Android Central |
- Samsung Galaxy S III to hit Canada June 20, 2 GB of RAM confirmed
- Google Play Store now selling Galaxy Nexus accessories - if you're in the U.S.
- EVO 4G LTE stripped down in 138 seconds
- Verizon's Motorola Xoom soak test begins, we hope it's ICS
- The Kurio7 is the 'ultimate tablet for families' and available for preorder at Toys R Us
- Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE review
- T-Mobile HTC One S software update coming tomorrow!
- Google+ Local arrives to makes use of Zagat acquisition, brings along Google Maps update
- Swiftkey 3 beta keyboard updated with a slew of fixes, improvements
- TELUS joins the Samsung Galaxy S III preorder party in Canada
- Alvin and the Chipmunks-themed Archos Child Pad available now for $129
- Deal of the Day: Seidio CONVERT Combo for the Samsung Epic 4G Touch
- Flipboard for Android to break free from the Galaxy S III officially
- Samsung Galaxy S III now available from Vodafone UK, 16GB Marble White only for now
- Canada's Rogers network counting down to its own Galaxy S III preorders
- Sprint gives update on EVO 4G LTE inventory status
- Mobile Nations 16: People who do ... things
- Samsung Galaxy S III now available from Three UK
- Go for a swim, take along your water-resistant Xperia go
- LG Optimus LTE, LTE Tag and Vu to get ICS in June
- ShopAndroid Daily contest winners!
- Android Central weekly photo contest winners: Street scenes
- Android A to Z: F is for Factory Reset
- The future of smartphones, EVO 4G LTE tricks [From the Forums]
- Rumored 7-inch Google tab hits benchmark site; Android 4.1 hits our servers as well
| Samsung Galaxy S III to hit Canada June 20, 2 GB of RAM confirmed Posted: 30 May 2012 03:18 PM PDT
Samsung has announced that the Galaxy S III will be hitting the stores in Canada come June 20. They've also outed the exact specs of the Canadian models, and which carriers will be seeing it. (We could get used to this sort of press release). First, the who -- The SGH-i747 model (that's the LTE version) will be headed to Bell Mobility, Virgin Mobile, SaskTel, TELUS and Rogers Wireless. The SGH-iT999 model (that's HSPA+42 for those playing at home) is going to Videotron, Wind and Mobilicity. For pricing and other details, Samsung refers everyone to the carrier in question. If things stay the same from Samsung as they have been since, well forever, south of the border in the states the i747 will be headed to AT&T, and the iT999 is destined for T-Mobile. Reminder -- this hasn't been confirmed. It's just based off the first two Galaxy S launches from Sammy. Now for the fun part, the specs. There's a few differences here from the international version we saw last month, so read carefully. We'll talk about them after.
Besides the change from the quad-core Exynos to the Qualcomm S4 that we expected, there's two big eye-poppers there. One good -- the Canadian versions (and we're going to assume the US versions, see disclaimer above) will have 2 GB of RAM. The other (not so good) is the lack of the 64GB option, and the iT999 comes only in a 16GB version. While that may be enough for most folks, we know it's not going to suit everybody. We'll keep an ear out for more info about the rest of North America, but for now, enjoy Canada! Source: Canada NewsWire 
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| Google Play Store now selling Galaxy Nexus accessories - if you're in the U.S. Posted: 30 May 2012 03:01 PM PDT
Good news, everyone! The elusive Samsung Galaxy Neuxs accessories are now available directly from Google in the Google Play Store. (Where they should be!) Yeah, it's only been about six months or so since the phone was released, but we're not going to look this gift horse in the mouth. Available are the Vehicle Dock -- that's the proper one with the pogo pins to keep you charged and not the janky "navigation" dock that only holds the phone -- and a pair of desktop docks. If a traditional landscape dock is your bag, it's there, with the same pogo pins for charging. Or if you need some high-def output, there's an HDMI dock in portrait orientation that uses the USB port for output and charging. The vehicle and landscape desktop dock each cost $54, and the HDMI portrait desktop dock is $49. You can snag 'em all at the link below. More: Galaxy Nexus accessories from the Google Play Store 
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| EVO 4G LTE stripped down in 138 seconds Posted: 30 May 2012 02:28 PM PDT It's so blurry, it's nearly a smartphone snuff film. But here's the Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE broken down to its various smartphones parts in a little more than two minutes. And while you're at it, make sure you read our long overdue (but gets better with age) EVO 4G LTE review. Source: EVO 4G LTE forums 
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| Verizon's Motorola Xoom soak test begins, we hope it's ICS Posted: 30 May 2012 01:00 PM PDT
We've been getting word that a soak test for Verizon model of the Motorola Xoom is about to begin, and we certainly hope that it's Ice Cream Sandwich this time around. For those unfamiliar, a soak test means that there's an update that the software guys think is ready to go, and they want to put it out for a few brave testers before they roll it out for everyone. If all goes as planned, the update will follow soon after for the rest of us. Now there is no clue in the e-mail that went out to potential participants, but we can't help but think it has to be Android 4.0 this time around. It's high time for the update, as this is the first Android tablet, and the Wifi versions (that came out months later) have all been updated. Motorola has said that we would see the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Xoom 4G in the second quarter of this year, and a quick peek at the calendar says it's Q2. Now to hope everything goes well, and we see a smooth update for every one soon. Thanks to everyone who sent this in! 
