» 2011 » January

Become an AndroidZoom developer!

26/01/2011 — AndroidZoom

Dear Developer,

We’re one of the biggest Android Marketplaces in the world. At AndroidZoom we strive to protect and promote Android developers and to provide our users with a fast, simple and direct way of downloading Android apps from the most reliable sources.

Did you know that around 20% of the people interested in downloading your app are unable to do so? Some Android devices don’t have the necessary license to download applications from Android Market, making it impossible for them to download your app from AndroidZoom.

Becoming a registered AndroidZoom developer is a free and simple process that will give you access to the following features:

-   Add a direct link to your APK. We’ll post the link on your apps download page and it’ll be available to all our users.
-   Add detailed information about your apps (Detailed description, Screenshots, videos, etc.) to your developer profile.
-   View app stats, including visits and downloads
-   Get feedback on bugs and improvements from our users.

- Go to one of your apps page
- Click in “I’m the developer!” link at the top right corner and follow the process.

That’s all, folks! Thanks for your time and happy application development!

Posted in AndroidZoom, Apps. No Comments »

Official Skype for Android

24/01/2011 — AndroidZoom

Last October another great application dives into Android. Up until now we’ve had only limited versions or imitations, leaving us to resort to third parties. But those days are over. The official version of Skype has finally reached Android.

The application

For those of you unfamiliar with Skype (highly unlikely), it’s the most well-known company offering VoIP (Voice over IP), or in other words, free calls on the internet. If your friends have Skype, the call is free. If not, you can still call landlines and cell phones anywhere in the world at really low rates (between 2-5 cents per minute). Until recently, there was no official application for Android and the third party apps available didn’t support free calls between users. That was until now. The application graphics are impressive.

To begin with, we’re asked to sign in, with the option of registering. We’re then displayed with a series of tabs for navigating between the different application functions: Contacts, Calls, Profile and Events (each one is fairly self-explanatory).

The application also supports:
•   Instant messaging between users
•   Skype-to-Skype calls
•   Calls to landlines and cell phones
•   Incoming calls
•   Participation in group calls (conference calls)
•   Android address book sync (adding in 2.1 the option to call each contact via Skype)
•   Call diversion
•   Favorite contacts, groups of contacts
But for the time being, the following isn’t possible:
•   Videocalls
•   Skype voicemail
•   Skype SMS
•   Skype File transfer
Even so, we can’t complain! Download it here or from the official website: skype.com/m

Skype

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Who can use it?

• At the moment it’s only compatible with Android 2.1 or over. For some strange reason, the Samsung Galaxy S isn’t supported…

The big debate

As you can see, this service is awesome. When Skype was “PC only”, no problem… So now it’s available on all smart phones (Android, iPhone, BB, Symbian), what’s the big deal? Well, now everyone can make free calls, or almost free, between phones!
As you can imagine, Voice over IP isn’t exactly a telephone operator’s dream since they lose vast amounts of money. As a result, Voice over IP is limited or even prohibited by Spanish companies. If you want, you can call, but don’t be surprised when you receive an astronomical bill.

Solutions: for the time being, there are 2.
• Call via Wi-Fi. It makes sense and it’s easy, especially since all the latest phones support WiFi. On the down side, if you can’t connect to the internet, you can’t call.
• Certain companies such as Vodafone are offering fixed rates that include VoIP, but the price is considerably higher (40€ per month or more).

It’s about time companies faced up to the fact that VoIP is the future and gradually, they’ll have to adapt their billing and tariffs to a single flat rate. But, one step at a time…

Alternatives

Skype isn’t the only company offering these services. Here are a few alternatives for you to try out:
•   Fring
•   Nimbuzz
•   Rebtel
•   Truphone
•   Tubaloo

We’ve tested them all and they get our seal of approval

Happy applications discovery!

[Via elAndroidelibre]

Posted in Apps, Elandroidelibre, Reviews, VoIP. 3 Comments »

Good or Bad? Review it!

19/01/2011 — AndroidZoom

Sometimes, when you download an App from AndroidZoom you need to share with the whole world how good or bad it is, that’s why we launch our new feature, the apps reviews. With this feature you can evaluate, write an opinion and share it for all users.

