May, 2011 - Android Community

Monthly Archive: June 2013

Amazon Nearly Prepared for Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Remember back a million years ago, aka January of this year, when we did an odd review of some Samsung commercials advertising a device that looked awfully similar to an iPod Touch? Turns out that product is FINALLY nearly ready to be sold in the USA, and by the looks of things, it'll be coming to Amazon first. Also there's certainly been more news on these little devices since those commercials, but not a whole heck of a lot on a release date - and that's what matters most!

NFC-Laden Nexus S 4G to Get Some Action

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Did you know that the Nexus S (both in its original form and its newer 4G state on Sprint) is fully ready to work with NFC mobile payments? Google knows, they built it. Sprint knows, they're apparently working on a deal with Google right this second to release a mobile payments service on the 26th of May, 2011. This service will, if it's real, be available for US customers of Sprint Nextel, so says "three people familiar with the matter" to Bloomberg. Three's better than one, right?

Pantech Releasing 5″ Android Device, Can’t Decide if it’s a Tablet or Phone

By John Scheible
on 24 May, 2011

In my opinion a 5" screen is smack dead in the middle of the dead zone that exists between tablets and phones. While the Dell Streak used this same screen size, it was far from the being a top seller, mostly because people thought it was just too big. If you're going to get a tablet, 10.1" seems to be the magic number, but at 7", both the Nook Color and Samsung Galaxy Tab are great tablets. A 5" device though, leaves you wanting more screen as long as you're going that big to begin with. It appears that Pantech and I don't see eye to eye.

Droid X(2) Essentials Bundle over 80% Off Retail [Update: Glitch in Cart System]

By John Scheible
on 24 May, 2011

Verizon must be feeling generous. In celebration of the Droid X2's launch they're giving you a monster deal on accessories that will work with either the original Droid X or Droid X2. The bundle is, as the website points out, worth $145 if purchased separately, but for this week they're selling it for only $19.97. The package includes several handy accessories and is an awesome deal for anyone who's been eyeing any of the included goodies.

Amazon Free App of the Day Reminder [App Mini Review]

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Brilliant, is what I am calling this simplistic little application. Developer cody_04l is one of the thousands of users of the Amazon Appstore across the nation and also a fellow who tries his best to remember that the appstore has a free app deal every single day. Sadly, noone can remember everything, thusly Cody created an app to help: the Amazon Free App of the Day Notifier. We gave it a shot and tested it out and guess what? It works like a charm.

Acer Android / Intel Tablet Waiting in the Wings

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Remember that one time when we had an awesome tablet by the name of Acer Iconia Tab A500 and we totally reviewed it FTW? That fancy bunch over at DigiTimes have done it again with their loose-lipped partners and have revealed the next step AFTER the A500, namely an Oak Trail device, and that means Intel! This tablet will supposedly run Android 3.0 (pointing toward the notion that Android 3.1 wont be rolling out to everyone as fast as predicted,) and that it'll be a 10-inch tablet retail released in July.

Seeeduino ADK Provides Inexpensive Android Open Accessory Kit Alternative

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Just a couple of weeks ago we were at Google I/O hearing the newest word on the future of Android. In the keynote speeches that blew the ears off everyone in the room (and the internet, since it was streaming,) we learned about Android Open Accessory. This is a new project in which Google will help out and support developers hoping to connect Android devices to other real-world functional electronics like robots, lamps, and more robots. With this came an announcement about a kit you'd be able to buy for a cool $400.

Xperia PLAY only $99 at Amazon [CHEEP!]

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Oh my goodness Amazon, you are the king of deals. This device, the PlayStation phone, aka the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, is listed at $599.99, but can be yours for a mere $149.99 if you're upgrading your existing Verizon account, or just $99.99 if you're signing up for a new 2-year contract. Does that sound like a pretty good and deep and fabulous discount to you? Only thing that's negative here is that the device is back-ordered, which means you'll be waiting 8 or 9 days before it'll be shipped.

HTC Desire S is Officially Red on Vodafone Exclusively

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

What a brightly colored experience you're about to have! The folks at HTC have deemed the color red to be so fantastic that they've officially dubbed their Desire S ready to wear it all the time! That's right, those photos you may have seen a short while ago were real, and Vodafone is the exclusive holder of such a flamingly bright device. Can you dig it? Or is it too massively blastingly fantastically bright for your eyeballs?

DROID X, DROID Pro, DROID2 and Global Gingerbread Update Imminent Says Motorola

By Chris Burns
on 24 May, 2011

Oh you Motorola employees, what you wont say these days. A cool employee over at the Motorola Mobility forums let slip (or was allowed to slip) the fact that an update to Gingerbread was coming soon on essentially ever Droid ever: DROID X, DROID Pro, DROID2 and Global, and that this update will improve Exchange Activesync functionality. This is fabulous news for all Droid folks for more than one reason, obviously, but the Activesync issue being fixed is like some frosting on an already delicious cookie.