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| The Kurio7 is the 'ultimate tablet for families' and available for preorder at Toys R Us Posted: 30 May 2012 12:48 PM PDT
Techno Source has announced that their Kurio7 tablet, billed as the "ultimate tablet for families" is now available for preorder at Toys R Us online. The 7-inch tablet will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, be available nationwide in July, and retail for $199. On the surface, it appears to be just another cheap Chinese craplet that we'd advise everyone to run away from at all costs, but there's something different here. The specs aren't it, they are what you would expect -- 1GHz single core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, USB host enabled USB port, and low resolution cameras. We've seen all that on most of the generic tablets available at half the price. It's also not the full suite of apps designed for kids (and those of us who still think we're kids) like World of Goo, Fruit Ninja, or Cut the Rope. What's different, and potentially game-changing, is the multi-login software. Designed to keep kids safe from the kind of More: Toys R Us; KurioPlanet 
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| Posted: 30 May 2012 11:27 AM PDT
The Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE is a great phone on a less-than-great network. There. We said it. That's not an easy way to start a review of a phone. Nor is it necessarily fun for us to say. It's simply the way it is. This should come as no surprise to Sprint aficionados. Heck, it pretty much mirrors what we just wrote about the Sprint Galaxy Nexus. Great phone, so long as you don't need speedy mobile data. That's going to change in the next month or so, at least for folks in a half-dozen cities, as Sprint fires up its 4G LTE network, and it'll change for even more by the end of the year. And Sprint's 3G data should get a boost, too, all part of its Network Vision initiative. But for now, you've got an EVO 4G LTE without the 4G LTE, and oft-slow 3G data. But is that really fair to the phone? To the follow-up to arguably one of the greatest Android smartphones we've seen? To the phone that launched the 4G era? (Never mind that Wimax is going the way of the dinosaurs.) The original EVO 4G was an important phone, for damned sure the EVO 4G LTE is. At least for Sprint, if not for Android as a whole. So that's the question: Is the phone good enough to warrant a purchase even if the network's not yet measuring up? Let's get into it in our full EVO 4G LTE review. 
