3:49 PM
Simranpal SIngh
Specs:
- Sense UI
- 4-inch Multi-Touch Screen (480 x 800 Res)
- HD 8MP Camera With Dual LED Flash
- 720p Video Recording
- 1 GHz CPU
- 1Gig of RAM
- 1.3 MP Front-Facing Camera
Saturday, February 26, 2011
HTC Incredible S Ships In The UK With Froyo, Initially
Specs:
Toshiba AC100 Smartbook Graced With Android 2.2
Don’t ask me what a smartbook is folks, because I’m still trying to figure that out. But, what I can tell you is that the Toshiba AC100 is now running Froyo (2.2) for your viewing and drooling pleasure. You may now unbuckle your seat belts and move about the world of “flash”. The update was promised back in the fall, and it’s finally arrived. And according to the folks over at Carrypad, users can expect to experience a “noticeable performance boost”. In addition, you can view Toshiba’s own application store on the device, dubbed the “Toshiba Market Place”. Furthermore, if you’ve been hesitant or reluctant to purchase the device, take note that the smartbook has recently dropped in price and you can even purchase a WiFi only version of the device for about $275.00 US currency. Add another $50 bucks and you can get the 3G version. Check out the video below of the device in action and let us know what you think of it in the comments below.
Verizon Says Data Plan No Longer Required For The Motorola Xoom, Darn Skippy VZ
Looks like Big Red “finally came around” in regards to their requirement of the one-month data plan purchase and bogus $35 activation fee for those who have desperately desired a Xoom. This included customers who just wanted to buy the device and use it as a WiFi only tablet. The word “rubbish” comes to mind, to put it nicely. If Verizon fails to play their cards right in this pricing war, they are going to lose a ton of ground with prospective consumers to that other pad out there, what’s its face? Anyway, as of now The Xoom is $599 with a two-year contract, and $799 without an agreement. For starters, we’re thankful to see the data plan restrictions and activation fees removed by Verizon, and we can definitely note that they are moving in the right direction for competition’s sake. In an article written by JR Raphael over at ComputerWorld, he states:
As of this morning, Verizon has removed that requirement. I’ve confirmed with a Verizon Wireless spokesperson that if you purchase the Xoom for $800, without a contract, you will not be required to pay the $35 activation fee or sign up for any sort of data plan.
So, here’s to hoping that Verizon changes the playing field a bit with pricing or we fear there will be some serious sale suffering when the iPad 2 enters the game. Come on Verizon, make believers out of us. The Xoom, with Honeycomb on board, makes for an extremely impressive device. It’s that “but” that comes into play when it comes to pricing. Let us know what your thinking in the comments below.
Want To Unlock The Motrorola Xoom’s Bootloader?
If you were thankful that the Motorola Xoom came available with the means to unlock the bootloader but you have no idea how to do it, we’ve got some good news for you. Our friends over at Android Central have provided an all in one stop & shop concocted by one of their forum members who managed to put a nice little piece together to guide you through the process. If you’re feeling gutsy, head on over to their forums via the source link for the entire process and to download the drivers. You’ll be well on your way in no time. Head back over to Talk Android and let us know how easy the process was. And finally, AC’s own Jerry Hildenbrand adds:
Keep in mind that this isn’t rooting your Xoom. With an unlocked bootloader and fastboot mode, there’s no need to worry about finding exploits to root the OS. Instead, developers will just build a package you can flash from a custom recovery with anything and everything you need to have complete control over your tablet. I expect a custom recovery and those flashable packages in very short order.
Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [Feb. 25]
- Samsung’s SMT Android tablet for KDDI is launching March 11th. It’s no Galaxy Tab, though.
- Samsung may soon use their own chips in their Google TV products. [Samsung Hub]
- now available from HTC.
- GameSpy Open is now available and free for Android developers.
- OpenFeint and AdKnowledge are working together to help make you developers more money.
- The Samsung Galaxy S in Italy is getting Android 2.2.1.
- HTC Incredible S is now shipping from Vodafone and O2 in the UK. [GSMA]
- The Samsung Galaxy SL is headed to Germany and India.
- Another new Motorola XOOM promo lands on YouTube.
Angry Birds Nailed by The Oatmeal
Do you know about The Oatmeal? They’re a pretty awesome group of folks who make illustrations and have an awesome, awesome blog. Occasionally they post something rather relevant to Android, like this Angry Birds infographic, and we just cannot resist. Take a peek at the first bit here, then go down the scale to the least likable birds in the pack. Can you guess which ones they are?
I’d have to say that this is basically the most accurate chart about the likability of Angry Birds that I’ve ever seen. From top to bottom, with the exception of that red bird, who I just cannot believe continues to come up later in the game, even fat, and think should be at the bottom of the chart, this chart is great. I must mention though that I don’t speak for everyone on our team, each person in the Android Community is of course an individual, and since this topic is an important one, I’ll leave it up to them to decide on their ideal chart.
Now you might notice the lack of a couple of birds on this chart. That is because we’ve left the tail end off as it is so common that someone will take a “The Oatmeal” chart in its entirety without linking back. In this case, we’ve decided to be incredibly noble and leave the last bit to them to display right over [here].
