Posted: 15 Feb 2012 03:29 PM PST  Former eBay CEO, 2010 California gubernatorial candidate and current president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Meg Whitman took the stage at HP's Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas today. She had some reassuring things to say about webOS and its open-source future, saying HP is committed and that we should expect it to take some time (2 to 5 years worth) to fully play out what impact this will have on mobile's growing "ecosystem." We're right there with you Meg. We want webOS to stay relevant, and we love the open-source aspect. Bravo, and I could just hug you for doing the right thing. Then something happened. We weren't there, but we expect the lights went dim and eerie music started playing in the background as Meg went on to say that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility could lead to Android becoming closed-source and force OEM's to adopt webOS. We can't make this stuff up, kids. I hate to break it to ya Meg, but it ain't gonna happen. It's against Google's business model with Android, which is to maintain a rich mobile operating system that anyone can install and use for free. This, in turn, puts plenty of eyes on Google products and services, which leads to piles of money. Google doesn't sell Android -- it sells ads. Google makes a ton of money every time a mobile device uses the Internet, because frankly, it's hard to get away from Google. No matter what smartphone brand you're using, Google is making money. Google will make money from an open-source webOS, just like it does from a closed-source iOS. It makes even more money keeping an Android open-source OS available for partners to use. Like every company, including HP, Google likes lots 'o money. We get it. You want more folks to adopt your $1.2 billion dollar baby. How about listening to your user base and adapting the software to fit their needs instead of FUD and scare-tactics? Of course, we've all done things in Vegas we might later regret ... Source: PC World; via webOS Nation 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 03:14 PM PST  "HTC knows how excited many of its customers are about the latest technology and HTC products. They want to help support that excitement and say "thanks" by providing early access to the latest software for some of HTC’s loyal fans and developers, beginning with a preview of the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) software upgrade for the HTC Sensation and HTC Sensation XE in Europe."Further details will be announced through HTC's official Twitter and Facebook accounts, though it's expected that members of HTC's "Elevate" beta program be first in line for the preview. HTC recently announced that it'll roll out the finished Ice Cream Sandwich updates for the original Sensation, as well as the XE, XL and 4G variants by the end of March, so even if you're not among the lucky few to get the preview version, you shouldn't have too long to wait. 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 02:59 PM PST 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 02:26 PM PST  The Qmadix Snap-on Cover for the Pantech Breakout is a great case that combines style, functionality, and protection all in one great package. Without adding a bunch of bulk, or putting some fancy print on the outside, we can't help but wonder -- is this the case for you? With tons of cases already on the market, and new ones hitting almost daily it can be rather difficult to find the perfect case for your needs, but we want to help you out and guide you in the right direction. Let's hit the break and check out some more details about the case as well as a bunch more pictures. The Qmadix Snap-on Cover has two pieces, one is the case that snaps over the phone and the other is a holster which the cover slides into. I am quite particular about cases and covers on my phone, usually I don't like them since most of them are either to slick or to bulky but I happened to find a rather happy medium with this case. The ribbed style design on the back allowed for the case not to be to slick and want to slide out of my hand, but the case itself was not overly large, contoured the device well. Another pet peeve I have with cases is when they don't fit super snug, or the edges aren't properly aligned, whether they sit above or below the device it still drives me nuts. The Qmadix case snaps on pretty easily, but locks right into place and doesn't move. It aligns well with the device, and feels very natural in your hands. The cut outs for the charging port, headphone jack and other ports are easily accessible but they aren't overly huge which is a definite plus. Additionally, removing the case doesn't take a ton of effort, nor does it feel like you are going to break the case or device while attempting to remove it. The case itself is very nice, and definitely a great accessory, and luckily the holster that they have paired with it is equally as well constructed and useful. While belt clips aren't for everyone, they definitely serve a great purpose in my life, I prefer to have quick and easy access of my device instead of fumbling through my pockets to grab it as it rings. The holster has a nice felt liner on the inside which is great since you are placing your device screen side in on towards the holster. In addition the holster has a nice strong ratcheting style clip which allows you to pick a position which you want it to hold to and keep it that way. If you are looking for a nice case and holster combination without adding a ton of bulk or breaking the bank, the Qmadix Snap-on Cover may be a great case for you. read more 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 01:53 PM PST 
Many folks may have wanted to try The Sims out in the past but didn't feel like paying the buy cost and reasonably so. The Sims 3 costs almost $8 and that's a fair amount to spend on game you may or may not like but with The Sims FreePlay you can explore the game without the cost. You'll want to note the download size though if you're going to check this one out, the graphics on the game are quite great and they will take up around 700MB of space on your device. The Android Market link can be found past the break. read more 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 01:48 PM PST  Adobe Flash Player for Android has been updated to fix some potential security issues. The update to is recommended, as it addresses a vulnerability where an attacker could crash the application, and gain unwanted control over the system. Don't be alarmed, these issues (like most others) aren't out in the wild and are the result of researchers trying to break things. They find 'em, Adobe fixes 'em. But do take the time and update. There's no sense in using a version with known security bugs. There's a link after the break to the Market where you can find your fix. read more
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 12:05 PM PST Verizon's latest is close to being the perfect slider The Droid 4 isn't a radical departure from its predecessors. You've got a keyboard, and you've got a screen, though both have undergone further tweaking that keep it in the style of other current Motorola smartphones like the Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR MAXX. But that's not to say the Droid 4 is the perfect smartphone. Oh, we're going to sing its praises, to be sure. But it's also got some quirks that leave us scratching our head. Check in after the break for our full Droid 4 review.
