Michael Crider

Author: Michael Crider

HTC EVO 4G LTE gets the gift of root

By Michael Crider
on 25 May, 2012

It's a rite of passage for just about every major Android device, the capability that separates Android from lesser platforms (which will remain nameless here). And now the much-delayed HTC EVO 4G LTE, in all its acronymical glory, has root capabilities. You can send your thank-you notes to XDA Developers member ZedonMax, who posted the exploit first and also provided these pretty pictures.

Sony confirms: no Ice Cream Sandwich for the Xperia PLAY

By Michael Crider
on 25 May, 2012

Android gamers, I've got some bad news for you: that issue earlier this week that saw the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY removed from Sony's Ice Cream Sandwich update list has been confirmed. In a press statement today, Sony said that they were opting not to release a final Ice Cream Sandwich ROM, on the basis that a stable experience for both phone functions and gaming cannot be achieved on the older hardware.

ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 spotted at the FCC with AT&T bands

By Michael Crider
on 25 May, 2012

ASUS' Transformer line of tablets is well-loved, and rightly so, but thus far none of their models have been available on wireless broadband networks in the US. That may be changing soon, however. The Transformer Pad TF300 is currently in the hands of the FCC, and based on the wireless bands it's equipped with, it's being considered for AT&T's growing LTE network.

Samsung Galaxy S III unboxed early

By Michael Crider
on 25 May, 2012

Most of the gadget world is waiting in eager anticipation for Samsung's 2012 flagship, but a as usual, some isolated retailers are already selling the phone. Such is the case for one SlashGear reader, who happily shared his good fortune in the form of two Galaxy S III units with the rest of a jealous web. You can see his results below.

Canadian Galaxy S III launch tipped for June 20th

By Michael Crider
on 24 May, 2012

We're still waiting for a definite date for the Galaxy S III here in the US (on any carrier) but our friends north of the border have a little more information today, MobileSyrup spotted the Galaxy S III in an ad set for a June 20th release, and that's not the best news: it's headed for Canada's own "big four", Rogers, Bell, Telus and Virgin Mobile.

Team Carbon themes on sale after a million active downloads

By Michael Crider
on 24 May, 2012

We tend to cover custom ROMs and other mods pretty heavily, but there's an incredibly vibrant theme community around Android. One of its most active participants is Team Carbon, which announced today that its themes for the CyanogenMod (AKA T-Mobile) theme engine have reached a million active users. That's not total downloads, mind you - that's a million people with themes running from three European theme designers. Good on ya, guys!

Jelly Bean and Nexus Tablet rumored for Google I/O

By Michael Crider
on 24 May, 2012

Well, we've been assuming for months that if Google is preparing a big reveal for the much-rumored Nexus Tablet, it would be at the company's yearly developer conference, Google I/O. TechnoBuffalo is claiming information from an anonymous source (the best kind!) that says the tablet will absolutely show up at the conference, and as other rumors have indicated, ASUS will produce the hardware. New software is also rumored, though whether or not it's Android 5.0 is still in question. Note that this comes just hours after DiGiTimes reported the same thing.

IDC: Android surges to 59% world market share

By Michael Crider
on 24 May, 2012

We wondered a few months ago is Android had reached a saturation point when it was running on 50% of the smartphones on the planet. We were... wrong. According to the IDC's latest numbers, Android is now up to 59% of the worldwide smartphone market, with just under 90 million devices shipped in the first quarter of 2012. The nearest competitor is Apple, with 23% and 35.1 million iPhones.

Google acquires G1 designers Mike and Maaike

By Michael Crider
on 24 May, 2012

In an interesting addition to Google's growing stable of purchases, Bloomberg reports that the company has bought the San Francisco design studio that helped to create the original Android device, the Google (HTC) G1. Mike and Maaike is a two-person industrial design team whose projects have included everything from the Microsoft Xbox 360 to wallpaper patterns, including the Blackberry-style developer device that Google created some of the pre-release versions of Android on.

Because We May game sale brings great indie deals

By Michael Crider
on 24 May, 2012

Game developers are an opinionated bunch, they're thrilled that modern distribution platforms like Steam and the Google Play Store allow them to cut out the publisher middleman. To celebrate this, an impressive conglomeration of developers has banded together to create the Because We May promotion, running from today until June 1st. Almost sixty Google Play Store games have been put on sale, all of them at least half off and some of them even more.