MoDaCo: MoDaCo - News

I love Brodit holders. Whenever I take on a new phone for an extended period, it's the first thing I make sure I get. Together with the appropriate car mount, there is NO better way to safely mount your device in a vehicle.

With this in mind, I'm very happy to learn that the Galaxy Nexus mount is now available from our friends at DSL Developments!

Priced at £24.99 (passive) or £34.98 (active, with charger cable), the holder isn't cheap (especially if you're yet to buy the vehicle part of the solution) but the quality really is top notch and the fit, as always, is spot on (mine just arrived!). The mount also seems to work fine with the Galaxy Nexus' official extended battery, which is handy!

Stock is just starting to come through, so if you would like one, probably best get your order in quick.


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One of my favourite apps for Android is 'Pocket'.

Pocket is a fantastic free application (with an optional paid Pro key to remove ads) which lets you store all your sensitive data such as bank account details and passwords on your phone. Pocket is also useful for remembering all those bits and pieces of information in one place from frequent flier numbers to contact lens prescriptions. When you use Pocket, your data is encrypted using the industry standard AES-256. Only you will be able to access your data via a master password. Even if you lose your phone your data will still be safe. For extra security, Pocket doesn't store your master password locally on the device, but rather as a SHA-512 hash. In addition, Pocket self-locks after a timeout period and clears the clipboard to ensure your data is protected.

One of my favourite features about Pocket is that it automatically syncs to Dropbox so you can keep multiple devices in sync... and now there's a desktop client which makes this even more useful!

Available for Windows or Mac / Linux as a JAR file, the desktop version loads your Pocket file from your Dropbox folder and works great. It looks very similar to the Android version but brings all the benefits that a real keyboard and a big screen bring to entering your data! I'm happy!

Maybe today is the day to write in all that important information that you'd really need if you lost your wallet, your house burned down etc. etc...

Check out Pocket on the Android Market or on the developer's blog for the desktop version.


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The official BBC News app for Android has just been updated to include support for tablets running Android 3.0 and higher (Honeycomb and ICS). Here at MoDaCo Towers we installed the app on our trusty Android tablet (an Archos 80 G9). We're impressed by how well the app uses the extra screen real estate and the speedier refresh of articles.

After congratulating the catchily named "Media Applications Technologies for the BBC" team on this useful release of the BBC app, we will now continue waiting for an iPlayer app optimized for Android tablets...

Click through after the break for the hands on screenshots.

Via: @le3ky, Android Market




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Do you want to build your own apps for Android but don't know your SDK from your Eclipse, or your Java from your Emulator? There is a site out there that can assist you, up to a point. If you are looking to create a content consuming app then Andromo could be what you are looking for. If you want to do more complex function then you will probably need to look at using the full Android development suite of tools.

I set myself the task of trying to create an app that would show me all the MoDaCo RSS feeds in one application - nothing too testing. I was very surprised, and I think Paul was too, when I came back 5 minutes later with a fully functioning app called 'MoDaCo feeds running on my HTC Desire'. I will take you through the process below.

Before I do you need to be aware of a few things. Firstly, the app creation is free, and you are free to distribute on the Android Market if you desire. The caveat here is that all apps created for free will contain adverts, of which you can get 50% of the revenue if you have an AdMob account. Your alternative is to pay $99 per app, per year for an ad free version of your application. For the novice builder who just wants to play around the free version will suffice and the ads aren't hugely intrusive although they are pretty low quality graphically as you will see from the screenshots. You also need to make sure you read the Terms and Conditions as there may be parts which you are not willing to agree to. My biggest issue with the terms is that you are only granted non-exclusive rights to the applications. This could mean that Andromo themselves would be able to sell your app. That's not to say they will but only Andromo can say for sure. Finally, the terms make it clear that any app is subject to US laws, including exporting.

So onto the creation process. Once you have signed up you need to go through 7 or 8 stages to create your app.
More after the break....