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| T-Mobile HTC One S software update coming tomorrow! Posted: 30 May 2012 11:01 AM PDT
If you're the proud owner of an HTC One S on T-Mobile, you'll want to keep an eye out on May 31 for your software update notification. As noted on the T-Mobile site, an update is set for release that day and has some bug fixes and improvements that it will bring to the device: Improvements
You'll have to be on software version 1.53.531.76 710RD, not rooted and have more than 50 percent battery life in order to take the update. When completed, you will then be on software version 1.84.531.2 710RD. Hit the links below to check out the full details or discuss more in the Android Central Forums. Plus, if you've not read our full HTC One S review as of yet -- check it out. Source: T-Mobile, via: Android Central Forums 
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| Google+ Local arrives to makes use of Zagat acquisition, brings along Google Maps update Posted: 30 May 2012 10:36 AM PDT
It has been quite some time now since Google acquired Zagat, and while we've seen some embedding of reviews and such in the past, Google has now brought Zagat into the fold in a much larger way. Google+ Local has now been introduced making it easier to find Zagat scores and and restaurant suggestions from folks you interact with on Google+. In addition to the Google+ integration roll out, various other Google apps and sites will be updated Zagat support over the next little while, starting with an update to Google Maps that includes a fancy new "Local" button that when tapped, will show you Zagat reviews in your general area. Both Google+ Local and the Google Maps update are live right now, you'll find the Google Maps download below in case you've not already updated as of yet. Source: Google Blog 
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| Swiftkey 3 beta keyboard updated with a slew of fixes, improvements Posted: 30 May 2012 10:04 AM PDT
Just a quick heads up, boys and girls, that Swiftkey (our 2011 editor's choice for Android Keyboard of the year, btw) has updated the versions of the Swiftkey 3 beta in the company's VIP forums. Here's what's new:
Any improvement is a good improvement, of course, but do remember that this is beta software. Bugs happen. (And let's all try to remember that part of being a beta tester is providing good feedback.) The update applies to the keyboard version as well as the tablet version. You can snag them at the links below. Download: Swiftkey 3 beta (phones, tablets) 
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| TELUS joins the Samsung Galaxy S III preorder party in Canada Posted: 30 May 2012 09:47 AM PDT
Just in case the Rogers preorder confirmation wasn't enough for you, TELUS has now come out to say they have also started up preorders for the Samsung Galaxy S III. As listed on their website right now, the Samsung Galaxy S III will come in 16GB and 32GB editions with prices starting at $160 and going up to $210 all with a new three-year contract. Source: TELUS 
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| Alvin and the Chipmunks-themed Archos Child Pad available now for $129 Posted: 30 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT
Yes. Those are chipmunks holding the 7-inch, Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Archos Child Pad. We'll get to them in a minute. For now, know that the Child Pad is available as of today for $129. Yeah, it's a couple months late. (We'll forgive you for not remembering that it originally was to be released at the end of March.) But, look! Chipmunks! Let's start with the important specs. You'll have access to "specific" "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3" content. (Presumably "general" "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3" content will be available in the places where you'd usually find "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3" content.) That includes behind-the-scenes clips, photos from the set, wallpapers and online games. There's also a 6-month trial of a parental control application from Editions Profil. Angry Birds are on board (of course), as well as other "educational and general-knowledge" apps. Oh, and it's got a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of on-board storage, if you're into that sort of thing. You can find out more and order your very own Child Pad at the link below. More: Archos Child Pad 
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| Deal of the Day: Seidio CONVERT Combo for the Samsung Epic 4G Touch Posted: 30 May 2012 07:57 AM PDT
When you're in tough or rugged conditions put on the Rugged Skin and Skeleton and securely hold your Samsung Epic 4G Touch wherever you go with the Seidio Locking Holster. When you don't need the extra protection, simply remove the Rugged Skin and Skeleton. It's available today for just $28.95 - that's 42 percent off! Get yours while supplies last! 
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| Flipboard for Android to break free from the Galaxy S III officially Posted: 30 May 2012 07:54 AM PDT
Love it or hate it, Flipboard coming to Android is big news. We first took a look at it back at Earls Court in London during the Samsung Galaxy S III launch event. Initially at least, Flipboard is exclusive to the Galaxy S III, but as is often the way this didn't last very long at all. Unofficial versions were 'ported' from the Galaxy S III and hosted on the interwebs for all the world to download and use at their leisure. Word from Flipboard now though, is that the application will soon be available on all Android devices. The story goes that in concentrating on one device, with one screen size and resolution, Flipboard could ensure that their massively popular iOS offering wouldn't suck when it arrived on Android. That, and quite possibly the bazillion number of units Samsung were likely to -- and eventually will be -- shipping of the Galaxy S III. As far as a test bed goes, a device that ended up with 9 million pre-orders probably wasn't a bad choice. As it turns out, Flipboard is pretty close to having a beta version of the app ready for the rest of the Android world. The developers are planning to release it to a small amount of users initially under a strict beta tag, to help test it out, submit bug reports, and generally make sure that the app is as polished as it needs to be. Makes sense, after all, Flipboard is all about the visual, and a janky experience would be the quickest way to put users off. There is no mention of the magic date that Flipboard may start to make it into eager beta testers hands, but by all accounts it sounds like it's pretty close. Could it even appear before the Pebble Blue Galaxy S III perhaps? Update: Well, that was quick! Seems like the beta is now live with reports of invites heading out to users who had signed up. Source: Engadget 
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| Samsung Galaxy S III now available from Vodafone UK, 16GB Marble White only for now Posted: 30 May 2012 07:01 AM PDT
Choice is good right? Following on from fellow british carrier Three's announcement, Vodafone UK have also confirmed this morning that the Samsung Galaxy S III is available today on their network. Vodafone are supposed to be carrying the 32GB versions in both colors exclusively for the time being, but have confirmed that both are delayed by "2-4 weeks." Prices on Vodafone aren't quite as alluring as those elsewhere though. The phone can still be had free of charge on a new 2-year deal, but the price for this on Vodafone is £41 a month. For a "limited time" their price plans will include 2GB of data, which for many average users is plenty. 2GB of BTOpenzone WiFi access is also included in the plan. For the full press release, click on past the break. 
