Droid Life

Yes, Verizon Will Announce More than One 4G LTE Phone at CES

Kellen — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 07:46:24 +0000

Word out of the Wall Street Journal camp this fine Monday morning has Verizon set on unveiling up to four different 4G LTE Android phones this week at CES. Just so you know, we're not surprised at all to hear this. We already know that the Thunderbolt (photo gallery) is on the list and have fully expected the Motorola Etna and LG Optimus 2X to make appearances alongside a device from Samsung (SCH-I520) which is appearing in Big Red systems. Oh and let's not forget about the Motorola DROID XOOM which will be one of the first Honeycomb tablets to be offered up by anyone, Verizon likely first. The WSJ is also reporting that the 4G LTE devices they announce won't be available until later in the year, but we're expecting the Thunderbolt to be here by February at the latest. HTC has already launched a campaign for this phone which claims it to be the first to VZW's 4G, so we're thinking much sooner than later. It's going to be a fun week, and you'll want to stay here at DL for all of it. Via: WSJ, Phandroid

HTC Thunderbolt Shows Specs in New Ads, Appears in Verizon Systems

Kellen — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 06:30:23 +0000

HTC is only 4 days away from officially unveiling the Thunderbolt 4G, which is the same device you've already seen thanks to our 12 picture gallery. That hasn't stopped them from running through their series of "controlled" leaks though, like the ones picture above. They have been spending some of those billions in earnings on advertising across a variety of tech blogs in preparation for the launch, only as we get closer, they are beginning to reveal more details. Not that we weren't already expecting "HD entertainment", "8 MP photos", and the ability to "video chat", but it's nice to see it confirmed. Oh, and that model number we broke the word on, ADR6400LVW, it's now appearing in a variety of Verizon systems which Android Central got a hold of below. Maybe this phone will hit store shelves before February?

4 days from now. You have got to be excited, right? Via: Engadget, Android Central

Verizon Drops Galaxy Tab Price to $499, Tosses in $60 in Free Movie Rentals (Updated)

Kellen — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 09:24:22 +0000

Is Verizon ringing in the New Year with a price drop to its Samsung Galaxy Tab (our review)? According to one of our peeps and that picture above, stores should be changing out displays to reflect a $499 price change, plus an added bonus of $60 worth of free movie rentals through either the Blockbuster app or Media Hub. Wait, weren't we just talking about a price drop being critical to the Gtab on Thursday? Why yes we were. Update: We just confirmed through a second store connection. They also pointed out that if any of you purchased a Galaxy Tab within the last 14 days for $599, you should head back into the store and get a refund of $100. Sweet deal. I should point out that I'm still seeing a $599 price point online in both Samsung's and Verizon's stores, so this could be a special in-store promotion or maybe it's just too damn early on New Year's Day for anyone to be caring about things like this. Does $499 have you dying to buy one? Cheers Daniel!

End of Year Poll: Biggest DROID Story of 2010?

Kellen — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 10:15:26 +0000

In just a few hours we'll be wrapping up 2010, a year that we'd like to unofficially refer to as the "Year of DROID." You couldn't go anywhere without seeing or hearing the word "DROID". It was on billboards, on TV, in theaters, in sports, on late night talk shows...it was seriously everywhere. It became so big, that the word itself started to annoy Android enthusiasts, as novices to the game continue to use it when referencing any Android phone. The marketing plan behind it was brilliant and many, including myself, would argue that it has been driving the success bus for the Android platform all year. Sure, there were big releases on other carriers, but none of them produced like this one, and that, you can't argue with. So if we look back at the "Year of DROID" what stands out the most? As we took the time to sift through the 2,000+ posts of ours from 2010, we quickly realized the topics that not only took up the majority of our time, but the ones that helped shape this blog into what it has become. Here is the list of stories that dominated Droid Life for weeks at a time; tell us which was the biggest. Happy New Year everyone! Update: In my original draft of this poll, I included the "Locked bootloaders and the eFuse" option, then lost the poll somehow, and forgot to add the option again. If that would have been your choice, feel free to click "Other." It's definitely a top story and I apologize for leaving it out after my poll killed itself in Wordpress. Sorry! [poll id="46"]

Project Elite ROM for the OG DROID

Tim — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:15:31 +0000

OG Droid owners rejoice! We're finally getting around to delivering the good news about Project Elite! We have had a lot of readers and even a couple developers asking us to feature a post about this ROM. Well they weren't yanking my chain as this ROM is solid as rock and has all the features, scripts, and themes a DROID Freak could ask for. Here's a quote I pulled from the the developer (Greg), who goes by the nick actngrezy:

"I wanted to have a ROM with speed, performance, but some of the features that a lot of people enjoy having. I wasn't going to release this originally until I gave it to some testers and according to the testers it's very very fast, stable, and it does exactly what it was meant to do which was very pleasing to hear."

Fast and stable indeed! This would be a good ROM to push all OG DROID 1 owners into the new year. A new developer, doing some amazing things all in his spare time because he wants to give back to the best community on the planet. Download Project Elite: HERE

Instructions:

Sprecovery: 1. Download to root of SD Card 2. Rename to update.zip 3. Reboot into recovery 4. Click install 5. Allow install 6. Then install again 7. Reboot Clockwork Recovery: 1. Place on root SDCard 2. Go to Install from SDCard 3. Select the file on your SDCard and install 4. Reboot As always, I recommend a full backup followed by a good wipe of your system, so you have a nice clean installation. Let me know what you all think! You can find more info, support and all themes available, right here. Donate! -Tim-o-tato

SiMi Folder Added to the Minimalist World

Kellen — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:18:42 +0000

Tomorrow marks the start of 2011 and a time for many of us to set up goals, like hitting the treadmill every 2 hours or organizing our entire lives. SiMi Folder is a minimalist option that will do its best to help you accomplish that second task, well on your phone anyway. If you like minimal homescreens, and you know we do, then head to the market now and grab this one for free. This is a first release that only allows for applications in folders at this time, but don't worry, contacts and bookmarks are next on the list. Your folders will include a scrollable launcher, too many customizable options to list, and a variety of widget sizes. It's a winner. Yep, it is. More info here.

Download Link

Cheers Wade!

Giant Rumor: HTC Thunderbolt Will Have 1.2GHz Dual-core Snapdragon, Gingerbread, 5MP Front Camera

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:25:57 +0000

It feels wrong to even report on this, but even rumors this ridiculous sounding need a little attention at times. The HTC Thunderbolt (our 12-pic gallery) has apparently started to pop up in German retail systems with a set of specs that make almost any device on the planet sound like an unfed infant baby. You ready for this? According to the screenshot above, the Thunderbolt will have a 4.3" screen, a dual-core MSM8960 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.2GHz, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), an 8MP back camera, 5MP front camera, 16GB of internal storage, an SD card slot expandable to 128GB and an 1800 mAh battery. Wow. Where do we even begin with this? First of all, the screenshot looks like something out of a cheesy used car forum, but who knows, maybe Germans run retail websites like that. Second, 128GB expandable SD card slot? Yowzaz. 5MP front cam? Will we have a front hump to mock the Droid X's back hump? Oh and then there's that dual-core Snapdragon...you know, the chip that Qualcomm just announced a month ago? I guess it's ready for prime time! I have nothing else to say...you guys run with this. Fake? Faker? Fakest? Oh, I should also point out that the tipster who sent it was from Germany and had a broken email address. Hello, giant hoax? Please be real though? Via: HTCInside Cheers Dan from Deutschland!

Chad Ochocinco Wants Some DROID XOOM Action, OCNN to Promote it?

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:26:07 +0000

Chad Ochocinco has had a long-standing relationship with Motorola through his "Ochocinco News Network" and it looks like he's sticking with them to help promote the much anticipated DROID XOOM. We know that Motorola and Verizon love the NFL, so this seems like a match made in heaven, especially if those rumors of a Super Bowl launch are true. Since Chad won't be playing in the big game, we'll just expect him to bounce from party-to-party with his very own Honeycomb tablet instead. Via: Twitter, Android and Me Cheers ckeegan!

Is Honeycomb Android 2.4 or 3.0? Who Knows. Does it Matter? Not Really.

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:16:59 +0000

Here we go again, talk of Honeycomb and which version of Android it will actually end up as. Is it 2.4 or is it 3.0? Wait, does it even matter? Not really. What we do know is that it'll follow up Gingerbread (2.3) and was built specifically for Android tablets, but will also work on phones. It will have a much more polished and beautiful user interface, including this sweet music app which will allow you to stream your entire music library. A new lock screen will be introduced for it, physical home/search/menu buttons will no longer be needed, and it will more than likely be the most impressive version yet. We're also hoping to see Google announce some sort of music service to coincide with its launch, plus a desktop version of the Android Market. It's going to be amazing. But for the sake of argument, like many others have shown today, our site analytics also reflect visitors using version 2.4 of Android. But as you can see, we also have hits of 3.0.1, so who knows. It's a slow day, people.

To see some of what we can expect when this thing finally drops though, check out last May's Google I/O day 2 keynote. Be sure to fast forward to 31:00 mark to skip a lot of Froyo talk. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44[/youtube]

Accessory Review: Arkon Galaxy Tab Stand

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:45:26 +0000

Our buddies over at Arkon sent over one of their new Samsung Galaxy Tab fold-up stands to review and I've got to say, this is a great little product. Made from what appears to be high quality plastic, the stand folds up to 7"x1"x1" and can be easily-stored in your laptop bag, briefcase or other type of man-bag. It has adjustable legs and backing, grippies for that non-slippage we all enjoy, and should be considered if you own any kind of tablet. Video action after the break. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liJqHKk9TEY[/youtube] Buy one at Arkon's website. Our Galaxy Tab review here.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Review – Verizon

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

This review seems about 2 months overdue, but at the same time feels like perfect timing as we gear up for next week's CES and who knows how many Android tablets from who knows how many different manufacturers. The Samsung Galaxy Tab was the first "real" Android tablet to hit the market and according to rumored sales numbers, was a giant success, but has it already run its course? With Honeycomb, Tegra 2 dual-core processors, 10" beasts, and rumors of other unicorns just days away from becoming a reality, is this still an option for anyone looking to buy an Android tablet? I've had the Verizon version of the Tab for almost 2 months now and feel like I know the ins and outs, but I'm still trying to grasp the idea of it being a "must have" device. The following review will look almost identical to the review we did on the T-Mobile Galaxy Tab over at Android Life, but with some VZW specific comments. My opinions on it haven't changed since doing that review, so the big difference here comes down to timing again. Should this be your first Android tablet knowing that there are so many others just around the corner?

The Good:

Screen: This 7″ LCD screen is pretty amazing to look at. Over the first few days of having the device, it quickly became my go-to source to take care of emails, play games and just about anything else I normally use my phone for. Well except make calls of course. Colors are vibrant, it can get ultra-bright if you want it to, and the size just looks and feels right. Sure a 10″ screen will be nice, but this thing really does fit in my pocket. Oh, and you can hold it in one hand without stressing.
Feel: The device is seriously, a great size. While I can’t wait to see the other Android tablet offerings that may come in at 10″, I liked being able to hold this in one hand and get everything done. Flipping between screens, playing games, or doing just about anything feels good on the Tab.
Back camera: The 3MP camera is actually not too bad. There were times when I felt awkward while snapping photos on this big ol’ device, but they still came out pretty nice. Plus, it gets positive marks for actually including a camera. I still can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t put one on a mobile device. Nice work Samsung.
Front camera: It may only measure in at 1.3MP, but at least it’s there! The quality while video chatting wasn’t too bad, taking actual pictures with it worked just fine, and again, it’s nice that they included it.
Video chatting: Who doesn’t love to video chat? I was fortunate enough to have the Verizon and T-Mobile Tabs at the same time, so I had plenty of opportunities to video chat with friends. I can see how this will be the wave of the future and Samsung got in early.
Gaming: We put out a gaming walk-through video below, but wanted to mention it again. There aren’t too many things better than playing Angry Birds or Jet Car Stunts on a 7″ screen. Every game we played that would go full screen was purely awesome.

Hardware: The 1.0GHz processor gets the job done on the Tab. I’ve read stories of significant amounts of lag on the device, but I experienced almost none. The TouchWiz launcher can be a little finicky at times, but if you change launchers you’ll see that it’s not the processor that’s at fault as they all fly. The Verizon version also comes with about 1GB oboard storage, a 16GB SD card pre-loaded and has 512MB of RAM to give you a great experience. I have nothing bad to say about the GTab’s performance.
Battery life: Amazing. It sports a 4000mAh battery and it pulls every last drop of power out of it to last you a long, long time. After using the Tab every day over the last couple of months, I’d say I had to charge it only a handful of times? Now, I didn’t actually put it through heavy video usage and that would definitely shorten it’s battery life, but I did do plenty of gaming, email checking and IM-ing and never ran into an issue.
Media Hub: The Media Hub allows you to purchase or rent TV shows and movies on the go. All of them play in super high quality which is quickly noticed on the 7 inches of glory.

Swype: Using Swype on a 7″ screen is pretty fun. You can write stuff incredibly fast with accuracy when using it on a keyboard this big. A stock keyboard is also available, but you’d be foolish to even look at it.

Froyo: This is both a bad and good. Bad down below. Samsung obviously loves their Tab more than their Galaxy S phones as this bad boy comes pre-loaded with Android 2.2 while their others sit back on 2.1. Froyo definitely helps it in the performance category, but really adds to the overall user experience.

The Not-so-Good:

Pricing: We’ve polled our readers and there weren’t very many that are even considering one after seeing the price points. And from what I’ve heard from sources, the $599 price isn’t exactly helping sales numbers. While I can’t say that I know a proper price, I will say that it would be tough for me to fork out $600 for a piece of technology that might be trumped by competitors in a couple of weeks.
No phone calls: If the Galaxy Tab actually made calls thoguh, I’d have no problem forking out $600 for it, but since it doesn’t, it feels like an extra piece of technology that I have to find room for and that’s not appealing. If it made calls though, “Bye, bye cell phone!” and “Hello GTab!”

Video chatting apps: Having the ability to video chat is awesome, but the apps right now are unfortunately pretty awful. This Verizon doesn't come with a pre-installed video chatting app like the T-Mobile version did, so you have to find alternative apps like Tango (which is spotty at best) or the Yahoo video chat app which isn’t even supported yet. Without the ability to make actual calls, people will be relying on apps like these, so let’s hope they start putting some resources into them in a hurry.
Hardware: We gave hardware positive marks above, but to be fair to the review have to admit that the 1.0GHz single-core processor might not be enough if HTC, Motorola and LG all announce dual-core processors at CES.
Android 2.2: Most of you have heard about Honeycomb by now and while there is a pretty good chance the Galaxy Tab will see an upgrade to it, we have no idea when that will be. Given Samsung's track record with updating their devices, it could be a year before you ever see the operating system that was built specifically for this type of device. Froyo runs just fine on here, but there are too many other options coming out in the near future that will have a tablet-specific OS to run on.
Shiny casing: The outside of this thing is a fingerprint magnet and while it's not as slippery as the T-Mobile version, it still needs some sort of grippy case. You can’t pick it up for 2 seconds without it looking like a smudgefest on the back and front.
TouchWiz app drawer: The GTab is almost running stock Android 2.2 aside from a few TouchWiz tweaks here and there. One of them is the app drawer and I’m not a fan. Each new app that’s installed is dropped to the back of your app list which makes no sense. You basically have to rearrange your app drawer each time you download something if you want them in any sort of order. Talk about frustrating.

Non-removable battery: The battery life might be awesome, but the fact that you can’t take out the battery is something new to Android devices and caused me a few problems. The device actually locked up on me a couple of times and you can’t just do a “battery pull” to get out of it. It would also be nice to have the option to upgrade the battery even further. Not a killer though.
Bloatware: Verizon included all of the non-removable bloatware apps we have grown to expect. The full lineup of VCAST-type apps is included, Blockbuster, gaming demos, and a task manager, all of which you'll never use, but can't get rid of.

Unboxing and Walk-through:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ewWn0HySo[/youtube]

Gaming Demos:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI63uoJZw-I[/youtube]

Benchmarks:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47JaJJzrRT4[/youtube]

Gallery:

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

The Verdict:

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a fantastic device, there is no denying that. However, is it still a device to be considered knowing that there are so many different options on the horizon? I would advise anyone looking to blow their X-mas money on a tablet to wait this one out a bit. At this point, unless we see a dramatic price reduction over the next few weeks from Samsung, it should be hard for anyone to fork out $599 for a device that might be outdated before they walk out of the store. With Honeycomb tablets powered by dual-core processors just days away from being announced, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, should be holding off from making a purchase of this magnitude. Of course, Samsung could announce that a Honeycomb update is coming by the end of February when the rest of the tablets hit stores, but until they guarantee that, I'd sit back and wait patiently. With all that said though, you should know that there is a fantastic developer community for the Tab already established. The device is easily rooted, has Clockwork recovery, devs, and so much more working for it. Who knows, if you are willing to throw down the cash for one, you may have Honeycomb before anyone thanks to the amazing Android hackers in the world.

RunKeeper Pro is FREE Through January!

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:30:04 +0000

To our running friends around the globe, you may want to head to the Android Market immediately and grab Runkeeper Pro, an app that most consider a must-have for workout enthusiasts. Normally $10, this is great timing for those of you with any sort of New Year's resolution geared around getting your holiday rumps back in shape. The app offers GPS tracking of your runs, audio cues, no advertising, and customized interval workouts. Go get it!

Download Link

Via: Lifehacker

Cheers Cody, Scott and Alex!

A New Way to Bank with Chase

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:00:45 +0000

Since you use your smart phone for just about everything, Chase has made it easy for you to do your banking from just about anywhere. The highly rated Chase Mobile app is now available on the Android™ platform--just download the app and your phone transforms into a mobile banking powerhouse that allows you to transfer funds, check balances, and more. You can even deposit checks when you log on to Chase Mobile and use Chase QuickDeposit. Use the camera on your smart phone to point, shoot, and deposit checks just as easily as if you were at the teller’s window or the ATM. In fact, your phone can do pretty much everything you can do at a Chase branch except get cash—you’ll still need to stop by a Chase ATM for that, you can use the App to find the closest one. When you’re on the go as much as you are, it’s great to know that you can still keep an eye on your finances, thanks to the Chase MobileSM app. Download it today, and soon you’ll wonder how you ever did your banking without it. Learn more about how you can take charge of your bank account wherever you are by visiting Chase.com/Android.

This is a sponsored post.

HTC Tablet Shows Up in Trademark Filing as “Scribe”

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:41:11 +0000

We haven't heard all that much from HTC in the tablet game, but this new trademark filing for the word "SCRIBE" is a sign that they are ready to take flight. There are a few rumors in the wild that suggest HTC could have multiple tablets in 2011, but other than that, the details have been locked up tight. And how do we know that SCRIBE is even a tablet? Well because the trademark says, "Handheld wireless device, namely, a tablet computer." Of course, we have no idea if this will be Android, but one would assume so. HTC has an open house next Thursday at CES and we're hoping to see this new player in action. Or they could just show off the HTC Thunderbolt since their event follows Verizon's 4G LTE press gathering. Check out our exclusive pics of the device here. Source: USPTO Via: PocketNow, Engadget

Contest Winners: Droid Life Survivor Football Leagues

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:30:40 +0000

Remember the two Yahoo Survivor Football leagues we ran back at the beginning of the NFL season? We now have winners from both thanks to Philadelphia and their subpar week 16 performance against the Vikings on Tuesday night. Pretty amazing that some of you lasted all the way until week 16, and actually, the winner from league #1 was still trucking, but his only competitor had the Eagles. I'm impressed with your football minds. When the contest was announced we started with 1 league, which in 5 minutes was full, so we added another. We weren't sure what the prize would be for league 2, but we've decided to match the giveaway of league 1 which means we'll be handing out $100 in cold hard Paypal cash in both leagues, but since we had a tie in league 2, we'll split the winnings between our two champs.

So here are your 2010 Droid Life Survivor winners...

Group ID: 18097 Winner: Kruger Industrial Smoothing Prize: $100 Group ID: 24136 Winners: LexLuthor and Suckwads Prize: $50 to each winner

Congrats guys! I have Kruger's email, but I do not have any contact info for Lex or Suckwads. You will both have to hit me up through our contact form so we can get you hooked up with prizes. Thanks again everyone for participating!

DROID XOOM Will See 4G LTE Through Optional Modem

Kellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:49:28 +0000

Yesterday we received word that the Motorola tablet headed for a CES unveiling would be known as the DROID XOOM on Verizon and would of course be running Honeycomb. We also found out that it wouldn't be a 4G LTE device, but hoped for some sort of an option to give us those speeds should we live in an active LTE market. Sure enough, it sounds like that's exactly what we can expect. Android and Me is reporting that there will be an optional LTE modem which can be purchased and will plug into a PCI Express expansion slot on the device. Since the XOOM is expected to be massively consumed, it makes sense at this point to just got with 3G (4G is only in 40 or so cities) and have an add-on to get higher speeds should the consumer want that. Feeling better now? Source: Android and Me

Wednesday Poll: What are you looking forward to at CES?

Kellen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:07:51 +0000

The Droid Life crew will be taking Vegas by storm next week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), covering everything we can to help relieve your technology addiction. Hot topics expected to take up the majority of our time include Honeycomb tablets (like the DROID XOOM), an onslaught of Tegra 2 phones, and of course, Verizon's 4G LTE lineup (HTC Thunderbolt). So what are you most looking forward to? The insane amount of tablets? Beastly phones? Random Android powered electronics? Let us now in the comments! [poll id="45"]

DROID Eris Running Gingerbread, I'm Officially Stunned

Kellen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:17:14 +0000

I know, I know, we shouldn't be surprised at the fact that someone is porting Android 2.3 to the Droid Eris, but since it's actually at an almost working state, it needs to be talked about. XDA member punk.kaos is leading a charge to bring a stable version of the newest Android OS to a phone long past its prime, a task that HTC seems incapable of completing. They missed Froyo (Android 2.2) and will likely not even consider Gingerbread, but who needs them to when you have a developer community willing to do the dirty work. The current build is up to version 6, has Google apps, working wi-fi/bluetooth, OpenGL, audio and is seriously inching closer to a prime time release. Nuts, right? Follow all of pk's progress at this dedicated XDA thread.

DROID XOOM will be Motorola's Honeycomb Tablet, Won't be 4G LTE

Kellen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:17:07 +0000

How does the Motorola DROID XOOM sound? According to our sources, that's exactly what we can expect Motorola's Honeycomb tablet to be called when it's announced next week at CES. We've seen the word "XOOM" through a batch of global trademarks, but we have confirmation that this will indeed be the name, it will definitely be running Honeycomb and for now, won't be 4G LTE. We're hoping that it'll have a USB slot to allow for a 4G LTE modem, but from what we've been told, it won't have a 4G LTE radio built into it. That's no big deal though, right? We've seen the XOOM in action from Andy Rubin and have pretty much made up our minds that this will be the tablet to have in 2011. You can check out video of it in action here, hi-res pictures here, and some unofficial specs here. Thoughts on the name? Better or worse than Thunderbolt? And how about one more look at that teaser video? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI2I8wLPdc[/youtube]

Contest Winners: 5 NDrive Navigation Licenses!

Kellen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:45:32 +0000

Last week we launched a pre-X-mas NDrive license contest and it's time to finally announce our 5 winners! The contest was simple and in order to enter only asked that you follow us and @NDrive on Twitter, retweet a simple message and sit back and wait. Four USA map licenses ($26 value each) and one North America map license ($52 value) were up for grabs, so let's see who the lucky 5 were!

Congratulations go out to...

@CapitalistChaos @dj_justincase @gsynyc @badwolf_456 @zoobcool12

You will all be contacted on Twitter within the next hour, so be sure to check those DM inboxes to find out your next steps and to see which license you get to take home. Congrats again!

And a big thanks to NDrive for putting up some great prizes!

More contests around the corner...

Sapphire 2.0.0 Released for DROID, DROID 2, DROID X, Incredible and EVO

Tim — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:30:56 +0000

After what feels like forever, we now have some beautiful Crystal Clear ROMs on our phones again! And this isn't a baby update either. This is the official release for 5 devices: the OG Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Incredible, and even the HTC EVO. Talk about a lot of work from such a small team. I've had the privilege to be running Sapphire 2.0 for about 48 hours now and I am incredibly happy with this high performer. Just a few months ago, Sapphire for the OG DROID was thee go to ROM of choice for most users. The reason being you can tell that a lot of time and energy was thrown into it and that is why it has most likely taken so long for the release. But alas, it's great to have a developer stand by his work. If you're new to the name, then just know that you can expect a few things when flashing their ROMs. Speed, stability, optimized performance, above par battery life, and a truly wonderful user support system based in their IRC channel #(cvpcs). You can find me in there trolling daily. So take the time to flash one of these ROMs and I know if you love Vanilla Android at its finest, you will definitely find yourself smiling. And to the theme enthusiasts, don't worry, themes are coming! All releases can be found here: | Change Log Make sure to read and all the Wikis and info on each ROM before flashing. A huge Droid-Life "You Rock" goes out to cvpcs and the all knowing Sniffle. -Tim-o-tato

Verizon Focusing on 4G LTE Android Devices, Not the iPhone at CES

Kellen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:49:57 +0000

Verizon announced that it will be holding a 4G LTE event at CES a couple of weeks ago, and this week, made it Android-specific which means no i*hone for those of you holding out for a device from that other company. Surprised by that? We're not. We've heard all along that if the i*hone 4 comes to Verizon that it won't be an LTE device, so that leaves it without a slot at CES. Sure, they may launch the i*hone 5 this summer as an LTE device, but CES more than likely won't be the place. Plus, Apple likes to have their own spotlight, and dropping their next device at a giant tech conference just doesn't seem like their style, does it? And moving on to Android again... We heard that the HTC Thunderbolt made an appearance yesterday? [insert sheepish grin] Just know that Big Red isn't stopping there. After next Thursday's press event, we should have a chance to see (possibly handle) 4G LTE devices from Motorola, Samsung and LG which are all Android devices. It's going to be a big CES for the good side of mobile operating systems. Via: Android Community, Information Week

Exclusive: 12 Photos of the HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon

Kellen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:23:52 +0000

Take a look at that beauty. Say hello to the HTC Thunderbolt, which will be the first 4G LTE device to land on Verizon after its unveiling next week at CES. As you can see, it really just looks exactly like the Desire HD, but has Verizon branding and will be 4G capable which means it'll be amazing. We're assuming it won't have a dual-core processor which most of you decided was critically important, but after seeing it, have you changed your mind? We should point out that there is a surprise behind the kickstand and Google branding which we're hoping means no Bing. Hello Droid Thunderbolt? Maybe. 11 more shots after the break. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

Over 200,000 Apps in the Android Market

Kellen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 13:45:32 +0000

Almost 2 months ago to the day, the Android team announced that the market had officially hit 100,000 apps and according to AndroLib, we have now doubled that. Obviously these numbers are unofficial and likely a little bloated, but you have to like the sounds of it. Anything to give the platform some good press right? They've also released a report for new applications submissions that shows a continued increase month-over-month. While we saw a little drop off for new apps in the summer months, we're back to record numbers during the winter. Over 25,000 new fart apps were released last month alone...we're kidding of course, but how many of those 25,000 do any of us know or care about? We've had a ton of incredible games come out, but what the heck are the rest of them?

In the last month, how many quality apps have you downloaded that you can no longer live without? I'll do my best to list the ones I'm in love with at the moment: 1. Angry Birds Seasons was fun, but is now done for. 2. BattMonX is great for Droid X users. 3. Dolphin Mini is a nice and light browser alternative. 4. Google TV Remote is fantastic for battling your significant other. 5. Jet Car Stunts has stolen many hours from my life. 6. Light Grid live wallpaper has changed the game. 7. Google Reader finally landed. And there you have it. What apps are you guys crushing on? Source: AndroidLib Via: BGR

Tuesday Poll: What is the Top Feature Needed in Your Next Phone?

Kellen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 13:26:38 +0000

There are so many new phones and devices coming out in the next few months that it's almost impossible to keep track of them. Almost all will have front facing cameras, many will have dual-core processors, big screens will come in abundances, and some will even come with the latest version of Android. What we want to know though, is what the number 1 feature is in order for you to ditch your current phone for one of the future? Is it a massive screen? A powerful processor? Or does it just need to be running the newest Android build? Have to choose one! [poll id="44"]

Become Friends with Droid Life on OpenFeint and Battle it Out for Prizes!

Kellen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:28:15 +0000

One of the great things about OpenFeint and their abundance of games, is the social aspect provided by their Feint platform. Almost all of their games allow for some type of score uploading or achievement unlocking, but for me, that only becomes important when you have friends to battle it out with. As I've been playing Jet Car Stunts like crazy over the last few days, I've also been checking on my friends' scores to see how badly I'm destroying them (hah!). , "We should build a community of friends and use it to run gaming contests in the future!" And that's exactly what we'll do! All you have to do is friend us through your Feint profile, we'll accept and then it'll be time to start handing out some prizes. As popular games are added to the market or if we just feel like popping up an old classic one day, we'll start spurt-of-the-moment contests that could last anywhere from an hour to a full day and at the end, we'll hand out fabulous prizes. Sound fun?

Our Feint name: kellex

And feel free to drop your Feint name in the comments so you can build up a solid friends list to see where you stack up in your gaming ventures. Also look for some new Feint features to be built into the app in the near future that will add to this fun community we are trying to build.

How to: Play Dungeon Defenders on the Original DROID

Kellen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:26:05 +0000

Dungeon Defenders, the first Unreal Engine game for Android was released yesterday, but the minimum requirements left the game essentially unplayable for those with an original Motorola Droid. Your device needs 512MB of RAM or at least 256MB free at run-time and since the D1 only has 256MB total, this was the issue we needed to overcome. Thankfully, the Android community is made up of amazing people and there is now a set of instructions that will get your OG on track to dominating this fantastic new game. First step is to root your original Droid. While I have yet to try it myself, I've heard that these instructions will still root FRG83D and will be trying it once my OG charges up fully. This post will be updated with my results. After rooting, you'll need to head over to the Dungeon Defenders Forums and check out the rest of the details and instructions. You'll need a ROM with a kernel that supports "swap space" plus an app called Swapper2 and you'll be playing in no time. You should be warned though, that using Swapper2 overworks the hell out of your SD card and will shorten its lifespan, so proceed with caution. Cheers Daniel!

According to Samsung the Fascinate Already has Android 2.2

Kellen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 08:12:06 +0000

One of our readers dropped a link on us this morning from Samsung that clearly states in more than one place that their Fascinate should already have Android 2.2 running on it. In fact, their official site is filled with Froyo references, but without any sort of timeline for release, this does nothing except frustrate all Galaxy S owners.

Our reader even went the extra mile, contacted Sammie customer service and was told that they can't give a date if or when 2.2 will be released for the U.S. Fascinate because that would lead to "inaccurate and confusing" information. Great answer. We have a lot of Fascinate owners and I'm wondering how frustrated you all are? During my time with the device, the thing that made the phone a no-go was the fact that it ran 2.1. It was unbearable and I only had it for a couple of months, so I can't imagine how you all must be feeling. And don't forget to check out our Samsung Fascinate review. Via: Samsung Cheers Lee!

Download: Honeycomb Music Player from Google I/O

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:40:12 +0000

Hello Monday night treat! XDA member johnnie93 somehow got his hands on what appears to be the Honeycomb music player that was featured last May at Google I/O. It's super colorful, appears to have streaming music features built in, and fits the "new UI" that is rumored to be coming with the next OS version. If this is any indication of what we can expect with Android 3.0 (2.4?) then add me to the list of super excited people. While this app isn't fully working, you can see where Google is going with it and now we'll just have to sit back and wait for this music service to be announced. Awesome.

*For ALL users.

Download: com.google.android.music-1.apk Instructions: 1. Download the file from above. 2. When it finishes, tap on and hit install. 3. Enjoy! Cheers Wade! [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Source: XDA

HTC Thunderbolt 4G Sign-up Site is Live

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:43:14 +0000

The sign-up page for the HTC Thunderbolt 4G is available right now for those interested. The device likely won't be officially unveiled until next week at CES, but that hasn't stopped HTC from teasing the world on an hourly basis. This new landing page doesn't give us much, but HTC continues to hint at this more than likely becoming the first 4G device on Verizon. I just have one question for you though...will you buy this device if it's the first 4G LTE device knowing that it doesn't have a dual-core processor and there are 3-4 phones right behind that do? Sign up here.

Download: Gingerbread Theme for Stock Rooted DROID X Users

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:10:45 +0000

For those of you running the official 2.3.340 update for the Droid X and want to have a theme to get you as far away from that awful Blur skin as possible, then this is the post for you. XDA member waremike32 released 3 themes to fit over top of a stock rooted DX and one of them will take you into the wonderful world of Gingerbread. The instructions are fairly simple, but we'll lay them out for those of you new to the game after the break. Download: Stock Deodexed 2.3.340 Download: Gingerbread Theme

Instructions:

1. Download both files from above and drop them on your SD card. 2. Root your phone using z4root. (Instructions) 3. Bootstrap your recovery using Koush's DX Bootstrap. 4. Boot into Clockwork recovery using the bootstrap app. 5. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 6. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone.

*DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.

7. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 8. Choose the 2.3.340Deodex.zip you downloaded from above to install a deodexed ROM. 9. When that finishes go back into "install zip from SDcard." 10. Choose the GingerBreadDX.zip file that you downloaded from above and install it. 11. Back out of recovery, reboot your phone and enjoy Gingerbread! More theme options and support can be found at this thread. Cheers Ken!

Dungeon Defenders Available on Android!

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 10:26:17 +0000

Dungeon Defenders, the first Unreal Engine game for Android, is available for purchase in the market for $2.99 (holiday sale) and according to early reports, is pretty stunning if you have a powerful enough phone. DD is a 3D action-RPG/tower defense game that is clearly leading the way in the gaming department on mobile phones. Our buddy Taylor, over at Android and Me took Dungeon Defenders for a quick spin this weekend and came away impressed. For our serious gaming readers, this would be a good use of that X-mas money weighing down your wallet. There are a couple of things you should be aware of though before purchasing:

After buying, you are required to download an additional 600MB worth of game data. Normally this isn't a big deal, but that much data will likely push you past the 15 minute refund window which means no test drive on this bad boy.
A list of compatible devices is available in the description and I highly suggest you read it to see if your device can handle this type of a game.
They recommend Galaxy S devices, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S, Droid X, G2 and Droid 2.
Original Droid members should proceed with caution.

Anyone been playing it? [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave for Android on AppBrain

Via: Android and Me

Monday Poll: Thoughts on the Name HTC Thunderbolt 4G?

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:15:58 +0000

We're almost positive that the new HTC 4G LTE device headed to Verizon in the coming weeks will be called the Thunderbolt 4G and now we want to know your thoughts on it. There are varying opinions surrounding almost any new device name and this one in particular has had its fair share. We've already seen names like Mecha, Incredible HD, Incredible 2, etc., but Thunderbolt 4G should be official next week. So do we like it? Should they have gone with one of the other rumored names? Cheesy? Thunderbolt 4G fitting? Any other suggestions? [poll id="43"]

HTC Thunderbolt 4G Caught Posing in Ads

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:45:38 +0000

We first reported the name "Thunderbolt" as a possibility for the new HTC 4G LTE device that many have been dubbing the Incredible HD and after seeing a link from some new HTC ads, we're pretty sure that's the name you'll get when this puppy is unveiled next week. The ad above was taking users to which clearly states the word "Thunderbolt" and more than likely will end up being "Thunderbolt 4G" a la the EVO 4G. The name seems a little gimmicky, but who am I to judge smartphone names? Via: Android Central

ADW Launcher EX Released with Window Animations, New Drawers, Tons of Enhancements

Kellen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:04:16 +0000

There are some other players in the launcher game these days, but when it all comes down to it, ADW Launcher and LauncherPro are still my first two choices. And guess what? ADW just went "pro" with an EX version that in my opinion, brings it right up there with LP. In this new EX, you'll find a ton of enhancements, features and even some stuff that most of you have never seen before. It will cost you $3.43, but you won't be disappointed. Here is a list of new features:

5 different app drawer styles/behaviors: 3D Nexus One like applications drawer, 2 different plain vertical applications drawers styles, 2 different Iphone-like horizontal applications drawers

Different desktop transitions (8 at the moment): new animations while navigating through your desktop screens. Try them all, they’re crazy!

New Icons configurations/look and feel: Tweak your desktop icons, change its sizes, add coloured backgrounds, change font size, color, etc!

New fast presets mode: Quickly change the whole desktop configuration by 1 click!

Editable desktop icons for applications, shortcuts and folders!

Lots of code improvements

And a video of the new stuff in action: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD5WD-HDagM[/youtube]

Download Link

More info can be found here. Cheers matrix2004!

Download: Holiday Andy Wallpaper from Andrew Bell

Kellen — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:15:47 +0000

Andrew Bell is an artist that has done some amazingly fun stuff for the Android brand, so when we see him pump out a new holiday wallpaper, we have to let people know. This is our final attempt at getting everyone in the X-mas spirit! The wallpaper can be resized to fit on your phone, desktop, and just about any other electronic device you own. Head to Andrew's site to get yours now. Merry X-mas Eve everyone! Cheers JayKay!

Touiteur Officially Becomes Plume

Kellen — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:15:16 +0000

Last week, Level Up Studio was asked nicely by Twitter to change the name of their Twitter app as it could be confusing to some users and looked like a "misspelling" of their name and service. As ridiculous as that sounds, they obliged and opened up suggestions to their users who came up with a really nice list. So what was the winner? Plume. I'm digging that. It's simple, still bird-like, and is a hell of a lot easier for your mind to wrap around that Touiteur was. Thoughts? Via: Level Up Studio

Motorola Emails Tablet Video to the World

Kellen — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:15:16 +0000

The "Tablet Evolution" video that Motorola snuck onto Youtube the other day is now being pushed to customers via email. If you are on any sort of Moto list, you should have received the picture above which redirects you to their ultimate CES teaser vid which might have just passed 1,000,000 views as you are reading this. We're fully expecting this tablet to be "DROID" branded and running Honeycomb, but Moto is expecting it to be one of the most amazing pieces of technology ever. We'll know in 2 weeks. Check out the video one more time after the break. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI2I8wLPdc[/youtube]

Jet Car Stunts Finally Lands on Android Market

Kellen — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:08:30 +0000

Back in September we took a trip to San Francisco to hang out with the OpenFeint team to see some of the plans they had for Android, but most importantly, what new games they were looking to release. One of the most impressive was a little game called Jet Car Stunts. It's a time trial racing game, but you aren't necessarily battling other people so much as you are battling the difficult race tracks. You have jet fuel to help you clear large gaps, the turning is super touchy, there are jumping tricks that only the best will find, and of course you'll love the ability to post up a new high score into Feint to let your friends know how badly you've just crushed them. It seriously has been one of the games at the top of our list for months now. $1.99 in the market.

Download Link

GameLoft Announces 10 New HD Games for December

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:15:56 +0000

GameLoft may have been a part of Android for the last year and a half, but only now are they ready to start taking it to the next level. To kick off a new aggressive gameplan, they are planning to release 10 new HD games throughout the rest of December with titles like Oregon Trail, Shrek Kart Racing, Brother in Arms 2, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Let’s Golf 2, Gangstar Miami Vindication, Real Soccer 2011, Spiderman Total Mayhem, Fishing Kings, and GT Racing. Check out the trailer for these new games after the break. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK1LdsRe1x4[/youtube] If you'd like to grab any of these games you'll need to head over to gameloft.com as they still have little presence in the actual Android market. I also suggest going their from your device rather than from your desktop to help ease a process that we know can be a little finicky. Enjoy!

Dolphin X-mas Gift is a New Holiday-inspired Theme

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:30:59 +0000

Remember that X-mas gift that Dolphin was preparing for us? It's a happy new Christmas theme for you all to enjoy! I know, I know, we were hoping Dolphin had some inside scoop on a mass Gingerbread release date or winning lottery numbers, but that isn't the case. If you want to show some holiday spirit though, then feel free to grab this add-on from the market for free.

Download Link

Cheers Brian and everyone else!

10 Tips and Tricks for Gingerbread

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:01:44 +0000

There aren't many of people in the world right now that can actually utilize this list, since Gingerbread is officially only on one device, but why not get it out there to help prepare everyone anyway? This is a list of tips and tricks that Google has released for those with Android 2.3 and that need a little help becoming an Android power user.

Visual cue for scrolling: When you are in a scrollable list (like your Gmail inbox) and you reach the end of the list it shows an orange hue—a visual cue that you can’t scroll anymore.

Notification bar icons (Wi-Fi, network coverage bars, etc.): Turn green when you have an uninhibited connection to Google, white when you don't. Hint: if you're in a hotel or airport using Wi-Fi, the bars won't turn green until you launch the browser and get past the captive portal.

Voice actions: Tell your phone what to do by pressing the microphone icon next to the search box on the home screen, or long press the magnifying glass. You can tell it to send an email or text message (“send text to mom, see you for pizza at 7”), call someone ("call mom"), navigate somewhere (“navigate to pizza”), or listen to music ("listen to Mamma Mia").

Find things you’ve downloaded from your browser: Your downloads are now neatly collected in a Downloads manager, which you can find in the apps drawer.

Turn a Gallery stack into a slideshow: In Gallery, when you are looking at a stack of photos, put two fingers on the stack and spread them. The stack spreads out and the pictures flow from one finger to the other, a moving slideshow that lets you see all of the photos.

Walk, don’t drive: Once you’ve gotten directions within Google Maps, click on the walking person icon to get walking directions.

Easy text copy/paste from a webpage: To copy/paste from a webpage, long press some text, drag the handles around to select the text you want to copy, and press somewhere in the highlighted region. To paste, simply long press a text entry box and select paste. Gmail is a bit different: you need to go to Menu > More > Select Text.

Turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot: Go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Tethering & Portable Hotspot. (You may have to pay extra for this feature.)

Look at Maps in 3D: With the latest release of Google Maps, you can now look at 3D maps. Tilt the map by sliding two fingers vertically up/down the screen, and rotate it by placing two fingers on the map and sliding in a circular motion, e.g., from 12 and 6 o’clock to 3 and 9.

Cool shutdown effect: When you put the phone to sleep, you’ll see an animation that resembles an old cathode tube TV turning off.

You can find more info, plus some of Google's favorite apps over at their blog.

Android 3.0 is Still Honeycomb and won't be out Until March?

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:48:06 +0000

Famed tech rumor starter DigiTimes is reporting that Honeycomb, which is the version of Android built with some specific tablet features, won't be released by Google until March of next year. No sources or mentions of sources are given, and it almost looks like a line just dropped on a rumor they would love to see come true. They also mentioned in the same report, that the version number will still be 3.0 and not 2.4 which had become the new favorite in the numbering scheme...

On the other hand, MSI is set to display its 10-inch Wintel-based tablet PC as well as engineering samples of its ARM-based Google Android model. MSI is also prepared to sell an Nvidia Tegra 2-based model in April or May after Google releases Android 3.0 in March.

So what do you guys think? If this is the case, we won't see Honeycomb tablets until March, rather than February which I believe is what most of us were hoping for. I know that January will fly by after all of the announcements of everything at CES, but it's going to be hard for us to stop the drooling for 3 months while they prepare those same products for store shelves. Via: DigiTimes, BGR

EA Mobile Offering Up Catalog of Android Games for $.99

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:29:19 +0000

EA Mobile is currently offering up what appears to be their entire lineup of Android games for $.99 as a holiday celebration of sorts. Even Need for Speed, which isn't showing above, can be had for a single dollar. Speaking of the holidays, there is something about Tetris that brings me back to X-mas morning when the Gameboy first came out and that was the game. Memories. Check your market now to grab some of this killer deals. Cheers JoelSeph!

DROID Pro Receiving Bug Fixing Update, to Version 2.26.60

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:54:27 +0000

The Droid Pro (our review) is the latest family member to receive an update. With so many devices out now, seems like one pops up each week, and of course, we're not complaining. This one appears to be pretty minor, weighs in at about 15.9MB and looks to improve a bunch of stuff. If you'd like to tell your phone to pull the update immediately, head to Settings>About Phone>System Updates on your device and it should be waiting for you.

Improvements: + Improved audio on voice calls. + Improved stability and performance. + User interface display now refreshes when user switches from GSM/UMTS communication to Global Mode. + Device now prepends 011 to Country Code to send SMS messages. + Global Mode no longer resets when connecting to a USB charger. + Visual Voice Mail now detects airplane mode while Wi-Fi is active. + Prompt return to full screen brightness after wake-up

More info can be found at Verizon's site. Cheers Mike and Adam!

LightGrid Live Wallpaper Updated, Includes Andy Theme and Shape

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:00:24 +0000

Light Grid live wallpaper is hands down my favorite of all time and I wasn't sure it could get any better, and then today through a new update, it did. You will find under themes and in shapes, our favorite robot to play with in any way you please. You can see from my two screenies above that I went with the classic DroidLife pink and black, but know that you can make it any color scheme you like. Seriously, if you don't own Light Grid yet, you need to buy it now. It's $.99. Oh, it looks like you may need the holiday pack as well to unlock the theme and icons and that will cost you another $.99. Trust me, it's so worth it.

Light Grid Pro | Holiday Icon Pack

Cheers @gobluefoot!

HTC Plans to Be the First to 4G Again, Must be the Incredible HD?

Kellen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:30:51 +0000

The HTC device with a dozen names that has been popping up all over the place the last couple of days is about to be announced as the first 4G LTE device on Verizon at CES. VZW is holding a big ol' 4G LTE event on January 6th that we'll be attending and are fully expecting the Incredible HD/Thunderbolt to be there. In fact, if you take HTC for their word, it will be the first one on display. We're obviously still expecting Motorola to make a big splash with the Etna and Everest tablet, but HTC's hardware seems to have been close to finalized for months now while Moto's might still be super fresh. No matter what, January 5-9th is going to be the week you won't want to miss. Hit up the site here to sign up to be notified of its awesomeness. Cheers @ReverendYo and Android Central!

DROID 2 Update to 3.0.0 Will Include Profiles, New Launcher Style

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:40:52 +0000

A leaked Droid 2 update just hit the interwebs courtesy of our friends over at MyDroidWorld and it'll bring you up to Blur version 3.0.0. What's significant about 3.0.0? Well the addition of profiles is a pretty big deal. Up until now, we had only seen profiles on the Droid Pro (our review) and the Droid 2 Global, so this is a nice bump for the original D2. For some reason it'll still be stuck at Android 2.2 though and not 2.2.1, but that .1 isn't all that important. I've played with it for a little while now and can say that this is the best version of Blur yet. I know we all hate Blur, but at least it's starting to run smoother.

*BIG Warning* - There is no guarantee that this is the version Verizon will push to all Droid 2 devices. What does that mean? That if you update to this, the steps to get you back on the official update track aren't always super simple. Just understand that you are doing this with some risk involved and we will expect that none of you will throw a fit if the official update changes and you have no easy way to update to it. You've been warned, peeps.

Download: D2_300.zip Instructions:

*Droid 2 ONLY.

1. You have to be rooted. (Instructions) 2. You will have to bootstrap your recovery using the Droid 2 Bootstrapper. 3. From there, you'll drop the file from above on your SD card. 4. Bootstrap your recovery and then reboot into it. 5. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 6. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone. 7. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 8. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the D2_300.zip , select it and hit “yes.” 9. Your phone will apply the update. When it finishes, reboot and enjoy! Important Update: Apparently the 2.3.20 SBF file will work if you run into any issues with 3.0.0. It will also work if the 3.0.0 build ends up not being official and you need to get back to 2.3.20. Download it here. Again, big thanks to MyDroidWorld for both the 3.0.0 leak and the 2.3.20 SBF. Support thread and donate link can be found here.

Carrier Billing Comes to the Android Market, Only AT&T for Now

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:49:20 +0000

A new payment option which allows AT&T users to bill app purchases to their monthly statements has been rolling out over the last few days and has now been made official by the Android Developers Team. I know that the majority of you are Verizon folks, but this is still a step in a great direction...

Today, I am pleased to announce the availability of AT&T Direct Carrier Billing for Android users on the AT&T network. AT&T Android users can now easily charge their Android Market purchases to their monthly accounts with only a few clicks. With the combination of Android Market’s new app discovery features and a carrier-backed frictionless payment method, users will find it significantly easier to discover and purchase applications of their choice. We strongly believe carrier billing is a great way to make it easy for users to purchase and pay for applications. In addition to the availability of AT&T and T-Mobile US carrier billing, we’ll continue to to partner with more carriers to offer carrier billing options for their subscribers.

But wait, will Verizon users ever see this option? Verizon already has its own app store with statement billing which would make a partnership with the Android Market seem contradictory. And my excitement is gone again. Via: Android Developers Blog

HTC Incredible HD Model Number will be ADR6400, Thunderbolt a Possible Name

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:16:45 +0000

We've received word that the model number for the Incredible HD will be ADR6400 (officially ADR6400LVW) which makes perfect sense. The original Incredible is ADR6300 and if everything we have been led to believe comes true, this is the follow up device to it, so the numbering sequence matches right up. We're also hearing that a name has still not been finalized and that "Thunderbolt" is appearing on documentation alongside "Mecha." Maybe "Thunderbolt" is just a code name for it being the first 4G LTE device? Remember that first 4G commercial from Verizon with the thunderbolt in a box? Fitting. Oh, and I already ran through the standard Picasa and Google searches, but feel free to in your spare time.

DROID Does Recruiting Violations in Tennessee

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:35:14 +0000

Oh Tennessee Volunteers coach Derek Dooley...bad boy! According to reports out of the south, Dooley was busted after accidentally posting a message to a recruit's Facebook page using none other than his trusty Motorola Droid. Seems a little silly, but the NCAA bylaws strictly limited coaches to keeping contact with recruits using emails and faxes only...

According to the bylaw, “electronically transmitted correspondence that may be sent to a prospective student-athlete (or the prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians) is limited to electronic mail and facsimiles.”

Another "Does" moment. Oh and I apologize for the cheesy shopped picture...I just thought it was funny to find a picture of Dooley at a press table with Verizon logos all over the place and needed to toss in our all-time favorite family member. Via: Go Vols Xtra Cheers Robert!

New Verizon Samsung (SCH-I520) 4G LTE Device Appears, Has Front Facing Camera

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:03:40 +0000

We just got done looking at the Incredible HD, which most thought would be Verizon's first 4G LTE device and then this bad boy pops up. The new Samsung SCH-I520 will also be with Big Red, on their new LTE network, love video chatting thanks to a front facing camera, and run at the very least, Froyo. Oh, there is a chance that it won't be Bing'd out, but it is currently running TouchWiz and likely will be when it hits store shelves. We're expecting this one to be at CES as well. Thoughts? I'm guessing we're all favoring the IncHD over this? Via: Gizmodo

Android Collectible Heads to Space!

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:42:58 +0000

Google decided that exploring space would be something fun to casually do on a random weekend, so they made some weather balloons, strapped our favor robot collectible to them with cameras and a Nexus S, and sent them off. They captured some great pictures of Earth, data, and found another way to get their mobile operating system some press. Video of Andy after the break, plus the rig used to get him up there. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSoPJevJyeE[/youtube] Here is how they did it: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8XjIkdUQns[/youtube] Via: Google Mobile Blog Cheers Jim!

Wednesday Poll: Thoughts on the Name XOOM?