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:36 AM PST  The update is available in the Android market now and be sure to hit the break for download links. read more 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:41 AM PST Bugdroid has been spotted in lots of places in the past. Dancing with Zombies, hanging out at Google IO plus, he's a global traveller having even been spotted in Taiwan. He's taken on some new adventures recently though and as such has headed for the slopes to try out some skiing. Judging from the video though, he may get stuck on the bunny hill for a while yet. Source: YouTube 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 09:39 AM PST  If true, it's certainly an interesting choice for the branding of HTC's 2012 smartphones, not to mention a departure from the one-word naming scheme that's given us phones like the Desire, Sensation, and, um, ChaCha. The The One S looks set to become HTC's mid-range offering for 2012, with a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and a qHD screen. We've seen it in a series of leaks over the past month or so, which has given us some early photos and video of the device in action. On the software side, both phones run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, along with the new HTC Sense 4.0, which seems to be shaping up rather nicely. There'll probably be at least one other quad-core phone at MWC, but we're looking forward to getting our hands on HTC's latest piece of kit regardless. 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 08:38 AM PST  Could Samsung be planning to launch a full-sized tablet cousin to the Galaxy Note? Listings on Samsung's own blog, as well as a casting website, contain references to the "Galaxy Note 10.1", an as-yet unannounced device. A post with details of Samsung's Mobile World Congress 2012 developer day lists the device alongside the original Galaxy Note and S Pen SDK. It's possible that this is a typo, however the fact that it's mentioned alongside an invitation to "experience the latest Samsung technology" suggests otherwise, as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is almost a year old at this point. What's more, the post itself has since been pulled from Samsung's site, suggesting that the revelation may have been accidental. The plot thickens with the discovery of a casting call for a Samsung ad by The Verge, which refers to the mysterious device multiple times. The ad was to show the Galaxy Note 10.1 "education, financial planning, and art", and was due to start shooting this month, which would tie in nicely with a possible MWC unveiling. While of limited use on the Galaxy Note's small screen, we could see S Pen's Wacom-based abilities being much more appealing on a full-sized tablet display. Samsung has previously alluded to the possibility of stylus input on a larger display, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see a re-vamped Galaxy Tab 10.1 with S Pen integration in the near future. Whatever Samsung ends up showing at Mobile World Congress, we'll be there to bring you full coverage. Source: The Verge; BackStage (Google Webcache) 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 07:43 AM PST  The Droid Bionic, RAZR (the whole line) and Xoom were already known (and the Xoom Wifi has already gotten its update). Same goes for the recently released Droid 4, as well as the XYBOARD tablets. New on the upgrade list are the Photon 4G, Atrix 4G, Atrix 2 and Motorola Electrify. Still no word on precise timing for updates, though Motorola does say "Our engineers and designers are combing through the code and preparing it for you" and that it's shooting for Q3 (July-September) updates for the RAZR, XYBOARD, Photo 4G and Atrix lines. Good to know. Source: Motorola (full list of updates) 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 07:42 AM PST For today's ShopAndroid.com Daily Giveaway we're featuring the Case-Mate Tough Case for Samsung Skyrocket, Body Glove Snap-On Case for HTC EVO 4G, Mobi Products Hard Shell Case for AT&T Galaxy S II, and the HTC Messenger Side Pouch for HTC Rezound. Leave a comment letting us know which of these featured accessories you'd like to get your hands on, and we'll announce the winner of today's daily giveaway next Monday. Case-Mate Tough Case for Samsung SkyrocketDesigned to offer two layers of protection for the Samsung Skyrocket, the Case-Mate Tough Case is completely flexible and impact resistant. The first layer is a flexible silicone case that wraps around the Skyrocket leaving the screen, camera, headphone and charging ports exposed. Then comes the ABS plastic hard shell case which covers your device while in the silicone cover. read more 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 07:36 AM PST  AT&T this morning announced that it's turned on 4G LTE data in several more markets. If you're in the greater Tampa area -- Tampa/St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Bradenton, to be exact -- you should now be seeing faster speeds, provided you have one of AT&T's new 4G-capable devices. Same goes for Durham, N.C. AT&T's current 4G LTE lineup can be a little confusing, as its website includes the iPhone and other HSPA+ devices, which aren't LTE-capable. For true 4G LTE on AT&T, you need to have the Samsung Galaxy Note, LG Nitro HD, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, HTC Vivid and Pantech Burst, or, the Pantech Element or HTC Jetstream or Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablets. 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 07:20 AM PST  The ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day for Feb 15 is the OtterBox Defender Series Case for the Motorola Droid RAZR. The OtterBox Defender Series for the Motorola Droid RAZR offers rugged protection for your smartphone. The OtterBox Defender Series case will help keep your phone protected from drops, bumps, dust and shock. All features, keys and ports are accessible through the case, providing you with a unique, interactive safeguard. Included with this case is a holster style swivel belt clip. And it's available today only for just $29.95 -- that's 40 percent off! Get yours while supplies last. 