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| Canada's Rogers network counting down to its own Galaxy S III preorders Posted: 30 May 2012 06:48 AM PDT
A countdown related to the Samsung Galaxy S III has appeared on Canadian carrier Rogers website, which ends at noon EDT, so it looks like we'll see preorders start today. We already knew that Rogers was going to carry the Galaxy S III, as well as a majority of the Canadian carriers. We've seen evidence that the phone will be released on June 20 in Canada, and this is just one more indication that this may hold true. There's no official word on specs or what proc is inside, but it's a pretty safe bet that the LTE flavored Galaxy S III will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 inside due to LTE compatibility problems with current quad-core chips. Source: Rogers 
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| Sprint gives update on EVO 4G LTE inventory status Posted: 30 May 2012 06:32 AM PDT
So about that Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE ... We know it's cleared Customs, following that pesky International Trade Commission review. And we know preorders have and are still being delivered, but apparently the bulk of the phones are still in transit. Sprint this morning has given us a bit of a non-update update, which reads thusly:
So in-store availability is still up in the air. Soon as we know something, you will, too. Source: Sprint; More: EVO 4G LTE forums 
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| Mobile Nations 16: People who do ... things Posted: 30 May 2012 05:09 AM PDT Kevin from CrackBerry.com, Phil from Android Central, Derek from webOS Nation, Daniel from WPCentral, Gary from Mobile Nations, and Rene from iMore talk iPhone 5 and iOS 6, BlackBerry 10, Samsung Galaxy S III and Jellybean, Windows 8, ecosystems vs. best of breed, and... the Facebook Phone. This is Mobile Nations!
Agenda
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| Samsung Galaxy S III now available from Three UK Posted: 30 May 2012 03:51 AM PDT
It's the day after the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III, and here in the UK it's the day that many eager consumers were hoping to lay their hands on Sammys prized new flagship device. We're well aware of the issues, which sadly may find you waiting a while longer or looking a bit harder to find one. It might though be worth heading over to Three UK, who has launched the device this morning, and is now available -- in white at least -- online, and in Three retail stores. The Galaxy S III can be yours on a new 2-year contract at Three, for the low low price of free on the One Plan, which will run you for just £34 a month. For anyone not familiar, the One Plan delivers truly unlimited data, and tethering to boot. You'll find the presser after the break. 
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| Go for a swim, take along your water-resistant Xperia go Posted: 30 May 2012 02:43 AM PDT
Sony's just announced one of their newest phones, the Xperia go, for the active and rugged Android user who still wants a sleek, top-notch device. You can expect all of the good stuff we've grown used to from Sony's products, like their Reality Displays that use the mobile BRAVIA engine to keep things looking great and a "fast capture camera" that can go from sleep to snap in just over a second. It looks like an exciting phone, to be sure, and for all the deets, the full presser is after the break. 
