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All Posts by Victoria Ho

Google Play Services brings two great new APIs to the table: Photo Sphere viewing and vector-based maps

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 3 Dec 2012 11:41 pm
Android Central
Google Play services is now at version 2.0, and a couple of great new features are on board. First is an update to the Maps API for Android apps. Version 2 of the API now includes vector-based maps, with both 2D and 3D views, as well as tilt-rotate visuals. Google’s also added UI design elements that can be scaled up for tablets. Apps will also get to use Maps layers like satellite, hybrid,...

Chrome for Android updated

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 28 Nov 2012 7:04 pm
Android Central
Chrome for Android has been updated to fix some stability issues, says Google. This news comes on the back of Google’s announcement last week on their Google+ page that it will bring mobile Chrome version numbers up to speed with desktop versions by early next year. With desktop Chrome at version 23 right now and mobile Chrome at 18, we can expect releases to be streamlined eventually. For...

Beware: Fake Apple apps on Google Play

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 17 Nov 2012 6:15 pm
Android Central
There seems to be a crop of fake apps from “Apple Inc” on the Google Play store. The six apps are masquerading as Apple’s Garageband (erroneously called Garage Band on the faked version), iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers and Pages. They are priced similarly to the legit versions on the iOS store for the iPad and iPhone, so it only makes it seem more authentic. It seems some users have already...

Amazon opens Cloud Drive to Japanese users

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 15 Nov 2012 11:06 am
Android Central
Amazon this morning announced that its users in Japan now have access to its Cloud Drive service. The company is inviting users to store their files on the Amazon cloud and is dangling 5 gigabytes of space for free. Extra space of 20 gigabytes cost ¥800 per year, similar to the $10 charged in the U.S. The company first released a desktop app for cloud storage in May this year, and followed up...

AT&T giving $100 off on tablets

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 8 Nov 2012 6:26 pm
Android Central
  AT&T’s giving customers $100 off tablets purchased under a two-year data plan.   The offer starts tomorrow, Friday, and applies to devices bought online or at AT&T-owned and selected agent retail stores.   AT&T has three DataConnect plans: 250Mb for $15 3Gb for $30 5Gb for $50   It also charges $10 under its Mobile Share plan for customers to share...

Nyko releases PlayPad game controllers

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 6 Nov 2012 7:53 pm
Android Central
Gamers get set, Nyko’s PlayPad and PlayPad Pro controllers are now on sale in North America. Aimed at bringing console-style gaming to the increasingly powerful devices we have, the two PlayPad models hook up to Android devices via Bluetooth. Additionally, Nyko provides an app called Playground that allows keyboard, mouse and touch event mapping. The controllers require Android 3.0 and up...

Sony puts a spin on the concept of racing games

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 31 Oct 2012 4:48 pm
Android Central
The NFC marketing bandwagon is coming out in full force, and Sony’s latest campaign will pit users against each other in a racing game with real toy cars, as part of its "Xperia Face Off" promotion. The Japanese phone maker will outfit its latest Xperia T phones in little race cars and the idea is to race around an obstacle course filled with NFC devices. Players have two minutes to transfer...

AT&T and T-Mobile to share networks in hurricane aftermath

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 31 Oct 2012 4:01 pm
Android Central
AT&T and T-Mobile have struck up an agreement to share their networks in the New York and New Jersey area. They will enable roaming to mutual customers to share network capacity, so that those having trouble getting a cell signal may have a better chance. The carriers said that customers can carry on using their devices as per normal, with voice and data traffic going over whichever network...

Nook HD and HD+ start shipping this week

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 30 Oct 2012 5:22 pm
Android Central
Good news if you’ve pre-ordered the new Nooks. Barnes & Noble will start shipping the 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch HD+ tablets this week. The devices will also start arriving at the book retailer’s 700 stores in the US, and 15,000 other partner stores such as Target, Walmart and Best Buy. B&N’s CEO, William Lynch, has said that the company received a record number of pre-orders for the...