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:45:56 +0000

The word XOOM popped up today as a potential candidate for the official name of the Motorola tablet and we're sort of torn on our thoughts of it. Does it sound a lot like Microsoft's Zune? Yep. But does it look and sound like a solid name to add to our Droid family? Definitely. What do you guys think? Good name, bad name...? [poll id="42"]

GameLoft Offers Hero of Sparta for FREE Today

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:48:53 +0000

Earlier this month GameLoft gave away Dungeon Hunter for free and decided to follow that up with a free offering of Hero of Sparta. I'd try to offer up some sort of quick review, but is that really needed? We know their games are of the highest quality, plus the word "free" should have the internet sprinting your way to the download link below. As with any HD game, expect additional game data to be downloaded to your SD card. Download here. Cheers @bfuleky!

Incredible HD Gets a New Head Shot

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:25:23 +0000

That folks, is what we all believe to be the Incredible HD and as you can see from the picture, is indeed running on Verizon's 4G LTE network. Now, there weren't any doubts that this device would be headed to Big Red, but that icon in the top left corner for the My Verizon app definitely helped solidify everything. And don't be surprised if pictures of this device start leaking out by the minute as we get closer and closer to an official unveiling at CES in 2 weeks. Who's buying? (/me raises hand.) Via: Gizmodo

OpenFeint Unleashes New Wave of Games Including Mega Jump, Finger Physics and FaceFighter Gold

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:04:29 +0000

OpenFeint just dropped a whole bunch of awesomeness on you in time for a long X-mas weekend with crazy in-laws and bad sweaters. After today's batch of 11 games hits the market, the total from them will have reached 158 which is pretty remarkable. Of the 11 you'll see today, we have some big time players like Mega Jump, Finger Phyiscs and FaceFighter Gold which were all hits over on the enemy side and have now made their way to the soon-to-be winning side. Full list after the break, plus an X-mas giveway from OpenFeint.

Aliens require Brains - Humble Gaming Ltd - $0.99 Astraware Casino - Astraware - $0.99 Can Knockdown - Infinite Dreams Inc – Free FaceFighter Gold - Appy Entertainment - $1.99 Finger Physics - PressOK Entertainment - $0.99 Galaxy NGC3D - HyperBees Ltd - $0.99 Impossible Level Game - HyperBees Ltd – $1.49 Letter Rip! - Anthrological – Free Mega Jump - Get Set Games – Free Sky Force Reloaded - Infinite Dreams Inc - $1.50 Super Drill Panic - OrangePixel - $1.36

Solid list right? A whole lot of "free" on there that should allow you to easily kill off the rest of 2010. Giveaway info: (from OpenFeint)

Any Android user who downloads one of these games and turns on OpenFeint will be automatically entered into our Ho-Ho-Holiday giveaway. We’re giving away a $50 gift card on Thursday, a $75 gift card on Friday, and a Barnes & Noble Nook Color (soon to be updated with Android). Games can be found in our Game Spotlight app.

Oh, there is a $.99 Mega Jump on the market, but it's just some random livewallpaper. Ignore it. The game is free. Have fun!

Motorola Tablet Will be Released as the XOOM?

Kellen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:16:34 +0000

Trademark filings by Motorola from around the globe for the word "XOOM" have surfaced and are leading many to believe that this is in fact the name of the much anticipated Honeycomb tablet that will be unveiled in just 14 days at CES. Filings were made in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and of course the U.S., so we're thinking major global push here, right? They did ask if we were all ready to "skip a generation" yesterday and it's now pretty obvious that this tablet is hoping to change our mobile computing ways forever. I surely hope they succeed. My only concern is that the name sounds a lot like "Zune." Or am I just crazy? Video of the Motorola tablet in action. Hi-res pictures. Unofficial specs. Via: PocketNow Cheers BenJA!

HTC Leaks Crafty Teaser Shots of Incredible HD

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:58:55 +0000

Could a planned leak get anymore obvious? HTC clearly just sent out pictures of an upcoming device to a variety of blogs, that we're assuming is the new Incredible HD. Of course, we can't actually tell, because the "anonymous tipster" managed to hide every piece of the phone that would give it away. Silly HTC. Two more shots after the break.

Via: SlashGear, Engadget, Android Central

Verizon Will Have a 4G LTE Motorola Phone

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:28:26 +0000

Verizon's COO John Stratton, confirmed today that Motorola will indeed have a 4G LTE offering some time next year. And while we're pretty sure that phone is codenamed "Etna", no one would confirm any other details including Moto. Stratton did however, offer up the strength of the relationship between them and the "DROID" founders, which likely means this device he's talking about will fall under our favorite brand name...

"We've got LTE smartphones on the horizon," Verizon's Mr. Stratton said. "Motorola will be right there." "Over last 13 months, they have done a very good job in supporting our business and have worked their way up into almost a preferred vendor," Mr. Stratton said. "They have been driving our Droid strategy."

None of you are surprised though, right? The interesting thing here is the fact that they could have multiple 4G LTE devices out at the same time since the Motorola Everest tablet is also rumored to be capable of utilizing their new network. 15 days from now and we'll know everything. Via: WSJ, Engadget

Tuesday Poll: Android Phone Manufacturer of Choice?

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:45:11 +0000

When this Android game was getting a major kick start last year from the original Droid, Motorola seemed to be the manufacturer of choice with a phone built to last and also running a non-skinned version of Android. Since then though, we've seen Moto take extra steps to lock their phones down while companies like Samsung and HTC seem to be a little more accepting of the fact that people want to actually control their devices. So I've been wondering, what is your current favorite when it comes to phone makers? For your next phone, are you only considering one from a certain company? [poll id="41"]

ComiXology beta brings Marvel, DC to your Android

Matt Demers — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:00:02 +0000

Besides being a huge Android dork, I spend most of my time reading comic books. While I'm definitely partial to the nice feel of glossy paper, the transition to digital comics has had its own advantages; like digital sales of games, it makes things easier when older titles might be out of print, or rare to find. While Android has had a fairly nice comic viewer on the market for awhile in Droid Comic Viewer, a problem arises in the fact that it's used for viewing .cbr and .cbz files. These formats (Comic Book Rar and Comic Book Zip, respectively) are fan-created, and usually used for possibly-pirated scans. In short, there's no way for big publishers like Marvel and DC to release their titles in this format without opening themselves up to the possibility of piracy.

ComiXology somewhat solved this; formed in 2007, they gained prominence through offering a way for people to get comics digitally while remaining secure. They gained credibility by offering what many digital stores lack: selection. The company partners with Marvel, DC and many other smaller publishers to give a comprehensive comics package to fans who're looking to read their comics on their phones or tablets. While apps have been available for iPad/iPhone for awhile now, the Android version is just making its way to the marketplace now. [update: Marvel apps are inexplicably absent from the store, even though they're advertised on the website. This is kind of... weak.] And no, this app is not some cobbled-together port of the iOS app. It's a fully featured, well-crafted program for reading comics on a touch-enabled screen, and a competent, functional marketplace to go along with it. It takes what comic collectors need, like a well-organized library, and makes it accessible to the average user. The company has clearly put some work into this app, and it shows through. I mention this user-friendliness because all too often have I loaded up an "indie" app and found it a pain to use; sometimes it's worth it to pay for quality.

Navigation of comics is achieved through a rule-of-thirds tapping system, along with pinch-to-zoom gestures. This is all well and good, but the program sometimes makes assumptions to where you want to go; the tapping motions sometimes take you panel-to-panel, or top-half of a panel to bottom-half, or page-to-page. It just makes things confusing when they aren't consistent, so more often than not I'm looking at the fully-zoomed out page, tapping or pinching to zoom in where I want to see. This is a more intuitive system, I find, because the user's in a lot more control. They don't have to worry about missing anything, just because the program hasn't defined it as "in order". I applaud them for trying, though, and having a comic-based tutorial earns ComiXology points. The marketplace and library are easy to navigate and sort, which is imperative. You can sort and search by author, keyword, publisher, artist - pretty much anything you can think of. Purchases are tied to your account, and you can download and view them whenever you want. As far as I know, there aren't any DRM measures that give you a certain amount of downloads; for those of you familiar with Valve's Steam system, it's a lot like that - you buy comics through the service, and have to use them through the service. There's no way to view your comics outside of the app. However, prices are set by individual companies, so there's little consistency between issues. One thing that I found in the market is that you can't rate comics until you buy them. I thought this was a novel way of keeping review spam down and eliminating the drama of getting those good reviews. Yelp and Amazon annoy me with that latter practice. But otherwise, if you like comics and don't mind reading them on your phone/tablet, pick up comiXology. They have the selection monopoly, the ease-of-use and the system to make it a successful venture. I, however, won't be, because I like the look of a shelf full of books, or a longbox full of single issues. That's just me, though.

DROID Incredible Owners Receive One of the First Really Polished Gingerbread ROMs

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:06:28 +0000

Good news for Droid Incredible owners, you may have the first-almost-fully functional Gingerbread ROM thanks to r2DoesInc over at XDA Forums. As of late last night, the newest build fixed almost everything that would cause you to not use it except for video recording and a working GPS. Other than that though, the browser now works fine, the camera snaps shots, and things like multi-touch have all been polished up. This seriously is ready for a full test drive from our crew of DI owners. Find full support and the newest download links at this thread. Video action after the break. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQ2hsR-aQw[/youtube] Cheers IncDoes!

BattMonX Brings Life to Your DROID X LEDs While Charging

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:39:42 +0000

If you have an LED light on your phone, why not get full use out of it? If you could specify a color on your Droid X or Droid 2 while it was charging, wouldn't that make life a lot easier? The Incredible already has this feature built in, but for some reason Motorola decided it wouldn't matter to users. They were wrong. We'd like to introduce you to an app called BattMonX which allows you to customize how your LED lights are displayed while your phone is charging, discharging, has low battery, or even becomes fully charged. You can find out everything there is to know about BattMonX here. Oh, it's free in the market.

Download Link

Cheers Picolas!

Motorola Tablet Teaser Site and Countdown Go Live

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:45:13 +0000

Yesterday, Motorola teased the world with their tablet evolution video, and today they've started the official countdown to its unveiling. We are fully expecting this tablet to be "DROID" branded, has been hiding under the codename Everest, and will run Honeycomb, but the official name has been locked up behind the tightest NDAs ever. You can see it in action at this video, high-res pictures of it here, and some unofficial specs here. It's going to be amazing. And how about another look at that teaser video? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI2I8wLPdc[/youtube] Visit the countdown site here and sign up to be notified.

Motorola Milestone Froyo Update Pushed Back to Q1 2011

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:15:01 +0000

At this point, shouldn't we just start to assume that Motorola has moved on from Milestone users and is instead focusing on new devices with newer versions of Android? The phone is the exact same device as the original Droid who is now running 2.2.1, yet the carrier partners can't figure out a way to get even 2.2 running on it? Are they struggling with how pieces of bloatware to include? There shouldn't be a hold up. I apologize for the rant, but this is one of the top selling devices of all time and there are thousands of users in dozens of countries that are stuck on an OS that is about to be 2 stages behind. Unacceptable. Via: Motorola Europe Cheers Eric!

Themed New Android Market Pops Up in Red, Blue and Black

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:06:03 +0000

You all have the new Android Market now, right? If the green is a little much, and your darker side would like something in red, blue or black, then you'll want to check out this XDA thread. A couple of members (jeffsanace, fernando sor and thebowers) put together 3 versions for you to try, but you should be warned that the process doesn't appear to be all that simple. This isn't a quick .apk install and instead requires a few extra steps.

Make sure if you have a market installed in system/app that the v in vending is capitalized or this will not delete your old market. Also If you have been silently updated the market will be in data/app/ Com.somthinggoogle market. Not sure exactly what it says. Also check data/data. Delete anything in data/app or data/data that is google market. Do not delete market updater though you can freeze that with titanium backup premium. If you had trouble installing and then figured it out please post the steps you took.

That make any sense to you? Feel free to check out the entire thread and comments like this for help.

SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 is Your 3D UI Replacement, Sign Up to Test It

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:07:39 +0000

Anyone interested in signing up to test a new Android UI? A company called SPB Software has created what looks to be more than just a home replacement and may fall in line with the experience we once hoped for from TAT Home. It's a "3D" experience and from the video below, actually looks fairly impressive, especially when you see how quickly it responses to any on-screen gesture. Let's just hope they actually allow more than 10 NDA'd people to test it. Sign up for the beta. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROca7ao-Tqw[/youtube] Cheers MattC!

DROID X Does Lunar Eclipse Photos

Kellen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:47:09 +0000

How beautiful and impressive is that? Would you be even more impressed if we told you it was taken with a Droid X? Well, according to one of our readers who snapped the shot, it was done using just that plus a telescope. Amazing. Cheers @freshgeardude!

Contest: Win 1 of 5 NDrive Navigation Licenses! (Updated)

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:30:18 +0000

Our friends over at NDrive reached out to us and asked if we'd be willing to help them give away 5 licenses for their navigation product on Android and of course we said yes. Giving prizes away to readers is probably our favorite thing to do! So the contest is simple as usual, and winners will be picked at the beginning of next week on December 27th. Update: NDrive has decided to up the ante and is giving away 4 USA map licenses ($26 value) and 1 full North America map license ($52 value) as a grand prize. Yay! Update 2: winners were originally to be picked everyday, but they will instead be chosen at the end of the beginning of next week (December 27th). The change was due to the addition of the new grand prize. Here is what you have to do: 1. Follow both @NDrive and @Droid_Life on Twitter. 2. Tweet the following message:

"Win a FREE license from @NDrive for their Android application! Details here - http://goo.gl/M10Rg #ndrivewin"

And that's it! A simple Twitter follow and a retweet and you are entered. The guys at NDrive will contact you via Twitter should you win. More information on NDrive's navigation product can be found here. Good luck!

Bugless Beast V0.6 Released with Bits of Gingerbread

Tim — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:46:09 +0000

It has arrived. In an interview we had with Pete not too long ago, he announced that Bugless Beast Version 0.6 would be a 'from source' ROM. Mmm, from source. It has been released and just in time for it to snag some nice goodies from Gingerbread. Even from first boot I can tell people will like this. With only an 800MHz kernel running, this thing flies. So after the jump get the download link and have yourself a scoop of Bugless! Instructions:

For OG DROID Only Please!

1. Place the Bugless Zip file on your SD Card and make sure to Wipe Data and Cache. 2. But before doing all that, please make a backup! Download: Bugless Beast Version 0.6 Chanelog: Android Overdrive You can also find in ROM Manager for easy installation. Enjoy! [gallery]

Swype Beta Re-opens to the Public for the Holidays

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:55:05 +0000

Good news for those of you who missed out on the last opening of the Swype beta! Starting today, anyone with an Android phone can head over to beta.swype.com and register for the beta program. They are calling this a "limited time" offer, so be sure to get over there now. Oh, and there is a new version for those of you already dominating some Swype.

New Changelog | Announcement

DROID X Theme: TRON for RubiX Focused 1.9.0

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:49:22 +0000

Since TRON opened to mass audiences this weekend, we thought we'd celebrate it with a theme for anyone running RubiX 1.9.0 on their Droid X. I'm a little surprised that it only pulled in $43M in its opening weekend, but we're still down to have some fun with it. So, themer extraodinaire RoLa put this theme together and as always, left little untouched.

Download: TronX1.0.zip | Wallpapers | Icon Pack Instructions:

*Droid X running RubiX Focused 1.9.0 only!

1. Download the TronX1.0.zip from above and drop it on your SD card. 2. You need to run Koush’s Bootstrap Recovery. 3. Open the DX Bootstrap and “boostrap” the recovery. 4. When that finishes, “reboot recovery.” 5. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 6. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone. 7. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 8. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the TronX1.0.zip , select it and hit “yes.” 9. Your phone will apply the theme. When it finishes, reboot and enjoy! Support thread can be found here. Apex users will want to pay attention to this thread. Cheers Javonte!

Android Developers Team Wants You to Root Your Phone, Hopes Manufacturers Catch On

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:03:03 +0000

A post just went up over at the Android Developers Blog titled 'It’s not “rooting”, it’s openness' and might be the single greatest thing we've seen posted in the Android community in a long time. Nick Kralevich, one of the security engineers for Android, talks about leaving devices like the Nexus S and One open, so that users can "install custom operating systems" in a legitimate way, rather than by finding a security exploit to gain root access. He then goes on to talk about manufacturers and a hope for them to recognize that there are ways to allow unlocking of a phone without compromising the integrity of a mobile network or the rights of content providers...

Unfortunately, until carriers and manufacturers provide an easy method to legitimately unlock devices, there will be a natural tension between the rooting and security communities. We can only hope that carriers and manufacturers will recognize this, and not force users to choose between device openness and security. It’s possible to design unlocking techniques that protect the integrity of the mobile network, the rights of content providers, and the rights of application developers, while at the same time giving users choice. Users should demand no less.

Now if only they could post up information like this on a daily basis, so that we can maker sure companies are realizing the advantages of rooting to the consumer. We're lookin' at you Motorola! Via: Android Developers

Monday Poll: More Excited About Honeycomb Tablets or 4G LTE Phones?

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:28:34 +0000

In two weeks, when CES gets underway and we start to see a handful of 4G LTE Android devices plus some Honeycomb tablets, you are going to have to make some decisions. Do you want to be on the cutting edge of technology with a tablet and the newest version of Android or do you just want the fastest phone possible? Maybe you will buy both and rule the world? For the sake of having a good poll though, we're making you choose one or the other. [poll id="40"]

Video: Motorola Teases Honeycomb Tablet for CES

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:48:04 +0000

Hello ultimate CES teaser. Motorola posted a new video this weekend which walks through the evolution of the "tablet" by starting off with an Egyptian Hieroglyphic and eventually moving past both the i*ad and Galaxy Tab before finishing off with what we believe to be a covered Everest tablet. The video then ends with a bee flying towards the new red Motorola logo, meaning Honeycomb is upon us and the 2011 CES will be epic. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI2I8wLPdc[/youtube] Via: Androinica Cheers Jim!

Verizon Confirms 4G LTE Android Handsets for CES in January

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:39:27 +0000

The message above was just tweeted from the official Verizon Wireless Twitter confirming that we'll have plenty of 4G LTE Android devices on display January 6th at CES. In even better news, expect the entire Droid Life staff to be on hand for a ridiculous amount of coverage. Incredible HD anyone? Maybe the Motorola Etna? Or how about the Motorola Everest tablet? Two weeks! Via: BGR

First Gingerbread ROMs for Original DROID Released

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:00:09 +0000

The first Gingerbread ROMs for the original Droid are starting to pop up and for the most part, people are super excited about the performance they've seen while running them. These are first attempts though and they lack ALL Google Apps, so you won't get the full experience, but so far, people have nothing but great things to say. In fact, most people would switch to these immediately should they actually include any of the GApps. Download: neubanks89 (without GApps): gingerbread_sholes.zip | Download: steinman (nandroid w/ GApps): Gingerbread-4-OG-Droid.zip Instructions: (2 sets)

*Original Droid ONLY.

1. Download the neubanks89 file from above and drop it on your SD card. 2. Boot your phone into recovery, make a backup, wipe data (factory reset) and then "install from zip." 3. Enjoy! or... 1. Download the steinman nandroid file from above and unzip the folder onto your SD card. 2. Move folder to /clockwork/backup. 3. Boot into recovery and make a backup of current set up. 4. Wipe data (factory reset) and then go to "backups and restore" and "restore." 5. Choose the steinman nandroid folder and restore it. 6. Enjoy! Let us know what you think! Is the OG capable of running Gingebread? Support thread here and here. Cheers Adam and Cody!

New DROID Incredible Kernel Allows 10-point Multi-touch

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:07:05 +0000

Anyone been looking for the ability to have all 10 fingers on their Droid Incredible at the same time? Your prayers have been answered, thanks to XDA member tchebb who has created a new kernel which unlocks 10-point multi-touch. He's been running it for over a month now without any issues and admits that it gets a little wishy-washy above 5 touches, but that all 10 will work. Fun stuff. Download can be found at this thread. Flash the file in recovery just like you would any other ROM. Via: XDA Cheers Byron!

Anyone Else Experiencing Market Issues?

Kellen — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:46:24 +0000

Anyone else receiving that message this morning when trying to access your "My Apps" section of the Android Market? According to our inbox, it seems like many of you are seeing the same thing including me. We haven't heard an official word from any of our Googler friends, but we'll be on the lookout. In the mean time, feel free to let us know if your market is playing nicely in the comments. Cheers Mike, David, Jeremy!

The Dirty Details of the New Google Maps 5

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:37:10 +0000

The new Google Maps 5 may have changed the way we use our phones for the foreseeable future with the new set of features that came with it. Your Maps app will now display 3D versions of cities, load faster, cache maps for offline viewing, and even allow you to navigate without a connection. It's pretty amazing stuff and Google wants you to know more about it. Today, they released the secret behind this amazing new app, which they are calling "vector graphics." What are vector graphics? And how do they differ from the previous Maps approach?

...it may be helpful to understand how maps were created before. Previously, Google Maps downloaded the map as sets of individual 256x256 pixel “image tiles.” Each pre-rendered image tile was downloaded with its own section of map imagery, roads, labels and other features baked right in. Google Maps would download each tile as you needed it and then stitch sets together to form the map you see. It takes more than 360 billion tiles to cover the whole world at 20 zoom levels! Now, we use vector graphics to dynamically draw the map. Maps will download “vector tiles” that describe the underlying geometry of the map. You can think of them as the blueprints needed to draw a map, instead of static map images. Because you only need to download the blueprints, the amount of data needed to draw maps from vector tiles is drastically less than when downloading pre-rendered image tiles. Google Maps isn’t the first mobile app to use vector graphics—in fact, Google Earth and our Navigation (Beta) feature do already. But a combination of modern device hardware and innovative engineering allow us to stream vector tiles efficiently and render them smoothly, while maintaining the speed and readability we require in Google Maps. Just try it out and see for yourself!

What about this offline navigation trick? How does that work?

With Google Maps Navigation (Beta), you’ll also see the benefits of additional caching with offline rerouting. This feature is only possible because Navigation caches not only map data but also data like turn restrictions for the areas surrounding your route. You’ll still need to be connected when you first start a trip to download and cache your route. But this way, even if you take a wrong turn after losing your connection, Navigation can use the cached data to get you back on your way. We will be rolling this feature out gradually over the next few weeks.

There is a ton of additional info that goes into much greater detail over at the Google Mobile Blog and I highly recommend that you check out . This new version of Maps really is going to change everything and Google promises that this is only the start. Hit up this link to see the new Google Maps 5 in action.

Android Gaming Madness: Need For Speed Shift, Spiderman and Dungeon Defenders

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:48:14 +0000

It seems like only yesterday that we were all sitting back and complaining about the gaming situation on Android and how in order for us to compete with the i*hone, we would need bigger companies to start releasing some of their big titles. Well, it looks like that time is more than here, as we're seeing major releases drop on a daily basis. GameLoft with their anti-market approach is still pumping out amazing games, EA is ready to push forward with their lineup, and of course we have the dozens of titles out from companies choosing to release through OpenFeint. Times are good right now, but this is only the beginning. Dungeon Defenders, the first Unreal Engine game, should be out by the 23rd of this month and we're hoping will start an amazing new wave of games. Anything made on the Unreal Engine is usually ridiculously polished, so we can only hope that there are more games from this platform around the corner. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeyQ-PC_cwc[/youtube] Need for Speed Shift is available in the market now for everyone. It had previously only been available to select handsets like the Droid X, but the rest of you can enjoy it for $4.99. An incredibly popular racing game that is about as solid on graphics and gameplay as you'll find. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l19CBS9H3s0[/youtube] And finally, GameLoft released Spiderman: Total Mayhem which for now, seems to only be available if you visit gameloft.com from your mobile device. Too many great options for gaming. Via: Droid Gamers (2), Android and Me Cheers James!

Verizon Really Wants You to Buy an R2-D2 DROID 2

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:15:53 +0000

We broke the news yesterday that the R2-D2 Droid 2 had seen a price drop to $199 and this morning, Verizon started telling the rest of world about it. Anyone on the VZW DROID email list should have received this email some time today to try to get them to buy this limited edition Droid. They even made it sound like the device would be sold as a "gift set" that includes a desk charger, ear buds and more, when we all know that stuff came with it from the beginning. Drop that bad boy to $99 and I may think about it. Cheers Aaron and all others!

Download: Gingerbread Keyboard for ALL Devices

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:56:54 +0000

XDA Forums member hotaru released the Gingerbread keyboard as an .apk file for all users to install and enjoy. Yep, that means you don't have to be rooted! As you can see from the screenies above, I installed it with ease on my stock, non-rooted OG Droid running FRG83D. Download links after the break! Download: Keyboard for 2.2 | for 2.1 All you need to do is download the keyboard from above that matches your Android OS, tap on the file when it finishes, hit install and enjoy! Support thread at XDA. Via: Android Police

Custom OG DROID Friday: Christmas Theme for MIUI

Tim — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:02:50 +0000

Is it Friday already? Seems like this week has flown by with so much being released. "Gingershred" as I like to call it, Google Maps 5, and I just found out my new roommate is a cat? So here we are. One week away from the pinnacle of the holiday season and I give you the Christmas Theme for MIUI by developer Frankinstine. Really puts me in the mood for Christmas presents!

This is available for multiple devices. Please check this list for your device. This post however, is for the OG DROID only. Thanks!

I'm hoping everyone here has tried out MIUI. What a blast. Definitely gives new life to a device that is over a year old now. And trust me, that's not easy to do. So if you would like to check out MIUI, please download it and flash as you would any other ROM. Then we can move onto the theme! Also note, the ROM I link is being updated very shortly. Keep your eye locked HERE for when the update is available. Installation Instructions: 1. Download this gem from the following link: Download Here 2. Place .zip file on your SD Card in the following directory - "/sdcard/miui/theme" 3. Open up Theme manager application and click Christmas Theme. 4. Reboot phone and enjoy some happy holiday spirit! If you look in the gallery I even gave Terminal Emulator a little bit of a Christmas vibe. Red on Black. Yum. And check out that sweet Gilt widget. Jealous, much? Most likely not. But on a quick personal note, my bandmates call me Mr. GQ. Why? Cause I dress cleaner than Marty McFly. And you'll likely notice that amazing wallpaper I have. I know you want it. So like the good mommy bird I am, I provide sustenance for you all. Big "I heart you" to Koveleski for the hook up. Have a great holiday everyone! -Tim-o-tato [gallery]

Rumor: Honeycomb is Actually Android 2.4? Will be Announced in February?

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:45:12 +0000

It makes sense right? Why would Google jump from version 2.3 all the way up to 3.0? Were we all thinking "Android 3.0" because it was made specifically for tablets and is expected to have a new UI? Possibly. Well, our buddy Taylor from Android and Me, heard from one of his developer pals who has been operating under the impression that 3.0 will NOT be the next version of Android to follow Gingerbread and instead will be 2.4. It'll still be called Honeycomb, but since it will work on both phones and tablets, there was no need for it to be in its own numbering series. Maybe 3.0 was an early number thrown out, but once Google figured out that Honeycomb could run on multiple devices they decided to to drop it back down? Or maybe it was just some random number tossed out by a blog. Who knows. The other part of this rumor is the real exciting part though, but one that has me a little concerned. There is a chance that Eric Schmidt will announce Android 2.4 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February as one of the keynote speakers. This could be an epic unveiling, but what concerns me, is the fact that Gingerbread won't even be released for most devices by then, which means we'll have another version out there to drool/worry about? Can't you just see it now? "OMG! Motorola/HTC/Samsung FAIL! We don't even have Gingerbread yet!" Yikes. To see Honeycomb in action, check out this video of Andy Rubin with the Droid tablet. Via: Android and Me

Gingerbread Source Code Released, Headed to AOSP Now

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:09:22 +0000

Get ready for our lovely ROM developer community to spend their entire weekend hacking away at Gingerbread (Android 2.3) source code. Googler extraordinaire Jean-Baptiste Queru is pushing it to AOSP (Android Open Source Project) now and should have it ready for all the fun in a couple of hours. More info can be found here.

LinkedIn App Available as Beta on Android

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:13:55 +0000

LinkedIn decided to join the Android game with the release of a beta app for all of you "connection" and networking addicts out there. This first release has a solid list of features and will allow you to respond to invites, view updates in your network, search people, and keep in touch with your current connections. Not bad right? Well to get the app, you have to join their special group which will provide you with instructions. Update: You can download the application right here. More info at the LinkedIn Blog. Cheers to everyone who sent this in!

Touiteur is a "Misspelling" of the Word Twitter, Asked to Change Name

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:33:20 +0000

At almost the same time an update was released to popular Twitter application Touiteur, the company behind it (Level Up Studio) was asked to change their name as "Touiteur" is essentially a "misspelling" of the word Twitter. Yikes. And when we say "asked", we mean that Twitter actually asked them to change it. Vote for the name change at this site.

Download: Updated Google Search App from Nexus S

Tim — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:45:01 +0000

Why do we continue to bring you the most up to date stuff on the planet? Maybe cause we love you? Yea, we'll leave it at that. We've already brought you basically everything Gingerbread offers. We might as well start having a Nexus S giveaway...keep dreaming! Again, a huge shout out to Pete Alfonso for the love! Next up we have the updated Google Search apk which takes you to version1.1.2.79397 and is the same one that rolled out with the new Nexus S. We messed with it and didn't see too much different, but we won't know for sure until it gets officially released. We want to make sure our users have the most up to date everything though, so after the jump we'll have the instructions and download link!

You will flash these are zips in recovery. Please make a backup before attempting!

Download: Google Search.zip Instructions:

*DROID X and 2 users, you will need to go into “mounts and storage” and “mount system” first.

1. Place zips on root of SD card. 2. Boot into recovery and select "Install from SD Card" 3. Navigate to zip and install! Enjoy all the fun googies, everyone! And of course, another huge thanks to Pete. What a sweet guy. Please feel free to follow him on Twitter.

DROID 2 Global Update Ready to Go, Fixes Global Calling Bugs

Kellen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:00:07 +0000

According to the document above which was created on December 7th, a Droid 2 Global update is ready to roll out and improve all of the global features in this 1.2GHz beast. We don't have word as to when it'll roll out, but for those of you running into issues while bouncing from country to country, this update should help.

Improvements: + Device now prepends 011 to Country Code to send SMS messages. + Device no longer indicates “No Service” after powering up. + Device no longer resets when changing from Global Mode to GSM/UMTS communication. + Device now refreshes the user interface display when switching from GSM/UMTS to Global Mode. + Eliminated the blank screen when dialing the call forwarding string *71. Other improvements: + Improved audio during voice calls. + Reduced user interface lock-ups.

To our D2 Global users out there, let us know if this becomes available. And so you know, this update should fall into the "pull" category which means you can go to Settings>About phone>System updates to check.

The update is only 15.6MB and your phone will be on system version 2.4.330 afterwards.

Angry Birds Seasons Day 16 - High Scores?

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:00:45 +0000

I for the life of me, can't figure out how to get 3 stars on day 16 of Angry Birds Seasons. Been at it for a good 20 minutes now and I've officially given up. Sad I know. Show me what you got though! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

R2-D2 DROID 2 Price Dropped to $199

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:26:21 +0000

The R2-D2 Droid 2 looks like it may not have been such a hot item after all. With limited amounts of inventory apparently available at launch, the device was supposed to sell out within minutes, only that never happened. With devices sitting on store shelves for almost 3 months now and Verizon unable to sell them, the price has been dropped just in time for a last X-mas push to $199. Cheers 0mie!

Dolphin Browser HD Updated “for the coming Christmas gift”?

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:15:40 +0000

Huh? The "coming Christmas gift"? In the newest update to Dolphin HD that came out this morning, those exact words are found in the "Recently changed" items list and we demand to know what they mean! Are they talking about Gingerbread? The Nexus S? Something bigger and better? What! We're digging for more, but in the mean time, feel free to drop your ideas in the comments below! Cheers jaytrain!

LG B Photos Leak, Might be the Thinnest Smartphone Ever

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:33:57 +0000

A new LG Android phone codenamed the "B" has surfaced over at Phandroid and it looks like the thinnest and possibly brightest smartphone on the planet. You can see in the shot above how it compares to the i*hone which is supposed to be the thinnest according to those annoying ads, but this new phone is about to squash that notion. And if you dive down into the gallery, you'll see how amazing it's new LCD screen is compared to both the i*hone's and a Galaxy S device. This is nuts. The phone is said to be going through the standard final build stage, but from these pictures, we're thinking it might be close. Just in time for CES maybe? Looks like LG is ready to make a serious comeback after announcing the world's first Tegra 2 phone last night and this phone today. A ton of additional info can be found over at Phandroid. [gallery link="file" orderby="title"]

GameLoft Offers Up Modern Combat Sandstorm for FREE through GetJar (Updated)

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:55:05 +0000

GameLoft is looking to make some friends back this week after some interesting thoughts were expressed about them throughout the interwebs. They've released Modern Combat Sandstorm for free through app gurus, GetJar! There is a chance that Let's Golf HD is also available for free, but I was unable to find it. If you do find it on GetJar's website, feel free to drop a link to it in the comments. Oh, Sandstorm will require an additional 103MB of data to be downloaded to your SD card, but you are good with that right? And I must say, the graphics are this game are impressive. Hopefully the gameplay can keep up. Update: Just went through the training of the game and it's pretty awesome. Moving on to actual gameplay and then we'll know for sure. You'll definitely want to grab this while it's free though. Update 2: Looks like they might just be demos. You can move on with your life now. Download here. Via: Droid Gamers, Phandroid

Download: Nexus S Microbes Live Wallpaper (Updated)

Tim — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:17:25 +0000

Our buddy Pete Alfonso, who gave everyone the first Gingerbread keyboard port is back, only this time with one of the new live wallpapers from the Nexus S. The live paper is called Microbes and is a fun replacement for the Nexus light bar one we've seen so often. It's interactive, looks pretty and seems like a mesh between a Galaxy S paper and one from the original Nexus device. Update: Here is the .apk version for ALL users courtesy of @Haxzamatic! (Download) Download: MicrobesLWP.zip (alt link) Instructions:

*Rooted users only.

1. Download the file from above and drop it on your SD card. 2. Boot your phone into Clockwork Recovery. 3. Choose "install zip from sdcard." 4. Then "choose zip from sdcard" and find the MicrobesLWP.zip file.

*DROID X and 2 users, you will need to go into "mounts and storage" and "mount system" first.

5. Select it, install it and enjoy! Everyone be sure to thank Pete and follow him on Twitter! @PeterAlfonso. His website.

Google Releases App Inventor For All...

Tim — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:45:30 +0000

...to instantly forget about, again. Google is just handing out the love this holiday season! Gingerbread, Google App Inventor, now Google Maps 5. Tis the season to be fanboi indeed. Months ago Google allowed people to sign up to be part of the Google Apps project which is basically a program that helps you build applications for the Android platform. Sounds fun right? So now, no more wait list! You can jump right into the fun now and start building your very own "Kitteh App". Google obviously has a lot of confidence in users these days. Just look at this inspirational quote,

"We are so impressed with the great things people have done with App Inventor, we want to allow more people the opportunity to do great things. So we’re excited to announce that App Inventor (beta) is now available in Labs to anyone with a Google account."

So go off and create breathtaking apps you guys and girls! Someone finally make me I Am T-Pain for Android, please?! Skip to 0:11 to see Kitteh App be built right before your eyes! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ADwPLSFeY8[/youtube] -Tim-o-tato Source: Google Blog

Video: Google Maps 5 with 3D in Action

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:52:00 +0000

No need to do one of those cheesy "hands-on with the new Google Maps" videos as Google has taken care of it in a much more entertaining way. Check out 3D viewing, twisted-zooming and compass action to the beat of a sweet hipster tune. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAh4yiCzgKw[/youtube]

Google Maps 5 Updated to Include 3D Maps and Offline Navigation

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:06:57 +0000

Google Maps 5 with 3D maps is out! Go grab that sucker now and start dominating a world in multiple dimensions... With this new version we get:

3D maps as you'll see below.
Twist-viewing to check out cities from different angles.
Compass mode to rotate map to the direction you are facing.
Offline navigation and improved map caching in case you lose connection.

Update 2: A video of the new features has been posted here. Update: A couple of screenshots for you:

Cheers Eugene!

Yahoo IM App Updated to Include Free Voice Calls

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:21:50 +0000

The Yahoo Messenger continues to see some nice improvements with each update and this latest one brings free voice calls and landscape video. That's awesome and all right? Well, at this time, the app only has support for the myTouch 4G and the EVO, which is pretty surprising, especially with so many front-facing camera devices in the wild these days. Hello Galaxy Tab? Hello Nexus S? Updates available in the market for those that can actually use them.

DROID 2 Global and DROID Pro Get Axed at Best Buy

Kellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:31:06 +0000

We got word yesterday from a reader that Best Buy was no longer selling the Droid Pro (our review) and Droid 2 Global and thought, "Wow, that's odd...what's the story BB?" Well according to reports this morning, they may have been "recalled" by Verizon and not because of some defect. No, we're hearing that Verizon was upset at the ridiculously low pricing that BB was offering both devices at which may have broken some sort of contract between the two. Sounds like no one was buying phones from Big Red and they pulled inventory from BB. Drama. Via: Engadget, BGR

Last Reminder: Limited Edition Droid Life Hoodies Sale Ends Tonight!

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:00:00 +0000

You can start the official countdown to the end of our limited edition Droid Life hoodies sale! This was a special 3-day sale that will end tonight at midnight Pacific, so be sure to grab your hoodie for $24.90 now before they disappear forever! Made from heavy fleece, these bad boys weigh in at over 1 pound and are as quality as it gets. Regularly $40, you can't beat this price, plus you'll have the only DL gear on the planet in time for X-mas as they'll be shipping out on Friday. How many of you have already ordered one?

Purchase Here | Sizing Chart

Trillian Finally Lands on Android Market, Is No Longer Free

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:15:42 +0000

Trillian has easily been our app of choice for chatting on Gtalk, Facebook or any other IM app, but today it went official and now comes with a price tag. You can grab this stellar IM app in the market for $4.99...yikes. The beta I have appears to still be working, but I'm guessing they'll figure out a way to kill it before too long. We're also trying to decide what's new or different in the official market version...any guesses?

Download Link

Cheers Mike!

Rocket Bunnies Released on Android!

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:53:21 +0000

Rocket Bunnies is now available on Android and it's free! What the heck is Rocket Bunnies? Think of it as an Angry Birds type of game only it has crazy bunnies involved that fly around in space collecting other bunnies, carrots, and powerups all while avoiding enemies and bombs. Well actually, it's categorized as more of a puzzle game, that requires you to slingshot from planet to planet in the most efficient way possible so that you can walk away with 3 stars and an uber-quick time. I know that my description didn't make a whole lot of sense, so check out the video below and you'll get it. Oh, and this launch is extra special since Defiant Development decided to release it to the good side of the mobile world first. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0fuRys9plo[/youtube]

Download Link

Cheers Drew!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 15 – High Scores!

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:15:43 +0000

Day 15 felt a lot easier than some of the last few we've dealt with, however, I'm sure 56,150 won't be enough to top any of you. We have only 10 days left before X-mas which means the end is near for Angry Birds Seasons! Sad...show me your scores! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Tranquility 3.6.0 Released for DROID X with Theme Changer Toolbox

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:10:24 +0000

Our buddies over at MyDroidWorld put out version 3.6.0 of their Tranquility ROM which includes something only MIUI has been able to do at this point. Through Tranquility's Toolbox, you can change themes that have been preloaded with just a couple of simple clicks. There are currently 6 options including a Gingerbread theme, but the goal is to add more as long as they can get permission from theme developers. So if you have a theme for the DX, you may want to reach out them to see if you can make it into this ROM. Of course, the theme changing ability isn't the only selling point here. It's based off of the 2.2.1 (2.3.340) update that went out for the DX last week, it's own custom launcher, and the backing of one of the Droid community rocks. You can also add or remove Blur on the fly, fiddle with a variety of reboot options, and change boot animations with ease. Download: Tranquility 3.6.0 Download: Toolbox Update with Themes Instructions:

*DROID X only.

1. YOU HAVE TO BE RUNNING official 2.2.1 (system 2.3.340) (2.3.320 could work too). 2. Do I need to say it again? YOU HAVE TO BE RUNNING official 2.2.1. 3. You obviously have to be rooted. (Instructions) 4. You need to have Koush’s Bootstrap Recovery. 5. Open the DX Bootstrap and “boostrap” the recovery. 6. When that finishes, “reboot recovery.” 7. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 8. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone. 9. After that choose “wipe data/factory reset” to wipe your phone. 10. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 11. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the Tranquility.zip, select it and hit “yes.” 12. Your phone will apply the ROM. When it finishes go back into "install zip from SD card." 13. Now choose the Toolbox.zip and apply it. 14. When that finishes, back out, reboot and enjoy!

Tranquility 3.6.0 support here. Toolbox update support here.

Buy a DROID X, Incredible or Pro from Dell and They'll Hand You $25

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:15:51 +0000

Normally when a phone like the Droid X hits the "FREE" category, that's a big enough announcement, but Dell has taken it a step further. If you buy a DX from their online store, not only will you get the device for free, but they'll toss in a $25 gift card with it. Not bad right? We saw this same deal for the Incredible last month, but Dell decided to step their game up for a last minute X-mas push using almost all of the Droid devices. You will find this $25 gift card deal for the Incredible (again), Pro and DX. Who's buying? Buy. Cheers MC!

Gingerbread Theme for ADW Launcher by Koveleski

Tim — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:45:32 +0000

Here we are again. Back to show you how to make your phone look like something that isn't even out yet. Last week we gave you everything that was available: Icons, themes for ROMs, and everything in between. Our good friend Koveleski, who just can't seem to stop releasing good material for the community, has added to the fun. He just recently launched this theme for ADW and has already become top honored on AppBrain. Isn't that sweet? So after the jump we'll provide the QR code and Market link for you to enjoy as well if you bat for team ADW. Here's a nice quote from Dave about the theme -

"This is a very low impact theme. I'm essentially just trying to capture the look of the launcher."

Well there you have it. From the man himself. Placed right below this line is a QR code. Scan it with a Barcode Scanner, or click the "Market Link" from your phones browser and be shot off like a magical star directly to the application on the Market. Enjoy everyone!

Market Link

-Tim-o-tato

Download: Nexus S Gingerbread Live Wallpaper

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:00:22 +0000

Been wanting that new Nexus live wallpaper that comes with Gingerbread and the Nexus S? You are in luck! The amazing minds over at the XDA Forums have released it as an .apk file, but only for those of you that are rooted. You'll want to make a backup of your LiveWallpapers.apk file which is located in /system/app as this will replace it. Also, Blur phone users (Droid X and 2) may have to go into "mounts and storage" and "Mount System" if you choose the update.zip method below. Download: update.zip or LiveWallpapers.apk

Instructions:

*ROOTED users only. *Make a backup of your LiveWallpapers.apk file from /system/app.

Using update.zip file:

*Droid X and 2 users, you will need to "mount system" in recovery first.

1. If you downloaded the update.zip file, you'll need to drop that on your SD card. 2. Boot into recovery, choose "install zip from SD card" and then flash the update.zip file. Using LiveWallpapers.apk: 1. If you chose the LiveWallpapers.apk, you'll need to drop that on your SD card. 2. From there, you'll open Root Explorer, copy the LiveWallpapers.apk into your /system/app folder. 3. You will be asked to replace the current LiveWallpapers.apk file in there. Do it. 4. Reboot your phone and enjoy! Other mirrors and support found over at XDA. Cheers Teague!

Wednesday Poll: Which DROID Device Will Receive Gingerbread First?

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:30:44 +0000

It's time to start placing those bets. Which of our Droid family members will receive the update to Android 2.3 first? Will it be the Blur infested Droid X, 2 or Pro? The stock original Droid? The HTC Sense-filled Incredible? (Seems odd that we have this many phones branded with the word "DROID", yet they all run their own special skin...anyways, back on track!) My first instinct would be to lean towards the Droid X after it had such a huge summer and continues to be used in almost every Verizon ad, but there is something about HTC and the Incredible that has me thinking they'll sneak in an update a few weeks ahead of everyone else. Your thoughts? [poll id="39"]

Verizon Begins Assessing Which Android Devices Will Receive Gingerbread

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:45:26 +0000

We still don't know when or which of our Droid devices will receive Gingerbread (Android 2.3), but we know that Verizon is at least in the process of assessing the situation. Customer service reps are now being asked to tell customers that they are "working with Google as they release source code for device manufacturers to being integration." I know it's not much, but we wanted you to know that it's on their radar. Any bets are which phone will receive Gingerbread first? Ooh...hello poll idea.

Dolphin Browser Mini Lands in Market

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:14:45 +0000

A little over a week ago, we wrote about Dolphin's new Mini browser, which was the company's attempt at making the ultimate light browsing experience. At that time it was still in "preview" mode, but as of last night, it became semi-official and is now available in the market. From just a few minutes with it, I don't see any major differences between this and the preview version, but you'll want to grab the market version to make sure you get prompted for updates. And if you are new to Dolphin, you'll want to check out the chart below.

Download Link

Via: Dolphin Blog

Cheers Jason!

HTC Delivering LTE Handsets Mid-2011, Incredible HD Hits Testers this Week?

Kellen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:42:35 +0000

HTC's CEO Peter Chou announced this week that they'll have a variety of 4G LTE handsets in 2011, but that we shouldn't expect them until at least the middle of the year. While I'm not about to call out their top dog, as he knows much more than I do, I will say that we've heard that the Incredible HD has hit a new wave of testers which usually points to a sooner-than-later release. They were all forced to sign some crazy NDAs, but I wouldn't be surprised if some leaked stuff were to pop up any day now. There is also a chance it will just be called the Incredible 2 or Mecha, which we've heard in the past. Via: WM PowerUser

Reminder: Limited Edition Droid Life Hoodies on Sale!

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:00:36 +0000

Just a quick reminder that our limited edition Droid Life hoodies are still on sale for $24.90, but not for long! They will be removed from the world tomorrow, so be sure to pick one up today. Made from heavy fleece, these bad boys weigh in at over 1 pound and are as quality as it gets. Regularly $40, you can't beat this price, plus you'll have the only DL gear on the planet in time for X-mas!

Purchase Here | Sizing Chart

Angry Birds Seasons Day 14 - High Scores?

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:00:50 +0000

Day 14 of Angry Birds Seasons took me a little longer than expected, but I eventually got that elusive 3 star rating. Now, please feel free to top me! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Facebook Update on Android Brings Chat!

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:06:47 +0000

Holy ****! Facebook for Android finally has chat! Grab the update in the market and start stalking friends now! Oh they also added push notifications which are key plus some additional bug fixes. At least Facebook came through on a slow day. Now if only Google Maps 5 would show up...

Cheers rudyt, imran and Cole!

Tuesday Poll: Thoughts on GameLoft? (Updated)

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:16:22 +0000

A couple of our friends in the industry (here and here) have already posted up some of their choice thoughts today about GameLoft, but as a site with a crazy active community, we wanted to see your thoughts on the company as well. If you aren't familiar with GameLoft, I'll do my best to catch you up in a few short sentences. GL is obviously a gaming company, but they just so happen to be one that makes some of the highest quality and most impressive games you'll ever see on Android. Most of their games are "HD" and include titles like Dungeon Hunter, Let's Golf, N.O.V.A. and Asphalt that can all be had for $4.99. So what's the problem then? Users have grown increasingly frustrated with their lack of a presence in the actual Android Market. At this time, and for the foreseeable future, you can only purchase games at GameLoft's site using a buying process that ranks as one of the worst in the history of online shopping. Users are noticing multiple charges for games on their bank statements and are even having issues downloading and installing games immediately after buying them. Seriously, it's bad. And why is GameLoft forcing users to their site? As far as we know, it has to do with piracy. I can't say I blame them for having concerns as piracy of apps is HUGE in the Android world, but if they are choosing to go this route, then maybe it's time to put together a system that isn't causing customers such heartache. So tell us, have any thoughts on GameLoft in general? [poll id="38"] Update: GameLoft reached out to us after posting this poll to apologize to any customers who ran into double-charging issues while buying games from their store. Oh, if you were double-billed, you will also receive a free game credit...

“Gameloft would like to apologize to those who were affected by the following situation on Gameloft's Android store: We spotted an issue in our billing process that affected 0.05% of all transactions on our stores in December. After having bought one game through a credit card, some customers were charged a second time under certain circumstances. All customers who received extra charges will be automatically refunded for all related game charges directly to their credit card accounts, and will receive a free game credit. This bug has been fixed today. Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience it might have caused some of our customers. If you need further assistance on Gameloft's offer for Android please contact: android.support@gameloft.com Gameloft Customer Service”

Nice to see them come out and admit that an issue was in fact there and then follow it up with some free games. Thanks GameLoft!

Motorola Stadia Trademark Hints at Mobile-to-TV Gaming Device

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:47:04 +0000

Motorola has filed for a trademark of the word "Stadia" which came as a pretty big surprise to us initially, until we saw the description. This new trademark, more than likely has something to do with Moto's CEO Sanjay Jha and the remarks he keeps making about the seamless transition of media from phones to TVs and home entertainment systems. We know that Moto's goal with their upcoming Tegra 2 devices (Olympus, Etna and Everest) is to make an all-in-one multi-media device with extra gaming capabilities and "Stadia" might be the name for those plans. Here is a quick shot from the description:

handheld game device in the nature of hand-held units for playing electronic games for use with external display screen or monitor;

Tegra 2 Everest or Etna streamed somehow to your TV? Sounds like fun to me. Via: Phandroid, Pocket Now

Voice Search Updated, Includes Personalized Recognition

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:00:18 +0000

The Voice Search application for Android just went personal. Actually, a new update is available and includes what "Personalized Recognition" that if enabled, over time, will learn from your voice to help make your searches more accurate. Who didn't want a custom speech model for X-mas?

If you opt into personalized recognition, we begin to associate the recordings of the words that you ask us to recognize with your Google account. We then automatically use these words to build a speech model specifically for you. This speech model enables us to deliver greater recognition accuracy. Although subtle, accuracy improvements begin fairly quickly and will build over time.

For Android 2.2 phones and above, and you'll have to click yes when prompted to begin building your speech empire. Via: Google Mobile Blog Cheers rudyt and Adam!

Words With Friends Coming to Android

Tim — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:30:07 +0000

Scrabble - Sounds like a blast. Oh but wait, now you're saying I can play "Scrabble" on my Android phone? Double blast? Indeed it's true. The extremely popular i*hone application is being ported to the Android platform by the game developers and is expected to make it's first appearance very soon. But can I play with my friends with i*hones? I hope so. I love wiping that smug grin off their faces! But this brings up another subject. Getting more applications from the i*hone platform to come to the GreenSide. Queue Imperial March! We already got the Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds love, but I want to see more. Also, it isn't like we don't already have Scrabble games. There is Scrabble Lite, WordWise, Word Feud, and a ton more, but if any of you know Words With Friends, then you'll know of its pure greatness. Here is a quick quote from the Words With Friends developers,

"We've since hired a team to develop an Android version. They’re actively at work on it at the moment and are getting close to being done, so not too much longer!"

Well there you have it. Soon you'll be testing your brain power against your friends and annoying all your Facebook friends with game invites. Cheers! So now the only question is...When can I expect my favorite application to be ported to Android?!? And can anyone guess what that app may be? Oh you guessed it...I AM T-PAIN! And no people, MicDroid is NOT anywhere close to the quality of I Am T-Pain. -Tim-o-tato Cheers Phandroid for the scoop!

