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.

Samsung: Google Nexus S Coming To Canada Q1 2011

CES 2011 has brought us some interesting Android news including Android 3.0 Honeycomb for Tablets and much more (which we will have a summary of this week). One interesting thing that cropped up today is word that the Google Nexus S is in fact headed to Canada soon.
MobileSyrup got a chance to talk to Samsung about this and Q1 2011 seems to be the approximate date. No pricing is available yet but we’re likely to see this phone in both spectrum variations eventually. This means it can be used on any GSM carrier in Canada. Great news and certainly an exciting one for Canadians.

Rogers Samsung Captivate Android 2.2 Froyo Update Available

Among the Samsung Galaxy S smartphones released to our top Canadian carriers, Rogers’ Captivate is last to receive the Android 2.2 update. While Bell’s Vibrant and Telus’ Fascinate owners have already been enjoying their Froyo treat for a little while, we’re happy to see it finally arriving to Captivate users as well.
Rogers has provided a PDF outlining the upgrade procedures and you’ll find that just below. Now only if they stuck to their promises, maybe we wouldn’t be so bitter about the timing eh? As always, don’t forget to tell us how it went!

Android 2.3 Gingerbread SDK review and bugs

It's been over a week since gingerbread came out, i've been using the updated sdk since day one.
Here is a little review about it from the developers point of view (it's not as sweet as the name suggests...).
Adb is moved to /platform-tools directory from /tools.
SDK 2.3 is not backwards compatible with older ubuntu's because GLIBC_2.11 is only available in newer distributions.
Some guy found a workaround:
> Just found a work-around solution:
> 1. Add this repository: "deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-
> security main" to software sources (/etc/apt/sources.list)
> 2. Start update aptitude: sudo apt-get update
> 3. Start update libc6: sudo apt-get install libc6
When I tried this, on my ubuntu (9.10) laptop, it wanted to remove +2,5Gb of random packages that used the old version of glibc (gnome etc..). So after I made a fresh install of ubuntu 10.10, it worked like it should. A few months ago I had to move back from 10.10 to 9.x because eclipse and the sdk wouldn't work well..now it's the other way around.
The new layout editor:

You used to be able to just put layout items into (empty wrap_content sized) layouts. Now you can't use the editor for that, you have to switch to xml view and do it by hand.
The small icons on the outline window are gone. You can't delete or move an item with a click of a button.
The highlight around the items is a sweet addon, and it's good that you can move around already deployed items in the editor by dragging them.
ADB and SDK manager:
3rd party addons are now available conviniently from the manager sdk manager.
It's kinda broken. It works, but it still displays the updates that are already installed, and it even lets you reinstall them over and over again, which I did, until I realised that they were already installed and working.

You used to be able to put %s %d etc in strings.xml(here is a good forum topic about it), now you have to format it in a specific way.
The first time I re-checked out my projects from the svn server I ran into this. First thing I did was projects/clean, and obviously R crapped itself, and I got a few hundred errors because of it. It took me some time to figure out that I had a % symbol in my strings.xml.
To sum it up, this new version of the sdk doesn't feel like it's ready for production purposes. There a lot of hidden errors that I ran into. So if you are in the middle of a project, don't waste time by upgrading your sdk and (maybe) risk bumping into these problems and waste time.

EVO 4G Shift is Coming January 9th, and Its Accessories Are Already Popping Up!

The HTC Evo 4G Shift is finally confirmed to arrive by RadioShack of all places.  The ad shows that they are selling it for US$149.99 with a 2-year contract, and it does brand the name EVO 4G Shift (picture below taken from Android Central). Engadget has also reported that BestBuy has started carrying screen protectors that are designed for the HTC EVO 4G Shift (picture in gallery below).  Well, I suppose that confirms the phone's existence, doesn't it?

We were also graced with some shots of Sprint's official case and holster for the Shift. According to our source, the phone is around the size of the original Motorola Droid.
So, what do you guys think of the new EVO 4G Shift. Is anyone planning on swapping out the original EVO for the smaller keyboarded version? Let us know!

Make Your Xperia X10 Look Like Gingerbread

No, you can't have Gingerbread on your Xperia X10 yet and it'll probably take a long time before you can, but you can apply a custom ROM with a Gingerbread theme. I've made a mod of the AOSP ROM we've talked about earlier to make it look like Gingerbread. The screenshots are a bit outdated, I've modified the notification bar today.
It resembles Gingerbread, but it's just a mod of the 2.1 AOSP ROM from Jerpelea and zdzihu.

Here's a mod of the AOSP ROM. What I've basically done is added a Gingerbread theme, add some Gingerbread apps and a few other things. It's based on version 008a of the AOSP ROM.

This ROM has practically the same issues as the AOSP ROM, meaning:

• The camera crashes in the Advanced Settings
• Video recording doesn't work
• The camera isn't usable in other applications, like the Barcode Scanner for example.
• The Gingerbread launcher doesn't work yet. Work in progress.