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 06:38 AM PST  The winner of the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung and free unlimited talk, text, and data service on Mobilicity’s $40 Super Savings plan (a $55/month value) is... read more 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 06:05 AM PST | ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 04:52 AM PST  The site also reports a fearsome list of specs, including the aforementioned 1.4 GHz Tegra 3 chip (1.5GHz when in single-core mode) -- a 4.7-inch, 720p display, 2000mAh battery, and 8MP/1.3MP front and rear cameras. There's also 16GB of built-in storage, expandable via microSD card. And as you may have guessed, it's powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. What's equally interesting, to us at least, is that the screenshots from the X3 appear to be very, very close to vanilla ICS. LG has taken a lot of heat over the quality of its software in the past, so we're sure many will be salivating over the potential combination of LG build quality, a quad-core chip and pure, vanilla Android. On the other hand, these shots are likely from a pre-production unit, so things may change. In any case, we'll be eager to get our hands on this thing in Barcelona, assuming the reports of an MWC unveiling are correct. You'll find a couple more screenshots over at the source link. Source: MoDaCo 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 03:58 AM PST  HTC may be building its own streaming music service, according to reports. Tech blog GigaOM says its "sources familiar with the company's plans" indicate that HTC is working with Beats Audio co-founder Jimmy Iovine to create the service, which will be the default music player on future HTC devices. This would put the manufacturer in competition with the likes of Spotify and Pandora, as well as Android's baked-in Google Music service. However, it wouldn't be HTC's first attempt at getting into the music business. Last year's Sensation 4G launched with the HTC Listen music store, though this was killed off later in the year. GigaOM says the new streaming service will launch alongside new HTC phones and tablets at Mobile World Congress at the end of the month. We've already seen unannounced devices like the HTC Ville and HTC Endeavor (both believed to be codenames), however we've yet to hear of any new HTC tablets on the horizon. The company launched the HTC Flyer and HTC Jetstream in 2011, though neither was met with much success. In addition, it's reported that HTC and Beats Audio working on a "wireless boombox" that would stream music wirelessly from HTC phones and tablets, a move which would see HTC becoming more involved in the accessory space. If today's reports are accurate, HTC is clearly getting behind Beats in a big way -- which should surprise no-one considering its $300 million investment in the company. Whatever HTC announces at MWC, we'll be there covering it live Source: GigaOM 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 15 Feb 2012 02:40 AM PST  Writing on the official Google Commerce blog, VP of Google Wallet and Payments, Osama Bedier, said that the company was not aware that any pre-paid cards that had been misused as a result of the vulnerability. Yesterday afternoon, we restored the ability to issue new prepaid cards to the Wallet. In addition, we issued a fix that prevents an existing prepaid card from being re-provisioned to another user. While we’re not aware of any abuse of prepaid cards or the Wallet PIN resulting from these recent reports, we took this step as a precaution to ensure the security of our Wallet customers. If you are unable to access your previous prepaid card balance for any reason, please contact our toll-free support for assistance.So now we can all sleep a little safer at night, knowing that if someone steals your phone, at least they won't be able to pay for a Big Mac out of your pre-paid allowance. The issue with obtaining PIN numbers on rooted devices via a brute-force method remains, however, as we discussed in our most recent podcast, a rooted device is by definition insecure. For its part, Google still recommends not installing Google Wallet on rooted devices. Source: Google Commerce Blog 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:06 PM PST  For a lot of people, the ability to install apps that aren't offered in the "official" Android Market is a big draw. Android devices (for the most part) allows applications to be installed from any source, which has led to alternative marketplaces full of apps. For the most part, they are all well done and offer a safe and convenient experience, but often lack in selection compared to Google's Market. There's plenty of reasons people turn to places like Amazon and SlideME, and I wander and sample from markets other than Google's myself. This got me wondering -- how many of you guys do the same? I'm betting a good many of us do it, especially at least once a day at Amazon for the free app. Let us know in the poll! 
| ||||||||||
Posted: 14 Feb 2012 08:36 PM PST  Frankly, there are few more annoyances when taking photographs than unwanted people getting in the way of that perfect shot. (Unless that shot is of scantilly clad people on a beach in Bora Bora. But we digress.) A first-of-its-kind application set to be shown off at Mobile World Congress called Remove, from Scalado, can quite amazingly remove said people from your shots.  The technology behind this is pretty amazing, yet at the same time sounds so simple. By watching the moving, live objects in the frame, the app can interpret a 'clean' version of the image. Once you have the initial image, simply highlight the pieces you want to remove, and voila! The Android version is said to be coming soon, but will be exhibited in all its glory for the first time in Barcelona. Interested? Hit the break for a quick promo video from the developers. Source: Scalado via TechCrunch read more
| ||||||||||
Friday, February 17, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment