Friday, May 25, 2012

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Google Android News Android Forums

T-mobile’s myTouch Q Gains FCC Approval

Posted: 24 May 2012 04:16 PM PDT

Remember back when T-Mobile’s Huawei Ascend G312 received FCC certification? I can’t blame you if you don’t so I will give you a refresher. At the time, the device was known to be one of T-Mo’s annual builds of the upcoming 2012 line of myTouch handsets. It was unknown whether it was the QWERTY version or not, but a recent FCC filing makes everything clear now. The Huawei Ascend G312 QWERTY (myTouch Q) just received FCC certification nearly a month after the  keyboard-less version did. This time around the slide out keyboard version of the device made its rounds at the FCC and showed off a few details in the process. The device sports a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1.4GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB of onboard storage and and support for microSD cards. It also has radios that work on GSM / EDGE and 850 / AWS / 1900 / 2100 HSPA+ bands. Since this is the last of the two myTouch handsets to receive FCC approval, you can expect them to land on T-Mobile any time now.

source: FCC
via: Engadget

Sample some Galaxy S III TouchWiz goodness on your Galaxy S II

Posted: 24 May 2012 01:58 PM PDT

You can’t beat a bit of try before you buy and for all you Galaxy S II owners out there tempted by the Galaxy S III, we’ve got just the ticket for you. Smando from XDA developers has managed to successfully port the TouchWiz launcher from the S III over to the S II and it’s working pretty well with minimal issues. If you’re rocking AOSP then you’re out of luck as it’s only working on standard Samsung ROM’s at this point.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the XDA forums to grab the download, just be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

Source: XDA developers

Grand Theft Auto III is only 99 cents this weekend in the Google Play Store

Posted: 24 May 2012 01:37 PM PDT

The very popular Grand Theft Auto III is on sale this weekend in the Google Play Store. It’s normally priced at $4.99, which in my opinion is already a great price, but starting today through May 28th, you can grab it for .99 cents. That is an absolute steal and if you’ve ever had fun playing GTA in the past, you must go and grab it.

I admit the touch screen controls are a little difficult, but its compatible with game controllers so you can grab the OnLive controller or the Logitech F710. It just so happens we are giving away the Logitech controller as part of our ASUS Transfomer Pad Prize Pack giveaway. Hit the break for download links.

qrcode
Play Store Download Link

Latest IDC numbers show Android at nearly 60% of the market share and Samsung continues to roll

Posted: 24 May 2012 01:25 PM PDT

Latest IDC numbers are out and there really isn’t anything new to report. For the first quarter 2012, Android’s market share was 59.0%, up from 36.1% a year ago. Apple continues to take the second spot with a 23.0% share, up from 18.3% a year ago. If you’re doing the math, it means that 82% of all smartphones purchased today is either Android or Apple.

It should also be noted that Samsung represented 45.4% of all Android smartphone shipments.

BlackBerry continues to show dismal numbers as they’re at 9.7% , down from 13.6% a year ago. Windows Phone seems like the future third spot, but they continue to struggle. Right now they’re at 3.3%, which is only a 0.7% from a year ago.

Full presser after the break:

Android- and iOS-Powered Smartphones Expand Their Share of the Market in the First Quarter, According to IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Smartphones powered by the Android and iOS mobile operating systems accounted for more than eight out of ten smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12). According to the International Data Corporation (IDC)Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the mobile operating systems held shares of 59.0% and 23.0% respectively of the 152.3 million smartphones shipped in 1Q12. During the first quarter of 2011, the two operating systems held a combined share of 54.4%. The share gains mean that Android and iOS have successfully distanced themselves from previous market leaders Symbian and BlackBerry, as well as Linux and Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile.

"This is true because developer intentions or enthusiasm for a particular operating system is typically a leading indicator of hardware sales success."

“The popularity of Android and iOS stems from a combination of factors that the competition has struggled to keep up with,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends program. “Neither Android nor iOS were the first to market with some of these features, but the way they made the smartphone experience intuitive and seamless has quickly earned a massive following.”

“In order for operating system challengers to gain share, their creators and hardware partners need to secure developer loyalty,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker program. “This is true because developer intentions or enthusiasm for a particular operating system is typically a leading indicator of hardware sales success.”

Operating System Highlights

Android finished the quarter as the overall leader among the mobile operating systems, accounting for more than half of all smartphone shipments. In addition, Android boasted the longest list of smartphone vendor partners. Samsung was the largest contributor to Android’s success, accounting for 45.4% of all Android-based smartphone shipments. But beyond Samsung was a mix of companies retrenching themselves or slowly growing their volumes.

iOS recorded strong year-over-year growth with sustained demand for the iPhone 4S following the holiday quarter and the addition of numerous mobile operators offering the iPhone for the first time. Although end-user demand remains high, the iPhone’s popularity brings additional operational pressures for mobile operators through subsidy and data revenue sharing policies.