Diner Dash now available on Amazon's Kindle Fire

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 30 Oct 2012 7:10 am
Android Central
Mobile game Diner Dash has made its Android debut on the Amazon Kindle Fire. Bad news for fans without an Amazon tablet though, because the game appears to be exclusive to the Kindle Fire for now. Searching for it on the Amazon Appstore on a different Android device returns no results (although the results return plenty of similar games to be downloaded). The game may seem a little dated, but...

Soti Pocket Controller coming to Android

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 30 Oct 2012 6:56 am
Android Central
Soti is preparing to release its Pocket Controller Pro software for Android, in beta. The product allows you to view and control your device from your PC, as well as display your mobile device on your desktop so you can use it in presentation settings, for example. You can also sync files between PCs and mobiles, with a file explorer tool. The company has a longer list of features on its site....

Sprint releases push-to-talk app for Android

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 24 Oct 2012 1:27 pm
Android Central
Sprint has launched an Android app to allow push-to-talk on some phones. The Kyocera Rise budget phone will support it, as will the upcoming LG Optimus Elite, it said. Push-to-talk is a transmission method that turns your phone into a walkie-talkie, of sorts. The type that only allows communication one-way at a time, so like an air traffic controller, you’ll have to say “over” after each...

Samsung TecTile app bumped to version 3.0

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 24 Oct 2012 12:15 pm
Android Central
Samsung has updated its TecTile app to add more features like batch actions and the ability to set tags to private. The mobile app is meant to program Samsung TecTile NFC hardware tags that can be used to automate tasks. Users can tap their phones on tags to perform common tasks. You can launch a running app and the music app before a workout, for example, or tap one by the bedside to mute the...

Google Wallet site hints at possible multi-platform future

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 22 Oct 2012 1:35 pm
Android Central
Google’s teasing a new version of its Google Wallet over on the official site, and what's interesting is it might finally be rolling out to non-Android devices. Upon requesting an invite on the site, you're prompted as to whether you’re using an Android, iOS or “other” device. Can we expect Google Wallet to become more ubiquitous, or perhaps see it in a version for iPhones, BlackBerry devices or...

LG Lucid gets ICS upgrade starting Friday

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 18 Oct 2012 3:51 pm
Android Central
The LG Lucid is finally getting upgraded to Android 4.0. Verizon will start pushing the OS upgrade to users in phases, starting tomorrow. If you’re impatient, you can trigger the download from your computer, according to Verizon. The mid-range device sports a 4-inch screen (just WVGA resolution only, however) and is powered by a 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor. Its main plus is being able to support...

Swype Beta 1.3 released, brings dictionary backup, 'hotwords' and more

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 18 Oct 2012 1:13 pm
Android Central
The latest beta of the Swype keyboard is out, and available to download from the Swype Beta website. The popular third-party keyboard from Nuance Communications packs a number of new updates. Dictionary backup & sync: Users’ personal dictionaries and word additions can be synced across mobile devices. Three new tablet keyboard layouts: The original, a small and moveable one, and a...

Apple loses appeal in UK High Court, must take out ads saying Samsung isn't a copycat

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 18 Oct 2012 1:04 pm
Android Central
Apple has lost its appeal against a UK ruling in its long-running suit against Samsung, and will have to wear a little egg on its face for a while — a month, to be specific. Back in July, the British High Court ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab devices were not infringing Apple’s design patents, in part because Samsung’s devices were not as “cool”. Thanks to this backhanded compliment of sorts,...

Phones 4u selling brown Samsung Galaxy S3 in the UK

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 17 Oct 2012 3:48 pm
Android Central
UK phone retailer Phones 4u has started to carry the Samsung Galaxy S3 in amber brown. It will sell the brown version alongside the stock “marble white” and “pebble blue” versions, but the brown is a web-exclusive, it says. Phones 4u’s S3 is the international quad-core Exynos version, with 16Gb of internal memory. Consumers can get the device for about £49 with a £26-per-month, 2-year contract...

Reminder: Google prepaid card ends today

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Posted by Victoria Ho on 17 Oct 2012 12:13 pm
Android Central
We’ve just reached the final expiration date of the Google Wallet prepaid card. Google announced the end of its early payment experiment just last month, and has started phasing out the card today, as promised. It set a relatively near cut-off date of Sept. 17 where people would not be able to add funds to their cards, so that service has been unavailable for a full month already. The card...

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