Archive for: android market
- November 11, 2010 8:10 am
All too often we see big media companies unfairly limiting paying customers from enjoying their content how they see fit. With the rise of smartphones increasing day by day, this all-you-can-eat, content anywhere mentality is only getting stronger. And yet said media companies are pushing back. However, Verizon has quite a an offering set up with their FiOS Flex View service. Essentially, it lets you log in to your account and stream/download FiOS content on up to 5 computers/devices for later viewing.
But even more impressive is the new Flex View Android app. Freshly announced, the new Android app which will be available soon, will allow you to stream and download FiOS programming straight to your device, much the same as desktop computers. Streaming paid content from a TV provider isn’t all that uncommon these days. Being able to stream and download for later viewing and do so on multiple devices is.
On top of the content you pay for, Flex View also contains further rental and pay-per-view options as well.
Sounds like a no-brainer for Android users whom also subscribe to FiOS at home. Check back for more info soon…
- November 9, 2010 12:52 pm
Listen up Angry Birds fans: An update is out — for Android users that is. While iOS users got the big update many weeks back, the Android version of the app has been languishing with a lesser number of levels and an increasing list of unsupported devices. But never more. The latest update brings it up to par with the iOS equivalent, adding 45 brand new levels (now 192 total) as well as tossing in support for QVGA displays.
The update is now live in the Android Market. Go get it!
- October 25, 2010 11:28 am
On my year-long stint with Android, I went through my fair share of homescreen replacements. The stock Android homescreen wasn’t particularly bad. It was just laggy. (No phone with a 600+ MHz processor should skip and jump when moving between screens.) And then LauncherPro came into my life. It was fast, quick, and had a relatively light memory footprint. I was in heaven.
But if it was flair that you wanted, LauncherPro wasn’t the right homescreen replacement for you. Unfortunately, a lot of those fancier homescreen replacements had terrible performance. This new homescreen replacement, Slick UI, aims to try to mesh functionality and a pretty face without the usual accompanying performance hits. Can it do it…?
The truly hardcore nerds not only love gadgets, but love updates to said gadgets. Version numbers for your favorite platform or app are a type of bragging right. This is especially true when installing early release/cracked updates before they actually roll out to the masses. But for now, we have something a little less thrilling to touch on — Android Market updates.
It seems that Google has released a “hot update” (read: no OTA dialog to accept/deny) to non-Froyo devices that brings a Froyo-like Market to anything on 2.1 and older. For the detail geeks in the bunch, the supposed version number of the Android Market that is rolling out is ver. 2007. Newer 2.2-esque features such as “update all”, “automatically update”, and the app tabs within Android Market as well as that nifty little Market widget are starting to crop on peoples’ devices. As of writing, we’ve seen reports of everything from 2.1 to 1.6-toting devices receiving this update. 1.5 is still unconfirmed, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if said group doesn’t benefit from this minor update as well.
If you’ve received the Android Market update on your non-Froyo device, drop us a line and let us know any changes you do/don’t notice.
- September 2, 2010 8:16 am
The greatest thing about Android is that even though it has “an image”, end users (and regrettably, carriers) are allowed to mod and customize the UI as they see fit. With that said, there are plenty of home replacement options in the Android Market if the stock Android (or carrier provided) home app doesn’t exactly mesh into the fabric of your daily life. I’ve tried pretty much every home replacement on the market, eventually finding a winner in LauncherPro.
For a short time, I managed to get a sort of working/sort of broken HTC Sense launcher on my Droid, but it was far too buggy. And in the end, I missed the stock look of Android. Where HTC’s Sense UI failed, perhaps the freshly ripped-off-the-LG-Ptimus Home app can do better, no?
The fine folks at XDA have taken yet another proprietary offering and ripped it’s guts apart, ‘splaying them on the XDA forums for the world to enjoy, regardless of Android device. I loaded the LG Home app on my Moto Droid 1 and it worked fine — a bit slow, but fine. With the home app comes a pack of widgets to boot. The only thing I’m still left wanting is the weather widget that is present on the LG Ally’s build. Maybe next time I guess. For the record, the LG Launcher is said to work on any Android device, but it hasn’t been tested. As such, hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Anywho, I know you all just want the goods. Stop on by the thread over at XDA to get your download on…
Well well well. That gloriously tasty looking TweetDeck Android app we talked about yesterday has found one of its early builds leaked (Download here). Based off of an early pre-review by Android Central, they note the app’s nicely styled UI, but knock it for it’s “waterfall approach” to grouping multiple account updates in one column. (Mind you, @username updates and DM’s are separate. Multiple accounts’ status updates such as Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, etc. are grouped together…to clear up any confusion.)
However, I have been begging for a social app like TweetDeck to support a host of social networking accounts *and* put them all in one view. With a total of 5 accounts that need to be simultaneously logged on, I don’t want to have to jump between account views. Thankfully TweetDeck looks to please.
But there’s even better news. Fresh off news that an early build of TweetDeck has been leaked, TweetDeck’s official Twitter account pushed out the update you see above — TweetDeck beta is coming to Android tomorrow! I’m stoked. Who’s going to be refreshing their Android Market app throughout the day…?
Are you going to jump on it early or wait for the real deal?
No…TweetDeck for Android hasn’t hit the airwaves yet. (Trust me, I’m as eager as you are!) But TweetDeck’s CEO Iain Dodsworth has taken it upon himself to tease us in the days before release, with a short video showing the login process. While it may not seem like much, it shows us multiple account (and service) support is here. It also gives us a good indication of what TweetDeck looks like as an app overall — stunning.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really digging the flatter tones that is quickly becoming the “it” thing in web design. As far as I can see from the video, TweetDeck will be a daily driver for me. In the meantime, check out the video inside showing the login process.
Think you’ve found *the* Android Twitter client? Chances are you’ve at least found something you can use on a daily basis without too much complaining. I on the other hand am way too picky. As such, I haven’t found a Twitter client for Android yet that I’ve liked through and through. TweetCaster, Seesmic, and Touiteur have come close in various areas. Where’s the “official” Twitter app? Not here. It’s garbage. Frankly, it’s embarrassing Twitter would release something that is so lacking compared to the iPhone counterpart, not to mention the various other Android Twitter apps. But I digress. We’re not here to harp on Twitter and it’s lesser than stellar app.
What we’ve really come to tell you is that TweetDeck is this close to unleashing a complete from-the-ground-up app for Android. While many cross platform companies merely port an app from platform to platform, the devs behind TweetDeck took the time to do it right. By developing the TweetDeck Android app from scratch, end users will be rewarded with a much fuller featured and “natural” feeling app that fully taps into the nuances of the Android platform.
According to the TweetDeck blog, columns will still be a big focus on the mobile offering, much like the desktop. However, instead of updates being service oriented, they will now be organized according to activity. I’m hoping this means that TweetDeck will allow my various Twitter (and other) social accounts to display updates/tweets in a single “all inclusive” column. That’s the biggest feature that so many of the Android Twitter clients lack.
Thankfully, we don’t have much longer to guess and dream. The open (wo0t!) beta is going live sometime this week. So you better believe I’ll be refreshing the Android Market on my phone every time I think about it, hoping that TweetDeck’s new goodness will grace my presence.
Android root users and overclocking enthusiasts rejoice! Temp Monitor 3.0 is here. Besides the shiny new number, a slew of new features have been added. It’s easily one of the must-have Android apps as among other things, several very handy widgets are included. But there’s a lot more. So, without wasting anymore time, let’s get right to it…
