Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Google Android News Android Forums

Google Android News Android Forums

Hands on with 10n2 Technologies BIZ Protect and One Protect for preventing drivers from using their smartphone [Video]

Posted: 08 May 2012 04:55 PM PDT

I spent some time with 10n2 Technologies here at CTIA, and they have a couple of unique apps for smartphone driver safety. Both apps are actually the same. BIZ protect is for the enterprise and is available now while One Connect is for consumers and is coming soon. What they do is prevent texting, emailing, and browsing (or other apps) of smartphones while driving. It uses the GPS to tell if you’re over the 12 mph threshold. If you are, you will be prompted to answer whether you’re a driver or a passenger. Of course, if you’re the driver, you won’t be able to use any of the apps set by the administrator. Now if you’re thinking that you could just reply that you’re the passenger, that won’t work. There’s a special Attention Verification Test (AVT) that you will have to go through to prove you are indeed a passenger. It’s pretty slick. It even gives the admin the option to prevent phone calls while driving unless you’re connected to Bluetooth.

Everything is time stamped so if you were to get into an accident, you could prove to the insurance company that there was no way you were texting while driving since every time you go over 12 mph, there will be a record. Also, if users try to remove the application, the administrator will be notified.

There are other apps out there, but this one really seems to be the best one in terms of usability and features. It makes perfect sense for companies that have drivers on the road and parents with kids that are driving. Texting while driving is three times more dangerous than drunk driving so this is a major problem. I have to be honest, I’ve been known to play with my phone while driving so I will be giving it a try.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google’s Sebastian Thrun And Vic Gundotra Show Off A Little Style And Glass

Posted: 08 May 2012 04:16 PM PDT

If you still don’t believe that Google’s Project Glass is real, start believing because you’re only going to see more and more news trickle down the pipeline.  We’ve already seen several of Google’s employees trying them on for size, not to mention Google’s own co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted wearing the highly anticipated augmented reality shades not too long ago. It would seem as though Google intends to have a large majority of their employees try these bad boys on for size before they confidently go public with them.  Recently, Project X guru Sebastian Thrun and Vic Gundotra have been seen wearing a pair.  In addition, Thrun was also able to snatch a photo from the inside looking out.  Check out the photo below and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Google+ 1,2

 

Hands on with the Plum Orbit, Capacity, and Mighty Smartphones along with the Debut 7-inch tablet

Posted: 08 May 2012 04:00 PM PDT

Plum is looking to make a splash in 2012. They’re mostly known in Latin America, but they are hoping to branch out into other parts of the world. They have a pretty big presence at CTIA this year and four new Android devices to show us. For smartphones, they have the Orbit, Capacity, and the Mighty. I seriously through the Mighty was a Samsung Galaxy Note. I went so far as to ask them if Samsung made the phone for them, and they replied with a no. They had one tablet called the Debut, which has a 7-inch (800 x 480) display. Unfortunately they’re all running Gingerbread, even the Debut tablet. Still, these are budget devices that will satisfy those that aren’t looking for high end. Hit the break for a quick look at all 4 devices.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S III Revealed To Also Sport A Dual-Core Processor And 16GB Of Storage

Posted: 08 May 2012 03:51 PM PDT

News of various US variants of the Galaxy S III continue to trickle down the pipeline as we’ve now gathered news regarding Sprint’s version of the GSIII.  The folks over at Pocket Now managed to get their hands on the device’s user agent profile and discovered that along with LTE radios there will also be a Qualcomm dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 on-board.  And while we were all hoping for the quad-core Exynos 4 SoC, this will have to do I suppose.  The profile also revealed the device will hold the initial 16GB of storage which is the lowest available on the device, as there will be a 32GB and even a 64GB variant (via SD slot for Sprint’s model.  And lastly, as expected, the device will run Android 4.0.4 ICS upon launch date.  So, as far as Sprint customers go, the hardest choice to make will be, does one wait for the iPhone 5 or do you snatch the GSIII up and remain married to it for the next two years?  Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below.

source: PocketNow

Hands on with Life360 Family Locator and a quick look at upcoming car integration and home automation services [Video]

Posted: 08 May 2012 03:43 PM PDT

I had a chance to see Life360 Family Locator in action today at CTIA. If you have kids, you’re going to want to pay attention because Life360 is all about family security. Over 15 million people have located family members with this app, viewed safety points & threats in their neighborhood, and chatted on their group messenger called FamilyChannel. Life360 Family Locator allows you to know where your family members are located, what safety points and threats are nearby, and if someone needs help or is safe (through the FamilyChannel).

If you’re still not convinced, Life360 Family Locator has been instrumental in reconnecting families after major emergencies such as the Japanese tsunami in March 2011 and the devastating floods and tornadoes that hit the United States in May 2011.