Motorola Olympus MB860 Takes Photos, Makes Picasa Appearance?

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:43:49 +0000

Picasa is at it again! The ultimate leak machine these days for anyone with too much time on their hands, has produced the first pictures from the Motorola Olympus (MB860). They aren't much to look at and the resolution or crop job on some of them is about as weird as it gets, but we may still have discovered something special pictured in the image below:

Is that a Motorola Olympus? It's definitely a Moto device and these pics were definitely taken in their offices, hence the logo in this pic which refers to a successful launch of some sort:

We also took a closer look at the photo below from a different user and while we can't tell what it's referencing, it does mention the words "OLY" and "OLYMP" which would match up to the name we've been hearing for months now.

Fun stuff, right? You should also expect a post every other day now from someone scouring Picasa for the latest MB860 pics! Via: Phandroid

Rumor: Motorola Everest Tablet Will See Super Bowl Launch Party?

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:12:24 +0000

Ready to crank up the rumor engine? How does the Super Bowl sound as an outlet for Motorola and Verizon to announce their 10" Tegra 2 Honeycomb tablet? Currently codenamed the Everest and Stingray, we fully expect it to have "DROID" branding at launch and according to the tipster that dropped the picture above on the world, February 6th in Dallas might be the day to mark on our calendars. To see video of the Motorola tablet in action, check out this post. Thoughts on a February 6th date? Cheers ckeegan!

Calendr is a Nice Minimal Addition to Clockr

Kellen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:41:52 +0000

Our buddy Faruq, who has created some of the best Android apps on the planet like Helix Launcher and QuickDesk, is back with a new entry only this time into the minimalist world. You are all familiar with Clockr, SimiClock, Minimalist Text, etc., but probably not Calendr. Calendr will surely be the minimal option for those addicted to their Gmail calendars that always need to know what's popping up next. It's definitely still in alpha and has zero options, but knowing the developer behind it, I'm sure it'll be top notch in a short amount of time. Grab the alpha below, or at least mark this one down in your reminder file. Download: Calendr.apk Full support thread and donate link here. Cheers Picolas!

Today in Android: LG Star Hands-on, Nexus S Launch Details, Android Wedding

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:58:41 +0000

We thought our Android ornaments were a nice idea, and then we saw the news of a couple going all Android for their entire wedding theme. This chick, is a keeper. And if you screw it up brother, I'm sure there are 10,000 readers from this site that will take your place.

Getting married soon? Go Android theme!
Tester loans LG Star to Engadget...wow.
Buying a Nexus S on Thursday? Here are the details.
NFC Chips will be more than read-only in the near future.

Don't forget to sign up to the Android Life feed for your non-DROID phone news!

Angry Birds Day 13 - Post up your Scores!

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:21:41 +0000

Posting these scores has now become embarrassing...I'm sure most of you can beat 88,270 with the flick of a pinky, but I at least want proof! Post up your Angry Birds Seasons day 13 scores! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

DROID 2 Makes Rhapsody Appearance, DROID X at Video Game Awards

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:18:44 +0000

The Droid 2 is featured in a new Rhapsody commercial called "Awesomer" that actually is awesome. The commercial is flat out silly, but when anyone uses the word "awesome" while referring to a Droid family member and then follows that up with the word "awesomer", you've hooked us. We enjoy simple fun and this commercial is just that. Wait, does anyone use Rhapsody? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg7iguKmjtg[/youtube] Oh, and the Droid X made an appearance that Video Game Awards...

Cheers Anthony and Greg!

Monday Poll: Best Android Text Messaging App?

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:15:28 +0000

We have a reader inspired poll today, that has to do with the best text messaging app. In the past, people were either using Chomp or Handcent, but we've seen some new players recently like GO SMS and HelloTxt, so we're wondering what people are still viewing as the best? Are you using the stock app or something else? Did we miss one on the list? Let us know! Update: Forgot Google Voice! Added to poll. [poll id="37"] Cheers Curtis!

Download: Quick Reboot for Rooted Devices

Tim — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:04:44 +0000

Remember when we were showing off the Hot Reboot app for rooted devices? Well I know some people just couldn't stand paying $0.99 for that, so we're back again with something that should entice you a bit more and that's the Quick Reboot app for FREE. This app was created by Droid-Life's good friend Rob0rz. We're expecting to see a lot of neat work coming from him shortly including ROM's, Apps, and Cats? After the jump we will post the link.

This is a nice, easy to use app that will reboot your phone in no time. Definitely worth the price tag. Thanks Rob0rz! Let him feel the love in the comment section below. And also, if it works or doesn't work, you be sure to let us know in the comment section. -Tim-o-tato Be sure to check out his site: Here

How to: Make Angry Birds X-mas Ornaments

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:46:08 +0000

We posted up the greatest Android ornaments ever last week, and I know you all wished that you could have your own until you found out that set was specially made by a reader for family members. So as to not leave you hanging, we have the next best thing for you. Instructions for making your own Angry Birds ornaments with supplies straight from the dollar store! And we'll now do our best to ease off of the Angry Birds, non-phone stuff. Full instructions over at Excessively Stitching. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Cheers Duane!

Video: Madden 2011 on Android Quick Look

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:00:33 +0000

As most of the Droid X owners out there know, the new 2.2.1 update brought Madden 2011 to Android, a game that so many of you have been waiting for over the last few months. Well, we upgraded to the $9.99 full version to give those of you on the fence a chance to see the game in all its glory and to help you decide if this purchase is for you. I will say that the game runs really well for being a mobile app and comes packed with almost every feature you could ask for in a Madden game. They may have taken their sweet time releasing it and unfortunately only went with this one phone, but at first glance, they seem to have done a nice job. Oh and the 7:13 mark is a chance for everyone to see me put on a clinic. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTCWoLMo8xc[/youtube]

Limited Edition Droid Life Exploded Andy Hoodies On-Sale Now!

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:15:28 +0000

We are more than excited to introduce a limited edition DroidLife sweatshirt from the crew behind the Exploded Andy series of shirts. The hoodie, with DroidLife branding placed neatly under the famous exploded robot, can be purchased for 3 days only and will then disappear forever. This is the first time we've partnered with anyone to bring you DL gear, so be sure to take advantaged of this limited-time offer. How much do they cost though? You can grab one for the ridiculously low price of $24.90. That's right, a sweatshirt that normally sells for $40 can be had for under $25 and will ship this Friday, so that you'll have it in time for X-mas. They are made from a heavy fleece, 80/20 cotton/poly, and weigh a little over a pound. These are nice sweatshirts. Again, 3 days only sale, $25 DL hoodie, limited edition, and you'll have it by X-mas. Awesome.

Purchase Here | Sizing Chart

Hoodie picture after the break.

Buy.

Download: Gingerbread Themed LauncherPro by Benny879

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:30:32 +0000

As many of you know, we're big fans of themes for LauncherPro, so that means this new set of Gingerbread-styled versions are all must-haves. Made by LP forum member Benny879, you have 3 color schemes that all match up perfectly to the new highlights included in Android 2.3 or this awesome Apex ROM we gave you on Friday. To get the look, all you have to do is download a color scheme from below, install it over your current LauncherPro (or uninstall and re-install) and enjoy!

*Make an LP backup though! Preferences>Backup homescreens. *For ALL users.

Download: Dark Background with Green Outline Download: Grey Background with Green Outline Download: Dark Background with Grey Outline Support thread, more mirrors and a chance to say "Thanks!" can be found here. Cheers PatriotVirus!

ESPN Shows Some Love to Angry Birds in Headline

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 07:50:35 +0000

One of the headline writers over at ESPN is most definitely an Angry Birds fan. The headline above was captured during Sunday Night Football just before my boy, DeSean Jackson ripped off a 91-yarder and helped propel the Eagles to another win. The point though, is obviously how big this silly game of sling-shotting birds has become. Not only did this headline appear, but the announcers during yesterday's Blazers/Spurs game also made mention of it. It really has taken over the entire world. Cheers Andrew!

Video: New Android Market First Look

Kellen — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 07:10:31 +0000

If you haven't or couldn't update your phone to the new and more polished Android Market, then check out our quick first look below, so that you can see exactly what you are missing out on. And that was a rude way to start a Monday morning. It really is awesome though. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_mIs_ZYuqw[/youtube]

Motorola Tablet Makes Another Appearance, Is Definitely Headed to Verizon

Kellen — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:29:43 +0000

The much-anticipated Motorola tablet (Everest) has made another appearance, only this time over at Howard Forums courtesy of user wnrussell. This appears to be the same prototype tablet which we first saw from Andy Rubin last Monday (high-res pictures) only this time we have a couple of additional shots providing a few new bits of critical info. The device is definitely headed to Verizon. If you check out the gallery below, we've got Big Red's name featured as clear, well almost as clear as day, which means this will be the Droid tablet. Some specs were confirmed: 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA processor, gyroscope, 32GB built in storage, SD card for more, 512MB of RAM, 1280 x 800 screen, mini-HDMI port, camera, and pure awesomeness. This is the tablet you should be saving your money for. [gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="4" orderby="title"] Via: Howard Forums, Engadget

Angry Birds Seasons Day 12 - Post up some scores!

Kellen — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:59:37 +0000

These seem to be getting harder and harder and harder and harder...or I'm just that awful. Actually, day 12 of Angry Birds Seasons was no where near as difficult as day 11, so I'm as glad as anyway to see that we've moved on from it. So what ya got? Beat 84520? (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Angry Birds Season Day 11 – Post up those Scores!

Kellen — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:55:42 +0000

We skipped yesterday's Angry Birds Seasons post as the number of scores posted seemed to be dwindling on day 9, but had a couple of readers ask about it and wanted to bring it back again. You guys still down for doing this? If you are, toss up those day 11 scores! And man do I suck at this level... (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

More Details on the Android Market Update

Kellen — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:08:00 +0000

It's no secret that the Android Market is receiving a pretty major update over the next few weeks, but we also received this email from the Android Developers team which talks a little more about the developer side of things. Most of the info we told you is confirmed, but they also mentioned different ways for developers to filtering by screen size and densities. Email after the break.

Hello, Over the next several days, we’ll be updating Android Market on devices running Android 1.6 or higher. We’re writing to alert you to several changes being introduced with the update that may affect your applications: * The details page for every app will now utilize and display the app’s “Promotional Graphic” assets at the top. If you haven’t done so already, we recommend uploading “Promotional Graphic” assets for your apps as soon as possible. * Users will be able to filter applications by content rating. If you haven’t added a content rating for your published apps, you should do so immediately at the Publisher site by December 15 -- applications or games without a rating will be treated as “Mature”. * We will be reducing the purchase refund window to 15 minutes. * We will be increasing the maximum size for .apk files to 50MB, from the current 25MB. * Market will support filtering based on screen sizes and densities, as well as on GL texture compression formats. Filtering is based on and elements in an app’s manifest. * If your app includes wallpapers or widgets, Market will automatically add them to new “dynamic” categories, based on their manifest files. Thanks, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on Android Market. Regards, The Android Market Team

Feel free to download and test out the new market here. And be sure to let us know how you feel about the new 15 minute refund policy in today's poll.

Download: New Android Market Version 2.2.6 for All 2.2 Phones (Updated)

Kellen — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 13:34:08 +0000

One of our readers has submitted the new Android Market to us for the world to download. I see that others have posted a version and are reporting issues, but I can say that this one installed on my Droid X running Apex, Incredible running Virtuous, original Droid on stock FRG83D and Galaxy Tab running stock Froyo. Worked flawlessly on all of them and if you want to uninstall should you run into issues, you can do that too.

Download here. (alt link) (alt link 2)

Instructions:

*Only tested on my 2.2 phones. Feel free to test on other Android versions though. *If running any CyanogenMod version, you may want to proceed with caution. Make a backup! *Bugless Beast users are also reporting issues. *Appears to be working on almost any 1.6 and above phone.

1. Download the file from above. 2. When it finishes, tap on it, then "Install", then "Open." 3. Enjoy! If you run into issues, go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications and find "Market." Tap on it and then "uninstall updates." Cheers Rami!

Saturday Poll: Thoughts on New 15 Minute Android Market Refund Window?

Kellen — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 10:00:18 +0000

Moments after we posted up the first shots of what appeared to be a new market, the Android Developers team confirmed that an update was on the way and that policies would be changing. The most important and clearly most controversial move has been the refund limit for app purchases which now stands at 15 minutes. Going from a full 24-hour period down to 15 minutes seems pretty drastic and I've already noticed that there are some strong opinions on the subject. So in classic DL fashion, let's get your thoughts and data into a poll. Thoughts on the refund change? Update: Download the new market here. [poll id="36"]

Breaking: Android Market Receiving Major UI Overhaul (Updated)

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:47:56 +0000

Anyone else have a market that looks like this? We just received these shots from one of our readers and it looks like another silent Android Market update might be going out only this time it doesn't just add a new tab. This is a full on facelift that makes the market look as hot as any app market you'll see on any OS. The interesting thing here is that the new "Related" tab that we were introduced to just a few days ago is already gone and we aren't caring as long as ours looks like this soon. Update 2: Download the new market here. Update: The Android Developers team just announced it. Here are some of the details:

Refund window changing to 15 minutes.
New carousel with featured apps on main page.
Widgets and Live Wallpapers categories added.
Related content added to app page.
Single page app viewing. All info in one place.
Headed to device running 1.6 and above over the next few weeks.
The new version is 2.2.6.

To try to force the update on to your phone, try this:

Settings>Applications>Manage Applications>All>Market and clear data on it.

Check out a bunch of other pics after the break. [gallery link="file" order="DESC" orderby="title"] Cheers Adam!

DROID X ROM: Apex 1.3.0 with Gingerbread by Fabolous

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:43:52 +0000

We already gave you a Gingerbread theme for the original Droid, so now it's time to take care of the Droid X users out there looking for some Android 2.3 loveliness to take them into the weekend. Fabolous, who's Apex ROM has always been a top choice, has released version 1.3.0 which is based off of the new 2.3.340 DX update and has pieces of Gingerbread sprinkled all over it. It's a mostly-Blurless ROM, but has just enough of the good parts that we love. Tough to beat this one. Download: Apex_1.3.0.zip Instructions:

*DROID X ONLY

*I was able to come from stock rooted 2.3.340 without having to wipe.

10. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 11. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the Apex_1.3.0.zip, select it and hit “yes.” 12. Your phone will apply the ROM. When it finishes, reboot and enjoy!

Full support thread can be found here. Donate to Fabolous here.

Friday Poll: Biggest News of the Week?

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:00:56 +0000

We haven't had a week with this number of major stories since July and August when the Droid X and Froyo were on the way, have we? We had the simultaneous Gingerbread and Nexus S coming out parties first thing Monday, Andy Rubin showing off a Motorola tablet with Honeycomb later that night, Google Maps 5 with 3D views, a Droid X update that included Madden 2011, and a minor original Droid update to top it all off. It's been crazy, right? So what was the biggest thing to come out? [poll id="35"]

Greatest Android Ornaments Ever.

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:15:29 +0000

The coolest X-mas ornaments on the planet just hit our inbox and they come courtesy of reader Carlos and his amazing girlfriend (Kristi) who whipped up all of this cute little guys. Hand made from an art clay, baked in an oven to become hard as a rock, and then glossed up to look almost plastic, these have "win" written all over them. And yeah, she even threw in an Angry Birds ornament with an OG Droid in the background. So impressive. Entire collection after the break.

Cheers again Carlos and Kristi!

Motorola Everest Honeycomb Homescreen Pictured, Specs Mentioned

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:39:06 +0000

You are looking at a homescreen picture for the Motorola Everest (allegedly), which is the 10" tablet expected to be headed to Verizon as the "DROID" tablet some time in early 2011. The pic popped up on Mobile01 with a handful of specs from a user claiming to have fondled the device for over an hour. So what does this beauty have packed into it? An NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 2MP front camera, 5MP back camera, gyroscope, 32GB built-in storage plus an SD card slot. The Moto Tablet will also launch as an LTE device, which we've heard in the past. Check out these high-res Motorola Everest pictures from earlier in the week to see what the device actually looks like. Pretty, right? Via: Engadget, Mobile01

Angry Birds Introducing Ad-free Version, In-app Purchases, Mighty Eagle on Android

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:09:58 +0000

New features are coming to Angry Birds and you'll probably like all of them. Who wants an ad-free version of the game? That's coming, after a fee of course. Who wants to buy add-ons to the game? That's coming as the "Bad Piggy Bank", meaning you'll be able to do it in the app and the charges will be applied to your carrier bill. And who wants the Mighty Eagle! You know, that level-skipping beast of a bird? It will be one of those available in-app purchases. No date has been set for the launch of these new features, but Rovio hasn't been one to dilly dally. Oh, they also topped 10 million downloads on Android now. Craziness. Via: TechCrunch, Elisa (video)

DROID Does Destroy Blackberry Sales at Verizon

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:19:48 +0000

Whoa. We knew that the Droid brand had swooped in to steal smartphone market share from just about everyone including RIM and their Blackberry line, but that chart above puts it on a whole other level. With the introduction of the original Droid and the Eris in October of 2009 on Verizon, you can see when the beginning of the end got its jump start for RIM. And throughout the rest of the year, we saw 5 more "DROID" phones plus a handful of other Android devices land on Big Red that all seem to be the choice for future smart phone goers. While Motorola has already jumped well beyond everyone in terms of overall numbers, Samsung, LG, and HTC will surely overtake RIM as well once 4G LTE devices become available. The rest of the numbers after the jump.

Via: All Things D

New DROID X Dialer Introduced on Version 2.3.340

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:36:39 +0000

For some reason, the new enhanced dialer was left out of the Droid X update list and that's too bad, because this is a major improvement in our minds. I know what you are thinking, "A dialer? Seriously, that's post-worthy?", but for those of you who own a Droid X, you know how spotty the contact and dialer system was. The new dialer now displays your most recently dialed number so that you can quickly call them back if needed, and also does a much better job at searching contacts when you start typing in a number. Again, seems minor, but to all of our DX readers out there, you are going to love this. Cheers Possomcrast!

Motorola: DROID 2 Didn't Explode, Dude Dropped It and Cut His Ear

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:36:00 +0000

Remember the exploding Droid 2 from last week that crushed some guy's ear, leading ~~his shadiness~~ it to bleed all over the internet in a set of ridiculous pictures? Well, I'm sure you'll be so surprised to know that the guy was potentially lying. Shocker, I know. Motorola has commented to Gearlog this morning, confirming that the phone was likely dropped, leaving the screen cracked. The man then cut his ear on the cracked glass after forgetting Childhood No-Nos 101 which says, "stay clear of broken glass you fool." Motorola also made it clear that nothing exploded in this device:

[T]he only things that could explode in a phone would have resulted in a phone that did not work, yet this phone worked. And there was no explosive damage to the device (things inside blown outward, etc).

I love scamsters. They make for great internet reading. Via: Gearlog

Google Hotpot Takes Over Portland, And Last Night's Blazers Game

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:08:45 +0000

When I got to last night's Blazers game against the Orlando Magic, the first thing I noticed was this group of guys sitting in front of me wearing Google Places shirts. I was just about to ask if they were Google employees, hoping they were all carrying Nexus S devices until I realized there was a red shirt similar to theirs on every chair in the arena. Sure enough, Google sponsored a "red out" of Blazers shirts and brilliantly placed their new Hotpot service on the back of them. Good stuff right? Well they didn't stop there. Above every single urinal in every bathroom in the building, they had stickers reminding you of Hotpot with catchy slogans like, "Rate like a Racehorse" which of course received a nice laugh from those of us deep into a couple of pints. And then this morning, I wake up to a Google Mobile Blog post announcing Portland as the first to get a major Hotpot marketing campaign for this new service. They have already distributed business kits to some of the top restaurants and businesses in the area to help promote it, so expect to see Google Places stickers in the windows of your favorite cafe. Speaking of those stickers, if you have a Nexus S, you'll be able to use that NFC chip to check in simply by touching one. Portland readers, be sure to check out the Hotpot blog for more, head to Voodoo donuts (either location) this Saturday for a special treat, and enter to win a dinner for 10 to your favorite restaurant here. And Google, feel free to send us a Nexus S to test on all of our favorite Portland pubs.

DROID X 2.2.1 Update is Live!

Kellen — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 07:25:01 +0000

The Droid X 2.2.1 (system 2.3.340) update is ready for all users to pull! All you have to do is hit Settings>About Phone>System Updates and your phone will grab it, download it and install it for you. Get ready to enjoy a bunch of Exchange enchancements and...Madden 2011 on Android! Oh, and this is NOT Gingerbread. The 2.3.340 you keep seeing is just the Blur version. Cheers Jim, Mark and the other 85 of you!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 9 - Show Off Your Scores!

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:40:07 +0000

Day 9 of Angry Birds Seasons is ready for your domination. Took me a few tries to get 3 stars, but was eventually able to do it with just 3 of the 5 birds. Now please, show me how crappy I am. Post your scores! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Gmail Update Available, Includes Priority Inbox and Other Improvements

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:17:21 +0000

A solid Gmail update just went live that improves the overall experience of our favorite mail client in a big way. Priority inbox is now included, you can choose reply/forward/reply all while composing a message and respond to messages inline. These seem semi-minor, but like I said, they improve the overall experience in so many ways. Priority inbox is now my best desktop and mobile friend. Yay! List of changes:

* Better Priority Inbox support * Send from any address set up with your Gmail account. * Switch between reply, reply all, and forward while you compose. * Respond to messages inline. * Bug fixes

Grab in from the market now! Cheers Matt and ChrisK!

Motorola Milestone Froyo Status Updated, Headed to Operators and Retail Partners for Feedback?

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:50:36 +0000

Poor Motorola Milestone users. The original Droid has been on Android 2.2 for months now, yet Moto continues to test it again and again for its worldly brother. It's the exact same hardware as the U.S. version which is running Froyo flawlessly...what's the hold up? Well, they posted an update to their Facebook page yesterday that has as you can imagine, left Milestone owners even more frustrated than before. Testing seems to be done, but now it'll be up to operators and retail partners to decide if Froyo is good enough. And I'm speechless. So we're another 6 months out then? Via: Motorola Europe

Video: Angry Birds Start to Question their Strategy

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:15:11 +0000

Ever wondered why the Angry Birds need a sling shot to attack the pigs? They are birds right? Shouldn't they just fly over and snatch their eggs back rather than throwing themselves into buildings on kamikaze missions? It looks like the birds are starting to wonder these things as well...

Via: Kotaku, Dorkly Cheers PatriotVirus!

Exploded Andy Series Hoodies on Sale for $29

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:22:05 +0000

The most amazing series of Android shirts to date has been the one we've featured here which includes Exploded Andy, Unstoppable Andy, Andy vs., and iSteam Andy. The shirts are made on American Apparel cotton and are some of the best quality t-shirts you can find. Well guess what? They have been making hoodies too! And they are on sale from now until the X-mas for just $29 (regurlarly $40)! They aren't offering the iSteam version, but you can grab Exploded, Andy vs., and Unstoppable each for $29. Friends and family keep asking you what you want for X-mas? Here you go. Buy.

DROID X 2.3.340 System SBF Released for 2.3.320 Leak Users

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:41:27 +0000

For those of you running the Droid X 2.2.1 (system 2.3.320) leak, you can now upgrade to the newest version 2.2.1 (system 2.3.340) with this system-only SBF file courtesy of MyDroidWorld. You will need RSD Lite in order to make this happen, but it's well worth it if you want to be current . Again, this is for those of you that updated to the leaked 2.2.1 a couple of weeks ago and want to be on the official 2.2.1. If you are running something else, you should refer to this post.

Instructions:

*WARNING* - RSD Lite is a powerful program that can actually brick your phone. Before attempting this, research everything there is to know about RSD Lite and SBF files. We are not recommending that you perform this task, but are simply providing information. You do so at your own risk. *For leak users stuck on 2.2.1 (system 2.3.320).

1. Download the 2.3.340 system SBF here. (alt link) 2. Flash the file in RSD Lite. (Instructions for RSD Lite) 3. If your phone boot loops when RSD Lite finishes, you may need to factory reset.

To factory reset: Battery pull, then boot into recovery (Home+Power then Search). Scroll down and choose the option to factory reset.

4. You will lose root, but z4root will get it back. (Instructions) 5. Enjoy the official 2.2.1. Huge thanks to MyDroidWorld for releasing this! You can find additional mirrors at their site.

Mega Jump Headed to Android this Month

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:09:03 +0000

One of the next big gaming hits headed to Android is a little game called Mega Jump that has apparently been downloaded over 7.5 million times by users across the globe. While I'll admit that I've never heard of or played the game before, after seeing the video below, I can see why it would be so popular. Get Set Games, the maker behind this madness, has announced that it will be out some time this month and we're guessing that it'll be pushed by OpenFeint, which means it'll be even more amazing. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc_FfGW--wY[/youtube] Anyone played it? Tell me why you love it. Via: Get Set Games

The Making of an OMG Droid: Rooting and ROMing the Easy, but Long Way

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:34:56 +0000

A couple of months back, the crew here at Droid Life received a special rooting request from one of our readers, whom you all know as Michael_NM. This request was a little wild and one that we had not received before, but it was also a request worth writing a story about. Please enjoy the tale of an original Droid on its way into the land of the roots. Thanks for sharing Mr. NM!

____________________________________________________

The Making of an OMG Droid: Rooting and ROMing the Easy, but Long Way

To root or not to root, that was my question. After reading Droid-Life for a few months, I decided it was time to live the rooted life, but the SBFs always DNFd. After countless attempts to get my Droid to live free as it was meant to be, I gave up. I went to the Droid Life chat room and asked if someone could help. No problem there, but all of these strangers wanted to access my computer… I didn’t have enough aluminum foil for a cap, so I decided to wait. The next day (9/28) in a thread about 928Droid, I asked Tato if I could send him my Droid to Root, ROM and return… And so began the journey of a one-of-a-kind, special edition OMG Droid-Life Droid! I don’t think Tato thought I was serious, but the next day my Droid was on its way to the Bay Area while I sat in the desert. After I sent it, I thought it would be cool to have Tato autograph the battery cover. To which he replied, “Let’s get Dr. Droid (Kellex for those unfamiliar with my chosen name for him) and Mr. Picolas in on this too.” Tato dutifully rooted and ROM’d my Droid and sent it off to Dr. Droid. Tato really liked my Droid though because he ensured that he’d see it again by not signing it. So, after brief stop in Portland (no time for Voodoo Doughnuts) to get Dr. Droid’s affirmation, my Droid was going back to Cali, Cali, Cali…Tato’s validation secured, a trip to the Buckeye state was next. I don’t think my Droid hitched a ride on the Goodyear Blimp while there, but it did meet Dr. Root (Mr. Picolas), and after he added his calling-card, he returned my sojourning Droid to the high desert. I am now the proud owner of what I believe to be the most unique Droid on the planet: a custom Droid-Life bad boy signed by the three pillars of Droid Life. Prior to this, I wouldn’t let my mom hold my Droid, but I trusted it to the Droid Life crew. I can tell you without hesitation that they are three of the coolest and kindest guys you’ll ever know. I can’t thank them enough for making my OG Droid an OMG Droid! So there you have it; an easy way to root and ROM your OG Droid. Be warned; however, it takes about two months. :-) Lest you think I am a complete loser who can’t root on his own. When my Droid arrived home, it was greeted by two devices I had rooted on my own…Shortly after my Droid departed, I discovered the “root” of my rooting problem. After upgrading to Windows 7, I learned that Vista had been the problem. Add Bill Gates to my list of folks not getting a Christmas card this year… -Michael_NM

Gingerbread SDK ROMs Start Popping up, DROID Incredible Included

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:40:32 +0000

The Gingerbread SDK was released on Monday morning and ROM developers have jumped all over it to create packages of Android 2.3 for a bevy of devices. The Droid Incredible is one of them and you can jump all over it at this XDA thread. You should be warned a little though. While an SDK built ROM shows the true awesomeness of a developer, most aren't meant for prime time and mass consumption. As you'll notice at almost every single Gingerbread SDK ROM thread, a handful of critically important functions usually won't be working correctly. Feel free to flash them to your phone, just know that these aren't ready to be your daily ROM. We'll be waiting for the actual source for that. Please don't hammer on the devs because certain things aren't up to your normal ROM standards. Full list of SDK ROMs here.

How to: Root the DROID X or DROID 2 Using z4root 1.3.0

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:45:28 +0000

If you have installed the 2.3.340 system update for the Droid X or 2.3.320 for the Droid 2 and are hating life without root access, don't worry! Z4root still works! It has been pulled from the market again, but all is well as we have version 1.3.0 for you to download below. Download: z4root1.3.0.apk To root, simply download the apk from above. When it finishes, tap "Install" to install it. Open it and click "Permanent Root" to root your phone. Enjoy!

Android Activations Now at 300,000 Per Day

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:00:26 +0000

Can we just deem this the "Week of Google" already? First Gingerbread, then the Nexus S, then Honeycomb, Google Maps 5, and now this new tweet from Andy Rubin? Can it get any better than this? How does 300,000 Android activations per day sound to those of you on team good guy? That's the word we're hearing from the head honcho himself. Amazing.

How to: Manually Update DROID X to Android 2.2.1

Kellen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:01:56 +0000

It looks like an update.zip file has landed on the interwebs for those of you who can't wait a couple of days for Motorola to make the Android 2.2.1 (system 2.3.340) update go live again for your Droid X phones. To install this puppy, we use the same process that you would on almost any other Android phone, but there are a couple of things you should be aware of before applying.

First note: If you are running stock non-rooted or rooted system build 2.3.15, then you can apply this update no problem. You will lose root access, but you can get that back with z4root. To find out which system build, go to Settings>About Phone. If you have modified any of the bloatware files though, you will be out of luck. You need to have a clean system file. Second note: If you are running a system build that is different from 2.3.15, you may not want to apply this. The DX and Blur are finicky monsters and you could run into issues. Third note: If you are running the 2.2 (2.3.9) leak from the summer, these instructions to get you back to 2.1 are still available. After that you will need to pull the 2.2 (2.3.15) update before going to 2.2.1. Fourthnote: If you are running the 2.2.1 (2.3.320) leak, I would avoid applying this as well. There will be a fix for you in the next day or two. Fifthnote: I have not applied this file, but have heard from users who have successfully. My 2.3.340 update came another way. Sixth note: As always, you do this at your own risk! We are simply here providing information and not recommending anything.

Read all of those? Might want to read them one more time. Instructions after the break.

Instructions:

1. Download this file to the root of your SD card: update.zip (alt link) 2. Do not unzip or rename the file. 3. With the update.zip file on your SD card and not in a folder, power off your phone. 4. Boot into recovery by holding down "Home" and then "Power" until you see an exclamation mark. 5. Then press the "Search" button and you will enter recovery. 6. Using the volume keys, highlight "apply update.zip" and press in the camera button. 7. The update will now be applied. Enjoy! And I have no idea why this update is only 25MB when Verizon pegged it at 79MB. Cheers 0mie and XDA!

Madden 2011 on Android will Cost $9.99

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:06:08 +0000

As readers of this site, you already know that the 2.2.1 update which will be available to all Droid X in the next few days includes the first version of Madden 2011 on Android. We're not all that surprised that it will make its debut on the DX since we know that Verizon has a major relationship with the NFL, but we thought you should know a little something about the game itself. The pre-loaded version that comes with the update is as you may have expected, a demo version and as far as I know, will only let you play a half of football. If you want to upgrade to the full version though, it'll cost you $9.99 and will be charged straight to your Verizon bill. I'm actually a little surprised that it won't cost you more than $9.99. I haven't had a chance to dive into it completely yet, but from what I've seen, the game looks pretty stellar. We'll hopefully have some video up in the morning for you all to check out.

Swype Beta Invitations have Re-Opened, Check Your Inboxes (Updated)

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:28:22 +0000

We're pretty sure that Swype has secretly opened up their beta program again which means that if you signed up back in the day, there is a chance you could get an invite any minute now. Two of our readers have already confirmed receiving an invitation. On their site it still says "closed", but we have someone close to the battle that gave us a "maybe" when asked about it. And if you didn't sign up in the past, flood their site now and register! Update: And just as we said, they have opened up invitations to "some" already registered users...

We've invited SOME of the ALREADY REGISTERED users. We are STILL CLOSED to NEW REGISTRATIONS.

Might as well register anyway though right? They might do another random invite at some time and you want to be on the list. Let us know if you get anything!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 8 - Show Off Your High Scores!

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:15:34 +0000

Yesterday, everyone found a sneaky super explosion spot and exploited the heck out of it. I'm thinking there might be something like that today too as day 8 of Angry Birds Seasons seems to have something hidden going on. Either that, or they really do expect you to use all 3 birds, like I did to get 3 stars. Weird. Anyways, show us your scores! Oh, I should also point out that this Saturday (December 11) is Angry Birds day. (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Youtube, Google Voice and Voice Search Receive Updates (Updated)

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:32:16 +0000

Both Youtube and Google Voice saw updates today and are available in the market right now. Neither are huge, but the Youtube app did enable commenting, subscription viewing from the main page plus some other performance tweaks. The Google Voice update was just a bug fixer according to the description. Update: Voice Search update also just hit the market. They improved connection errors and contact name recognition. (Cheers Octo!) Quite the week for Google I'd say. Cheers Kris and everyone else!

Download: Gingerbread Theme For OG DROID

Tim — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:14:26 +0000

I officially declare myself a theme wh*re and am currently seeking attention. I didn't think I would jump on the bandwagon for getting my phone to look like Gingerbread as quickly as I did. But, what can I say? The UI is sexy! I asked my good buddy Koveleski of DarkEdge, if he could whip something up for me. He obliged and did a great job. Thanks Dave! I owe you. He asked which ROM it should be for. Well here's another shout out to CVPCS and Sniffle on the Sapphire Team. Thanks for making a great DROID ROM! I chose Sapphire 1.1 because of the sheer smoothness that comes along with this ROM. But don't worry everybody! You will see this shortly on every other ROM for the DROID. I got your backs. After the jump, I'll have some instructions and download links for you if you wanna join me down the Gingerbread road.

OG DROID Only Please

Instructions: 1. You will need to be on Sapphire 1.1. So after flashing that. Proceed to Step 2. 2. Download this zip and place on root of SD Card. GingerShred Zip 3. Boot into Recovery an select "Install ZIP from SD" 4. Navigate to zip and hit your gold camera button. After it's all done installing, reboot and enjoy the brown cookie goodness. Also, you will have to go into your GEM Settings and switch some of the colors. Most notably, the clock and date. Other than that, you are good to go. To get the launcher looking like G.B. just follow the instructions on this post. Now go and enjoy! Thanks again to Dave for the hookup! Follow him on Twitter. -Tim-o-tato

Wednesday Poll: Thoughts on Gingerbread?

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:16:46 +0000

Anyone hear anything about Gingerbread (Android 2.3) this week? You did? Well what do you think about it? Was it worth what seems like such a long wait? Are the UI enhancements we've seen so far amazing enough? Loving the new keyboard we gave you on Monday? Will built-in internet calling be the greatest thing ever? Are you disappointed? Let us know! [poll id="34"] And here is a great recap from Monday's Gingerbread madness.

Light Grid Live Wallpaper Helps Your Home Screen Celebrate the Holidays

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:30:32 +0000

We absolutely love this time of year and to celebrate it, wanted to share this fantastic live wallpaper with you to help give you a taste of the holidays. The live wallpaper is called Light Grid and is available in the market as either a Pro($.99) or free version and comes highly recommended by my friend Timotato. If you want it to look super holiday-fied like I have pictured above though, then you need to download their holiday pack which yeah, costs another $.99. Can you really put a price on glittery snowflakes though? I think not. Quick video and download links after the break.

Light Grid Pro | Holiday Icon Pack

Motorola Everest Tablet High-res Pictures

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:04:54 +0000

On Monday night, Andy Rubin surprised all of us when he pulled out a Motorola prototype tablet running Honeycomb (Android 3.0) and a dual-core NVIDIA processor that we're pretty sure is the Motorola Everest (Stingray/Droid Tablet). This would be the 10" tablet that will be everywhere at CES in January and hopefully on store shelves by February or March. You can watch video of it in action at this post, but we wanted to make sure you saw this crystal clear shots of it as well. A few things we've gathered from these shots:

A back camera with what looks to be a dual-LED flash.
A centered front-facing camera.
A volume rocker switch on the side.
Absence of home, search, back and menu keys, but we already knew that.
It's unbelievably thin.

Seriously, that tablet is so thin. I think Motorola just turned a 10" tablet into a one-handed device. Win. Via: Android and Me, All Things D

Download: Gingerbread Icons for LauncherPro

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:13:40 +0000

If you weren't into the Gingerbread Launcher that we posted this morning because you are like most of us and can't live without LauncherPro, then we wanted to post these Gingerbread icons up to at least give you the look without losing all of the greatness that is LP. Big thanks to mrl09 for posting these up! Browser: Phone: Dock: (Short and Long versions) (Cheers Brian for the long versions!) Launcher: Wallpaper: (Cheers Tato!)

Widgets (for those asking): Clockr Evolution and Minimal Weather Widget. Instructions (for those new to LP): 1. Long press on the images and "Save Image" for each one. This will save them to your SD card. 2. After that, with LauncherPro as you launcher, press Settings>Preferences>Appearance Settings. 3. Tap on Dock Background>Custom and select the dock icon you downloaded from above. 4. For the icons, long press on the icons, Change shortcut>Applications>Browser/Phone. 5. Then Custom Icon and choose the icons you downloaded from above. 6. For the launcher, long press choose Change shortcut>App drawer and custom icon. 7. Enjoy! To save those files, simply long press on them and "Save image". Everyone knows how to use LP icons I'm hoping?

Texas Instruments Announces 1.5GHz Dual-Core OMAP4440 Processor

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:15:47 +0000

Oh my. Texas Instruments just announced their new dual-core OMAP4440 processor that can be clocked at 1.5GHz (possibly both cores), supports 1080P 3D video, and can run front and back (dual) 12MP cameras working at the same time. It will also provide 1.25x increase in graphics performance, a 30 percent decrease in webpage load time, and a 2x increase in 1080p video playback performance. Holy...yeah. The processor is obviously aimed at mobile devices and will start rolling out to manufacturers for testing in the first half of 2011. Just try to take a minute and think about that kind of power. Mind blown? We also all know that Motorola tends to favor TI OMAP processors over any other meaning our future Droid brothers will most certainly see these inside. More info at the source link below. Source: Texas Instruments Via: BGR

DROID X and Original DROID Updates Both Rolling Out Now? (Updated)

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 07:51:44 +0000

We're getting word that updates for both the Droid X and the original Droid are available right now. The updates will bring each device up to Android 2.2.1 which is the newest Android build available until 2.3 is ready of course. We got word from many of you that the DX update was available last night around midnight and we're thinking it may have been taken down. Not all of you are in the Motorola Feedback Network, but still managed to "pull" the update when it went live for just a short amount of time. Those tips have now gone silent, so we're thinking Moto has pulled it until they hear back from their test group. (Info on the Droid X update.) The original Droid on the other hand is definitely available, but rolling out in stages to users. There is no way to force the update and you basically have to sit tight until it hits your device. We'll be looking for a manual download link of course so that you can get on FRG83D long before you were supposed to. (Info on the Droid update.) Update 8:42AM: Just rolled my Droid 1 back to FRG22D and the FRG83D update started downloading immediately after turning on my wi-fi. The update is live people!

Update 9:19AM: We're hearing a couple of stories with regard to the Droid X update. It was only live last night for a few hours to go out to the test group, so for those of you in the comments throwing a huge fit about not getting it, you can chill out now. As far as the update goes though, some are reporting issues with the installation, so you should be glad it only went to a test group initially. Let us know, are you receiving updates? Pulling them on your Droid X? Is Madden included? Cheers Jorgr and everyone else!

Gingerbread Launcher Available in the Market

Kellen — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 07:00:38 +0000

On Monday we gave everyone the new Gingerbread keyboard and last night, Modaco gave everyone the new Gingerbread launcher. This is the green highlighted, squared off version that looks like Froyo but with an extra "Manage apps" button in the homescreen menu. You'll also find a "Notifications" button and a super fast app drawer. It won't change your notification bar though, but hey, you are still that much closer to Android 2.3 aren't you? Available to everyone for free.

Download Link

Angry Birds Seasons Day 7 - Show Your High Scores!

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:00:03 +0000

After yesterday's death trap of a level, I was ready to give up on the world, but the animated day 7 button was too irresistible for my fingers. Who's got high scores for today's Angry Birds Seasons level? Don't forget to drop your scores in the comments as either a pic or text and remember that serious gaming pros will want proof! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Rumor: Bad News DROID Owners, Gingerbread May Require a 1GHz Processor? (Updated)

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:31:30 +0000

The LG Facebook page will surely snag a whole new group of fans after it spit out the message below to Droid Dog's Alberto. Whoever runs their fan page is claiming that Gingerbread (Android 2.3) will require a phone to have a 1.0GHz processor which would mean that the original Droid is done for. Are they right though? We had heard this rumor in the past, but something about this seems a little odd and I'm willing to hold off any world hatred rants until the Android team comes out and confirms this. We all know that the Droid 1 was built for the long haul with an underclocked processor, so for now, take this rumor for exactly what it is. Update: Android tech lead, Dan Morrill has weighed in and Droid 1 owners will like what he has to say initially...

He then clarifies that older devices can still be phased out, but that technically, there isn't a "hard" requirement...

Who knows. Here is the Facebook shot:

Bold statement from LG! Thoughts? Over 2,300 of you weren't feeling good about this yesterday and I'm guessing this news isn't helping? Via: Droid Dog

DROID X 2.2.1 Update Will Be Available Tonight? (Updated)

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:35:02 +0000

We just received a tip mentioning that the Android 2.2.1 update which will bring the Droid X up to system version 2.3.340 (not Gingerbread) could start tonight (12/7) around midnight. We do know that the update information came out yesterday and Verizon has done a good job of keeping these under wraps lately until they are ready to go, so this wouldn't surprise us. And remember that Blur on the Droid X allows you to "pull" updates, so at midnight EST tonight, you can start going to Settings>About Phone>System Updates to check. Update 6:31PM: Motorola Feedback Network members with a Droid X will get the update early tonight as a test group. If that goes well, the majority of the rollout should happen within the next few days just as the original Droid FRG83D update did. (Cheers to everyone who sent in their MFN emails!) Stay tuned... Cheers Aaron!

Foursquare Update on Android Brings Trophy Case, We Attempt to Show Off A Little

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:17:45 +0000

OK, so when I wrote that post title, I was feeling all awesome about my Foursquare achievements and then once I actually pulled up the new trophy case feature, all of the awesomeness that had been built up was lost. Only 14 badges unlocked and a bunch that probably should have been (Gym Rat anyone?)...not bad, but not brag-to-your-momma-worthy. Anyways, Foursquare on Android received an update yesterday that gave us this new sweet looking trophy case for all of your badges plus a couple of other minor tweaks. It's available in the market now if you haven't updated yet! Anyone out there with a ridiculous number of badges? Show me!

Firefox Mobile Beta Will Hit Android Market Later this Month

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:15:02 +0000

We've been following the journey of Firefox Mobile on Android since its "Fennec" days and keep wondering when it might see a build spicy enough for the Android Market. According to Matt Brubeck, one of the Firefox Engineers, the time is near as a new beta release should be available some time in December and will be downloadable through the market. In response to some poor AT&T customer who is unable to install 3rd party apps, Matt mentioned the following...

If it is, then you might be able to use the Android developer tool "adb" to install Firefox on your phone (search the web for instructions), or you can wait for our next beta release which should be available through the Market later this month.

Is everyone ready for an official Firefox? We've been through how many alphas, betas and test builds now? Can it compete with Dolphin, xScope and the rest of those well-established browser options? Cheers Manny!

Gingerbread Recap: Everything You Need to Know in One Spot

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:30:57 +0000

Since there was a ton of Gingerbread (Android 2.3) talk going on yesterday, we realize that it may have been pretty hard to follow it all as the posts just kept pumping out of our fingers. So how about all of the Gingerbread links you could ask for in one place? This is your standard recap for all of the wackiness that went on yesterday including a couple of bonuses that happened late last night... All of our coverage in one place:

Android 2.3 user guide.
Gingerbread platform highlights.
Our exclusive Gingerbread keyboard port from Peter Alfonso.
Quick hands-on video with the new keyboard.
Gingerbread headed to Nexus One in a few weeks.
The official video announcement from Google.

Bonus info:

Andy Rubin shows off Honeycomb (Android 3.0) on a Motorola tablet.
Google Maps 5 with 3D will be out in a few days.

And we have no idea when it'll land on any of the Droid phones, but are hoping for a January-February release. Wow, that sounds optimistic.

Comcast's Xfinity Mobile App Released on Android

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 10:48:53 +0000

Comcast told us over the weekend that we could expect their Xfinity app on December 7th and they delivered. The brand new app is available on the Android Market right now for free. They'll be announcing it later today, but wanted to tip off Droid Life readers to its availability early. The full list of features:

Access home voicemail and forward home phone calls from your Xfinity Voice service directly to your Android device

Use the Xfinity mobile widget to quickly review your latest voicemail and email messages

Sync your Universal Address Book to have all your personal and professional contacts in one place

Review and respond to Comcast.net email

Remotely program and manage your DVRs

View local TV listings, sort by different categories and watch Video On Demand movie trailers.

Android specific features:

Widgets: lets you see the two most recent email and voice mail messages; listen to voice mail messages right from the widget.

Data Storage: android allows access to storage on the devices, so you can store attachments or other files and also upload files as attachments when sending email.

We're diving into the app now to see what how nice it really is and will report back.

Download Link

Is the Nexus S on its Way to Verizon? (Updated)

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:38:18 +0000

So, maybe you didn't hear, but the Samsung Nexus S was announced yesterday and it will indeed run Gingerbread out of the box. Best Buy will sell it exclusively for $529 (unlocked) without a contract or for $199 on a 2-year contract through T-Mobile. The device looks amazing, but that whole T-Mobile thing is what's holding us back from taking the plunge and buying one. We'd really love to see it on Verizon as we're semi-homers, but the current model is only GSM compatible...or is a CDMA version in the works? The crew over at AndroidGuys was sifting through the rules for the new Nexus S contest and pulled out these cleverly phrased words...

The currently available Nexus S is a GSM device and is not compatible with CDMA networks such as Verizon and Sprint.

"Currently available" lends us to believe that their are other options on the way, right? Or am I just drinking some weird Kool-aid? Would you ditch your device and use an upgrade on the Nexus S even if a 4G LTE device was just around the corner? Update: SamFirmware tweeted that their insiders have mentioned that the Nexus S might be more appealing come February. 4G LTE Verizon version maybe? (Cheers Andrew53517!)

Update 2: We hit up SamFirmware looking for clarification and they gave us some. It will not be a Verizon Nexus S in February and will likely be something even better from Samsung...

So, something better? Now we're really interested.

Dolphin Browser Mini Wants to be the Fastest Android Browser Ever

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:21:40 +0000

Dolphin, one of the most popular browsers in the history of Android, is taking a new approach to mobile internet greatness. They hope to make one of the lightest and fastest browsers ever with their new Dolphin Browser Mini. The app is still in "preview" stage, but is polished enough for you to give it a spin. The whole idea behind this new Mini version was to make it clean, simple, and really fast. Did they accomplish all that? Download it for yourself and tell us! Here are some of the app highlights:

New fresh UI. A clean and simple user experience is available for you, Dolphin Mini provides a brand-new look and feel to you.

Speed through the web. The Web has never been so fast until you use Dolphin Mini which loads web pages much more quickly than other mobile phone browsers.

Infinite tabs browsing. You can open infinite tabs when browsing since there is no limitation on the amount.

Innovative Menu design (tool box). It is not the final version, we will upgrade it.

Download: DolphinBrowserMini.apk

Via: Dolphin Blog

Best Buy Now Selling White DROID Incredible

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:30:19 +0000

HTC did this neat little accessory deal for the Droid Incredible that would allow you to purchase an official white or red back plate to replace the standard black and make your phone look more legit than ever. We showed you the first set of pictures of both colors (red), but it's looking now like you can get the white back pre-loaded onto your Incredible should you pick one up at Best Buy. After owning all 3 back pieces, my advice is hands down for you to pick up a white or red replacement. The phone looks amazing with either one over that drab blackness. Cheers 0mie!

LauncherPro Update is Live, Virtual Looping and Recent Apps Added

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:39:46 +0000

The LauncherPro update for this week that we got the scoop on is now live in the market for your virtual homescreen looping and recent apps viewing pleasure. So yeah, the update includes virtual homescreen looping which means that you can try to go past your last homescreen and LP will flip you all the way over to the other side. Check the box in Preferences>Homescreen Settings to utilize this feature. The other new additional is a "Recent Apps" gesture. All you need to do is long-press on a tray icon, choose "Swipe gesture action", "Show Popup", and "Recent Apps" and you will be live. Quickly view up to 16 of your most recently used apps with a quick swipe.

In the market now!

Update: People, this is NOT the full re-write of the app. This is an update to make the current product even better. The full re-write of the app is in the works and will be available sometime in the near future. Fede is working hard my friends, chill.

Cheers Tato, Scott, and Coaster!

Google Maps Mobile Version 5 Coming "in a matter of days"

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:45:42 +0000

Google Maps version 5 will be out some time over the next few days according to Android master, Andy Rubin, and you should all be very excited. The screenshot above is an image of what you can expect...yes those are 3D buildings. In this new version, Google has tossed in 3D maps, offline caching, vectors to allow for faster map rendering, and better compass support. To see Google Maps 5 in action, check out Rubin on stage at D: Dive Into Mobile where he put on a full preview of what's to come. Via: TechCrunch

Video: Andy Rubin Shows Off Honeycomb and Motorola Tablet

Kellen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:00:12 +0000

Did anyone actually think that a day filled with Gingerbread, the Nexus S, an original Droid update, and a Droid X update with Madden could get get better? It did. Last night, at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference, Andy Rubin took to the stage, pulled out a prototype Motorola tablet running Honeycomb (Android 3.0) and went to town. He talked about so many things that may seem minor, but are so huge in the broad scheme of things. Here are some of the bombs he dropped:

Pulled out what appeared to be the 10" Motorola tablet. This bad boy was ultra thin, looked incredibly light and had an amazing screen.
This tablet does not have home, back, menu and search keys. The buttons you press are ALL on-screen, which means they follow you around as you rotate the device.
Showed the new Honeycomb lock screen which had a fantastic new animation. No more swiping bars left or right in Android 3.0. (Pictured above)
When he unlocked it, he had Google Talk open and mentioned video icons being visible.
He showed off Google Maps 5 which will have 3D views of cities. It should be out for mobile devices in a few days.
The new tablet Gmail app was displayed. Two columns included: one for your inbox and one to view an email.
Honeycomb and this tablet will be out some time next year.
Honeycomb will be able to run on both phones and tablets. It's not just specific to tablets although the apps are able to run in their own specific ways depending on the device.
He also mentioned that this prototype probably costs $10,000. Hah.

Full video of his time on stage after the break, plus some screenshots.

Gallery: [gallery link="file" orderby="title"] Via: All Things D Cheers Lewis, Phil and Picolas!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 6 – Post Your High Scores!

