Roboto FlipFont 2.0 (com.monotype.android.font.Roboto) 11/12/2011 1:26 PM
Roboto FlipFont 2.0 (Titanium Backup Pro)
12 11 2011Comments : Leave a Comment »
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Editors choice apps, new feature of the Android market
12 11 2011
A new version of the Android market began pushing out earlier this week. Version 3.3.11 brought a welcome new feature. Popular apps that have Google’s support are now listed as editor’s choice apps.
This is sure to help anyone new to the android app market. Familiar names like angry birds and foursquare show up on the list.
The market app continues to improve and I’m sure we’ll see many new features come down the pipeline as we wait for ICS to release.
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ICS Keyboard now available for all versions
10 11 2011
The first Android 4.0 device is about to hit stores in a week. The new blue matte design looks great. If you want to try out the new keyboard you can. If you prefer using the gingerbread keyboard you’ll like this one as well. Follow these instructions and you’ll be set. Root is required.
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Minecraft for Android quick look
19 10 2011
Minecraft Pocket Edition is a great example of how to port a PC game to a phone or tablet. The controls are simple and the building is quick. Thanks to third person view you can build a secure fort quickly.
The demo is free, unlimited (no saving), and there is wifi multiplayer.
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Galaxy Nexus Live Blog and Summary
19 10 2011
The Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich event was packed full of great information. What you need to know about the Galaxy Nexus are as follows:
- 4.65″ HD Super-AMOLED Screen
- 1280×720 Resolution
- 1.2GHz dual core processor
- On screen buttons only (besides power/volume)
- NFC chip for fast sharing between devices nearby
- LTE and HSPA+ versions
- 5MP camera with flash and 1080p video recording
There were some great new things we learned about ICS as well. The sharing of apps, pictures, videos, and many other things via NFC just by touching the backs of devices together. The APIs for this are available to all developers so we will soon have multiplayer games initiated by launching an app and touching phones together. If the person doesn’t have the game yet, touching phones will bring up the Android Market page for the game to be installed.
Also new is the magazine layout that will be a part of many apps and even the home launcher itself. Widgets are completely re-sizable so you can customize your launcher exactly how you want it. Apps like YouTube, Gmail, and the gallery will have completely new looks and layouts. Swiping through messages on Gmail is a fast way to read messages in your inbox. A powerful menu bar was also added to Gmail to give you quick access to features like Archiving multiple messages.
The notification bar also got many new changes. Individual notifications can be cleared by flicking them off screen, leaving only the notifications you want to see. The multi-tasking menu also uses the same flicking gesture to end tasks of any app shown. From the lockscreen you can access the notification pull down and quickly open a notification from there.
A welcome new feature for anyone with a capped data plan, you are now able to view past mobile data usage for any selection of time you want. Apps will be listed according to how much data they used for that period of time. Tapping the app will open a new window where you can disable background data usage for any individual app. This means for any app you choose, they can only use your data if you have the app opened.
There are many more new features I’m excited to go hands-on with once the Galaxy Nexus is available to us. The release is set sometime in November so we won’t be waiting long.
You can find my complete live blog after the break..
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Tags: galaxy nexus, ice cream sandwich, specs
Categories : Live Blog, Press Conference
Top App Pick: SuperPower
14 06 2011
Anyone with a smartphone knows the agony of seeing their battery is low. While there are many things that affect battery life, the 2 biggest battery drains are the phones screen and radios (4G/3G/WiFi/bluetooth/gps).
I use Screen Filter to save battery by dining the screen but saving battery for the radios its more difficult.
You’ll need the app called SuperPower to do this. On the first launch it requests root access for even more battery usage control. After that the app is set up with a great configuration.
3G and Wifi are set to turn off when the screen is off for more than 30 seconds. What if you’re downloading something? It’s set not to disable until the download speed drops to almost 0 (3kb/s). Won’t I miss email and other data related notifications?
By default the app is set to enable data every 30 minutes for 3 minutes. This will allow you to receive those notificationswhile still saving battery.
Theres a market link below. Try it out, rate, comment, tell your friends if it works well for you.
http://market.android.com/details?id=nl.morose.superpower
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Tags: Apps, battery
Categories : Applications
Sony Ericson Supports openness and Android development
11 05 2011Sony Ericson is really showing some great support for the Android development community. This morning they greeted us with a lengthy post on Android and Linux kernel development. At the top of the page you’ll notice a picture of the Xperia Play, one of Sony Ericson’s newest and highly anticipated devices.
Many handset makers looking for new ways to lock down their devices while still advertising their support for Android and its open environment as a feature. This is extremely hypocritical and the opposite of what Sony Ericson is doing. Hopefully the new Android Alliance that was announced at Google IO yesterday will help device manufacturers start moving in a more “open” direction.
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Sprint Galaxy Tab Price Drop
2 04 2011
Big news for anyone holding off on picking up a Samsung Galaxy Tab from Sprint. Information was just discovered showing the new reduced price for a Tab with a new 2 year contract. The new price is supposed to go into effect tomorrow, April 3rd.
While this isn’t surprising news given the handful of Honeycomb tablets getting ready to release, it is a welcome drop in price that will hopefully follow suit with the other carriers.
Source: Engadget
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App Update: Foursquare
12 03 2011One thing we’re all guilty of is having location based checkin apps like Foursquare in our app drawer but rarely remember to pull it up and actually check in. The latest updates to foursquare aim to change that. It’s much easier to see what’s buzzing with activity nearby and what the thoughts are of each place.
With SXSW this week, Austin TX is a very popular place for everything tech so of course there are a lot of checkins going on. One thing i haven’t seen here is the use of the Deals tag on certain places. More stores should be using this to encourage people to show up, check in, then save a little cash on a purchase they otherwise might not have made.
When you look at each venue you’re able to see who’s there now and what people have left as a tip previously. Of course you can see the current mayor of that place, which is a fun goal to shoot for at first but soon enough you forget about trying to become a mayor.
The points system has been revamped and you’ll now get points for visiting new states and currently active public events, such as SXSW this week. I still haven’t gotten a handle on the points system or why you’d even want more points. There’s nothing to really show off to friends besides a number which could be rather measly compared to theirs if they live behind a McDonald’s and check in 5 times a day. In my opinion they could get rid of the points system and no one would even care. That would make this next feature, which I love, even more important.
When you check in to certain places you’ll unlock unique badges for that place. These tell a much better story of where a person has been and how active they’ve stayed over the course of the last few months. I’m really looking forward to seeing if there are more hometown badges as opposed to more big city badges. Now that the smart phone market has expanded outside of the businessman with his BlackBerry, we can expect to see more additions for people away from the large cities.
With that I hope you at least try foursquare a bit and encourage others to as well. Tips are great if they become a regular thing. I’m sure it won’t be long before more features are added, but for now this is a nice app to let your friends know what’s going on.
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Tags: app, update
Categories : Applications
New App: Food Spotting Lite
11 03 2011
Food Spotting Lite is a new app on the Android market this week. Much like location checkins on Foursquare, you login and share what you’re eating and where. Once posted, anyone nearby will be able to see a large image and where you ordered it from. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Android, application, new
Categories : Applications
