February, 2011 - Android Community

Monthly Archive: May 2013

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Wallpapers Revealed [Download Here]

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

We've been visited by the Hamburger fairy again, this time to provide us with a series of wallpapers cut directly from the heart of Honeycomb. As you know, the Android 3.0 Honeycomb SDK has JUST been released, but the XOOM, aka the Motorola XOOM, the big gun, the first and most optimized Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet, isn't released yet. You and I have seen these backgrounds floating around the tablet before though, thusly this is an exciting moment for lovers of new backgrounds.

Motorola XOOM Limited GOLD Edition Revealed

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

It appears that Motorola now has at least 3 different hardware versions of its soon to be wildly popular Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet, XOOM. The first version of course is the USA version which is all black, the second version is one we had our hands on in Barcelona, that being the Euro Silver metal version, now there's this, what they're calling their Limited Gold Edition. This edition has apparently been given away exclusively to "movie star nominees" - does this mean Banksy got one?

Barnes & Noble’s PubIt! for Digital Books (for NOOK) Launches First In-Store Event — OHH FREE COFFEE!

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

Apparently the creators of NOOKcolor (and Nook) are continuing to insist that these aren't simply Android tablets locked up and ready for reading. Can you imagine? Indeed there are big initiatives being set forth by Barnes & Noble, in all seriousness now, to push their Self-Publishing Author program PubIt! to the forefront. In the Android Community there's been a big bunch of excitement at the hacking and freeing of the NOOKcolor as of late, but we've got to remember that indeed this device was made for reading books, and it does continue to do so. Barnes & Noble is holding their first in-store event for Pub-It tonight.

HTC Flyer Wifi-only Version Pre-Order at Cyberport Now

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

The slightly less awesome Wifi-only version of HTC's newest installment of Android device, the Flyer tablet, is now up for pre-order via Germany's Cyberport retailer. The listing they've got up details the 7-inch slate's 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen that includes active stylus (for all your drawings!) as well as Android 2.4 Gingerbread with customized Sense overlay, a 5-megapixel camera on the back, and a complete lack of 3G/HSPA connection. On the other hand, this version that includes no contract at all, leaving you free and clear forever, will run you only €499 ($686).

Samsung Galaxy Indulge Promoted by Snoop Dogg and Warren G as they Roll with metroPCS

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

Oh my goodness gracious, how has this not come to fruition before? Of course there have been collaborations and promotions between smartphones and rappers before, but never in such an oddly cool way as this. The following is a project launched by metroPCS, Samsung Mobile, Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Dogggg as you're about to see,) Warren G, model Brittany Dailey, AND Ted Williams - the man with the Golden Voice. Recognize everyone from that list? Good. They're about to sell you a Samsung Galaxy Indulge, "the world's first commercially available 4G LTE Android smartphone."

Samsung Captivate Froyo Update Tomorrow!

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

After a bigtime tease and upset yesterday, it appears that owners of the Samsung Captivate will be getting a taste of the frozen one tomorrow. Yesterday had a rescinded webpage from Samsung, but last week there was word from AT&T that Froyo would be coming this week. Currently the news is coming from AT&T's official Facebook page that indeed the Android 2.2 update will be coming soon, for real, as in so soon you'll start seeing it tomorrow.

Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread Update Includes WebM Support [What is WebM?]

By Chris Burns
on 23 Feb, 2011

As you may already be well aware, the Android 2.3.3 update for Nexus S and Nexus One has indeed gone out today for the greater good of humanity. What you might NOT know is that this update includes WebM support. What is WebM? It's a relatively new media file format designed specifically for the internet. What a WebM file consists of is VP8 video codec and Vorbis audio codec compressed audio streams. Well wait, what does that mean? Let's break it down.

Google says Facebook contacts sync violates Android TOS

By Shane McGlaun
on 23 Feb, 2011

Google has made no secret of its desire to fight Facebook on the social networking scene. Apparently, the latest salvo comes by way of declaring that the Facebook contact sync feature is a violation of the Android TOS. The sync feature in question allows the user to see the Facebook friend contact info next to the Android device contact list.

Minecraft headed to Android devices

By Shane McGlaun
on 23 Feb, 2011

If you are the sort that likes games that allow you to create your own world as you see fit you will be interested to hear that Minecraft is coming to the Android platform. The game allows you to place little blocks to build your world.

Archos Arnova 10HT and Arnova 8 tablets hit FCC with Android

By Shane McGlaun
on 23 Feb, 2011

Archos has tossed a pair of tablets packing Android over to the FCC for the final approvals before the machines can hit stores. The two new tablets include the Arnova 10HT and the Arnova 8. As you can guess from the name of the tablets, the screens are 10-inches and 8-inches.