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There's not been a whole lot to report on with regards to new Windows Phone devices of late, with the possible exception of Carphone Warehouse Nokia Lumia 900 publishing their pre-registration page then prompty denying it's existence... but thankfully one Windows Phone device we DO know is imminent is the new Nokia Lumia 710.

The pricing for the new device has just been leaked for Orange France, which has been set at 229 Euros for the handset (these equates to around £199, cheaper than has been seen previously).

The Nokia Lumia 710 is Nokia's budget Windows Phone, with only a 5MP camera, but... It has the same 1.4GHz CPU and Adreno 205 GPU as the Nokia Lumia 800.

This could make it ideal for new Windows Phone MarketPlace Application Developers... our review will follow soon!

Source: SmartphoneFrance.info


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Despite the recent deluge of Siri-alikes, finding one that works as well for Android as Siri does for iOS has so far been impossible . That was until earlier this week when Evi was announced. It boasts similar understanding of plain speech, as opposed to specific commands like Google’s own voice recognition, as well as gathering results from a much larger range of sources than Siri - allowing it to work much better outside the USA (the developers are UK based).

Does it work? Quite simply… it’s hard to tell. After it was initially announced and picked up by tech sites, a deluge of users descended upon the Beta servers and even now, a few days later it is hard to get a response from the application. Luckily, in the rare opportunities that I can get a connection… it actually works! I asked it plainly what the time was in different parts of the world, and I got quick answers. Similar questions also get good responses.

So, when it works, it does work well. Unfortunately, it has received so much attention that finding a time when the servers aren’t too busy to handle your request is very hit and miss. When they beef up their servers and add new features (such as being able to add to the calendar, etc.) it seems like we may finally see a very competent competitor to Siri.

Evi can be downloaded from the Android Market.


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All Android fans are surely aware of the ongoing legal disputes between Apple and Samsung. We've seen it in the US, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and so on. In all suits there have been countersuits, with both companies firing patents at each other - some patents more general and vague than others. It has to be said that in most of the ongoing cases it's Apple who pursues Samsung, but we've seen it the other way around too. Apple seems obligated to get Android smartphones and tablets off the market.

In October a ruling in favor of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was made in Netherlands, which immediately was appealed by Apple. Yesterday a Hague court ruled that the differences between the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 are enough to let them co-exist. This is a small victory for Samsung, but the fight against Apple is long from gone. There's still many ongoing suits, and it doesn't seem like Cupertino is tired of fighting yet. We'll keep you posted when more news comes our way!

Source: Engadget
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As expected, Asus have confirmed that they plan to officially announce their PadFone phone / tablet hybrid on 27th February at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress.

Expected to feature Ice Cream Sandwich and Tegra3 in line with the Transformer tablets, the device represents a real innovation in the current market and a potential for cost reduction by avoiding duplication of the 'guts' of your Android devices. Fringe benefits such as no longer needing to sync data between different devices shouldn't be underestimated too! NetbookNews have a pretty good video of the device on YouTube (embedded below), which also shows compataibility with the dock from the original Transformer.

I am pretty excited about this one, I just hope that Asus really make the phone itself top notch as it's not an area they have a lot of recent experience in! What are your thoughts?


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Would you like to win a Jawbone Prime Bluetooth headset with MoDaCo and mobi-city.co.uk?

Actually, stupid question, of course you would! Well, you've come to the right place - we have one to give away to one lucky MoDaCo reader!

This competition is open to EVERYONE until 14th February 2011.

All you have to do to enter is...

• follow @mobicityuk on Twitter [1 additional competition entry]
  
• follow @paulobrien on Twitter [1 additional competition entry]
  
• tweet the competition link - http://mdc.gd/winajbp (you must use this URL and include the #winajbp hashtag) - you can tweet the link easily by clicking this link [1 competition entry per Twitter account]

...so you could actually get 3 entries to the competition by doing all of the above!

