Posted: 07 Mar 2012 09:39 AM PST While the original Nook Color was (and is!) a robust platform for aftermarket hacking, Barnes & Noble’s decision to make the upgraded Nook Tablet with a locked bootloader has caused some headaches. The Nook Color has had CyanogenMod 9 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for months already, but it’s taken until now for some industrious XDA developers to get it running on the Nook Tablet. Even so, it’s still operating off of the stick Gingerbread 2.3 kernel, thanks to the aforementioned bootloader lock.  That means that while Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will boot, run, and for the most part work, it won’t do so with the greatest of ease, and force closes and random reboots are pretty common at this point. And of course, the speed and responsiveness is nowhere near other CM9 ports, even on the less-than-optimal HP TouchPad. Anyone who’s tried to run Gingerbread on a Froyo kernel will know what the experience is like. Pretty much everything works, though – WiFi, Bluetooth, audio and video – though the standard video acceleration isn’t working, so HD YouTube, Netflix, HBO go and the like are all out of commission at present. CM9 versions of Google apps seem to be doing OK. Problems include a tendency towards the sleep of death, so be warned. The developers are hoping to move to a later kernel at some point, though how and when is not firmly established. Naturally you flash it via a custom recovery, and make a backup – your warranty is already voided just by reading this article! [via Liliputing] |
Posted: 07 Mar 2012 08:48 AM PST Huawei has been making waves with its super high-end phones from Mobile World Congress, the Ascend D Quad and Ascend D Quad XL. But the company has tears of experience serving the low end of the market as well, and it looks like they have no intention of letting it go to waste. The Prism just passed through the hallowed and extremely gray halls of the FCC, spotted by Blog of Mobile on its way to parts and carriers unknown – though its wireless bands indicate that it’s headed for T-Mobile at some point.  Not much can be deduced from the listing itself, save the radio frequencies and a 1400mAh battery. But based on the “U8651T” model number, it’s probably either a small upgrade or a complete replacement for an older low-end model with a 3.5-inch screen. T-Mobile has relied on Huawei for rebranded hardware before, so it’s likely that they’re looking fora new bottom end of their Android line – probably without Huawei’s name on the branding or marketing. An FCC filing doesn’t guarantee a release, and even if this is a definite device it’ll probably be a couple of months at least before it see the light of retail. With its reputation as a budget national carrier, T-Mobile does well to offer lots of options for the low and mid range, even if its more high-end offerings aren’t as expansive as Verizon or AT&T. We’ll be keeping an eye out for the Prism over the next few weeks. [via Androinica] |
Posted: 07 Mar 2012 07:51 AM PST Believe it or not, not all the skins and additions made to Android are bad – Samsung’s drop-down power menu and HTC’s multi-talented unlock screen come to mind. There are those who prefer HTC’s Sense UI to stock Android, and for those Sense 4.0 is certainly something to look forward to. If (by some chance) you’re a Sense fan who currently owns Samsung Nexus S, you can try out Ice Cream Sandwich and Sense 4.0 right now, courtesy of XDA Developers member swamp goblin. Currently the port is in a pre-alpha state, meaning it’s about as buggy as a week-old BLT on the sidewalk.  The ROM itself stems from the leak of the Endeavor (now the HTC One X) ROM, which is also being used in for other projects specifically coded for HTC phones. The developer of the Nexus S port stresses that almost nothing is working: it boots and launches some HTC-specific apps, and not much else. Even the radio isn’t working at the moment, though it’s only been officially tested on the CDMA Nexus S 4G – standard Nexus S owners may or may not have more luck. Even so, this isn’t a daily driver by any stretch of the imagination – unless you’re just really curious, you might want to wait for a more stable update. Some may cry foul at sullying the Nexus S’ pure Android facade with a copyrighted skin like Sense, not to mention bring HTC exclusive features to a Samsung phone. We say live and let live – mods like this are what keep the Android community ticking. Shine on you crazy diamond and all that jazz. For those who want the real thing, HTC’s new crop of phones should be coming to the UK next month, with American releases for the HTC One X and One S on AT&T and T-Mobile, respectively, following in the summer. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
 Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
 |
Posted: 07 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PST Do you need something more powerful than the original Samsung Galaxy S, but you’re not ready for the big screen of the Galaxy S II? Then you’re part of an extremely specific market that Samsung nonetheless hopes to target with the Galaxy S Advance, an upgrade on the original that delivers a faster processor and more contemporary styling. After a few delays, the phone has popped up on UK retailer Clove with an expected ship date of March 26th. The price is £354.00 with taxes for an unlocked phone, making it about $550 USD.  That’s a lot to ask for a phone that’s using a lot of older tech. The biggest improvement over the Galaxy S (now almost two years old) is a dual-core 1.0Ghz processor, while the 4-inch screen, 1GB of RAM, and 5 megapixel camera stay the same. The phone uses Samsung’s standard Gingerbread-TouchWiz combination, which should run fine on 768MB of RAM. The 800×480 Super AMOLED screen gets something of a refresh, since it’s got a Galaxy Nexus-style concave curved glass panel. The connection is HSPA, not HSPA+. We haven’t heard of the Galaxy S Advance making the jump to the Americas yet, though it’s certainly not impossible: it’s already made the rounds at the FCC. To be honest, a mild refresh of the Galaxy S isn’t really necessary with the US’ love affair with subsidized phones: the reduced price that the Advance would get wouldn’t be significantly lower than the Galaxy S II or other similarly-equipped high end phones. Even so, we’ll be waiting to see if it graces our fair shores. [via Unwired View] |
Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:31 AM PST As an avid gamer, you’ve no doubt passed through a thousand nameless tiny villages on your way to defeating the evil overlord, rescuing the princess, saving the realm and/or catching them all. But what of the little people and the little lives that make up the background of your epic adventure? What daily struggles does the potion shop owner, the blacksmith or the fletcher face in their everyday quest to relieve passing adventurers of their gold? That’s the question that Dungeon Village, available now on the Android Market Google Play, aims to answer.  Created by Game Dev Story developer Kairsoft and employing their signature top-down isometric style, Dungeon Village is something of a Sim City-esque management title, charging the player with the task of making his or her little RPG-inspired town thrive and prosper. Keeping the various shops and inns maintained and well-supplied will attract brawny knight,s clever mages and cunning rogues who’ll gladly part with their latest loot, improving the health of the village. Make it good enough and some of them might even settle down, becoming local champions (and regular pub patrons). The more heroes that join your town, the bigger the monsters they can defeat, and the safer the town will be. At $4.99 Dungeon Village isn’t the cheapest game around, but fans of Kairsoft’s style and formula will happily fork it over. While you can essentially play the title forever, there is an established endgame for those who want some closure. Android users all the way back to 1.6 can join in the fun, and thus far there are no major compatibility issues being reported. Go forth and flush evil from the world, brave administrator – by means of a sound fiscal policy and lots of big guys with swords, of course.    [via Pocket Gamer] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 11:53 PM PST Adobe has just recently announced Shadow, their new toolkit to help developers make their web page perfectly functional on any mobile device. With so many different Android devices currently on the market, this is going to work wonders for web professionals when trying to find problems in their code. As you navigate through each page and link, Shadow lets you know what will be compatible with different screen sizes.  Having to test out webpage formatting on every single device out there is simply miserable, and can take much more time than one should have put forth. And at the rate new devices are coming out, it’s safe to say Adobe Shadow couldn’t come at a better time. It will also appeal to developers that took the HTML5 route rather than creating native Android applications. Just plug in multiple devices into your computer, and Adobe Shadow will proofread all your code at once. It hasn’t been easier. For a more in-depth video of what Shadow can do for web developers, take a look at what Adobe executive Bruce Bowman has to say. [via Forbes] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 10:33 PM PST Samsung Mobile recently sent out a press release letting us all know what events to expect from the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. The ‘special announcement’ will likely be the showing of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 rather than the much anticipated Galaxy S III. Reason being, is that the entire event accentuates the Galaxy Note throughout the press release; it would still hold true after the 10.1′s announcement.  We were able to get some hands-on time with the Galaxy Note 10.1 over in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress just recently. It looked strikingly similar to the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and had an improved pressure sensitive digitizer. The S-Pen was also a bit larger, and the device is slated to have a few free applications onboard. They include Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas – two applications that take complete advantage of the stylus. The announcement will take place in the Samsung Blogger Lounge at the festival, so we’ll be hooking you up with information as soon as it hits. Do you have any speculations on what else they could possibly unveil? It seems too soon to expect the Galaxy S III – but hopefully we’re all mistaken! [via AndroidAndMe] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 09:12 PM PST Samsung is offering a chance for you to experience the many features of the Galaxy Note at select malls across the US. Most are located in California, but there are a few others scattered across the country. After visiting the Samsung booth, someone will draw a complementary caricature of you directly from a Galaxy Note. You’ll receive a printout, and then be eligible to win a Galaxy Note Accessory Pack upon entry!  The booth will only be open on weekends, and until March 25. You can also ‘Like’ Samsung Mobile’s Facebook page for an extra chance to win a Galaxy Note and then a chance to attend the London 2012 Olympic Games. As a refresher, we have a full blown review of AT&T’s newly released Note – so be sure to check it out. It’s not too different than the original Note, other than the variation of capacitive softkeys.  As a recap, specifications of the Note include a vibrant 5.3″ Super AMOLED HD display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, 1.5GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, and stylus S-Pen. After using the Note, you realize how grateful Samsung was to include the stylus. Some applications and even taking quick notes become easier than ever to use. For those of you fortunate enough to take advantage of a free caricature, we wish you luck in their other promotions as well. [via SamsungMobileUS] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 07:33 PM PST This morning Samsung revealed the Galaxy Pocket, a rather small device sporting a 2.8″ display. This isn’t the first Samsung device with a smaller than average screen size; coming in at 3.2 inches was the Samsung Dart. It should be available in the UK later on this year. Imangi Studios has finally let us know an official date to expect the extremely popular free game Temple Run in the Android Market – rather Google Play.  Google has completely replaced the Google Android Market with the Google Play Store. They have also put up “Play of the Day” deals offering $0.49 applications. Google Play applications have now been updated in the Android Market, so check your updates now to have the latest. An update for the Google Play Store actually rolled out earlier today, but if you still don’t see it on your device, you can download it early here. Verizon has recently revealed a list of devices that are slated to receive Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), and it is bound to make more than a few people disappointed. Devices such as the Samsung DROID Charge, LG Revolution, DROID X, DROID X2, DROID 3, and many others are missing. It could be that they simply haven’t received conformation for these missing devices, it looks as if they could miss the boat altogether. Be sure to check out the entire list to see where your device stands. And finally, check out what the imminent iPad 3 (aka iPad HD) unveiling tomorrow will mean for future Android tablets. We’ll show you what to should expect from the device, and how it should compare to current top of the line Android tablets. |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 06:04 PM PST Tomorrow’s the day, tech newshounds: The Hyperbole Hyper Bowl, the Smug Showdown, the Reality Distortion Field Reboot. I speak, of course, about Apple’s iPad 3 announcement. While I wouldn’t expect our regular readers to take much notice of the pomp and circumstance, it’s an undeniable fact that Apple’s announcements make waves in the mobile world, and nowhere is that more true than in the tablet market. While Android kicks the glossy finish off of the iPhone in every market, the iPad still dominates the tablet industry.  This being the case, Android manufacturers and perhaps more importantly potential customers will be well aware of Apple’s shiny new toys, afterwards if not during the event. For better or worse, the iPad is the standard for tablets, at least for now. And while pretty much every single Android tablet sold at or above the $400 mark can make mincemeat of the iPad 2, that may not be the case for the iPad 3, iPad HD, iPad 2S, or iPad Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. If all the hundreds and hundreds of rumors are true, the hyperbole for the updated device may actually be justified – and even if it’s not, it’ll sell tens of millions of devices. So here’s a breakdown of the rumored features of the new device, and how they compare to current high-end Android tablets. Since it looks like a cheaper iPad isn’t in the cards, we’re considering the iPad 3 a competitor to the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs, Asus’ Transformers and the like, not the Kindle Fires and Nook Tablets of the world.  High-res screen - one of the most persistent rumors, and one that’s almost certainly true, is that the next iPad will come with a 2048×1536 “retina” screen. That’s nice – especially since Apple’s been using rather low-res screens for the last two years, that have been put to shame even by Android smartphones as of late. This one probably won’t affect much in the short term, since nearly all high-end Android tablets use at least a 720p display. Some, like the Transformer Pad Infinity 700 and upcoming models from Acer and Lenovo, will be reaching even higher to 1920×1200. But Android manufacturers usually feel the need to one-up Apple, so expect more 1920 screens in the fall or winter, along with possible 2560×1600 screens preserving Android’s de facto 16:10 tablet ratio standard.  Improved processor – Android’s already got this one covered, with downright amazing performance coming out of the 4-plus-1 Tegra 3 chip from Nvidia and the S4 Snapdragon CPUs from Qualcomm. Even better stuff is on the horizon, like the quad-core Snapdragon “Krait” architecture due later this year and TI’s OMAP 5 platform. A more interesting comparison is graphics performance. Iv’e got to admit, on anything but Nvidia’s SoC’s, the iPad 2 already smokes most Android tablets and phones for 3D performance. This may be more of a problem for developers than manufacturers, but devs want to make awesome games just as much as we want to buy them. Unfortunately, this will probably continue to be the case for some time.  Higher price - we like to see tablets undercut the iPad whenever possible, and a price bump for the entry iPad would make that a lot easier. While an Android fan wouldn’t hesitate to drop $500 on a Transformer Prime or Galaxy Tab 10.1, it’s a lot harder for a more typical consumer to make that call – the Reality distortion Field at work. Android manufacturers can already undercut Apple if they want, but all too often they don’t. We’re looking at you, Galaxy Tab 7.7. What Android really needs is Apple-style deals with carriers that don’t require a contract, just like iPad 2 has with AT&T and Verizon. People want mobile broadband connections on their tablets – what they don’t want is yet another two-year contract.  128GB capacity - Apple tends to deal a lot less in the cloud than Google, which makes a lot of sense considering the two company’s histories. An upgrade to the current 64GB iPad model would be impressive – but from an Android perspective, not overly utilitarian. I’ve never filled up my Galaxy Nexus’ 32GB capacity, and likely never will, thanks to Google Music. Apple has some great (strong-armed) deals with flash memory providers, which should ensure they get a pretty good deal on high-capacity chips. But it’s nothing you can’t replicate with a MicroSD card, for a lot less money. and the chances of the iPad 3 having external storage are basically nil.  LTE – Please. Welcome to 2011, Apple. Regardless of what comes out of San Francisco tomorrow, Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market, at least for the short term. The typical sales bump means that’l probably continue into the summer. But android tablets are catching up fast, just as Android smartphones did a couple of years ago – 40% of new sales already. Expect Android to be even with the iPad in terms of new devices sold by Christmas. If Apple doesn’t sue the free market into oblivion first. If for some reason you’re an Android fan for phone and an Apple fan for tablets… shame on you. Even so, check out our sister site SlashGear’s coverage. They’ll be live at the Apple event starting at 10:00 AM Pacific time. |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 06:03 PM PST Meet the latest tablet from team Samsung and Verizon complete with 4G LTE and a 7.7″ AMOLED HD display. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE is the newest member of the ever-growing range of Samsung tablets and fits in between all the other sizes they’ve released as of late. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE has a dual-core processor and one of the best displays we’ve seen on a tablet — and has us very impressed. Read on for our full thoughts and plenty of pictures.  To start we’ll jump right into the hardware, which is excellent by the way. Being portable, thin, lightweight, powered by 4G LTE, and the perfect size makes this probably one of my favorite tablets. Start by checking out our hands-on here and the hands-on unboxing video. Hardware I wont make you all wait til the very end to get the full verdict here. This tablet is my favorite Samsung table to date — and once it gets Ice Cream Sandwich it will simply be awesome. Complete with a 7.7″ AMOLED HD display with a 1280 x 800 resolution and exquisite colors this thing really shines during daily use, gaming, and watching Netflix. Under the hood is the Samsung Exynos 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and it even has a micro-SD slot to add more if/when needed.  Being 7.7″ I’d still say this is a bit too large to fit in your pocket unless you have larger than normal pockets, but it is still extremely portable and having Verizon 4G LTE really helps out. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is too large to be what I myself would call “portable” and the Galaxy Note might to too small for those still wanting a tablet experience.  Around back is a 3.2 megapixel camera and 2 megapixel up front for video chat. The power and volume buttons have been redesigned compared to all other Samsung tablets and I love the new shape. Being slightly squared and they actually feel different than each other so you wont accidentally turn the screen off while trying to increase the volume. The power button feels slightly lower than the volume rocker so that helps too.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7″ is shown above with the 10″ Verizon LTE Tab and the Galaxy Note for a comparison of the size. It also comes in around 7.89mm thin and is the thinnest tablet available from Samsung — but only by a hair. The brushed aluminum on back is a step up from the cheap plastic feel of the larger 10 and 8.9″ models and a welcomed change. It seems to resist scratching quite well too. Larger tablets like the 8.9 and 10.1 from Samsung didn’t have a micro-SD port for extra storage, but the smaller 7.0 Plus did although no 4G LTE. Giving the Verizon Tab 7.7″ the best of both, or all I should say, makes it truly the best Samsung Galaxy Tab available in my opinion. The only bad part is no Ice Cream Sandwich, and that brings me to my next topic. Software Running on Android 3.2 Honeycomb is the only downfall of this tablet for me. Previously we docked points for tablets not having Honeycomb but now that Ice Cream Sandwich is here, and readily available we want it on our tablets. That aside this is the same experience we’ve had across all Samsung devices with the TouchWiz UX. Things are smooth, they’ve updated a few apps and widgets to use the larger screen, and the built-in screen capture feature is nice. I just wish it wasn’t next to the multitasking button as I always hit the wrong one. Out of the box Verizon has bundled some decent apps along with the usual bloatware. Using things like Blockbuster and Netflix is awesome with the screen size and vivid colors. The usual V CAST apps and My Verizon are here, but we also have a photo editor, quick office, Smart Remote (Peel) for the included Infrared port on the side, UNO, Dead Space by EA Games, and an app called The Daily for news. We also have Swype for tablets pre-installed and it works pretty well for the screen size, swpying on a 10″ device wasn’t ideal if you ask me but is far more manageable on this 7.7″ of real estate. Performance & Benchmarks As usual we’ve ran a quick couple of benchmarks to see how fast things are. As we mentioned above this has the Samsung 1.4 GHz dual-core processor like the international Galaxy Note, not the 1.5 GHz Qualcomm the AT&T model comes with. Performance seems to be about on par if not a little better though. See the results below for a better idea.  Slowly I’m realizing even though Quadrant is the standard in benchmarking that many people use, I’ve also ran AnTuTu as many feel it is more accurate with dual-core devices. Either way benchmarks only play a small roll in actual real-life performance. The only slowdowns are the few bugs in 3.2 Honeycomb and they are few and far between.  We did however get upgraded to the brand new Google Play and Play Store for Android that is replacing the Android Market, this was my first device with the update. Again you can really see from the screenshot below just how impressive the colors are on this 1280 x 800 AMOLED HD panel Samsung’s equipped this slate with.  4G LTE Speedtest Of course having connectivity in the form of Verizon Wireless and their blazing fast 4G LTE we had to run some speedtests. Here in Vegas we achieved average results with speeds reaching around 9-11 MB/s in download speeds and upload wasn’t that great. We did however have a solid 4G LTE connection throughout town. Better than my Galaxy Nexus actually.   Camera / Battery Life The camera around back is 3.2 megapixels, like most tablets from Samsung. While it isn’t the best being only 3.2 MP it’s actually better than many higher rated smartphone cameras. As long as you have mildly decent lighting we captured good pictures but usually a little grainy. Here’s a image taken with the Tab 7.7 and more are in the gallery below.  Battery life remains another strong point for Samsung here too. While we don’t have a quad-core or anything on board I did manage to get 3 days on a single charge with light light usage and 4G LTE enabled. Using the device more heavily will see substantial drops as you’d expect — especially with LTE sucking down power. However, the 5100 mAh battery was big enough to last for almost 26 hours of heavy usage throughout the day and all night gaming on the couch. Running video non-stop while streaming Netflix you’ll probably only get about 8-9 though. Wrap Up The screen is awesome, the dual-core is fast, the size is perfect and so is everything else. The only downfall here is the lack of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but that is coming soon. After using this for about a week I can safely say this is the sweet spot for me in regards to Android tablets. Yes a 10″ slate is nice but the tiny additional screen space ruins portability and I have a hard time carrying around something that large out of the house. If you’ve wanted a tablet but didn’t like the idea of a 10″ device this should be your first choice. Well, this or the Samsung Galaxy Note because it’s awesome too. Once Samsung updates this to Android 4.0 ICS this will be my favorite 3G/4G tablet available. Get it now from Verizon for $499 and a new 2-year contract.                        Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
|
