Nokia penalised for texting tips to Aussie users, regrets not adding unsubscribe option
Here’s a bit of bad news for those who actually enjoy receiving Nokia’s regular tips via SMS: Reuters reports that the Australian Communications and Media Authority has slapped the Finnish company a hefty A$55,000 ($58,000) fine, with the reason being that there was no way to unsubscribe from said messages. This kind of flaw sure is a surprise at this day and age, but Nokia’s already taken action by simply axing this spammy service entirely in Australia, while at the same time ” ramping it down elsewhere” just to be safe, according to Reuters .
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Nokia penalised for texting tips to Aussie users, regrets not adding unsubscribe option
Google acquires Zagat: good news for foodies, bad news for Yelp?
Long before Yelp, there was Zagat — a point-based restaurant rating guide, compiled from the best (or worst, depending) crowdsourced reviews. Today, Google has acquired the brand and plans to integrate Zagat’s now expanded shopping, eating, drinking and hotel tips into both search and maps. For gastronomes, travelers and locals, that means crowdsourced tips for superb noms and activity recommendations from around the world. Sounds great, guys, as long as your new found friendship helps us find the best bacon-flavored ice cream cone, we’re all for it.
Google acquires Zagat: good news for foodies, bad news for Yelp? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T bringing red HTC Inspire 4G to Radio Shack, purple Evo Shift to follow?
Why, yes, that is a red HTC Inspire 4G you’re looking at. A friendly tipster provided us with these dummy unit images, adding that AT&T is planning to launch the jazzy model at Radio Shack. No word yet on when that’ll actually happen, nor do we know how much they’ll cost when it does. Our same source claims that a purple Evo Shift is also making its way to the Shack, so you know where to go to get your flashy phone fix this summer.
[Thanks, Dave]
AT&T bringing red HTC Inspire 4G to Radio Shack, purple Evo Shift to follow? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Motorola Xoom, Nexus S 4G hitting Sprint in early May?
Sprint service the only thing standing between you and a Motorola Xoom? Good news — a tipster passed along an internal calendar showing an April 25th employee training date for the Honeycomb tablet, and while we’re still taking it with a grain of salt, it seems like the real deal. If past products are any indication, it should hit Sprint stores a fortnight later, in early May, lining up nicely with those Xoom cases that were spotted a week back. The Nexus S 4G also looks to be slotted for employee training the same day, foreshadowing busy times ahead for the Now Network cashiers.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Motorola Xoom, Nexus S 4G hitting Sprint in early May? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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How to tell if your phone is rooted
It’s a question get all the time: "Is my phone rooted? How can I tell?" Maybe you picked up your new Android phone second-hand (it’s a great way to save some cash, and there are a lot of great used Android phones out there!), or the cryptic directions for rooting your particular phone seemed to forget an easy way to check if it was successful, or maybe your crazy brother was messing with it while you were in the shower.
No matter the reason, checking if your rooted is easy as pie, and is a quick introduction to a tool you might very well be using now that you’ve switched to the dark side and rooted your phone.
Open the Android Market and search for a terminal client. There’s several free ones, and they all work great. If I was forced to recommend one, I would choose Connectbot, but any of them will work.
Open the terminal app, read through the instructions (if any) you see, and you’ll be faced with a text entry prompt. If your prompt is the pound sign ( # ) — you’re rooted. If you see a dollar sign ( $ ), try entering the command "su" (without the quote marks). You might see a dialog asking for permission from the SuperUser app, which you can safely grant. If the prompt changes to the pound sign, you’re rooted.
Remember, root is the boss. You can do anything while you’re root, including many things that can "break" the OS and cause all sorts of trouble. Read all the guides and warnings before you try anything, and by all means ask questions in the Android Central forums!