Symbian posted the largest year-over-year decline, a result driven by Nokia’s transition to Windows Phone. But even as Symbian volumes have decreased, there continues to be demand for the OS from the most ardent of users. In addition, Nokia continues to support Symbian, as evidenced by the PureView initiative on the Nokia 808. Still, as Nokia emphasizes Windows Phone, IDC expects further declines for Symbian for the rest of this year.

BlackBerry continued on its downward trajectory as demand for older BlackBerry devices decreased and the market awaits the official release of BB 10 smartphones later this year. In addition, many companies now permit users to bring their own smartphones, allowing competitor operating systems to take away from BlackBerry’s market share. Although RIM has not officially released BB 10, initial glimpses of the platform have shown improvement.

Linux maintained its small presence in the worldwide smartphone market, thanks in large part to Samsung’s continued emphasis on bada. By the end of the quarter, Samsung accounted for 81.6% of all Linux-powered smartphones, a 3.6% share gain versus the prior-year period. Other vendors, meanwhile, have been experimenting with Android to drive volume. Still, Linux’s fortunes are closely tied to Samsung’s strategy, which already encompasses Android, Windows Phone, and later this year, Tizen.

Windows Mobile/Windows Phone has yet to make significant inroads in the worldwide smartphone market, but 2012 should be considered a ramp-up year for Nokia and Microsoft to boost volumes. Until Nokia speeds the cadence of its smartphone releases or more vendors launch their own Windows Phone-powered smartphones, IDC anticipates slow growth for the operating system.

Top Six Smartphone Operating Systems, Shipments, and Market Share, 2012 Q1 (Units in Millions)

Mobile Operating
System		 1Q12 Unit
Shipments		 1Q12
Market
Share		 1Q11 Unit
Shipments		 1Q11
Market
Share		 Year-over-
Year
Change
Android 89.9 59.0% 36.7 36.1% 145.0%
iOS 35.1 23.0% 18.6 18.3% 88.7%
Symbian 10.4 6.8% 26.4 26.0% -60.6%
BlackBerry OS 9.7 6.4% 13.8 13.6% -29.7%
Linux 3.5 2.3% 3.2 3.1% 9.4%
Windows Phone
7/Windows Mobile		 3.3 2.2% 2.6 2.6% 26.9%
Other 0.4 0.3% 0.3 0.3% 33.3%
Total 152.3 100.0% 101.6 100.0% 49.9%

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, May 24, 2012

Notes: Smartphone OS shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors. Unbranded phones, also referred to as “White Phones”, are included.

In addition to the table above, a graphic showing the relative market shares of the top 6 smartphone operating systems over the previous five quarters is available at IDC.com. The chart is intended for public use in online news articles and social media. Instructions on how to embed this graphic can be found by viewing this press release on IDC.com.

For more information about IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 orknagamine@idc.com.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Contest: Week 3 of our ASUS Transformer Pad Prize Pack giveaway courtesy of ASUS, NVIDIA, and Talk Android

Posted: 24 May 2012 01:07 PM PDT

We’ve already handed out two Transformer Pad Prize Packs so it’s now time for our final and third giveaway. As a refresher, the prize pack consists of an ASUS Transformer Pad TF300, a matching keyboard dock, a Logitech controller, and a Jambox speaker. For this week all you have to do is comment below with your favorite TegraZone game in terms of gameplay. You have until next Wednesday, May 30th at 11:59pm EST. We will pick a random winner and make the announcement on Thursday, May 31st.

As you know NVIDIA is celebrating the first anniversary of the TegraZone, and with it came the Players Choice Awards and these Transformer Pad Prize Packs. NVIDIA is giving away seven of these prize packs so we encourage you to head over to NVIDIA’s Players Choice Awards site and cast your votes for your favorites games in the TegraZone in terms of best graphics, best gameplay, and overall fun. Once you vote, you’re automatically entered. Both contests are separate so definitely comment here and vote at NVIDIA’s site for more chances to win one of these awesome prize packs.

For a listing of all eligible games, hit our previous post or head over to the TegraZone.

Good Luck!!!