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 04:47 PM PST Apple’s been going pretty hard for the last 9 months or so in its litigious pursuit of Android manufacturers, particularly Samsung, Motorola and HTC. While their previous strategy seemed to be based around all-or-nothing sales bans (in Germany, Australia, the United States, and, and, and…) it looks like the Cupertino lawyers may have finally come to their senses, and are preparing to settle. What do they want, short of outright suing their competition to death? Oh not much – just up to $15 for every Android phone and tablet.  The Dow Jones reports that in multiple current suits between Apple and both Samsung and Motorola, the company is seeking between 1% and 2.5% in “royalties” per device sold, or a flat fee between $5 and $15. It should be noted that this sort of thing has a precedent even in Android circles: Microsoft reportedly makes $5 on every device that HTC sells. While these punishments are extreme, they’re not impossible. In the simplest terms, Apple wants to make sure it makes money even on its competitor’s devices. That’s similar enough to how licensing deals work, and in fact this may be what they have in mind – normally a licensee will pay a flat or annual fee to a patent holder in order to use its ideas. But asking for this much seems a lot like protection money. “Pay us enough money to cut your profits in half, and we’ll allow you to continue to operate.” Whether or not Samsung or Motorola would take the deal is somewhat up in the air. Samsung in particular has had good fortune defending from Apple’s tablet-based IP assualt, engineering around a ban in Germany and overturning one in Australia. Getting Apple’s dogs out of their hair might be worth it though, especially if there’s a set limit on the amount of time that the punishment is enforced. [via SlashGear] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 03:58 PM PST This came flying out of an orange-colored sky: the android Market is no more. Say hello to Google Play, the new hub for all of Google’s hosted media, including Android apps, music, movies, books, and whatever else they’d like to throw in there. The application is rolling out to Android phones and tablets now, and if you don’t have it already, you’ll probably be getting it in the next day or so. As far as we can tell, it’s a worldwide change: you can see the new web interface by going to market.android.com.  Of course, you wouldn’t be reading this site if you weren’t interested in the newest and coolest stuff. This being the case, we tracked down an early version of the new Google Play vending APK, handily updated by the denizens of XDA. Click here to download the APK file. You shouldn’t need root to apply the update – just install it via the standard non-market method. The new “market” API is version You can see the new interface on our Galaxy Tab 7.7 above. As a centralized hub for all of Google’s content, “Play” makes sense, and aside from the name you shouldn’t have too much to get used to. Affected apps are getting a refresh too, like Google Music, now rechristened “Google Play Music”. Of course, all this raises questions about the much-ballyhooed Nexus tablet, also rumored to be called “Google Play”…. [via XDA] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 02:45 PM PST While we had a blast in Spain during Mobile World Congress and even enjoyed a look at a new 7.7″ Toshiba tablet with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 we never managed to see this slate. Over at Pocket-Lint they have just snapped a few photos of a brand new 13.3″ prototype Tegra 3 quad-core tablet from Toshiba at a conference in the UK. It’s amazingly thin and looks quite beautiful. I’m just not sure what I’d use something that large for.  They are calling it extremely lightweight, thin, and powerful and from the looks and sounds of things it will be exactly that. We were extremely impressed with the Toshiba 7.7″ during our hands-on at MWC, and can’t wait to try this out too. I’m a little concerned with the size though because I can’t see myself using something that large without a hardware keyboard.    Looking like a nice mix between the iPad and a Samsung Galaxy Tab this new Toshiba prototype is really thin and actually looks pretty decent. Their past tablets weren’t what I’d call “thin” and they know they need to step it up if they’d like to compete in the Android tablet market. Sadly at the event in the UK this 13.3″ beast didn’t actually turn on and was only a display prototype but it appears to be a full unit with hardware inside and all — not just a dummy. If the 7.7″ is any indication on what we can expect, this will be fast and super thin. Whether this will ever actually make it to the market or not we wont know until later this year. Hopefully Toshiba brings a few of these recent devices to the market as I’d probably buy that 7.7″ we linked to above. Head to the via below for the rest of the pics. Would you ever buy and use a 13.3″ tablet? [via Pocket-Lint] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 02:10 PM PST Custom keyboards are nothing new in Android although it seems like many offer similar functions, change themes, or simply suggest words faster than others. Today we have a brand new keyboard for Android called Siine that was just released and actually has some innovative and new features that had me extremely impressed. Check out the images below, and the video demonstration really shows how neat this keyboard can be when using familiar icons to type faster.  