Hit the break for a quick hands on, what Life360 has in the pipeline, and download links.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Life360 is looking to extend their services to car integration (like OnStar) and home automation. Check out the video below for a quick look at what’s coming soon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Play Store Download Link

Ad In Gmail Casually Highlights The Sony Xperia Ion Smartphone Will Be Available On AT&T’s Network In June

Posted: 08 May 2012 01:06 PM PDT

In the midst of all this hoopla regarding HTC’s flagship smartphone and Sammy’s just-announced beast, many of you seem to have forgotten there’s another monster that is already out in Europe— the Sony Xperia S smartphone. While the device is quietly making headlines abroad, many folks Stateside have been anticipating the arrival of the device, but have gotten no indication of when it will land in American stores… until now. The fine team at Droid Matters spotted a casually placed ad indicating the American variant of the smartphone is coming to AT&T’s network by June. Yup… leave it to Gmail to give the world this well-regarded news instead of Sony or AT&T directly.

In case you’ve forgotten, the Xperia Ion will come fully stacked too with a ton of impressive features. The device will feature a gorgeous 4.6-inch 720P display, 16GB of onboard memory and the kicker– a whopping 12MP camera for you picture-taking pleasure. Originally the device was planned to ship with Gingerbread 2.3 at CES this year, but let’s hope that Sony has since changed its mind and will ship the device with Android 4.0 instead.

You AT&T customers ready for yet another option available to you?

source: Droid Matters

 

Unlocked HTC One S Smartphone Receives Mysterious Update

Posted: 08 May 2012 12:44 PM PDT

The (unlocked) HTC One S is still an infant in Android terms, but it’s already gotten its first software update. This new mysterious v1.78 update comes in at around 60MB, keeps your Android version at 4.0.3 and will look to address minor bugs around the device… possibly including some WiFi issues that have proven to be a nuisance to certain owners of the device. Again the device is for unbranded versions of the smartphone only for now– so if you’re on a carrier-branded version, you’ll have to wait a bit for the update. But if you are indeed an owner of the smartphone, you can check for the update now by going to Settings –> About Phone –> Software Updates.

Happy updating!

source: Android Central

Get OfficeSuite Pro 6 in the Play Store for $0.99 Until May 10th

Posted: 08 May 2012 12:40 PM PDT

I don’t know about you, but I love deals. This is especially true when it comes to mobile software that normally costs $15.00. Well Mobile Systems is offering their newly released OfficeSuite Pro 6 for only $0.99. If you remember, OfficeSuite Pro 5 was Amazon‘s Free App of the Day last October. So while it’s not as good of a deal as getting it for free, getting the newest version of the Office Suite for a buck is hard to beat.

For $0.99 you’ll be getting a full fledged mobile office suite that has built in support for Word, Excel, PDFs and Powerpoint. It comes with a built-in file-browser and a handy email reader as well. This means that you don’t have to leave the app at all should you need information that an email has in it. It comes with support for phones as well as tablets so you’re getting a lot more bang for your buck. It syncs with your various cloud storage services like Box, Dropbox or Google Drive for example. It’s optimized for Ice Cream Sandwich and has the following features:

  • Page view for Word and other text documents
  • Headers and footers in Word documents
  • Page numbering in text documents
  • Editing in PowerPoint Slide View for even faster slide changing
  • Objects manipulation in PowerPoint files – move, resize, rotate
  • Filters in Excel so you can quickly and effectively handle your data
  • Significantly increased number of functions in Excel – OfficeSuite now offers the richest choice of 240 unique functions
  • Improved cell selection in spreadsheets
  • SugarSync compatibility so you can now access your remote files in SugarSync
  • Cursor adjustment in text documents
  • WordArt support in text documents

However there is a catch and that is that you have until May 10th to snag this deal. So as soon as you’re finished reading this, scroll down a bit to get your download link and QR code. If you’re looking for a decent office suite, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better deal. Check it out!

Google Play Store – Link 


source: Android Police

Hands on with the Kyocera Rise and Hydro at CTIA

Posted: 08 May 2012 12:02 PM PDT

Kyocera just announced the Rise and the Hydro, which are two entry-level Android smartphones. The Rise is a QWERTY slider (pictured above) with a 3.5-inch display and the Hydro (pictured below) is a waterproof offering with the same display. Both have Ice Cream Sandwich onboard and probably won’t be available till the second half of the year. We don’t have pricing yet, but expect them to be sub $100 for contracts. For more information, checkout our previous post or hit the break for a quick hands on.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Samsung Putting Up $4 Million In Effort To Motivate App Development For Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab (Video)

Posted: 08 May 2012 11:58 AM PDT

How do you get developers to start developing good quality applications for your product?  You toss out big numbers like $4 million dollars, that’s how.  Samsung has set aside a whopping $4,080,000 in award money for developers willing to create good quality and highly popular applications for its Galaxy Tab and Note line of devices.  If this doesn’t encourage developers to start coding for these products I don’t if anything will.  The Smart App Challenge 2012 will run from now until September 30th and those apps will be judged by popularity according to their downloads.  The company is also offering the opportunity with its S-Pen device but winners will be selected by a panel of judges.  Monetary awards range from $200,000 to as little as $30,000 for those interested.  In addition, if your application is popular Samsung is offering “mega marketing support” for the app, promising to mention it during company press releases, TV spots and various social media outlets.  So, does this change your mind regarding the old saying, “there’s no such thing as making  a quick buck?”  Damn, I wish I knew how to write code!  See the source link for more details and don’t forget to check out the quick video spot as well.

Click here to view the embedded video.

source: Samsung Smart App Challenge 2012
Posted by at 5:57 AM

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