With The Help Of 80,000 Screenshots, Google Street View Comes To GTA’s Liberty City.

We’ll go on the record and say the dedicated fan base of gta4.net are awesome. How else would you describe a collection of screenshots 80,000+ images strong covering every inch of Grand Theft Auto’s Liberty City?

Using a handy script, the dedicated gamers collected over 80,000 photos and stitched them into roughly 3,000 panoramas. According to Adam from gta4.net, “All roads are covered, except for a few on/off-ramps that weren’t very interesting”. Consider us impressed. As bonafied GTA junkies, we don’t see any GTA-related story topping this anytime soon.

Interested individuals can now stroll around Liberty City and see it just as Niko would right over here.

[Update] Possible Nexus 3 Image Leaks Out. Made By HTC.

At Google’s recent Google I/O developer conference, lots of new and exciting things were revealed concerning the future of Android on the software side of things. But thanks to some excited employees, namely Google’s own Andy Rubin, we also got a few slight mentions of the next true “Google Phone”, the Nexus 3. Rumors surrounding the announcement pointed to an LG-made device. But new pictures that leaked out tonight show a device claimed to be a Nexus 3 — and it’s made by HTC.

What’s most interesting with the phone above is the lack of any physical or capacitive buttons. Though such a design goes along with Google’s grand plan to join the tablet (Honeycomb) OS and phone OS into one. As we now know, that joining together of big and small screens will take place starting with Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

If Google is to push the phone OS up to a new level and generation, we need only look to Honeycomb to answer the question as to why there are no buttons — because they aren’t needed. Having contextual menus in Honeycomb currently makes the overall software experience extremely adaptable.

The source of the images told TechHog that it is highly possible the device we’re looking at above will change (possible drastically) by the time it is released. Such things are expected when dealing with prototype hardware in all reality. With that said, we’re really diggin’ the buttonless face. Could you go button free?

Update: The images of the phone above have now been pulled. False claim. HTC-pushed initiative?

Leaked Internal Document Reveals T-Mobile’s G2X Issues And Resolutions.

We haven’t personally heard too many reports of poorly working T-Mobile G2X devices, though the bigger picture is a tad different. T-Mobile meanwhile maintains that G2X users with everything from WiFi issues to random reboots are in fact few and far between. Nonetheless, the company is apparently taking the bull by the horns made evident by a leaked internal document. The contents of said document list the various issues brought to life so far and the proposed solutions. While almost half of the known issues don’t have any currently solution, it’s reassuring to know T-Mobile’s got your back. Hopefully T-Mobile makes these documents public sooner rather than never…

Raid Cancelled: Verizon Confirms Unlocked Bootloaders Are OK.

A previous article highlighting a tweet by Verizon PR that seemed to spell trouble for Android enthusiasts and root users has been corrected. As it turns out, Verizon does allow and will continue to allow devices with unlocked bootloaders onto their network. Put the pitchforks and fire back in the closet for another day…

Skype Issues New Update Following Yesterday’s Outage.

Were you one of the many Skype users who were knocked offline by some random bug? You’re not alone. Yesterday we showed you how to manually delete the “shared.xml” file in question in order to get Skype back online. Today, a new update has been released that automates the removal of the corrupted file, though unfortunately Skype doesn’t include any further explanation as to why the corruption occurred in the first place.

If you’re still unable to connect to Skype now, quit all running Skype processes, download the update latest Windows update located here, and install. Mac users will see their own update pushed out later today.

Say What — VZW Claims Phones With Unlocked Bootloaders Won’t Be Activated On Their Network.

After last night’s announcement by HTC that they will once again begin using unlocked bootloaders on devices, Android enthusiasts who live and die by the root jumped for joy. Today, however, Verizon PR responded to a tweet asking about phones with unlocked bootloaders, to which Verizon responded:

No, a device with an unlocked bootloader cannot be activated on the Verizon Wireless network. *RB

This statement doesn’t exactly make all that much sense considering several handsets throughout Android’s lifespan thus far have shipped with unocked bootloaders — HTC Incredible and Motorola DROID to name two.

More importantly, we need to clarify exactly what Verizon is getting at. Do they mean they won’t allow unlocked phones or phones with unlocked bootloaders on their network. Furthermore, when they talk “locked” devices, are they confusing locked phones, locked bootloaders, and locked bootloaders with encrypted keys? All are different in their own respect.

With that said, we’ve reached out to a couple of our VZW reps for clarification. Though we must say, if Verizon is moving towards a new policy that forces all phones to be released with locked bootloaders, we will not be fans, nor will Android enthusiasts.

Study: 79% Of Paid Android Apps Downloaded Less Than 100 Times.

A new study published by Distimo still paints an uphill struggle for Android developers looking to earn money. In the new report, it is alleged that 79.3% of paid Android apps are downloaded less than 100 times, with 19.6% of the same paid apps even sliding into the “Marginal” category. As far as mass downloads go, only 2 android apps have surpassed 500,000+ downloads since the apps launched. In comparison, 6 different iOS apps have achieved the same feet in the first 2 months of availability.

While we could keep tossing out numbers, the outcome doesn’t change. At least not yet. Android developers will have a harder time reaching financial success than their iOS counterparts, and turning Android users into paid app users is as equally difficult.

Thoughts?