To use this feature, log in to AndroidZoom and select your desired application. In the upper right corner of the applications page, click “Add Review” link. Rate it with stars, write a review and press “Save Review”, and that’s it!

Happy apps rating!

Posted in AndroidZoom, Apps, New Feature, Reviews, Tricks. 2 Comments »

“The Other” Android tablets at the 2011 CES

17/01/2011 — AndroidZoom

Some tablets really stood out while others went virtually unnoticed. There were a few that we’re now dreaming about and others that we haven’t even heard of yet. You’ve already seen a lot of the first models recently: the Motorola XOOM, the G-Slate by LG, the Asus (Transformer, Slider and Memo). And the greatest discovery that unites them all: Honeycomb.

But there were a few that, for some reason, we weren’t quite expecting. Here’s the rundown:

Toshiba “Anon”
Why Anon? Because it has no name. What’s its main characteristic? It’s a clone of XOOM and G-Slate but not quite as complete as these- that’s why such a fuss hasn’t been made about it. What do I mean by incomplete? Well, as you’ll see in the video, it has Froyo but that’s temporary; it’ll soon come with Honeycomb. Let’s take a closer look at its characteristics and the video by our friends at Android Police:

•   Nvidia Tegra II Chipset
•   10’1 inch screen with WXGA resolution (1280×800)
•   Full size HDMI and USB ports (no micro or mini)
•   SD card slot (again, no mini or micro) which means storage can be expanded to 64 GB instead of 32.
•   Weight: 770g
•   5 Mp camera at the back and a 2 Mp front-facing camera

Acer Iconia Tab A500

One of the two tablets promised by Acer, so far it’s been introduced with Froyo, but as with the previous tablet, it’ll come with Honeycomb. The proof? The virtual buttons instead of hardware buttons.
It also has a 10.1 inch screen, with USB, microUSB and HDMI ports, and a connection for charger and dock. “On top of” Android, it has the Hacer U15 interface by the manufacturer and of course (as if it were now the standard) Nvidia Tegra 2. Perhaps its most distinguishing feature is its attractive, hard shell and metallic color.

Dell Streak 7

Dell has gone for a seven inch tablet, also with Nvidia Tegra 2. In this case it also has:
•   Gorilla Glass screen
•   Internal 16 GB memory, expandable with microSD (+32GB)
•   5 Mp back camera and 1.3 Mp front-facing camera
•   Manufacturer interface (Stage)
•   Currently with Froyo but has virtual buttons (Honeycomb, perhaps?)
•   Dimensions (in inches): 7.87? x 4.72? x 0.49?

Two more- and even more on the horizon…

On another level, we have the Lenovo IdeaPad U1, a tablet with Android 2.2 and Snapdragon processor @ 1.3 Ghz, that can’t be updated to Honeycomb. Its main feature is that when you plug it into its dock, it becomes a screen for running Windows 7 (which is what the dock-keyboard has). And to make it just that little bit stranger than it already was, it doesn’t have Market, which seems to be the case with a lot of tablets as we mentioned before.

The Vizio Via Tablet is also worth a mention, an almost square tablet with Froyo on the inside, but again, it looks like Honeycomb is on its way (virtual buttons and the apparition of Market). In this case we’re talking about 8 inches and it has a curious little app that turns it into a universal remote control. Here’s a video from CNET to show you more:

The MWC is just around the corner and that means more new features. Ever thought about what Samsung has been up to while everyone’s been busy making tablets and HTC? In a month or so we’ll have the answer.

Happy applications discovery!

[Via elAndroidelibre]

Posted in AndroidZoom, CES2011, Elandroidelibre, Reviews, Tablets. 1 Comment »

APPS2SD: Free up space on your Android in 3 easy steps

12/01/2011 — AndroidZoom

A lot of people have been telling me recently that they can’t install certain applications because they have no space left on their phone. Now we’re talking about internal memory here, not the SD memory. And yes, it’s true to say that on the first phones that came out (such as Dream, Magic, Hero and co.) the internal memory in terms of installing applications is nothing to shout about. More than once you’ll have found the Memory Full icon on the notifications bar, so let’s have a look at how to avoid it.

