Android Phone Fans |
- CyanogenMod Installer gets pulled from the Play Store at Google’s request
- Android user inadvertantly sends picture of his junk to mother, blames SMS app
- Wallpapers+: easily search and set Wallpapers from Google+
- HoneyDru car charger review [GIVEAWAY]
- Chromecast apps get their own hidden section on the Google Play app
- Moto X getting $150 discount off-contract for Cyber Monday
- Blu Life Pro aims to be a pretty decent and VERY thin smartphone for $300
- Get $50 off any tablet priced $150 or more at Staples today only; 2012 Nexus 7 for $120 from Groupon [DEALS]
- Samsung Galaxy S5 said to hit mass production January, launching alongside next Galaxy Gear
- Humble Mobile Bundle 3 adds 3 new games into the mix
- Leak: Let’s Talk offering Verizon One Max for $89.99, Note 3 for $179.99 for Black Friday
| CyanogenMod Installer gets pulled from the Play Store at Google’s request Posted: 27 Nov 2013 04:07 PM PST
Well, it lasted longer than we thought. It’s been a little over 2 weeks since the CyanogenMod Installer officially landed on Google Play and today, Google has formally requested the Cyanogen Inc. remove the app from the Play Store. Why? According to the Google Play Support team, the application was in violation of their terms of service. Before you freak out, Google admits that while the app is harmless (it only enables ADB and directs users to the desktop installer to complete the installation of the CyanogenMod ROM), they simply can’t list an app that encourages Android users to void their handset’s warranties by rooting and ROMing. Google does have hardware partners after all. Although Google didn’t technically pull the app themselves (you’ll still find it in the Play Store at the time of writing), they asked Cyanogen Inc. do the honors lest they be forced to take “administrative action.” Cyanogen Inc. is already in talks with Google to see if there’s anything that can be done and already submitting the app to rival app stores from both Amazon and Samsung. In the meantime, CM Installer is still readily available from the official CyanogenMod website where it can be sideloaded like any other app. Instructions and download link provided below.
via CyanogenMod |
| Android user inadvertantly sends picture of his junk to mother, blames SMS app Posted: 27 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST
SMS apps are a dime a dozen in the Google Play Store. It’s one of the luxuries Android users have been enjoying for what feels like decades now. But not all SMS apps are created equal. Many of them feature different UIs, come with their unique bugs, and behave differently than others. One Android user discovered that the hard way after using “hello”, a free SMS replacement app available on Google Play. While attempting to send a picture message to his mother of a new car he was interested in, he accidentally clicked a picture of his junk he had stored on his phone. What he didn’t know is as soon as tapped, the hello app will immediately send off that pic to its recipient, without the ability to preview or choose a different one. A slight oversight by the hello developers? Sure. But as the Android user mentions in his Reddit post, it’s going to be one hell of an awkward Thanksgiving.
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| Wallpapers+: easily search and set Wallpapers from Google+ Posted: 27 Nov 2013 02:51 PM PST Google has recently properly documented the chrome.wallpaper API, so Googler François Beaufort couldn’t leave his arms crossed. He has created a simple, but nifty app named Wallpapers+. It allows the user to search and set wallpapers from Google+. Google+ is full of photographers, which makes this a very helptful tool for finding awesome wallpapers. The app is simple, all you have to do is type in search keywords and it will fetch related images. Whether it be from a person’s account or a general topic.
It looks ver neat and I hope this is not an experiment Beaufort just used to test the new API. I would like to see it evolve and come to a full, stable version some day. As mentioned, the app is experimental, so only Chrome OS Dev Channel users are able to use it for now. You can get it straight from the Chrome Web Store, so give it a roll and let us know how you like it! |
| HoneyDru car charger review [GIVEAWAY] Posted: 27 Nov 2013 02:14 PM PST
When it comes to chargers, there is no competition for the fun and cute (yes, I used that word) chargers made by “Power by Gen”. These double as a charger and Android figurine, making them the best charger for the loyal Phandroid. You may remember I checked out the ANDRU Dark and ANDRU Chill chargers last year. I fell in love with them and even nominated them as one of my Staff Picks for our Holiday Gift Guide. Almost a year later I sit here with Gen’s newest charger – the HoneyDru! HoneyDru form factor and build qualityPower by Gen is stepping out of its comfort zone and has built its first car charger. The HoneyDru charger takes the form of the Honeycomb logo, making it a perfect fit because the Honeycomb bee is shaped very similar to a normal car charger. The manufacturer didn’t have to tinker much with the design of the logo to make the charger look like the original Honeycomb bee. Even the metal parts of the charger make sense, that stinger just belongs there. This makes the charger a rather unique and familiar Honeycomb figure. This is why it makes sense that Power by Gen chose Honeycomb over any other of the 3 newer Android iterations. The design of Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean or KitKat art wouldn’t make as much sense as this heart-warming bee does. The eyes and wings light up when the charger is ready to go. I found it serves as a reminder that it’s time to charge your phone. It lighting up always catches your eye. Not to mention it looks very neat and always gets compliments.
