Posts tagged Software News
Rockbox for Android in Progress
Sep 1st
Think back. You had an mp3 player with an annoying user interface, everything was locked down and you couldn’t manage your music the way you wanted. And then you found out about Rockbox, the open source firmware for mp3 players. You hacked it on to yours and had a whole new music player that maybe wasn’t as pretty, but sure was under your control. Flash forward: Rockbox is still around–a surprise to me–and, even more surprising, a version for Android is in the works.
Unlike other versions of Rockbox, which replace a device’s firmware entirely, the version for Android is a standalone music player app. Though far from finished, you can download working builds of the app so far directly from the site. Once you figure out that different (completely unmarked) regions of the screen have different functions (top/bottom to scroll up/down, the center selects the option you’re on, etc.), you’ll be able to give it a little whirl.
Certainly unfinished, and certainly not for everybody, but if you’re like me, worth a try just for the nostalgia.
via AndroidPolice
Rockbox for Android in Progress originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
New Google Voice Ripped from G2 ROM
Sep 1st
Remember that new version of the Google Voice app we told you about last week, the one that’s part of the leaked G2 ROM and includes a revamped widget? Well, you don’t have to wait for the G2 to get it. The guys over at XDA-Developers have pulled it the leaked ROM so you can install it like any other app.
As some of you may remember, when the latest Google Voice update came out it improved the speed of placing calls, but in the process eliminated the possibility of taking advantage of unlimited calling via MyFaves or a Friends and Family feature. This new app also has that “fix,” so if you’re still running an older version of Google Voice, you may not want to upgrade. Also, since it’s a pre-release version of the new version, it may have some issues, but knowing that, feel free to give this a shot.
New Google Voice Ripped from G2 ROM originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Score a Display Pod for Your App at APPNATION!
Sep 1st
Hey, Everybody! As you may have heard, we are going to be LIVE on the Expo floor at APPNATION in SF, Sept 12-13th and we’re looking to connect with as many Android devs and Android faithful from our colorful dev community as possible. To sweeten the deal, we have partnered with the APPNATION organizers to offer five (5) FREE “DroidStands” on the Expo show floor as part of the show’s DevNation area.
This is a $995 value for Android Guys readers, which gives you a demo pod DROID area to showcase your latest apps to all the attendees including big companies like Disney, AOL and the venture capitalists who may be interested in investing in your app or company. Think of this as a little “Android Guys Village” — one that we want to pack it with the coolest devs out there, and who will hang with the Android Guys team including Ray as he DROIDcasts LIVE from APPNATION. (www.appnationconference.com).
Simply reply in comments below with the “Top Reason(s) Android Guys should OBVIOUSLY give me a free DroidStand at APPNATION” and tweet with the hashtag #APPNATIONCONF
by no later than Thursday, September 9th at 5 PM California time, and we will pick the most compelling suggestions from the group. Winners will be announced live on the Thursday night AndroidGuys DroidCast and featured in a blog post.
Ready, Set, Droid! Game on!
Score a Display Pod for Your App at APPNATION! originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
TeleNav Unveils OnMyWay for Android
Aug 26th
TeleNav is releasing another handy application, OnMyWay into the Android Market today. You know TeleNav, don’t you? They’re the brains behind your Sprint and AT&T navigation titles. To describe their new (free) app’s premise, I think it’s best to use it in a short hypothetical scenario.
Let’s say you are on your way to a ten o’clock brunch meeting and you’ve got a an hour drive ahead of you. You start off on time, but later you find yourself stuck in traffic and it looks like you’re going to be late. What’s the best way to to let everyone know what time you’ll actually get to the restaurant? You don’t want to call everyone, do you? And we all know better than to text while driving, right? OnMyWay does this for you.
OnMyWay alerts a pre-set recipient or group of people as to your status and ETA. Set the notification right before you start driving and everyone gets an alert (text and/or e-mail) that tells them when you are expected to arrive at the destination. If you run into anything that might delay you, OnMyWay automatically sends an update to those that matter. Their new message tells them that you’ll be late and provides the updated ETA. This way, you don’t have to worry about anything but driving safely.
