google android
HTC Desire HD Android Smartphone With A 4.3″ Display & 8MP Camera Announced
September 15, 2010
So, as we expected the HTC Desire HD is official, and just as the majority of people in tech predicted, it does in fact look remarkably like the EVO they have over in the States, in fact it is pretty much just a European version of said Android smartphone.
The event in London kicked off with the traditional spiel regarding company growth and the likes, but once they got down to business not only did they hastily announce the Desire HD, we were also treated to a little teaser of Windows Phone 7. However, unlike our HTC Event predictions a couple of days ago, there has unfortunately been no announcement on the hardware side of things, instead they have stuck solely to Android devices this time around.
Continue reading »World’s First ‘Intelligent Postage Stamps’ Released By Royal Mail – There’s An App For That!
September 13, 2010
Since it’s official public introduction in 1635 (by Charles I for those of you interested) the Royal Mail has been the forefront of ‘intra’ and ‘inter’ national communication here in the UK. However, with the rise of the telephone and email its popularity has pretty much collapsed, but this week in an attempt to rekindle some interest in the possible dying company they have released the world’s first ‘intelligent stamps’.
Actually this is really a little bit of false advertising: there is nothing intelligent about the stamps at all (unless you include the intricate printing method, but that’s nothing new) rather the software that can be downloaded onto smartphones that allows you to access additional content using the phone’s camera.
Continue reading »5 Android Tablets That May Just Be Ready To Take On The iPad
September 4, 2010
The tablet market is beginning to boom following the iPad’s release earlier in the year, and doesn’t show any signs of quietening down just yet. So with that in mind, let us take a look at five Android tablets that you should be keeping an eye on…
Archos 101
The Archos 101 is a relatively new player on this list, as it’s only just seen the light of day. This, of course, also makes it one of the strongest competitors to the iPad as well. It has a 10.1″ display, the perfect size for being able to efficiently browse the web, check email and take advantage of the plethora of apps out there. It’s also got a front facing camera, which is yet to be seen in even the Apple iPad, and is capable of HD video playback thanks to the 1GHz processor inside.
Continue reading »Dell Streak Review
September 3, 2010
There was a lot of chatter when Dell released the Streak, their new Android device a few months back. Now, some of that chatter is starting up again, no doubt because the device has just been released over in the States (isn’t it lovely when us Brits get a product first?).
You may have noticed that so far, I’ve called it a ‘device’, rather than a ‘phone’ or a ‘tablet’, because essentially, it isn’t either. Not from my point of view anyway. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Let’s find out in this Dell Streak review shall we?
Continue reading »HTC Desire Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’ Update Delayed For Orange Customers
August 29, 2010
HTC Desire owners have been holding their breath and waiting anxiously for the upgrade to the latest version of Android, ‘Froyo’. However, if you are on the Orange mobile network then you will unfortunately be sorely disappointed today, as news emerges that the over-the-air update has been delayed until mid-September.
The official HTC Desire Android ‘Froyo’ update came from HTC at the beginning of August, but many of the networks have opted to delay the release to its customers until they have fully tested the stability of Android 2.2, though they deny they are adding their own little ‘frills’ to the update.
Continue reading »Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Gets The European Mobile Phone 2010-2011 Award
August 24, 2010
It’s not that long ago since we published out Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 review here on Zath, and while we thought that their first Android-based flagship mobile phone had a few issues, it was certainly a very capable handset that showed just what could be done with an Android-based phone with a custom user interface.
Since the release of that mobile phone, they have also released the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini, which is also Android-based and a stylishly small handset that we’ve been tracking since it was first announced – in fact it’s so good, it’s been that well received that it’s won an award, but not any award, only the European Mobile Phone 2010-2011 Award!
Continue reading »Toshiba Android-Based Smart Pad Images Leaked – Serious iPad Competition?
August 23, 2010
The Apple iPad not your cup of tea? Not to worry, you’ll have a lot more selection in the tablet market come the end of 2010! Italian website Notebook Italia (translated link) has revealed what looks to be a set of genuine images of Toshiba’s Smart Pad, as the device looks similar to what we had already seen from the prototype.
Rumoured Specs
The tablet is rumoured to have a 10″ display, and an NVIDIA Tegra chip running all of the operations behind the scenes. The interesting point that is made here is that the Smart Pad looks set to run on Google’s Android OS, as opposed to Windows 7 which had been rumoured previously.
Continue reading »Google Chrome OS Tablet (Built By HTC) Incoming With Release Date Of November 2010?
August 18, 2010
For those of you eagerly awaiting an Apple iPad on Christmas morning, or indeed any other time in the coming months, you may want to hold your horses slightly and assess the other options, as news emerges that Google is bringing a Chrome OS tablet to the table on 26th November.
Sources state that the device is being built by HTC, similarly to the Nexus One, and that it is most definitely real. The apparent plan is for Google to launch the tablet in the USA in conjunction with Verizon, which is no surprise considering their tight relations of late.
Continue reading »Phoneweaver Android App Review (Smartphone Profile Manager)
August 14, 2010
You know the drill. You’re in the middle of a meeting, or in a class, and your phone rings, blasting out an obscene ring tone you would rather everyone else not hear in the meeting. This is just one of the problems that face us with the modern smartphone, and it shouldn’t be like that, should it? After all, our phones are smart now, so why does this keep on happening?
The Phoneweaver Android App is designed to prevent just those awkward situations I described, and more. With various profiles at your disposal, your phone can behave just how you want it to. When you create your smart profiles, you can choose just how they are activated, triggered by various conditions.
Continue reading »Dell Streak Android 2.1 ROM Leaked For UK Owners
August 13, 2010
It isn’t often that I get to say this as a writer in the UK, but a ROM allowing Dell Streak UK owners to upgrade to Android 2.1 (from the 1.6 version it shipped with) has been leaked before the device has even been released in the US.
If you’re a Streak owner in the UK (the update image that has been leaked is locked to the UK device running on O2′s network, sorry Americans, you’re out of luck on this one), you’ll probably want to get a little 2.1 action for yourself, as it adds a number of refinements to the device, and make it feel more complete than before.
Continue reading »5 Best Android Widgets For HTC Desire/Nexus One
August 12, 2010
One of Android’s greatest advantages over the iPhone platform is just how much you can customise the look of your home screens, without being limited to screens and screens full of icons. One of the key types of customisation that Android has that the iPhone doesn’t is widgets!
You can download widgets from the Market, or use the ones that come bundled with your favourite Android apps or the mobile phone itself. With so many to choose from, which widgets should you go for? Here are the ones that I use on a regular basis and would suggest as being the best Android widgets to get started with on smartphones such as the HTC Desire and Nexus One!
Continue reading »What Is A QR Code? (How To Use Square Barcodes On Android Phones)
August 9, 2010
You may have noticed that we’ve been reviewing quite a lot of Android applications and widgets here at Zath lately, and on many of our Android app reviews, we’ve included those strange square barcodes or more specifically “QR codes” containing direct links to the application on the Android Market.
Many people, however, are unfamiliar with QR codes, and quite a few people have been asking me “just what is a QR code, then?”. Well, you may be surprised to know that the QR code isn’t a recent development, nor was it developed specifically for the purpose of serving links to Android applications. Want to know more? Read on!…
Continue reading »Apple App Store ‘Try Before You Buy’ Free Section Launched…Sort Of
August 6, 2010
While other mobile operating systems, such as Symbian and soon Windows Phone 7, offer free, trial versions of apps that you can test out before you part ways with your cash, Apple has previously denied any such feature on their own app store and forcing developers to create free, or ‘lite’ versions of their costly apps in a bid to draw you in.
However, now Apple has decided to give in a little to the pressure from developers who are desperate to see sales of their apps increase, and has created a dedicated section of the app store entitled, ‘Free on the App Store’…although despite looking around the App Store on our iPhone 3GS, we still can’t see any sight of this new section yet!
Continue reading »HTC Desire To Finally Get Android 2.2 (Froyo) Update
July 30, 2010
Owners of the Android-based HTC Desire smartphone can rejoice today as news emerged from the Taiwanese manufacturer that the handset will receive a welcome update to the latest version of Android, ‘Froyo’, as soon as this weekend!
The over the air update will bring with it some important new features, namely 720p video recording, which is a considerable improvement over the current video quality capture.
In addition to that, there will be an improvement to the default keyboard as well as options for multi-language keyboads, which is important considering the global sales figures for the device. Another new feature is the inclusion of HTC’s App share widget, as well as an enhanced caller ID.
Continue reading »Acer Stream – Android Smartphone Price & Release Date (eXpansys Exclusive)
July 26, 2010
Since the birth of the ‘Smartphone’ it seems more and more manufacturers, who would be more associated to consumer electronics, specifically computers. However, manufacturers such as ASUS and Apple have begun manufacturing mobile devices such as the NaviPhone and obviously the iPhone.
Even Dell have produced a large screen mobile phone (or small tablet depending on your point of view) with the Dell Streak, well now it’s Acer’s turn, and their Android based ‘Stream’ now has an official price and release date.
The Acer ‘Stream’ will be sold, initially; exclusively from UK-based online retailer eXpansys and in terms of hardware it is certainly impressive.
Continue reading »ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC Tablet To Run Android Instead Of Windows Embedded Compact 7
July 23, 2010
The Eee Pad (yes that’s the tablet PC one, not the eReader), more specifically the EP101TC was originally planned by ASUS to run Windows Embedded Compact 7, however it has emerged today that the Taiwanese manufacturer is dropping the Microsoft OS in favour of the latest build of Google’s Android 2.2 platform, ‘Froyo’.
Now, whether or not that Android is a favourable OS for a tablet PC is an extremely hot topic at the moment, but suffice it to say, ASUS is sitting in favour of Google on this one and intend to show off the Android powered Eee Pad tablet at CES 2011, with it retailing shortly after.
Continue reading »Google Stops Selling Nexus One – The ‘Pure Android’ Handset Experience
July 20, 2010
As you probably know, we’re pretty big fans of Google’s Nexus One at Zath ever since we first heard about the Google Phone rumour and the subsequent official Nexus One announcement.
We then got the chance to review the Nexus One before it officially landed in the UK and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed personally using it since I got my hands on it back at the beginning of this year.
There’s a lot to like about Google’s mobile phone, with great support from developers meaning that all of Android’s latest and greatest came to it first. The Nexus One was rooted before Google even released it, thanks to some advanced testing prior to the release date.
Continue reading »NDrive 10 Android App Review (Paid Sat Nav App)
July 15, 2010
NDrive is a satellite navigation application, available for a great number of platforms including iOS, Windows Mobile and even Bada OS (as featured on the latest Samsung Wave S8500). It’s recently made the move to the Android Market, and is available to download for Android devices right now, so let’s take a look!
Although NDrive is a free download from the Marketplace, it doesn’t come with any maps pre-loaded on to the application, for two reasons. Firstly, the maps are huge. If you download a map of UK and Ireland, it will take up over 200mb of space, so it needs to be installed on to your micro SD memory card. Secondly, the maps cost (obviously), so you pick and choose which maps you need. For example, the UK and Ireland map will set you back €30. You can purchase larger maps too; Western Europe costs €60 and North America is available for €40.
The application itself works really well. When you enter a destination, you’re given as choice of routes to choose from, with various options such as quickest or avoiding tolls. You’re then given the total distance to your destination from your current location, and how long it will take to get there. Of course, the application uses GPS, so it’s really accurate when being used.
Continue reading »Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Rooted By Android Developers
July 13, 2010
If you’re a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 owner, you’ll no doubt love to know that your device has now been rooted! A few days ago, a member over at xda-developers posted the details of his hack, which allows you to gain root access on your device, resulting in various advantages over stock devices.
We’ve covered the details of other Android devices being rooted in the past, and how to do it, including Google’s own Nexus One, which was rooted in no time after its release earlier this year. Although the Xperia X10 owners who wanted rooting have had to wait a little while longer for their device to be rooted, but it’s definitely been worth the wait for most users.
Continue reading »Google App Inventor – Develop Android Apps Without Programming Knowledge
July 13, 2010
The mobile application market couldn’t be more exciting right now. Mobile platforms have been popping up right, left and centre in the past few years, with the two main contenders being Apple’s App Store for iOS 4, and Google’s Android Market. With so much attention to be got, and money to be made, the question remains: who wouldn’t want to develop applications for the mobile market?
The only problem for many people has been the huge hurdle of, well, programming you Android app! You could have a great idea that will sell thousands of times over on the Market, but if you can’t program your application then you’re not going to get very far at all! – What you need is Google’s Android App Inventor!
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