news

In case you missed it, Google made the full SDK for Android 4.1 available for download yesterday, as well as an updated set of SDK tools (20.1.1) and the NDK (rev 8b). The download is available via the SDK manager or the Android Developers site and is a must have for developers. As with all new versions of Android, there’s a few learning curves. Thankfully Android engineer Nick Butcher was kind enough to give out some pointers.

Google Play Music received some UI improvements today when it was updated to version 4.3.606. Besides being “Harder, better, faster, stronger,” the Google Play Music app now features a:

Verizon’s 4G LTE coverage map continues to look like a teenager with a bad case of acne, however, they are lighting up more cities per month than other carriers have all year. The next batch of markets to receive the Verizon 4G LTE treatment is just as large, with 33 new markets and 32 expanding markets set to go live tomorrow. There’s a reason you pay Big Red all that cash, and this is one of them.

I know what you’re thinking, and we’re thinking it too: “why?” Why is Sony even bothering with an Android Walkman when just about every Android smartphone has more than enough storage and the same functionality? My first answer was “because not all parents want to buy their kids a smartphone.” Then I realized you can pick up a used Android smartphone on Ebay or Swappa for dirt cheap and basically use it as an MP3 player (my daughter is using my old OG DROID in the same manner). So why, why bother with this Sony? We can’t answer that, but what we can do, is tell you what Sony has planned for its Ice Cream Sandwich powered F800 model Walkman.

I bet you didn’t consider this feature when deciding between an iPhone 4S and an Android device such as the Galaxy S III. The company behind the radiation measurement app Tawkon has released a semi-disturbing infograph (which can be found at the bottom of this post) detailing the SAR (a measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a radio frequency(RF) electromagnetic field) score of various popular smartphones.

Next Page »