Brighten Up Your Day With “Symphony of Colors” Live Wallpaper

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Looks like maxelus.net is at it again with another one of their stunning live wallpapers.  Symphony of Colors is a fantastic looking live wallpaper that is sure to make your desktop stand out, especially if you have an AMOLED, Super AMOLED or Super AMOLED Plus screen on your device.  Animations have a cool smooth rhythm to them and can even be manipulated with a simple touch or swipe either left, right, up or in the down direction of the desktop.  There are several different colors supported in the app for you to choose from, so feel free to select the color that best describes your mood, turning your device into a mood ring, if you will.  Ready to try it out?  Head on over to the Android Market for more info, a video demo of the app and to snag the download.  You can also hit up the QR code after the break.  And as always, feel free to let us know what you think of the live wallpaper in the comments below.

 

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Samsung Galaxy S II Rooted by Chainfire

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This Kernel whipped up by Chainfire gave him a load of issues for one reason or another and he explains that it’s not a traditional or “proper” CF-Root. One of the reasons Chainfire has for this is that he’s like the majority of the rest of us, and also doesn’t actually have the device in hand! What he’s made this on is more than likely the early build of the phone released before the actual hardware is ready to take off across the whole world. What this project amounts to at the moment is the XWKDD kernel in “insecure” mode, this meaning that you’re going to be using “adb root” command followed by grabbing root shell using adb shell.
With this lovely shell you’re going to be able to remount / system read/write, push su / Superuser, busybox and everything else your box’o'root tools might contain. What Chainfire’s provided for you to use to get to this point is the XWKDD kernel and the new Odin. If you have NO IDEA what that means, it’s better that you just know that we’re well on our way to a completely free and open playground in an ultimate bigtime phone that isn’t even really released yet! Hooray! Check out the full XDA thread over here for full details.
Also don’t forget to check out our good man Chris Davies’ full review of this lovely phone, complete with the cutest transparent Android companion as helper!

 
 

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Sony Ericsson to reveal Xperia X10 Mini, Mini Pro successors next week?

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It is rumored that Sony Ericsson will launch the successors to its Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro Android devices in May, and the launch could take place as early as next week.
Codenamed Mango and Smultron, these phones run on Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread builds and feature 1 GHz processors. Other specs are likely to include three inch displays clubbed with 5MP camera and added front cam.
This rumor is accompanied by an additional piece of information that one more Android device can be launch at the same time or will company just make W8 walkman phone official?
Via eprice
 

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Things We Missed You Shouldn't

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Looking back on this week in Android some pretty big stories stand out. Verizon launched two new Android devices and delayed another, the Samsung DROID Charge due to 4G LTE outages; the Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G finally received HSUPA support through new updates; and then there are the leftovers, which you can find below. TGIF!

• Samsung goes on the offensive. Broadens their patent infringment claim against Apple. [Electronista]
• LG has the worst timing. Launches Black the same day as the Galaxy S II.
• The Motorola PRO is not headed to the UK, says retailer. [EuroDroid]
• Telus’ Samsung Fascinate 4G will be out May 8th.
• Telus is dropping the original Fascinate to $0 in anticipation. The Nexus S is also on sale for $99 on a three-year contract.
• Some of those lucky enough to receive the Asus Eee Pad Transformer were surprised to find pre-release Android 2.2 software in place of the promised Android Honeycomb. [AC]
• $90 via Amazon.
• GameStop is looking to hire an Android developer to bring their Game Spawn streaming game application over. [Droid Gamers]
• The Motorola Atrix 4G Laptop Dock will drop to $299 as of May 1st. [AC]

 

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HTC Thunderbolt Receives Update With Enhanced 3G Connectivity and Messaging Fixes