Step 1 Clear data

If you go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications you’ll see a list of all the installed apps. If you go into one of them (Twitter, Navigator, etc…) you’ll see different storage data. One of the options here is Clear Data. This will delete all data stored by the application and should free up quite a lot of space.

But remember, this is a short term solution because this data will reaccumulate and you’ll be back to square one.

Step 2 Clear Cache [Roots only]

Just like on a computer, you can delete cache. You can use an application directly to do this, but you’ll need Root access.

Cache Killer

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Step 3 Move applications to the SD [Root only]

Note: With Android 2.2 Froyo and NOT rooted: only a few applications can go on to the SD. ROOTED + Any ROM that fully supports Apps2SD: no problem, they’ll all go on.

This is the function that we’re all waiting for and that’s gradually being implemented in Android 2.2 Froyo. Unfortunately, we still depend on the developer implementing it on his application. BUT if you’re ROOTED you can activate this function and transfer all your applications to the SD without any difficulties. This is a definitive way of solving the problem of storage, since you’re left with all the SD space for installing applications. Here are a couple of applications (there are many more available) that will help transfer to the SD.

App 2 SD Free (move app to SD)

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MoveToSD

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This should work for all Androids (it doesn’t), but in any case, if you have Android 2.2 it’s guaranteed to work for a few apps.

Note: Don’t transfer widgets to the SD because they’ll stop working.

I hope this advice helps you free up more space on your phone for installing applications. Another way of reading it is: here are two more reasons to root if you haven’t already!

Happy applications discovery!

[Via elAndroidelibre]

Posted in Apps, Elandroidelibre, Tricks. 3 Comments »

Simple games from the past, the present, and always: Bomber man, Frogger and Solipskier

05/01/2011 — AndroidZoom

It’s great that Android is also evolving into an excellent gaming platform where the quality of textures is on a par with that of any portable console… But from time to time there’s a certain nostalgia for those simple games we would spend hours and hours playing until we’d practically damaged our eyesight. So here are three games that the majority will probably be familiar with and that we can now enjoy on our phones.

Bomberman Dojo

Bomberman Dojo takes us back to the days when we used to spend dime after dime at the amusement arcade (now that made me sound old…). If the name doesn’t ring any bells, all you need to do is look at the image of the little guy who strategically plants bombs until he’s cleared the screen of enemies and you’ll recognize it.
The game includes multi-touch support and Open-Feint connection (like Ninja Fruit) so you can share statistics with the whole community. To do this, if you haven’t installed Open-Feint or you haven’t set up an account before, you’ll have to create one at the beginning of Bomberman Dojo, or you can forget about sharing.
Movement is controlled by sliding your finger over the cross control. There’s a normal mode (Dojo) and an editable mode (User) from which you can load saved games, edit your own maps and even exchange maps created with maps by other users.
It may not run quite as smoothly as it should and $4.99 may be a bit steep, but the memories it brings back are priceless.

Bomberman Dojo

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Frogger

This is another one of those games that we’ve probably all played more than once. The frog that tries to cross a busy road and then a river by jumping on logs etc. is now a classic in the genre of simple but addictive games. By the one and only Konami, it comes in both a standard version and a version compatible with Android 2.0 onwards. However, inexplicably, the updated version not only has worse graphics, but its price has almost doubled… Even so, despite the simple plot, it’s a game that’s way more addictive than it seems.

Frogger

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Frogger

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Solipskier

Now this one hasn’t been around for that long, but it’s a classic browser game (for when your boss isn’t looking). Some of you may remember Line Rider, a game as basic as they come but that could get you totally hooked, spending hours creating incredible circuits for your character to do impressive spins on his sleigh… If you fit that description, then Solipskier will definitely trigger your memory. Again, the aim is ridiculously simple: gain as many points as possible with a skier you draw the tracks, slopes and jumps for, but this time you create the tracks as you go along, by sliding your finger over the screen. The sense of speed intensifies with the accompanying music. It’s very basic game, but it’s the perfect companion for any kind of journey.

Solipskier

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So what about you guys? Missing any classics on your Android? What are the games that kept you awake and out of pocket when you were young that you’d like to see adapted for your cell phone? I vote for “Cadillacs & Dinosaurs”.

Happy applications discovery!

[Via elAndroidelibre]