To create an OnMyWay notification, you’ll need to follow a few quick steps:
- Input a destination
- Enter a scheduled appointment time
- Selects or enter phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses to send alerts to
- Start!
Your phone contacts are integrated into the app so there’s no need to hunt anything down. Further, you have the option to send personal messages with your notifications. For those of you worried about privacy, OnMyWay never shows your specific location, nor does it share it with any recipients. Keep your eyes peeled for OnMyWay in the Android Market!
TeleNav Unveils OnMyWay for Android originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Google Earth 1.1 Adds Layer to Explore Oceans
Aug 24th
An updated version of Google Earth (1.1) hit the Android Market this morning, adding a key component – oceans. And it’s about time. How can Google look themselves in the mirror and call it “Earth” if they omit nearly 3/4 of the planet? All kidding aside, the new version is something special in that it lets users dive deep under the sea and check out videos and pictures of the terrain where Poseidon lays his head.
The latest version of Google Earth for Android also introduces the “Explore the Ocean” layer, which features hundreds of photos and videos from more than 100 contributors who are excited to share their stories of the sea. Plan or get a sneak peek of your next vacation during your daily commute by clicking on any of the little blue icons.
For those of you running Android 2.2 “Froyo”, you’ll be pleased to learn that you have a few added benefits. Now that you have Flash and a true web experience, you can take advantage of the pop-up balloons that play Flash videos right in the balloon. It’s also possible to use two fingers to “look around” and adjust your viewpoint instead of relying on the on-screen button. And finally, Froyo also lets you install the app onto your SD card. Being that the app weighs in over 20MB, this is definitely a welcome feature.
Google Earth 1.1 Adds Layer to Explore Oceans originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
AppBrain.com Updates Site with New Ways to Sort Apps
Aug 20th
We really like it when developers and providers for Android listen to the feedback their users are giving them. Appbrain.com informed us through a press release that they have made some significant changes to their site to better serve their users. A quote from the release:
Apart from a much cleaner UI, we have completely redone the way users
can browse for Android apps. The updated site offers innovative
sorting options to discover interesting Android apps. Our traditional
daily hot, weekly hot, and popular listings will be more visible, but
there will also be completely new sorting options such as sorting by
use in a number of specific countries, and popularity among men or
women and age groups.
In addition to these new sorting orders you can fully subdivide each
major sorting order into Android categories and filter on free, paid,
updated, price reduced and new apps only.
This means that you are going to be able to drill down to the genre of app you are looking for a lot quicker, which is always a good thing. We applaud appbrain.com for these changes and quietly point the people at Google in charge of the Market towards these changes and urge them to take notice!
NOTE: AppBrain.com Updates Site with New Ways to Sort Apps originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Snakes on a Phone
Aug 20th
Everyone knows and loves the now famous “snake” game that was on every cell phone back in the day. You could while away the hours moving that dot snake trying to beat your previous high score, so it makes sense that the game would pop up on the Android Market right?
Well, don’t go rushing to download snake, because there is a snake app out there called “Tapsnake” that you should be avoiding.
The app in question is actually a cleverly disguised tracking application, that installs itself on your phone, then runs itself in the background even if you are not playing the game. The app then every 15 seconds reports your location without telling you. Even if you reboot your phone, the app starts itself right back up in the background.
Of course, the million dollar question is, “Where does the app send the location information?”. The answer? To a second app called GPS Spy that is hooked into Tapsnake. The apps were made to be in conjunction with each other.
The attacker in this case would have to have physical access to your phone, install Tapsnake, then link it to the Spy Gps app, but if you already have it installed, it is that much easier.
Upon being informed about this issue, Google removed the Tapsnake app, but it still available via 3rd party methods. If you see this app on your phone, watch out!
NOTE: Snakes on a Phone originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
