, consumers that need a phone in the very near future should count on the DROID 4 as a possible candidate. I’m sure many OG DROID owners that are now eligible for a 2-year upgrade are furious, and may be forced to wait it out. QWERTY lovers are hard to convert.
The DROID 4 will most definitely ship with Android 4.0 by February, and if it doesn’t then remember to call me out on it. Like all information found through leaked documents or emails, they are subject to change. It could see store shelves earlier than predicted, but in the end – Verizon should take all the time they need to iron out all of the bugs. There is nothing worse than hyping up a device, just to find out there’s something wrong with it a few days later.
[via Phandroid]

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MIUI on Galaxy Nexus LTE currently in the works, almost fully functional

Well that was quick. Developer DroidVicious over at RootzWiki has almost ported his ViciousMIUI ROM over from the Thunderbolt to the Galaxy Nexus LTE. Before even a day had passed, he had calls, call audio, and data all working perfectly. The only feature currently broken and acting buggy is WiFI and the softkeys. Though we’ll have to wait for a WiFi fix from him directly, we can mend the softkey problem by downloading Soft Keys from the Android Market.

Over on the thread, there is also a second flashable .ZIP that will temporarily fix the softkey issue – so take your pick. I’ll have some screenshots of the ROM our community Forums as soon as WiFi is fixed later tonight. My Galaxy Nexus has been plagued with some pretty significant signal issues, regardless of what Verizon previously stated. Also, do note that DroidVicious used AOSP 4.0.3 as the base for this port, so it will likely be up to date as soon as those running stock ROMs are pushed 4.0.3 officially.
Users are reporting it working great, but with a very noticeable battery drain. To be honest, my Galaxy Nexus drains quickly anyways so I will probably not notice the difference. Using MIUI on my previous devices had been an excellent experience, and paired with the Galaxy Nexus I could’t imagine it getting any better. Who knows, maybe upgrading to the 4.0.3 based AOSP ROM will cure the signal issues too.
[via RootzWiki]

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HTC EVO View Honeycomb update now available

Though Best Buy recently pulled their HTC Flyer from their online store, the “Now” network’s EVO View 4G – essentially the same device – has an Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) update available for download. It will be pushed to devices tomorrow, but can be easily downloaded and updated today. Honeycomb brings some much needed features to the EVO View 4G, and the most noticeable being the new “Notifications” menu.

Honeycomb is really the bridge from Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Features from both combine to make Google’s new OS, and only the strongest survived. My personal favorite is the new “Recent Applications” menu icon; if would have been a shame if it was left out.
EVO View 4G owners won’t look back on their previous OS, as Honeycomb is meant to be much more tablet friendly. For those of you wanting this update right now, navigate through “Settings > System Updates > HTC Software Update > Check Now” on your device; it should start right up. Those of you have gone through with the update, let us know if it requires a data wipe – that could really help out the community when preparing to update.
[via Phandroid]

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