Posted: 13 Feb 2012 05:59 PM PST   Huawei, a manufacturer normally known for their budget to low-end Android handsets, is definitely coming out swinging in 2012. At this year’s CES, we’ve already seen, and gotten our hands-on with the Huawei Ascend P1 S. With a speedy dual-core TI 1.5GHz OMAP processor and stock Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, we were more than impressed with the latest handset to acquire the title of ” world’s slimmest smartphone.” If having the thinnest smartphone on the planet wasn’t enough to get your Android juices flowing (that sounds dirty), I wonder if something with a bit more power could entice you? Perhaps something along the lines of quad-cores? Well, it appears that’s exactly what Huawei has on the menu for this year’s Mobile World Congress on February 26th. A press invite is being sent out to media and mentions Huawei’s “most powerful smartphone yet.” Further more, a Japanese blog is reporting that the device will be called the Huawei Ascend D Q. If the “S” in the Ascend P1 S stood for “slim,” we could only imagine the “Q” in this title standing for “quad-core.”  Also revealed was Huawei’s upcoming MediaPad 10, a 1o-inch version of their 7-inch MediaPad tablet that recently launched on T-Mobile. If all goes well, we expect to give you guys a full hands on during MWC in a 2 more weeks. [Ameblo | Via UnwiredView] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 05:01 PM PST   Just like Hollywood celebrities who attempt to hide their estranged lovers from the public eye, the tech world works very much the same way. Sometimes for OEM’s, despite their best efforts, the truth eventually comes out. Especially when it’s a secret as juicy as this one.What you’re looking at in the above image is Motorola and Intel’s lovechild, to be later officially unveiled at Mobile World Congress in just a few short weeks. The device will have the eyes of it’s father — Motorola’s Motoblur — mixed with soul of Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich and powered by Intel’s Medfield processor (seen in a few devices at this year’s CES). Whether we’ll see a few more surprise partnerships from Intel at Mobile World Congress in a just a few short weeks is anyone’s guess. Either way, we’re officially hyped for MWC and I have to say, I’m a little jealous of our fellow Phandroid staffers who will be attending this year. I honestly can’t wait to see what other surprises emerge. How you guys liking the thought of Motorola getting into bed with Intel? Does it change any of your opinions on making a Motorola device a future purchase? [Pocketnow] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 03:19 PM PST   Listen up, Android developers. Remember that promotion RIM was holding in order to get Android developers to port their applications to Blackberry? The one where you’d get a free Playbook tablet for repacking an application (a process that takes no more than 10 minutes)? Well, you have a little more time to get all of that done. They’ve extended the deadline – which was originally set to today – by two weeks. Repackaging and uploading an Android app to RIM for submission is pain-free and will get you a free tablet so be sure to take a look at how to do that here. Let us know if you’ll be taking advantage of this. [RIM] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 02:47 PM PST  Google’s on a roll this week, it seems. Just as the European Commission did earlier, The US Department of Justice has just approved the deal that would allow Google to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.  Although all of these regulators are approving the deal, it’s not without caution. Most will continue to monitor the aftermath of the deal due to the aggressive patent war going on between all these OEMs and software vendors right now. Google has already assured everyone that they will handle the portfolio fairly and carefully so as to not violate FRAND rules and spark antitrust worries. If Google stays true to their word, they should have no problem holding onto Motorola and its patent portfolio for a long, long time. [US DoJ via Reuters] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 01:54 PM PST  ThinkGeek, one of my favorite geek apparel and accessories site, has announced that they will soon be coming to market with a Bluetooth Controller for mobile devices, including Android phones and tablets. It’s being called the iCade 8-Bitty and, as its name suggests, it gives a nod to those of you who appreciate old-school gaming. You’re presented with an NES-style rectangular controller that has four face buttons, two shoulder buttons and a directional pad, as well as your standard start and select buttons. The controller already works with many games in the Android market and ThinkGeek will have an open development platform for developers who want to add support for it. All of it is coming later this year for $24. [ThinkGeek  via PCMag] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 01:42 PM PST   Verizon Wireless has been on a roll this past year. They’ve probably covered more Americans with 4G in one year than any of their competitors combined. One market they’re proud of is New England where they mentioned that $297 million went into one of their biggest regional expansions, enhancements and launches yet. On the year, they covered 195 markets – twelve of which are in New England – and aren’t slowing down going into 2012. Their performance this year is especially important considering AT&T’s going to continue to expand their network and Sprint will soon begin an aggressive two-year rollout in the middle of this year. Both Sprint and Verizon expect to cover their entire 3G coverage area right around the same time so this will be a most interesting race to the finish. Hit the source link for Verizon’s full New England rollout timeline. [Verizon Wireless] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 12:26 PM PST   It’s not often we get a sneak peak at what’s coming from the folks at Dead Zebra. AndroidGuys have gotten their hands on a retailers’ preview of designs to come. We’ve got some designs from the usual folks – including Google and Andrew Bell – as well as a few other models that have been silhouetted – it is a “preview,” after all. It’s interesting to see that owl-themed doll from Google, and in true Google fashion we have a solid-colored toy. This one’s red, though we can’t say for sure that there is any significance there just yet. Take a look at all of the known figures above. |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 11:56 AM PST   Benchmarkers, assemble! The folks at Aurora Softworks have issued a long-awaited upgrade to Quadran Standard Edition for Android. For the longest time, it didn’t at all support dual-core CPUs. That all changes with this update. Also new is Android 4.0 support so literally everybody should be in one the benchmarking fun. We’ve also got GUI improvements, Polish translations, and your general round of bug fixes. Find the 1.4MB update in the Android market right here. [Update]: Aurora notes that scores are tallied differently from their 1.x version of the application. Because of this, some may seem results that don’t make any sense at all. They will soon be update their results browser to reflect the new scoring system. Not that any of this means much, though – they’re just numbers to help boost either ego or confidence in those who take pride in their phones’ performance. |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 11:46 AM PST   The folks at Xyologic have crunched some numbers recently regarding Google TV. The platform has 64 apps specifically designed for it. Of these 64 apps, six are pre-installed on Google TV devices. Those 6 apps have been “downloaded” 4.44 million times, apparently, out of the nearly 4.8 million apps that have been downloaded. That means that 92% of all apps downloaded on Google TV devices aren’t even by choice. Xyologic says a lot of this is due to the “underwhelming” selection of applications on the Android market. Out of those 64 apps, only two have ratings above four stars and many have ratings under three. They have a lot of other interesting figures and commentary on the subject to get a look at the full breakdown at the source link. [Xyologic] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 11:09 AM PST   The European Commission has approved Google’s proposal to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. It’s another big hurdle cleared for the Mountain View company who stands to take control of a patent portfolio in the tens of thousands range should they get cleared from other regulatory bodies, including the US Department of Justice, Taiwan, China, and Israel. There is little doubt that Google will be able to gain approval from all of the bodies they need to, especially considering their biggest obstacles are behind them. Google expects the deal to be approved, cleared and closed by the end of this quarter and, at this pace, they’ll meet their goal handily. [European Commission via Google] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 09:25 AM PST   The crew also discovered that the Droid 4′s non-removable battery can in fact be pried loose with a bit of force and also located the handset’s 16GB of on-board flash storage. You can see the full teardown for yourself by heading over to the source link below. [via iFixit] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 07:50 AM PST   For those in the UK looking for a bit more vanilla to go along with their Ice Cream Sandwich experience, the white variant of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus begins shipping today. The handset features identical specs to the standard grey iteration of the GSM Galaxy Nexus, including a dual-core processor and 720p display. For those in the US looking to stand out from the pack, Negri Electronics and other third-party retailers have the unlocked handset available for purchase. Check out a quick unboxing below. [via DroidLife] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 06:59 AM PST   The LTE-configured Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 has passed through the Global Certification Forum ready to bring its 4G speeds to Europe. The device is listed under its model number GT-P7320 and shows approval for a number of radio bands, including 900MHz and 2100MHz HSPA and LTE at 800MHz and 2.6GHz. Unclear is the tablet’s exact destination within the EU. Likewise, pricing and availability details remain a mystery. While 4G LTE coverage is available from several carriers and is compatible with a number of devices here in the US, the next-gen network technology isn’t as prevalent on the other side of the Atlantic. This looks to soon change and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 should be riding the first wave. [via TheUnwired] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 05:50 AM PST   In advance of Mobile World Congress the first image of what is said to be the LG Optimus 3D 2 has made its way online. A point of emphasis with the new design is the device’s thinness. Last year’s Optimus 3D suffered from the fact that the handset measured in at 11.9mm thick. This year LG has reportedly shaved that number down to 9.8mm, reducing the Optimus 3D’s weight in the process. The Optimus 3D 2 will feature a hi-res IPS display, likely the same as the HD screen found on the Optimus LTE. The Optimus 3D 2 (or potentially Optimus 3D Max) will find its place next the Optimus Vu as one of LG’s MWC booth darlings, but the company may have some surprises for us yet. With Samsung staying low key this year, does LG have a chance to steal the show? [ETNews via OLED Display] |
Posted: 13 Feb 2012 05:19 AM PST   Move over Galaxy Note, LG is about to make even your gargantuan proportions seem pocketable with their upcoming Optimus Vu. The handset, which we first saw teased last week, is seen here pictured next to the Note. The two phones feature similar display sizes, but the 4:3 aspect ratio of the Vu makes for a much wider design. The newly leaked image also gives us a pretty good idea of the LG big boy’s overall stylings, which seem to take cues from the Korean manufacturer’s recent Prada Phone 3.0.  While we are still in the dark in terms of specs, an accompanying screen grab is suggesting a peripheral we may see, at least. If the above shot from what appears to be an annotation app is to be believed, the 5-inch display size won’t be the only thing the Vu borrows from Samsung’s Note. LG’s phone may also utilize a stylus, a popular input method for these devices with screen sizes falling somewhere between a tablet and a smartphone. Perhaps it’s time to revisit the question, though. How big is too big? [via Engadget, AndroidCentral] |
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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