Android Atlas Weekly 53: Mythical unicorn phone from the future (Podcast)

We get questionably definitive proof that someone at Google listens to the show with Google's roll out of its an app compatibility function for the Android Market, just weeks after we complained about system requirements for Android apps. You can thank us later. Also, we take a look at a free entry-level Android phone, get video proof that the Droid 3 is coming from Motorola, and speculate on what may end up being the unicorn of smartphones, the Nexus 4G---not to be confused with the Nexus S 4G--a phone with specs that you wouldn't believe. But which of these will be our next phone? All of that, plus the answers to your emails on this week's episode of Android Atlas Weekly with Antuan Goodwin and Justin Eckhouse. Note: During his answer to the last listener email, Antuan incorrectly stated that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 didn't have aGPS. It does, and so does the LG Flyer. Oops!

Watch this: Ep. 53: Mythical unicorn phone from the future

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News

App compatibility function quietly arrives in Android Market
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20070438-251.html?tag=centerColumnArea0.0

T-Mobile shoots out Android Samsung Dart for free
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20070889-251/t-mobile-shoots-out-android-samsung-dart-for-free/?tag=cnetRiver

Motorola Droid 3 gets manhandled on camera, gives away its secrets
http://androidandme.com/2011/06/news/motorola-droid-3-gets-manhandled-on-camera-gives-away-all-its-secrets/

Report: Details leaked on next Google Nexus phone
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20071276-251/report-details-leaked-on-next-google-nexus-phone/?tag=cnetRiver

American Airlines adds Android in the sky
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20070876-251/american-airlines-adds-android-in-the-sky/?tag=cnetRiver

Virgin Mobile pledges allegiance to Vanilla Android, not UI skins
http://androidandme.com/2011/06/news/virgin-mobile-pledges-allegiance-to-vanilla-android-not-ui-skins/

Sony Makes Music Service Available On Android
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/sony-makes-music-service-available-on-android/

SceneTap: On-site cameras find happening bars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20070550-1/scenetap-on-site-cameras-find-happening-bars/?tag=cnetRiver

E-mail (androidatlas@cnet.com)

Hey guys,

I was planning on traveling outside the USA (specifically Europe) later on this summer & I was hoping to use GPS to navigate without being stuck with a standalone (old school) GPS. I was thinking about getting a tablet, Honeycomb of course ;) and I wanted to know if any of them can actually do navigation without a data connection?

While a tablet may be a bit bulky to carry around, Verizon doesn’t really work overseas and I was hoping to avoid purchasing a stand alone GPS that inevitably will not be used outside of this trip. I did try using my Android as a GPS in Europe last year and I got a crash-course on Assisted GPS (aGPS) vs true GPS and I was hoping a year later there may be more options with true GPS.

Please let me know if you are aware of any tablets that have true GPS. If you do not know of any tablets that can do true GPS, how can WiFi only tablets ever do GPS? I look forward to your recommendations for navigating Europe.

Love the show & happy belated birthday,
John, from the Internet (also from Maryland)

PS: My default plan is to buy a cheap GPS over in Europe, as it will have the current maps and I will not use it over here anyway. I hope you can point me in a better direction.

—–

Hey guys,

I've been having an issue with my Moto Droid 2 overheating.
I am running a custom ROM and have changed ROMs a few times but the issue occurs on all of them.
My phone is not overclocked, as far as I know. I overclocked to 1.3GHz a long time ago, but have since reverted back to 1GHz. Everything shows a max speed of 1000 so I assume the overclock is gone.
When I have my phone plugged in in a warm environment (car, resting on leg or cloth, etc) the phone gets very warm and will actually LOOSE battery power. I also have the Droid 2 car dock and have it mounted on my windshield. I can't use it in daytime, though, because the sunlight shines directly on it, heating it up. My phone displayed a warning message about being over temperature and was threatening a shutdown when I had it in the dock after an hour of afternoon driving. I live in Texas and the ambient temperatures the past week have been about 100-101 degrees. My phone dies or nearly dies throughout the day because I can't keep it charged.

Thanks for your help,

Austin

—–

Hey Austin, thanks for writing in with your question. I’ve got a quick question for you that may help me find the root of your problem:

How are you checking your clock speed? Are you running and app like SetCPU for Root Users? If so, have you double checked all of the settings there?

There are a few different scaling options to choose from on the main screen, one of which may be causing your issue. Additionally, there’s a profiles tab within the app, make sure that there isn’t a custom profile set that ramps your clock speed to maximum when connected to a charger. A custom profile can even override your preset maximum and push you back into OC territory, so that’d be the first place I’d look.

I hope that helps, shoot us a response to let me know if you are, in fact, even using SetCPU or a similar application and if my suggestions work for you.

—–

email: androidatlas@cnet.com
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