Playstation SDK Suite Open Beta Officially Begins


Android gaming is one step closer to becoming even more sweeter than it already is folks. Sony promised we would see an open beta for its Playstation SDK Suite this month, but we hadn’t seen anything about it until now. That means not just select developers in the U.S., U.K. and Japan, but all developers around the world can get right to it and use the program immediately. Developers will be able to find the tools needed at www.playstation.com/pss, which will give them the ability to create apps and games for Playstation-certified Android devices. The open beta is available now for all developers for the not-too-shabby price of free, though developers will have to sign a contract and pay a fee to use the Playstation SDK Suite after the open beta ends.

If you’re a developer and are interested in creating some snazzy apps and games through Sony, hit the source link for additional details. I’m sure there are more than a few owners of Sony devices who are eagerly awaiting the first creations from you all.

source: Playstation
via: AC

Android SDK Tools Get An Update (R17), Includes Bug Fixes And New Features


Dev’s are about to get an early Christmas gift as Google has announced a new revision to its SDK with a number of anticipated bug fixes as well as some new and improved features.  You can expect to see some improvements in areas such as “Lint” and the emulator itself.

Lint is a static checker which analyzes Android projects for a variety of issues around correctness, security, performance, usability and accessibility, checking your XML resources, bitmaps, ProGuard configuration files, source files and even compiled bytecode. It can be run from within Eclipse or from the command line.

The list is extensive and a highly welcomed addition and revision to the current SDK.  We hope to see great things from devs when new and improved tools are handed down to them.  Check out the full list of features, revisions and improvements below, courtesy of Android SDK Tech, Xavier Ducrohet.  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.  
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MoDaCo Does it Again: HTC One X Gets Root Thanks to Superboot


Like the Galaxy Nexus before it, the One X by HTC is already seeing root thanks to superboot files released before well, the phone even sees a release thanks to MoDaCo. Basically it’s a script that you run on your Linux, PC or Mac computer when the device is connected via the USB cable. What the script does is push the necessary root files to your device without the need for all those fancy ADB commands. It’s not as easy as a one-click root method but it isn’t as much of a process as using ADB.

Given that Android 4.0 is running on the One X with an ICS kernel it shouldn’t be too difficult to get custom ROMs and recoveries onto the device. Even though the bootloader is still locked my guess is that it will be added to the HTCDev site sometime shortly after it gets released. So while we will have to wait for the phone to release here in April for the UK and Europe and on AT&T this summer for the U.S. it’s nice to know that you’ll be able to root the device right out of the box. Hit the break below to find the instructions to do so as well as the file to download. Enjoy!
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SwiftKey Launches SDK for Use by Device Manufacturers


swiftkey x icon

It appears that SwiftKey is just getting better and better. Today the 3rd-party keyboard developer has announced in Barcelona that it will release the keyboard SDK for use by device and handset manufacturers. The SDK isn’t just for Android folks either as it will also be available for a slew of other OS’ including iOS, QNX/BlackBerry 10, OS X, Windows, etc. As Dr. Ben Medlock, CTO of SwiftKey puts it:

“As we are interacting with more devices, technology that accurately understands what a user is trying to say or do with their devices is vital. It only takes a cursory look at user groups to realize that typing is one of the biggest frustrations that people have on tablets and smartphones. The launch of our SDK will give OEMs access to better typing experience, with their own look and feel.”

So we can look forward to seeing SwiftKey on a whole bunch of different devices here in the future. You can hit the break below to check out the press release in full detail. It will be exciting to see how the software’s prediction capabilities work on something other than a phone or tablet down the road like for instance a SmartTV or an Ultrabook. What do you guys think?
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Unofficial Google Music API Almost Ready, Can Google Music App Integration Save It?


 The adoption of Google Music has been dismal. Maybe it’s because we expect Google services to erupt like a volcano and immediately soar into the sky, blanketing the people below in Google awesome ash. Or maybe it’s because iTunes, Pandora and Slacker Radio already have a foothold ’round those parts. Or it could be that Google Music is only currently available in the U.S.

My guess is as good as yours, however there might be some sunshine on the horizon in the form of a developer, Simon Weber. Simon has been working on his unofficial Google Music API for a month, and has pretty much every functionality of the service coded into the API. Only one major implementation is missing at the moment: support for uploading formats other than .mp3. Unfortunately, however, the API is currently coded in Python, restricting it to desktop platforms. It isn’t impossible to port it to a mobile-friendly language though, and thankfully Aaron Gingrich of Android Police has put Simon in contact with CM9 [music player] Apollo developer Andrew Neal.

