Remains of the Day: Spotting Android Scams and Malware
A look at how to weed out crapware in the Android Market, losing the ugly stickers on laptops, and Spotify joins the Sonos ranks.
- How To Spot Scams and Malware Apps on Android
Be smart about checking your Android apps to prevent malware or scams from appearing on your phone. [Tested] - Spotify and Sonos bring music home
For those that have it, your Spotify account is now accessible from Sonos players. [Spotify Blog] - Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung announced the release of their Galaxy Tablet with 7-inch screen, running Froyo 2.2, front and rear facing cameras for release in Europe this month and in the US in “coming months”. [Uncrate] - Steve Jobs on Why Facebook Is Not Part of Apple’s New Ping Music Social Network: “Onerous Terms”
A few people may have seen Facebook Connect pop up in Ping for iTunes, however, Apple is saying Facebook will not be integrated due to “onerous” terms. [All Things D]
Exclusive: First Official Pictures T-Mobile G2
We did it again, same as we were the first ones of obtaining the official pictures of the Samsung Vibrant, now we give you the first official pictures of the T-Mobile G2. As you know the T-Mobile G2 is going to be the first HSPA+ phone running speeds up to 11mbps. We believe the G2 will only come in one color.. silver, a completely different way when T-MO launched the Slide 3G or G1.
The T-Mobile G2 will feature:
- Android OS w/ HTC Sense
- 3.7″ Active Matrix OLED display
- 1 GHz Snapdragon Processor
- Landscape slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- 5MP camera with autofocus.
- 3G HSPA+
- WiFi + Hotspot capabilities
- aGPS
- Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate
Stay tuned for more information about this phone
WiFi File Explorer Manages Your Android SD Card from a Web Browser
Android only: Missing your USB cord, or just too lazy to grab it? WiFi File Explorer turns your Android SD card into a small web server, so you can transfer files, stream media, and otherwise control your content across a Wi-Fi network.
The app’s setup couldn’t be more simple. Connect your Android to your home Wi-Fi network, then start the app. You’ll get a popup box with the exact address you should point another browser on the same Wi-Fi network toward. The app can run in the background when you press the Home key, or shut down when you hit Back or exit the app manually. The web file manager is spare but functional, and in the free version, you can only download, not upload. Both apps could use a link for bulk downloading of multiple files, but for grabbing a few files here and there, it’s fine and functional.
How to Turn Your Android Phone into a Fully-Automated Superphone
What if your phone automatically went silent when you step into the movie theater? Texted your significant other when you finished your long commute? Or automatically turned down the volume when a particularly loud friend called? It can; here’s how.
Android application Tasker gives you total rules-based automation for your Android phone. It’s not free, but it offers a free 14-day trial download. In the Android Market, it’s £3.99 in UK money—a little over $6 U.S. If you grab the trial, or shell out the cost of a Double-Double meal at In-N-Out Burger to buy it in the Market (scan the QR code at left), you’ll discover it’s worth the cost, even if you only have one super-specific use for it.
Tasker can do nearly anything on your phone. It’s mostly limited by your imagination. Here are some up-front ideas about neat automations that come to mind:
How to Choose the Right Android ROM For You
There are tons of great reasons to root your Android phone, but once you do, you’ll likely be overwhelmed with all the custom ROM options out there. Here’s how to go about finding—and installing—the one that fits your needs.
What’s a ROM?
One of the best things about the openness of the Android platform is that if you’re unhappy with the stock OS, you can install one of many modified versions of Android (called ROMs) on your device. The downside is that there are so many developers and different Android devices out there that the custom ROM scene can be very difficult to navigate. We’re here to help the whole process seem a bit more manageable.
We briefly discussed using an app called ROM Manager in our Droid rooting tutorial, but today we’re going to dig a bit deeper into the kind of ROMs that are available, how to pick the right one for you, and how to install new ROMs on your rooted Android device.
Stop The Presses, iPhone Coming To T-Mobile In Q3?
Cult of Mac, certainly a trusty and prominent Mac related website is reporting that T-Mobile is in the “advanced stage” of talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to T-Mobile. This “highly placed source” pegs the chances of a T-Mobile iPhone at “80 percent likely that the iPhone will be coming to T-Mobile in Q3.” Those are some damn nice odds in the favor of T-Mobile. Of course this, like any iPhone rumor is to be taken only with the strictest grains of salt.