As you can see, these are primarily issues with the camera driver, which needs to be rewritten. For details on installing this, continue reading.
To install the ROM, you need to have a custom recovery, in this case xRecovery, installed. Here's how to do that:

Samsung Continuum (Review)

A sexy, sleek new Android device from Verizon Wireless brings a little twist to makes it stand out on its own.  While it sports the Galaxy S logo many are familiar with, the Continuum separates itself with a few distinctions.

The smaller 3.4" Super AMOLED screen really is a beauty, just like all the other Galaxy S devices.  The 1.8" ticker display is the first thing to stand out & separate the Continuum from the rest of the pack.  Aside from a few dislikes which I'll dive into towards the end, the albeit gimmicky device should land in the hands of many Verizon Wireless customers.  Best suited for those with smaller hands that find a typical 4.3" display to be too large, but don't want to sacrifice the speed of the ultra fast Hummingbird CPU.



The ticker display is the most controversial topic surrounding this phone. Its a 1.8" (480 x 96) screen at the bottom of the main display.  Geared towards the social networking part of life, there are Facebook, Twitter, SMS & other notifications inside the ticker.  While quite innovative, it has a few things holding it back.
First of all, why on earth is it on the front of the device?  I believe its better suited on the back towards the top or bottom, so while laying face down, the information inside the ticker is accessible.  Why rob precious real estate from the front by adding a second display when the main screen could be larger?  Relocate the ticker to the back, open the source so developers can make the most of it (read: better than the manufacturer had in mind) & we might have a winning combination.  Until then, I'm going to call it a gimmick.

Battery life is fairly impressive with this device.  The 1500mAh battery which is pretty common in many Android devices, might get a little extra help from the smaller display size of the Continuum.  The USB charging port is on the side of the device which is a pet peeve of mine.  Not being able to mount the device in my universal windshield mount is a considerable loss.  GPS navigation can kill the battery & without the ability to charge the device you might end up at your destination with a dead cell phone.

 

The photo above shows the Continuum can snap a decent photo.  The LED Flash is available for dark lighting conditions as well.  It sports a 5mp camera with auto focus.  Built in, is the ability for 720p video recording too.  A quick dive into the specs of the Continuum & its easy to be impressed.

• 1GHZ Hummingbird Processor
• Super AMOLED Display
• Wifi 802.11B/G/N Compatible
• 3.5mm Headphone Jack
• Expandable Memory Slot (microSD)

All-in-all the Continuum has many items on the "Want List" for any Android device.  Fast CPU, expandable memory & an awesome display.  However i do have a few gripes which might be considered deal breakers for some, as well they should be.  I've already had a mini-rant regarding the ticker display & feel it would have worked better if Samsung considered how things were done in the day of the flip phone.  Remember when flip phones introduced the small display on outside of the clam shell indicating time, missed calls etc?  Well that didn't steal anything from the main display & provided information "at a glance" which should be the goal of the ticker without the real estate sacrifice.  The next gripe is a rather large one and it has more to do with the entire line of Galaxy S devices that are STILL running Android 2.1 (eclair).  Seriously a device with a Hummingbird CPU released in the 4th quarter of 2010 doesn't have at least Android 2.2(froyo)? I mean, SERIOUSLY?  The TouchWiz interface is easily replaced for those who prefer ADW or LauncherPro as alternatives.  Oh but there's something about Bing on a Google Android device just screams out "mod me, mod me - save me, save me!"

A little side note, it appears the device is rootable using the z4Root method courtesy of AliWaqas.  There aren't any customROMs & dev support seems to be absent despite having its own forum on XDA.  In other words, this device may not be for the l337 h4x0r5 out there, but if it gets updated to Android 2.2(froyo) I could see it fitting the intermediate user.  As it sits right now, its best for the younger consumer that enjoys gimmicky little things like the Ticker Display.

The “Android SMS Bug” Does Not Exist

Let me tell you all a story of my youth. I was in high school, driving around in my first car, a 1976 Mercury Monarch. Approaching an intersection, I saw the stop sign too late; I was going to run right into the guy coming the other way. Last ditch effort, I slammed on the brakes and, inexplicably, the car lurched forward into the intersection. What the eff? The other car swerved, ended up just running into the Monarch's trunk, took off the back bumper. It was my first accident and my first ticket (for blowing that stop sign). But I couldn't understand, what was wrong with the car that made it accelerate when I slammed on the brakes?
That's right, folks, I had slammed on the gas, not the brakes. Nothing was wrong with the car. But it took a while to get that through my head.
Over the past week, a supposed Android bug has gotten a lot of press, both on Android-related sites and mainstream tech sites. A bug report claims that SMS messages intended for one person are getting sent to a different, unintended recipient. Worrisome to be sure, but why has Google taken no action on it, leaving it at medium priority until all the bad press this week?
My guess is that they have been unable to reproduce it. It's certainly never happened to me, nor to the large majority of Android users. As I write, about 4,500 people have starred the issue on Google Code. Sounds like a lot until you remember that's 1.5% of the number of Android phones being activated every day. And, reading through the comments, you'll see that most of those 4,500 have not experienced the issue. They're starring it because they read about it somewhere.
There are a few reports from people who say they have personally been affected by the issue. Many say it happens when they are rapidly switching between multiple conversations. Others offer magical thinking like "it seems like deleting all my texts fixes the issue for a while" and "it got a little better with the 2.2.1 update." Sounds like user error to me. Just like when I slammed on the gas, absolutely sure it was the brakes, I'm sure they honestly believe they are not at fault.

