Android Phone Fans |
- Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0.4 IMM76K Update Available For Download
- Android 4.0 Market Share Rises – Ice Cream Sandwich Now On 4.9% of Devices
- Motorola posts $121 million loss in Q1 2012, still ships 5.1 million smartphones
- Quick Look at the Sprint Galaxy Nexus
- Samsung continues trademark spree, latest is ‘Galaxy Variant’
- Android Open Kang Project reaches Milestone 5, now on Android 4.0.4
- comScore: Android now on 51 percent of smartphones, Samsung leading the pack
- Sprint Galaxy Nexus receiving update to fix network connectivity errors
- Is BlackBerry 10 enough to trump Android? [video]
- Verizon Galaxy Nexus receiving Android 4.0.4?
- This should definitely be the Galaxy S3 [pics]
- DROID Does campaign reboots with less scary ads
- New Cyanogenmod 9 build provides S-Pen support, fixed video recording, fixed microphone and more
- Could the Simpsons be featured in an Angry Birds Space update?
- Android Overload: Xperia Play Receives 4.0.2 Software Update, Microsoft Invests $605 In B&N’s Nook and More
| Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0.4 IMM76K Update Available For Download Posted: 01 May 2012 06:34 PM PDT
Earlier today, we learned that some Verizon customers were receiving a mysterious Android 4.0.4 update to their Galaxy Nexus without nary a word from Verizon. Well, it didn’t take long for a few modders on on XDA to crack open the update, making a handy update.zip file ready for the flashing. Unfortunately, applying the update this way doesn’t come without a few caveats. First, you will have to be rooted with some kind of custom recovery installed on your device. Second, you’ll have to be running one of the previous official Android 4.0.2 builds — no custom ROMs, no unofficial leaked 4.0.4 builds. If all that checks out, you can get to flashing right away. Of course, you can always be a good steward, and just wait patiently for the update to get pushed to your device via Verizon’s official channels. Just no telling how long that could take. [XDA]
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| Android 4.0 Market Share Rises – Ice Cream Sandwich Now On 4.9% of Devices Posted: 01 May 2012 05:58 PM PDT
It’s been about 7 months since Google officially unveiled Ice Cream Sandwich to the world and it’s only now, we’re finally beginning to see Android 4.0 gain some traction in market share. It’s interesting because Android 4.0′s distribution numbers have almost doubled from March to mid-April’s paltry 2.9%, with results posted today showing ICS now running on 4.9% of Android devices currently in the wild. And even though those numbers may sound like small cakes to you, keep in mind that was over the course of 1 month. It will be interesting to see how big and fast this number will grow in the coming months as more devices are (slowly) updated to ICS and more devices are launching with the latest OS. What do you guys think? Are these results promising? Or embarrassing?
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| Motorola posts $121 million loss in Q1 2012, still ships 5.1 million smartphones Posted: 01 May 2012 02:19 PM PDT
Motorola Mobility has reported their earnings for Q1 of 2012, and the results are a mixed bag. Overall the company made it through the quarter with a $121 million operating loss, but things are on the up and up for Moto’s mobile division. Revenue was up 3 percent to the tune of $2.2 billion with 8.9 million devices shipped. Of those, 5.1 million were smartphones. In other news, Motorola reported that China is still the odd man out when it comes to final approval for Google’s acquisition of the company. All other major players, including the US, have signed off on the deal. [via Motorola]
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| Quick Look at the Sprint Galaxy Nexus Posted: 01 May 2012 02:06 PM PDT Our friends at Sprint sent us their recently released Samsung Galaxy Nexus, now available for $199 on a 2-year contract. It’s nearly identical to the existing Galaxy Nexus devices on the market, but has a couple neat advantages such as Google Wallet. For current Sprint customers and those eager to switch to Sprint, the Galaxy Nexus offers a great opportunity to get a future proof Google Experience device at the top of its class.
