Sam Koutroulakis

Author: Sam Koutroulakis

LEGO charging dock for Samsung Galaxy Nexus

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 7 Mar, 2012

Lets say you don't approve of the accessories out on store shelves for your device. What is one to do? Well, you could always design some out of LEGOs like XDA developer Tibow. He managed to create a rather nice looking LEGO dock that holds the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in a landscape orientation. The only thing missing when compared to other docks, is it doesn't initiate "dock mode" when plugged in.

Google Chrome Beta for Android receives an update

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 7 Mar, 2012

Google Chrome Beta's last update was back on February 24th, and this particular revision has primarily focused of bug fixes. Chrome should now properly run on any version of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), so many of the custom ROMs out there could possibly be supported. There are still the same three known issues since the previous update: No way to toggle between mobile/desktop UA, YouTube links don't prompt specific application use, and proxy settings are still not supported.

Android Community Evening Wrap-Up: March 7, 2012

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 7 Mar, 2012

Today wasn't as big in Android news due to a certain event, but we still have a significant round-up ready for tonight. Earlier on this morning, we stumbled across a Sense 4.0 port to the Samsung Nexus S. It's rather uncommon to see Sense ported to any other device that didn't originally ship with it - so seeing it on the Nexus S will be refreshing to fans of the slick UI.

Adobe Shadow helps tune up your webpages for any mobile device

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 7 Mar, 2012

Adobe has just recently announced Shadow, their new toolkit to help developers make their web page perfectly functional on any mobile device. With so many different Android devices currently on the market, this is going to work wonders for web professionals when trying to find problems in their code. As you navigate through each page and link, Shadow lets you know what will be compatible with different screen sizes.

Samsung has an “exciting special announcement” for SXSW on March 9th

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 7 Mar, 2012

Samsung Mobile recently sent out a press release letting us all know what events to expect from the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. The 'special announcement' will likely be the showing of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 rather than the much anticipated Galaxy S III. Reason being, is that the entire event accentuates the Galaxy Note throughout the press release; it would still hold true after the 10.1's announcement.

Samsung hosts Galaxy Note Studio Mall Tour

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 6 Mar, 2012

Samsung is offering a chance for you to experience the many features of the Galaxy Note at select malls across the US. Most are located in California, but there are a few others scattered across the country. After visiting the Samsung booth, someone will draw a complementary caricature of you directly from a Galaxy Note. You'll receive a printout, and then be eligible to win a Galaxy Note Accessory Pack upon entry!

Android Community Evening Wrap-Up: March 6, 2012

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 6 Mar, 2012

This morning Samsung revealed the Galaxy Pocket, a rather small device sporting a 2.8" display. This isn't the first Samsung device with a smaller than average screen size; coming in at 3.2 inches was the Samsung Dart. It should be available in the UK later on this year. Imangi Studios has finally let us know an official date to expect the extremely popular free game Temple Run in the Android Market - rather Google Play.

Sony XPERIA devices control cars on man-made Reckless Racing track

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 6 Mar, 2012

I'm sure you've heard of the popular racing game Reckless Racing by Pixelbite, but have you ever seen it played in real life? That answer should be a solid "No", because XPERIA Studio has reproduced a Reckless Racing track for the first time. They've rigged an XPERIA Play and XPERIA S to control a couple of actual cars around a dirt racetrack. The creator of the game's main challenge was trying "to create an interface that someone can actually drive the car with, in a similar manner to the way that they drive the game".

GSM Motorola Droid 3 arrives at the FCC

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 5 Mar, 2012

Soon after the original Motorola Droid, we saw the Motorola Milestone - an international version of the device. The trend continued with the Droid 2/Milestone 2, and folks overseas have undoubtedly be waiting for their Milestone 3. Now, a GSM Motorola Droid 3 (XT682) has hit the FCC, but isn't said to be headed overseas just yet, rather to AT&T instead.

Android Market app size limit pushed to 4GB from 50MB

By Sam Koutroulakis
on 5 Mar, 2012

Prior to now, Android applications have been limited to 50MB, and developers have had to trim down their work to fit that criteria. The new maximum application size of 4GB doesn't necessarily mean the size of the APK will be increased, but rather the Android Market will host the application's expansion files. This will help the Google keep a closer eye on when a user completely finishes the download of a large application to properly start the refund period.