How to tell if your phone is rooted posted originally by Android Central
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Holding the On/Off button
Note: The picture shows some options specific to HTC’s Sense UI
We have already discussed the functions of the four main buttons featured on most Android phones. One vital button was omitted: the on/off button. This button is more commonly used to boot up your phone, or cause the screen to goto sleep to save battery power if clicked once. Holding this button causes a menu to appear, with different options depending on what phone you have.
Most phones will have silent mode, airplane mode, and power off options. Phones with HTC’s Sense UI (Droid Incredible, Evo 4G, Desire, etc) will have a couple extra: toggle vibrate mode and toggle mobile network. The former turns on vibrate and turns off sound for all notifications (email, phone calles, etc) while the latter will toggle your 3G or 4G data connection. This is really useful if you want to save battery when using a WiFi network.
Posted originally at Android Central
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Importing and Exporting contacts
This tip comes in courtesy of Mark, who was kind enough to help out fellow Android addict and Android Central Podcast listener Steve get his contact syncing issues sorted out.
While it’s easiest to just use gmail to sync contacts and calendar, it’s certainly not required. Here’s how you can back up your contact list for easy retrieval anytime you need them.
- Open your contacts application
- Make sure All contacts are visible, unless you only want to back up certain groups.
- Hit the menu button
- Hit the Import/Export button
We can verify that this works on HTC Sense phones, as well as the new Galaxy S series phones. If you’re using something a bit more vanilla, you will have an option to do the same thing but using your SIM card (through SIM Manager in the contacts menu) instead of the microSD card. Lastly, if you’re using the latest CM6, you have the option to do both!
Posted originally at Android Central
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Adding numbers to speed dial
Sometimes we forget that our Android phones are, well, phones. For those times when you need to make a call, it’s handy to have a speed dial list. And it’s easy to make one. Open your dialer, some phones have a dedicated button, some have a shortcut icon on the desktop, and all have a phone app in the applications tray. Once you get it open, hit the menu button and look for the Speed dial button in the lower left (number 1 above). Give it a tap, and a new window will pop open (number 2 above) and you just hit the Add new button. After you pick a contact, you get to assign it to any available number on the list.
Note that this may vary by phone. It’s in Sense, and on the Captivate and Vibrant, as well as the Droid X. Stock Android? Not so much.
Pro tip: For those numbers that you find yourself always calling, you can add a direct dial icon to your homescreen by long pressing an available 1×1 spot, and choose Shortcut > Direct Dial from the menu. And don’t forget about voice dialing!
Posted originally at Android Central
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Save images from your browser
One of the great features of the Android browser (and most third-party browsers) is the ability to save any picture you might find on websites. You simply long-press on the image, and a menu pops up. Sometimes you may get several more options if the picture links to another webpage.
Once you save the image, you can quickly find it within your "All downloads" album in your gallery app, or just click on the file once it finishes downloading. As an example, this is a great way to find and use wallpapers for your Android phone. Enjoy!
Posted originally at Android Central
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Custom ringtones and notifications
One of the most personal things about your phone is what ringtone (and with Android) what notification sound you have. Using a program called RingDroid, it is possible to create custom ringtones and notification sounds from music you already own directly on your Android phone. Follow these steps and you will be rocking in no time:
Download RingDroid from the Market (Market | AppBrain).- Start the app and either scroll to find a song or search for it and click on it.
- You will see the editing screen (as above). Here you will want to drag the start/stop markers and make a clip under 30 seconds (ringtone) or just a few seconds (notification).
- When you are satisfied, hit Menu > Save or the little file icon in the bottom row.
- Now you will select what type you are making. Choose between ringtone, notification, alarm, or music. Also, you can create a custom name.
- Hit "save" and it will ask you if you want to make your song the default ringtone/notification/alarm. If you choose no, you can always go back into your notification or ringtone selector under Menu > Settings > Sounds & display and select what you want.
RingDroid is a great piece of software, and should work with any non-DRMed music file. Once created, the clips will be stored in sdcard/media/audio and can be accessed directly with Astro or by mounting your SD card onto your computer.
Posted originally at Android Central
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