This could mean we see a port of the API to mobile platforms, pending the result of Neal and Weber’s collaboration. The only problem that will immediately come to mind reading “unofficial”, “Google”, and “API” is action taken by Google to, well, cease and desist. I don’t think that’s likely to happen, as Mr. Weber will be interning at Google this summer — possibly bringing official Google support for the API in the near future. This could be great news for Google Music, as integration into Android applications could surely inject some much needed life into the service’s disappointing adoption stats.

source: android police

Transformer Prime Gets ClockworkMod Recovery and CM9 As Well


Okay so I’ve always felt that the Android development community was on top of their game, but this is insane. Hours, HOURS, after Asus released the bootloader unlock tool for the Transformer Prime developers were able to get Clockwork Recovery and a CyanogenMod 9 build onto the device. This only suggests that the development community for this device is about to take off and grow exponentially.  If you’re wanting to install the custom recovery on your Tegra 3 tablet then follow the following instructions: 
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Galaxy Tab 10.1-Inch WiFi Sees CM9 Pre-Alpha Release


Galaxy Tab 10.1 Product Image

Well it’s been some time since we first saw the CyanogenMod team go to work on CM9 and since then we’ve seen a bunch of devices get alpha or pre-alpha builds of the ICS ROM. Given that it’s pre-alpha it’s design is strictly for previewing only. However the only aspect that appears to not be working is the camera. We’ve seen the original Galaxy Tab get a CM9 build but now it’s available for rooted WiFi versions of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Specifically it’s available for the GT-P7510 model and should NOT be flashed on other versions.

The Galaxy tablet will probably be upgraded to Android 4.0 by Samsung but there isn’t an exact time table as to when this will happen. It will also see a version with TouchWiz intact. So CM9 is a good choice for seeing a more pure ICS experience. So if you are wanting to flash this make sure to flash the recovery.img with fastboot first. Once that is done you can go ahead and flash the ROM in recovery mode. 
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Notion Ink’s Adam Tablet has Ice Cream Sandwich Beta for Download


One month ago, Notion Ink had an alpha version of Ice Cream Sandwich for Adam users. As with most alpha versions, it was extremely buggy. Now, you can download the beta version. The GPS, graphics acceleration, 3G, USB, Youtube and Wi-Fi are working much better compared to the alpha version. However, the camera, light sensor and microphone are still not functioning as they work out the bugs. If you own one of these nifty tablets and would like a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, hit up the link below to download it.

source: Notion Ink

Leaked Endeavor Port Gives HTC Sensation Taste of ICS With Sense 4.0


If you are impatient like I normally am and you can’t wait to get the official Ice Cream Sandwich build on your HTC Sensation then you’re in luck. A new ROM for the Sensation has been released based on a leaked build from the HTC Edge turned Endeavor turned HTC One X. While nothing new, considering ROM ports happen a lot after leaks, it’s interesting to see considering the One X runs Tegra 3 versus the Snapdragon S3 chip of the Sensation.

As with most early ROM ports, everything doesn’t work right from the get go and there are still some issues with the ROM. However TripNRaVer and other awesome developers over at RootzWiki are working their fingers to the bone getting this ROM as functional as possible as quickly as possible. Sense 4.0 though has been disabled along with the lock screen and HTC keyboard. This is due to resolution differences from the 72op resolution of the One X and the qHD display of the Sensation. But it’s only a short matter of time before this issue is rectified.
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Auraslate’s Open Source Tablet Is An Android Dev/Hacker’s Delight


If you’re of the Rootin’, ROM’in and hackin’ community we’ve got some good news for you.  Check out the Auraslate by Aura Design, an extremely affordable tablet for the dev who wants to launch that next big idea but still remain within his/her budget.

Aura Design is an Android Tablet Design Start-Up assist other companies or start-ups develop their own unique tablet for consumer , commercial, or industrial uses.

We encourage mischievous and curious individuals to see what comes naturally for them to dig in and see what possibilities this tablet may become.

The device is an Ice Cream Sandwich compatible 10.4-inch tab built from scratch with dev’s and hackers in mind.  The company is offering the device in two flavors.  They’ll make a 7-inch and 10.4-inch available for you and will also toss in a hardware source disk because the hardware itself is open source as well ($20 extra).   Keep in mind that the device is not meant for high-end performance with said specs, but rather you’ll get just what you need with a doable Android Cortex A9 under the hood.  Auraslate is offering a ton of support for the device with a promise to keep the updates coming as well as making a support community available.  This should be of great value to someone working on a project as he/she will able to communicate with others using the same hardware that they are.  If this sounds like something you’d like to hop on, check out the source link for more information.  I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how and if this takes off with devs and hackers, so stay tuned to TA.

source: Auraslate