Latest Posts from Download Squad

It's official, folks! CyanogenMod 7 is now deemed stable enough to be called, well, stable. The ROM is available now for your flashing pleasure on over 30 devices -- including some tablets. Don't worry, it doesn't disappoint; I've been using it through the development process for months and it's well worth the wait.

If you haven't been following the updates on its progress, here's a quick recap: It's based on Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, it's got built-in root access with all the command-line goodies, Apps2SD capability (built-in), Incognito Mode for the Android Browser, built-in CPU frequency adjustment and scaling (including overclock and choice of governor), loads of UI improvements and interface tweaks, OpenVPN and SIP calling settings, USB/WiFi/Bluetooth tethering, FLAC support, an FM Radio player, and loads of other features and enhancements.

It's even got a one-click UI theme-switcher that T-Mobile helped develop (open-source, no less).

Even if you aren't into flashing custom ROMs on your expensive new smartphone, you have to admit that this release is a pretty great thing... After all, it means a fully-functional version of Android 2.3.3 is now running, with loads of bells and whistles, on about 30 devices whose manufacturers and carriers are simply too lazy to update.

Alright, enough jabbering. You can learn more about the ROM at CyanogenMod.com, or jump straight to the download mirror if you already know what you're doing!

It's taken months of confused looks, but Google's finally seen the light. Hotpot, which has been a universally scorned moniker for a service that just about everyone called Places, is now simply lumped in with Places.

The actual differences between Hotpot and Places were nearly non-existent, especially when dealing with the mobile aspect (which was even worse, since finding and rating restaurants and other venues is typically done on a smartphone, not a desktop). When it came down to it, Hotpot was basically just the rating/reviewing system for Places -- so while it probably started off as a separate project, it was destined to be gobbled up by the bigger app from the get go.

So, now that the hideous name is over and done with, Places can go on to gain popularity alongside its older sibling, Latitude -- and we can definitely expect both of them to get a major boost now that check-in deals have been brought into the mix.

Barely one month after an update that brought Latitude and Hotpot closer than ever, Google's updated Maps for Android again to further sweeten the deal.

This time around, Latitude seems to have gotten the most attention, but Places a.k.a. Hotpot hasn't been left entirely out of the mix. For Latitude, Google's added a feature for setting a "home" location, as well as the ability to check into it. For the folks who chose to enable it, they can now view their Location History dashboard straight from the app.

As for Places/Hotpot, you can now add keywords of your own choosing for places when you rate them, like food, music or entertainment. Google calls these "aspects," but hey, it's a search company, and these things are bound to count for something (so let's call them what they are). Sarcasm aside, adding little descriptive keywords for places makes perfect sense, and may actually end up being the most useful thing to come out of this update -- if only more people used Places. I mean Hotpot.

The only potentially bad thing here is that the option to check in at home is a public act. Very public, in fact. When you go to add a "home" location in Latitude, you're warned right up front that the address is going to be visible to anybody who can see your check-ins (so buyer beware). You do have to love Google for at least including the warning, though.

The update's live now and available in the Android Market.

Today's the day, folks! In case you haven't heard, today is the not-quite-official-but-still-a-good-idea World Backup Day 2011, which is all about awareness -- awareness that your hard drive and all its data are vulnerable to the harsh realities of this world we live in today.

The idea may have started as a simple post on Reddit, but it's bloomed into a full-blown initiative, and it's a good one. Too many people, and we're all guilty of this at some time or another, put the almighty backup far too low on the to-do list. Today is meant to remind everyone that it shouldn't be, and hopefully some of us will do something about it. Otherwise, you may find yourself out of luck when that aging drive containing your entire NSYNC collection bites the dust.

So here's our question to you: What's your backup process? Do you follow the advice of Kermit the Frog's impersonator and use a tool like Mozy, or use an old-school rsync script and your own cloud-storage account? Do you keep a stack of external drives in the closet, tagged by month and year? Are you a Mac user with Time Machine, or possibly the proud owner of a Drobo? Keep a RAID fridge in the closet? Let's put it all out there, because while some of us may be diligent about backups, there are many more who aren't -- and they can probably use the tips.

[Image credit: Hard Drive Repair]

It's a big day for Google, what with the announcement that Kansas City (not that Kansas City, but the other one that's actually in Kansas) has been selected to be the lucky town to get wired up with Google Fiber -- but that's not all they've gone public with today. Their "+1" project, which has been the subject of conjecture for months, was finally unveiled as well.

Google didn't exactly surprise anyone by announcing +1, but they did throw plenty of people for a loop. +1 isn't what most people expected it to be; it's technically social, but it's not social like a social network. The phrase "plus one" has nothing to do with dining out or going to parties. Google Profiles did not suddenly gain any sort of hyper-social layer. No, its name is actually more literal than even those examples, because all +1 is, is a tiny little box that says "+1" next to search results.

Basically, +1 is a "Like" button for Google Search.

The idea behind +1 is that while you're searching, you can "+1" results that you want to vouch for (or just plain love). When your friends go searching for something related that brings up those results, they'll be able to see that you've "+1'd" them. There will also be a tab added to your Google Profile just for +1, so you can see all your recommendations (and delete them).

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Shush! for Android is an extremely tiny app that's making a lot of waves for doing one thing, and doing it well.