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:00:40 +0000

I'll be the first to admit that I'm terrible at level 6 of Angry Birds Seasons. I spent 30 minutes last night at midnight trying to dominate this sucker and it just kept crushing me. I did manage to grab 2 stars, but I'm not deserving of them at all. Time to show me how amazing you are at this game and just how bad I truly am. Post up your high scores in the comments! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Motorola DROID FRG83D Update Rolling Out Today

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:15:59 +0000

Remember the Motorola Droid FRG83D Android 2.2.1 update we told you that was coming in the next week or so? Verizon has reached out to inform the world that it will indeed happen this week and some devices could start seeing it as early as today. The update itself isn't all that big, but it will bring your Android version up to 2.2.1 which is as new as it gets unless you own a Nexus S.

Improvements: + Updated Twitter® application with new authentication support. + Updated Amazon widget. + Updated News & Weather widget. + Improvements to Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®: • Handles server-side inactivity timeouts of 34 minutes or greater. • Continues to sync emails after a policy refresh. • Support for Exchange 2010 connections. Enhancements: + Added new Gmail® user interface

More info here.

Video: First Hands-on With the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Keyboard

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:45:09 +0000

We just posted up a version of the Android 2.3 keyboard for those of you running Froyo courtesy of our friend Peter Alfonso and wanted to give you a quick hands-on in case you were holding off on installing this. There have been a few issues reported, so you'll want to check out the instruction post and comment section before going forward with this. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1Zc6SNlyQ[/youtube] And a couple of screenshots of options I missed in the video:

We love ya Pete!

LauncherPro Update Coming This Week?

Tim — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:00:47 +0000

This is definitely what we want to hear on a chilly Monday afternoon in December. It's been too long without word from Federico Carnales and his LauncherPro, meaning we're starting to get antsy. If you recall reading this true masterpiece of an interview, you will remember Fede announcing he would be rewriting the entire app from scratch to reduce bugs and to easily add features. Plus one to that. I myself am not a patient man. I can admit that. So I set out for the answer. After 2 days of going back and forth, I was able to get a hold of him and snagged this quote:

"The update to the current LP should be out early next week (This Week) and the rewrite is still a bit hard to predict, it's a lot more work than I had expected."

Can I get a, "Woot Woot!" So everyone, I am giving you homework - Be on the lookout! And you may be wondering what this update is going to entail? Well don't worry because I asked that too:

"It's a secret."

Can you believe that? A secret? I'm hurt. Either way, I am excited about this, and hope everyone else is too! Best believe when it's updated you'll see a post from yours truly. Depending on if my cold doesn't keep me bedridden. -Tim-o-tato

Download: Gingerbread Keyboard for Rooted Devices (Updated)

Tim — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:57:36 +0000

What a day it has been! We finally have our 2.3 Gingerbread release and everyone is happier than a boy on Christmas morning. While all this joy is in the air, Droid-Life has been exclusively gifted with a Gingerbread Keyboard Port! Thanks to Peter Alfonso of Bugless Beast, we are sitting on some 2.3 goodness. So after the jump, we will have instructions and the 'how to' on getting this on your phone! In the subject I mentioned this is for rooted devices only. Why? Because stock phones don't have the rights to install .libs. Sorry non-roots! But hey, time to start looking into the subject of rooting? Update: Check out our hands-on of the new Gingerbread keyboard! Instructions:

*MAKE A BACKUP FIRST! *Should work on ALL rooted 2.2 Android devices. *Droid X and 2 users, see note after instructions. (Some DX users are seeing miniature versions. Again, MAKE A BACKUP.) *Won't work on 2.1. You need the newest Voice Search app from the market. *Good idea to make a back up of your LatinIME.apk from your /system/app folder in case something goes wrong.

1. Download .zip file HERE (This is the new fixed version.) 2. Place on root of SD Card and boot into Recovery. 3. Install .zip as you would themes etc. 4. Reboot and select "Android Keyboard" under Input Method and you are good to go. *Note* - DX users, "In Clockwork, go to mounts and storage>mount system and then back to install .zip from sd card". I hope you all enjoy everyone! Anyone wanna take a gander at what else is next from 2.3? -Tim-o-tato Please show love to Peter by following his work on his Twitter. And be sure to check out all of his work on his website! We love this guy!

Breaking: DROID X Update to 2.3.340 Coming, Madden 2011 to be Pre-installed (Updated)

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:16:11 +0000

Not to try and steal away the Android 2.3 spotlight today, but the Droid X is about to receive a pretty major update. Why so major? It will include Madden 2011! We've all been waiting impatiently for Madden to drop on Android and it looks like the DX and Verizon might have exclusivity to it. Crazy right? Update 11:33AM: We're hearing now that this might not be the full version of Madden for Android. Could be bloatware that gives you a couple of minutes of playing time before you have to buy the full version. The total size of the update is around 79MB which means it's got a lot packed into it. Business users will find additional Exchange support, Froyo will be more stabile and then a whole bunch of other bugs have been fixed. (Click on the document above to see all of the updates.) After updating, your system version will be 2.3.340 which is NOT Gingerbread. System versions are much different than Android versions. Update 11:46AM: I know that many of you have upgraded to the 2.3.20 leak and we will surely have a way for you all to upgrade to this. We'll have more soon. We're still waiting to hear when it will be available for download. More info can be found here. Cheers beast!

Android 2.3 User Guide Released (Updated)

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:29:17 +0000

Don't feel like waiting to find out every single detail that's included in Android 2.3? Then download the user guide now. We'll be diving into this beast over the next few hours, so if you want us to do the dirty work then stay right here as we'll be updating this post. Download it here. Standard 5 homescreens:

New notification bar:

Enhanced keyboard:

Application management tweaks:

New way to manage downloads:

Internet calling over wi-fi:

Updated Calendar:

Camera UI and switching between multiple cameras:

Those are the biggies, but you'll definitely want to download this thing and look through the NFC category and just see all of the other tweaks included in this new Android version. Cheers Mike!

Monday Poll: When Will Gingerbread Come to the Motorola DROID?

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:19:36 +0000

Now that Android 2.3 has been announced, the question we will probably hear more than any other over the next 2-3 weeks is going to be, "When will the original Droid get Gingerbread?" You will get sick of it, but as the phone that still has the largest base of users in the entire Android world, it's expected. We still don't even know if it'll run Gingerbread, but that won't stop us from wondering when it'll come. So what do you think? [poll id="33"]

Gingerbread Headed to Nexus One in a "Few Weeks"

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:51:33 +0000

There were a bunch of reports when the Android 2.3 SDK dropped this morning that it was already rolling out to Nexus One devices. Yeah, that was a lie. Reto Mieier, an Android Developer Advocate at Google, tweeted the message you are seeing above and we'd like to think with a title like that, that he has a pretty good idea when it might be on the way. So Nexus One owners, expect it in the next few weeks, but not today. Maybe when the Nexus S hits stores on December 16th? Via: Android and Me

What's New in Android 2.3? Here are the Gingerbread Platform Highlights

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:10:54 +0000

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) is taking over the planet this morning and the Android Developers team has put together their list of "platform highlights" to get you drooling on an even greater level as you wait for news of when it might be seen on your device. We'll now see a much more polished and power managed UI, brand new keyboard, internet calling, control over multiple cameras, and so much more. We've grabbed the biggies and put them for you below, but you'll want to check out the source link if you want to become an expert. UI Enhancements:

The user interface is refined in many ways across the system, making it easier to learn, faster to use, and more power-efficient. A simplified visual theme of colors against black brings vividness and contrast to the notification bar, menus, and other parts of the UI. Changes in menus and settings make it easier for the user to navigate and control the features of the system and device.

New Android Keyboard:

The Android soft keyboard is redesigned and optimized for faster text input and editing. The keys themselves are reshaped and repositioned for improved targeting, making them easier to see and press accurately, even at high speeds. The keyboard also displays the current character and dictionary suggestions in a larger, more vivid style that is easier to read. The keyboard adds the capability to correct entered words from suggestions in the dictionary. As the user selects a word already entered, the keyboard displays suggestions that the user can choose from, to replace the selection. The user can also switch to voice input mode to replace the selection. Smart suggestions let the user accept a suggestion and then return to correct it later, if needed, from the original set of suggestions. New multitouch key-chording lets the user quickly enter numbers and symbols by pressing Shift+ and ?123+, without needing to manually switch input modes. From certain keys, users can also access a popup menu of accented characters, numbers, and symbols by holding the key and sliding to select a character.

Improved Power Management:

The Android system takes a more active role in managing apps that are keeping the device awake for too long or that are consuming CPU while running in the background. By managing such apps — closing them if appropriate — the system helps ensure best possible performance and maximum battery life. The system also gives the user more visibility over the power being consumed by system components and running apps. The Application settings provides an accurate overview of how the battery is being used, with details of the usage and relative power consumed by each component or application.

Task Killing:

A shortcut to the Manage Applications control now appears in the Options Menu in the Home screen and Launcher, making it much easier to check and manage application activity. Once the user enters Manage Applications, a new Running tab displays a list of active applications and the storage and memory being used by each. The user can read further details about each application and if necessary stop an application or report feedback to its developer.

Internet Calling:

The user can make voice calls over the internet to other users who have SIP accounts. The user can add an internet calling number (a SIP address) to any Contact and can initiate a call from Quick Contact or Dialer. To use internet calling, the user must create an account at the SIP provider of their choice — SIP accounts are not provided as part of the internet calling feature. Additionally, support for the platform's SIP and internet calling features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers and associated carriers.

Near Field Communications (NFC):

An NFC Reader application lets the user read and interact with near-field communication (NFC) tags. For example, the user can “touch” or “swipe” an NFC tag that might be embedded in a poster, sticker, or advertisement, then act on the data read from the tag. A typical use would be to read a tag at a restaurant, store, or event and then rate or register by jumping to a web site whose URL is included in the tag data. NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, so support for the platform's NFC features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers.

Downloads Management:

The Downloads application gives the user easy access to any file downloaded from the browser, email, or another application. Downloads is built on an completely new download manager facility in the system that any other applications can use, to more easily manage and store their downloads.

Multiple Camera Management:

The application now lets the user access multiple cameras on the device, including a front-facing camera, if available.

More info at the Android Developers Blog.

Android 2.3 Officially Announced in Video!

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:03:38 +0000

We're too damn excited to even write up much of a post. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) is now official, the SDK is out and this sweet video has been released that talks about all of the technical goodies involved. Watch it now! UPDATE: Nexus S just announced! Info over at Android Life. UPDATE 2: The 2.3 SDK is also live... New APIs and technologies include:

Enhancements for game development: To improve overall responsiveness, we’ve added a new concurrent garbage collector and optimized the platform’s overall event handling. We’ve also given developers native access to more parts of the system by exposing a broad set of native APIs. From native code, applications can now access input and sensor events, EGL/OpenGL ES, OpenSL ES, and assets, as well a new framework for managing lifecycle and windows. For precise motion processing, developers can use several new sensor types, including gyroscope. Rich multimedia: To provide a great multimedia environment for games and other applications, we’ve added support for the new video formats VP8 and WebM, as well as support for AAC and AMR-wideband encoding. The platform also provides new audio effects such as reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost. New forms of communication: The platform now includes support for front-facing camera, SIP/VOIP, and Near Field Communications (NFC), to let developers include new capabilities in their applications.

More on the SDK here. Update 3: Nexus S announced. Available for $529 unlocked with no contract or $199 on 2-year contract with T-Mobile. Can purchase on December 16th at Best Buy and bestbuy.com. Google phone gallery page is also live with info. Update 4: Nexus S official specs. Highlights in the video:

Gaming
Gyroscope
Multimedia
New forms of communication (video chatting)
NFC (near field communication)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx3pdWBlZ34[/youtube] Cheers adam!

Minimalist Text is Your All-in-one Widget Option

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 07:30:25 +0000

Is Minimalist Text the best minimalist app we've seen yet? That's tough to say, but we definitely think it's worth mentioning and giving a ton of love to. We've looked at apps like Clockr, TypoClock and SiMiClock, but just can't live with ourselves if we don't introduce you to this new player that's sort of like an all-in-one for minimalist junkies like myself. Minimalist Text allows you to add clock, date and battery widgets to your homescreens, only you can customize every aspect of how they look. You can even build a widget that includes all three if you'd like! There are an almost endless number of color and setup combos you can piece together with this app. It's free in the market, so I suggest you give it a try now.

Download Link

Cheers Picolas!

Verizon 4G LTE is Officially Live, It's About to get Awesome

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 06:45:31 +0000

"The largest 4G LTE network on the planet" officially launched from Verizon yesterday and will likely be talked about in waves on this site over the next few months. While we're pretty sure there won't be any 4G LTE Android devices hitting stores in 2010, you can bet your life savings on them showing up in the first part of 2011. We've already seen sneak peaks at handsets from LG, HTC and Motorola that blew our minds, so I think it's fair to say that things are about to get really awesome around here. To prepare yourselves, you may want to look back at all of the 4G LTE coverage we've had going on around here. Since there has already been a ton, we've hand picked a few posts that will make you an expert for when those devices actually do launch:

4G LTE service will be in 38 cities and 62 airports by the end of 2010.
Here is the official map.
Comparison sheet: 4G LTE vs. WiMAX vs. HSPA+
HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola all have 4G LTE devices in the works.
The first commercial.
Pricing and data package details.

Need to know anything else? Getting excited?

From the Weekend: Gingerbread Launch Date, Swype Beta Updated, DROIDs on Sale

Kellen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 06:00:00 +0000

As most of you know by now, we try to take weekends to relax from all that is Droid unless something big pops up that can't wait until Monday morning. Well this weekend was the exception and that's because we had some pretty significant Gingerbread release date talk. In fact, we're expecting it to be announced today. And along with that, we had Droids on sale all over the place, plus a Swype beta update.

Gingerbread should be here today.
Droid 2 Global and Droid Pro at Best Buy for cheap.
The Swype beta was updated for those in the program.
Comcast targeting Tuesday (7th) for their Android app launch.
Angry Birds Season day 4 and day 5 scores.

This week could be HUGE. Don't miss any part of it!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 5 - Post Your High Scores!

Kellen — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:56:20 +0000

Day 5 of Angry Birds Seasons is live and ready for you to dominate it! Somehow I've managed to get 3 stars on them all, but am in no way keeping up with you AB pros. So post up those scores! Remember, if you post up something big, people are going to want proof with a screenshot! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

DROID 2 Global $149 and DROID Pro $49 at Best Buy

Kellen — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:29:00 +0000

The Droid Pro (our review) and Droid 2 Global have only been out for a couple of weeks now, but that doesn't mean you can't find a steal of a deal on either of them. Best Buy is offering up the Pro for $49 and the D2 Global for $149 which are insanely low prices for a couple of phones that are this new. Tack these deals onto BB's new holiday smartphone sale and you've got some choices.

Buy Droid Pro. Buy Droid 2 Global. Cheers Doc!

Swype Beta Updated, Bug Fixes and New Installer (Updated)

Kellen — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 10:00:35 +0000

The Swype team snuck in an update this week to their beta program and it's actually pretty major. They have finally fulfilled the number 1 request from their users with the addition of Voice-to-Text. See that cute little microphone button pictured above? Well there you go my friends. Just in time for the holidays. Oh, they also tossed in this really sweet double-tap-to-edit option (apparently old as well). If you see an incorrect word, you can simply double tap on it to bring up a menu of word choices. Awesome, right? Update: Some people are claiming to have seen these new features in previous releases. This is definitely supposed to be an updated build as of 12/3/10, so maybe it's just a bug fixer? Our Swype update on 11/11 definitely didn't include these features. Update 2: And we're idiots. I guess this was in the previous version. Update 3: Looks like a bug fixer and a new installer...that's it. Moving on! To download the new installer visit: http://beta.swype.com/android/get Tip: If you run into an error while installing, this post may help fix it. Cheers Jimmy!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 4 - Post Your High Scores!

Kellen — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:00:59 +0000

Angry Birds Seasons day 4 is here! Who's got scores for us? It took me a few tries to finally get 3 stars and put up a decent number which I'm sure you will all crush in seconds. What you got? Post them up in the comments! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Comcast Targets December 7th for Android App

Kellen — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 11:15:09 +0000

I know that many of you have been waiting for a Comcast app to arrive on Android and it looks like after a few delays, it should launch on December 7th which is this Tuesday. There is a chance we could also see an Xfinity app on that day according to our sources and that screenshot above, but that hasn't been locked down yet. Cheers money!

Gingerbread Coming December 6th According to Notion Ink

Kellen — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 10:46:22 +0000

We already had a pretty good idea that Gingerbread (Android 2.3) would be announced on December 6th when Andy Rubin takes over the keynote at the Dive Into Mobile conference, but Notion Ink may have just confirmed it. Their CEO Rohan Shavran, in his "Weekend Special" post made reference to the day being special for Android and that their Eden UI works well with 2.3.

6th December is another big day for Android and you will find out how fast Notion Ink can work. (Eden is extremely compatible with 2.3)

And in case you hadn't figured it out yet, the 6th is Monday. And, yay. Via: Notion Ink, Androinica Cheers Picolas!

Battle the DROID SnowBot in a Snowball Fight!

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:24:18 +0000

I'm not sure what it is about the Droid SnowBot, but I love this thing. And now, it's even more awesome, since you can battle it out with him in a snowball fight over at Verizon's Facebook page. The game is sort of simple and cheesy, but if you have a webcam you might actually work off a little of that Thanksgiving flab by dodging left and right. As each snowball hits your screen, you are greeted to some of the Droid lineup selling points, so do your best to ignore those and just dominate the game. Play it here.

Fake DROID X Running WinMo 6.5 Tops Them All

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:30:11 +0000

This isn't the first time that we've seen a fake Droid phone running Windows Mobile 6.5, but this is the first time that the phone looked legitimate enough to make us squint and yell, "Damn, that's good!" For a knock-off, that Droid X is seriously pretty awesome. I mean granted, the device is ridiculous in the fact that it runs WinMo 6.5 instead of Android, but come on, give the guys behind it props for putting out something almost identical to the real thing. Ridiculous. Full gallery after the break. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Source: M8Cool Via: Engadget

Custom OG Droid Friday: Theme Pack for MIUI

Tim — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:45:36 +0000

Earlier this week we posted about the new MIUI ROM taking a liking to our home, and becoming a family member. Well what really puts the Prunus Avium on top is the fact that there's so many themes for it. And switching them? That's even easier! After the jump, I will walk you through downloading this pack and applying them to the ROM. Let's have some fun!

This is for OG DROID only...all else, beware!

Firstly, you're going to need the newest MIUI (instructions). After installing that, proceed to these steps: 1. Download this zip file containing all MIUI themes. Download Here 2. Open up the zip and place all theme.zip's in sdcard/MIUI/theme 3. Open up "Theme Manager" application and have some fun! You don't even need to use recovery or anything. It's that simple! So enjoy and have a great weekend! -Tim-o-tato Thanks to all the developers, artists, and people who made this possible. To learn more about MIUI, please visit their website. [gallery columns="5"]

Angry Birds Seasons Day 3 – Post Your High Scores!

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:00:04 +0000

It's day 3 of Angry Birds Seasons which means it is time to see how big of a score you can put up! Day 2 brought out some serious players, posting scores that definitely blew my mind, so let's see what you've got today! If you are new to the drill, here are the instructions: Play Angry Birds Seasons day 3, take a screenshot of your score, upload it to an image site and paste it into the comments. You can just post your score if the image part won't work for you, but just understand that if you post up a monster, people will want proof! And yeah, this level is crushing me hence the 2 stars. Show me what you've got! (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.) (ShootMe and Drocap2 are both good screenshot apps.)

Has it been a full year already?

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:15:32 +0000

The first post for this site actually happened back on November 15, 2009, but we always sort of considered our official launch to be sometime around December which puts this silly little Droid blog at its very first birthday. I don't even know what to say... While I don't want to get totally sentimental on this sunny Friday afternoon, I did want to at least let you all know. You see, this site really is driven by all of you. You are easily the best community of Droid/Android enthusiasts on the planet and I will argue that with anyone. The collection of personalities, knowledge and humor have given this site an identity, but most importantly, have helped it grow into something that I feel is very special. How many sites can say they had a single post hit 1,700+ comments? It's been amazing to watch so many people come together as a group of strangers, then form friendships, give advice, technical support and show so much care for one another that they can consider themselves a "family." Pretty special stuff, indeed. I'm just happy that I could provide a place for it all to happen. Now, I know it's not happy hour here on the west coast just yet, but you can bet when it hits that I'll be raising a glass to all of you. Thanks everyone. Here's to all of the fun we've had over the last year and to so many more going forward! Oh, and if you want a good laugh, take a look at the old site which is still standing. Yikes!

KiteUI Looks Sharp, Will It Move Past Just Being a "Concept"?

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:23:39 +0000

A bold new Android concept called KiteUI has been in the works over at XDA for a good 2 months now and just this week emerged with video showing where the project is possibly headed. We've seen ideas like this in the past and always jump for joy thinking that they will be landing on our phones in a matter of weeks, but we all need to consider the amount of work that goes into a project this massive. KiteUI isn't just another launcher or home replacement, it's an entirely new interface (like HTC Sense) that will change the way your phone functions entirely. I'm not trying to shoot down everyone's hopes, but if you want this puppy to come to life, you should start showing a ton of support for the developer in the source thread down below. Ask questions, provide feedback and if you know anything about coding, try to offer up your services. Just don't spam off to him asking to be a tester. Please. And I'm off my little soapbox! So what is KiteUI? We'll let their team describe it for you...

The kite UI is built off of a pretty simple idea: You have 2-3 views in every app. Flicking left from the middle view will bring you to the right view and vice versa. While you are in the right view, for instance the 'social' view, you can dig deeper by pressing on a friend. If you want to move backwards in this view all you do is flick right. If you are in the left view you move backwards by flicking left. Simply put, when you're going deeper within a certain view you move further away from the middle. Moving closer to the middle equals moving backwards until ultimately your on the first 'level' of the view.

That make sense? The video below will help you visualize it... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR3wVGU231s[/youtube] All of the KiteUI info you could ask for at this XDA thread. Who wants some KiteUI? Too bold of an idea? Too awesome to not add to your X-mas list?

Android Market Updated, Includes "Similar" and "Related" Tabs

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:02:31 +0000

The Android Market is receiving a silent update today that will display a new tab while you browse through apps. When you load up an app like Angry Birds, a new "Related" or "Similar" tab will appear, giving you a list of apps that may also interest you such as "Fart for your Life." (Wow.) My Galaxy Tab is displaying "Related", but my Droid X is showing as "Similar" which seems a little odd. So much for standardization? What are you all seeing? Cheers Neil and @05926!

5GB Verizon 4G LTE Data Limit Crushed in 32 Minutes?

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:29:01 +0000

This report came out early yesterday, but we wanted to make sure all of you 4G LTE awaitees saw it. The crew over at PCMag had a couple of the 4G modems from Verizon and put them through a series of tests to see how fast the service is and to see if those 5GB and 10GB limits are enough to last you through an entire month. Well the results are in, and according to their speed tests, you could possibly burn through a 5GB limit in about 32 minutes.

Obviously you'd have to be crushing torrents, streaming video, or some other bandwidth hog in order to hit 5GB that fast, but even if you use services like those sparingly throughout a month, you should be a little worried. Even at 10GB, business traveling machines might run into issues, forcing them to fork out another $10 per 1GB after eclipsing their limit. Now, we have reason to believe that there will be additional tiers or variations of plans when 4G LTE phones arrive, so maybe this will be a non-issue for most of us. (Shrug?) For me, a few questions immediately come to mind after seeing a story like this. Are these 5GB and 10GB limits enough for speeds this fast? Is Verizon trying to limit the use of their new service? People are mobile these days and do everything on their phones, is Big Red trying to push you away from that lifestyle? What's the point of 4G if you have to limit your use of it? Your thoughts? Via: PCMag

Gameloft Offers up Dungeon Hunter for Free

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:50:59 +0000

Gameloft, who has frustrated many of us with their non-Android Market approach to selling their games, has done something awesome today by offering up Dungeon Hunter for free! As far as I know, the deal is for today only, so you may want to jump on this right away. All you have to do is open up your mobile browser and visit: http://www.gameloft.com/free-hd-game/ After that, you will be able to download the game, install it and enjoy! Well, it will require you to download an additional 181MB of data after installing, but you are good with that right? Awesome games, take up awesome space. Via: @Gameloft Cheers K.Sutherland, phoenix, and @JasonAGrier!

Best Buy Offers Free Smartphones Each Day through Holidays

Kellen — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:59:34 +0000

Since the "Free Phone Friday" promotion through October was so damn successful, Best Buy has decided to bring it back, only by offering even more deals this time. Throughout the month of December, they will offer a new set of "free" smartphones each day instead of just every Friday. The plan is to offer at least 4 phones, 1 from each carrier, but as you'll see from the "Buy" link down below, that there are a lot more than 4. And who's included in the first batch? The Droid Incredible of course. Buy. Via: Best Buy

DROID 2 Allegedly Explodes in Man's Ear, Still Works

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:10:57 +0000

According to reports out of Fox in Dallas, a man and his brand new Droid 2 are no longer friends. After a heated exchange while attempting to get into his car, the D2 decided to ignite its eFuse in order to blow a hole in the side of the man's head that would require 4 stitches. This man obviously doesn't read Droid Life or he would have know that the bootloader on these Blur devices isn't meant to be taken lightly. OK all jokes aside. This guy really believes that his Droid 2 exploded in his ear. Of course we are all questioning the entire story especially since the guy admits to having zero health insurance, called in the local news to cover his story and is hoping that Motorola will help with the medical costs. He's also already contacted a lawyer. Another McDonald's hot coffee story in the making? The phone still works though! DROID 1. Man 0. Full video after the break.

Thoughts? Cheers @Jeremy_Barnes!

Angry Birds Seasons Day 2 - Post Your High Score!

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:42:07 +0000

Angry Birds Seasons was released onto Android yesterday with 25 new holiday levels that are unlocked 1 at a time leading up until X-mas. We thought a fun way to celebrate it would be to post up your high scores for each day as they come out. What we'll do is create a new post each day and all you have to do is take a screenshot of your score like we've done above and post it into the comments. There won't be any official prizes, but you'll have holiday trash talking rights for the day. Sound good? Anyone beat my 79,980? (ImageShack and TinyPic are both good image hosting options.)

Unrevoked 3.22 Available for DROID Incredible

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:17:03 +0000

We brought you word that version 3.21 of Unrevoked was no longer working for Droid Incredible after the latest update and that they were working tirelessly to fix it. Well the time has come and Incredible owners can now get back to doing what we were all meant to do with our Android phones, root them. Verison 3.22 is live and ready for your amusement. Download it from the Unrevoked website. Changelog. Cheers OrbitJM, Jason, Logan and Landon!

Thursday Poll: What is your favorite Android Browser?

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:05:40 +0000

How have we not asked this question yet? Shame on us. With so many quality options out there for your Android browsing pleasure, we'd love to hear what your favorite is. Is it Skyfire and their interesting take on Flash videos? Firefox and their ever-evolving mobile version? Dolphin, the standard? Is xScope the innovator? Or are we missing something fabulous altogether? Let us know which browser you prefer, but beyond that, we want to know why it's your favorite. Why is this the browser for you? If you could change anything in a browser, what would it be? [poll id="32"]

Ask Dr. Root: Is it possible to Remap Buttons?

MrPicolas — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:25:16 +0000

Hello kiddies, hope you had a good holiday! Since it tis the season to be giving, what better way than to hit you with a new app to help those of you with multiple Android devices. As I was browsing XDA, I came across this handy little app that lets you adjust the function associated with each button on your phone. Being that I have multiple phones and the hardware keys are different on almost all of them, sometimes you catch yourself hitting the wrong buttons. Well not anymore with an app called Button Re-mapper. The nice thing about this app is that instead of needing coding experience, it packages it for you in a nice clean interface for you to use, and in case you need to go back to your original layout it will do that also. Here is a link to the apk: Button remapper apk Also, if you enjoy this app please think about grabbing the donate version.

-Dr. Root (mrpicolas)

Flash 10.1.105.7 Available in the Android Market

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:39:32 +0000

It's not Flash 10.2 beta that was just released for desktop clients, but it is still something new and will bring your Flash Player up to version 10.1.105.7. For whatever reason though, Adobe isn't using the new "Recent Changes" section when they update their apps, so we have no idea exactly what this update is meant for. Maybe it has some secret deep meaning that will change the universe forever like Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022 or LeBron's return to Cleveland tonight. Whatever it is, we'll be on the lookout.

Download Link

Cheers Keith!

Lookout Locates Stolen Car, Returns DROID Incredible to Owner in 7 Minutes

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:18:28 +0000

Lookout has become the go-to security app for many Android users, but one in particular was able to use it to locate his stolen car and Droid Incredible in just 7 minutes. The poor guy was on his way out to his car to go grab groceries for the fam' and was held up at gun point by some lunatic. The gunman then took the guy's car which happened to have his Incredible sitting inside with Lookout Security activated. So as any Android enthusiast would do, he ran inside, pulled up Lookout on his PC browser, found his car, sent the cops there, and they arrested the sucker in 7 minutes. Android 1. Gunman 0.

Android 2.3 Makes Video Appearance in Cantonese Voice Search Demo

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:40:11 +0000

Google HK (Hong Kong?) posted a video over a week ago now that essentially gives us the first real glimpse as to what Gingerbread (Android 2.3) will look like. The purpose of the video is to show off voice search in Cantonese, but you'll see right away that device isn't just running your average version of Android. We've grabbed a few stills from the video which show off market listings, market app pages with 3 tabs, the launcher and as you see up top, the home screen. So we definitely have green highlights on everything plus a black notification bar, but the rest looks really familiar. Of course, we all know that appearance isn't everything and that Google will more than likely have some extra special features packed into this new build such as video chatting and music streaming. Can't wait to see it. Video and gallery after the break. Video action: (Google removed original video. Pocket Now reuploaded.) [youtube][/youtube] Gallery: [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Via: Android HK, Android Police

Motorola CEO Talks 7 and 10 Inch Tablets, 4G Device "Early Next Year" and Verizon iPhone

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:22:02 +0000

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha owned the keynote at the Credit Suisse 2010 Technology Conference yesterday, dropping bombs about their plans for 2011. He started off with talk of the Motorola split, but then jumped into all things Android and what they have in store on the tablet front, 4G arena and who might step up to deny their domination. The good news:

Both 7 and 10 inch Android tablets will be out in the near future. Software differentiation will be key, targeting enterprise, international and retail spaces. Obviously we all just care about their retail plans.
They have plans for dual-core devices as they continue to lead the way with hardware specs in their mobile products.
4G devices will be out "early next year".
They plan to spread out their products over multiple U.S. carriers.

The bad news:

They still really like MotoBlur and think it has been a huge success. Jha talked about their millions of subscribers, but that seems obvious since they force you to use it on their phones. Nice way of spinning it I guess.
The Verizon i*hone is coming in Q1 2011, although he wouldn't actually say the word "i*hone" you get the point. "Additional challenge potentially" in first quarter is what he said, but isn't worried because of their strong relationship with Verizon.
He doesn't expect Q1 of 2011 to be awesome and that could be because of the i*hone or because they won't have a huge release until Q2.

You can listen to his entire keynote here. Via: BGR

83% of Android Phones Now on 2.1 or Higher

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 08:30:54 +0000

So I've rewritten this post almost 5 times now and can't decide where to go with it. I'll just ramble on for a minute and let you guys take it from there... Do we have a fragmentation problem? Looking at the new chart of Android OS distribution says that fragmentation might be on the outs, but we all know Gingerbread is around the corner. Manufacturers will soon be trying to catch their phones up to that, only not all of them will meet the spec requirements to get there and will be left behind on 2.1 or even 2.2. And since phone manufacturers like putting out cheap options for customers, some of these phones will be stuck from the beginning of their lives in lower Android builds for at least 2 years or until the consumer upgrades. But is it really a problem? Some analysts say that it's a nightmare for developers, while the developers themselves seem to think fragmentation is a non-issue. Which is it? Again, I have no idea where I'm going with this as I'm sure you can tell from the randomness of that entire paragraph. Your thoughts? Via: Android Developers

TAT Joins RIM, So Much for that Cool UI on Android

Kellen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 07:22:29 +0000

We've talked a lot about TAT (The Astonishing Tribe) here at Droid Life as a company that could possibly reinvent the way we use our Android phones and today RIM announced that they have snagged them. Yep, say your official goodbyes to TAT Home, those sweet live wallpapers, and teasing for test groups to any of their products. They will now turn the Blackberry Playbook into something even more awesome. I guess we'll just hope Slick UI comes out soon and owns the world. One last look at TAT home: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOGmnnGpoqg[/youtube] Via: RIM

Go Launcher Enters the Android Launcher Arena

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:05:24 +0000

Yep, another launcher that has a huge goal of trying to take down LauncherPro and ADW. Does it stand a chance? Actually, it does. Go Launcher has a ton of the functionality that you'll already see with those other two launchers, but has it's own take on how Android should function. It doesn't necessarily use an "app drawer" and instead opts for a "function chart" which includes your apps but also as a task killer. Interesting right? The developers also threw in the scrollable app tray, custom icon settings, gestures and many of the other features you've all enjoyed in LP and ADW, so this might be an alternative to consider. Full gallery after the break. Anyone been using Go? Thoughts?

Download Link

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Cheers Jim!

Google Reader App Finally Released on Android

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:45:19 +0000

Go ahead and uninstall Pulse, Greed or any other RSS reader app you had installed on your phone as Google finally released their Reader which mimics the browser version perfectly. OK, telling you to uninstall those other apps isn't really fair, but after glancing at Google's attempt for 5 minutes I can tell that this will immediately become my default. It's free, simple and has the backing of Google which means it should actually work correctly. Grab it now!

Download Link

Cheers @JasonAGrier and Cade!

New Full MIUI ROM for Original DROID Blows Us Away

Tim — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:13:13 +0000

The serious workaholics over at the MIUI Forums are doing something right. Only they could get me to run a somewhat Apple UI on my OG Droid. "Tim, what the heck are you doing?!?" is something that I'm expecting to hear, but let me tell you something - I really enjoy this! They have reinvented the way I use my phone....again! With an insane amount of themes (easily switchable) what more could you ask for? Back in September we featured an awesome video showing off what MIUI had to offer, but now, this version which we are showcasing here is for the Original DROID 1 only. Be on the lookout for different versions for you favorite device. It has some insane features currently not availble for anything else. You'll find tons of toggles in the pull down bar, changeable lockscreen wallpaper, black and white list of phone numbers, whole new phone.apk UI, etc. etc. My list goes on. So let me layout some installation instructions for all you curious cats...

Again, this is for OG DROID only

1. Download zip and place on root of SD Card. MIUI Full ROM 2. Boot into Recovery and make a Backup. Because you never know! 3. After backup, wipe data/cache. Full factory reset. 4. Install ROM from SD and choose the MIUI zip. After installation, enjoy your new phone! Got any probelems? Questions? Concerns? Cats?? Then ask away in the #droidlife IRC channel or here in our very helpful comment section! Thanks! -Tim-o-tato Huge thanks to the entire MIUI Team and especially metiCkOne, Jamezelle, n_i_x and MarkHUK. See their original post HERE. You can find the wallpaper featured in the Droid Life Wallpaper App and that clock is just Beautiful Widgets. [gallery columns="4"]

Wednesday Poll: Thoughts on Verizon's 4G LTE Network?

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:07:43 +0000

All the talk today has been about Verizon's 4G LTE network that will go live starting Sunday, December 5th in 38 major cities (press release) and we just want to know your thoughts on it. There have been numerous articles written throughout the tech world suggesting that all of the "4G" networks across the country aren't true 4G, but for us, that hasn't lessened our excitement over it. We just can't wait to see the speeds on the new set of Android devices that we're expecting some time in 2011 and could care less what the network is called. But what about you? Is the "4G" tag bothering you like it seems to be to so many others? Are you just excited to see the new devices that will dominate our lives with ridiculous speeds? Should we call it something else? Let us know in the comments! [poll id="31"]

Take 60% Off Accessories in Motorola's Store

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:39:06 +0000

We just received a tip that will allow you to take 60% off your accessory orders in the Motorola store from now until, well we're not sure when the promo ends. All you have to do is pick something out, go through the checkout process (which is powered by Amazon) and enter in coupon code GIFT4U60 to see 60% of the final price magically disappear. I just walked through the purchase of a Droid X HDMI multimedia dock (our review) which is regularly $60 and could have snagged it for $28 after the $4 flat rate shipping fee was added. X-mas presents galore! It apparently won't work on phones, but you could always try, heh. Cheers Jubby!

Verizon 4G LTE Press Release and Details (Updated)

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:13:57 +0000

We pulled out some of the big hits from today's Verizon 4G LTE launch call. You can also check out the entire press release from Big Red after the break. 9:38AM - Calls will be 3G and data will be 4G. You can do both simultaneously. In the future, both will be 4G LTE. 9:34AM - Pricing and data packages could change as the network evolves. Modems do require 2-year contracts though so you are either stuck with $50 or $80 plans. 9:24AM- Street level maps will be available starting Sunday when network is live. Viewed at verizonwireless.com/4glte. They really don't want anyone to ask about smartphones either. They keep reiterating the fact that everything will be debuted in January at CES. 9:22AM - Verizon takes credit for Android explosion and says the same will happen with 4G LTE. "Not all 4G is the same." 9:20AM - Initial Pricing: Two data plans: 5GB for $50 and 10GB for $80. $10 per 1GB overage. Devices: Two modems: LG (on Sunday) and Pantech (later) and can be purchased for $99 after $50 rebate with 2-year agreement. Modems are also 3G compatible. Additional devices expected "middle of 2011" and will be debuted at CES in January. 9:15AM - Speeds: 10MB downloaded in 10 secs, 20 photos in 60 seconds. People covered: 110 million at launch, biggest area in LA and southern California which will be 20 million. 110 mill at launch. Rollout completed in 2013. 9:13AM - The full 4G LTE press release after the break.

Verizon Wireless Launches The World’s Largest 4G LTE Wireless Network On Dec. 5 Laptop Users Benefit First from Fastest and Most Advanced Wireless Network, Arriving in 38 Major Metropolitan Areas with New Value-Priced 4G Data Plans BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Verizon Wireless announced today it is turning on the world’s first large-scale 4G LTE network on Sunday, Dec. 5. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network will be the fastest and most advanced 4G network in America. Business users will be the first to take advantage of the 4G LTE network with speeds up to 10 times faster than the company’s 3G network. With the launch, Verizon Wireless is also offering new value-priced 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans starting at $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance, as well as two new 4G LTE USB modems: the LG VL600 which will be available at launch, and the Pantech UML290, available soon. Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said, “Beginning Sunday, Verizon Wireless is making the best network even better. Our initial 4G LTE launch gives customers access to the fastest and most advanced mobile network in America and immediately reaches more than one-third of all Americans, right where they live. That’s just the start. We will quickly expand 4G LTE, and by 2013 will reach the existing Verizon Wireless 3G coverage area.” Road warriors using laptops will immediately benefit from Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network with super-fast connectivity that’s up to 10 times faster than the company’s current 3G network. The company expects 4G LTE average data rates in real-world, loaded network environments to be 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink. Mead continued, “We are building our 4G LTE network with the same commitment to performance and reliability for which we have long been recognized. Our commitment to superior network performance, combined with broad 4G coverage areas and the strong value of our data plans make 4G LTE Mobile Broadband the best choice for laptop users.” 4G LTE Mobile Broadband Data Plans, Devices and Coverage Areas Verizon Wireless customers can choose from two 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans: $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance or $80 monthly access for 10 GB monthly allowance, both with $10/GB overage. For laptop connectivity, two 4G LTE USB modems will be initially available: the LG VL600 is available at launch and the Pantech UML290 will be available soon, each $99.99 after $50 rebate with a new two-year agreement. Both USB modems provide backward-compatibility with Verizon Wireless’ 3G network. If laptop users travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, they will automatically stay connected on the company’s 3G network. The two modems harness the power of the company’s 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network to help enterprise, business and government customers make their workforces more productive, providing super-fast laptop connectivity. Both modems will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, online atwww.verizonwireless.com, by phone by calling 1-800 256-4646 and through the company’s business sales channels. The company expects consumer-oriented handsets will be available by mid-2011. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network is initially launching in 38 major metropolitan areas and in more than 60 commercial airports coast to coast – at both airports within the launch areas plus airports in other key cities. Street level coverage area maps will be available online on Dec. 5. Today, customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/4Glte to check if their addresses will be in the initial 4G LTE coverage area. Spectrum and Network Partners By leveraging its 700 MHz spectrum for LTE deployment in the United States, Verizon Wireless is capable of quickly deploying a high-quality wireless broadband network with excellent coverage. Verizon Wireless’ primary 4G LTE network vendors, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, are providing the underlying infrastructure for the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network. Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Major Metropolitan Area Deployment (Dec. 5, 2010) Akron, Ohio Athens, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Baltimore, Maryland Boston, Massachusetts Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Houston, Texas Jacksonville, Florida Las Vegas, Nevada Los Angeles, California Miami, Florida Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana New York, New York Oakland, California Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Orlando, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Rochester, New York San Antonio, Texas San Diego, California San Francisco, California San Jose, California Seattle/Tacoma, Washington St. Louis, Missouri Tampa, Florida Washington, D.C. West Lafayette, Indiana West Palm Beach, Florida Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Commercial Airport Deployment (Airport Name, City, State) Dec. 5, 2010 Austin-Bergstrom International, Austin, Texas Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshal, Glen Burnie, Maryland Bob Hope, Burbank, California Boeing Field/King County International, Seattle, Washington Charlotte/Douglas International, Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago Midway International, Chicago, Illinois Chicago O’Hare International, Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, Covington, Kentucky Cleveland-Hopkins International, Cleveland, Ohio Dallas Love Field, Dallas, Texas Dallas/Fort Worth International, Fort Worth, Texas Denver International, Denver, Colorado Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida George Bush Intercontinental/Houston, Houston, Texas Greater Rochester International, Rochester, New York Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta, Georgia Honolulu International, Honolulu, Hawaii Jacksonville International, Jacksonville, Florida John F. Kennedy International, New York, New York John Wayne Airport-Orange County, Santa Ana, California Kansas City International, Kansas City, Missouri La Guardia, New York, New York Lambert-St. Louis International, St. Louis, Missouri Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts Long Beach/Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California Los Angeles International, Los Angeles, California Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, Metairie, Louisiana McCarran International, Las Vegas, Nevada Memphis International, Memphis, Tennessee Metropolitan Oakland International, Oakland, California Miami International, Miami, Florida Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, Minneapolis, Minnesota Nashville International, Nashville, Tennessee New Castle, Wilmington, Delaware Newark Liberty International, Newark, New Jersey Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, San Jose, California North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada Orlando International, Orlando, Florida Orlando Sanford International, Sanford, Florida Palm Beach International, West Palm Beach, Florida Philadelphia International, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, Mesa, Arizona Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Port Columbus International, Columbus, Ohio Portland International, Portland, Oregon Rickenbacker International, Columbus, Ohio Ronald Reagan Washington National, Arlington, Virginia Sacramento International, Sacramento, California Salt Lake City International, Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio International, San Antonio, Texas San Diego International, San Diego, California San Francisco International, San Francisco, California Seattle-Tacoma International, Seattle, Washington St. Augustine, Saint Augustine, Florida St. Petersburg-Clearwater International, Clearwater, Florida Tampa International, Tampa, Florida Teterboro, Teterboro, New Jersey Trenton Mercer, Trenton, New Jersey Washington Dulles International, Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C. Will Rogers World, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma William P. Hobby, Houston, Texas About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visitwww.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library atwww.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Verizon Makes 4G LTE Official, Available Starting December 5th

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:49:56 +0000

You already knew that this was happening on December 5th because you read this blog, but Verizon just made the date officially official with a new 4G LTE dedicated website. We'll be hearing a full run down in just a few minutes through VZW's LTE press call, but wanted to let you know that you can start digging through all that is 4G LTE right now. Check out the map and any other details you had questions on at this site.

@DroidLanding Starting New DROID Contest?

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:44:00 +0000

The @DroidLanding Twitter account has been a great source for contests ever since the Droid X was launched and today, after almost 2 months of silence, tweeted the message you are seeing above. It looks like a new contest is in order although details haven't been released. So far it looks like you just need to tweet about wanting a Droid with the hashtag #IWANTADROID and you could win one. Jump on it! Cheers Mark!

Angry Birds Seasons Released on Android to Fulfill Your Holiday Wishes

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:45:06 +0000

The much-anticipated holiday version of Angry Birds titled "Seasons" is now available in the Android market for free, just as the full version is. In this holiday release, you get 25 new snow and present filled levels plus the 45 Halloween levels that we all were skipped by. 70 new AB levels to take you through the next...2 hours?

Download Link

Cheers Najib and the other 150 of you!

Motorola Olympus Purchased at Flea Market, Runs 2.2 and Blur

Kellen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:18:40 +0000

I keep using the word silly, but seriously it's just been that kind of week. Apparently a tipster over at Gizmodo found the phone pictured above which is said to be the Motorola Olympus at a flea market...we'll just pause here for a second. And ready. The flea market version of the phone looks a lot like the Motorola Defy, but appears to have a much larger screen, front facing camera, and HDMI port so it has to be the Olympus right? Well, the tipster wasn't shy about showing the about screen or powering it on, so this doesn't feel like the typical leak. You can see that the model number MB860 matches up and that it runs Froyo (with Blur), but we're still waiting on proof of its Tegra 2 processor. Seriously, flea market? [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Via: Gizmodo Cheers Ryan!

Breaking: FRG83D Update Heading to DROID Test Group in Next 24 Hours (Updated)

Tim — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:49:03 +0000

Original Droid owners, prepare yourselves for an update! No it's not Gingerbread, but it is Android version FRG83D (updated) which likely just means 2.2.1 like we've seen on the Nexus One. From the sheet above you can see that the update looks pretty minor and is mostly a bug fixer with added 2010 Exchange support, but does include a "new Gmail user interface" which sounds interesting enough. So when should you all expect to see it on your handsets?

A few of our readers just sent over an email that they received as a part of the Motorola Feedback Network detailing information about an original Droid software update that will be sent out over the next 24 hours. We're assuming it's the same one that Verizon is expecting. Here is an excerpt from the email:

Over the next 24 hours, barring last-minute changes, we will begin to distribute the latest Droid software to a select group of owners, and you should expect to be among them.* As a Motorola Feedback Network member, you are key to this test. Some of the owners are chosen at random and as a result, we won’t get feedback from them. But we’re counting on you and other members to provide us with a quick and accurate assessment of this update. After this pre-launch release, we’ll observe for a few days to make sure all is well, before releasing to all owners.

And we told you all about this Motorola Feedback Network just last week, so if you didn't join it and get this email, that's your own fault! Kidding of course. We'll keep you updated as we have more! -Timotato Cheers E, M and J!

DoubleTwist Returns with “AirSync” Update, Sync Everything from Desktop to Android Device

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:56:07 +0000

DoubleTwist just dropped a bomb of an update on everyone called AirSync which allows you to take your entire photo, video and music collection from your computer and sync it wirelessly to your Android device. We've been extremely critical of DoubleTwist in the past, but we're hoping that this update will help redeem them in our books as their service attempts to be useful. Update: I misread and jumped the gun. It's only syncing, NOT streaming...and we're back to being unimpressed. Oh, this new AirSync add-on will cost you $.99 though. If you don't feel like taking the dollar plunge, know that our music is syncing right now and we've got a hands-on video already in the works, so feel free to hold out for a few. We'll take care of you.

After not seeing DoubleTwist for a few months now, I'll have to admit that they've one a nice job of cleaning it up and making it look like a legitimate media library option. We'll know for sure in a few minutes.

Download Link

Verizon 4G LTE Launching on December 5th or 6th

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:11:34 +0000

Verizon notified media this morning that they will hold a press event tomorrow to discuss the rollout and launching of their 4G LTE service before the end of 2010. We were tipped to a December 6th go live date originally, but now have further confirmation from additional sources that it'll be either on the 5th or the 6th. And as you'll see from the document above, 4G LTE modems will start going on-sale in stores on the 5th. Now if only that page could have also displayed the Incredible HD, life would have been really good. Cheers money!

OnStar "Show Off" Commercial Also Stars DROID X

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:45:15 +0000

We've already featured a couple of Droid X appearances in OnStar commercials and print ads, but somehow missed this one. The commercial is called "Show Off" and features a guy using his DX and OnStar app to remotely check out his car before giving it up to his lady friend who is off to have a "girl's weekend." [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhzLlGALcrU[/youtube] More Droid appearances here.

Clutch Beta Released, Quickly Switch Between Tasks or Apps

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:14:03 +0000

A new "task switching" app just hit the market and it's from the developer that helped with the new UI we now see on xScope 6. The app is called Clutch and allows you to quickly switch between recent tasks or apps without the hassle of having to long press on your "Home" button. As you'll see in the screenshot on the right, there is a little Android head popping out of the right side and is the icon for Clutch. In order to pull up a menu of your most recently accessed apps or tasks, all you have to do is tap on him. But that's not all. If you don't want to deal with a menu, you can simply press the Android head and swipe up or down to jump between them. It's definitely in beta and there are plenty of tweaks to be made, but you can grab it in the market now for $.99 and see an app grow into something amazing.

A DROID Boot Animation In Memory Of Sadie

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:28:09 +0000

December 19th will mark the 1 year anniversary of the passing of the daughter of one of our Droid community members. While I won't even attempt to put into words how great of a loss this must be, I at least wanted to share something that a few amazing members of this community have done to help support the family through such trying times. Liquidzgrl (of Liquid Frozen Yogurt ROM) answered the call and created the boot animation that you are seeing above in memory of this lost child. Many members of the Android community have chosen to use this new boot animation over the next couple of weeks in honor of Sadie and her grieving parents. If you are interested in showing support on your phone, you can find the file and instructions at this forum thread. And if you have words of support for both Andrew and his wife, please feel free to leave them down below.

Android Developers Can Rate the Content of Their Apps Starting Today

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:09:29 +0000

There have been a variety of Android market updates on the developer side of things over the past few weeks as we patiently await the arrival of Gingerbread, and one of them in particular went live today. App developers can now rate their applications as either Mature, Teen, Pre-teen or All with the help of these guidelines. Here are some examples of how apps should be rated:

Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs Apps that include references to drugs, alcohol or tobacco products or their use should be rated “Teen” or above. Apps that focus on the consumption or sale of drugs, alcohol or tobacco should be rated “Mature”. Illegal activity or content that is targeted at minors is not allowed in Android Market. Gambling Apps with gambling themes or that include simulated gambling should be rated “Teen” or above. Real gambling is not allowed in Android Market. Hate Hate speech is not allowed in Android Market. If your app includes inflammatory content that may be offensive to many users, please rate it “Teen” or above.

Market improvements like this were needed so badly. Thanks Android team! Cheers Greg!

DROID X Bundle is Today’s Verizon Seasonal Surprise

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:00:44 +0000

Remember those 24 daily "Season Surprise" deals that are expected to come out from Verizon up until X-mas? Today's is the Droid X! We knew it wouldn't be long before they tossed in a Droid device, but day 2 of the promo is the type of action we like to see. If you buy the Droid X and Jawbone Icon bundle, you'll get $30 off, which I'm assuming means the Jawbone is essentially free. Obviously you'll have to sign up for a new contract and all that jazz as well. Head here to unveil your prize. (Or here if that didn't work.) Cheers Aaron!