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Remember that new HTC Thunderbolt software that leaked a little over a week ago? It’s prepped and ready for installation, as Verizon has updated their support page to reflect the latest tweaks and enhancements that will hit their first 4G LTE handset. The main fix here is enhanced 3G data connectivity, which should alleviate some of the 4G/3G switching problems some users have experienced. Messaging fixes correct incorrectly displayed SMS and MMS messages. As is usual, expect this one to roll out over the next couple of weeks, so don’t panic if it doesn’t hit your handset this weekend. See the full release notes at the source link below, and let us know in the comments when you receive your update.
[via Verizon]

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[New App] File Manager HD Is A Honeycomb Optimized File Browser For Your Tablet

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Up until now, if you needed a file manager on your Honeycomb tablet you were stuck using one that was designed for phone versions of Android, which didn’t always translate well to the larger screen. Software developers Rhythm Software saw this issue, grabbed it by the horns, and took care of it. The end result? File Manager HD.
File Manager HD is the first file manager specifically designed for Honeycomb tablets (according to the developer). It offers a slew of useful features:

* Based on Android 3.0 new feature and theme
* High definition(1280*800) support
* 3 sets of commercial icons for 60+ different file types, toolbar and menu items
* Cut, copy, paste and cancellable progress dialog
* List and grid view for file browsing
* Compression and decompression support
* Search and share files
* Multiple selection and sorting support
* Thumbnail for photo, pictures and apk files
* Built-in text editor and swf player
* Fully tested on Motorola Xoom

  

This isn’t their first rodeo, either – Rhythm also has a phone version of File Manager, and it’s rocking a near-five-star rating. So, for the low cost of free, you really can’t go wrong.

File Manager HD

TOP APP

NEW

UPDATED

PRICE DROP

Install

 

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Sprint News, Motorola Xoom WiFi Available May 8th

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Sprint has announced that it will be offering the WiFi only version of the Motorola Xoom for a mere $599.99. Between you and me, thats a bit pricey. Especially if you stack it up to some of the other recently released tablets with a better price. But thats the deal, ‘eh?
This was the first tablet device to run Honeycomb. Android 3.0 mobile operating system, was specifically designed with the tablet platform in mind. Along with Android 3.0, the tablet can boast 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB internal RAM memory and 32GB onboard user memory,rear-facing 5-megapixel and front-facing 2-megapixel camera, both capable of HD video, and 10.1-inch widescreen HD display. And the fact that its a WiFi device, there is no required contract. Just shell out the $600 bones and you got yourself a brand spanking new tablet.

 

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Fring Mobile Group Video out of beta

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“There is no reason why users need to run home to their PC in order to have a ‘spontaneous’ video call with their friends and family,” said Avi Shechter, co-founder and CEO of Fring. “…we are the first to give users the ability to see all their friends on their phone at the same time, anywhere.”

Fring started the video chat revolution back in 2009, introducing mobile phones to mobile video chat that was one to one and largely fairly dodgy. But as phones have gotten more powerful and networks faster, so has the quality of the calls. And with smartphones moving towards multi-core processors, the ability make group video chat calls is a natural next step. So it makes sense that Fring would be blazing that trail.
The group video chat feature is also cross platform, meaning that Android, iOS callers, and even select Nokia handsets can enjoy each others lovely mugs on the same call. When making a four way call, the screen divides “Brady Bunch style” into four separate windows. And Fring calls are free (data caps do apply, however) . Look for it at the Android Marketplace.

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HTC Inspire ROM Update Enables HSUPA – Hands On Test

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When we heard that the HTC Inspire 4G has a ROM update enabling HSUPA for better data speeds, we had to give it a try ourselves. After some fits and starts, not finding the update, and then having some downloading difficulties, our own Ben Bajarin got it installed. So how did it do?

Here the speed test before:

And here it is after:

If you notice there isn’t much difference, and also that the speeds are pretty slow, that isn’t really a reflection on the update. Ben lives out in the boonies and can’t really get a great connection. We will be updating this post with a non-boonies test soon.
Meanwhile, have you updated? What kinds of speeds are you seeing? The update will be sent out over the air, but you can also check for it yourself, see graphic below:

 

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