Schmidt Says “A Lot More Focus On Android” With The Future Of Motorola Mobility

Posted: 24 May 2012 12:19 PM PDT

The world is eagerly awaiting to see what Google does now that the company has successfully acquired Motorola Mobility, especially OEM’s like LG, HTC, Samsung and more.  Who can blame them for thinking there’s a possibility that Motorola could gain the upper hand if they obtain inside access to Android’s latest builds of the operating system?  And while though Google’s plans are still unknown to the masses, there are still rumors afloat that the search giant may consider selling off the handset portion to Huawei as well as the cable box portion to another lucky bidder.  In recent news, The Guardian has quoted Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, stating that Motorola will have “more investment in products and a lot more focus on Android and the tools even than they have today.”  This seems to be corroborated with what newly-appointed Motorola Mobility CEO, Dennis Woodside, stated when the deal was final.

“Google has always been interested in hardware” and “my job is to make Motorola as successful as possible and deliver innovative hardware as a licensee of Android.”

So, here’s to hoping Motorola gets back on track quickly when it comes to smartphone product quality, innovation, services and sales.  We’ll be keeping a close eye on the company so as to track their movement going forward, so stay tuned and feel free to offer up your own opinion in the comments section below.

source: The Verge

Google Officially Brings In-App Subscriptions To Android

Posted: 24 May 2012 12:04 PM PDT

 

True to making things just a little simpler and easier for all, Google has officially enabled in-app subscriptions in its Play Store. While in-app billing brought developers ”more ways to sell and engage users over the lifetime of their apps”, subscriptions will now give developers the ability to charge a monthly fee in order to have premium content in a product. The good thing is that in-app subscriptions aren’t just limited to games as you might imagine— Google has confirmed that there is the ability to subscribe to items such as a publications too.

Google also makes it simple to allow users to not only use, but extend their subscriptions to whatever service it is they are using. It has confirmed developers can offer users the ability to carry their subscriptions across multiple properties, services, or campaigns by introducing a useful API. This API can extend access from their Android apps to their web properties, based on subscriptions that are purchased on Google Play. Pretty cool indeed.

As of now, the addition is limited to Play Store version 3.5 users only. Also, there’s a small number of titles supporting this with Glu Mobile and its Frontline Commando property to start off with— but you can bet you’ll be seeing your favorite news publication or magazine or app take advantage of this service as well.

source: Android Developers Blog

Toshiba UK Launches their latest Android 4.0 Tablet, the AT300

Posted: 24 May 2012 11:58 AM PDT

The Toshiba AT300 is now official in the UK. This Anroid tablet has a nice, think, sleek, brushed aluminum design, and we are assured that it's size will not compromize its power or performance. It hits the UK packed with  Android 4.0 ICS, a 1280×800 10.1-inch LED-backlit display with Corning Gorilla Glass for protection from scratches, Nvidia Tegra 3 power plant, optional 16GB/32GB of internal storage, 5-megapixel rear-facing shooter and a 2-megapixel front-facing. Take a good look at the images below for a view of what holds all this hardware together.

AT_300_Prod_Full_Feb12_02 AT_300_Prod_Full_Feb12_03 AT_300_Prod_Full_Feb12_04 AT_300_Prod_Full_Feb12_09 Toshiba-AT300-11-540x239

 

 

Grab the leaked 1.85.502 Update for the AT&T HTC One X

Posted: 24 May 2012 10:46 AM PDT

Following in the footsteps of the previously released Wi-Fi bugfix for the AT&T HTC One X, users now have the option to manually update to the recently leaked RUU. As it goes with all HTC RUU’s, you will need to download the file to a Windows computer with the proper drivers installed, set your device to “charge only,” enable “USB Debuging” and run the .exe file. We have yet to see any reports on whether or not this improves anything other that a few bugfixes but it does in fact break all current rooting methods so you may want to wait this one out. Not much is known about this update and it’s not likely to be the final version so please proceed at your own risk. If you feel gutsy enough to give it a go, please let us know what you find out! Thanks to BriefMobile, you can grab the file through the links below.

RUU_Evita_UL_Cingular_US_1.85.502.3.exe (mirror 1) (mirror 2)

source: BriefMobile

In Case You Forgot: Because We May Sale Is Officially On Until June 1st

Posted: 24 May 2012 10:40 AM PDT

Hopefully you all haven’t forgotten the best way to kick off the holiday weekend— but in case you have, we’ll give you a quick reminder of what it is. You may recall we mentioned how Because We May would be celebrating the successes of games from various developers by creating a massive week-long sale of select titles starting today in the Play Store. Well, the sale is officially on and gamers are flocking to app stores to grab premium games as we speak. Originally there was 39 titles planned for the Google Play Store, but now there are 61 titles. Oh and the list of titles are a doozy too. Hit the break for the complete list.

source: Because We May
Posted by at 6:02 AM

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