A snapshot will be taken of followers of each account on 15th February and collated with the other data after which time a winner will be chosen (and announced here and via Twitter)!

The competition terms are as follows...

• The competition is open to everyone worldwide!
  
• The judge's decision is final, no correspondence will be entered into.
  
• The winner will receive a UK spec Jawbone Prime (black), shipped globally. The recipient will be responsible for any incurred custom fees.
  
• The competition is open until 23:59, 14th February July 2012 GMT.
  
• The winner will be notified by E-mail / Twitter direct message where possible.

Thanks for being part of the MoDaCo community and GOOD LUCK!
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Chinese manufacturer ZTE have had some success in Europe with their low cost Android handests, in fact so much so that the ZTE device forums here on MoDaCo are the most active on the site. Last month ZTE announced the release of the Light Tab 2 in Hong Kong, Spain and Indonesia. Now Clove Technology have opened pre-orders for the device with a launch price set at £234.99. They expect shipping to start next month.

Specs and more details after the break!


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There are a lot of folks out there hoping for some ICS goodness for their Samsung Galaxy S II, and now you can it thanks to Adyscorpius, a developer over on XDA. His rom based on a combination of MIUI4 and CM9. It is still an early build so you will see the same issues found in other CM9 and MIUI4 builds, but these should be fixed in the coming weeks. The main issues Adyscorpius highlights are that MIUI themese are not working and you will be prompted for permission to manage Root.

From the comments in the XDA forums it seems the latest build is running pretty well so if you are feeling adventurous, go and grab some ICS goodness!
Source: XDA
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Continuing the long line of ICS leaks, today the GSM Motorola RAZR gets this great honour bestowed upon it. What is interesting is that it actually looks good!

Motorola seem to have gone for a very stock-like appearance, with only a few customisations on board – some useful - such as an enhanced lockscreen, some less useful – rather ugly icons. But why is Motorola taking this approach? I can only assume it is because of Google’s growing influences on the company as they get ready to be purchased (or perhaps just because it's an early build and more customisation is yet to come!)

Paul will be testing out this build and will add his impressions soon. If you’re feeling brave, you can try the ROM on your RAZR using the link below. (WARNING - GSM only, proceed at your own risk!)

Download: Eternity Project

Source:Droid life


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If, like me, you have ditched the stock browser on your Android device for the excellent Dolphin browser you have probably installed a few add-ons. Two interesting new add-ons are available in the Market today for Evernote, and its sibling, Skitch.

The Evernote add-on allows you to clip web text straight to your Evernote account for you to work with later. The Skitch add-on will allow you to take and markup screenshots and then share them. Both will install into the add-on bar on the right of your Dolphin app.

The Skitch add-on requires you to have the full Skitch app installed on your device.

Source: Lifehacker


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Owners of a Sony Tablet S, or Tablet P will be happy to hear that Sony will release the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich at the same time as their 2011 Xperia handsets get the upgrade. According to The Verge, Sony already has the ICS updates running on their test equipment, however they can't pinpoint exactly when we can expect the update. 'Spring' is the closest that Sony will come to giving a date. Sony also confirmed that they intend to add some of their own enhancements to the stock ICS experience. Lets hope they don't go overboard with these and they only add some applications on top and leave the UI alone. Anything too drastic may frighten people off Sony devices in the future.

The Verge
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Do you look at the Beats-packing Sensation XE and XL with dreamy eyes and think "man, I wish they were smaller and cheaper"? Well the HTC Primo could be just what Dr Dre ordered.

Its innards reportedly consist of 512MB of RAM and a dual-core 1Ghz Qualcomm processor - so while not ground-breaking by 2012's standards, it should prove a worthy successor to the Desire S. At just 9mm deep, it (like the Desire S,) will also feature a 3.7" Gorilla Glass screen which will suit many people's hand-span much better than the 4.3+" mammoth phones that have become the norm.



More details after the break.

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