It’s likely that many of you may scoff at the idea of an iPhone T-Mobile iPhone, being a happy Android house right now. There is little doubt however, as to what it would do to for T-Mobile itself. AT&T has seen such success with the iPhone from a subscriber standpoint that T-Mobile would be foolish to pass up such a premiere device and a golden opportunity. The iPhone, love it or hate it is a golden goose right now and would be an immediate boost to T-Mobile and an opportunity to “steal” away unhappy AT&T customers by the truckload with lower prices and a solid network.
T-Mobile Closing Its Doors In 2011? Not So Fast!
For a while now an article has been floating around that originated on 24/7 Wall Street which states 10 Brands that will disappear in 2011. A number of you have written in as though T-Mobile is already beginning to pack it in and I’d like to take this quick editorial to remind you that isn’t the case. Quite the contrary is true and the article itself merely states things that we already know. T-Mobile is in fourth place, check. A merger and/or acquisition of Sprint being discussed, check. Stating that T-Mobile has no future in the US simply because they are in fourth place is just irresponsible journalism. In 2009 the very same article was written with 12 different brands that would disappear and while its true that some did, such as Palm, AIG and Eddie Bauer, not all of them did, and most of them were blatantly obvious and were already on the way out at the time the list was published. As of this moment, there is zero indication that T-Mobile is currently for sale, currently being pursued by a partner or another carrier or that Deutsche Telekom is making an effort to purchase someone else. That’s not to say its not happening far far behind the scenes, but publicly, none of this is taking place.
Samsung Vibrant gets off to a slow start at T-Mobile stores
The Samsung Vibrant (a Galaxy S phone) has finally launched in the United States. T-Mobile is the first carrier to release a Galaxy S phone and will most likely look to take advantage of their early launch to get a few steps ahead of their competition. The Samsung Vibrant is without a doubt the most advanced Android powered phone on T-Mobile’s network. The handset features a 4 inch capacitive Super AMOLED Display, 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 1500mAh lithium ion battery, 5MP camera with 720p video recording, 2GB microSD card preloaded with the movie Avatar, the new SIMS game from EA, all running on Android 2.1.
T-Mobile is selling the Samsung Vibrant for $199 after instant discounts and a $50 mail-in rebate card. Customers taking advantage of T-Mobile’s Even More Plus plans will have to pony up $499 in order to get their hands on the Samsung Vibrant. If you are looking to save a little bit of cash, keep in mind that you can pick up the Samsung Vibrant from our online store for as little as $149 without needing to hassle with the rebate.
Automatically Mount Your Android Storage via USB
To mount an Android phone via USB and get access to its files, you have to connect it, turn on the screen, swipe down your notifications, and hit a screen button. Install the doubleTwist Player (or another free app) to simply plug-and-transfer.
The previously mentioned doubleTwist player app for Android is intended to sync up nicely with the doubleTwist media manager on a PC or Mac, but you don’t need to grab the “iTunes for Android” if you don’t want. You don’t even need to use the doubleTwist player on your Android—it’s just the one free app we’ve found that automates the USB mounting process. Install it, and the next time you connect your Android phone to any computer, your microSD card will mount as any other USB storage would.
T-Mobile Testing Android 2.1 for myTouch 3G With a Shot of Espresso
Now that the carriers are starting to roll out Android 2.1 updates for 1st-gen devices, T-Mobile couldn’t have the myTouch 3G left off of the VIP list for the Android 2.1 party right? Turns out, the myTouch has its card. The myTouch will officially be inside the velvet ropes according to T-Mo’s VP of Production Innovation, Andrew Sherrard in a recent Techland interview.
Sherrard points out that the update will come in the form of replacing the vanilla Android UI found on the myTouch, with HTC’s “Espresso” UI; which appears to be a heavily customized, less resource-hungry version of Sense. Espresso features like the “Genius Button” — an easy-access Voice Search — , and more will be on board with the update. The upcoming myTouch Slide will also feature the Espresso UI, and the early hands-on scored by The Droid Sector last week painted the software as being quite quick.
Send this site to a Friend