Monday, May 2, 2011

Evidence Points to Droid Charge Launch on Tuesday



The Droid Charge launch was postponed indefinitely when Verizon’s LTE network crashed, and we haven’t gotten an official launch date yet. Android Central has found a lot of evidence pointing toward a Tuesday release, however. In addition to the image above, they found several other internal images showing release dates of May 3rd or 5th, so we expect to see the device find a general release this week. Hit the source link to all the images. 

T-Mobile pokes fun at Verizon for their LTE outage



Who doesn’t love some friendly competition, a little “anything you can do, I can do better”? It looks like T-Mobile likes it just fine. As we all know, Verizon’s LTE network suffered some serious downtime recently. In a tweet released by T-Mo, the carrier stated:
“@VerizonWireless In the time your network was out, we downloaded 22 million photos, 17 million eBooks and 1 million apps on our 4G network.”
Sound a little snarky? Of course it does! What do you think of T-Mo’s attitude in this? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
 

Target getting the Acer Iconia Tab?



The folks over at androidcentral have stumbled upon some interesting news. A non retail, working display model of the tablet has been sent to Target. The picture shows that the supposed release date might be May 15. Knowing you can get them for $450 at Best Buy, does anyone else think a pricing war could be in the near future? A lot of vendors are already doing this with phones,  perhaps tablet will be next? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Android App: HexDefense



HexDefense


Buy new: $1.49

(Visit the Bestsellers in Appstore for Android list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Product Details

 

Product Features

  • Classic "open field" tower defense gameplay
  • Dazzling graphics, particle effects, and animations
  • 20 different levels with unique challenges
  • 4 types of towers each with 4 upgrade levels
  • 7 types of creeps, including 4 boss creeps 
[Source: Amazon]




How would you change Motorola's Atrix 4G?



Motorola's Atrix 4G may have some serious competition from a performance standpoint, but it's still got one thing going for it over all of the other Android superphones hitting the streets these days: an optional laptop dock. 'Course, it's debatable whether or not said accessory is truly worth paying for, but the phone itself has certainly done its fair share of impressing. You've read our take on Motorola's latest Android whizkid, and now it's your turn to vent. If you had the power necessary to overhaul the Atrix 4G, how would you go about doing so? Would you nix Motoblur altogether? Toss the latest build on Android onboard? Make it available on more carriers? Handle the laptop dock differently? All (sane) opinions are welcome, and comments are open below.  

[Deal Alert] ASUS Eee Pad Transformer $40 Off From Target, But With A Catch – It’s Backordered



The Transformer is already a pretty great deal in the world of Android tablets – you get the same 10.1" screen and dual core processor as its competitors, for the low price of just $399.99. But if that price point isn’t enough to get you to rush out and buy one, or you’d like some extra cash for that keyboard dock, you’re in luck – you can get it from Target for a cool $40 off by using the code TCA27BAR at checkout.
The only problem is, the tablet isn’t exactly available – it’s still on backorder, so Target warns that it will begin shipping "in 2 to 4 weeks." Of course, shipping will set you back another $7.95, and you’ll still be paying taxes, so chances are you either won’t be saving too much off the original $400 price, or you’ll be paying more, whereas with Amazon you could forego both those additional costs. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t have any in stock yet either (in fact, it’s powered by Target as well), so the Target deal is probably the best one around at the moment.
Bonus: another 5% off by using the REDcard, if you’ve got one.

 

FCC wants your input on the AT&T/T-Mobile Merger


With the upcoming $39 Billion AT&T/T-Mobile USA merger, it’s quite understandable that users of both networks are concerned how it will affect them. The FCC is concerned as well and has started a new commentary portal for users concerned with the mega merger. Users can go to the FCC ECFS Site here, and look for proceeding number 11-65 with the title “In the Matter of applications of AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG for consent to assign or Transfer Control of licenses and Authorizations. ” Then you can fill out the form and follow the prompts to have your voice heard.



Everyone is chiming in on this merger. Other networks have officially filed objections with the FCC. Consumer Reports, however, is of the opinion that service should improve for both networks as a result of the marriage. But they also think that T-Mobile customers will see a price hike. They also say that those who object to it are more likely to have more to lose.
As we reported shortly after the news broke on the merger, T-Mobile has gone so far as to assure their customers that the merger won’t be completed overnight, but that AT&Ts conversion of their 4G network will take years. Meantime, users will still be able to enjoy T-Mobile’s service and that upgrading of phones and services will happen according to a normal service life of each contract. In the end, T-Mobile customers will have a faster, more robust network. But if you’re concerned, the FCC definitely wants to hear from you.
 

DROID Charge Anomaly Tracked in Five Cities and Counting [Video]











If you’ve been following @DroidLanding on Twitter, you know that there’s a contest going on where you are able to win a DROID Charge by tracking down a hidden marker in cities across the United States. What’s been released tonight is several videos documenting the winners in five cities including my place of residence, Minneapolis Minnesota, the prize found in no less than the famous First Avenue Danceteria, downtown MPLS – usually there’s a few hundred hipsters chopping it up on the floor – just Verizon during the day apparently!



The way this situation is being run is that people follow @DroidLanding on Twitter on the mobile device they’ve already got in their possession. They make sure they’re also tuned in to m.chargelanding.com, and “scan their area” at 4:28 PM HST (aka 10:28 EST, 9:28 CST, and 7:28 PST) each and every day. You’re then meant to share your findings on Twitter and on Facebook, unless you’re sneaky of course, and check out chargelanding.com on your desktop at home every day until you “zero in” on the winning location.
AND if you’re not into looking, you can “Scan” up to 10 times a day to be entered into a separate contest where 16 more DROID Charge units will be given away. Fun way to win a phone? Sure thing! More contests should be mobile like this when the prize is a mobile device. Smart stuff! Have a look below at all the winners thus far, and keep on scanning for your chance to win your own DROID Charge.





























Android 2.3 Gingerbread comes to the G2x thanks to CyanogenMod 7




Great news for you all this evening, I know UFC is going and everyone is probably watching that like I am, but we have some great news that just dropped to twitter a few minutes ago. @CM_arcee has been the lead developer for CM7 for the LG G2x and Optimus 2x and he has just announced that nightly’s are now available for download from the CM download mirrors.


Yes what you see is real. The time has finally come and the CyanogenMod team feel that the builds for the LG G2x are now at a complete enough level that we can all flash the latest nightly if we choose. I’m excited, so excited to finally have CM7 and Android 2.3 on this amazing phone that I’ve already flashed it for mine, if you didn’t notice the photo above. So for those that don’t want to wait for T-Mobile to release Android 2.3.3 for the G2x, get it now with CM7.
As always, flashing something like a nightly or unstable build of a rom is a *at your own risk* type deal. Make sure you have rooted and installed clockwork recovery. Guides to both of these things are here. I’d do a nandroid backup first, I always do. So get rooted, flash clockworkmod and go get the latest nightly for the p999 (G2x) or the p990 for the O2x. Don’t forget the gapps for all your Google apps.
Just in case you missed it here is the link again for the downloads of CyanogenMod 7 for the G2x.
CM7 Download Mirrors


[via Twitter, AC]