Click Add Below
I’d have to say that this is basically the most accurate chart about the likability of Angry Birds that I’ve ever seen. From top to bottom, with the exception of that red bird, who I just cannot believe continues to come up later in the game, even fat, and think should be at the bottom of the chart, this chart is great. I must mention though that I don’t speak for everyone on our team, each person in the Android Community is of course an individual, and since this topic is an important one, I’ll leave it up to them to decide on their ideal chart.
Now you might notice the lack of a couple of birds on this chart. That is because we’ve left the tail end off as it is so common that someone will take a “The Oatmeal” chart in its entirety without linking back. In this case, we’ve decided to be incredibly noble and leave the last bit to them to display right over [here].
Click Add Below
ThunderBolt Available in HTC Store, But No Checkout
An intrepid or otherwise heavily obsessed fan of the upcoming HTC ThunderBolt has been poking around the HTC store online, today finding a way to actually get the ThunderBolt in their cart. Sadly, all this amounts to is shattered dreams as the phone is just in the system, not available for purchase. To do this, all you’ve got to do is copy an address, paste an address, change a number, and submit! So simple. Maybe it’s better that you don’t even try it – no more tears.
The following is the method our tipper friend “asdfasdf,” also known as “anonymous,” the real anonymous, not the hacker group, has used to attain the goal image you see above. Have a look and try it out yourself!
The following is the method our tipper friend “asdfasdf,” also known as “anonymous,” the real anonymous, not the hacker group, has used to attain the goal image you see above. Have a look and try it out yourself!
Go to HTC’s online store, go to any product detail page. ’Copy linkAll of this is of course done over at http://www.shopamerica.htc.com/, a place where they clearly enter in objects well(?) before they’re ready to roll.
address’ for the “Add to cart” link. Paste to the address bar, change
product ID to 38411, submit. You’ll be taken to an HTC Incredible
page, but when you click to view your “Cart,” you’ll have an HTC
Thunderbolt there for $699.99. However, you can’t check out due to no
plans being available for this phone.
Record Calls on your Galaxy S
Like we often talk about, the devs over at XDA Developers are hard at work like they always are. This time XDA member antsm has developed a modification of the Phone.apk that will allow users to record phone calls. This is still very much a work in progress like many things and will only get better with time. He is working on it for the Galaxy S but once it gets working better I’m sure it can be added to many other devices.
Features include:
* Automatic call recording for incoming/outgoing calls
* Added template system for flexible naming of records. No boring VoiceRecord001.amr anymore
(see /sdcard/.rec_template file for template and more info).
* Disabled stop recording on some actions related to multi-line calling (i.e Hold, Conference mode, etc)
* Disabled stop recording when Dialer minimized to background
Like I mentioned above this is still a work in progress. Things will likely improve and be easier as time goes on. I’d also like to point out that like always when messing with sensitive parts of your phone such as the Phone.apk be sure to do a nandroid backup before changing anything so you can always revert if needed.
Features include:
* Automatic call recording for incoming/outgoing calls
* Added template system for flexible naming of records. No boring VoiceRecord001.amr anymore
(see /sdcard/.rec_template file for template and more info).
* Disabled stop recording on some actions related to multi-line calling (i.e Hold, Conference mode, etc)
* Disabled stop recording when Dialer minimized to background
Like I mentioned above this is still a work in progress. Things will likely improve and be easier as time goes on. I’d also like to point out that like always when messing with sensitive parts of your phone such as the Phone.apk be sure to do a nandroid backup before changing anything so you can always revert if needed.
SlingPlayer for Android updates with HQ Video mode
Slingbox has updated it’s popular SlingPlayer for Android app and added a high quality video mode for those who love to watch their TV on the go. In addition, the new update fixes a connectivity issue that some T-Mobile and Motorola Atrix users have been frustrated with. And users can now enjoy a full screen mode when on composite, s-video and coax inputs.
Sling is a really cool technology that marries TV to the Internet and makes it possible to not only stream video, but watch live TV. When connecting over 3G or WiFi to a Slingbox Solo or Pro HD box, the SlingPlayer software can allow users to watch live TV on their Android phone, change channels and even control their DVRs. Adding a high quality video also future proofs the app, which is looking to take advantage of 4G networks and future dual core processors for more serious HD video quality. The only thing stopping them are the arbitrary bandwidth limitations by the wireless providers. But at least WiFi doesn’t stop them.
The SlingPlayer app isn’t cheap at $30, but considering the ability to watch your favorite sporting event live wherever you go, it’s a bargain. Check it out in the Android Marketplace.
Sling is a really cool technology that marries TV to the Internet and makes it possible to not only stream video, but watch live TV. When connecting over 3G or WiFi to a Slingbox Solo or Pro HD box, the SlingPlayer software can allow users to watch live TV on their Android phone, change channels and even control their DVRs. Adding a high quality video also future proofs the app, which is looking to take advantage of 4G networks and future dual core processors for more serious HD video quality. The only thing stopping them are the arbitrary bandwidth limitations by the wireless providers. But at least WiFi doesn’t stop them.
The SlingPlayer app isn’t cheap at $30, but considering the ability to watch your favorite sporting event live wherever you go, it’s a bargain. Check it out in the Android Marketplace.
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