Revision3 App Released for Android

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:41:58 +0000

Our buddies over at Revision3 have reached out to let us know that their Android app is available for free in the market right now. We're sort of partial to their shows as they've featured us in the past, so definitely think about grabbing this app if goofy, techie, internetie shows are your thing.

Download Link

JRummy Returns with DROID X ROM, Rumm RX V1.0

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:00:31 +0000

Our buddy, original Droid ROM master, and Droid Life wallpaper app developer JRummy, has returned with his first ROM for the Droid X called Rumm RX. It's a almost Blur-less ROM, but has a few of the essentials left which seems to give it a good overall feel. He's tweaked some things like the battery meter, added a bunch of scripts, tossed in some source built apps, and of course used the now popular "fancy" animations that you'll notice when switching between any screen. This is good stuff. It's built off of the 2.2.1 leak so you'll have to be running that in order to flash this. And I'm sure there will be a variety of themes on the way if their aren't already. Download: Rumm_Rx-v1.0_shadow.zip (alt link)

Instructions:

1. YOU HAVE TO BE RUNNING 2.2.1. (Instructions) 2. Do I need to say it again? YOU HAVE TO BE RUNNING 2.2.1. 3. You obviously have to be rooted. (Instructions) 4. You need to have Koush’s Bootstrap Recovery. 5. Open the DX Bootstrap and “boostrap” the recovery. 6. When that finishes, “reboot recovery.” 7. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 8. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone. 9. After that choose "wipe data/factory reset" to wipe your phone. 10. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 11. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the Rumm_Rx-v1.0_shadow.zip, select it and hit “yes.” 12. Your phone will apply the ROM. When it finishes, reboot and enjoy! Let us know if you run into any issues along the way and don't forget to drop into our IRC channel for live support! Donate here. Support thread here.

Verizon Photoshop is Painfully Bad, DROID X Now Runs iOS?

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 09:15:43 +0000

We understand that not all marketing people obsess over things like Android and our general dislike of anything i*hone, but the photoshopping of a Droid X with an iOS Google Maps screen on it is about the worst thing you could do. This might seem like a minor detail to some, but the war between these two mobile operating systems is pretty well known and a gaffe like this is...well, you can probably think of a couple of words I might use. And as you can see below, they've already fixed the image...

Via: Engadget, Verizon

DROID Snowbot Commercial Updated to Include DROID 2 Global

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:40:26 +0000

The Droid Snowbot commercial has been updated again, only this time mentions the Droid 2 Global instead of the original Droid 2. We sort of knew this was coming after watching Verizon swap out the Droid X in the last spot for the Droid Pro. I mean, all they had to do was change one word in the end of the video plus toss in a new voice-over. Give their marketing department credit for this Swiss Army Knife commercial. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ybQNqJQurA[/youtube] Cheers Zach!

Verizon Schedules 4G LTE Press Conference for Tomorrow, Launching December 6th?

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:00:40 +0000

Verizon pinged us this morning with word that they will have a press conference tomorrow (December 1st) at 12 EST with Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technical officer of Verizon Wireless, who will detail the company’s major 4G LTE network launch. From the beginning, Big Red has held strong on an "end of year" launch and our sources have reached out to tell us to expect Tony to announce that 4G LTE will go live on December 6th which is next Monday. We haven't heard if that means all markets or a select few to begin with, but the time is definitely now. If only we could get some 4G LTE Android devices...none are expected before January.

Entire DROID Lineup Goes BOGA Today Through X-mas at Verizon

Kellen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:20:18 +0000

If you and the family need a fresh set of Droid devices for the holidays, then now is the time according to this latest tip out of Verizon. It looks like the entire Droid lineup of phones will be "BOGA" or "Buy One Get Any Phone Free" (of equal or lesser value) starting today and ending on X-mas Eve. I don't actually see the Droid Pro listed on there, but the Droid 2 Global is so you've got to figure that it's included. Cheers money!

Monday Night Poll: Motorola Olympus or Etna?

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:39:00 +0000

Silliest question ever? Hear me out for a second. If you read this site at all, then you know we love us some Motorola phones on Verizon's network and pretty much ignore everything that is AT&T. However, with news slowly leaking out each week that Motorola is leaning towards launching two separate dual-core Tegra 2 phones on both of these networks (Olympus for AT&T) (Etna for Verizon) with the AT&T version possibly coming first, we want to know which you would consider? What if the Olympus launches in January as a 3G AT&T device with specs to crush the world and the Etna doesn't come out until March, but will run on 4G LTE? [poll id="30"]

Southwest Airlines App Hits Android Market

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:00:38 +0000

The much anticipated Southwest Airlines app has finally landed on the Android Market and at first glance, looks like a winner. You can book flights, check-in early, add cars, and even enter your Rapid Rewards info. And unlike some of the other travel apps out there, it appears as if you can actually purchase flights from within it rather than having to be re-directed to the airline's browser-based site. Free.

Download Link

Via: Phandroid

Motorola's Entire DROID Lineup Makes Another Print Appearance

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:00:31 +0000

This whole not wanting to officially recognize the Droid 2 Global thing is starting to get silly. In this new ad which I just pulled from this month's Details, Verizon introduces the Droid Pro (our review) to the family as the new global beast, only the D2G is also pictured without a mention Now, I think we all understand that they made a mistake by launching the original Droid 2 and are trying not to piss off the massive amounts of people that bought it just 3 months ago, but this phone could be a huge hit with its global capabilities and powerful 1.2GHz processor. Not to mention that the keyboard crushes the OG's and the OGD2's...weirdos. Oh, the Droid X is also featured. Nice to see the big dog still holding his own after 5 months of life in the wild. That's also our third Droid appearance in one day. Here and here.

AT&T Announces on Facebook that Motorola Olympus will Launch in December or January?

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:51:44 +0000

Did AT&T just slip up? According to their Facebook admin, the Motorola Olympus, which is codenamed the Etna on Verizon, could hit stores in either December or January? That was the initial thought until that same response was quickly removed. While this isn't incredibly huge news as far as a release date goes (2 months is sort of a wide range), it is huge in the fact that they acknowledged the device's existent. Until now, it's only been a rumor seen on sites like ours that have led the charge to uncover this next big Android device from Motorola. Source: Facebook (although it's been removed) Via: BGR

Verizon Launches 24 Days of Seasonal Surprises Promo

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:50:06 +0000

Verizon launched a brilliant marketing campaign this morning for the holidays called the "24 Days of Seasonal Surprises" that will force customers to share daily deals with either Twitter or Facebook in order to reveal it. I know I've already seen a dozen tweets from many of you, so this is no secret, but we wanted to make sure you were aware of it as Big Red is sure to feature some Droid phones at some point. Today's deal is for Blackberries, so feel free to ignore it. Check out the deal each day at this site.

Apple Bans Android Magazine from App Store

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:00:05 +0000

Nothing like a good Android vs. Apple post to kick off a new week and end another amazing month here at Droid Life, right? So apparently Apple has banned an app that was submitted to them because the app in question was dedicated entirely to covering Android news. You aren't surprised by this are you? What's note-worthy though, is the fact that the company behind the app has a half dozen other apps already approved for Apple's store, but this one just wasn't acceptable due to its content. When the developer spoke with Apple about the denial of the app, an executive apparently had this to say...

"You know... your magazine... it's just about Android.... we can't have that in our App Store."

There are already other Android-related apps in their store, so it's hard to tell why exactly this one wouldn't make the cut. OK, who are we kidding. We get it. Oh Apple. You can't stand the success of Android, will do anything to take cheap shots at it while in public, and appear to want to lock down your world even more while the rest of us open ours. We win. +1 for open source and an open market. Via: MediaWatch, PC Mag Cheers Stephen, ibow, and everyone else!

DROID 2 Global Also Does Kenya!

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:25:59 +0000

Just this morning we featured a new "DROID DOES FRANCE" advertisement for our global family members and only hours later, we have another. This time, the Droid 2 Global and Droid Pro (our review) take on Kenya in a way that your passport can't. Funny right? I wonder what country we'll see pop up next? More Droid appearances here! Cheers Tato!

DROID Pro by Motorola Review - Verizon

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:45:43 +0000

The "DROID" brand name has already helped propel Android into an elite class, so with the Droid Pro it looks as if a new goal has been accepted. Motorola and Verizon will now throw their weight around in the world of business smartphones with their first global Android device that hopes to steal a set of consumers they have until now been unable to, the Blackberry crowd. As a candy bar-styled device with a keyboard and bigger screen than most BB devices offer, will this device do the trick? Has Moto offered enough incentive for your company to make a change? Let's dive in and see what we can figure out.

The Good:

Android: The Droid Pro runs the newest version of Android (2.2) you can get which means it supports Flash 10.1. +1 to Motorola for recognizing that their higher end phones need to launch with the newest OS possible in order to stand out and stay ahead of the competition. Oh, and we'll touch on Blur down below as we do our best to keep all skins separate from versions of Android.
Hardware: The Pro has the specs to matchup to almost any device on the planet as long as you leave out the screen size. Sporting a 1.0GHz OMAP processor, 5MP camera with dual flash, 2GB on-board storage, and a solid candy bar keyboard, this device can't be ignored by the big dogs.
Keyboard: The keyboard is seriously identical to the styling that you'll see on a Blackberry. With that same sort of sea shell curvature to the right and left, you would think that Blackberry is readying a lawsuit as I'm typing this. It's a better than average physical keyboard and to tell you the truth, this thing crushes the Droid 2's "enhanced" version.

Global: While I didn't have time to take a vacation to Paris before doing this review, it's hard to argue against the awesomeness that is the first global Droid. The phone is advertised as having the ability to work in over 220 countries and that's something to brag about.

Screen size: It may only measure in at 3.1", but if you are coming from a Blackberry Bold and that squatty little screen, this thing will look like a monster. I've had Blackberry devices in the past and if they had a screen anywhere near this size with this good of a keyboard, it would have been hard to let go. Sure, you can measure this up to the Droid X and laugh, but remember that the point of this device is not to steal away current Android users with enormous screens, but to bring in a bunch of fresh fish from the BB world.
Profiles: Much like HTC's Sense, this newest version of Blur offers "Profiles" which allow you to customize settings on your phone for specific occasions or situations. You can have a setup for your life during the week and another for your time on the weekends without having to re-setup your screens each time. A couple of button presses and you are ready to go.

Device feel: The weight of the Pro might be one of my top "goods." So you know, while preparing to review devices, I almost always carry around my daily device (Droid X right now) and the device I'm reviewing which can be sort of a nuisance at times unless of course they weigh nothing. There were times when I'd forget that the Droid Pro was even there. It also feels light as a feather in your hand and was a pleasure to make calls on.
Look: The metal band running around the outside, plus the "Shadow" color scheme makes this device look really sharp. While I'm a little surprised its look met the Droid brand standards, I can admit that it has a unique enough look to be proud of.
Call signal/quality: Signal was never an issue as the device runs on Verizon's network. Call quality was also above average. The back speaker may not have been the clearest (touched on below), but the ear piece left me with zero complaints.
Software: Verizon and Motorola packed in a bunch of software that for the most part, add to the quality of the device. It comes with the now-standard 3G Mobile Hotspot app, DLNA support, a file manager, SIM card manager, Skype, Quick Office and a VPN client. Those last 2 being the most important.

Shortcut Button: There is this really nifty physical button on the right side of the device that you can set to perform almost any task. It defaults to launch your calendar, but you can even have it pop up your camera just like any other Android device.

The Not-so-Good:

Camera: It's hard to tell at this point if Motorola just keeps putting bad camera's in their devices or if they just think the software used to run them is not important. The original Droid, Droid 2 and Droid X all have had issues in the camera department and the Pro is no different. The software used to power it is the same you'll see with the newest Blur on the D2 and DX which on the outside looks nice, but unfortunately takes shots you may not be proud enough of to put up on that PowerPoint presentation.

Blur: This is my 3rd device running the newest version of Motorola's Blur and it also happens to be the first time I've actually given it enough time to form an opinion on it. With the D2 and DX, I immediately put LauncherPro on them as I just couldn't deal with the performance hit you feel when leaving it active. So with his device, I decided to leave it be and see if my first impressions were wrong. They weren't. With a device running a 1.0GHz OMAP, (same as in the DX and D2), but with a smaller screen, you would figure that this thing would fly. That is until you boot it up the first time and try to even switch between screens and notice a ridiculous stutter. When it comes to Blur, I love the alarm app, Profiles and can handle the news widget, but that's about it.
Battery life: When I first got a hold of this device, the first thing that popped into my mind was, "Oh, small screen equals awesome battery life!" Boy was I wrong. I haven't had to worry about charging a device so much since I was using the Incredible as my daily device. For anyone that purchases this phone, I highly recommend that you upgrade the battery as soon as possible.

Speaker: There were rumors as the phone neared launch that the speaker wasn't of the highest quality. The rumors are unfortunately pretty true. I've used speakerphone, pumped music through it and each time sort of cringed a little. As someone that uses speakerphone quite a bit while in the office, this was a little disappointing.
Screen: I know I gave the screen size a positive mark above, but the screen itself fell a little short of expectations. For a capacitative touch screen, this thing performed below-average when doing even something simple like unlocking the phone. While this could be a Blur issue, I just find myself swiping things multiple times before receiving my desired action.
No Swype: I understand that the candy bar keyboard is supposed to be the winner here, but I really started missing Swype. There were times with this device that I really needed to be able to type something one-handed and was instead forced to stop what I was doing in order to two-hand this little guy. Sort of frustrating, but not a killer. Just would have been nice to see it included as we have on the DX and D2 models.

Task Manager app: Seriously Verizon, this is not what I want to see when booting up a device. By putting this app on a new phone, you are announcing to your customers that Android sucks and that this app will help their device perform better and save battery at the same time. The problem with that logic is the fact that the phone runs Android 2.2 which leaves almost every task manager app useless. Uggh.

Camera Shots:

Unboxing and Quick Walk-through:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jSF1mcvIoc[/youtube]

Benchmarks:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq8taCeu1Zk[/youtube]

Gallery:

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

The Verdict:

Is the Droid Pro the "Blackberry killer"? That's tough to say. Is it one giant step in that direction? Indeed it is. Other than some frustrations over battery life and a so-so camera, the Pro was a pleasure to use and is another winner in pretty elite class of Droid branded phones. While it may not fit everyone's needs with its 3.1" screen, it will definitely fill an addiction that many will always have for that candy bar-styled keyboard. The phone has the specs to compete with the best, plus some additional security features made for the business crowd that were not quite satisfied with the offerings of the Droid X. Of course, you also can't help but mention the global capabilities it has which almost every other Android phone currently lacks. While the number of enormous screen needy users are growing, there will always be those looking for a keyboard first, and this is a great option.

DROID Pro Specs | Other DROID Pro Coverage

Download: DROID Pro Boot Animation

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:50 +0000

The Droid Pro boot animation might be one of the best red eyes that we have seen so far and you can download it below to test on your own device. The file is optimized from the Pro's small screen and should work on the DX and D2, but I'm sure a few tweaks will be needed to get you to a desired look for your particular Droid phone. Download: bootanimation.zip If you want to use the stock version above, simply download to your SD card, open Root Explorer and paste the file into /data/local/. Cheers T!

DROID Lockscreen Gestures Loaded into CyanogenMod 6.1 RC5

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:15:31 +0000

CyanogenMod for the original Droid just got even more amazing, this time with lockscreen gestures from mtwebster. What are lockscreen gestures? Think of Google Gesture Search, only in a more practical manner on your lockscreen so that you can actually get some use out of i.t You will now be able to set gestures to open up applications or perform actions and I'll admit, this is pretty awesome. Pull up your dialer, text message app, Facebook, or start navigating all from your lock screen with a simple swipe. Not bad, right? You can find this latest build in ROM Manager. To set up gestures, open up Settings>CyanogenMod settings>Input settings>Lockscreen gestures and get rolling! Via: CM Forums Cheers Picolas!

"DROID Does France" in New DROID 2 Global Ad

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:30:50 +0000

I'm not exactly sure where this ad came from, but you can see that the new print ad campaign for the Droid 2 Global and Droid Pro is in full swing. "DROID does France" is the latest in a string of global inspired ads hoping to help Android grab the spotlight on the business front from some of the other global smartphones currently on the market. It would have been nice to see these devices on the small screen, but you can guess that the budget for Droid phones ran out back with the Droid X and the huge campaign attached to it. Make sure to keep up with the rest of our Droid Appearances! Cheers Droid Life app tipster!

Dolphin Browser Updates to "Fix UI Compatibility Issues with Android 2.3"?

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 06:36:11 +0000

Well there is an interesting screenshot to start a Monday morning with. One of the top browser applications just received an update and claims to have been needed in order to support Gingerbread aka Android 2.3. Apparently the folks behind Dolphin Browser have had a chance to work a little with the newest version of Android and noticed that their app needed some UI tweaking in order to play nicely. There were initial rumors of an expected user interface (UI) overhaul with the release of Gingerbread, but all of the current screenshots floating around in the wild don't seem to show much. Or maybe we've just been teased? And if app makers like these are getting their hands on 2.3, is it time for Google to release it already? Anyone have a guess as to what UI issues they ran into? Cheers Seth and godfrey!

Cyber Monday Deal: 10% Off Accessories in the Droid Life Store

Kellen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 06:30:49 +0000

Hopefully you didn't spend all of your hard earned holiday cash over the weekend and saved some for Cyber Monday, which to techie dorks like myself, is the real day for taking care of all those X-mas ideas. And in celebration of this day, we're giving our readers a 10% discount off of all accessories in the Droid Life Accessory Store! All you have to do is use the coupon code 1129DL during checkout and the discount happens automatically! Again, head to the DL Accessory Store and plugin in 1129DL during checkout to receive 10% off of your entire order!

Android Honeycomb and Gingerbread Test Builds Spotted

Kellen — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:58:21 +0000

AIRBench is an app used to determine how well Adobe AIR runs on your device and one device in particular that seems to be grabbing a lot of attention over the weekend is a Nexus One running both Gingerbread and...Honeycomb? If the results on the AIRBench website are true, then we clearly see a few different Honeycomb builds (HRI783D, HRI83D, and GRH47B) plus a new Gingerbread build (GRH47B). While we love seeing Gingerbread builds, I think the real story here is versions of Honeycomb running on a Nexus One. Supposed to be tablet-specific OS, right? UPDATE: FAKE. They are all fake. Thanks to our buddies over at Frandroid for pointing it out. Source: AIR Benchmark Via: Frandroid

Full Tilt Poker on Android Pulled "Due to Maintenance"

Kellen — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:43:02 +0000

We reported on Full Tilt Poker's removal from the Android Market on Friday and have heard back from the poker service with reasoning that we sort of expected. Apparently the app is in such an early beta stage that it needed to be completely pulled from the market "due to maintenance." We received the email below which explains the deal:

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support and for your interest in the Rush Poker * Mobile software. Rush Poker * Mobile is currently unavailable due to maintenance. While we are delighted at the success of the Rush Poker * Mobile software, due to the software being in beta testing stage, maintenance such as this is often essential. Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, please let us know. Regards, James Technical Representative Full Tilt Poker Support

Anyone buying that? Not sure I can even come up with 5 other apps that went live on the market and simply vanished 3 days later due to "maintenance." Usually you feel like your product is pretty solid when you release it to the public, right?

Full Tilt Poker Already Pulled from Market?

Kellen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:00:10 +0000

We wrote about the release of Full Tilt Poker onto the Android market just 4 days ago over at Android Life and it appears as if it has already been removed. You can search for "Full Tilt Poker" in both the market and on App Brain and you will likely come up empty. We even used the QR code from our post the other day and were welcomed to the screenshot above. It's anyone's guess as to why it would be removed, but the fact that it's the first "real money" poker app for Android could be a big part of why it is no longer available. Many users also complained about it being like a Flash game essentially just running in a browser, so maybe the overall experience wasn't up to Full Tilt standards? I think we're going with reason #1. I should point out that I still have the app installed on my Droid X and it appears to work as it did from day 1. We've reached out to Full Tilt to find out why and will report back as we have something. Cheers @antroyd!

Black Friday Poll: Buy Anything Good Today?

Kellen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:45:45 +0000

So...anyone get anything good today? Add to your collection of Droid phones? Picked up a new Google TV (our walk-through)? We talked about a bunch of deals going on at Best Buy, Toys R Us, Radio Shack, Staples, Verizon (more), and Wirefly and wondered if any of you took advantage. There are also a bunch of deals going on in the app store like Swiftkey and the Com2Us lineup, so let us know! Hope you all had a great holiday yesterday!

Custom OG Droid Friday: Midnight Frost By Davidjr621

Tim — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:06:07 +0000

"Anyone been doing some shopping lately?", asked Tato as he whipped out his phone and opened up his BestBuy application. "I'm just gonna buy a couple things real quick", he proclaimed. When asked why, he had but one simple answer. "Because I can!" That's right you guys - We can! Just on Halloween we introduced Liquid Frozen Yogurt V1.95 to the world. Well here we go again. This Midnight Frost theme by the talented davidjr621 is for those people who enjoy a good dark theme. (Me included). Downloads and Instructions after the jump -

This theme is only intended for Original DROID1. Flashing on any other device will result in the bricking of your Android Device. Droid-Life and the Theme Developer shall not be held responsible for your own silly actions. Thank you, and enjoy!

1. Download Liquid Frozen Yogurt ROM right here: Download LFY 1.95 2. Download Midnight Frost: Download Midnight Frost Theme 3. Make a nandroid backup. 4. Wipe data/cache. 5. Flash LFY ROM Clockwork Mod Recovery 6. Then flash the theme zip right after 7. Boot up and enjoy the stylish wonder! If you like this theme and want to check out more from the developer, check out his site that I have linked down low. Thanks every, and have a wonderful weekend! Leave questions, comments, concerns, or rants in the comment section below! -Tim-o-tato I wanna thanks davidjr621 for making all these great themes. Check out his forum spot here. And don't forget to donate. Huge thanks to Liquid for all his ROM work! Check him out here! [gallery]

All Com2Us Android Games are Half Off through November 28

Kellen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:00:21 +0000

A lot of app makers doing half priced games on this lovely Black Friday! We saw Swiftkey go on sale earlier this morning and now Com2Us and their lineup of uber-addicting games for Android are also on-sale. All of their games will be $.99 starting today through November 28th (Sunday). Happy gaming! Via: Com2Us Cheers Chris!

How to: Bypass Activation on the Samsung Galaxy Tab

Kellen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:32:41 +0000

For those of you that purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab this weekend and found a way to sneak out of the store without anyone forcing you to tack on a data package, here is your trick to bypassing the activation screen. As you long as you can count, you should be able to do this in a couple of seconds and then will be on your way to enjoying the wi-fi tethered mobile version of this first legitimate Android tablet. Instructions:

Press "Volume Up" once.
Press "Volume Down" twice.
Press "Volume Up" three times.
Press "Volume Down" four times.
Enjoy!

Stay close to Android Life after this for a couple of additional activation bypass instructions. Cheers Mushka!

Will BlindType be Included in Gingerbread?

Kellen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:00:33 +0000

Back in August, we all the saw the debut of a new keyboard called BlindType that would look to change the way people type on their smartphones. An ingenious idea that allowed you to type "blindly", meaning you could type words or sentences without actually pressing the correct keys each time. With small on-screen keyboards dominating our lives, BlindType would allow you to type in the area of keys and then it would do its best to predict exactly what it is you were trying to type. It sort of took the world by storm and just as we were anticipating its release, it was purchased by our friends over at Google. So over the last couple of weeks, one of our readers brought back up the subject of BlindType, wondering why its website had been taken down with almost no mention of it anywhere. Our thoughts? Maybe it will make a Gingerbread appearance. We're expecting the new Android 2.3 to be announced within the next couple of weeks and this could be one heck of an addition that most people probably wouldn't have expected. BlindType in action: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6eKm1gUnTE[/youtube] Oh and lookie here, our buddy Taylor over at Android and Me has a similar thought. Cheers Kane!

Swiftkey Goes Half-Price Today as Black Friday Special

Kellen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:23:00 +0000

We've talked a lot about Swiftkey as one of the top keyboards on the planet, especially when you use it for 5 minutes and realize that it's smarter than you. Well today, in celebration of their 500,000 download and it being Black Friday, you can snag the keyboard for $1.99 which is half the normal price. If you aren't familiar with Swiftkey, just understand that it falls under the "predictive text" category which essentially means it does a fantastic job of predicting the next word in the sentence you may be typing. It's not a Swype-styled keyboard, you actually have to press the buttons, but it does an unbelievable job of getting you to your final output with ease.

Download Link

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Kellen — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:42:51 +0000

I have no idea why that Android is hiding behind a giant turkey, but that's beside the point. It's Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have family to relax with, food to stuff with, and NFL to get physical with as you gorge on massive amounts of yummies. Today marks a day of mourning for your favorite belt and jeans that will no longer be wearable after you crush that 3rd turkey sandwich. Have a great time everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and feel free to drop photos of your Thanksgiving spreads in the comments. I always enjoy seeing how others get down on days like this. Be safe!

Pictures of Nexus S Running Gingerbread Arrive

Kellen — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:12:25 +0000

The Nexus S finally broke cover and made an appearance in the wild running the next version of Android aka Gingerbread. While this is another tipster with zero camera skills, at least some stuff is confirmed like the new grey/black notification bar and green highlights. Other than that, we can see that the device is indeed a Samsung, will be stuck on T-Mobile (seriously?) and has a newly squared off launcher that differs from the rounded version seen on Froyo. And these pictures were taken just 2 days ago, so this puts us another step closer to launch. Ton of additional pics after the break. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Via: XDA Forums Cheers Josh!

Honeycomb Appearances Spike on Gingerbread Statue Unveiling Day?

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:24:20 +0000

Before you all start digging into piles of stuffing, how about one last pot stirrer? We had a few minutes of spare time and decided to sneak a peak at our Google Analytics which have been known to feature some of the new versions of Android floating around in the wild. We had seen Android 3.0.1 (Honeycomb) in the past, but when we put up a range of dates we noticed something interesting. Traffic coming from an Android 3.0 device spiked on October 22nd and hadn't made an appearance any other day prior. Why the 22nd you ask? It just so happens that the giant Gingerbread statue was unveiled on Google's campus that very same afternoon. We also ran a story that day confirming Gingerbread as Android 2.3 due to a slippage of a Googler on a support forum. So what's the deal then? Maybe we caught some Honeycomb testers looking to see what kind of press their Gingerbread statue received? Certainly looks that way. Update: The second spike on October 26th just so happens to be the first day we heard about a Nexus One follow-up device running Gingerbread. Coincidence? Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pre-Thanksgiving Rumors: Incredible HD in January and Motorola Etna is Verizon's Olympus

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:45:25 +0000

Can you think of a better way to send you all off into a long food filled weekend than with a couple of quick rumors? The first has to do with those pictures above which is rumored to be the Motorola Olympus, a device headed to AT&T some time early next year. Well, if you spend any time cruising through the 8,000 Android forums out there, then you may have stumbled across a few threads that have users also referring to it as the "Etna". Apparently "Etna" is the code name for the Verizon version and fits nicely into the large mountain theme that Moto chose for this round of devices. From here forward, we'll do our best to keep the names separated, but all signs now point to them being the same exact device only running on different networks. Expect Blur, Android 2.2 and a Tegra 2 packed inside unless a miracle happens and Gingerbread bakes itself on board at the last minute. The second rumor has to do with a device that seems to be topping everyone's list for yearly upgrades, the Incredible HD. The Inc HD, which gained some buzz after a ridiculously rumored original launch date of November 23rd was mentioned, is definitely not coming this month and more than likely won't see December either. We had already heard from a VZW player that it had been delayed until the first part of the year and today we're hearing it again. Store managers have apparently caught wind of either our site or are hearing it from higher up the chain that it will definitely be a 4G LTE device and not seeing the light of day until January at the earliest. Recap! Motorola Etna is what we all care about now. The Incredible HD is confirmed for the 10th time to be real and won't be here until January. Cheers Bob!

Content Ratings Coming to Android Apps November 30th

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:06:24 +0000

The Android Market is starting to see quite a few new features added and one of them, coming early next week is the ability for users to filter apps by rating. Developers will have to start specifying if their apps are for "All", "Pre-teen", "Teen", or "Mature" audiences. This feature has been requested by enough people that the Android team decided to implement it starting November 30th. You've got to enjoy watching the Android Market evolve into a true iOS competitor.

Hello, We're writing to inform you about some changes to Android Market that require your attention. We are introducing an application content rating and filtering system for Android Market. This has been a highly requested feature from both users and developers. Android Market Content Policy remains the same. We are introducing four levels of content ratings: - All - Pre-teen - Teen - Mature Details on how to rate your application can be found in the Android Market Help Center here: http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=188189 ACTION REQUIRED: Starting on November 30th, 2010, it will be mandatory that you add a rating level to your apps in the Developer Console at http://market.android.com/publish when you publish or update an app. We’ll be launching the content ratings to end-users starting in a few weeks. At that time, existing applications left unrated will be treated as “Mature” to ensure an appropriate user experience. This means that unrated apps may not be viewable to many users depending on their setting, so we encourage you to rate your app as soon as possible. Thanks, and we look forward to continue working with you on Android Market. Regards, The Android Market Team

/me Filter>Sexy Asian Girl Wallpapers.

Verizon Releases DROID X and 2 Essentials Packs for the Holidays

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:30:12 +0000

We were already tipped to the phone deals that Verizon would have over the weekend, but it looks like they aren't stopping there. If you have been waiting to purchase accessories for any of your Droid phones, then you may be interested in Big Red's new "Essentials" packs that include just about every meaningful accessory you could ask for. In the Droid X pack above, you get an HDMI multimedia dock (our review), car mount, wall charger, vehicle charger and extra HDMI cable for under $100, which is a lot cheaper than buying all of that stuff separately. There is also a Droid 2 pack for $79 which includes a multimedia dock (our review), car mount, wall charger, vehicle charger, and a stereo headset. Not bad right?

Droid 2 and D2 Global Pack | Droid X Pack | Droid Music Pack | Incredible Packs

Cheers Atomicsunset!

TeamViewer BETA For Android Released!

Tim — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:30:20 +0000

Finally! The TeamViewer team has released a BETA version of this extremely powerful software. If you're new to TeamViewer, then there isn't a much better way of explaining it than it allows you to control your 'partners' PC while you're a million miles away.

"TeamViewer connects to any PC or server around the world within a few seconds. You can remote control your partner's PC as if you were sitting right in front of it."

Personally, I have even rooted phones with RSD lite and SBFs over TeamViewer and don't know where I would be without it. From what I can see, the app is very polished. No wonder they've taken their time. I've played with the i*hone version and I can really tell this is much smoother. With time and practice, I'll be writing blogs with it!

This is my new favorite app. Go here and download it now or use the QR code for quick and painless downloading fun! Check out some sweet pics I took of me writing this very post: [gallery] Cheers Jordan!

Unrevoked Has a Fix for DROID Incredible Root, In Final Testing Now

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:00:41 +0000

The new update for the Droid Incredible broke the previous root method from unrevoked, but that hasn't stopped their team from finding a new way to do it less than two weeks later. According to a tweet sent out by them just a couple of hours ago, it looks like they've found what they need and are now testing it. Maybe we'll see the new version of unrevoked by the end of the weekend? Stay tuned! Cheers ibow!

DROID X Theme: Sinful Pink by JsinLegacy

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:14:27 +0000

How about a Thanksgiving special from one of our favorite themers, JsinLegacy? Say hello to "Sinful Pink", a theme with just enough touches of our favorite color (salmon?) to make you feel metro without blinding you into calling it pink. And actually, there are additional colors, but we know how much you all love this color and wouldn't want to disappoint. Enjoy! Download: Sinful_Pink.zip Instructions:

*Droid X ONLY.

1. Download the file from above and drop it on your SD card. 2. You have to be rooted. (Instructions) 3. You need to run Koush’s Bootstrap Recovery. 4. Your phone needs to be running RubiX Focused 1.8.9 or 1.9.3.

*Version 1.8.9 is for 2.2. Version 1.9.3 is for those that upgraded to the leaked 2.2.1.

5. Open the DX Bootstrap and “boostrap” the recovery. 6. When that finishes, “reboot recovery.” 7. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 8. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone. 9. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 10. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the Sinful_Pink.zip, select it and hit “yes.” 11. Your phone will apply the theme. When it finishes, reboot and enjoy!

Support thread, donate link and additional colors can be found here.

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

Verizon Black Friday Specials Include Incredible for $149 and BOGA, Plus Continuum for $99

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:30:07 +0000

Fresh off the insider wire, we have the list of Verizon's Black Friday specials and we've trimmed them down to only include smartphones, although at request, I'm sure we could toss back in a few feature phones. Silly. So we've got a really good deal for the Continuum going on tomorrow and Friday at $99 (after rebate), the LG Vortex for free (after rebate) and the Incredible for $149 plus a BOGA offer all weekend. That's "buy one phone, get ANY other phone of equal or lesser value" for those new to the shopping lingo. Think about the possibilities there, people. Rest of the deals after the break.

Black Friday and Black Friday Weekend only! See the special pricing and promos for VZW devices. Let the holiday shopping begin! Black Friday Specials: · LG Vortex: FREE ($100 MIR) (11/25-11/26) - Instant Rebate on 11/26 only · Samsung Continuum: $99 ($100 MIR) (11/25-11/26) · BlackBerry Bold: $49 ($100 MIR) (11/25-11/26) Plus, on Black Friday (11/26) ONLY, Buy any of the above devices, and Get a FREE Jawbone Icon Hero - a $100 value! (while supplies last).

And then information on Droid and Android pricing throughout the weekend:

Black Friday Specials Weekend Specials (11/25 - 11/29): Android Droid Incredible $149 ($100 MIR) BOGA Droid2 $149 ($100 MIR) BOGA Droid2 Global $199 ($100 MIR) Droid X $199 ($100 MIR) Droid Pro $179 ($100 MIR) Motorola Citrus $29 ($100 MIR) LG Ally $99 ($100 MIR) LG Vortex $79 ($100 MIR) (11/27-11/29) Sam Continuum $199 ($100 MIR) (11/27-11/29) Sam Fascinate $199 ($100 MIR) BOGA

Not a lot of discounts there, but a few additional BOGAs to go alongside the Incredible deal. Cheers Big Red Insider!

DROID Incredible Free from Dell, Plus Additional $25 Gift Card for New Contracts

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:45:49 +0000

Former Dell product customers should be receiving the email above any minute now which points out that the Droid Incredible is now free with a 2-year activation. What's even better is the fact that Dell will also toss in a $25 gift card just for good measure. So yeah, you pay nothing for a phone and then they actually give you money for it. Obviously you pay a ridiculous amount over the life of a contract for you minute and data package, but still, not a bad deal. Buy. Cheers Octotron you long lost soul!

Verizon Sends New DROID 2 Global Emails, is this our Official Announcement?

Kellen — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:17:22 +0000

After this, we'll just stop talking about the fact that Verizon has decided to sneak in the Droid 2 Global without ever giving it a proper announcement (Facebook message doesn't count) and then maybe they will decide to. As you can see from the email above, VZW is starting to send out additional emails to Droid email subscribers bragging that it is the "first smartphone with a 1.2GHz processor." Seems like something press release-worthy doesn't it? The full email also included this shot of the Droid Pro...

Cheers Zach and me!

Lost Root When Upgrading DROID X to 2.2.1?

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:18:29 +0000

This may already be a non-issue to the group of you that upgraded to Android 2.2.1 on your Droid X, but if you lost root access as I appear to have during the process, z4root will get you back in action. Just download it from the market, tap "root" and after your phone reboots you should be all good. To test, open up ShootMe or Titanium Backup to see if you are able to grant either of them access. If you can, enjoy! If you can't, check to make sure you have the newest version of z4root and run it again! After all that, get ready for a new set of themes from our buddy JsinLegacy coming tomorrow.

Wirefly Releases Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals, Includes DROID Blowout

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:06:31 +0000

The guys over at Wirefly just sent over the deals they plan to have throughout this entire Thanksgiving weekend and the Droid lineup is front and center. Each day, starting Thursday, they plan on having at least one of the Droid branded phones at some ridiculous low price. You can snag a Incredible for free, Droid Pro for somewhere around the $50 range and the rest of the family on Cyber Monday for something like, free. You'll see below that they aren't specific with the prices, so those numbers I just threw out are guesses, but should be pretty close to what you can expect. 11/23 – 11/24 - Pre Thanksgiving Sale

Samsung Fascinate (Verizon Wireless) = Free for new accounts/$99.99 upgrades

11/25 - 11/26 – Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday

DROID Incredible (Verizon Wireless) = Free for new & upgrades
Samsung Fascinate (Verizon Wireless) = Free for new accounts/$99.99 upgrades

11/27 – 11/28 - Black Friday Weekend

DROID Pro (Verizon) = unbeatable price - we would publish if we could!

11/29 - Cyber Monday (DROID BLOWOUT SALE)

On Cyber Monday, Wirefly will have the best price ever on all the current DROID Phones.
Plus FREE ACTIVATION from Verizon Wireless

They will also be selling the LG Vortex, MyTouch 4G, Samsung Intercept, and a bunch of AT&T phones as well, we just thought you'd like to know about the most important ones first. Wirefly.com looks like the place to go starting, well, today.

Afternoon Android Snack: New OpenFeint Games, Acer 4.8" Phone, Skyfire 3.0, and Dungeon Defenders

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:11:35 +0000

Ready for another batch of great games from OpenFeint? They announced 8 more today and one in particular that I've been waiting impatiently for called Jet Car Stunts. It doesn't appear to be in the market yet, but we'll be sure to let you know the minute it is. In other news though, Acer announced a giant 4.8" phone that looks decent, Skyfire 3.0 came out with Facebook connectivity, and Dungeon Defenders is on the way.

OpenFeint Launches 8 New Games Along With Impressive Growth Numbers
Acer Unveils Unnamed 4.8″ Android Phone
Skyfire 3.0 With Facebook Connect Launches
Lock Down Individual Apps With Android Protector
Dungeon Defenders Coming To Non-Tegra 2 Android Devices

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed so you never miss a story

Tuesday Poll: What ROM are you using?

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:25:47 +0000

With so many different Android devices floating around these days, it's almost impossible to keep up with the different ROMs and themes that developers are putting out. When the original Droid launched, it was easy to keep track of as everyone was putting most of their efforts into either it or the Nexus One, but times are different now. In the Droid family of phones we have the D1, D2, DX, and DI with solid communities, making it tough to even keep track of and then you add in the Galaxy S line and various HTC phones and we wish anyone the best of luck in trying to stay current. So we've had this requested a few times, and today being fairly slow, seemed like a great time to dive into it. We want to know what ROM and/or theme you are currently running. List out your device, ROM, theme and anything else you can think of. Feel free to also toss in a quick review if you have the time or at least gives everyone a reason as to why you chose the ROM you have now.

Our setups:

K: 1. DROID X, RubiX Blurry 0.3, No theme. "No bloatware, stable and just enough of the good Blur parts." 2. Incredible, Virtuous, rEVOlution theme. "Because it's so damn stable." 3. Original DROID, Sapphire 1.1.0, Avalon theme. "Because it's so damn pretty." Tim-o-tato: Original DROID, Ultimate Droid 2.0.0 with rEVOlution theme. "It's the best battery life I've ever had!" MrPicolas: 1. Incredible, Virtuous. 2. DROID X, RubiX Blurry 0.3. So, what's currently powering your phone?

Dominate Thanksgiving Travel and Shopping With These Android Apps

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:37:28 +0000

How about a bunch of apps that will help you dominate your travel and shopping plans this crazy Thanksgiving weekend (Black Friday)? We've put together a quick list, but we'll expect you to drop even more in the comments to make this a great place for our holiday shopping friends to stop. Through this list you should be able to find the best deals throughout the country, find your car after spending 8 hours in Best Buy, make sure your flight is on time, and find the nearest liquor store to help you relax after dealing with the in-laws. Car Locator ($3.99 or trial) - Out battling the Black Friday lines and forgot where you parked? The now-famous Car Locator will help you find your car amongst the thousands of other crazy people. Go for the free trial as it gives you 10 uses before making you buy.

TGI Black Friday (Free) - One of the top Black Friday apps available. Download all of the major ads in PDF format, create your own shopping lists and share it all with your friends.

Barcode Scanner (Free) - Scan products in stores and quickly read reviews on them or compare prices to others online.

Chase Mobile (Free) - Check that bank account before and after buying that new HD TV for yourself!

PDANet (Free) - Tether your phone to your laptop from anywhere and receive free internet. Forget those timed airport connections and use your phone instead. Does require some additional software on your computer, so plan ahead for this one.

Flightview Elite ($3.99) - Use this app to find out if your flight is on time for departure or if the in-laws are delayed and you can relax for another minute. A free version is also available with a few less features.

Airport Maps ($2.99) - Stuck in an airport or only have a few minutes to spare before your next flight leaves? Airport Maps helps you find the nearest food joints, bathrooms, shopping, etc. on your phone.

Liquor Run (Free) - Because you know that you'll need a stiff one come Sunday.

Any others come to mind? Anyone braving the Black Friday madness?

WhoIsIt Beta Allows Notification Customization Like No Other

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:05:21 +0000

Another XDA member (awjones) has cooked up an app that can't be ignored any longer. We received a tip for WhoIsIt Beta last week and realize now that we should have posted this up for you all immediately. This is an app that should cost $10. WhoIsIt allows you to set up notification profiles for each one of your contacts in more ways than you can even imagine. You can adjust LED lights on a contact-per-contact basis, flag contacts as "VIP", use it with Tasker, and seriously, so much more. It's free in the market for now, so grab it immediately. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

Download Link

Via: XDA Forums

Cheers ibow!

NFL RedZone More Important to you and your DROID X than Hot Chicks

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:10:17 +0000

The NFL Network and RedZone were free last weekend if you had an NFL Mobile supported device and Verizon wants to make sure you still know about it by using beautiful women. In their new commercial, some sorry s.o.b. just can't get enough NFL action on his Droid X and chooses that over his chick. In fact, he's so obsessed that she turns into Adrian Peterson. Clever! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYFmbWzIsxo[/youtube]

First Motorola Olympus Pictures Leak Out?

Kellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:50:51 +0000

Is that the Motorola Olympus? According to a tipster on the loose with photos it is. The device looks big, bold and beautiful and about what we expected one of the first Tegra 2 devices to look like. It's sporting what appears to be a pretty large screen (bigger than 3.7"), possibly a front facing camera, soft keys, and even a weird jagged edge around the outside. Or is that sneaky case to help disguise it? But damn, that screen just gets bigger the more you stare at it. You guys have fun with it! Is this your next device even if it goes straight to AT&T? Via: Engadget

Monday Night Poll: Which is more important to you? 4G, Tegra 2 or Android 2.3?

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:29:40 +0000

Wanted to slip in a late night poll to give you all something to talk about as the night moves forward and you continue to browse your favorite TV programs for Droid appearances. If you had to choose between having a 4G LTE device, a phone with a Tegra 2 processor, or one that ran Android 2.3, what would you take? And you can't take all 3 at once, you have to pick one and tell us why it's more important than the others. Is it the network speed that draws you in? What about the sheer beastlyness of a processor? Or maybe it's just having the newest Android build? I basically just gave you an assignment for the night...damn me. [poll id="29"]

Verizon Teaches DROID 2 Global Users How to Make Overseas Calls

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:06:07 +0000

If you recently purchased one of our new global roaming family members like the Droid 2 Global or Droid Pro, then Verizon wants to make sure you know how to actually call someone should you go galavanting through another country. Anyone been able to use their global phone from afar yet? What country? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCWP0ZLTYo[/youtube] And this isn't the only D2 Global tip video. The Verizon Youtube channel has a series for both the Pro and D2G if you are interested. Find them here.

Afternoon Android Snack: Nexus One Sees Mysterious Update, Full Tilt Poker, Nexus S and Cheap Tablets

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:11:02 +0000

Random Nexus One devices are now seeing mysterious 2-part updates, only both parts don't appear to be happening. Prep work for 2.3? Full Tilt Poker was also released, the Nexus S was spotted on Picasa, a bunch of cheap tablets surfaced and we unboxed the T-Mobile Tab.

Anyone Else Get The Mystery Nexus One Update?
Full Tilt Poker Released On Android, Requires Android 2.2 And Flash
Nexus S Appears Again On Picasa Account
Video: T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab Unboxing
Samsung Sells 600,000 Galaxy Tab Units Worldwide In First Month
Augen Tablet at Walmart | Huawei Tablet at Best Buy

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed so you never miss a story!

Motorola Preparing New Software Release for Original DROID, Is it Gingerbread?

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:14:22 +0000

The Motorola Feedback Network is a group that any Motorola phone owner can join in order to get on a testing list for new OS updates that may be headed to their device in the near future. Well this afternoon, the MFN sent out the email below to alert its members to an upcoming software update for the original Droid that they will may have the opportunity to test. There are obviously few details given, so we have no idea if this is something major, but one has to ask the question, "Is it Gingerbread?" Full email after the break.

Thanks for joining the Motorola Feedback Network. We value your input! We recently learned of an opportunity to test new software for the original Droid in advance of wide release. These pre-launch “soak” tests are becoming increasingly common for Android phones. Naturally, we want to get as many Motorola Feedback Members involved as possible. If you are interested in taking part, please re-register for the Motorola Feedback Network using this link. The new registration process is much shorter than the older one. If you register and provide the required information and permissions, you will be invited to take part in the upcoming test for Droid. We will contact you about the test when the time is right. If you are now using a different Motorola phone, please re-register as well, so we can include you in projects for your current phone. (If you click the link above and find you don’t end up on the survey, but on a forum page entitled “Thanks for registering for the Motorola Feedback Network!” please read that page for an explanation.) Please respond as soon as possible. There is a limit to how many Motorola Feedback Network members we can include, and we will work on a first come, first served basis. Regards, - Matt Motorola Owners’ Forums Motorola Feedback Network

What do we think? Is it Gingerbread or just the 2.2.1 update?

Video: Benchmarking the DROID Pro by Motorola

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:42:33 +0000

You've already seen an unboxing of the Droid Pro, so how about we show you some benchmarks? As a device with a smaller screen and resolution than most of the major Android devices, but with a big time 1GHz OMAP processor seen on only a few, you should expect these to be impressive. Well guess what, they are. Running Android 2.2, the DP crushes all of the other devices listed in Quadrant, hits MFLOPS with the best of the Droid brand in Linpack, and pumps out a ridiculous FPS rate in Neocore. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq8taCeu1Zk[/youtube] Who else picked up a Droid Pro? Been enjoying the performance boost on the smaller screen?

Andy Rubin Set to Speak at D: Dive Into Mobile in 2 Weeks, Gingerbread Announcement?

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:24:22 +0000

All of last week's Gingerbread launch date rumors surrounded Eric Schmidt and his appearance at the Web 2.0 Summit, but this week it's all about Andy Rubin. Schmidt may not have announced Android 2.3 during his interview, but he did show off the Nexus S and drop a pretty major hint that 2.3 should be out in the "next few weeks." So if his prediction holds true, then the appearance of Rubin, Android's master, at the Dive Into Mobile conference in two weeks (December 6-7) should mark the spot. Actually, we've got a good feeling about this one. The Dive Into Mobile conference has some pretty major players coming to speak including Sprint's Dan Hesse, so this would be the perfect time for this news to drop. We should also point out that Rubin is opening the 2-day event in an evening interview. Can you all wait another 2 weeks? Source: All Things D Via: Phandroid

DROID X 2.2.1 Leaks, Updates System to 2.3.20

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:30:18 +0000

If you are interested in having the newest version of Android 2.2 and Blur on your Droid X, then today is your day. The 2.2.1 version of Android we saw on the original Droid last week, only with Blur on top of it, can be downloaded below, flashed and consumed in just a few minutes. This is for rooted DX users only and is a semi-risky process, so please read the warning below.

WARNING - We DO NOT have an SBF file for this version of Blur. What does that mean? If something happens after you upgrade to this, you WILL NOT be able to do a complete wipe with an older SBF file. This is NOT like the original Droid. Should you choose to upgrade to this new version and attempt to wipe with an old SBF, you WILL brick your phone.

Download: Blur_2.3.320_System_2.2.1.zip (other mirrors at source link below) Instructions:

*DROID X only. *Have to be rooted. (Instructions) *Should work with ANY 2.2 ROM. *Will NOT wipe out all of your apps.

1. Download the file from above onto your SD card. 2. Using Koush's Droid X Bootstrap, bootstrap the recovery, then reboot into it. 3. Navigate to "mounts and storage" and choose: - format system - mount /system 4. Return 1-menu by tapping the power button once. Choose "install zip from sdcard." 5. Select "choose zip from sdcard" and select the Blur.zip file you downloaded from above. 6. Your phone will now upgrade to the newest Blur and Android version. Full support at the link below. Via: MyDroidWorld

Verizon 4G LTE SIM Cards Arriving in Stores

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:55:33 +0000

It looks like SIM cards for 4G LTE devices are starting to arrive in some Verizon stores. Before we get too excited though, remember that Android devices aren't ready yet and these are likely just being made available for netbooks and 4G broadband cards as VZW prepares to launch its 4G LTE network next month. At least we're getting closer! Oh, and don't forget to check out the new 4G LTE spot we posted yesterday. Cheers Droid Life app tipster!

Global DROID X Possibly in the Works?

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:14:04 +0000

Two sneaky panda posts in a row. Record! Anyone interested in a global Droid X? I guess for me, it better be a 4G LTE global DX with a front facing camera or I'm not interested. We already have the Droid Pro, Droid 2 Global and HTC Merge on Verizon as global devices, so I'm not sure that another is needed at this point unless it sees at least a few tweaks. For more background on these sneaky Panda posts, check out this post. Thoughts?

Incredible HD Not Coming Tomorrow

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:05:36 +0000

Our favorite sneaky LTE engineer Panda dropped this tweet over the weekend to help confirm that November 23rd as a possible release date for the Incredible HD was a pretty ridiculous rumor. We've heard from quite a few various sources that 4G LTE Android devices likely won't be out for at least a couple of months, so just know that if you are expecting one before the holidays, Santa may leave you unsatisfied. If you have an upgrade available, you may want to just hold onto it and wait for the barrage of 4G LTE devices that we are sure to see in early 2011.

Giant DROID X Takes Over L.A. Auto Show

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:45:41 +0000

The Droid X continues to be included alongside the new OnStar app and thanks to all of you, we're keeping track of it. We first saw it in a new OnStar commercial followed by a 2-page print ad, and now we're seeing it at the L.A. Auto Show as a blown up version of itself. How can you not love seeing a 3-foot tall DX in action? If any of you are in the L.A. area, head over to the GM section of the auto show and see one for yourself. And don't forget to keep submitting any and all Droid appearances! Cheers Danny!

DROID Pro Commercial Channels Pussycat Dolls

Kellen — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:00:36 +0000

What better way to sell Motorola's newest global phone to Blackberry users than by tweaking a 2004 pop song by the Pussycat Dolls? Not seeing how that would work? I'll have to admit that I'm with you, but at least it's some sort of promotion. Other than a minor part in the Snowbot commercial, we might not see too many other ad spots for this new Droid Pro. All signs point to Verizon and Moto preparing budgets for a big 2011 Droid push. No matter what though, we all love seeing new commercials, don't we? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xHyDlWHDHg[/youtube] Cheers Calum and Endi!

