App of the Week – Tank Hero

Tank Hero is an epic new game on the Android Market. The app is free, but ad-supported. Don’t worry about that though, because they are no more intrusive than on games like Angry Birds.

This game could have easily been a 2D game, but the developers went one step further and made it 3D. The graphics are beautiful because of this choice.

There are two modes of play – Campaign Mode and Survival Mode.

Campaign Mode consists of several levels of increasing difficulty. The goal is to kill all of the other tanks. Most of the tanks will explode after being hit once, but the red tanks take several shots.

Survival Mode is my personal favorite. You earn credits after each level to purchase cannon upgrades and ammo. There are four different types of cannons:

Stock Cannon – The stock cannon fires in bursts of three and is capable of reflecting off of walls to hit enemies in hard to reach places.
Spread Cannon – The spread cannon fires a salvo of bullets covering a wide area of attack. This is useful for taking out multiple enemies at the same time.
Heat Seeker – The heat seeker cannon fires bullets that identify and home in on enemy tanks.
Howitzer – The howitzer cannon fires explosive shells that cause damage around its area of impact. It is also capable of firing over walls and other obstacles.

You can download this game for free by searching for it in the Android Market, using the QR code, or following this link on your Galaxy Tab.

Jan 30, 2011

Posted by Kyle Dornblaser in Featured, Tips and Tuts | 1 Comment

How to bypass activation on Sprint Galaxy Tabs

If you decided to buy the Sprint Galaxy Tab with no contract like I did, then you are undoubtedly looking for a way to bypass the annoying activation screen. Unfortunately the activation bypass for the other models does not work on the Sprint version.

These steps are not going to be extremely easy and there is a chance of harming your device, so make sure that you really want to eliminate the Sprint Activation notification. If you decide to proceed, then the instructions are below.

Root your Tab, (preferably with z4root), I suggest using the “permanent root” option.
Go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Development -> and check “USB Debugging”
Install Titanium Backup
Run Titanium Backup and go into “Backup/Restore” Look for “Software Update 1.5.0″ in the list.
Tap the application name.
On the window that comes up, select “Freeze” It will give you a confirmation of success and the “Freeze” button will change to “Defrost” now hit the back button.
Locate “Sprint Installer 2.0″, “Sprint Zone SZ 2.1.11″, and “System Updates 1.0.0″ Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each of these applications.
Close Titanium Backup
Restart

The above instructions were copied word for word from rkmj on XDA so as to not distort any of the steps.

Jan 29, 2011

Posted by Kyle Dornblaser in News | 0 Comments

Galaxy Tab has sold over 2 million units

Well they have shipped them at least. Honestly there is not much of a difference, in a few days the customers will have bought them and it then they will have sold the units. Samsung credits their success with the fact that it is sold on 200 carriers in 94 countries!

The sales are being stifled of course by the uncertainty of Android 3.0 on the current Galaxy Tab model. Recently I saw that it has been ported to the Nook Color E-Reader. It was not very robust, but the Galaxy Tab has superior specs than the Nook. With out a doubt there will be Android 3.0 on the Galaxy Tab through unofficial channels and possibly through official ones.

In the same period of time after its launch (three months) the iPad had sold over seven million units. This is largely due to the lower price point with the Wi-Fi version of the tablet.

The Galaxy Tab is still the most popular Android powered tablet by an enormous margin.

Source: Electronista

Jan 26, 2011

Posted by Kyle Dornblaser in Wallpaper Wednesday | 0 Comments

Wallpaper Wednesday – Pier 51

Hey guys. For week nine of Wallpaper Wednesday we are featuring Pier 51 by submicron.

Click here to download the 1024 x 1200 wallpaper.

How to add a wallpaper for noobs.

Click the download link above on your Galaxy Tab
Longpress on the wallpaper image
Click set as wallpaper

Jan 24, 2011

Posted by Kyle Dornblaser in App Of The Week | 0 Comments

App of the Week – Battery Life

Battery Life was one of the first applications I installed on my Galaxy Tab. Well technically it is a widget, but it was still one of the first.

Once I installed the widget I noticed that there was an inconsistency between the battery bar on the notification bar and the battery bar on the widget. The notification bar displayed a full battery charge and the widget showed only around 80%. I had been using the Galaxy Tab for hours and knew that there was no way that it could be at 100% after the workout I put it through. Now this widget is an invaluable tool for me since having the battery charge correctly displayed is vital.

Battery Life is also a great tool for testing the health of your battery. I learned about this back when I owned an HTC HD2 with Android dual-booted on it. The mV should be around 4,200 when it is fully charged. If it is lower, then your battery is getting old and a replacement might be necessary. Too bad the Galaxy Tab does not have a removable battery.

Even before I overclocked my Galaxy Tab, I was worried about the heat of the CPU. Battery Life also displays the current temperature of the CPU in either Fahrenheit or Celsius.

Go ahead and download this app now. It is free so it can not hurt to give it a shot. Search for it on the Android Market, use the QR code, or follow this Market link directly on your Tab. Let me know what you think about the widget.