Along with a decent keyboard layout that is extremely similar to Android 4.0 ICS keyboard only larger, this actually has tons of shortcuts and features that while can be a little clunky at first — make texting and writing extremely quick and easy. Using a single tap can bring up a calender for easily adding full wrote-out dates like “March 10th” to a text with a single click rather than typing the entire thing. With plenty of personalization the icons make things easy and you can even quickly say, “Hey Dude, what’s Up? You coming over to watch the game?” in a matter of seconds (1:50 in video). I can see this having quite the learning curve and upon first installing it I feel things are a little clunky. Once I use it for the next few days I’ll be sure to report back on if this can be my daily replacement or if all these awesome features make things a bit too difficult. With a built-in clock and calender to easily and quickly add times and dates to texts or emails, full emoticon support, custom icons creation and more they really have a wide array of options — almost too many. Sexy delete is a feature where instead of holding down delete you squiggle your finger on the display and it quickly erases the entire message. I like it. Siine is available now and completely free, although they do have a store where can get more features but it comes pretty feature packed already. Get it now from the Google Play Store (Android Market) at the link below and let us know what you think. Siine Keyboard      |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 01:22 PM PST Oh man, sadly I have to admit I’ve been waiting for this to arrive for some time now. Bank of America has just released their new Android application for Android 3.0+ tablets and it is available today in the new Google Play Store (previously the Android Market). Bringing their full mobile banking solution to the big screen and tablets. More details after the break.  Now users can enjoy an enhanced banking experience, customized and optimized for their tablet. BofA is the first big bank to offer a tablet application for Android so I’m happy to see this finally arrive. I’m always sitting on the couch at night and occasionally going through bills this will surely come in handy. Just like the app for smartphones you can check balance, transfer funds, pay your bills, find closest ATM and banking centers and more. You can check outgoing payments too. Everything has been increased in size and they have an easy to understand tile layout that works great on the larger displays of Android tablets. Now all we need is for Bank of America to allow us to take pictures of checks for instant deposits and I’ll be happy. Get the new Bank of America app for Tablets from the Google Play Store below. Bank of America Link    [via Android Police] |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 12:43 PM PST Verizon has just released some information today regarding their lineup of Android smartphones. Detailing what devices will get the tasty treat we all know and love that is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. According to Verizon most of their recent devices will see updates, as well as older phones like the ThunderBolt but surprisingly many didn’t make the cut.  Verizon knows many Android fans have been patiently waiting for updates and even though HTC, Motorola and others have outlined when or what will be updated — Verizon decided to ease everyone’s mind and give us additional details and confirmation too. Check it out: HTC: HTC ThunderBolt™ DROID Incredible 2 by HTC HTC Rhyme™ HTC Rezound™ Motorola: Motorola XOOM DROID BIONIC™ DROID RAZR™ DROID RAZR™ MAXX™ DROID 4 DROID XYBOARD 8.2 DROID XYBOARD 10.1 Samsung: Samsung Galaxy Tab™ 10.1 Samsung Galaxy Tab™ 7.7 LG: Spectrum™ by LG At first glance this is going to make many owners extremely unhappy. Obviously this is the initial list but it doesn’t appear that they’ll be adding any to the short list either. Devices like the DROID Charge, LG Revolution, DROID X, DROID X2 (dual-core), DROID 3 and many others all seem to be missing. Does this mean something as new as the DROID 3 wont get Android 4.0 ICS from Motorola? That would be depressing. Motorola seems to missing many devices from that list, and this is only on Verizon. Moto themselves released a similar list a few weeks back (link below) that also didn’t give any details regarding many of these same devices. Not to mention Samsung has claimed they’ll update with the “Value Pack” bringing many of the Ice Cream Sandwich features to their Android 2.3 Gingerbread devices — but wont actually update some of those. Many Samsung phones could all handle the update with ease too. Thoughts? |
Posted: 06 Mar 2012 11:55 AM PST Google has just taken the wraps off of Google Play, the replacement for the Android Market, Google Music and everything else from the search giant. The new Google Play went live earlier this morning and we are already starting to receive updates for their suite of apps. Google Music and Books have both been updated today in the Android Market — err Google Play to support the new “Play” branding.  Now being called Google Play Music and Google Play Books and that is about it. Under the what’s new tab we basically have nothing other than new name, new logo, same great app. So nothing appears to have changed yet but Google is quickly changing things and has already updated two apps with the new naming scheme and logos, so we expect more changes to follow soon.  Google Play Books does mention that it is “now integrated into Google Play” as if it wasn’t before so we aren’t really sure what that is about. We are still waiting for the actual Android Market app to be updated with Google Play or as the image below suggests — “Play Store” and will be sure to get the APK as soon as it becomes available so stay tuned.  |
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Update - 155
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment