How To Build a $10 Android Wind-Up Charger

If you find that your Android phone always runs out of juice at the most inopportune times, never fear! Supermodder Ben Heck has heard your pleas, and is here to teach you how to build one cheap, hand-cranked Android charger.
Of course, there's also the chance that you can't be bothered with all that tinkering, in which case you can just come by the charger the old-fashioned way: winning it in a random drawing

From Gizdomo.com

By Brian Barrett

Play.fm mobile app for Android now available

Play.fm, the largest online site for DJ mixes and recordings, has released their Android app to the Android Market. If you're not into listening to the same old stuff you can find on each and every radio station each day then maybe this is the app you have been waiting for. The Play.fm app takes mixes recorded live in clubs, at festivals and radio shows and puts them all into one streaming music service that is loaded with features:

• Listen to top-ranked DJs from over 180 countries
• Get instant access to mixes recorded live in clubs, at festivals and radio shows
• Sort DJ mixes by editorial features, popularity and most recent
• Search and find your favorite mixes instantly
• Filter mixes by genres
• Jump to your favorite part within any mix with audio skipping to the second

Personally, I get rather bored of hearing the same old songs played over and over again so DJ remixes are a good way to keep songs fresh without being driven insane. Play.fm is however a premium subscription service so it will cost you $4.10 for 90 days of use. Video of the app in action can be found after the break.

From Androidcentral.com
By Chris Parsons

ADWLauncher EX updated to support custom docks

Last week we were treated to a Launcher Pro update, this week ADWLauncher EX has rolled out their latest version as well. While most of the changelog is just some bug fixes and minor touch ups to how the launcher function one of the larger additions was the ability to use custom docks. In fact, when you update you'll find that a few custom docks have already been included in the package for you. Full change log is listed below:

• Reorderable main menu can disable elements and reorder by drag and drop(ADWSettings/General behavior/System settings)
• Added transparency support for the 4D drawer (yes, it's choppier, I told you)
• Support for custom images for dock and hidden dockbar
• Added a small catalog of dock pictures
• Option to change app drawer icons text color
• Menu/Lock now locks app drawer too
• Fixed old style previews when statusbar was hidden.
• Fixed fancy backgrounds transparency issues
• Fixes more "ForceCloses"

From Androidcentral.com
By Chris Parsons

HTC Merge headed to Alltel?

The HTC Merge -- you might remember it from our exclusive hands-on, our video preview, our benchmark tests, photo gallery ... You get the point. We blew that thing out of the water. But one thing we couldn't do was keep Verizon from never releasing the thing in the first place. But Droid-Life posted the picture you see above. And it's either a simple background switch and a cruel hoax, or indeed the Merge may show on Alltel, which was purchased by Verizon and all but assimilated into the Big Red ecosystem.

Of course, we've heard this story before. Hell, we told this story before. And a release on Alltel isn't nearly as widespread or as satisfying as a release on one of the Big Four. But fear not, we're sure Verizon and HTC have something Merge-like up their sleeves. All things in good time, folks.

From Androidcentral.com

By Phil Nickinson

Bell Mobility releasing the Motorola Atrix in Canada on March 17?

Lining things up with our previously posted AT&T launch date of March 1, it looks like those of you in Canada won't have to wait much longer past that date to get your hands on the Motorola Atrix. New documentation suggests that the Motorola Atrix (sans 4G in Canada, because we call it what it really is. Fast 3G) will arrive on Bell March 17. That said the documentation also notes that it could be very for different retailers but just to be in that ballpark area should be good for most of you out there waiting.

From Androidcentral.com
By Chris Parsons

Plume v2.15 update now available

The change over from Touiteur has long been completed and since then, the good people over at LevelUp Studio have been hard at working bringing you the latest version of Plume. Today we see the release of v2.15 hit the Android Market with plenty of bug fixes and issues corrected from previous version. As listed on their site, changes include:

• fix the Mark As Spam button
• fix the Show Replies results
• fix some position saving/restore issues
• fix the display message when following a user from a profile
• fix a crash when the picture cache backup is corrupted
• better handling of invalid twitter account profile display

As you can see, lots of bugs squashed with this release. If you've been holding off on giving Plume a try for whatever reason, hit the download link after the break. It's a really nice Twitter app and given that it has both a free and paid version you're not out anything by testing it out.