Are there other possibilities? Sure:

• It could be a user interface issue that makes users susceptible to errors, especially when they are trying to switch quickly.
• It could be hardware issues with specific phones or specific models of phones, maybe touchscreen issues?
• It could be a real bug.

My guess is that it's user error, perhaps exacerbated by some user interface feature that makes the error more likely than in third party apps.
Today, Google upped the priority to critical, which some took as confirmation that the bug is real. But at the same time, a Google representative noted that "this is a very difficult to reproduce bug." It seems clear the priority was upped due to all the bad press, despite their never being able to reproduce the issue internally.
Could I be wrong? Sure, it happens now and then. But the burden of proof is on those claiming a bug exists. I will gladly and loudly raise the alert if someone can produce a reliable way for anyone to reproduce the issue and/or logs of the issue occuring. The steps I've seen to reproduce the issue involve switching rapidly between multiple conversations, which, again, is a good way to create user error.

Fix Alarm Clock Not Working in 2011 Glitch on iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch

Surprisingly iPhone alarm clock stopped working in 2011. While many are busy finding a fix

for this, we would first like to let you know the exact cause. In fact iPhone

Alarm glitch is not a universal problem, it just affected a few iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users only and that too when the new year approached (1st January 2011). This bug has kind of similarity to the earlier Daylight Saving Bug.

The “iPhone alarm clock not working in 2011″ was heavily tweeted on Twitter and that’s how other iPhone users came to know about it (not all use alarm feature). All non-recurring alarm clock schedules on iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad will not work from January 1st onwards.

According to 9to5mac, the iPhone alarm glitch will

get fixed automatically on January 3rd of 2011. However, you may follow the below steps to avoid this temporary glitch or bug in Alarm Clock of iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch.

iPhone Alarm Not Working in 2011 [Warning]

According to some source we came to know that the alarm clock of the iPhone is not working this morning, 1st January, 2011. As we know in November we face similar type of bug in the alarm clock of the iPhone. In that time iPhone had trouble with repeating alarms back during the change to Standard Time and single alarm failures. At the midnight, one off alarms will cease to sing out. According to a TiPB reader, You will be able to fix this bug by following the steps posted below.

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1. First you have to tap clock.
STEP 2. Then you have to tap Edit.
STEP 3. Now you have to tap your alarm.
STEP 4. Now you have to tap Repeat.
STEP 5. Now you have to set a repeat interval.
STEP 6. Now tap save.
That’s it. In this way you can fix the iPhone Alarm bug. According to 9to5mac, this alarm bug will fix itself on 3rd January 2011. According to Engadget, It is one time alarms that are causing the problem, not repeats. Don’t forget to share your views in the comment section below. As usual stay tuned with us for more updates. Wish you a very very Happy New Year.

Roger Ebert's Past Game Addiction Made Him Sad

This year, famed film critic Roger Ebert said games could never be art — a mistake he later admitted. While Ebert might not be a fan of games, that doesn't mean he didn't used to play them obsessively .
In a "Siskel & Ebert" holiday gift guide from 1989, Ebert and his former co-host Gene Siskel fumble their way through a game of Tecmo Bowl and find it endlessly amusing that you can make the players say "hut, hut, hut, hut".
While arguing about who won and marveling at children gaming for a whole hour a day, Ebert revealed, "I got one of these sets (NES) at home, and I started playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with it. And after a while, after a week of this, I'd find that every time I had a spare moment and every time I came home, I was in front of the set playing with these mutant turtles."
Continuing, Ebert said, "It got to the point where it was making me quite unhappy, because I was so obsessed with it, and I finally unplugged the machine and said, 'That's it for Nintendo.'" Ebert added that his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was so hypnotic and so repetitive that he didn't think it was good for his mental health. While he apparently quit Nintendo cold turkey, Ebert did review a PC game in 1994.

Why Roger Ebert Doesn’t Like Video Games: He Became Obsessed With TMNT

It’s easy to understad Roger Ebert’s position that games aren’t art when you realize that he once became addicted to TMNT on the NES, arguably one of the hardest and, I believe, worst games on the platform.
In this video clip from the Siskel & Ebert 1989 gift guide, Ebert reported that he “started playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with it. And after a while, after a week of this, I’d find that every time I had a spare moment and every time I came home, I was in front of the set playing with these mutant turtles.” You see, for a week, Ebert was basically a 12-year-old boy.
Considering he probably hasn’t played many games since that lost week, I suspect his opinions on the medium are slightly distorted. However, he’s still a great movie reviewer, so lets let him rail against Dark Tower as much as he wants.