Just as its name implies, it quickly silences your phone -- but it's the fact that it turns the ringer back on for you that makes this app so special. That, along with a sleek and simple interface and a price tag of "free" have caused over 100,000 people to download it in the short time that it's been available.

Along with silencing the ringer, Shush! can also set the volume upon its return, which I honestly didn't expect since that's the sort of thing that developers tend to leave out, especially in a free app. System-wise, the app itself is so small and light at 28 KB that it won't have to hog valuable space in either your phone's storage or active memory, which is definitely more than can be said for the dozens of other ringer-toggling widgets floating around out there.

As for its effectiveness, well let's just say that it's actually somewhat entertaining to read through user reviews. Several people were thrilled that it allowed them to go see a movie or go to class without forgetting to turn their ringer back on for a day and a half afterwards, while one guy went as far as to say that it "saved his marriage." So if you're the type who constantly forgets to switch the ringer back on, this app may be what you're looking for.

You can download Shush! now at the Android Market.

Kongregate Arcade, the one-stop shop for Flash games on Android, has been updated with a new welcome screen and Android 3.0 Honeycomb compatibility.

Every screen in the updated app supports landscape-mode, the welcome screen sports a "hot new games" carousel and huge buttons that allow quick access to just about every part of the Arcade, and users can now earn badges in games without signing in (and save them once they do sign in). Other changes in the update include bug fixes, performance increases, and notifications for new badges or games.

A cleaner look and easier access to sections of a somewhat sprawling app are nice, but the biggest news here is Honeycomb compatibility. Android tablets are quickly rising in popularity, but most apps have been slow to update for the new UI guidelines. With the impending release of a Honeycomb-compatible Flash player, Kongregate Arcade is about to become one hot item for Android-loving, slate-happy early adopters.

You can update or download Kongregate Arcade right now at the Android Market.

Facebook updated its official app for Android devices last night, bringing significant image-posting improvements, bug fixes, and a promise of "improved security using SSL."

Changes for the app's handling of images include users now being able to upload photos to their friends' walls and also to groups. Photos are now supposed to always maintain their correct orientation when uploaded, but that won't help the people who are notorious for knocked-over portraits (we all know one).

As for the bolstered usage of SSL, it wouldn't normally be a big deal. You may, nowever, remember recent rumblings about the app sending huge amounts of data in the clear. That news caused plenty of users to be more than slightly perturbed -- and rightly so, given the importance of a secure connection in the world of social networking. It's good to see the devs at Facebook working to correct this problem, but nothing's really final until the updated app has been run over a packet-sniffed network.

Now the bad news. Within an hour of the update's release, over 10 pages of shriekingly bad reviews were posted, reporting that images (which were supposed to be a plus) weren't showing up at all, and that the app was crashing almost immediately upon opening it. Several reviewers noted that they were using older versions of Android, so it could simply be an issue of OS fragmentation since it works for me on Gingerbread (2.3.3).

So, as usual, buyer beware, and if you're not scared off by the reviews then you can grab the update at the Android Market.

It's always a pleasure when Adobe posts something to their Labs page for users to try, but it's even better when it's a release-candidate for one of their best pieces of software. Today it's version 3.4 RC of Lightroom, which is code for a completely free copy of the latest Adobe Lightroom.

The RC, which is available at Adobe Labs right now, is mainly a giant bug-fix for the still-young Lightroom 3.3 -- but it also adds RAW support for a handful of newer cameras, along with profiles for several new Leica, Nikon and Canon lenses as well. So, if it's new features that you're hoping for, this isn't going to blow your mind or anything.

On the other hand, if you're one of the many folks out there who would love to have one of the nicest RAW-processing image-development apps on the market, but don't have $299 USD lying around to buy it, then this is your day! Downloading the RC is as easy -- and free -- as downloading a Flash beta.

EDIT: As some of you pointed out, it turns out the RC may not technically be free for ever. Vague wording on the details page says that the RC will expire at the end of May. That could mean that it will stop working, or that the download will vanish, but I've used several previous RCs for Lightroom that never stopped working -- which in retrospect could have been attributable to a mixture of my loaded hosts file and Little Snitch.

Google Maps for Android got a small but worthwhile update today, which seems to be part of an effort to socialize Latitude while tying it in closer to Hotpot.

Hotpot, which most people just call "Places" at this point since it's never referenced by name in the app itself, now allows users to post their reviews of establishments to Twitter. It's also now meshed in with Latitude much more tightly than ever before, since users checking in at places with Latitude can now "earn status" by doing so. No further information is given up front, so it's probably going to take a while to find out what kind of "status" is given for high check-in numbers.

You can now also invite Latitude friends to check in at Hotpot locales by sending them a request directly from the app. In other words, if you don't feel like actually texting or calling somebody to ask them to meet you at Starbucks, you can just check in there with Latitude and have the app start nagging them for you. As silly as it sounds, I'll admit that this is something I'd probably do.

Last but not least, in an effort to make Latitude more usable users can now search for places to check into when the location they happen to be at inevitably fails to show up on the check-in list.

It's a small update with no visual bells or whistles, but every step forward in Google's quest to make both Hotpot and Latitude viable social tools is a step in the right direction. The update is live now, so be sure to grab it at the Android Market.