The weird part of installing apps is sometimes it gets stuck in a perma-fail mode and could no longer be updated. After digging around for a while, I came across the relevant log line: smdl2tmp1

I scratched my head for hours, only to realize that this problem is caused by a temporary file called smdl2tmp1.asec that is used during installations of apps that are movable to SD but for some reason does not get deleted, especially when you run out of space. Because of this, the system cannot create it and treats it as an error, rather than recognizing it as stale and deleting it.

Any solution? Yes, read below to uncover the answers.  

Step 1: Manually delete smdl2tmp1.asec. It could reside at 2 locations:

1./sdcard/.android_secure – this is an invisible folder on your SD card, which you can access with any file manager, like ASTRO

2./mnt/secure/asec/ – access to this folder requires root and a program like Root Explorer

Step 2: Look for smdl2tmp1.asec in these folders and delete any ones you see. Deleting these temporary files seems to be a safe enough operation. Once all deletions are complete, update problems should go away

Google has been slammed for not fixing this problem, and requiring users to look for random files on their phones, which I completely agree. But, at least my phone is healthy again, and hope yours is too, if you were seeking for a solution. 

Poor SD Card performance can negate the overall experience of your device, especially when apps like Apps2SD and Gallery rely on speedy SD Card access. To improve the SD Card performance, and XDA member (brainmaster) has come up with a tweaked solution. By adjusting a certain SD card cache value of your Android device, you can significantly improve read speeds, doubling or tripling them, and in certain cases going even higher.  

I found this process an interesting and helpful concept, and therefore tried out on my handset. Please note that this process only concentrates on the read speed of the SD Card, and has no effect, on the write speed.

The fundamental principle behind this solution is to modify the amount of available read-ahead cache for reading SD Card data. By default, ROMs usually receive anywhere between 4KB and 128KB exclusive for this operation.

To find the cache size on your device, fire up Root Explorer and navigate to: /sys/devices/virtual/bdi/179:0/read_ahead_kb

If you want to run the SD Card speed test, you must modify the value in this file, save, and test. However, upon reboot, it will return to default unless you make it permanent.

To run these tests, you can use an app  - SD Tools. It is available in the Android Market FREE.

Conclusion:

A decent increase in read speed from about 5.4MB/s to 8.2MB/s was observed. Upon discovering the final speed that works best for you, can you make it permanent by flashing the appropriate file found in the ClockworkMod Recovery.

If you decide to try it out, let us know what value worked best for your phone model.

Were you told that Sony Ericsson Walkman is dead? How could you believe that an iconic gadget like that will die? Here is the rebirth of the glorious Walkman.  Sony announced the resurrection of the Walkman few day before Easter- call it perfect timing. Sony Ericsson W8, as it is called, got a new life from Android.
The handset carries the design accents of an XPERIA X8 save for the addition of fresh colors, but under the hood there is a modest 600MHz processor which powers the almost ancient Android 2.1 garnished with Timescape. The W8 has a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen with resolution of 320 x 480. A 3.2-megapixel camera with no flash will serve your photography needs, but the W8 aims to bring the focus on music so we expect to see above average speakers in the handset.

W8

The spec is listed below…

FEATURES

• 3.0 inches, TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
• 320 x 480 pixels
• 99 x 54 x 15 mm
• 104 g
• Scratch-resistant surface
• Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
• Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
• Timescape UI

• Battery 1200 mAh
• Stand-by Up to 446 h (2G) / Up to 476 h (3G)
• Talk time Up to 4 h 45 min
• Music play Up to 23 h 40 min

• SNS integration
• Walkman player
• MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
• MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player
• 3.5mm jack

• InBuilt Memory 128 MB storage, 168 MB RAM
• microSD, up to 16GB

• Camera 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels
• Video VGA@30fps

• Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair)
• 600 MHz
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Java

• GPRS
• EDGE
• 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
• USB

Now you can know what’s taking up your SD Card space using Grid Size File Manager. The app analyzes your Android device’s SD card to show you a visual representation of what’s taking up the most space and present the info to you in a nice grid format.  The visual representation is clean and easy on the eyes, and comes with pinch to zoom for clearer viewing.

It also doubles as a regular file manager. Tapping any folder or file’s colored block will open it, while long-pressing will bring up file-management options (like cut, copy, paste, or delete).

The app is very simple, and has no settings or options to speak of. There is a secondary view available, though. It loses the multicolored GridView and replaces it with plain lines of text, and definitely helps with using the app as a file manager.

There is a  paid  version of Grid Size File Manager which costs $0.99, but there is also a free version that contains ads. It requires Android 2.0 or higher

Toshiba has officially launched the 10.1-inch Honeycomb aka Android 3.0 tablet that it had unveiled at CES earlier this year. The Regza AT300 has a dual-core Tegra 2 processor from NVIDIA and a full 1GB of RAM.

 The tablet runs on stock Android 3.0 Honeycomb without any customization. The screen size is 10.1 inches with 1280 x 800 pixels resolution. It is equipped with 5-megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel front camera. Storage capacity is 16GB and support for Bluetooth and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. Apparently the Regza tablet has a both a full size USB port as well as a miniUSB. An HDMI-out port and an SD-card slot are included. Battery life is claimed to be 7 hours.

Toshiba has equipped the Regza AT300 with the ability to integrate with other Regza branded devices-  smartphones, TVs, laptops and Blu-ray players.

The Regza AT300 is expected to launch in the Japanese market in June for $723. No word yet on international availability, so stay tuned!

A significant update has been pushed to the Skype Android app, recently. Now you can make VoIP calls over 3G in addition to Wi-Fi. This won’t affect Verizon customers, who already had usage of the app over 3G.