I’ve personally got the Galaxy Nexus and love the device. When I first played with the GNEX last year, I was a bit nervous by how different Android had become with version 4.0. After having used it for a few months now, I love both the OS and the phone. It just takes a bit of learning and getting familiar until you notice how helpful some of the improvements are. One of my favorites? The recent activity button that shows recent apps/games/windows you’ve accessed is a simple blessing, allowing you to quickly jump to your favorites tasks. I haven’t had much time to toy with Google Wallet, but it’s a feature exclusive to Sprint in the US and probably the wave of the future. It leverages the NFC chip in the Sprint Galaxy Nexus to turn your phone into a one-in-all payment system. Enter your own credit cards, prepay money using Google Wallet, enter gift cards, store your rewards cards and much more. There aren’t a ton of retailers offering NFC integration, but in the next 2 years I think there will be a ton. And guess how long a typical mobile contract is for? All-in-all the Sprint Galaxy Nexus is one of the best phones in all the land. Big ‘ol 4.65 Super Amoled screen, 5MP camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording, 1.2GHz dual core processor, 32GB of onboard memory, 1850mAh battery, and of course… Android 4.0 and Google Wallet. Don’t forget, this is one of Sprint’s FIRST phones supporting 4G LTE. Those 4G airwaves haven’t lit up just yet, but when they do (in the next few months) you’ll already be prepared to receive the fastest mobile data possible with Sprint’s Galaxy Nexus and 4G LTE network.
Show of hands: whose got the Sprint Galaxy Nexus and who plans to get one?
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| Samsung continues trademark spree, latest is ‘Galaxy Variant’ Posted: 01 May 2012 01:41 PM PDT
Samsung will have no shortage of potential names for future Galaxy smartphones if they keep registering names at their current rate. Following filings for the Galaxy Metrix, Galaxy Velvet and Galaxy Legend on April 13th, which themselves followed filings for the Galaxy Lift, Galaxy Sire, and Galaxy Perx, the Korean manufacturer has filed to have Galaxy Variant trademarked with the USPTO. These trademark applications only account for the month of April — Samsung has filed close to a dozen more (that we know of) since the first of the year. Most include Galaxy in their name, such as the Accelerate, Express, and Thunder (also Emerge, Halo, and Stellar). Some may not make their way to a Galaxy phone (Joy, Fresh) and some may not get used at all. But if the latest does come to fruition, things will get a whole lot more confusing when we start talking Galaxy variants (or is it the Galaxy Variant?). [via Fusible]
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| Android Open Kang Project reaches Milestone 5, now on Android 4.0.4 Posted: 01 May 2012 12:49 PM PDT
The team behind the Android Open Kang Project has announced a new milestone in the development of the custom ROM — Milestone 5, to be exact. The Android 4.0.4-based version of the alternative OS build features plenty of bug fixes and other enhancements. AOKP has been growing in popularity at a rapid rate, and while we suspect it may have something to do with magical unicorns and rainbow dust it also probably has plenty to do with the ROM’s aptitude for custom skins and the hard work of a dedicated team of devs. The full and impressive changelog can be found over at the source link below. [AOKP via DroidLife, DroidDog]
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| comScore: Android now on 51 percent of smartphones, Samsung leading the pack Posted: 01 May 2012 12:31 PM PDT Android has grown its market share by close to 4 points since December, according to the latest report from comScore. In their latest survey of American mobile subscribers, which accounts for the first three months of 2012, the analytics firm found that Android held the majority share of the US smartphone market with 51 percent. The number was last tallied at 47.3 percent in December.
Driving Android’s growth has been none other than Samsung. The company ranked as the top mobile OEM with a 26 percent share when factoring in both smartphones and non-smartphones. The Korean manufacturer hasn’t shown much growth since December when their handsets accounted for 25.3 percent of the market, which was still good for first place. Following Samsung is LG — likely driven more by their feature phone offerings than smartphones – and Apple. Samsung’s biggest rival did see good growth moving from a 12.4 percent share to 14 percent. Motorola and HTC round out the top manufacturers. With the upcoming release of their Galaxy S3 flagship, Samsung is likely to continue the trend of market dominance. We can expect a good fight from Apple and their legion of loyal fans and HTC hopes to gain some ground with the release of the One series of Android handsets. With all the competition, it sure is a good time to be a smartphone buyer. [via comScore]
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| Sprint Galaxy Nexus receiving update to fix network connectivity errors Posted: 01 May 2012 10:52 AM PDT
Unconfirmed reports have Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus starting to receive its update to Android 4.0.4, but that’s not the only Ice Cream Sandwich flagship getting some update love today. Sprint is pushing build FD02 to their Galaxy Nexus to correct 3G data connectivity issues. The new software should not only allow the device to actually hop on a data signal, but also fixes a bug that had the Nexus displaying the incorrect network time after activation. For kicks, they’re throwing in a Google Wallet update as well. The new software brings the phone to Android 4.0.4, which was a heck of a lot quicker than it has taken Verizon to release the latest build for their branded version of the device. We learned about the Sprint update last week but took it as a mere bug fixer at the time. Looks like we’re getting slightly more than expected. [via AndroidCentral]