When it comes build quality, the HoneyDru doesn’t have much to complain about. The “stinger” part feels a bit wiggly, which I would say is about my biggest complain. That doesn’t take much away from the charger, though. Unless it makes it prone to getting damaged in the long run, which I doubt would be the case. This part doesn’t ever seem to be very solid in other car chargers either. There is a bit of a gap between the plastic pieces (in the left and right). I wish those were smaller, but it’s also me being nitpicky. All other parts are solid and in their place – no piece is going where it shouldn’t. The unit does feel solid, as well as the spiraling cable, which keeps the chord from going all over your car when in use. It also stretches from 8 inches to 3 feet, so it’s rather flexible. HoneyDru charging capabilitiesWith an output of 5V/2A, this charger is designed to power up a tablet. This will make charging a smartphone relatively fast compared to other chargers out there. As a comparison, the original ANDRU charger (and many other chargers out there) output only 1 amp, making the HoneyDru twice as powerful.
ConclusionWhat can I tell you? It’s a charger! It does what it’s supposed to do and it does it right. What makes the HoneyDru special, then? It’s really just how good-looking it is! Any Android fan would be ecstatic to see one of these in the car’s dashboard, and that is ultimately what Power by Gen offers: good quality chargers with an awesome design for the Android fan. I fell in love at first sight as soon as I opened the package. You can buy the HoneyDru car charger for $19.99 straight from GEN or Amazon. It’s not the most affordable charger, but it’s also not that much more expensive than other chargers. Hell, I have seen some that cost more and aren’t nearly as cool. I say it’s the perfect deal for those who want a little something extra in their charging experience, which tends to be an annoyance.
GIVEAWAY: Win one of five free HoneyDru chargers!Our friends at Power by GEN have decided to start the holidays by giving away 5 HoneyDru chargers! We know you will enjoy one of these as much as I did, so you might want to sign up and see if you get lucky! Here is how you can enter to win:
Of course, there are some rules. For legal reasons, we can only offer this to US residents. You must also link your email to your comment (same as the one you use on Google+). We will have to add the winners to our circles to verify they have added both accounts to their circles. The contest will go on until Friday at 12 PM Pacific. We will announce the winners during the weekend, so stay tuned! Aside from that, it’s pretty straight forward. Good Luck! |
| Chromecast apps get their own hidden section on the Google Play app Posted: 27 Nov 2013 02:01 PM PST
Still not sure if it’s an “Easter egg” or simply a layout problem, but when viewing the “Apps” category in the Google Play Store app, a special “Chromecast” section seems to be hidden off to the side. It’s only viewable when turning your Android device around in landscape mode, and when clicked, shows you the usual assortment of Chromecast apps compatible with the Chromecast. Also, swiping to the “Categories” section also reveals the button, acting as some kind of weird overflow. Nothing too huge, just something Chromecasters might wanna keep an eye on for future additions. Something tells me once the SDK goes live, it’ll get a lot more crowded in there. Cheers, Anuj! |
| Moto X getting $150 discount off-contract for Cyber Monday Posted: 27 Nov 2013 11:29 AM PST
Motorola doesn’t want to be left off the great Black Friday train that’s pulling into town in a couple of days. The Google-owned company is putting out a great deal for those who are looking to buy a Moto X without the added commitment of a two-year service contract. They’ll take $150 off the top of any unlocked Moto X, including the developer edition and versions bought through the Moto Maker. This means you can get yourself one of the first phones to have been upgraded to Android 4.4 KitKat for as little as $350, which is the same price you can find the 16GB Nexus 5 for over at the Google Play Store. The Moto X might not have a full HD display, a quad-core processor or a huge battery, but Motorola has put together a no-frills smartphone with great, useful features that exist for more reasons than just novel show-and-tell. The developer edition of this phone is an especially attractive buy now, with Motorola recently committing to keeping warranties alive for anyone who decides to unlock their bootloader. It’s yet another good guy move in a recent string of many that has Motorola winning over tons of new fans as the weeks roll on. You wouldn’t be making a mistake in making this your next smartphone, so roll on over to Motorola’s site and take a look at your options ahead of the insane savings going down this upcoming Monday. [via +Motorola] |
| Blu Life Pro aims to be a pretty decent and VERY thin smartphone for $300 Posted: 27 Nov 2013 10:24 AM PST
The device will launch with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, though there’s no word on whether or not it’ll ever go beyond that. At this point you’re likely looking at the list of specs and wondering what they could be making so much noise about. Well, one of the selling points they’re banking on is that this is the world’s thinnest 5-inch smartphone. There aren’t tons of 5-inch devices out there so it’s not like it was terribly hard to claim that feat, but there it is anyway. They’re also touting “Blu Bright+,” the camera technology that will supposedly perform extremely well in low-light conditions. It’s too early to tell if that’s a legitimate claim or if they’re just using buzzwords to try and make it sound better than it really is.