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| LG Optimus LTE, LTE Tag and Vu to get ICS in June Posted: 29 May 2012 09:01 PM PDT
LG has announced on their Korean site that the Optimus LTE, the Optimus LTE Tag, and the Optimus Vu: will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich updates starting June 4. Coming with the update will be a new UI layer for all the devices, a new feature called kwiknote that promises access to a note app from any screen, ad the Vu: will get a feature that allows apps to run side-by-side on the 4:3 screen. Of course there's no word on carrier involvement, and nothing about LG's other offerings. We're not really surprised considering this came from the Korea office, but we have to mention it. Hopefully the ball is now rolling and we'll be seeing ICS on more LG devices before it's too late to matter. Source: LG Korea 
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| ShopAndroid Daily contest winners! Posted: 29 May 2012 08:51 PM PDT
If you're a registered member here at Android Central then you know our forums always have a contest happening. And if you're not registered, well -- now is as good a time as any. This week's winners are as posted after the break, and if you were chosen watch your email as we'll be following up during the week. Stay tuned for more upcoming contests folks. Congrats to the winners! 
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| Android Central weekly photo contest winners: Street scenes Posted: 29 May 2012 08:08 PM PDT
The winner of this week's photo contest is Watermeloen, who took this picture with his Samsung Galaxy S II in Ankara, Turkey. The picture is composed great, has a very interesting subject, and above all is clear and focused. Very nice work Watermeloen, thanks a bunch for sharing it with us. Keep an eye on your e-mail for information about your prize. As always, there were plenty of great pictures to pick from. I recommend you take a look at all of them in the Android contest forums, but we want to share the ones we think are the best of the best here on the blog as well. You'll find those, in no particular order, after the break. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, we're cooking up a new contest shortly! 
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| Android A to Z: F is for Factory Reset Posted: 29 May 2012 07:02 PM PDT
A factory reset is the ultimate cleansing of your Android device. It's usually either a last resort to fix a problem, done before you sell it, or because you like to flash ROMs. When you perform a factory reset you're essentially wiping out everything you've ever done to the phone and restoring it back to the basic manufacturer software. As we've mentioned before, it doesn't uninstall any software updates you've received from the folks who made your phone, but it does wipe out any core application updates you've grabbed from the Google Play store. The technical details are as follows:
When your phone or tablet reboots, it's like it was when you opened the box as far as apps and user data goes, except for your data on the SD card partition (either a real, physical microSD card or a partition named sdcard). Doing a factory reset is easy -- open the settings, do a little digging (different manufacturers put it in different places, but start with privacy or storage), select it and confirm. Your device will reboot into the recovery partition, erase everything, they reboot into the setup again. One thing to note though -- if you've rooted and ROM'd in any way, you should never do a factory reset from settings. Often times it works just fine, but some devices and some ROMs are so different once hacked that you'll end up with a bricked phone. We hate bricked phones around these parts. Follow the instructions from the folks who developed the software you're running instead, and use the reset method they recommend. 
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| The future of smartphones, EVO 4G LTE tricks [From the Forums] Posted: 29 May 2012 06:13 PM PDT
After a long weekend, we're back to bringing you all the best in Android news and rumors. We've seen plenty of stuff roll out already today so if you happened to miss out on anything, go ahead and get yourself caught up here on the blogs and in the Android Central Forums. Check out some of the threads below to get started:
If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today. 
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| Rumored 7-inch Google tab hits benchmark site; Android 4.1 hits our servers as well Posted: 29 May 2012 05:38 PM PDT
The Benchmark result site at Rightware has an interesting entry -- the Google ASUS Nexus 7. Android Police did a little digging and found some more curious info -- the device code name is grouper (which is in line with other fishy Nexus codenames), and it's got the JRN51B build of Android 4.1, which is a likely version number for JellyBean (or whatever the next Android version will be called). It falls right in line with rumors we've been hearing about the 7-inch Google tablet, and if it's going to be unveiled in a month at Google I/O it's about time to see it start cropping up on Internet logs and sites. Speaking of which, Android 4.1 has been pinging Android Central for a little while now, so if this is true it's nice to see a version number for the next release. Let's pretend for a minute that what you see above hasn't been faked. (It's certainly easy enough but the inclusion of some kernel info helps a bit.) Plenty of questions remain. Codenames and numbers are just that. We wanna see what's behind that curtain.
Source: Rightwave; via Android Police 
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