[h2]
R2-D2 Droid 2 on sale today![/h2]
Couldn't make it to one of the
R2-D2 parties last night? Want your very own
Star Wars edition of the Droid 2? Just hit up Verizon's website and part with $249, and you can be the envy of all your nerd friends. And you can't put a price on that. [
Verizon]
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
[h2]
Sprint 4G goes live in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul[/h2]
Sprint's 4G data service just went live in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis-St. Paul, meaning you Steelers fans with the Samsung Epic 4G and HTC Evo 4G can get the latest as old man Charlie Batch leads the Steelers over the Ravens on Sunday, and you Vikes fans can fret about whether old OLD man Brett Favre will actually come back from the bye week or go back to Mississippi where it's safe and warm. Yeah, it's like that. [
Sprint]
Full list of Sprint 4G service in the Android Central Forums
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[h2]
Google Maps gets an update, adds weather to live wallpapers[/h2]
Google Maps just got itself a little update to add weather to the live wallpaper. Haven't actually seen any weather yet in Version 4.5.1, but I've been accused of living in a vacuum before. Get it now in the Android Market. [via
Android Central Forums]
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[h2]
Epic 4G hidden menus and more? [From the forums][/h2]
We all know we love Android so much because the development community rocks, and people are always finding new ways to make it even better. Our forums members are always finding great new tricks and fun things to do with their devices, and
egg_head has discovered that Samsung devices seem to have quite a string of hidden menus. Now, these menus are apparently found on all Samsung devices, just not in the same location, but they can sure do some nifty things. Ranging from a full device shut down by holding the end key button to various different audio settings these additional menus can allow even more customization then we had even imagined. For more information be sure to
jump in the forums and read up on the various menus! [
Android Central Forums]
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[h2]
How fast is the G2 on HSPA+?[/h2]
The up side to being the first kid on your block with an HSPA+ device? You get stupidly mad speeds on the
T-Mobile G2. This comes not
from our boy Jeremy Sikora's G2, but from an anonymous tipster (geographically unknown as well as anonymous in name), so you can argue the validity all you want. And, no, it's not like the browser's going to be processing pages at that speed. But downloads, well, that's another story. Have at it, folks.
Thanks, anonymous!
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[h2]
Big things ahead for Launcher Pro[/h2]
Launcher Pro and Launcher Pro Plus are easily some of the most popular alternative launchers for Android. The developer has been iterating at a fast pace and has integrated some awesome features into the product. A big announcement from him today hints at big changes in the future.
The developer, if you aren't familiar, is Federico Carnales, who is very accessible and has been working extremely hard at Launcher Pro.
To sum it up, here is what he said:
- Launcher Pro is based on the stock Android 2.0 launcher
- The stock launcher was not developed to support some of the iterations that Launcher Pro has introduced, such as the ability to have seven home-screens
- Due to this, he has decided to throw out the current version and develop Launcher Pro from scratch
This will allow him to have more control over the app and have an easier time implementing some of the features he has his mind on. According to the announcement, this change will result in:
- Improved speed
- Reduced memory usage
- Increased flexibility (adapting to other devices, like tablets)
- Cleaner code to allow more features
- The bug fixes that haven't been addressed yet
Those of us who have purchased Launcher Pro Plus will not have to pay for the app again. The new version will simply replace it. No date has been set, but don't expect anything too soon, it's a huge job. Nevertheless, Launcher Pro users should be excited at this announcement, as it will only result in a more functional app. [
LauncherPro]
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[h2]
Beejive for Android now available[/h2]
Beejive IM is finally out of beta, and is now available on the Android Market. Beejive is a very popular, cross platform multiple service IM client that's safe (128-bit encryption on all over-the-air data), easy to use, and uses Google's new push services (
see our Chrome to Phone demo about them) to stay easy on the battery. It also integrates seamlessly with all of the popular chat clients, with group chat support for AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Gtalk, and Jabber. Possibly the best feature -- file transfers between users is supported, something many of us have been waiting for.
It's good that Beejive is so feature rich, because it's going to cost you $10. That's not really surprising, as Beejive is an expensive app on other platforms as well. What I found most dissapointing, is that while Beejive offers license transfer between BlackBerry devices, I see no method to transfer my license from BlackBerry to my Android device, nor any method to transfer license between Android phones. And it appears that each installation is tied to the device it was purchased from, using a unique device identifier, so Beejive will have to facilitate the transfer. Hopefully all this is an oversight or in the works -- I've reached out to Beejive for some more clarification.
But if you've been longing for Beejive, or just need a good (and it's very good, I've been participating in the beta as well) cross platform, multi-client chat application go for it -- you won't be disappointed in anything other than the price and/or licensing scheme. Download link and some more screen shots are after the break.
You can resize the widgets but it would just take up space and the picture wouldn't fill the screen. Guess i'll have to read more and get a copy of photoshop to edit size and resolution.