Verizon Releases First 4G LTE Commercial, Coming December 2010

Kellen — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:46:14 +0000

Rumors of Verizon 4G LTE Android device release dates are all myth at this point, but with their newest commercial, a launch time frame for the service no longer is. We know it'll hit 38 major cities by the end of the year and Big Red is ready to start telling the world about it. After looking at this spot, you can see why no budget was set up for the Droid Pro or Droid 2 Global as it's as solid as anything out there. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED5j7FOXsvU[/youtube] Cheers Zach!

DROID 2 Global Announced on Verizon’s Facebook Page

Kellen — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 08:32:31 +0000

We are dubbing the Droid 2 Global as the weirdest phone in Verizon's history. After we leaked to the first ever pictures and benchmarks from it, we all waited patiently for an acknowledgement of its existence. Release dates surfaced, specs sheets snuck out, color options were confirmed, it found a droiddoes.com spot and then all of a sudden it went on sale, only without a peep from Big Red. Until today that is. The Verizon Facebook page has now confirmed that we haven't all been imagining one of the fastest phones on the planet. Cheers Droid Life app tipster!

Original DROID 2 Now has 1.2GHz Processor?

Kellen — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 09:41:48 +0000

If you are shopping for a new Droid phone and you happen to find yourself hovering your mouse over the original Droid 2 on Verizon's website, you may be in for a surprise. As you can see in the shot above, the phone is listed as having a 1.2GHz processor which is currently only available in the new and still unannounced Droid 2 Global. Our first thought was, "Will an update clock the D2's OMAP up to 1.2GHz?" I mean after all, the DX, D2 and D2G all run th exact same processor, but for whatever reason Motorola decided to pump the global version up a little. The answer is "maybe", but not something we should all hold our breath for. What discounts this whole idea though, is the fact that the little hovering action also displays a "Global Capacity" highlight which we all know is false. The original D2 definitely doesn't have a GSM radio in it. How long before this gets fixed? See it for yourself at Verizon's site. Cheers Mike!

Watch NFL Network and RedZone for Free this Weekend on Verizon

Kellen — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:15:19 +0000

Who wants free NFL action on their phone all weekend? I know you do. I know I do. Verizon is offering up free live streaming of Sunday night's game plus NFL RedZone and NFL Network access. You could have watched last night's game between the Dolphins and Bears too, but we told you about this just a little too late. All you have to do is grab the NFL Mobile app from the market and start dominating like my fantasy team has been doing all year. And speaking of fantasy, our Survivor pools are down to the final 3 and 4 teams! For those still alive, don't forget to make your picks! Source: Verizon Via: Android Central

DROID Brand Continues to Dominate, Makes Up 44% of Android Traffic

Kellen — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:45:15 +0000

Did we need to be reminded that the Droid franchise is awesome? Probably not. But if you did, just check out the chart above from Chitika who claims that our favorite lineup of phones makes up for 44% of Android traffic on their ad network with the original Droid still leading the charge. Talk about an impressive number there. The number 2 device on their list was the HTC EVO, but after that it goes Droid X, Incredible, Vibrant and Droid 2. So of the top 6 devices, 4 of them are family members. Again, wow. Check out the full top 20 list after the break.

Cheers to the marketing group behind the Droid brand! Source: Chitika

Custom OG Droid Friday: Avalon By Pandroid, Importune, and Xeudoxus

Tim — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:51:53 +0000

What a nice relaxing Friday. Oh wait, how does that joke go? Oh yea....."Not!" We would have had this posted 2-3 hours ago but we needed to run through a giant server reboot. Anyways, we here have been waiting for this theme to drop for a long time! And now, the time has come. And not at a better time with the holiday season upon us. Nothing better than a nice snowy white theme to go along with all the cheer that's in the air. So it's time to deck the halls and start flashing themes! Let's do it! Importune is a newcomer, but as we can see that has no affect whatsoever on this mans skill. Truly classy. Pandroid is one of my favorite themers. Attention to detail is key with this one. With 3 beautiful themes (Drop Theme, Infikniti, and now Avalon) under his belt, I hope to see a lot coming from this team of artists! And even Xeudoxus who is the master behind Dark Edge. Woo! Instructions:

This theme is for Sapphire 1.1.1 on the Original Droid 1.

I hope everyone has a sweet weekend and a great Turkey Day! Eat some for me! If you have issues, I myself will be trolling the comment section looking to help out anyone that needs it. Thanks, and enjoy! -Tim-o-tato Please visit Importune and Pandroids site and check out their Services! And don't forget to donate to the wonderful Xeudoxus. [gallery]

DROID Pro, DROID 2, DROID X and Incredible All Only a Penny at Amazon

Kellen — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:15:17 +0000

This might be the pre-holiday deal of the century. If you had been holding out from buying one of the Droid branded phones, then hopefully this will be reason enough to pull out the credit card and join the most dominant family in the Android game. Actually, you don't even need to pull out a credit card since they are all only a single penny. Yep, 1 cent for the Droid X. 1 cent for the Incredible. 1 cent for the brand new Droid Pro. The deal lasts until the 29th of this month assuming supplies last. Head over to Amazon now to grab them!

Box.net packages up an update for their Android app

Matt Demers — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:15:15 +0000

If you're like me, you like having a presence in the cloud for emergency storage. I keep all my writing tied to a Dropbox account, just in case an emergency happens; it's especially useful when I need to pull a resume out on-the-spot and all I have access to is a computer. We've covered cloud apps like Dropbox and Zumodrive before, and I'll let you know about one more; Box.net is a service that until now, has catered to small-to-medium businesses. After releasing its Android app earlier this year, Box.net announced that they'd be offering a staggering 5gb of cloud space to their free account holders. This is more than double the 2gb (before the 250mb/referral bonus kicks in) that Dropbox offers, and is generally a good deal. In more recent news, however, Box's updated their Android app as of 9AM Pacific this morning, adding two major features: the ability to "go into your native photo, video and audio apps to choose existing content that you'd like to upload" and allowing users to create content straight from the phone's camera or microphone, adding it to their cloud account straight after. While these don't seem like huge updates, Box is looking for the smooth factor with their app: they want you to be able to jump into a camera from the application's home screen, then snap right back to it after in order to upload your creation. Also included is some stability issues, but that can be assumed with every major update, right? Scan to download:

--- Matt Demers hasn't written for Droid-Life in awhile, but he's glad to be back. You can follow him on Twitter at @mattdemers and find his work at MattDemers.com.

HTC EVO 4G Appears in Episode of Fringe

Kellen — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:45:31 +0000

I know this has nothing to do with the "DROID" brand and that HTC EVO talk is usually saved for our other site, but we received so many emails about the appearance of an Android phone in last night's episode of Fringe that we had to at least acknowledge it. Going forward though, these non-Droid appearances will be up over at Android Life. So early thoughts were that this was either an Incredible or a Droid X, but if you are able to capture a still of the device sitting on this nightstand, you can see a little Sprint logo in the top corner meaning this is definitely an EVO. Not a Droid Appearance, but man, you guys were on top of this one. Be sure to keep sending these in! Here are the rest of our Droid appearances. Watch the episode here. Cheers Ben, Lewis, Dave, Don and Jake!

DROID 2 Global Info Arriving in Inboxes, Still Not Officially Announced

Kellen — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:00:46 +0000

The Droid 2 Global and its 1.2GHz processor seem like something that should be at the forefront of Verizon's holiday marketing campaign, but for whatever reason, they have left it up to the blogs and interweb rumormills to spread the info-love. The email message above, which appears to be going out to anyone on their Droid list, is really the first time we've seen an acknowledgement that the device even exists other than the fact that it's for sale on their website. I will admit that the slogan used is classic Droid-style though and gave me a good chuckle. "Santa has his elves. You have one of these. You win." It's almost like one of those ridiculous Chuck Norris lines only substituted for "DROID." Anyone got a better one?

DROID Pro Only $99 at Best Buy

Kellen — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 07:06:41 +0000

The Droid Pro has only been available in stores for 1 full day and can already be snagged at a steal of a price over at Best Buy. If you don't want to pay the $179 price at Verizon stores, then how does $99 sound? It also looks like you won't have to deal with those pesky rebates, but you will of course have to sign a standard 2-year contract. Gotta love the holidays. Oh and check out our unboxing of the Droid Pro to see exactly what you'll be enjoying. Cheers Jacob!

Home Replacement App: NetFront Life Screen

Tim — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:45:40 +0000

I speak on behalf of everyone here at Droid-Life when saying, "We love home replacement apps!" LauncherPro, ADW, and even Helix from back in the day. Android allows for customization beyond peoples wildest dreams. And here is yet another app which is no less than awesome. Based around a single circle of icons, you can control every aspect of your phone with a single screen. Two to be exact The second of which is the screen that holds all your applications in a very slick cube design. With built in social network APIs and widget features, I might hold onto this for a bit. Or at least until I miss custom wallpapers. Check this out. Sweet or what!?! [youtube width="560" height="340"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX96RbxNMeg[/youtube] If you are so intrigued as many others were with this, then by all means, search the Market for "Netfront Screens". Or use a barcode scanner to access this QR code!

[gallery] Let us know what you think! -Tato Learn about the other Apps the ACCESS CO LTD makes by seeing their website.

HTC Merge Appears on Verizon Site for a Quick Photo

Kellen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:35:05 +0000

The HTC Merge which was originally supposed to be part of the big Droid celebration tonight in Seattle, made a brief appearance on Verizon's website before being pulled just minutes later. Usually when 360 degree pages show up for phones, they are about to be announced, so stay close as we'll be snooping around the interwebs for more details. We also have a secret spy heading to the Incredible party tonight, so we'll be sure to let you know if the device makes an appearance. Pretty nice looking phone though right? Try your best to ignore that Bing icon for a second... Via: Android Central

Pocket Legends Is Now Out of Beta

Tim — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:45:31 +0000

I love seeing our Andy kick arse! Whether it be in Market shares, or wild evil creatures. Take Pocket Legends for example. We posted that the BETA was released just last week, and now (after more than 125,000 accounts were created) the kicking can continue in a smooth and unrestrained manner. Press release, video, and pictures after the jump!

Pocket Legends is the world’s largest 3D Mobile MMO available in the App Store (for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) and the Android Market. Pocket Legends has quickly proved to be popular with both the public and press, gathering praise from the most important publications in the industry. Since its release, Pocket Legends has received more than one million downloads and thousands continue to join its ranks every day. The game’s pick-up-and-play format, expandable nature, and unparalleled instanced gameplay have helped it become a benchmark game on mobile devices. With Pocket Legends, smartphone owners from all over the globe can, for the first time, explore a detailed fantasy world together, in real-time, on the same server whether playing on iPhone or Android. The game also pioneered the use of open worlds, dungeons and story-driven quests in mobile gaming – surpassing, in some cases, the feature set of PC and console MMOs.

So now that you're drolling over this. Head to the site for the free download! You can't argue with that! [youtube width="424" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACnsnHwnYtQ[/youtube] [gallery columns="4"] To learn more about Spacetime Studios, please visit Spacetime Studios on the web!

DROID Incredible Re-Launch Party Going Down Tonight in Seattle

Kellen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:45:53 +0000

Earlier in the week we caught wind of a special Droid party that would be going down in Seattle on November 18th (tonight) as a re-launch of the Incredible, but most importantly, as the unveiling of the HTC Merge. What we thought was especially interesting about the party, was that the flyer mentioned the Merge as the "HTC DROID Merge-World Phone." Now we all know that early leaks of the phone showed it fully Bing'd out, so this was pretty surprising to see and we almost packed our bags for a trip to Seattle to see this in person. And then we found the club that was hosting it plus their flyer for the event which seems to have removed any mention of the Merge. Looks like Verizon just isn't ready to release this phone or maybe it really has been delayed? Enough Merge talk though...anyone going to the party? The club is called Republiq and is all DROIDed out for a night that could be a lot of fun, especially with Doritos beauty Ali Landry in the building as the host. Can someone explain why the Incredible needs a re-launching though? [gallery link="file" order="DESC" orderby="title"] Cheers Dave!

Mobile Mix Report: Android Matches iOS Share in Smartphone Market

Kellen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:38:02 +0000

In last month's Mobile Mix report, Android eclipsed iOS in ad revenue for the first time. In this month's report, it jumped 8% to match iOS as the top mobile phone OS. As you'll see in the chart above, both came in at 37% giving us a great representation of the behemoth that Android has become. I'm not sure that a year ago, anyone in the industry would have predicted such a turn around. It's pretty amazing to see it jump up to numbers like this in what seems like no time at all. Some other highlights from the report:

We have 4 DROID branded phones in the top 30 mobile devices list.
Motorola is now #3 for manufacturers.
Android is still #2 for smartphone sales.

Feel free to check out the rest of the report here.

Thoughts? Talk about some big news for Android, right?

Video: Unboxing DROID Pro by Motorola

Kellen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:30:36 +0000

The Droid Pro has been available online for almost a week now, but officially landed on store shelves today for those interested in this "Blackberry killing", global roaming, newest family member of ours. We just got ours yesterday and wanted to put it through a proper unboxing before we head into an in-depth review. Our initial impressions are that this phone definitely has a place in the Android world and hopefully through our coverage we can help you decide if it fits into yours. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jSF1mcvIoc[/youtube]

Verizon: Add a New Smartphone Line, We'll Credit You the $9.99 Each Month

Kellen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:45:48 +0000

Verizon has announced a new smartphone deal as we head into the holidays that looks like a big time winner. They are offering to credit $9.99 per month to Family Plan customers for each new smartphone line they add to their contract, meaning you can save up to $240 throughout the life of a contract and possibly more depending on how many lines you add. You have to make sure you are at least on their Family $69.99 plan and then you can start adding lines that will all be credited back to you. The one catch? You HAVE to sign up for the unlimited $29.99 data package, so for those of you thinking you'd just sneak on with the $15 150MB plan, may want to reconsider. Not bad though right? Anyone out to pick up a new Droid for their kiddies?

Add A Smartphone On The Nation’s Largest And Most Reliable 3G Network And Save Big BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Black Friday and the holiday shopping rush are right around the corner, and Verizon Wireless is giving customers an early incentive to share the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless voice and 3G data network. Beginning Nov. 19, customers can add a new 3G Smartphone on a secondary line and receive a credit equal to the cost of adding a line to a Nationwide Family SharePlan. The $9.99 monthly credit for the new line can save customers nearly $240 per line over the life of the two-year contract. “This is an ideal option for customers with a spouse or child wanting to move to a smartphone,” said Marni Walden, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “The Verizon Wireless portfolio has a host of options from which to choose, including the recently announced Samsung Continuum™, the DROID PRO by Motorola or the BlackBerry Bold – all perfectly suited for work or play.” To take advantage of the Smartphones Talk Free promotion, customers will need a Nationwide Family SharePlan starting at $69.99 monthly access for 700 Anytime Minutes and add a $29.99 data plan for each additional smartphone. Customers currently on a Nationwide Family SharePlan may have a total of up to five lines, and receive the promotional credit on each new line that uses a new smartphone. The $9.99 credit expires after 24 months. The offer ends Jan. 7, 2011. For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visitwww.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library atwww.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Unrevoked "A day or two" Away from Rooting DROID Incredible Again

Kellen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:00:03 +0000

The previous rooting method for the Droid Incredible seems to have been patched by the latest OTA update, but that hasn't stopped the unrevoked team from jumping on it immediately. Last night they let the world know that they are only a day or two away from bringing freedom to those that have a stock OTA'd DI. Pretty quick turn around right? Cheers OrbitJM!

DROID Pro in Stock and Ready to Rock Verizon Stores Tomorrow

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:23:14 +0000

We just received our Droid Pro, but for the rest of you waiting to get your hands on one before taking the dive, your time has come. The DP will hit Verizon stores tomorrow and be available for $179 on 2-year contract or $479 if you just want to buy one outright. As you can see from the shot above, they should have a solid amount in stock, but hurry in anyway to see if this really is the Blackberry killer. Oh, and our unboxing should be on Youtube in about an hour and on the site tomorrow morning.

Afternoon Android Snack: Lookout Premium Winners, Galaxy Tab Production Cut, White Dell Streak

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:17:03 +0000

We just announced the first 5 winners in our Lookout Premium subscription contest! Head over to Android Life now to see if you won! We'll be announcing the second set of 5 tomorrow morning, so some of you still have a chance to win. In related Android news, there are rumors swirling and suggesting that Galaxy Tab production has already been cut in half, the HTC EVO Shift might be the Knight, and a white Dell Streak is ready for your lovin'.

First 5 Lookout Premium Winners Are…
Galaxy Tab Production Cut In Half From Weak Sales?
HTC EVO Shift Is The HTC Knight?
Sony Ericsson Xperia Anzu X12 Outted With Specs
CyanogenMod 6.1 RC1 Now Available For T-Mobile G2 / Desire Z
White Dell Streak Available Exclusively At Best Buy

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed for your non-VZW, other device talk!

Android Market Updates Confirmed by Developer Team, Promo Vids and High Resolution Images

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:23:19 +0000

This morning, some attentive developers noticed new options in their Market accounts and as of 40 minutes ago, the Android team confirmed them all. Below is the email they are sending out to notify devs that they can add high resolution images, promotional videos and "recent changes" to their apps. They can also use a "draft upload" function which allows them to upload new versions of their apps without affecting the live one. Oh, no Gingerbread talk included...yet.

Hello, We're writing to inform you about some changes to Android Market that require your attention. First, we have added support for a recent changes feature, which allows you to add notes about changes specific to the newest version of your application. You are able to submit these from the Developer Console, similar to descriptions. In the Market app, these notes will appear under the app description as "Recent changes." Second, there is now a ‘draft upload’ capability for application updates. This feature enables you to edit your app listing and upload a new version without affecting the version live in Market. Your app listing edits will not change your live listing until you select “Publish.” Finally, we are adding support for larger promotional graphics to showcase your application. In addition to the currently required app screenshot, you will be required to upload one “feature” graphic. Supported promotional assets will now include: - A “feature” graphic, landscape aspect ratio, 1024 x 500 (required). - A high-res icon, 512 x 512 (required).. The Android icon design guidelines located at http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/icon_design.html apply. - 2 screen shots, 320w x 480h, 480w x 854h, or 480w x 800h, increasing to 8 screen shots in the future (1 required). - A link for a promotional video hosted on YouTube (optional). Thanks, and we look forward to continue working with you on Android Market. Regards, The Android Market Team

I would still stay glued to the interwebs on Friday morning after the 6 hour maintenance has been completed for some potential fun.

Verizon Now has 4G, AT&T Doesn't

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:15:31 +0000

Oh no they didn't! Verizon just started the 4G battle exactly where they left off the 3G battle, by crushing AT&T with a map. With their 4G LTE network kicking off in the next week or so,VZW is likely priming a new campaign to let everyone know in the nicest of fashions I'm sure. Via: Twitter

How to: Use Wireless Tethering on a Samsung Galaxy Tab

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:08:32 +0000

Galaxy Tab owners, prepare to wireless tether! If you own and GTab and have rooted it using z4root, you can replace a small file on your SD card that will allow you to connect it to an ad hoc network, thus giving you on-the-go tethering through your Droid. A group of XDA members got together, used a file that was created to fix wireless tethering on the Desire and forced it to work on the new Galaxy Tab. File and video instructions after the break! Download: wpa_supplicant.7z

*Reminder: Both your phone and Tab have to be rooted.

Video instructions: Download the file from above to your SD card and simply follow the instructions presented in the video. I do recommend that you make a copy of your current "wpa_supplicant" file and save it somewhere safe rather than just replacing it. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5o5WlyA7WI[/youtube] File and Instruction Source: XDA Forums 1, 2 Cheers Kris!

Wednesday Poll: Most Exciting Features in Android 2.3?

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:29:46 +0000

Some major Android Market maintenance is scheduled for tomorrow night and we're pretty sure it's a sign of the Android team preparing itself for the launch of Gingerbread. One of the features we're expecting to see with this new Android release is a browser-based market which will allow you to browse and install apps over-the-air from your PC or Mac, but that's not all. Some think we'll see a new ability to stream your computer's music library to your device or even video chat through your native Gtalk app. What about Google Music? Could it also launch alongside Android 2.3? What we want to know though, is what you are most looking forward to. A more polished UI? A new Market? Streaming music libraries? You tell us! [poll id="28"]

Motorola and LG Targeting February-March 2011 For Tegra 2 Honeycomb Tablet Launch

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:56:41 +0000

Further confirmation that CES will be the coming out party for NVIDIA's Tegra 2 Android tablets came out today through DigiTimes. Their report suggests that NVIDIA beat all of the other dual-core chip manufacturers like Qualcomm to the punch, landing Motorola, LG and HTC as clients and plans to show all of their work off during the first week of January. The CES unveiling of devices from these companies will be something to see and the whole Droid Life team will be there bringing it all to you. Reports also suggest that Motorola and LG are targeting February and March of 2011 as a release period for their dual-core tablets, running Honeycomb (Android 3.0). If this seems far away, just remember that NVIDIA's CEO said that they want everything to be perfect at launch if any of these companies are going to compete with the i*ad. I should also mention after poking a couple of our sources, that the Motorola tablet WILL NOT be called the "MOTOPAD" and if it launches as a 7" device, I will be more than surprised. Everything I've heard over the last 3-4 months definitely suggests that it will launch with Honeycomb, but you should envision this as a 10" device and nothing smaller. Via: DigiTimes, Android Community

Verizon Galaxy Tab Headed to Costco for $589

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:44:05 +0000

If you want to save $10 on your Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab purchase this holiday season, then head over to Costco and grab one for $589. I know you were hoping for a bigger discount than that, but until Samsung gets that "lower the price!" memo that thousands of you have written on this site, this is the best deal you'll find. Oh and we're reviewing one! Here is our unboxing, gaming demos, and benchmarks. Full review up soon! Via: Phandroid

Mobile Editing on Google Documents Ready for Froyo Users

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:17:49 +0000

If you have an Android phone running Froyo, you will be able to edit all of your documents, including tables on the go as Google is rolling the service out over the next few days. You will now be able to edit your work from anywhere and have it update live into a browser across the world should you need it to. And actually, it works from browser to phone as well. To understand my awful explanation, hit up the video after the break to see the awesomeness in action. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAr5VoYdVBo[/youtube] Via: Google Mobile Blog

Verizon Blocking AT&T GSM Bands on DROID 2 Global?

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:59:16 +0000

Those of you that purchased a Droid 2 Global or Droid Pro thinking that it would run on AT&T's network may be a little disappointed to find out that Verizon has quietly blocked it. The hardware of both phones appears to support AT&T's 850 and 1900 GSM bands, but their may be firmware that is restricting access to them. While I can't imagine too many people would be surprised by this, it is something to be aware of if you were hoping for some reason to play around on AT&T's not-so-amazing network. The good news, is that you'll be fine in the rest of the world and with Verizon's coverage almost everywhere here in the states, life will go on. After the break we have shots showing that both phones should technically work on AT&T's network, plus a map of the few other countries you may struggle with.

Here is a map of 850/1900 GSM countries that your phone potentially will not work in...

Update: It appears to be working in other countries. We've received confirmation of a D2G working just fine in Chile.

Oh, you may also want to pay attention to this XDA thread, as someone is already working on a fix.

Cheers Shivan for all the images and info!

Review: Schlage Home Security Android App

MrPicolas — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:06:25 +0000

Many of you know the name Schlage and chances are that you see the name everyday as they are an industry leader in home security products. During my time as contractor I had the opportunity to install many of their products which have always been of the highest quality. Today, they released their first Android app called Schlage LiNK and have asked that we give it a proper run-through on one of their systems which they were also kind enough to send us. I have had about a week to test this app and it does not disappoint. The setup is simple and only asks for an activation code and pin when first launching. After that is done you will be presented with an interface which will show you all of the options you have installed on your home security system and you can start testing it. Now there are a few security systems on the market, but what sets this one apart from the others is quality, price, and ease of use. I would highly recommend Schlage's systems to anyone looking to get a home security system especially with the addition of this app. Features:

Remotely lock and unlock doors
Remotely toggle lights
Monitor security cameras

Another nice feature with these systems is the ability to have notifications sent to your email or have a text message sent to you whenever your system is accessed. This is a nice feature especially if you have kids coming home before you get there or have contractors in and out of your house. All of these features can also be accessed through Schlages web app which works just as well as their android app.

It's also very kid friendly. Meet my helper Addison who helped me install and test the system. Since she is only three years old, I wanted to see how easy it was for her to use the system in case of an emergency. Once installed, she was able with a little direction to lock and unlock the deadbolt (which she proceeded to do about 30 times. Apparently she thinks it's funny to see me stuck outside.). I also had the chance to sit down with Schlage and offer some feedback on a couple of things, which to my surprise were already on their list and being worked on and implemented in their next generation of home security products. Schlage is definitely on top of their game and it shows in their products as well as their app. Now I may sound like I'm rambling on about Schlage and how wonderful it is, but my day is quite busy and the product flat out does what it is suppose to and does it well. Please hit up the links and check out their full line of available products. The app is free and scheduled to hit the Android market any minute now. It also includes a demo mode to give you a look at the interface and an idea of how it works.

Download Link

Schlage Link Products | Schlage Support

Until next time, Happy Androiding! -Mrpicolas

Android Market Maintenance could mean Browser-based Version is Coming

Kellen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:34:55 +0000

There are a lot of questions surrounding tomorrow night's 6 hour market outage, but our buddies over at Phandroid have uncovered what looks to be the initial steps to everyone seeing a browser-based market that was first demoed back at Google I/O. We are expecting to see Gingebread at any day, and as some of you may remember, one of the new features said to be included with this Android version was indeed a pretty-new market that would run in a browser.

So as you can see in that screenshot, developers are now being asked to include high resolution graphics for their applications plus promotional videos if they have them available. Sounds like things we would see on a blown-up, beautiful version of the Android market running in your browser doesn't it? To see this new market in action, check out the 31:00 mark in last year's Google I/O day 2 keynote... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44[/youtube] Via: Phandroid

Android Market Maintenance Happening November 18th, Gingerbread to Follow? (Updated)

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:47:56 +0000

We just received word that the Android Market will undergo all-day maintenance on November 18th (this Thursday). The update should take 6 hours to complete and will leave developers without the ability to update their apps during that time. Anyone want to guess what this could mean?

Hello, We're writing to inform you about a planned service outage impacting Android Market that requires your attention. We plan to perform maintenance on the Android Market Developer Console on Thursday 18 November 2010 from 10PM to 4AM Pacific Standard Time. During this time, there will be view-only access to the Developer Console at http://market.android.com/publish. You will be able to view your list of applications and error reports; however, you will not be able to upload new apps or make updates to existing apps. The publish status of your applications and use of the Android Market app on phones should not be impacted. Thanks, and we appreciate your patience while we work to improve Android Market. Regards, The Android Market Team

Just yesterday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt mentioned that Gingerbread would be out in the next couple of weeks, but we also know he hates being quoted. If he actually meant "next couple of days", we wouldn't be surprised at all. Mark the 19th on your calendars. Update: They sent out an updated email correcting the time to "10PM to 4AM."

Afternoon Android Snack: LG 4G Device Sneaks Out, "Blinky" the Scary Android, Giorgio Armani Phone

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:00:58 +0000

Other happenings in the Android world were actually pretty decent today and included a new 4G device made by LG that looks beautiful, a creepy Android movie called "Blinky", a Giorgio Armani Galaxy S device, and more Black Friday goodness.

LG “Star” Is The 4″ 4G 1080p Tegra 2 Android Device You’ve Been Waiting For?
Andy The Android Stars As Creepy Robot In “Blinky”
Samsung Announces Galaxy S Giorgio Armani Edition
Staples Black Friday: 10in ViewSonic G Tablet $399

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed for your non-VZW, other device talk!

Miren/MIUI/Charming Browser Now has Official English Support

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:17:39 +0000

Just last week an XDA Forum member took the time to translate the Miren "Charming Browser" (aka MIUI browser) into English for all of us to enjoy and this week, the company behind it decided to release an official version. While it's not in the market yet, it will be after we all test it for a bit and report concerns to the source thread linked below. Changes to this version:

- English translation - Adjustment of Top sites - Remove certain feature not ready for English version - Add user agent support (in Settings->Advanced->Web page)

Download: Miren.OfficialEnglish.apk And I noticed in the comments on the previous post for this that some of you were concerned about Flash support. I can confirm that Flash does indeed work, at least on embedded Youtube videos anyway. Again, be sure to drop comments or concerns in the comments and at the source thread below. Source: XDA Forums Cheers @aczm1988!

DROID Boot Logo Changer Released, Customize Your DROID Startup Screen

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:32:58 +0000

The guys over at My Droid World just released a new app that allows you to quickly change out the Motorola "M" boot logo that appears each time you restart your Droid X, Droid 2, Droid Pro or D2 Global (does not work on original Droid). Included in the app you'll find over 130 images to choose from and they are adding more each day. Some of the categories of images are pictured above to give you an idea of what you have in store, but most importantly, there are Droid Life logos! To get a DL logo as your bootup:

*DOES NOT WORK ON ORIGINAL DROID. DX, D2, D2 GLOBAL AND DROID PRO ONLY. *You have to be rooted. (Instructions) (More Instructions)

1. Simply open the app and choose "Online Library." 2. Then choose "Forum Logos" and you should see 4 of ours sitting right at the top. 3. Tap on the one you want, click "Flash This" and the work is done. 4. Reboot your phone to see it in action Purchase now for $.99 in the market.

Download Link

UPDATED: Impaled Angry Birds Released

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:50:47 +0000

Update: This is not our style. I apologize for posting this. SUPPORT YOUR APPLICATION DEVELOPERS! Thanks Rovio for the amazing FREE game! Just fix that damn lag issue...

Tuesday Poll: How Much Data do you Use Each Month?

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:19:49 +0000

Verizon introduced a new 150MB data tier to its 3G smartphone plans at the end of October and there was a ton of discussion around how much data people consume and whether or not this could be an option for you. So with this poll, we want to hear from as many of you as possible to give those out there on the fence an opportunity to see if this new tier is something to consider. I have a feeling that almost all of you are going over 150MB, but this should display that nicely. (And for those that aren't sure how to check, you can see the numbers by logging into your VZW account and .) [poll id="27"] What is your record? Have you run over the rumored 5GB limit and been slapped with fees?

Android Life Contest: Win 1-Year Subscriptions to Lookout Premium

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:46:07 +0000

This morning, Lookout made their new Premium service available for $29.99 and to help kick off the launch, they've asked that we give away ten 1-year subscriptions to our readers over at Android Life! Of course that means all of you as well, so head over there now to get in on the action. Thanks Lookout!

Video: Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab Benchmarks

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:20:41 +0000

Our coverage of the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab takes us into the benchmarking world which I'm sure many of you were dying to see. This is the first major Android tablet and to see how it performs as compared to some of the other leading Android devices out there is pretty interesting stuff. Let me just say though, that when you see the numbers in this video, you aren't going to see it blow away most of the smartphones listed and it shouldn't. Remember it has to render all of this information on a 7" screen. So with that in mind, prepare to be impressed. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47JaJJzrRT4[/youtube] More Verizon Galaxy Tab Coverage:

Unboxing Galaxy Tab | Game Walk-Throughs | Benchmarks

___________________________________________________________

New DROID Incredible Update Patches unrevoked Rooting Method

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:27:54 +0000

It looks like the the new OTA update for the Droid Incredible has patched the old root exploit that unrevoked 3.21 was taking advantage of. What exactly does that mean? For those holding out to root or for some reason had to swap out your old DI for a replacement, you are out of luck in the rooting department for the time being. Give it a day or two though and I'm sure the unrevoked team will attack it and bring peace back to Earth. Cheers Dave!

DROID X Only $99 at Costco

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:51:36 +0000

Anyone in the market for a brand spankin' new Droid X at an "ULTRA LOW PRICE" just before the holidays? Then grab your Costco card, AMEX and patience as you fight through the zoo of a big box store. Purchase here. Cheers Timoh!

Video: Eric Schmidt Shows Off Nexus S at Web 2.0 Summit

Kellen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:16:22 +0000

Yesterday, at the Web 2.0 Summit, Google CEO Eric Schmidt came out on stage and just so happened to have his Nexus S on him for cameras to catch a quick glimpse at. We snagged a picture of it, but if you missed the entire rundown, you can watch the video and see it for yourself as it has been added to Youtube. All of the good phone and Gingerbread shots happen in about the first 15 seconds, but there are some goodies on Google TV later on. Overall, it's worth a watch. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOWK2dR4Dg[/youtube] Cheers @arozema for the tip yesterday!

Gossip Girl Episode Invaded by DROID Brand

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:50:09 +0000

We may have just had more Droid appearances in the latest episode of Gossip Girl than all others combined. While I've been tipped to original Droid sightings in this show quite often in the past, I have yet to see any TV show that busts out almost the entire lineup. Thanks to our fantastic lady audience, we were tipped off to a scheduled appearance checklist which included the original Droid, Incredible and Droid X. All of them pictured below. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] To see all of the past Droid appearances head here. Submit new ones here! Cheers Carmen!

Google Maps Updated to 4.7.0, Includes Places Widget and Ratings

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:10:51 +0000

Google Maps received an update tonight which brought it to version 4.7.0. So what's new? A new Places widget for your home screens and the ability to rate places using a new Google service called Hotpot. Apparently Google is going to take over the social check-in game as well and using their massive Android audience to do so. In Hotpot you can add friends, rate just about anything on the planet, and do it all so quickly and easily now from your mobile phone. If we find more goodies, we'll be sure to let you know! More info. [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Cheers Michael and tominabox!

HTC Merge to be Unveiled November 18th, Will be “DROID” Branded?

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:37:22 +0000

A club in Seattle called Republiq is hosting a Patron Social Club event this Thursday, November 18th, that was originally supposed to be the unveiling of the HTC Merge and would also include a re-launch of the Droid Incredible. (So much for the delay?) And also,as you can see from the shot below, the Patron Social Club called it the "HTC Droid Merge World-Phone" which is what really grabbed our interest. Remember, the Merge/Lexikon is a "Bing" device and we have all been under the impression that "DROID" branded phones would never see an ounce of Bing. Has Verizon changed their thoughts on the Merge and turned it into a Droid?

The second big thing is the mention of this party celebrating the "launching" of the device. With it being on the 18th and previous rumors of the device landing on November 11th, maybe they just didn't get the memo? Or maybe Verizon still plans on announcing it? We sort of think the PSC didn't get the memo. Check out the flyer for the event below which now only mentions the Droid Incredible...

Ali Landry in the house! Anyone going?

Cheers Jeff!

Eric Schmidt Shows Off Nexus S Running Gingerbread, Mentions Release Time Frame

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:36:57 +0000

We posted this up immediately over at Android Life as it falls under the "general Android news" category, but wanted to make sure all of you saw it. Google CEO Eric Schmidt was on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit and pulled out a Nexus S running Gingerbread. He didn't actually mention who the manufacturer was, but from the shot we grabbed above, it's pretty obvious. He also mentioned that Android 2.3 should be out in the "next few weeks" and that Google TV talks with the major networks are going well.

Video: Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab Game Walk-throughs

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:26:04 +0000

To continue our coverage of the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab, we bring you a gaming walk-through of some of the more popular games on the Android platform running on this 7" beast. We feature Reckless Racing, Flick Kick Football, Fruit Ninja and of course, Angry Birds. All of the games look and play amazing on this device and over the last few days have made this device my go-to home entertainment machine. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI63uoJZw-I[/youtube] More Verizon Galaxy Tab Coverage:

Unboxing Galaxy Tab | Game Walk-Throughs | Benchmarks

___________________________________________________________

Will Eric Schmidt Announce Gingerbread Today at the Web 2.0 Summit? Watch it Live!

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:55:10 +0000

The blogosphere noticed over the weekend that Google CEO Eric Schmidt would be speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit today in San Francisco and immediately jumped to, "Gingerbread announcement!" Well, if you want to watch and actually see if today is the day that we all start officially drooling over Android 2.3, then head over to this live feed at 2:35 Pacific. Update: He's on stage and definitely pulled out the Nexus S running Gingerbread. We grabbed a picture which is up over at Android Life! Cheers @JasonAGrier!

Pulse News Reader Now Free in the Market

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:40:23 +0000

Looking for a new RSS reader for your Android device but didn't want to fork out the cash needed? You are now in luck, as Pulse Reader just turned free in the market. For those not familiar, Pulse Reader is a visual RSS reader meaning it pulls images from posts or news stories and uses them as thumbnails to display your feed in a much prettier fashion. The app used to be $.99, but according to their PR team, it should now be free. I can't tell because I bought it months back. Enjoy!

Download Link

DROID 2 Global and Pro Users, Thoughts on Your New Device?

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:12:17 +0000

Last week we welcomed in two new family members, the Droid Pro and the still unannounced Droid 2 Global. Both devices haven't seen a huge marketing push and sort of fall under the sneaky original D2 category, but we do know that many of you ordered them immediately. Since we have yet to get our hands on either, how about you give the rest of us your initial thoughts? Loving the candy bar keyboard on the Pro? How about the 1.2GHz boost on the D2 Global?

From the Weekend: Netflix Headed to Select Android Devices Next Year

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:43:39 +0000

News snuck out on this over the weekend and we wanted to make sure everyone saw it as this is the first official word we've heard on the Netflix-to-Android front. According to the Netflix blog, they have struggled to secure a DRM policy because of piracy issues on Android, thus the reason behind what seems to be the slowest rollout in the history of must-have apps. They also mentioned that select devices will receive their app first as they have been forced to work on a device-by-device basis. More info over at Android Life.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab Unboxing

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:30:30 +0000

We got our hands on Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab on Friday and wanted to take you through a quick unboxing of it before we really dive in deeply and help you decide if this should be your big holiday purchase. After just a few minutes of time with it, we're definitely pleased, but we have a long way to go before we can give you a thumbs up or down. And of course, this will be followed up by a full review, some tricks you've already started to see and so much more. Enjoy the unboxing! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ewWn0HySo[/youtube] Your first impressions? More Verizon Galaxy Tab Coverage:

Unboxing Galaxy Tab | Game Walk-Throughs | Benchmarks

___________________________________________________________

DROID X Still Doing OnStar Ads, Now in Print Form

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:50:20 +0000

We saw the Droid X in an OnStar commercial way back in October running the car service's new Android app, but now we're seeing it as bold as ever in magazines. The photo above, sent in at almost the same time by two readers, was featured in Popular Science and as you can tell, is a full 2-page spread showcasing one of our favorite family members. Another Droid appearance. Keep sending these in! Cheers MrBob and @MrKLove1!

Rumor: Motorola's Tablet will be first to run Android 3.0?

Kellen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:16:14 +0000

According to Mobile-Review.com's Eldar Murtazin, Motorola will get to release the first Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet come next year. While the rest of the world took his tweet as meaning it would be called the "MOTOPAD", we're assuming he's just using that name since an official one hasn't been outed. Trust us when we say that it will be filed under the DROID brand and I highly doubt it'll actually be called the "MOTOPAD." Oh rumors. While the 7" size comes as a big surprise to me, you may want to hold out thoughts on that as I can almost guarantee you that a 10" version will be their flagship and baby. Source: Twitter Via: BGR

How to: Take Screenshots on Samsung Galaxy Tab Without Rooting

Kellen — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:58:26 +0000

While we are glad that we could introduce the Android world to the new z4root app from XDA Forums and the fact that it would work on your Galaxy Tab, we know that rooting isn't for everyone. So for those of you still looking to do some "root" activities like taking screenshots, there are some tricks which you should know about. The Samsung Galaxy Tab actually has the ability built in, even without having the Android SDK installed and it's super simple. To do it, simply press on the "Back" softkey and click in the "Power/Lock" button at the same time. If done correctly, your Tab will snap a shot and let you know just like in the image up top. Sweet right? You can pretty much do this from anywhere on your device. But where did the screen shot go? Into a folder on your SD card called "ScreenCapture." All you need to do is open up the "My Files" app that comes preinstalled and you should see it right away. Open that folder and enjoy!

Via: Android Community

Tip: Display All Android Apps in Full Screen on Samsung Galaxy Tab

Kellen — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:29:56 +0000

Bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab this week and are already frustrated that some of your favorite Android apps won't display throughout the entire 7 inches of real estate? Don't worry, there is a solution! It's called Spare Parts and it's a free app in the market. Normally used by the rooting crowd, Spare Parts opens up a set of Android settings that have been sort of tucked away for safe keeping. All you have to do is download it from the link below, install it, open it up and uncheck the box for "Compatibility Mode", reboot and you can play games like Reckless Racing (our hands- on) the way they were meant to be played. Have fun!

Download:

Download Link

Via: Droid Attic

Walmart Running $100 Giftcard Smartphone Sale

Kellen — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:00:53 +0000

From 11/17 through 11/25, you can head into a Walmart store and buy any HTC, Motorola, LG or Samsung phone and receive a $100 gift card. For those of you thinking about buying those family members (or yourself) a phone for the holidays, this might be a deal worth checking out. In case you didn't know, Walmart actually has a pretty good selection of Android phones including the Droid lineup which we've featured here. Cheers SE!

FourSquare Sees Update, Friend Adding Made Easier

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:13:33 +0000

Stalker app update! FourSquare, one of our secret app addictions, received a nice update today which makes it much easier to add even more people for you to creep on. Really they just updated the "Me" tab to make friend requests not such a painful process and we thank them. In the market now. Free!

Afternoon Android Snack: Galaxy Tab Rooted, NVIDIA CEO Goes Off on Tablets, Best Buy Black Friday Deals

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:39:10 +0000

Good news! The Galaxy Tab can be rooted using z4root, the new rooting app that we talked about yesterday. Oh, NVIDIA's CEO also called it a "large phone" and CNET dropped a top 5 list on why Android is better than the i*hone. Not a bad day in Android chatter...

Add Samsung Galaxy Tab To Z4root Device List
NVIDIA CEO Calls Galaxy Tab A “Large Phone”, Says Tablets Are Not A Fad
Best Buy Black Friday: Samsung Fascinate For $1, Sony Internet Blu-Ray $100 Off
CNET’s Top 5 Reasons Android Is Better Than IPhone
Bing For All Carriers Now Available In Android Market
MyTouch4G Gets Taste Of CyanogenMod 6

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

Facebook Update Adds High Resolution Uploads, Fixes Bugs

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:10:08 +0000

Another Facebook update is waiting for you in the market. Nothing incredibly ground breaking coming out of it, but you can now upload high resolution photos and run the app with fewer bugs. Definitely minor compared to last week's additions. Oh, we're still on Facebook with over 7,500 friends. Come follow us!

Is Google About to Announce Gingerbread aka Android 2.3?

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 12:32:08 +0000

The Google Mobile Twitter account just sent out the above tweet which included a picture of a bunch of Android gingerbread cookies. Does this mean Android 2.3 is about to be announced? We'll be keeping an eye out!

Cheers sciwiz!

Tweetdeck Now on More Android Handsets than Mac Computers

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:27:29 +0000

TweetDeck on Android continues to thrive and in a recent tweet from their official Twitter account, has apparently passed over the number of Mac users. Sort of cool right? It would have been nicer to see it say, "Passes iOS users!" but we'll take this as a first step. TweetDeck still everyone's favorite Android Twitter app? Via: Eurodroid, Phandroid

Custom 'OG' Droid Theme Friday: Luna Theme by IcculusX

Tim — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:29:30 +0000

Sorry about last week, folks! We here at Droid-Life and Android-Life got tied up with all the exciting things going on, so in a timely manner I present the Luna Theme by IcculusX. There's something about the Moon which is very appealing. It has an almost mystic and tantalizing attractiveness. And since it's so nice and sexy, why not put it on your phone!

This theme can be placed on top of almost all the major ROMs. Lucky you! CyanogenMod, Bugless Beast, Shadow ROM, Ultimate Droid, Sapphire, etc. Could you really ask for more? Let's go ahead and do this!

Instructions:

"Droid 1 only please"

Since this theme is on quite a few different ROMs, the installation might vary just a wee bit, but I shall lay out the basic route you should be following. Try not to stray too much. 1. Download zip with which ROM you are on or decide to try out.

Again, these ROMs are - CyanogenMod 6.0, Shadow ROM, Sapphire, Ultimate Droid, and Bugless Beast.

2. Place zip on the root "base" of your SD Card. 3. Open ROM Manager and select "Install ROM from SD". 4. Locate the .zip and hit it. Please make a backup. 5. Allow phone to boot into recovery and do it's thing. When you load back up, enjoy the moon! Thanks again for your patience everyone. Last week we had some nasty emails. "Where's the theme?!?" "Stop playing with yourself and post a theme!" The list goes on and on. And thanks everyone, we appreciate the encouragment, but gosh! -Tim-o-tato View Luna Website for more details and download links. Don't forget to donate! [gallery columns="4"]

TAT Releases 3 New Live Wallpapers

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 09:34:47 +0000

TAT (The Astonishing Tribe), who gained fame back in early 2010 after releasing a demo of a possible home replacement app coming to Android, returns with a set of simple, yet amazing live wallpapers. You can tell that the guys at TAT have a sense of humor and work in a fun environment after seeing these 3 in action. The first is Blue Range, an animal and wilderness filled kingdom that is completely interactive. The second is Retro Pixels which reacts to incoming text and calls, shakes of your phone and the time of night. There are even some hidden secrets in Retro that they dare you to find. Artemia is the third and is my least favorite, but a nice chance from the other two. It's a simple ocean paper which includes a variety of creepy sea creatures. Downloads from right to left: (all free)

Blue Range| Retro Pixels | Artemia

Via: Android Guys

Friday Poll: Which 4G LTE Handset Would You Choose?

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:13:19 +0000

We caught word this morning that there won't be a major Android 4G LTE device on Verizon this year, but that the 4 major manufacturers all have plans to release one in early 2011. So we want to know, which one would you be leaning towards at this point? HTC has the Incredible HD, LG has the sexy device pictured above, Motorola has something, possibly the Olympus and Samsung might have a device called the Elite.

[poll id="26"]

Rumor: No LTE Phones Coming to Verizon this Year, HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola All Ready for 2011

Kellen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 07:32:12 +0000

We received semi-sad word this morning from one of our peeps on this whole Verizon 4G LTE Android handset situation. While there have been a number of rumors about the Incredible HD, a device from LG, the Olympus from Motorola and now the Elite from Samsung, none of us have had a clue as to when we might see them. Until now anyway. Most of us had been hearing that the Incredible HD (Mecha?) would see a November or December release at the latest, but our sources have informed us that there are currently no plans to release any major LTE devices this year. They did confirm that HTC, LG and Samsung all have devices ready to rock, but not just yet. Motorola is also rumored to have a device, but our guy can't confirm as he has not actually seen it yet. Now remember, release dates, planned devices and anything else that comes along with a wireless carrier are subject to change on a dime, so take this as rumor for now. As we have more, we'll be sure to fill you in. Cheers money!

DROID X Makes Another Appearance on NBC's Community

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:27:01 +0000

A new episode of NBC's Community is airing, well right now, and in the opening scene a Droid X was featured. Add it to the list of Droid Appearances that we'll continue to track as long as our favorites devices keep gettin' the love! Cheers Dean (pic), Jack and Brian!

Is this the Incredible HD?

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:43:17 +0000

The picture above could very well be the Incredible HD or "HTC Mecha" that has been leading the ridiculous rumor mill around the interwebs over the last couple of weeks. Twitter conversations by us and others have revealed a mixed bag of details, so try and hold strong. If it is, then get ready for a device with a front facing camera, running the new Sense UI, and is 4G ready. Yep, it sounds like a winner in our books. We still have no idea if or when this bad boy will come out, but ignore the rumors suggesting a pre-order might happen tomorrow as it is still likely going through testing. Nice of the tipster to leave off the search bar, so we can now start biting our nails over the thought of it being a Bing device. Bah. Via: Android Central

z4root is the Newest 1-Click Root App, Should Root Almost Anything

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:27:03 +0000

You no longer need a PC to root your device and can instead complete the task with the freshly released z4root from developer RyanZA. I haven't had a chance to try it yet as all of my devices are rooted, but the early reviews coming in are quite favorable. The app contains one button that will perform all of the behind-the-scenes dirty work. It should also install busybox when finishes, but if it doesn't, you can grab it from the market. Download: Download from Market! (RyanZA version.) Confirmed to work on:

Droid X
Droid 2
~~HTC EVO~~
HTC Hero
HTC Eris
Galaxy S devices
Galaxy Tab

Doesn't work on:

Original DROID
Motorola Milestone
HTC EVO
HTC Desire
Nexus One
HTC Incredible
Samsung Epic 4G

Let us know if you have any luck! Full support thread can be found at XDA Forums.

New Swype Available For BETA Users

Tim — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:34:41 +0000

Were you lucky enough to be one of our many winners for all of our previous Swype contests? Got even more lucky to somehow land yourself into one of the unfilled spots on their primary lists? Remember we leaked there was a update coming? Well the time has come once again for Swype to upgrade. Some much requested features are now available. Speech to Text, Double Tap to Edit, and even some more accuracy issues. But this also touches another subject that I will hopefully have the chance to touch basis with soon here at Droid-Life. Updates - Whether they be for ROMs, apps, or software in general. Some seem to update constantly, and some quite seldomnly. I am always confused when people say they can't stand the constant updating. Don't you want your apps to work correctly? But that's for a later date. If you're on the BETA team for Swype, go get some!

Users with access to the beta can begin downloading the update immediately by pointing their device's browser tohttp://beta.swype.com/android/get

Check the whole forum post here: Swype Forums. Keep it coming Swype! -Tim-o-tato

DROID Pro Replaces DROID X in SnowBot Commercial

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:00:07 +0000

The first SnowBot commercial we saw featured both the Droid 2 and Droid X, but after the announcement of the Droid Pro, we're now seeing an updated spot which includes the new global Blackberry killer. As a former Blackberry owner, I can't wait to get my hands on this phone, just to giggle a little at how fun it will be to watch Android gobble up this market as well. Oh and the original Droid 2 is also featured. Still no mention of the Global version. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAjfSqEpTjI[/youtube] And don't forget to check out all of the past Droid commercials we've featured! Cheers Zach!

Gingerbread Spotted Running on Nexus S!

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:06:13 +0000

We just posted this up over at Android Life, but had to share with everyone here as well since this is HUGE news. You are looking at the Nexus S running what we believe to be Gingerbread aka Android 2.3. This photo matches up to that really blurry one a few weeks back and also to everything our buddies over at Phandroid were tipped to. Time to get excited! Update: The first REAL photos of the device are out. Peep them at Android Life! Oh and we're still thinking Gingerbread could hit the Nexus One at some point this week...

DROID 2 Global Already Rooted and Bootstrapped

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:31:02 +0000

Well that lasted all of 1 day. The still unannounced Droid 2 Global, which is arriving at customers' door steps early, can apparently be rooted with the same methods currently running around in the wild. Our reader said he used the "on phone" method found here, but I'm guessing the SuperOneClick method we've featured would do the trick as well and without all of the manual command typing. Update: SuperOneClick method is reportedly freezing up. Go with the manual method! He was also able to bootstrap the recovery using Koush's D2 Bootstrap app. Cheers Brandon!

Download: FRG83 Froyo for Original DROID

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:08:52 +0000

Android 2.2.1 (FRG83) has been released as a ROM for the original Droid and you can start enjoying the goodness now! The Nexus One saw FRG83 almost a month ago, but you had to expect that it would find the OG at some point right? Download links and instructions after the break! Download: DEODEXED FRG83 | ODEXED FRG83 Instructions:

*ORIGINAL DROID ONLY. *You need to be rooted. Instructions here. *This is a rooted FRG83 ROM.