From Androidcentral.com
By Chris Parsons

Epic Games reveals Android plans

 Infinity Blade and Gears of War developer Epic Games has revealed where Android fits into its future development plans in a recent interview.
Gaming site Slowdown.vg sat down with Jay Wilbur, Epic's Vice President, for an interview focused on the developer's mobile and middleware efforts. As well as reflecting on Epic's success with Infinity Blade on iOS, Wilbur is quizzed on the studio's future plans for the Android platform.

Interviewer: The iPhone is great, but I’m an Android kind of guy. [Waves around the Nexus One phone being used to record the interview] Will we ever get to play UE3 games?
Wilbur: [Takes out a Galaxy S, shows Epic Citadel running on it] We’ve done some development on Android. That’s Epic Citadel running on Android – now, this is not for public release. It’s on iOS first, and then once the iOS version is released then we’ll start considering Android.

Wilbur also comments on the challenges Epic faced in getting their Unreal Engine running on Android, including the dreaded f-word: fragmentation.

Wilbur: One of the problems with the Android marketplace is hardware fragmentation, that’s a really big issue. The other thing is marketplace fragmentation, there are so many different appstores out there. The Android marketplace is a little more difficult [to develop for] because there is less control. I think the Android marketplace is robust … I find it very easy to buy things on it, it’s just that Apple has very tight control. So anything in the Apple world is perfect. It’s just perfect. We like that, we like that a lot. We know that it’s just gonna work. Sometimes that’s not always the case in the Android marketplace.

It's great to see a big-name developer like Epic Games taking an active interest in Android, though based on Wilbur's comments, it looks like there are still a few issues to be ironed out. [Slowdown.vg]


From Androidcentral.com
By Alex Dobie

Google brings more fun to your weather forecast

In addition to their making their announcement of cloud printing being available on mobile devices, Google has also been messing around with a better way to let users know what their weather forecast is looking like. Making note on the Google Mobile blog that they wanted the weather to be more fun, Google has rolled out a new weather search experience.

At first glance, you’ll see content that we’d previously shown you before: current conditions and a forecast for the next few days. But by moving the slider over the next 12 hours, you can now see a detailed hour-by-hour breakdown of the changing weather conditions. As you do this, keep an eye on the temperature, wind speed and humidity and see how all these conditions are expected to trend across the day. You may also notice that the background color changes throughout the day. Of course, as you scroll further down you’ll see our regular web search results for your query.

Open your browser and search for "weather" as you normally would to see how the new system works. Currently it is only available in English but Google hopes to have it in more languages as soon as possible. [Google Mobile Blog]

From Androidcentral.com
By Chris Parsons

LG promises 'new dimension' next month at Mobile World Congress

As much as we're trying to duck it, it appears that 3D screens are just around the corner for smartphones. We saw one in the Sharp Galapogos at CES earlier this month. And LG's press invite for Mobile World Congress seems to indicate we're about to see more. "Into the new dimension" is what we're told to expect. Add to that the appearance of an "LG Optimus 3D" phone at a Dutch retailer, and it's looking more and more likely that we'll be seeing that new dimension.

We'll find out in a couple weeks. And we'll be there, of course,with or without 3D glasses.

From Androidcentral.com

By Phil Nickinson

HTC HD2 can now dual-boot Windows Phone 7 and Android, promises to love them equally

You've seen Windows Phone 7 and Android both ported to the stately HTC HD2, now how about having them on the same device at the same time? Well, not literally at the same time, that'd be all sorts of confusing, but the restless souls over at xda-developers have figured out multiple ways to install both WP7 and Android on the HD2 while using the same SD card. We've looked at them and none of the methods seem particularly trivial or, you know, easy, but then what would be the point of a dual-boot solution if everyone could just up and do it? Detailed instructions await at the source link.

[Thanks, engadgeteer]

From Engadget.com
By Richard Lai

Google Cr-48 Chrome laptop now shipping with stickers, the good kind

 

How is it that so few companies get it? While dozens of manufacturers will gladly slap an Intel, Microsoft, or NVIDIA advertisement on the palmrest of your brand new laptop, Google knows better than to partake in this annoying practice. Instead, it ships its Cr-48 Chrome laptop as a sticker-free slab of matte black stealth. At least it did. Now, don't worry, Google hasn't succumbed to the temptation to advertise (ironically) -- it's simply bundling this swank skin and a decal set with new Cr-48 shipments. The choice to apply is yours and yours alone, exactly as it should be. See the finished product after the break.