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| Is BlackBerry 10 enough to trump Android? [video] Posted: 01 May 2012 09:38 AM PDT Welp, RIM’s officially unveiled BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry World, and while we don’t get much in the way of extensive OS features, it looks like they’re finally ready to step into the current decade. The little bit we do see seems quite alright, especially the innovative predictive text features for its on-screen keyboard. Take a look at their unveiling video above and leave your opinion and a vote in the poll on whether or not it could compete with Android. Take Our Poll
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| Verizon Galaxy Nexus receiving Android 4.0.4? Posted: 01 May 2012 09:21 AM PDT
The bug fixing update to Android 4.0.4 has yet to be officially pegged for release for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, but some users seem to be seeing the update without an official peep from Verizon. At least two users have claimed to receive build IMM76K. Two unrelated reports does sound legit, but it’s still odd that these random devices are receiving the OTA. If any of you have the phone unrooted be sure to check for the update in the settings menu and let us know if it comes up. If anyone has already received the update, let us know in the comments section below while we try to procure a change log. [via Droid-Life]
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| This should definitely be the Galaxy S3 [pics] Posted: 01 May 2012 08:21 AM PDT New images have surfaced showing what SamMobile is saying is definitely the Galaxy S3. While we won’t be so quick to make a definitive opinion either way, it does look similar to previous legit leaks and this device gives us no reason to believe it wouldn’t be the successor to Samsung’s most illustrious smartphone line. Of course, there’s not much to go 0n — there’s only so much you can do with the front of the device. Like previous leaks, the physical home button in between the menu and back buttons looks quite different compared to previous Galaxy S devices, but the rest of it looks roughly the same. There are only two more days until the big event so circle back to take in all the official goods! [Thanks to everyone wh0 sent this in!]
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| DROID Does campaign reboots with less scary ads Posted: 01 May 2012 07:17 AM PDT While the original Droid Does campaign, which started with the original DROID and stretched all the way into 2012, was great, you have to admit that it could be a bit intimidating to some. Robots showing everything a device can do is cool, and a lot of the high-tech CGI-made sequences such as the 4G flux capacitor doohickey added a lot of flash to their commercials. But Verizon has rebooted their Droid Does campaign, and it looks to be for the better. The first ad in the new vision is “Droid Does More” and instead of a robotic, monotonous voice rambling off a list of features, they show people using device features in every day situations. It’s not unlike Apple’s approach to marketing, who aim to show how a device can help people more than how big its numbers are. The aim, of course, is to draw more people in and make their DROID line seem a lot more inviting. This is evident not only with this campaign, but also with other new humorous commercials of Verizon’s for devices which don’t belong to the DROID line. See the first ad in their new campaign in the video above.
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| New Cyanogenmod 9 build provides S-Pen support, fixed video recording, fixed microphone and more Posted: 01 May 2012 05:45 AM PDT
The Cyanogenmod 9 build initially introduced for the Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 was not functional enough to be a daily driver, but it seems to have gotten a lot better just a day after its release. Build #2 for this device adds S-Pen support, fixed video recording, fixed an issue with the microphone, and added the latest changes from the main Cyanogenmod trunk. Speakerphone support is still wonky at the moment, and there are sure to be a number of other issues that may or may not have presented themselves yet. If you’re feeling a bit more confident about trying this build out, grab the download links and instructions from XDA. [via Android Central]
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| Could the Simpsons be featured in an Angry Birds Space update? Posted: 01 May 2012 05:14 AM PDT New speculation is swirling regarding a future update for Rovio’s Angry Birds Space. The word is that the Simpsons could be featured in a future Angry Birds Space upgrade. While the basis for this rumor is thin, it’s no less interesting — looking at the crop of planets featured in the game, many have noted that it looks very similar to Homer Simpson’s favorite donut.
Rovio said they don’t comment on rumors or speculation, but added another out-of-the-norm line: it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the Simpsons tied into their game in one way or another. It’s not as if there’s no reason to believe they can’t since Rovio and Fox have worked together on another IP, Rio, in the past. It would be an interesting amalgamation of worlds and one I’m sure would boost Angry Birds Space’s downloads tremendously (not that their 50 million download mark isn’t already very impressive). I’m all for it. What say you? [via PocketGamer]
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| Posted: 01 May 2012 02:09 AM PDT
Looks like we’ve got a healthy fixin’ of the Android Overload for you here tonight. These are all the stories form throughout our day that didn’t make it onto our front page — but because we like to keep our readers well informed, we posted them here for y’all. There’s always something here for everyone, so, pull up a chair and dig right in!
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