Android Central

Android Central


The Week in Android News

Posted: 23 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT

Weekly Recap

Ice Cream Sandwich is official, and the rest is probably a blur. Take a look below and check out some of what you may have missed in all the excitement.

General News

Hardware News

Tablet News


Droid RAZR page now live at DroidDoes website

Posted: 23 Oct 2011 03:32 PM PDT

Droid Razr Does

The Motorola Droid RAZR Does.  We know it does, because Verizon has added it to the DroidDoes website to get things ready for pre-sale and release.  The page reminds us of the RAZR's Gorilla Glass and Kevlar construction, it's 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, water repellent "nanocoating", slim 7.1mm profile and 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display, and leaves everyone a little bit more excited about seeing one in person -- exactly what marketing should do.

Even though Verizon and Motorola have told us pretty much everything there is to know about the RAZR already, we still like seeing reminders that it's close -- as in pre-orders in four days style close.  Check it out at the source link.

Source: DroidDoesThanks, Alec!

Droid RAZR Forums | Droid RAZR Specs | Droid RAZR Gallery


Android Wallpaper Review: Haunted House HD

Posted: 23 Oct 2011 02:09 PM PDT

Haunted House HD

I love Halloween. It's my second favorite holiday only to Christmas, but holds a special place in my heart because I get back-to-back goodness from my birthday and then, 24 hours later, all the goodness Halloween brings.

The folks at DualBoot Games (creators of other live wallpapers like Celtic Garden HD) have whipped up another for us, this time all haunted and creepy, just in time for Halloween. It's called Haunted House HD, and as far as live wallpapers go, despite it being time-sensitive, it's probably one of the most detailed I've come across.

From the moment you pop open the live wallpaper selector and choose Haunted House HD, the Halloween vibe will wash over you. A camera pans by a creepy house, shrouded in fog, as the lights flicker on and off intermittently. Jack-o-lanterns guard the doorway and frightening messages appear over the door in blood.

Everything is pretty smooth, despite the fact there's so much going on. The door opens and closes by itself while the camera sweeps back, the lights turn on, revealing a silhouette in the window, and the flag on the mailbox moves up and down of its own accord.

If you want to go inside of the house, you'll have to jump into the completely loaded settings menu and change the camera view.

The inside of the house is just as (if not more) busy than the exteriour. Lights continue to flicker, the fire is a pale, ghostly blue, and paintings have skulls superimposed over the subject's face. Ethereal footsteps pulse and disappear on the floor, and strange breezes toss the chandalier around. It's a lot to take in, but it's still great fun.

Back to the settings menu, when I said loaded, I meant it. You can pick your camera view, set the name for the mailbox and doorway, pick the kind of face you want for the pumpkins, and individually enable or disable every variable the wallpaper has to offer.

If you feel like getting in the holiday spirit, Haunted House HD is $1.99 in the Android Market.

We've got more pictures and download links after the break.

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Motorola RAZR will have a bootloader unlock solution for international versions

Posted: 23 Oct 2011 11:39 AM PDT

RAZR

Possible good news here if you've been eyeing the Motorola RAZR, and live outside the U.S. -- Motorola has confirmed to the folks at Ausdroid that the RAZR will be the first Motorola phone to offer a bootloader unlock solution.  This comes with a "gotcha" though -- carriers have the option to have this removed from the phone's firmware, and Verizon has opted to have it taken out.  I'll give you a moment to curse softly under your breath.

We shouldn't be surprised at Verizon's decision -- the phone is more secure with a secure bootloader.  That point can't be argued.  If we stop and think for a minute though, this means that phones that are almost identical to the Droid RAZR will have factory code from Motorola to unlock the bootloader, ripe for the picking.  Developers have a new avenue to explore, and if you were willing to unlock your bootloader in the first place, you shouldn't balk at a method found by hackers to get it done.  We'd like to see both a secure and unlockable option offered, but we'll take whatever we can get.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that an unlockable version of the RAZR falls into the right hands -- I think it will.

Source: Ausdroid


Android App Review: SiMi Folder Widget Pro

Posted: 23 Oct 2011 06:57 AM PDT

SiMi Folder Pro

I never really got behind folders on Android. They're ugly, clunky, remind me of using Windows (and if I wanted Windows on my phone, I'd be using Windows Phone), and they add an extra screen press to access what you want. In my time as an Android user, never used 'em.

Widgets, on the other hand, I love. They drain my battery really quickly show me information without forcing me to open an app, give me quick access to my favorite contacts, and can do a lot to spruce up the look of your phone.

When I heard about the unholy union innovative combination of folder and widget, I had to check it out. Fortunately, I already use the SiMi clock widget, so I had faith in this new fwidget.

On its face, SiMi Folder Widget does exactly what its name implies. It creates a widget that you can put apps (or contacts, bookmarks, or shortcuts) in. The beauty of the SiMi Folder Widget is that instead of an additional popup window (you know, opening the folder), the widget has an attractive mini-app drawer popup that gives you immediate access to all your stuff.

Creating your folders is easy, but not altogether intuitive. Coming from the widget frame of mind, I thought you added a widget, then put all your apps in it. Turns out, you open the app, make a folder, then you can put a widget out.

Once you've opened the app, there's a whole bunch of buttons to work with. The most-used one will probably be Folders, since that's how you actually make your folders.

Once you've gone into the folders submenu, there's an option to add a folder. This is where most of the magic happens.

You can name your folder, choose what kind of folder it should be, and also mess with the widget and launcher settings. Widget settings are straightforward enough. They let you change the icon, size of the icon and layout, text color and size, and background color.

Launcher options are how the widget will actually display your folder as a popup deal. You can pick between vertical and horizontal (pro tip: if you want multiple rows, choose vertical), if you want the titles to show, and also lets you pick the size and width of the icons.

There's also two launcher styles (iPhone and custom), and if you choose custom, you can fiddle with the background color, frame color, arrow color, and text color.

SiMi Folder Pro is $2.07, but there's also a fully featured free version, too. For anyone who wants to clean up their screens and look stylish while doing it, we've got more pictures and download links after the break.

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