1. Download your choice of FRG83 from above and drop it on your SD card. 2. Boot your phone into recovery. (Power + X) 3. Scroll down to "nandroid" and select it. 4. Choose "Backup" to make a full backup of your phone.

*You may want to perform a factory reset at this point as well.

5. When that finishes, scroll down to "install zip from sdcard" and select it. 6. Select "choose zip from sdcard." 7. Find the FRG83 file you downloaded from above and select it. 8. The ROM will now load onto your device. 9. When it finishes, choose "reboot system now" and enjoy! Let us know if you run into any issues! Feels good to have a new release for the D1 doesn't it? Full support can be found at My Droid World.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Available Now From Verizon for $599

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:07:19 +0000

Anyone ready for a non-contract Galaxy Tab from Verizon? The first major Android tablet to hit store shelves is finally available in both stores and on-line to my knowledge. You may also want to just walk into a store today and play with one to see if a tablet is even something you would enjoy as there will be plenty more of them in the near future. The early word on the pricing structure was not all that positive, but I'm wondering how you will feel after you actually play with one? Anyone on their way now?

DROID Incredible Update Starts Hitting Devices

Kellen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:55:22 +0000

The semi-bug fixing update for the Droid Incredible appears to be popping up on handsets as of late last night and as many of you know, will include the VCAST app store. For a full list of other changes check out this post. For the first full walk-through of the VCAST app store check out this post. Anyone else receive it yet? Cheers Ryan!

DROID 2 Global Orders Already Arriving for Customers, First Full Gallery

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:50:54 +0000

The still unannounced, but for sale Droid 2 Global is starting to arrive on doorsteps. If you placed an order late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, you might want to go look out on your porch or at least check your tracking status. As you can see from the full gallery below, the white version is as pretty as it was when we showed you the first pictures of it back in September. (Thanks Henry!) Hit the break for some new stuff and a bunch of photos! Some things you may not have known about the D2 Global:

SIM card included and pre-installed.
International chargers also included.
8GB SD card included.
VPN app pre-installed.
SIM Manager pre-installed
Keyboard flatter than original D2. Clicks on key press.

The more I see of this device, the more I'm starting to really like it. It sounds like the keyboard is even better than the D2's and the extra processor speed is felt from what I have been told. Just look at the benchmark from our post here and below! I'm really digging the white and bright silver color scheme too and am now scheming up ways to trade off my D2 for this updated version. Anyone else get theirs? [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Cheers again Henry!

Afternoon Android Snack: Q3 Android Sales, White Samsung Fascinate and T-Mobile Already Selling Tab

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:14:46 +0000

Your daily bites of Android Life tasty treats are here! Android sales dominate everyone but Symbian in Q3, we get some white Samsung Fascinate pictures, T-Mobile starts selling their Galaxy Tab, and a 10" version might be on the way...

Gartner: Android Amounts For 25.5% Of Smartphone Sales In Q3
White Samsung Fascinate Is In Stock At Best Buy
T-Mobile Begins Selling Samsung Galaxy Tab Today
MyTouch 4G Also Receives Permanent Root, Clockwork Recovery
Is A 10″ Samsung Galaxy Tab On The Way?

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

Rumors: HTC Merge Release Delayed Due to LTE Radio Upgrade, Incredible HD Coming Beginning of 2011

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:47:07 +0000

Twitter is turning into the ultimate information machine when it comes to upcoming Android devices and we're loving it. Last week we had a conversation with an LTE engineer who revealed that the Incredible HD is real and will likely be an LTE device. Today, a new source (@V3RDICT) who appears to be some sort of a Verizon device rep, went through pretty major device training and tweeted about all of it.

The first tweet had to do with the HTC Merge, suggesting that it has been delayed while HTC packs an LTE radio into it...

He followed that up with release date info...

He then jumped onto some Incredible HD release info...

And finished it all off with HTC's 2011 Android plans...

Talk about some information. Everyone follow all of that? Basically, the HTC Merge has been delayed for an LTE upgrade, but could still see a 2010 release date. The Incredible HD is apparently still real and should be out by the first of 2011. And I'm officially excited.

Cheers Mike!

Ask Dr. Root: Recovering Deleted or Missing Pictures

MrPicolas — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:55:18 +0000

Dr. Root, My phone deleted all my pictures. What can I do? I ran into this problem myself recently and thought that I was out of luck, but thanks to a wonderful themer WEBST3R, I was able to recover over 4,000 images that had been deleted off my SD card. Webst3r is the author of Sense X theme for the DX as well as a number of other very cool things related to Android which you can check out in our forums. Him saving the day is an understatement. Instructions after the break. First, we need to get some tools, so head over to Piriform and download the Recuva software.

(Don't freak out about the price! The software is free and the support has the pricetag.)

1. Download and install the Recuva software. 2. Plug in your phone and set it to "USB Mass Storage" mode. 3. Open Recuva and cancel out of the wizard. 4. Pull down the first drop box and select your SD card. 5. Pull down the second drop box and choose "pictures". 6. Go into the options menu and select "Tree mode."

(This will give you the option to select the entire card.)

7. Hit "Scan" and allow Recuva to discover your files. 8. If you do not need the entire card use the thumbnail view or list view. 9. Click "Recover." 10. It will ask where you want to recover to.

(My suggestion is create a folder on your computer and select that.)

11. Let it work its magic and start breathing again. The software is not just for pictures either and will give you a list of different file types you can check depending on your needs. Also before I go, please remember that flashing and theming your phone can be risky.Wiping data and cache when switching ROMs or when theming multiple items is a great way to ensure minimal conflicts on your device. Yes, I know it can be a pain to enter all of your information again, but between Google and the applications available to rooted users it has become pretty painless and a rather quick process. STAY TUNED and be on the lookout for a very cool review coming soon to a device near you. -Dr. Root (mrpicolas)

DROID Makes "No Ordinary Family" Appearance

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:53:22 +0000

Another day and another Droid appearance on a major network's show. During the last minute of episode 2 on "No Ordinary Family", our beloved OG is used by someone who is obviously evil to let their boss know that a job had been completed. What exactly was that job? Oh, just for him to use his special powers to take a gun from a police officer and then shoot them with it while walking out the front door. Yikes. Be sure to submit any Droid appearances here! Cheers Justin!

8Pen Keyboard Updated, is Now Free and Easier to Use

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:45:14 +0000

The developer behind 8Pen keyboard appears to get it. After being released onto the Android market for just over $1.50 last week, slow sales and many frustrations from early adopters were enough to get a major update and price drop. You can now grab this interesting take on a keyboard for free, plus it's actually usable now. Most of the annoyances I saw when first testing this keyboard seem to be fixed. As you can see from our screenshot above, when you type a word, a preview of the keyboard is displayed so that you no longer have to sneak a peek around your finger to find out which key you are selecting. Definitely worth another look.

Download Link

Cheers Mark!

Keyboard Manager Lets You Choose Keyboard Depending on Phone Orientation

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:20:08 +0000

When using any of my phones, I tend to use Swype in portrait for quick replies, but if I'm working through a long email then there are times when I choose to go landscape and pop up the multi-touch keyboard on my Droid X as it gives me better accuracy. The only problem is, when doing this, you have to long press and manually change the keyboard each time which is somewhat of an inconvenience. Well, until now anyway. Thanks to XDA member ne0fhyk, rooted users can now used an app called Keyboard Manager which will allow you to choose your preferred keyboards depending on phone orientation. Can you say, "Genius"? Download: KeyboardManager.apk Instructions:

*ROOTED USERS ONLY.

1. Download KeyboardManager.apk to your SD Card. 2. Using Root Explorer, copy the file into /system/app.

*You will need to Mount R/W in order to place it here.

3. After pasting in /system/app, long press on KeyboardManager.apk and choose "Permissions."

Set to: -User: 'Read/Write' checked -Group: 'Read' checked -Others: 'Read' checked

4. Mount R/O again and exit Root Explorer. 5. Reboot your phone. 6. When it boots back up, you should now see Keyboard Manager in your app drawer. 7. Open it and set up your keyboard preferences!

Full support thread can be found at XDA Forums.

Cheers imronburgundy!

Video: DROID 2 Global Introduced by Motorola

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:15:17 +0000

The Droid 2 Global is an odd one that's for sure. Still unannounced by Verizon, you can buy it online now while it sits next to the lower priced original Droid 2, which by most people's standards, isn't all that much different. Sure, it has global roaming, a 1.2GHz processor, "Profiles" and some additional security features, but who actually knows that other than people who read this site? Oh and let's not forget that the original D2 will likely see all of the software updates that are included in the Global version, so really it just has a slightly faster processor and can make calls in Germany? I think it's time that Verizon and Motorola start sending us their phones 2 months early so we can promote them for free. (Genius proposition!) Intro video after the break. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3_KD9b0--Q[/youtube]

Pocket Legends Beta Released, 3D MMO Android Action Ensues

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:40:52 +0000

Pocket Legends, the "world’s first 3D Mobile MMO" is available in beta form on the Android market right now. W.o.W. users unite your phones and prepare for hours of time killing, relationship ending, Mom's basement owning fun! (Cheap shots!) Actually, the game looks pretty polished for a beta and even I'll admit that the 3D graphics look really sharp. While I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about MMOs, if that's your thing, then you should probably grab this game now. Pretty sure that Mashable ranked it as one of their top 5 mobile games of the year, ahead of Angry Birds. The beta is free, requires Android 2.1 or higher and is a 30MB download. Promo video:

Screenshots: [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"] Download:

Download Link

Additional videos can be found at Spacetime Studios site. Cheers Charlie Brown!

DROID 2 Future Update Bringing Profiles, Tethering and Ugly Blur Launcher?

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:08:51 +0000

You are looking at screenshots from a Droid 2 running an updated version of Blur that appears to include "Profiles" like we've seen on the Droid Pro, tethering which is always removed before release, and that ugly stock Blur launcher seen only on low end or non-DROID branded phones. We have no idea when this update could come or if it ever will, but it gives you an idea as to what Motorola is working on anyway. Seriously though, the tethering will be gone and we can only hope that the launcher gets skinned in the near future. What I want to know though, is if anyone is into "Profiles"? For those not familiar, "Profiles" are similar to HTC's "Scenes" as an easy way to switch your phone settings between work and play. Personally, I've never used them on my Incredible, but wanted to know if anyone else does? Via: My Droid World

Yahoo Updates Messenger to Include Video Chatting, Mail with Multiple Accounts

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:56:29 +0000

Yahoo updated a couple of its more popular apps, Messenger and Mail, to include some much needed new features. Messenger now has official support for video chatting on the MyTouch 4G plus "experimental support" on the EVO and zero support for the Galaxy Tab. Actually, Yahoo apps in general appear not to support ANY Galaxy S devices which is a little odd. There are only 3 million+ in existence around the world. The mail app now allows for multiple accounts, lets you preview photos and has a more polished notification system. Like I said, all "much need" stuff. *For video chatting to work, you will need both the Yahoo Messenger app and the video add-0n.

Yahoo Messenger | Video Add-on | Yahoo Mail

Via: Yahoo

Youtube Remote Controls Youtube Leanback from Anywhere

Kellen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 07:42:56 +0000

This little app called Youtube Remote snuck onto the market yesterday that turns your Android phone into a wireless controller for Youtube Leanback. All you have to do is sign-in to your Youtube account on both your phone and computer, Google TV, or other device and it will sync right up without hassle. From there, you can browse Leanback content on your phone while leaving video playing in full screen on your TV, select something new, pause/play/skip, and enjoy being lazy. What I'm wondering now though, is if this new simple remote connection has to do with Gingerbread?

Download Link

Cheers Zach!

DROID 2 and Incredible FREE through Sears

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:47:59 +0000

Looking to pick up an original Droid 2 or Incredible before they become extinct in the next month? You may want to head over to Sears and grab one of each for free then before the end of Wednesday. The D2 has already been discontinued at Best Buy, had its price dropped with Verizon plus saw a sneaky introduction of a global version which can only mean the end is near. The Incredible on the other hand has seen a bunch of pricing adjustments, but the bigger news is the rumor a possible HD LTE replacement on the horizon. Any last takers?

Buy Droid 2 | Buy Droid Incredible

Cheers Kris!

Motorola Introduces Motoroi X, the DROID X of Mexico

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:32:45 +0000

The Droid X is no longer exclusive to the U.S. Motorola announced today that the Motoroi X, which is the exact same thing as the DX, will be made available in Mexico some time before the end of 2010. Pricing has not been released, but the specs are of the device that many of us have been sporting since July. And I'm actually digging that red X wallpaper...any one up for making one?

Motorola and Iusacell in Mexico bring MOTOROI X: the first Smartphone with Android ™ 2.2 and a high-definition experience MOTOROI X offers better Internet browsing, connectivity, high definition video and business functions, all in a 4.3 inch screen MEXICO CITY, Mexico - November 9, 2010 - Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), and Iusacell today introduced the Motorola X MOTOROI. MOTOROI X offers a better experience thanks to its ultra-fast Web browsing, 1GHz processor speed, the functionality of becoming a 3G HotSpot, excellent memory and social messaging intuitive abilities. The device is also compatible with Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 and gives access to Android Market ™ with more than 100 000 applications, in addition to Ubicacel Copilot. "We have a strong commitment to our customers to provide the best experience Android on the Iusacell network," said Ernesto Alegrett, Marketing Director of Iusacell. "Thus, we have focused on bringing to Mexico currently leads Android phone the market: Motorola X MOTOROI. This equipment allows Iusacell to offer its customers a unique phone with wireless connectivity and multimedia experience in HD through the powerful Iusacell's 3G network. " José Luis de la Vega, Director of Marketing for Latin America at Motorola Mobile Devices said, "With MOTOROI X, Motorola reinforces that there are no limits on innovation in Android. We break down the barriers for users to experience the Web in the manner for which it was created, sharing and viewing content as never before, either in the palm of your hand or in your home. Business users will also be amazed with the features included in MOTOROI X, such as push e-mail and widgets for calendar updates and email. " MOTOROI X has a high resolution display of 4.3 inches which allows the user to view the latest video. The video features X MOTOROI enable customers capture their best moments instantly, thanks to its combination of 8-megapixel camera with dual flash, HD camcorder and HDMI and DLNA connectivity to download, transmit and share high-definition personal content.MOTOROI X comes powered with Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1, an application that will allow mobile users to experience hundreds of sites with rich content and applications directly from your browser. Additionally, it has the social networking service MOTOBLUR, Motorola's unique in its version 1.5. MOTOBLUR, social networking contacts synchronized with the directory, and personal and work email also allows for optimal security to retrieve information or delete with a simple remote command. Corporate users are able to enjoy the feature push e-mail and widgets capable of conveying messages to the home screen, widgets filtering for the differentiation of work and personal email, corporate directory and search Global together with a unified calendar enterprise-level synchronization with Google Calendar ™. In addition, security protocols allow remote control and elimination password via Exchange Server. Price and Availability Motorola MOTOROI X Iusacell will be available from the last quarter of 2010. X has the capacity MOTOROI 3G Mobile Hotspot that turns your phone into a wireless modem to connect up to a total of five devices via Wi-Fi. For more information on Motorola's X MOTOROI, check www.motorola.com.mx or www.iusacell.com.mx About Motorola Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on optimizing the way the world connects. From infrastructure broadband communications, enterprise mobility solutions and public safety devices wired and wireless digital communications that provide engaging experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, businesses and governments to be more connected and more phones. In 2009, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of 22 billion dollars. For more information, visit www.motorola.com

Via: Motorola Cheers Manny!

The Tato Series: An Interview With Koush Dutta

Tim — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:00:32 +0000

Sorry it has been so long everyone. Let me tell you, it isn't like I've been sitting on my butt not doing anything. I've been working hard! That IRC isn't gonna manage itself, you know! So I have told a few of you that this was coming, and there was a general excitement. I myself have been excited because it isn't everyday that the 'Average Joe' such as myself gets to talk to the Big Wigs that basically created everything we in the nice 'lil underground community love and abuse daily. Koush is responsible for many things. The list seems endless. So instead of me trying to explain and talk about things that I hardly try to comprehend, (I leave it to the Devs) why don't we just read what the man himself has to say... Come on in and read. Tim-o-tato: Hey Koush! Thanks for letting me set this up! Mind telling us your name and what it is you do for the readers who may not know you? Koush: Hey, I'm Koushik Dutta. Most people know me for my work on ROM Manager, ClockworkMod Recovery, and CyanogenMod for Droid and Incredible. I also work with the Unrevoked team that was responsible for the NAND unlocks for HTC phones. I've also ported Mono to Android, and other random Android stuff (rooting the G1, etc). Tim-o-tato: So basically you're one of the most well known names in underground Android Development. You've done so much already. How did you first get into it all? Koush: I was in the Windows Mobile world prior to Android. Did mostly app development on that, and didn't really get into the custom ROM scene. Windows Mobile started dying off, and I jumped into Android when the G1 was released. As I mentioned before, a coworker and I discovered how to exploit the console shell to get root access on the phone. Shortly thereafter, I wrote the first (crappy) version of Superuser. Tim-o-tato: That's amazing. So it's not like anyone can just jump into this stuff. Where have you learned all these skills? School? Natural 'gift'? Koush: The 10,000 hours rule. Do anything for 10,000 hours and you'll be successful or "world class" at it (Outliers). I've been writing code in one fashion or another since 6th grade. Tim-o-tato: That is what amazes me the most. The age some of you all start out at. My 6th grade experience had nothing to do with Tech stuff. I think Pokemon might have had my attention. Sad I know, but it paid for my candy addiction. Do you come from a Tech-Savvy family? Koush: Not particularly. My dad is an engineer I guess, but he still looks at the keyboard when he types. Tim-o-tato: So while doing all of these things (must be time constraining) do you have a day job or are you a student? Koush: I have a full time job as a software engineer at Kiha. We do Android stuff. Tim-o-tato: Lucky you. What would you say has been the most rewarding aspect of all your work on Android? Koush: I really get a kick out of seeing the download counts on the stuff we work on... CyanogenMod 6 had 100k+ downloads within 2 days of release (across however many phones we now support). ROM Manager has 270k downloads. It's a nice feeling knowing that people appreciate your stuff. Tim-o-tato: I'm sure everyone MORE than appreciates it. Your work gives added value to a phone(s) that already cost us all a pretty penny in some to most cases. To me that seems like an invaluable thing. What are some things you would like to accomplish in the future of your work? Koush: A huge portion of users still use forums as their primary way of downloading ROMs. I am in the process of adding a "ROM to Phone" type feature to ROM Manager. Basically, a user is browsing a ROM thread on their computer, decides they want to download it and clicks the link. The link would then trigger a download in ROM Manager on the phone. The other idea I had is to create a home screen app; One that is not based off the AOSP launcher, and that would utilize fantastic 3d hardware found in newer phones. Tim-o-tato: Now that would kick a**! What device are you yourself personally using these days? Koush: A Nexus One and an iPhone 4 Tim-o-tato: iPhone4? Please explain this atrocity... Koush: I just grab whichever one I see first in the morning. But I always grab the N1 if I plan on needing driving directions. Tim-o-tato: But why do you have one in the first place, I mean. I'll admit the games are better...but really?!? Koush: Yeah, I get that reaction a lot. I'm not really a zealot when it comes to hardware/software, on mobile or otherwise. I have several Windows and Mac desktops/laptops. I have an iPad, I have a half dozen Android phones. I like gadgets, and don't really have a religious affinity to one or another. At the end of the day, the iPhone has fantastic hardware and software, and it has a lot of features that Android can and should aspire towards. In particular, all the in-window rendering in Android is done in software, rather than using the GPU. You'll notice that animations and transitions on iPhone are noticeably smoother than on Android due to this. The music app and syncing story is a little sad on Android too. Conversely, Android is much, much, better as a development platform. The language and tools are better, market is better, the openness is better, and I am super excited about the new official MonoDroid product that will be released shortly. Basically, not allowing yourself to see what is good about one platform or another and just being a blind follower, limits you. Tim-o-tato: Amen to that. I really couldn't agree more. I love my *cough* iPod. So may we ask your age, sir? Koush: 29

Tim-o-tato: Nice. Excited for the big 3-0? Koush: Not particularly. Koush: Just turned 29 a month ago . Tim-o-tato: Oh well you got a year to live it up! Happy belated! Tim-o-tato: So besides the obvious (CyanogenMod) are there any Devs who you keep a close eye on for releases or work? Koush: I watch CVPCS' work. He does good stuff, and we've shared a good amount of code. Tim-o-tato: Agreed. Excellent stuff. So for the people who might want to know; How did you get into hacking the Droid and then writing the Recovery for it? Given your background, was this a pretty easy thing for you? Koush: I had a Droid fall into my lap at work, and was surprised to see that no one was building from-source ROMs for it yet, so I decided to give that a shot. I found out that AmonRa's recovery was not open source, and SPRecovery wasn't very portable to other phones. And I wanted an open source recovery that was a part of the AOSP build (which SPRecovery and AmonRA were/are not). That means, every time you build CyanogenMod or AOSP, it also builds the recovery. It makes porting the recovery to other devices really easy. I think Clockwork is running on around 30ish phones at the moment. I'd done a lot of development in C before, so that wasn't an issue, but I was fairly unfamiliar with Android's recovery system. Tim-o-tato: Wow. A true innovator. Well I myself appreciate all the work you've done! So what's your favorite game for your Android phone? Koush: I actually don't play too many games on mobile at all. Though I'm a huge PC and console gamer. The last game I played on Android was Angry Birds, a few weeks ago Koush: I tend to prefer puzzle type games on phones. Tim-o-tato: Ahh, I see. What computer games do you enjoy? Tim-o-tato: Don't say WoW...unless...you like it. Heh. Koush: I played WoW for a few years, hah. I quit around 3 years ago though. I'm currently addicted to SC2 and Halo Reach. Tim-o-tato: Oh yes. Halo Reach. So what is your take on Task Killers? Koush: Don't use them, theyre useless. Tim-o-tato: That's what they keep telling me So How many emails do you receive on a daily basis? Koush: I have 807 unread emails in my clockwork mailbox right now. I have 6500 recovery failure logs from ROM Manager. None of which i've read; it's mostly user error. I just look for recurring failures and see if I can prevent or fix them. Probably on the order of 200-300 a day. Tim-o-tato: Ay Caramba! Mr. Popular Koush: Mr. Fix-It-Is-Broken-Or-1Star - ROM Manager has a very loveit/hateit audience. If it works, people absolutely love it. If it doesn't work (and it is USUALLY user error), they hate it. If you look through the market comments, you'll see its almost all 1 stars or 5 stars, haha. Tim-o-tato: Trust me, I fix peoples ROM Manager problems all day long and it's all user error...Gets a bit excessive. But when I was learning I had the same issues. Live and learn. Like that saying, "You can take a man fishing, etc etc." Koush: Exactly. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to prevent user error. IE, recurring user errors can usually be fixed by adding some diagnostics or dialogs. Tim-o-tato: Usually people just get a "!" and triangle and have no clue what to do. Hah.

Tim-o-tato: So do you have any thoughts on the Android Community as a whole? Likes? Dislikes? Koush: It's a pretty cool community as a whole. Lots of collaboration on CyanogenMod and XDA. The users are very supportive of developers. The downside is that there seems to be a constant undercurrent of drama of some sort or another. Unavoidable really. Tim-o-tato: You're basically the top of the heap. What is your take on the Dev drama? What starts it would you say? People not giving credit, or donations? Kanging? What do you think makes it so intense at times... Koush: Well, there are Devs and then there are "Devs". Between the guys and gals that actually know how to write software, there's never really any drama that I have observed. A lot of the drama tends to come from kanging, donations, etc. Money and notoriety causes a lot of friction. I think there's a different mentality and behavior amongst folks that actually do software engineering for a living, vs. those that just jumped into it to do custom ROMs. The internet makes it really easy to disrespect people. Tim-o-tato: You could not be more right about the web. Trolls and disrespectful people seem to outnumber the nice hard workers. It sucks at times. But you still gotta love the interwebz. Well in conclusion, is there ANYTHING you would like to ask the community and the Droid-Life readers? Koush: How happy are you guys with your current launchers? Would users be interesting in buying a new non-aosp based premium launcher? And what's the #1 problem with current launchers? Tim-o-tato: That is a really good question...If LauncherPro had a damn infinite looping feature I would crap myself. I wanna thank you SO much for your time Koush! Koush: No problem! Tim-o-tato: It has been a real pleasure to have the opportunity Maybe if youre not to busy we can see ya around Droid-Life sometime Koush: I read the site regularly! Tim-o-tato: Thanks again Koush. I really appreciate it. Koush: No problem, thanks! Tim-o-tato: Talk soon! ______________________________________________________________________________ It's always very relieving when I realize that most of these guys are very down to Earth, just insanely smart people. As before mentioned, he started in 6th grade. Makes me seem like I've basically got no chance....*plays tiny violin* But enough with the sob story. I'm going to be hitting the streets even harder now for interviews and inside info on today's Android developers, but not just underground, I'm going to the source! Google Corp! If you or someone you know is a Dev and want a shot at getting your story posted for all to read - Email me! timotato @ droid-life dot com. -Tim-o-tato Discover what makes Koush tick by following him @koush | Read my past interviews with todays top Devs!

Adobe AIR Update is Available Now!

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:45:37 +0000

First it was Flash 10.1 and now it's Adobe AIR. Both apps are "Gingerbread-ready" after updating today and we're super excited. This is another step towards seeing Android 2.3 on its first device, which we can all assume will be the Nexus One. When that day comes, be sure to keep your page locked onto Android Life for full Gingerbread coverage. Cheers Nathan!

Afternoon Android Snack: Galaxy Tab vs. Air Gun, G2 Permanent Root, Flash 10.1 and Adobe AIR Updates

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:15:40 +0000

G2 owners can officially throw their rooting party! Permanent root has been found and distributed! You can also update your Flash 10.1 to the new Gingerbread-ready version, look for a new one of AIR to follow, and check out the Continuum's official promo video...

T-Mobile G2 Gets Permanent Root
Video: Gorilla Glass On Galaxy Tab Tested Against CO2 Gun
Adobe Flash Update 10.1.105.6 Available Now!
Adobe AIR Update Also Hints At Gingerbread Release
Samsung Continuum Official Promo Video
Skype For Android Updated, Includes Additional Phone Support

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

Tuesday Poll: Buying a DROID Pro or DROID 2 Global?

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:18:43 +0000

The Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global went on sale last night online and we want to know who bought one already or is at least considering buying one of them. Our inboxes led us to believe that a number of you have already forked over the cash, but we want numbers! Interested in either one or waiting for something else? [poll id="25"]

Original DROID Makes Big Appearance on Castle

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Maybe we should start up a "DROID Appearances" category on this site since we love covering them so much. In the latest sighting, the original Droid gets some major face time on another episode of Castle. In the show, a boy is kidnapped and an OG is left in his place to provide clues to the cops and father. The kidnapper sends videos, texts and other fun clues all through our beloved Droid. First appearance:

Video clue:

Keep these comin'! Cheers Static_prone and Matt!

Full Version of PowerAMP Hits Market for $4.99

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:59:58 +0000

If you have PowerAMP installed on your phone from the market, then you likely have an update waiting for your approval. After updating to this new version, you will start a trial that can go full by purchasing a $4.99 unlocker. It's not clear how long the trial will last, but if you love some PowerAMP awesomeness, then I suggest you support another great developer and unlock the beast.

Download Link

Cheers Natham!

Angry Birds Level Skip Trick Still Works, Jump Right to New "Big Setup" Levels

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:03:14 +0000

Angry Birds just received an update which included 45 new levels and if you want to skip right into this new awesomeness, you still can using the old level skip trick we talked about a few weeks back. For those of us that flash new ROMs and are constantly having to wipe our phones clean, this trick really comes in handy. And no it's not cheating, it's...OK, it might be cheating. Video instructions:

Step-by-step instructions: 1. Load up Angry Birds and go to the world select screen. 2. Center the new "Big Setup" locked world on the screen. 3. Push back button on your phone all the way out of Angry Birds. 4. Load Angry Birds back up and when the “Play” button appears, hammer on it! 5. You should be inside the locked worlds stage select screen. 6. To keep it unlocked just pass the first world. Have fun!

Angry Birds Receives Update And 45 New Levels

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:12:00 +0000

The game that has apparently taken over the free world has just received an update. Angry Birds can be manually updated in the market right now and will bring you an additional 45 levels of action! Oh, it will fix some bugs too, but we really just care about the new levels, right?

Download Link

Cheers Kendal!

VCAST App Store is Live for DROID Incredible, Here is the First Walk-through

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:52:13 +0000

A Droid Incredible update is supposed to start rolling out to devices this week and for some of you, it sounds like it may have started already. One of the major things to be included in this update and that you should check out right away, is the new Verizon VCAST app store, which until now has never really been seen. We told the world about a ROM which was based off of this new update and actually included the VCAST.apk last week. If you loaded it onto your device, it gave you an error instantly, but today, if you load it onto your Incredible, you'll be able to browse and purchase apps. We have a full walk-through after the break. Download: VCAST.apk (Incredible only!) Browsing for apps...

Purchasing an app...

"My Apps" section...

Report issues and rate apps...

No LauncherPro. Boo!

Overall the VCAST app store looks pretty, but so far is a little sluggish. Navigating around in menus or from category-to-category took some time and the VCAST version of the hour-glass popped up quite a bit. The search function is no where near the quality of the Android Market and as you may have expected, won't suggest apps for you as you mistype them. The buying process was simple though and there appears to be a ton of apps already available. One of the big selling points of the app store was the ability to place app charges straight to your VZW bill and this looks to do that perfectly. Not once was I prompted to input credit card, Paypal or Google Checkout information and I have to admit, enjoyed it immensely.

In the most unsurprising news of the day, we should note that there are ZERO Google apps in the app store.

Have fun!

Source of App: XDA Forums, Virtuous ROM

DROID Does Website Updates, Includes DROID 2 Global and Pro

Kellen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:10:55 +0000

Last night at midnight, the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global went on sale through VerizonWireless.com and from the looks of our inboxes, a bunch of you jumped all over them. Along with the pre-orders going live, the now-famous droiddoes.com site updated and includes both of these new devices at the expense of the original Droid 2 which is clearly on the way out. Have fun checking out the new toys! Cheers Henry!

Original DROID 2 Already Done?

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:58:39 +0000

We already told you that the original Droid 2 was discontinued at Best Buy and after looking at Verizon's website, think it might be happening there too. With the Droid 2 Global and Droid Pro going live tonight, you can see that the original D2 image is for some reason shot. Is this just a glitch or do we think the phone is done for? And if it's not done, why would you even think about buying the OG D2 over the global white version? (insert shrug)

DROID Pro and DROID 2 Global Available Now!

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:49:19 +0000

Verizon still hasn't actually announced the Droid 2 Global, but you can order it now online along with the Droid Pro. The D2 Global can be had for $199 after mail-in-rebate and the Pro for $179 which will help you get your global roaming groove on before the phones hit stores. The D2 Global as we told you will come in "Dark Sapphire" or "Winter White" and the Droid Pro is there to replace your Blackberry should you still be sporting one. Droid franchise for the win?

I've already heard from a number of you that pre-ordered, but want to know what the rest of your plans are. Anyone else buy one? Buy them here. Cheers Jorge, Henry, Jack, Gabby and Gordon!

Download: Dell Stage Widgets for All 2.2 Devices

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:14:25 +0000

The Dell Stage UI which will be included with Froyo on the Dell Streak has been leaked and ported over to work on a variety of devices. I've only tested these on the Droid X and everything seems to work nicely except for the phone button, but that likely has to do with Blur. Either way, you should give these a look if you needed some space eaters to take up some of those empty home screens. Download: dell_stage.zip Instructions:

*Note 1* - This works as its own launcher app. *Note 2* - For all users. Non-rooted and rooted.

1. Download the zip file from above to your computer. 2. Unzip the .apks from it and place them on your SD card. 3. Open Astro File Manager and start with StageLauncher-release.apk. Install it. 4. From there, install each of the other .apk files. 5. Tap your home button and choose "Dell Stage" as your launcher. 6. You will now see each widget already in place. 7. You can remove the ones you feel you won't use. 8. Enjoy!

Full support thread can be found at XDA Forums!

Cheers Picolas!

Afternoon Android Snack: Minimal Pandora App, Continuum Finally Announced, and Android 2.3 Headed to Nexus One

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:09:39 +0000

Over at Android Life, the Samsung Continuum was finally made official today after what seems like months of leaks, Android 2.3 might be headed to the Nexus One this week and a sweet Minimal Pandora app snuck onto the scene out of XDA. Another great day in Android...

Minimal Pandora Is Minimal And Elegant
Nexus One Owners To Get Android 2.3 Update In Upcoming Days?
Kik Messenger Allows You To Instantly Message Friends Across Platforms
Samsung Continuum Officially Announced, Released 11/11 On Verizon
Download: Opera 10.1 Beta For Android
HTC Working On Their Own App Store
Thumb Keyboard For Android Works Great With Big Thumbs

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

Jimmy Fallon Shows some DROID Love, is Quickly Corrected

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:44:04 +0000

Jimmy Fallon is one of the few TV personalities to show any real interest in technology and has even spread some love for the Droid X in the past. Well today, he sent out the above tweet to let everyone know that his TV show's app would be headed to Android soon, but used a word that drives purists insane when referring to the platform. The correction and acknowledgement...

Update: It wasn't a purist at all! It was one of our readers! Just heard a lot of "It's not DROID, it's Android!" hate this weekend during the Droid's birthday. We love you @danohart! Cheers Bob!

Verizon Starts Testing Unlimited Everything Plans for $69.99 a Month

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:39:47 +0000

Verizon sent out some interesting emails over the weekend, asking select customers to think about testing out a new $69.99 unlimited everything plan for individuals an a $139.99 plan for families. The plan includes unlimited text, data and mobile-to-mobile Verizon calling, but will require you to sign a 1-year contract to participate. Oh, you can also add your "friends and family" numbers that aren't Verizon including land lines. Anyone taking the plunge? Source: Verizon Via: BGR Cheers ibow!

Clockr Receives Update, Evolution Version with New Options

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 10:48:24 +0000

Yep, we're still talking minimalist styled clocks and you may want to brace yourself as this might not be the last one today. One of the newish ones featured a couple of weeks ago by us, Clockr, has returned to the market and now comes as an "Evolution" version. The "Evolution" version is packed with all sorts of new fun stuff:

Include the date with the clock.
Multiple color options.
Font size.
Add a shadow.
Transparent background.

Purchase for $1.01. in the market: Download Link [gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

Both Droid Life Apps Updated, New Notification System plus Direct-to-SD Installs

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:06:09 +0000

Both of the Droid Life apps received updates over the weekend and I think you'll be very pleased with the new goodies. First of all, can you believe that we have 2 apps now? It seemed like just yesterday when we had some semi-hacked together blog running on Blogger and now we have 2 apps! Amazing and humbling stuff. Thanks everyone for the continued support! Droid Life News App: Download Link

Android Life feed added! You can get all of your news from one spot.

Includes a new alert system which should fix any issues you were having in the past.

The ads have now been pinned to the bottom and are a little more out of your way.

Droid Life Wallpapers App: Download Link

Android Life argyle wallpaper added.

Now installs directly to your SD card to save space.

Big thanks to JRummy and Notice Orange for their amazing work!

Oh and speaking of the good ol' DL days, we're quickly approaching our 1 year anniversary. Crazy.

SiMi Clock is Another Amazing Minimalist Option, Includes Galaxy Tab Support

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:02:00 +0000

If you are getting sick of our "minimalist" talk, please try to hang out for just one more minute. SiMi Clock Widget is the newest simple-styled clock to hit the Android scene and has something that helps it stand out from the rest, Samsung Galaxy Tab support. SiMi allows color and text customizations to match the style of your current setup plus some transparency sliders. It's simple, pretty, customizable and fits right into our DL style.

Download Link

Cheers Levi!

DROID 2 Global and DROID Pro make 360° Verizon Appearance

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:15:26 +0000

The Droid 2 Global is expected some time in between now and November 29th, the Droid Pro is going on pre-sale tomorrow for $179, and their 360 view pages just snuck onto Verizon's website. Well, the 360 for the Droid Pro is viewable, but the D2 Global pages are just still images and will likely be pulled any minute now. As you can see from the shots above though, the "Winter White" and "Dark Sapphire" colors are confirmed. (White Droid 2 Global pictures) What you can also see, is that the white version comes with a much shinier silver front-side which we caught in these photos from Verizon. If only this device had a 4" screen then we'd be all over this. Who's excited? View: D2 Global White, D2 Global Blue, Droid Pro

Download: Official DROID Pro User Guide

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:37:44 +0000

The user guide for the Droid Pro is now available. If you have shown some interest in this device which is officially going on pre-sale tomorrow (November 9th) and in stores on the 18th for $179, then get your reading glasses ready. It's your standard guide, but gives you an idea of how that candy bar keyboard will work alongside the 3.1" touch screen. Download: Droid_Pro_US-EN_UG.pdf Cheers @rusty_richards!

DROID 2 Global Not Hitting Stores Until November 29th?

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:19:39 +0000

We keep hearing November 11th as a firm date for the Droid 2 Global to hit stores, but according to this new shot from Verizon, it looks like it might not actually land on a store shelve until November 29th? This new information also suggests that you will be able to buy one long before that via "Direct Fulfillment" on the 9th meaning you could walk into a store and have a rep. order you one, but if you wanted to hold the device or see it before purchasing, you won't be able to until the 29th. If the 9th is the direct fulfill day, then expect a press release any minute now. Cheers money!

DROID Pro Pricing Announced at $179, Available November 9th Online, November 18th in Stores

Kellen — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:43:41 +0000

Rumors of a November 18th launch date have been floating around over the last few days and today, Verizon made it official. The Droid Pro will go on-sale in stores on November 18th for $179 after $100 mail-in-rebate on a new 2-year contract. If you can't wait until the 18th, you can grab the device online starting November 9th which means you'll have your phone well before the in-store crowd. Full retail should still run around $479 which is a steal in my mind.

DROID PRO BY MOTOROLA NOW AVAILABLE ON THE NATION’S LARGEST AND MOST RELIABLE 3G NETWORK DROID Does Business with Global Android Smartphone from Verizon Wireless BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), today announced that DROID PRO, the first Android™-based smartphone optimized for business use, will be available as a pre-sale order at select Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com starting Nov. 9 and for purchase in stores starting Nov. 18. The DROID PRO will be available for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. DROID PRO, a global-ready Android smartphone, allows customers to enjoy wireless voice service in more than 220 countries and data coverage in more than 200 countries, with more than 120 with 3G speeds. Powered by Android 2.2, DROID PRO is packed with features that meet both business and personal needs such as pre-loaded Quickoffice Mobile Suite, 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, and a QWERTY keyboard designed for speed and convenience. Verizon Wireless customers who purchase DROID PRO will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. DROID PRO customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan (beginning at $39.99 monthly access) and a 3G Smartphone Plan. For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. To learn more about DROID PRO, visit http://news.vzw.com/news/2010/10/pr2010-10-05.html. About Verizon Wireless Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia. About Motorola Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to mobile and wireline digital communication devices that provide compelling experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.

Happy Birthday Motorola DROID!

Kellen — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:34:24 +0000

Today marks the 1-year anniversary/birthday of the Motorola Droid. When we look back at the success of the Android platform over the last 12 months, a lot of the credit goes straight to the device that was the inspiration behind this site. The phone that took off with a brilliant marketing campaign, a huge holiday push, and as a choice for those not wanting to go to a certain other smartphone is one that shall never be forgotten. Happy birthday OG. We love ya. Cheers Matt for the reminder!

Our Twitter Conversation Reveals Incredible HD as an LTE Device

Kellen — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 13:30:04 +0000

We had a quick Twitter conversation yesterday with a Verizon LTE engineer (@black_man_x) who through a "sneaky panda tweet", basically mentioned that the Incredible HD is on the way and it will be an LTE device. Here is exactly what he mentioned...

Just saw something so incredible that it was almost HD... and LiTE as a feather...

Can you translate that? Incredible HD running on LTE. We expressed our feelings to him and received this response back...

@droid_life bgr posted a pic of the old hardware months ago.. its been refined a bit. Sure u all will get a leak. Love the site btw

He's referring to the picture above which is a mirror image of the Desire HD, so we're hoping the refinements mean it will look similar to the original Incredible as it will always be one of the sexiest devices we've owned. While there aren't any official pictures in the wild yet, expect them to find their way to the forefront soon. Excited?

DROID 2 Global Ads Appearing in Magazines

Kellen — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 12:16:23 +0000

Still unannounced, the Droid 2 Global makes yet another appearance only this time in an actual magazine. As you can see from the shot above, the D2 Global is mentioned alongside the Droid X and Droid Pro as the leaders of the "DROID" brand going into the holiday season. What I find interesting is the lack of an Incredible mention. We've seen various discounts arriving for the DI and rumors of an HD follow-up lead us to believe this phone is nearing an "end of life" designation. We're fine with this, just announce the Incredible HD already so we can move on. If you'd like to know all there is to know about the D2 Global, we've definitely got you covered.

Cheers Droid Life app tipster!

Flash Update Hints at Android 2.3 Arrival?

Kellen — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:00:05 +0000

We were already expecting a Flash 10.1 update on November 9th to fix a security issue, and while we're looking forward to that, we are now even more interested after seeing the new description listed on the app's market page. Is Adobe letting us in on some Gingerbread news?

ATTENTION: Please install the upcoming 11/9 update (ver. 10.1.105.x) to ensure that Flash Player loads properly with future OS updates.

"Loads properly with future OS updates" sounds fun right? There are rumors that the Gingerbread SDK could land on November 11th and maybe this is another sign that it's close? Cheers Mr. Joshua!

Afternoon Android Snack: VZW Galaxy Tab in Action, Nexus Two Delayed, and New Firefox Beta

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:15:20 +0000

To take us into the weekend, how about a quick dose of what's cooking over at Android Life? We've got a video of the VZW Galaxy Tab in action with the VCAST app store, news on the Nexus Two which is now rumored to be delayed, a fun Android theme for your Gmail account, a new Firefox beta for mobile, and the MyTouch 4G crushing the i*hone 4 in a browser test. Not bad right?

Video: Verizon Samsung Tab Browser In Action, VCAST App Store Included
Samsung Is Making The Nexus Two, But It’s Been Delayed?
Show Some Android Love With A New Gmail Theme
Firefox 4 Beta For Android Is Now Faster And Sleeker
Video: MyTouch 4G Vs. IPhone 4 In Browser Test
Dell Streak Gets SNES Controller Mod
Motorola Citrus Gets Some Introductory Video Lovin’

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

Download: Miren “Charming Browser” by jpsiemer

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:15:22 +0000

The Miren "Charming browser" which looks like something you'd find on the MIUI ROM, has been ported over to work on all devices and after tinkering with it for 5 minutes, I'm going to recommend that you all give this one a look. The browser was obviously not originally in English so it has been translated by jpsiemer and packaged up for your browsing pleasure. Overall, this has a great feel to it and the shortcuts located on the main page just make sense, plus it allows for tabs, has multi-touch, simple RSS subscribing and so much more. Give it a later Friday afternoon spin! Download: cn.miren.browser-v1.1-b97-mod2.apk Instructions: 1. Tap and download the app above. 2. When it finishes tap on "Install." 3. When that finishes, tap "Open."

Full support thread over at XDA Forums.

Via: Miren Cheers Stuart!

Flick Kick Football, My New Mobile Gaming Obsession

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:26:42 +0000

OpenFeint announced 11 new games this week and one of them I cannot get enough of. It's called Flick Kick Football and has been dominating my life for at least 3 days now in more ways than one. The game is similar to Flick Kick Field Goal or Paper Toss, but for whatever reason is so much more fun and addicting. I probably should have started this off by clarifying that "football" in this game is referring to soccer and not the American pigskin ratings machine, but that shouldn't turn you away though! So the game is simple. Kick the soccer ball into the net and try not to nail any of the stand-ups or moving goalies in the face. You can curve the ball with a simple swipe, grab extra lives by hitting the corners, and impress the heck out of your friends with the OpenFeint scoring integration. Seriously, once you master the curved shot, you won't quit. If you have a dollar and a ridiculous amount of time to spare, grab it in the market now. Oh and my high score on "Arcade" is 134. Bring it on.

Download Link

Cute DROID Pro Training Flip Cards Arriving for Employees

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:07:13 +0000

Neat little flippy cards on a ring are being distributed to Verizon employees at this time in preparation for the Droid Pro which debuted back in October and still lacks an official release date. We've got it locked in for November 18th, but VZW remains silent even though the training has already started for this "Blackberry Killer." Speaking of Blackberry, we've got a mini-comparison up at this post to help ease your decision to join the Droid family. Join us. Via: Android Mixer

DROID Pro vs. Blackberry Curve 9330 vs. Blackberry Bold 9650

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:28:50 +0000

Now there is a great look at how Motorola is planning to steal customers from RIM and its Blackberry handsets with the new Droid Pro that we are expecting to hit stores on November 18th. Exact form factor, almost identical keyboards, global roaming capabilities plus Android and a bigger screen has this device positioned to be an instant winner with the business crowd. While it may not appeal to all of us 4.3" screen loving fools, you have to admit that if you had the choice of these 3 devices, you would lean towards our family member. Important specs for the Droid Pro:

While I don't necessarily have a use for this device, I have a half dozen friends that can't part ways with their Blackberries because of the damn keyboard. You know exactly what I'll be showing them come X-mas time, right? This device gives Android enthusiasts another selling point when looking to convert smartphones users over. Anyone currently working with a Blackberry? I'd love to know if you plan on switching over to the Android world. Photo: Verizon

Verizon's VCAST App Store: Everything You Need to Know

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:50:45 +0000

The big news yesterday was the impending update for the Droid Incredible which will bring the VCAST app store to its first device. Most of you were not all that excited about the news and had a ton of questions as to how this might affect your current phone app setup. PC World reached out to Verizon to get all of the info you could ever ask for. We've highlighted some of it below.

Complimentary Store: It will not replace your Android market and will be complimentary to the other stores out there.
App Selection: The store will launch with a few hundred apps, many of which are already available on the Android market. There is nothing preventing developers from listing their apps in both the VCAST app store and the stock Android market.
Purchasing Apps: The highlight of the VCAST store is the billing feature. Rather than using your Google Checkout or Paypal account to buy apps, you can add the charges straight to your Verizon bill.
Refunds: There will not be a 24-hour refund policy with the VCAST app store. You buy it and it's yours.
Other Devices: Other than the Incredible, the VCAST store is expected to be available to the Droid 1/2, Droid X, and Fascinate in the near future. It will come pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

I'll admit that I like the billing feature and the thought that Verizon may be able to control the quality of the apps better than the open Android market. With that said, it is another piece of bloatware. We'll find out the true story next week though, right? Thoughts? Via: PC World

Download: DROID X Dark Themed Blur Widgets by Bgill55

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:00:44 +0000

Sick of those plain ol' Blur widgets on your Droid X? Our buddy Bgill55 has taken what sounds like hours upon hours of time to help you out by theming all of them with a nice dark color scheme. As you all know, we love Bgill's work and the fact that he's a fan of RubiX Blurry 1.0 which we have running on our DXs. This widget themes were needed more than we can express and highly recommend you check them out. Oh, and don't forget to donate to Bgill to thank him for all of the amazing work he's contributed to the Droid community. Download: BlurWidgets_blackbar1.1.2.zip Instructions: 1. Download the file from above and drop it on your SD card. 2. You have to be rooted. (Instructions) 3. You need to run Koush’s Bootstrap Recovery. 4. Your phone needs to be running RubiX Blurry 1.0. (Rom Manager) 5. Open the DX Bootstrap and “boostrap” the recovery. 6. When that finishes, “reboot recovery.” 7. Once your phone boots to Clockwork Recovery, scroll down to “backup and restore.” 8. Choose “backup” to make a clean backup of your phone. 9. When that finishes choose “install zip from SD card.” 10. Then “choose zip from SD card” and find the BlurWidgets.zip file, select it and hit “yes.” 11. Your phone will apply the themed widgets. When it finishes, reboot and enjoy!

Full support thread and donate link here.

Cheers Picolas!

Rumor: Android 2.3 Gingerbread SDK Coming November 11th?

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:12:58 +0000

Tipsters sure do love next Thursday. A new rumor has popped up pegging November 11th as the date for the Gingerbread (Android 2.3) SDK to go live which matches up to all of the rumors surrounding the Nexus S and Samsung's event on the 8th. At this point, another rumor is another rumor and we'll just have to wait until the 11th to see if this holds up. Google to my knowledge doesn't actually announce dates for their Android releases, so we'll know for sure when the SDK goes live on their site and they start tweeting about it. If it does come on the 11th, then maybe we can start dreaming of a date for a release of Android 2.3 onto an actual device. Remember that the SDK is for use by developers to make their apps compatible with this new version, so don't expect any ROMs immediately. Via: Intomobile

Droid Life Wallpaper App Released on Android Market

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 09:10:18 +0000

There have been a number of wallpapers to come through Droid Life over the last year and rather than having them spread throughout various pages, we thought an app that encompassed our most popular ones would be the way to go. Yesterday, our buddy and ROM guru JRummy16, offered to put it all together and came through in a big way. We proudly present to you, the Droid Life Wallpapers app, which is available in the market right now, for free! You'll find over 30 papers including a never-before-seen set from our boy Ludacrosse05 called "Colorious Delirium", the set of "Argyle Android" papers from yesterday, and a few others from the last few weeks of theme changes.

*Note* - After downloading and installing the app, all you need to do is head to your home screen, hit Menu>Wallpaper and you'll see the "Droid-Life Wallpapers" section appear. From there, you select a wallpaper just like you would any other. *Note 2* - Yellow Android Life paper will be added soon.

Again, huge thanks to JRummy (donate) for putting this together and to Luda (donate), Scott and everyone else for their amazing work.

Download Link

DROID 2 Global Pictured in Verizon Holiday Lineup?

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:16:03 +0000

We're about to go all sleuth-detective on you for a minute over some new pictures of Verizon's Android lineup that just went up on their media page, so please try to hang with us. You'll notice on the far left a Droid 2. Anything look odd to you? A little extra shiny perhaps? Now let's take a look back at our Droid 2 Global pictures that show what appears to be that same shiny Terminator "liquid metal" silver.

Well what do you know, looks like a match! And to make our theory even more believable, you'll notice on this media page that almost every device is featured by itself in a happy new wintery theme except....you guessed it, the Droid 2. And why? Because it's on the outs the the D2 Global is taking over for it on November 11th. Or it's just a reflection from the shiny white fake snow. Via: Verizon Cheers @rusty_richards!

DROID 2 Game Gripper Released!

Kellen — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:30:00 +0000

The Game Gripper has returned and it now works on the Droid 2. Remember how amazing a small piece of rubber and plastic meshed together seemed back when the original Droid was still dominating pockets? Well now you can experience it all over again only on top of the 1GHz beastly follow-up. (Oh, and that's not the new one pictured. The buttons have moved around.) Video of the original in action:

Buy: Game Gripper

Verizon Inviting DROID Owners to Online "Android Smartphone workshop" November 8th

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:24:22 +0000

Verizon is inviting Droid owners to attend the first ever online "Android Smartphone workshop" on November 8th which just so happens to be the day of the Samsung event. Is it a coincidence? Probably, but we thought we'd at least throw it out there for the conspiracy theorists in the building. Topics that will surely be covered include: why you should root your phone to void your warranty, how to use Google Voice to avoid text message overages, and tricks to increase chances of a warranty upgrade replacement. Anyone planning to attend? Anyone else receive this text from Big Red? Cheers Picolas, and everyone else who sent this in!