When you think about the fact that you can grab the Nexus 5 for just $50 more, you start to wonder how Blu could hope to win the hearts of those who are educated in mobile technology. We’ll have to keep the microscope fixated on them over the next month to see how they plan to do that, but what you see is what you get. Does this look like something you’d want for $300? [via Blu] |
| Posted: 27 Nov 2013 08:42 AM PST ‘Tis the season to buy your loved ones some pretty nice tablets. A couple of great deals have gone up this morning that will help you do just that. Let’s get Staples out of the way first, because you’ll only have until the end of business today to take advantage of it. You can get $50 off any tablet that is priced at $149.99 or more, giving you a pretty decent discount on something like the Nexus 7 2013. The deal is applicable both online and in-store: you’ll need coupon code 18702 for online orders. In-store orders can be redeemed simply by showing the coupon to the clerk (either print it out or show it to them on your mobile device). Groupon also has a decent deal for those of you who don’t mind buying a year-old tablet. You can get the 2012 Nexus 7 starting at $120 for the 16GB version, or drop $30 more for double the storage. You’ll have until midnight Sunday to take advantage, so you’ll have a bit of time to think about it (though quantities are limited, so you’ll want to think rather fast). Groupon is limiting this to three per person, with the option of buying two more as gifts. Go ahead and give it a long look at their website if you’re interested. |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 said to hit mass production January, launching alongside next Galaxy Gear Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:55 AM PST Most folks’ honeymoon period with the Samsung Galaxy S4 is pretty much over. The Note 3 has launched, and other devices are stealing a lot of thunder headed into 2014. Samsung is usually right into the thick of development for their next flagship right around this point, but new rumors suggest the team is well ahead of schedule on the Samsung Galaxy S5.
Korean outlet ETNews is reporting that Samsung is on-track to begin mass production of the smartphone as early as January, and could be setting it up for a March or April release. This means we could see the phone announced as early as CES in January 2014 or Mobile World Congress the month afterward. The Galaxy S5 is rumored to be similar to the Galaxy Note 3 under the hood, as Samsung will look to at least match the Note 3′s Snapdragon 800 processor (alongside a possible Exynos Octa-Core variant capable of 64-bit computing), 3GB of RAM and more With that, ETNews also says Samsung will unveil the next generation of the Galaxy Gear smart watch alongside the Samsung Galaxy S5. If you feel like it hasn’t been that long since the first entry in the company’s new smart watch line-up dropped, you aren’t alone.
It has long been reported that Samsung’s first Galaxy Gear smart watch was rushed to market to try and beat a possible Apple-bred competitor. As such, many folks have resided to jokingly calling it a “prototype for sale,” and that Samsung’s true first real attempt at a smart watch wouldn’t take long to come to market. The lackluster Galaxy Gear hasn’t turned many heads to this point with the company reportedly generating only 50,000 sales (on over 800,000 units shipped to retail to date). We’ll have to wait a while yet to see if Samsung’s next attempt is worthy of praise. [via SamMobile] |
| Humble Mobile Bundle 3 adds 3 new games into the mix Posted: 27 Nov 2013 06:35 AM PST The original Humble Mobile Bundle 3 originally brought us 6 great new games — two of which were newly launched with this promotion — and now we’re getting three more. The folks at Humble Bundle have announced the addition of Hundreds, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, and Desert Bus, three games which you can get loaded up onto your Android device DRM-free as long as you paid more than the average of $5.34. Said games also come with free downloads of DRM-free soundtracks so you can enjoy the tunes even while not playing the games.
Of course, those who have already paid more than the average for the Humble Mobile Bundle 3 won’t have to do much to get their games — just log into your account and find your downloads ready and waiting. Here’s a quick list of the 9 games in the entire package after this big addition:
Your donation can be split however you want to between the developers of these games, the Child’s Play Charity, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, so be sure to open your wallet and think long and hard about which slice of the pie you want to help out the most. Head to their website to get started. |
| Leak: Let’s Talk offering Verizon One Max for $89.99, Note 3 for $179.99 for Black Friday Posted: 27 Nov 2013 05:46 AM PST
Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, is almost upon us, and the deals have been rolling in all week. Some folks have yet to even announce their deals, though, including retailer Let’s Talk. According to trusted sources, Let’s Talk will have some of Verizon’s best smartphones on sale for some very attractive prices on that wallet-killing day. The leaked ad you see above shows the HTC One Max, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX will be key points of focus. Although it doesn’t show the prices for these smartphones, we’re hearing the HTC One Max is being let go for $89.99 following a new two-year contract, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be let go for $179.99 upon the same commitment. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a beeline on their pricing for the DROID RAZR MAXX, but it won’t be much longer before that’s officially revealed. Don’t forget to check out Verizon’s own Black Friday deals which were leaked last week. It’s a fine time to own a new smartphone so be sure to weight all your options and get ready to make the big decision this Friday at their site. [Thanks anon!] |
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