From Engadget.com
By Thomas Ricker

Nexus S emerges in white attire, but it only covers its rear

Staying true to its Galaxy S forefather, the Nexus S has shown up with a new white shell, which, just as with the Galaxy S, only extends to its rear portions, leaving the front end a familiar shade of noir. Just what's keeping manufacturers from blanching their phones' visage, we don't know, but at least it's looking like there'll be some variation in the Nexus S' palette. We did notice a "Silver Black" Nexus S sprouting up in European retailers' listings a couple of weeks ago, which this could well be -- it all depends on how loosely these companies define the word "silver." There's no knowledge on when or where this chromatically altered S will be on sale, but you'll know more as soon as we do.

Update: First picture from the wilderness of the white back is now embedded after the break. The Next Web suggests Vodafone may be the European carrier for this particular version of the handset.

From Engadget.com
By Vlad Savov

Nioncom announces Android-based, pico projector-equipped MemoryKick Vision

MicroVision may not have any plans to turn the pico projector-equipped "mini-tablet" prototype it showed off at CES earlier this month into an actual product, but it looks like little-known Nioncom is now taking the idea and running with it. While it's still a bit too render-y for our tastes, the company insists that its MemoryKick Vision device is real, and that it will hit the US market sometime in the second quarter of the year. It's based around the same PicoP projector used in MicroVision's prototype, but it beefs things up with a larger 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen and, perhaps most notably, a 2.5-inch hard drive that promises to allow for 500GB to 1TB of storage (it also pushes the device's thickness to a full inch). Otherwise, you can expect to get Android 2.2 for an OS, a 5 megapixel camera, WiFi and Bluetooth, an accelerometer, HDMI in and out, a USB port, and an SD card slot for additional storage. Still no firm word on a price, but the company apparently expects it to be in the "mid-$500 range."

From Engadget.com
By Donald Melanson 

[Review] - Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

This won't be the first (or by any means last) video you'll see the Xperia Arc starring in, but it is the most comprehensive look we've had so far at this finely crafted Android Gingerbread handset. The guys over at HDBlog.it have somehow sourced both the silver and black variants of Sony Ericsson's upcoming 4.2-incher and they've given the pair a nice and thorough video overview. They happily report that Timescape and Mediascape, Sony Ericsson's pervasive features in the earlier X10, have been scaled down to mere widgets, making them "far less intrusive" and resulting in the rest of the UI being "faster and easier to use." Make the leap past the break to get the full dish on SE's latest and greatest.

From Engadget.com
By Vlad Savov

Google brings Cloud Print service to mobile Google Docs, Gmail

 
You'll still need to have that Windows PC acting as an intermediary, but folks looking to use Google's Cloud Print service now at least have considerably more devices at their disposal to print documents from. Following up its roll-out to Chrome OS netbooks last month, Google has now announced that it's begun rolling the service out to its mobile Google Docs and Gmail sites, which you'll be able to use to print documents from most mobile devices that supports HTML5 -- those running Android 2.1+ or iOS 3+, for instance. What's more, while you will still need that Windows PC connected to your printer for the time being, Google now notes that both Mac and Linux support are "coming soon."
From Engadget.com
By Donald Melanson

Notion Ink Adams arrive to eager unboxers, first OTA brings new meaning to DOA

Well, would you look at that? Oh yes, that's a real life Notion Ink Adam on some lucky guy's table after being pulled from its fresh packaging. Sure, that's to be expected considering the 10-inch, Android 2.2 tablets were boxed up and shipped out last week, but after the numerous delays, we've got to say it's a true milestone for the India-based company. However, while the unboxing videos and pictures are flowing in -- there are two right after the break for ya -- there's sadly some rain pouring down on the company's parade today. According to the chaps at Android Police, a few people have encountered serious issues with an over-the-air update that was pushed to these new tablets. Apparently, hitting the update button and installing the software has caused the Tegra 2 Adam to stop booting (picture of that sad sight at the second source link). That's surely a FOF situation (frown on face, for those that haven't listened to the recent Engadget podcast), but word is that Notion Ink has stopped pushing out those updates for the time being and emailed customers about the issue. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground on this one, but in the meantime we'll be here waiting for our review unit to arrive so we can show those amateur, wobbly-cam unboxers how it's really done.

From Engadget.com
By Joanna Stern