Best Buy Says DROID Pro, Continuum, LG Vortex All Debuting on November 18th

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:10:36 +0000

So much for November 11th being the biggest Android day in recent memory? It appears to have been replaced with the 18th according to reports out of Verizon's camp this morning and now Best Buy. The Droid Pro, Samsung Continuum and LG Vortex will all hit BB stores shelves on the 18th with possible pre-orders the week before. Does this mean the Continuum won't hit Verizon stores on the 11th? Like we said earlier, release dates for phones change almost hourly, so don't be surprised if you see these adjust another time. Just expect a whole batch of Android devices on every level to launch over the next 3 weeks. It's going to be one wild ride. Oh, we should also point out that the Droid 2 Global is listed as "unknown" but we're pretty sure it's still on track for November 11th. Check out this comparison chart for the D2 Global to be in the know. Cheers money!

Google Instant for Android is Finally Available to Everyone

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:28:50 +0000

We gave you the news last week that Google Instant was rolling out to select devices, but we had no word on when the rest of us would receive it. After checking google.com on every device I own, it finally showed up today on them all. Check yours now! Video tutorial of Instant after the break.

Via: Google Mobile Blog

Afternoon Snack of Android: Real Samsung Continuum Arriving, State of the App Industry, Gameloft for Galaxy Tab

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:41:53 +0000

Hungry? How about an afternoon snack of Android to fill that belly? Today over at Android Life we've got a bunch of goodies running including the first shots of the Samsung Continuum in stores, a "State of the Apps Industry" report, a promo video of Gameloft games on the Galaxy Tab, and a hilarious Google Maps note. Enjoy!

Samsung Continuum Starting To Arrive In Stores
State Of The Apps Industry: Android Grows, IPhone Declines
Gameloft Announces Game Support For Samsung Galaxy Tab
Video: Pinch To Zoom Demo On Upcoming Version Of Opera For Android
Google Maps Recommends Jet Skiing Across The Pacific Ocean

Don’t forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

DROID Incredible OTA Update Available via ROM, VCAST App Store Included?

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 11:46:46 +0000

It looks like the OTA update that's headed to the Droid Incredible next week has already been outed by rmk40, the creator of Virtuous, one of our favorite DI ROMs. This was actually posted back on the 14th of October and you can see from the file list given that "system/app/VCast.apk" is included which we have to assume is the actual VCAST app store. We're diving in now to see what we can find! To download the ROM and install it on your Incredible, head over to XDA Forums. Cheers @IncredibleDoes!

Motorola Milestone 2 for Sale on Amazon Germany, Ships on November 9th

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 11:07:20 +0000

To all of our Euro readers who were patiently awaiting the arrival of the Motorola Milestone 2, the time has come. If you buy one today for 499 Euros through Amazon Germany, your device will ship by November 9th, or least become available then. Talk of the Milestone 2 front had become pretty quiet after its quick appearance on Youtube back in August, so it's nice to see it re-emerge. For those new to the device, just think of it as the Droid 2 only it shoots HD video and has a slightly different look to its Blur skin. Everything else is exactly the same aside from the missing "DROID" tag.

To our friends around the world, you grabbing one? Via: Amazon Cheers Jens!

DROID Incredible First to get VCAST App Store? (Updated)

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:15:24 +0000

We just posted news of a Droid Incredible update that should start at any time and failed to realize a major addition that will come with it. The VCAST App store will apparently make its debut. Normally I ignore anything with the word "VCAST" in it and I'm using that as my excuse, but this is pretty big news. Update: Verizon has released a statement confirming the VCAST app store and the Incredible as the first device to see it. The update will start rolling out next week...(via Phandroid)

“Verizon Wireless will begin pushing a software update to the DROID Incredible next week. The update includes software enhancements that will pre-install V CAST Apps on the phone. We said earlier this year that we’d be expanding V CAST Apps to the Android platform, and the DROID Incredible is the first Android phone with the store. Developers continue to submit apps, and as a reminder, V CAST Apps allows carrier billing, so customers who purchase applications through our store will see those charges on their monthly bill. For more information about the update customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/droidincrediblesupport.”

Verizon announced this new app store a couple of months back and there were rumors suggesting it would be out by the end of the year, but did anyone expect it before Thanksgiving? For those not sure exactly what the point of this VCAST app store is, just understand that it will be a separate market for you to buy and download apps from. The selling point here is that you can bill those purchases straight to your Verizon account and pay them all off at the end of each billing cycle. I guess they found some developers. This is interesting stuff... Cheers MOTOX for pointing it out!

Download: Droid Life "Android Argyle" Wallpapers

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:00:19 +0000

When we launched Android Life on Monday, we heard some nice things about our new yellow argyle logo over there and even had some requests to make it into a wallpaper. Well, thanks to Scott, those requests have been filled! Today we are more than thrilled to bring you the Droid Life "Android Argyle" set of wallpapers in 3 different colors. First up is our standard pink, followed by a snazzy green, and finished off with the official Android Life paper. Before we get into this though, I need to give a huge shout out to @wadeivy for creating the logo that seems to be taking our worlds by storm. Amazing work man!

Instructions:

1. When you find the wallpaper you want, I suggest that you tap on it to get to the image page. 2. From there, simply long press on it and choose "Set as wallpaper" and enjoy! 3. You may also want to long press on it and choose "Save image" to keep a copy for later. And to see a batch of "Android Argyle" papers without logos on them, head over to Android Life and dig into the comments. You'll find red, blue, green, pink and yellow from two of our amazing readers (Michael Welborn and Avery Herron) which you can customize to your liking. Pink Version:

Green Version:

Yellow Android Life Version:

Cyanogen Version: (via Michael Welborn)

Single Screen Versions:

DROID Pro Priced at $179, DROID 2 Global at $199

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:20:20 +0000

As we had expected, that original price of $299 we pulled from Verizon's test site was only a set-up number and the real price according to new reports, has the Droid Pro set at $179 on new 2-year contract. And actually, if you were to buy it at full retail, it might only run you $479 and $349 on a 1-year extension. Not bad right? That's pretty tempting, although I'm not sure how long I could handle a screen that small. In related news, the Droid 2 Global (first pictures) will come in at $199 on 2-year contract which is pretty standard stuff. Again, it will come in 2 colors, have global roaming just like the Pro, and should replace the original D2 any day. And for some ridiculousness, we should point out that the Samsung Continuum pricing has been set at $199, which seems a little odd since the device only a 3.4" screen. It does include a second screen called the "Ticker", but why wouldn't someone just go for the Fascinate and its 4inches of glory? Thoughts on the Pro and Global pricing? Via: Engadget, Android Central

DROID Pro Pre-sale Starts November 9th, in Stores 18th?

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:00:46 +0000

From a new Verizon internal document, it looks as if the Droid Pro launch date has been pushed back a week to November 18th. Well, in stores anyway. You can actually pre-order the DP starting 11/9 (next Tuesday) and receive your order well before the 18th, likely around the 10th or 11th. An early date from Verizon had been set as the 11th, but in this business, release dates can change within minutes so we shouldn't be surprised. The sad news is that it lessons the awesomeness that would have been next Thursday. Let's just hope nothing else gets moved around. We were really looking forward to seeing 8 new Android devices landing on the same day with one carrier. Via: Android Central

DROID Incredible Update Ready, Looks Like a Bug Fixer

Kellen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:28:09 +0000

A new Droid Incredible update appears to be ready and should fix a bunch of little bugs that have plagued users since moving to Android 2.2. There is also a fix for Flash 10.1 which looks like it will take care of the issue mentioned in Adobe's latest security advisory. Full list after the break, or you could just click on the image above.

Improvements: (3.26.605.1/Baseband Version: 2.15.00.07.28) + Updated Flash® player includes security enhancements. + Visual Voice Mail Wi-Fi improvements include removal of incorrect service messages and post-call notifications. + Enhanced support for Yahoo!® IMAP email. + Updated Slacker application. + Attach files larger than 5 MB. + Updated COX POP3 email settings. + Play YouTube videos in YouTube application. + Seamlessly switch between portrait and landscape views in Google Maps.™ + Updated Comcast POP3 email settings. + Search key and other buttons displayed in correct order. Enhancements: + Preinstalled V CAST Apps lets users purchase applications directly from their devices and bill them to a Verizon Wireless account.

So nothing major in there, but your phone should love you much more afterwards. More info here. Cheers Mike!

Twitter for Android Sees Significant Update

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:00:09 +0000

A new version of the official Android Twitter app is available and includes some pretty major tweaks. Overall the app refreshes the timeline much faster, looks sharper and features a new details page for simple retweeting. Nice timing right? Same day that the Facebook app drops. Some of the new details include:

Tweet details page. We changed the layout of the timeline and introduced a Tweet details page, which you can access by simply clicking on a Tweet. This feature – which is already available in Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for iPad and Twitter for Windows Phone – makes it easier to click on links and reply to, retweet, or favorite a Tweet.
Speed. The app is now even faster. In this version, we’ve tried a new way of drawing a timeline of Tweets that optimizes for scrolling speed. Try it out, and you'll see how much faster and smoother the timeline loads and scrolls.
Polish. We added some more nice touches to the application as well:

-Pull to Refresh: This popular feature, which was first available through our iPhone app, functions just as it sounds – when you’re at the top of your timeline, simply pull down to load new Tweets. -Swipe to Reveal: Swipe across a Tweet to get quick access to several options, such as viewing a user’s profile, sharing a tweet, or replying. Quote a Tweet: Clicking the retweet icon now gives you the option to quote a Tweet. Of course, you can still retweet as you normally would. -Hi-res avatar photos

In the market now for free! Via: Twitter

Samsung Tab Dummy Units Arriving, Continuum Dummy and Accessories Too (Updated)

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:16:32 +0000

For those of you considering a Galaxy Tab, the time has come for you to get your hands on one. Well the dummy version anyway. We just received a shot of one over at Android Life that has already arrived in a Verizon store, meaning you should be calling your local branch now. Oh and Samsung Continuum accessories are on display as well even without an announcement on the device. Update: Continuum dummy phones also appearing. Cheers Spaniard85!

GroupMe on Android Introduces Easy Group Texting and Conference Calling

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:16:21 +0000

We just learned about a new Android app called GroupMe which allows you to easily create groups of friends, colleagues, or stalkers and mass text or conference call them. When you create a new group, a specific phone number is assigned to it which means that when anyone in the group sends a text or phone call to it, it hits everyone in the group. Pretty sweet right? Seems like a great way to hook up weekend plans with your friends. And from what I can tell, your friends won't even need the app and simply need the phone number attached to it to enjoy the benefits. What's even better, is that the GroupMe crew reads Droid Life on a regular basis. +1 Steve! Free in the market.

Download Link

Facebook App Update to 1.4.0 Available Now

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:16:39 +0000

The Facebook mobile event has been filled with all sorts of goodies so far today including the announcement that the Android app would see a major update. They held true to their word by already releasing the update to version 1.4.0 which includes both Groups and Places. You can see above, that the new additions are on your main page and allow you to easily check-in to your favorite places or display the groups that you are a part of. Nice. And speaking of Facebook, be sure to "Like" our fan page! (Over 7,000 already!) Recent changes:

Groups: share posts with small groups of friends
Places: share where you are with friends, see where friends are, discover places nearby
Improved Notifications: view comments and updates within the app
Various bug fixes

Download now from the market! Oh, they also announced that Zynga was coming soon. Yuck.

Facebook Mobile Event, Watch it Live!

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:25:03 +0000

The Facebook Mobile event starts in less than 10 minutes and we'll be watching every minute of it. Feel left out? Don't worry, you can watch it too! The live stream can be found at the URL below: http://apps.facebook.com/facebooklive/ Any guesses on what will be announced? A fancy i*ad Facebook app? A Facebook phone?

Win a Trip to Super Bowl XLV Using DROID 2 or DROID X

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:05:55 +0000

First off, I need to apologize for being a month behind on this announcement, but don't worry, you still have time to enter! Verizon is running a contest that will send Droid 2 and Droid X owners to either Super Bowl XLV or the 2011 Pro Bowl. All you have to do is text "Droid" to "3404" and you are entered. In fact, you'll get a response back almost immediately to let you know if you have won or not. The contest runs until 11/30/10. As you can see, my Droid 2 did not win, and the contest hated my custom ROM'd DX...

Cheers Sam!

Cup of Morning Android: 100 Samsung Tabs Contest, MyTouch 4G For Sale, iOS Trumps Android

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:29:51 +0000

In a slow morning for Droid news, we always have Android news to tide us over, right? So today, you need to get your cameras out, shoot a quick video on "freedom", and give yourself a chance to win 1 of 100 Galaxy Tabs. Since we're all a little worried about the pricing, here is a chance to get one at no cost. Oh and be sure to check out the article on iOS crushing Android. Talk about ill-informed.

Samsung Giving Away 100 Galaxy Tabs In “Feel Free” Contest
Android 2.2 Vs IOS4, No Contest Apple Wins! 10 Reasons Why
Samsung Continuum Vs. Fascinate, Captivate, Vibrant, Epic 4G
T-Mobile Video Chat, Powered By QIK
T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Available Now

Don't forget to sign up to the Android Life feed!

iSteam Andy T-Shirt Released

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:53:27 +0000

A new Android t-shirt has been released today from the makers of Unstoppable Andy, Andy vs. Apple, and Exploded Andy to beef up your geek wardrobe. Say hello to, "iSteam Andy," a shirt made with inspiration from da Vinci, H.G. Wells, Andy Rubin, and a legacy of past iSteam designs. For $19 and on American Apparel cotton, it's time to treat yourself to an early Thanksgiving present.

Purchase one today from here.

Cheers dion!

Wednesday Poll: Trade in your DROID for the Nexus S?

Kellen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:35:55 +0000

We all know that Samsung is announcing a new Android device on November 8th and are pretty sure it will be the Continuum, but we're still holding out hope that they will also include news of the Nexus S (Nexus Two?). This is the phone that will replace the Nexus One as Google's developer phone, should include a front facing camera, could run Android 2.3 first, and sport slightly better specs than the rest of the Galaxy S line of smartphones. It should be one heck of a device. What we want to know though, is if you would be willing to ditch the "DROID" brand for this new beast should it land on Verizon? I know the Fascinate received some pretty mixed reviews from our readers, so we're expecting some good opinions on this one as well. [poll id="24"]

Fruit Ninja Arcade Mode for Android Coming in November?

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:41:12 +0000

Fruit Ninja arcade mode! You know what we're talking about, that damn black banana with the question mark on it! According to HalfBrick (Fruit Ninja creator), the new arcade mode will become available to the i*ad and i*hone in November, which you can see in their promo video below. (Yes, they actually released a promo video for an update to a mobile game.) As far as Android goes, we can only speculate, but rumors suggest it will follow the enemy versions some time by the end of this month. Fingers crossed? Notes from Halfbrick:

After 6 months and over 2.5 million sales worldwide, Fruit Ninja is still receiving frequent, high quality free updates! Today Halfbrick is pleased to announce the biggest and most anticipated update to Fruit Ninja ever! Announcing Arcade Mode, the most intense and exciting addition to Fruit Ninja yet! It will add so much more to the value and satisfaction of Fruit Ninja, while still keeping the simplicity and ease of play as top priority! Players have 60 seconds on the clock to achieve the highest score possible, but this isn't just any boring 60 seconds. We've added some serious power in the form of bonus colored bananas which will fly on screen. Slice one of those and get ready for action! Double Points -- This banana will award you double points for a short period of time. Criticals and combos count too, so rack up those fruit for some massive scores! Frenzy -- If you're not content with the amount of fruit on screen, the Frenzy banana will take care of that. A mammoth amount of fruit will begin flying in, but you have to stay focused to slice it all! Freeze -- The entire screen will slow down, allowing for maximum accuracy and combo potential! Best of all, these bananas can be stacked! How about activating a Freeze, Frenzy and Double Points bonus all at once? Arcade Mode represents a new chapter in the Fruit Ninja legacy, and Halfbrick couldn't be prouder!

Awesome promo video:

Via: Droid Gamers

DROID X Makes “How I Met Your Mother” Appearance

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:17:50 +0000

You can't go 5 minutes anymore without seeing the Droid X in either a commercial, TV show or other big screen showcase and that trend continued last night when our favorite family member showed up in an episode of CBS's "How I Met Your Mother." Since I missed the episode, I'm not going to give you a play-by-play of the action and will instead leave you searching your DVR for the fun. Keep sending these in everyone! Cheers Brian!

Samsung Continuum vs. DROID X, DROID 2, Incredible, Fascinate

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:44:53 +0000

We just posted the "Top Things to Know" for the Samsung Continuum over at Android Life, but we also have this sheet which shows how the device compares to the rest of Verizon's lineup of top Android phones including the entire Droid family. Wondered how its "Ticker" matches up against the Droid X, D2, or Incredible? What about the Fascinate? Here you go. Update: We've just posted a comparison sheet to the rest of the Galaxy S lineup over at Android Life. Cheers money!

SuperOneClick Still Roots DROID 2, Even on Version 2.3.20

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:53:00 +0000

We told you about SuperOneClick a couple of weeks ago as a great source for easy rooting if you are incapable of installing the Android SDK and running a couple of adb commands. (Cheap shot!) The app has evolved a lot since then, is now on version 1.3.5, and even roots the Droid 2 running the latest 2.3.20 update. I just ran it myself, used some root-only apps, rebooted the phone a couple of times and still have access. Enjoy!

*This should also work on the Droid X.

Download: SuperOneClock1.3.5.zip Instructions:

*There is always some risk involved when rooting your device. You assume all risk.

1. Download the file from above and extract into a folder on your computer. 2. Plug your phone into your computer via USB and turn on USB Debugging. 3. Open the folder with the SuperOneClick files and find SuperOneClick.exe and open it. 4. Allow the process to run and when it finishes, you will be rooted. 5. Now click the donate button in the app to support the dev.

Full support thread and donate link at XDA Forums.

Ask Dr. Root: Themed App Upgrade Problems, Home Screen Re-Draws

MrPicolas — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:20:45 +0000

Dr. Root, I am running a custom ROM and can't upgrade my apps in the market. What gives?

Here's the deal, all custom ROMs are different and when they are put together some of the apps you want to upgrade are not able to be upgraded because they are pre-installed with the ROM as a system app. This is done for a couple reasons. One reason is for theming purposes, and by doing this it prevents the themed app from being overwritten. This is a good and a bad thing; good because it keeps your app themed and bad because if you want to update to a newer version you have to wait for the themer or ROM developer to update. The second reason is performance. By tweaking the app and leaving it in the system/app folder it can be .zip aligned leaving it optimized for the ROM. Now fear not, if you want to update anyway you are not out of luck, but it will take you a few minutes depending on what you need to update.

(Important) Please read the following: 3rd party themed apps that are not in system/app folder will update as usual and you will lose the themeing of that app. I know that sounds like a pain, but there is a quick fix in case this happens to you. A simple uninstall of the update through the market should revert you to your themed app. To keep this from happening again make sure to uncheck the auto update box for your app.

Here are the steps to update pre-installed apps that will not update:

*For rooted phones only *Droid life is not responsible for damages,acts of god and loss of spouses due to messing with your phone.

1. You need a file manager that gives you read write access to the system/app folder. Root Explorer is a great choice for this. 2. You need to locate the app you want to update in system/app. Once you find it you need to enable R/W (read-write) in Root Explorer. It is set at R/O (read-only) by default and by doing this, it will let you delete or move the app from your system folder. I suggest moving it out from system/app and onto somewhere safe like your SD card. You can also just rename the app to end with .bak if you don't want to move it. 3. Now head out to the market and find the app you wanted to update, install like normal and enjoy your newly updated app.

Dr. Root. I am having home screen re-draws (refreshes) on my rooted orignal Droid and am not sure what to do. Please help!

*The following is for a rooted original Droid only.

It seems that some phones experience this more than others and for no particular rhyme or reason. This has been attributed to the smaller amount of RAM in the original Droid, however there is a fix for it which virtually eliminates the re-draw issue. From time to time when I am not running after my 1 1/2 year old daughter I check out the Google for little tips and tricks and ran across this... Hint for developer phones: "One limitation has been noticed on Android developer phones (ADP1). Due to limited memory home screen often takes several seconds to load. Luckily these phones allow root access. Issue the command "echo ro.HOME_APP_ADJ=1 >/data/local.prop" and reboot, to lock home screen in memory." Now yes I know we don't have developer phones, but take this into consideration. We have a phone with an unlocked boot-loader running stock Android, so really it can be considered a developer phone. The following command can be entered into Terminal Emulator which can be found on the market.

*MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP FIRST

In your terminal application on your phone (if you have to ask what this is, Google it, download it from the market): su (enter) echo ro.HOME_APP_ADJ=1 >> /data/local.prop (enter) reboot (enter) If you want to undo what this command does, simply remove that toggle from: /data/local.prop, or if you did not have this file (like I did not) prior to the mod...remove it entirely. If you entered this correctly you should see through the day that the redraw issues have disappeared and the homescreen is actually there when you come out of a memory intensive app. Dr. Root (MrPicolas)

Cup of Morning Android: First LG enV Pro Pics, New OpenFeint Games, Lookout Premium

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:35:56 +0000

A bunch of news happening over at Android Life this morning including the first shots of the LG enV Pro from its user guide, some new gaming news from OpenFeint, Lookout premium released and the Galaxy Tab was cheap to manufacture. Your quick cup below:

LG EnV Pro User Guide Pictures Reveal Device And Specs
OpenFeint Announces 11 More Games Released For Android, Releases V1.1
Lookout Premium Now Available For Android, Keeps Your Phone (And You) Safer
Samsung Galaxy Tab materials only $205?

Back in the afternoon with more Android snackies...

8Pen Keyboard Available in the Market

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:00:44 +0000

Remember 8Pen, the really interesting keyboard replacement we wrote about yesterday? Well it's now available in the market for right around $1.58. I had a chance to test out 8Pen yesterday and planned on doing a video to give you guys an idea of what to expect, but for certain reasons did not. Would you all like to see it in action before buying? It's definitely an acquired taste to say the least.

Download Link

Cheers Josh and Donnie!

DROID Incredible Update Source Code Released

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:47:45 +0000

For those that are into digging through packages of code, then you have a full day of fun ahead of you as HTC has released the source code for the Desire Z, G2 (our review) and the most recent update for the Droid Incredible. The Droid X 2.2 source came out just a few days ago, so that pretty much catches us up as far as the Droid franchise is concerned. Fun. Source: HTC Developer Center Via: Android Central Cheers Picolas!

DROID 2 Update Finally Rolling Out to Everyone

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:02:41 +0000

After almost a week of waiting, Droid 2 owners who were not in the initial batch for the 2.3.20 update can now head to their Settings>About>System Updates page and pull it. The shot above is from my D2 and the update popped up immediately for download. Have fun! Don't forget to grab the 2.3.20 SBF file if you are into all that rooting trickery.

New Commercial: Snowman Robot Shows off DROID 2 and DROID X

Kellen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:45:55 +0000

The latest Droid 2 and Droid X commercial launched tonight and seems to have already found some face air time during the World Series of all things. I don't know what it is about this spot, but I'm lovin' it. A snowman robot working some Droid action? How can you beat that? Cheers Gene and Brandon!

Hot in Android: Motorola Citrus for $30 and Android on Half of Smartphones

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:50:03 +0000

Today was a pretty big day for us with the launch of our new Android site, but I've got to admit that the news in general was just as hot. We saw a bunch of slip-ups on Verizon's site leading us into a bunch of goodies for the Droid franchise and some other Android devices like the Continuum and Citrus. We also got some good news on the growth of Android and found a way to have multiple profiles on Angry Birds. Today's Top Stories from Android Life:

Motorola Citrus $30 & Droid Incredible $100 In Upcoming Verizon Promotion
Almost Half Of All Smartphones Shipped In Q3 2010 Ran Android
Angry Aviary Enables Angry Birds Profiles
T-Mobile Galaxy Tab Available For Preorder At Amazon For $699
ViewSonic ViewPad Officially Announced, 7in & 10.1in Models
Samsung Continuum Appears On Verizon “Holiday Gift Ideas” Page
Samsung Continuum To Be Released On November 11th
Sprint Adds 4G Coverage To NYC, Hartford, New Haven, New Brunswick, Trenton And Tampa
Stream Video Games From Your Computer To Google TV

To get all of the latest Android news, subscribe to the Android Life feed!

DROID 2 Global Appears on Verizon's "Holiday Gift Ideas" Page

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:19:26 +0000

It's time for Verizon to just announce this phone already. We just brought you a Droid 2 Global spec sheet showing color options and a comparison to the rest of the family, the price of the original Droid 2 dropped, and now we have this. The "Holiday Gift Ideas" page from Big Red showing as plain as day, that the D2 Global is ready for release. Oh and the Samsung Continuum also made an appearance. Press release coming tomorrow morning? Tuesdays are always good days for big news, right? Cheers Mike!

Exclusive: DROID 2 Global Comparison Sheet , Launching in "Dark Sapphire" and "Winter White"

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:32:55 +0000

The Droid 2 Global will ship in both blue and white, just like we suspected it would last week when we saw two different SKUs pop up for the device that still has not been announced by Verizon. And actually, the specific color names are "Dark Sapphire" and "Winter White" which should both look familiar. The original Droid 2 already comes in "Dark Sapphire" and we've seen "Winter White" on devices like the Motorola CLIQ. Remember that the D2 Global is a global-roaming-business-friendly machine meaning Motorola has packed in some additional features we haven't seen on other "DROID" branded phones other than the Droid Pro. New exclusive features:

Remote wipe of device and SD card
Document editing with QuickOffice
Inbox filtering
Invite attendees to meetings using GAL
Ability to juggle multiple schedules (free/busy lookups)

Some of the other stats listed on this official sheet are as follows:

1.2GHz processor (same one we had photos of)
Dark Sapphire and Winter White color options
5MP camera with dual LED flash
Dual band CDMA and Quad band GSM
Physical keyboard plus Swype
8GB internal memory plus 8GB pre-installed SD card
Android 2.2
3 profiles to switch between (sort of like Sense UI themes)
3G hotspot
Flash 10.1

To see the first pictures of the D2 Global in "Winter White", check out our gallery. I know the rest of the world said black, but it looks like blue after all. Disappointed? Black would have been nice right? Cheers money!

Introducing Android Life, Our General News Site for the Android Enthusiast

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:50:42 +0000

We have a special announcement to make today, and one that has us really, really, really, excited! The Droid Life brand is growing by the day and with the increasing number of Android enthusiasts reading our site who seem to want more of what we're cooking, we realized it was time to expand. Please said hello to...

Android Life: An Android Community Blog

)

Android Life will run in the exact same fashion that you've become accustomed to here at DL, only with a general Android feel to it. Droid Life has always been the home of the "DROID" franchise and we want to keep it that way, but we also have a great feel for our readers and know they want more. Android as we all know is blowing up and we've been itching to cover it for quite some time. Rather than integrate it into the successful system we have here at DL, it just made sense to give it it's own area of fun to thrive in. The Voice... The site will be run by our newest team member, Scott Young. Scott is a major voice in the Android world and one with a ton of blogging experience on the subject that we all love so much. He'll head up this new endeavor, continuing on the same style of coverage we have here at DL. It'll be awesome. Everyone say "Hi" to Mr. Young. The Experience...

1. To keep up with the new site, be sure to subscribe to the new RSS feed here. 2. Both the Android Life and Droid Life Twitter and Facebook streams will be combined into one, but to keep everything separate for those not wanting both, we'll be doing something simple with hashtags. For news coming from AL you'll see #android attached and news coming from DL you'll see #droid attached. Easy enough? 3. More site integration between the sites will come over time, so stay tuned. 4. And how about that logo? Is that hot or what? Cheers @wadeivy!

Some of you may have noticed the tweets redirecting to AL over the last few days and we really appreciate the positive support we've had without having made this official. Well now it's official and we welcome everyone in to our new journey. We wouldn't be able to do this without all of you and want to thank you for that. Enjoy everyone! Let us know what you think!

DROID Incredible Prices Also Slashed to $149, Incredible HD is Real?

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:14:58 +0000

We were so excited to see that the price of the Droid 2 had dropped that we skipped right by the Droid Incredible. It appears to have also dropped today to $149 after mail-in-rebate, which should have you asking right away, "Incredible HD might actually be real?" The phone is rumored to be dropping on the 23rd, but we have yet to see any actual proof of that. In fact, every source I've talked to has never heard of the device, but said that if it does come out, it definitely won't be a "DROID." I guess we'll know in 23 days? The original Incredible on the other hand is a classic phone in my opinion. There are few phones that compare to the feel, look and quality of this device to this day. I know that many of you have this hatred of HTC, but the device is still one of my favorite devices of all time. Plus, HTC leaves their phones fairly open in comparison to those that Motorola keeps pumping out. Hard to hate on that. Thoughts on the Incredible seeing the end of its shipping-delayed life?

PowerAMP Now Available in the Android Market

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:40:22 +0000

PowerAMP, the new music player that over 10,000 of you downloaded from us over the weekend, has landed on the Android market. The app is apparently still semi-beta, but a lot of the major bugs you were dealing with have been ironed out. What's even better, is that you can get updates now without having to bug us. (Kidding!)

Download Link

Via: Phandroid

DROID 2 Price Dropped to $149, End is Near

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:20:14 +0000

Verizon just launched a new holiday campaign for their Droid brand of phones and one thing in particular jumped out at us, the price of the Droid 2. As you can see above and below, it no longer lists for $199 after rebate and instead can be had for $149. Remember when the original Droid saw its first price drop down to $149? Remember that the price adjustment signaled the release of the Droid X weeks later?

We already know that it has been discontinued from Best Buy so this seems like a logical step from Big Red. Droid 2 Global, come to us. If only they could bring us a bigger screen on top of that 1.2GHz goodness...

Bug in iOS Fails to Recognize Daylight Savings in Europe, Android Users Chuckle

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:23:26 +0000

We couldn't help but mention this story. According to THOUSANDS of reports across Europe today, there appears to be a major bug in iOS that can't understand Daylight Savings time and left thousands of i*hone owners an hour late to work today if they were using the stock alarm app. And to make matters worse, U.S. owners are reporting that their phones were waking them up an hour earlier than normal when we all know that our day doesn't come until the 7th. Of course, no Android related alarm clock delays have been announced. Oh and this tweet in preparation for Steve J*bs' response is perfect...

@diveintomark: THE IPHONE ALARM CLOCK IS FINE. YOU'RE JUST SLEEPING WRONG.

And back to your regularly scheduled programming. Via: CNN Cheers Mathees!

Introducing 8Pen, A Keyboard Looking to Change the Game

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:59:16 +0000

Yep, that shot above is of 8Pen, a new Android keyboard with a brave idea on how to change the way we type using our mobile devices and their small screens. This new keyboard asks that you select letters by moving your finger into a certain quadrant and then rotating it around clockwise or counterclockwise until you find your desired result. I know that makes zero sense, but when you see the video I'm sure that you'll totally get it. Totes McGoats. Update: We just heard back from 8Pen and it will be available tomorrow...

We posted it earlier today, it will be available tomorrow (11/2), roughly around noon European time.

Our thoughts? We'll see tomorrow when we finally get to test this bad boy out, but the overall idea of it is intriguing.

Cheers windexh8er!

Video: DROID X Makes Stoli Appearance

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:23:32 +0000

Is there a better way to kick off a Monday morning than with a Droid X making an appearance in a Stoli commercial? While we've seen some random commercials before, like the Robitussin one, this Stoli spot just feels odd. See for yourself after the jump.

Cheers Michael!

DROID 2 Global Confirmed to Have 2 Color Options

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:15:29 +0000

A new screenshot snuck onto the internet this weekend showing those 2 versions of the Droid 2 Global that were rumored late last week, only this time specially listing out color options. While some sites were quick to jump on the "camera and no camera" theory, we were pretty sure the two different SKUs really meant color variations and sure enough, that appears to be the case. Costco's inventory system is showing D2 Globals coming in "BL" or "WH" which we have a feeling means blue or white, but it could also mean black. The blue just makes sense since the original D2 had that color scheme and wouldn't require much of a manufacturing change for Motorola. With the original D2 now discontinued and a couple of color choices for its follow-up, anyone ready to pick one up? Via: BGR

DROID 2 SBF Released for 2.3.20 Update

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:45:52 +0000

To anyone with a Droid 2 who also loves to root, custom ROM, theme or overclock their phone, please download the latest 2.2 SBF file which will save your bum should you run into any issue while running the new update to version 2.3.20. We warned you last week not to mess with your phone too much should you have received the update, but now you are officially safe. Download from this MDW thread.

DROID2 Global VZ Navigator Available in the Market Now

Kellen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:15:57 +0000

We dropped November 11th on you a while ago as a release date for the Droid 2 Global, and it looks like we just took a step closer with an appearance of its VZ Navigator app on the Android market. With the original Droid 2 now hitting "discontinued" status from a variety of retailers, it should only be a matter of days before Verizon makes this global version official. Cheers Timothy!

Download: PowerAmp, the New King of Music Players

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:13:55 +0000

A lot of music player talk lately has been about Winamp when it should have been about this app called PowerAMP. From what I can tell it has been out for almost a week now and should be on everyone's short list of apps to try this Halloween weekend. I sat down with it for just a couple of minutes and tweaked enough settings on one track to feel like a true mixmaster. Download: PowerAMP1.0.113.apk (New version! Cheers Jason!) Some of the Features:

-MP3, MP4/M4A,loseless ALAC,FLAC, OGG, WAV, TTA, WMA -Has own codecs -Widget -Choose music from SD card -Tegs, lyrics -Skins, 2 in beta version -Fast scan of files ( in 1 second 1000files, depends on phone speed) -EQ

For a full walk-through and a good laugh, check out the video below.

Via: XDA Forums Cheers Jason!

DROID 2 Discontinued at Best Buy, Global Brother Prepares to Move In

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:53:21 +0000

You had to figure this news was coming either this week or next week as we await the launching of the Droid 2 Global November 11th, but it's still sort of sad. According to Best Buy, the phone has already been removed from many store displays and their inventory systems have flagged it as "Discontinued." The original Droid 2 was the follow-up to arguably the greatest Android phone ever and just never really stood a chance. The Droid X launched weeks before it, specs leaked out showing only slight improvements, and then the global version with a higher clocked processor started prancing around in the wild showing off a shiny new white exterior. It seems like just yesterday that we brought you the first shots of the Droid 2, and now it's already gone. Poor out some OJ for one of our brothers this Halloween weekend. Cheers money!

Verizon's Rebate System Shows Two DROID 2 Globals, White and Blue Options?

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:00:33 +0000

Two versions of the Droid 2 Global headed to Big Red on November 11th? That's what Verizon's rebate system says which leads us to believe it will launch with both white and blue versions. Not everyone is a fan of white phones, so giving them an option for the blue look of the original D2 is a smart idea. Of course this could also mean that a camera-less D2 Global is on the way to sit alongside the Droid Pro. I guess we'll know in 2 weeks. Via: Engadget

Custom 'OG' DROID Theme Friday: Liquid Frozen Yogurt 1.8

Tim — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:36:06 +0000

Halloween is upon us my friends...so let's party down! This is the newest release of Liquid Frozen Yogurt by the Liquid Team (Liquid, Liquidzgrl, and Slayher). Black and orange - The only way to roll this weekend! You know why? SF GIANTS COLORS BABY! Woot woot! (And Halloween of course.) Continue you on for full directions...

OG Droid1 Need Only Apply

This is the official release candidate provided by Liquid to Droid-Life... 1. Download this bad-boy right HERE 2. Place ROM file on root of your lil' SD Card. 3. Boot up ROM Manager and select "Install ROM SD Card" 4. Locate the ROM - Wipe Data Cache - Make backup please! 5. Enjoy the orange Halloween goodness! So who in here is gonna get candy crazy this weekend? I know I am! I'll see you all on the streets! Have a great safe weekend. I wanna thank Liquid for providing all this hard work for me to distribute. Feel free to support him; let's show all these Devs some much deserved love! As always, please check out the comment section if you have any issues. Hit up our IRC Support Channel, or go check out the Liquid Channel (##liquid) for first hand help from the dev. Awesome? Yes, indeed! -Tim-o-tato Check out previous Custom Theme Fridays by yours truly. Visit the Liquid Web Page [gallery]

CyanogenMod 6.1.0 RC Released for Original DROID

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:08:12 +0000

The new CyanogenMod 6.1 RC1 has been released for a few phones, but most notably, the original Droid. For those of us still milking every last drop of awesomeness from this device, you'll be excited to see what's in store for this latest version of CM. It now includes the Galaxy S style power widget in the notification bar plus a ton of customized camera additions. Remember that this is still in "release candidate" stage and is not at all final. Test away! Instructions:

*Original DROID ONLY.

1. You have to be rooted. (Instructions) 2. You have to have ROM Manager installed. 3. Open ROM Manager, choose "Download ROM" and "CyanogenMod." 4. Tap on CyanogenMod 6.1 RC1. 5. Check the option to include Google Apps. 6. Once it finishes downloading, check both boxes to create a backup and wipe data and cache.

*If coming from another version of CyanogenMod you may be able to skip wiping data.

7. Your phone will reboot and install the new CyanogenMod! Enjoy! View the full changelog here.

Visit CyanogenMod and donate here.

[gallery link="file" orderby="title"]

Video: Banned White iPhone 4 Promo

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:48:46 +0000

We couldn't help ourselves with this one. The creator of the "banned" Apple products series has come back with a new rendition featuring the hot topic of the enemy world, the white i*hone 4. These videos are classics and I'm telling you that almost any Android lover will get at least a few chuckles from this one and it also helps that the guy behind this awesomeness reads our site on a daily basis. It makes our list today because of the Droid 2 mention at the 2:20 mark. It apparently "does"...

Cheers John! Keep up the great work!

Bought the DROID X Powermat? Struggling with the Battery Door?

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:40:07 +0000

The Powermat for the Droid X came out this week and already seems to be getting some bad press. A couple of our readers were quick to run out and grab one once they heard it was available and came back with some not-so-exciting remarks. Brian actually went through 2 different, brand new, Powermats and even with the help of the Best Buy Mobile rep, could not get the battery cover to stick. Normally I would just roll my eyes at Brian (cheap shot!), but then we received the video below from reader Kane who demonstrates the awkwardness of the cover. You can see in his video that the battery door not only has a weird nub hanging off the side, but also refuses to stay completely closed. Unfortunate.

Anyone else cruise out and pick one up? Any luck? Cheers Kane and Brian!

Download: TypoWeather, the TypoClock Companion and Minimalist Marauder

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:15:13 +0000

As you know by now, we're pretty big into simple themes without a lot of clutter. In fact, we've heard from many of you that think we go a little too simple sometimes, and that's fine. Too each his own right? Well we're adding to our minimalist obsession today with a new clock to match your Clockr and TypoClock apps. Please welcome in TypoWeather, brought to you by XDA member kemonozume. Download: weatherwidget1.0.2.apk Instructions: 1. Download the apk to your phone. 2. When it finishes downloading, tap on it and click "Install." 3. When it finishes, find an open space on a home screen and add a widget. 4. You'll find it listed as "TypoWeather." 5. Enjoy! Via: XDA Forums Cheers Endi!

DROID Pro Without a Camera on the Way?

Kellen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 06:30:17 +0000

A new screenshot has arrived showing off what appears to be training for the new Droid Pro, only this version will not have a camera. Camera-less phones are normally meant for high security or anal business owner situations, which means Motorola is taking this new business-friendly approach very seriously. As we already know, the DP is a Blackberry-styled phone with a candy bar form which includes some additional security features to entice a clientele that has, to this point avoided the Moto-way. Global Moto takeover, anyone? Via: Engadget

DROID 2 Joining Incredible in the FREE Category Tomorrow at Best Buy

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:43:40 +0000

We received a tip earlier that the Droid 2 would be joining the Incredible tomorrow in Best Buy's "Free Phone Friday" promo, but wanted to show you the official proof. While it won't be announced with the October promo, just know that you can still walk in and grab one for free. They should have just called it "DROID Phone Friday" and taken over the world. Crank up the Incredible HD and Droid 2 Global rumors! Cheers money!

Updated Your DROID 2? DO NOT USE THE CURRENT SBF! (Updated)

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:33:14 +0000

If you received the latest Droid 2 update, you need to understand one thing: there is NOT an SBF file in the wild yet that will revive your phone should you do something major to it. What we're saying is, the same issue Droid X users ran into is alive and well with this new D2 build. Basically we are going to need an SBF file each time these Blur phones are updated.

Again, if you updated your Droid 2 to build 2.3.20, DO NOT USE THE CURRENT SBF FILE that's available. It will essentially "brick" your phone.

Update: Sorry if I wasn't specific enough at first, was trying to just get this out to the masses as the update is becoming more and more available. An SBF file is basically the file used by VZW techs to wipe your phone completely and reinstall a clean OS. There is a Droid 2 2.2 SBF floating around in the wild right now, but if you update your phone with the new update, this SBF will not work and if you try to use it, could end up with a bricked phone. This only affects ROOTED USERS as they are the ones tinkering with their phones. For the average user, ignore this post. Stay tuned for more... Via: MyDroidWorld

Verizon Giving Away HTC Merge at Urban Challenge in Seattle?

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:39:59 +0000

Verizon is running its Urban Challenge this weekend up in Seattle and plans to give away a few HTC devices to 3 sets of winners. Which one exactly? Possibly the Droid Incredible? Well according to the picture on their main page it's the DI, but if you take a quick look at the "About" page for the challenge you'll see a much more surprising name. Six HTC Merge (aka Lexikon) devices are up for grabs! And yes we know, both HTC and Verizon have yet to announce this device, so we're as surprised as you are. They may still have some spots available in the contest, so jump on it if you want to have a brand new, and unannounced HTC device.

And if any of our readers are in the area, feel free to snap some shots as they'll likely have the phones on display. Source: Verizon Global Challenge Via: Android Central

DROID Incredible Offered Tomorrow for Best Buy's Free Phone Friday Promo (Update)

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:03:48 +0000

Best Buy has announced its final set of "Free Phone Friday" devices and one of our family members is featured. The Droid Incredible, arguably the best Droid phone on the planet, will be available for free at BB stores as long as you sign up for a contract extension or add a new line. How exciting is that? On the heels of the Samsung Fascinate (our review), I hope you all haven't already locked yourselves into to new contracts! Update: We've just received word that the Droid 2 will also be included, but not announced. Two Droid options! Win. The Samsung Vibrant is also featured as a second Android device.

Anyone gassing up the ol' rig for tomorrow's Best Buy trip? Via: Best Buy Facebook

Thursday Poll: Anyone Receive the DROID 2 Update?

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:52:55 +0000

The Droid 2 update that snuck into the news last night seems to be available for only a select number of devices. Now, I know that Motorola has limited the number, but with Blur we are all supposed to be able to "pull" updates once they hit Blur servers. That doesn't appear to be the case today as my D2 along with many others, have yet to receive the update. How many of our Droid 2 owners have been able to update?

To check for updates go to: Menu>Settings>About phone>System updates.

[poll id="23"]

Another Flash 10.1 Security Advisory Issued, Update Coming on November 9th

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:59:38 +0000

Another security advisory has been issued for Adobe's Flash 10.1, along with its Reader and Acrobat programs. There has been a vulnerability discovered in Reader and Acrobat that is being "actively" exploited. Luckily for us, there have not been any reports of attacks through Flash, so you have no reason to freak out immediately. Adobe plans to release a update for Flash on Android November 9th to fix the exploit. This isn't the first time we have seen one of these advisories and we're guessing it won't be the last. At least they are as proactive as they can be with these announcements, right? Welcome to the unfortunate world of internet hackory. Source: Adobe Via: PCMag

Google Maps Updated to Version 4.6.0

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:42:50 +0000

Google Maps received a nice update today which includes enhancements to Place pages and Google Latitude, but also allows you to filter search results. While nothing incredibly major, these are the polishings we like to see on a regular basis. (Wow that sounded dirty.)

Place page reviews Now, you’ll see that Place pages on Android Maps share the same new design for displaying reviews as used by Place pages on your computer. You can see:

“Reviews from around the web” for highlighting sites that have high-quality reviews about the place.

“Reviews from Google users” for reviews posted directly to Google Maps by other users

Filter search results Of course, you’ll first need to narrow down which Place page reviews to check out. In addition to distance and ratings, you can also filter results for some searches by:

Open now

Neighborhood

Related searches

Google Latitude real-time updating In Latitude, you can also choose an experimental “Real-time updating” option from an individual Latitude friend’s profile page to help meet up with them by temporarily seeing faster location updates (friends must have Maps 4.6 and Android 2.2+).

The market on my set of phones is in full-on spazz-out mode and won't download anything. Let me know if you can get anything to download, and enjoy it! Via: Google Mobile Blog Cheers Nathan!

Samsung Nexus Two Announced on the 8th or Not? Maybe Just Continuum?

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:07:15 +0000

There are blog battles going on right now over the thought of Samsung announcing the Nexus Two (or Nexus S?) on November 8th and we wanted to fill you in, plus get your opinion on the situation. Is this announcement really going down or not? Will it just be the Continuum? We're still leaning towards it happening, and it really just comes down to a battle of sources.

AndroidSpin and the Droid Guy are sticking to the thought that it will just be the Continuum due to a number of hints including the press invite, the file name of the press invite, and their various sources.

Android and Me on the other hand is sticking to the idea that it will come after the Continuum announcement, which they believe to be somewhat of a front. They are going strictly on their sources and a variety of hints including the timing of the Gingerbread statue unveiling and their analytics data.

What do we think? Well we know that 2.3 and even 3.0 have been popping up on our analytics as well leading us to believe that devices are preparing for an unveiling of sorts. We also have a hard time believing that the Samsung Continuum deserves an entire press event, especially since the phone is not all that ground breaking. It has the same specs as the rest of the Galaxy S line, but includes a new second mini-screen know as the "ticker." While this is something innovative, it's not press event-worthy. There has to be something bigger, and we're thinking it's the Nexus Two.

Join the battle! Nexus Two coming on the 8th or not? Via: Android and Me, AndroidSpin, Droid Guy

Dolphin Browser HD v4.0 Finally Released

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:03:34 +0000

The Dolphin Browser HD hopped up to version 4.0 and is available in the market for free. The screenshot above details some of the changes that were made to improve the overall experience in this top notch browser. You will find new settings and bookmarks shortcuts if you swipe from the left or right. Nice additions, indeed. They also tweaked some things in order to fix a few minor bugs:

Fix swipe action issue – side bar is too easy to slide out.

Fix drag down window issue – cannot click the links on the top of the page.

Bookmarks Folder Support

Multi-language Support ( 12 languages) & UI upgrade

Add Page Management feature to address bar.

Fix some tiny bugs which are supported by you.

Any big Dolphin fans in the audience? Via: Dolphin blog

T-Mobile HTC G2 Review

Tim — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:15:51 +0000

The HTC G1 (code name HTC "Dream") was the first Android phone on the market. It took the underground world by storm and has graced the hands of many as their first Android phone. Cyanogen, Koush, Obama, and maybe even Benjamin Franklin. So imagine a successor too this technological achievement. Basically anything short of a jetpack that makes calls would have been a disappointment, am I right? All jokes aside, I was really excited to go to the T-Mobile store and pick one up after hearing some good/bad things about it... After the poor marks it received from my astute colleague MrPicolas, I knew it was up to me to get to the bottom of why a phone which succeeds the first Green Monster phone could even remotely be considered disappointing. Pros:

Speed. If you aren't into overclocking and rooting, then this phone actually packs quite the punch. Running an underclocked Snapdragon at exactly 806 MHz, we can see this baby was built for speed.
Size. This phone feels good in my hand. Plain and simple. Even feels better when held up to my ear. It has some weight to it. Maybe due to the fact the snapped a real titanium plate on the back? Does it help with reception you ask? We'll get to that...
Software. It's finally a pure Vanilla OS! Please excuse my excitement, but that is what I got into Android for in the beginning. Something plain and simple that I myself could customize! Not some 3rd party to muddy up!
Battery Life. I was using this thing constantly. Couldn't stop playing with it. And at the end of the day it would be at 60%. To me, that is a huge factor. I need my phone to NOT die on me!

Unfortunately in this world you must take the Cons with the Pros. And these cons...are not flattering to an already tattered image. Cons:

T-Mobile. I could literally go on for 48 hours straight on this carrier and how "bad" it is. So please just allow me a paragraph (or two). Kellex and MrPicolas have both heard enough whining about being on Edge more than 75% of the time during the 2 week period I had the phone (in San Francisco). God forbid that you walk into a room with 4 walls and a roof that isn't a T-Mobile store. I myself have two offices and my home. Outside of these dwellings I have 3 bars out of 4 of the so called "4G". Oh, but wait! Step inside these mystic caves of black void and you get a huge "X" and "Searching for Service" on your homescreen.
Really?!? This is 2010! Almost 2011, and already we have a major carrier concerned with what phones they offer over call quality and coverage area for their subscribers. I was lucky enough to grab a statement from the Regional Manager of the San Francisco T-Mobile branch. "We're working on it and you should see a big difference within six months." Not necessarily words of encouragement...
Hardware. I am not going to touch to much on this issue since it has been touched on by almost every other major blog/review site out there. Those Hinges will be a falling point for sure!

So what exactly does this mean? Well, if you have T-Mobile and somehow possibly like and receive service, then by all means, pick it up! You won't be disappointed. If you were crazy enough to think about switching carriers for this piece of hardware....please don't. I implore you to make another choice... In a time where phones have front facing cameras, HDMI, and 3G everywhere you go (Verizon) - There is no reason for the general lack of "sweet stuff" with this phone. They really could of had a winner. Better luck next time! -Tim-o-tato Camera Shots: [gallery] Video Shots:

Comments or questions?

Jha: Motorola will "Continue to Invest in the Droid franchise"

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:51:54 +0000

In an earnings call today, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha told analysts that they plan to sell 5 million smartphones in the 4th quarter of this year through high-tier products which we can assume means the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global. There were also some questions surrounding an i*hone Verizon release coming in the near future and if that would change Moto's relationship with Big Red. Jha made sure everyone understood that they plan on pushing forward with the Droid brand, saying specifically that they will "continue to invest in the Droid franchise." He also mentioned that they would see some competitive pressure in early 2011 (meaning the i*hone), but that they would "cope with that in a good way." There was a quick mention of their tablet (Stingray) plans, but no time frame or specs were released. Everyone excited to hear that the Droid franchise will push forward into the next year? While I've already heard plenty of word to confirm this, it's nice to hear the CEO of the company say it publicly. Just know that Motorola has some special things planned for our favorite brand of Android phones in 2011 and you will not be disappointed. You can view their Q3 earnings statement here. Via: The Street

OnStar MyLink App Lands on Android Market

Kellen — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:00:50 +0000

We have all seen the commercials for OnStar's fancy new Android app by now and as of 20 hours ago, it went live in the market for your GM driving pleasure. The app allows any vehicle equipped with OnStar (currently Cadillac, Chevy, Buick, GMC) to access a variety of real-time data such as fuel level and oil life, and perform remote commands like unlocking their doors. For those of you already playing with the app, let us know how it is!

Download Link

Cheers Dale, Ray and Justin!