Android Phone Fans

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• Weekend Poll: How many of you actually use MHL adapters?
• Don’t try older Samsung MHL adapters with the Galaxy S3! It won’t work
• Meebo discontinuing most of its services next month
• Verizon Wireless now selling the Sony SmartWatch
• Lamborghini joins the luxury Android market with its new smartphones, made of gold and crocodile skin
• ASUS Padfone now available in the US for $860, includes Padfone Station
• ICS update for the Sony Xperia Mini Pro now available
• 8 Best E3 Showings (and Contest Reminder)
• Verizon and AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III will not offer 50 GB free Dropbox space
• Chameleon Kickstarter campaign crosses threshold, then cancelled and will restart
• Nenamark result gives a bit more details for the Droid RAZR HD
• NFC payments getting murkier: could Sprint be launching yet another service?
• ASUS Padfone now available in Australia, priced at 899 AUD unlocked for phone and tablet

Weekend Poll: How many of you actually use MHL adapters? Posted: 09 Jun 2012 05:30 PM PDT The weekend is always a good time to meditate. And if you are a tech geek like us, sudden thoughts of gadgets tend to come accross. (I seriously dream about this stuff often… but I work doing this). Regardless, today’s dilemma is about MHL adapters. Recent news that Samsung’s old MHL adapter will not work with the shiny new Samsung Galaxy S3 just hit the inter webs. Due to a different pin layout, users will have to purchase a new accessory in order to mirror their device’s media and games to a TV. It is an inconvenience for some of you, but surely, it isn’t the end of the world. After publishing the article, I started to wonder: Just how many of our readers really use an MHL adapter. To be honest, I have yet to see someone use one of these in a regular scenario (not testing it for a review). And I have never used one in my personal life. There are many services and products out there that defeat the purpose of owning an MHL adapter. We can use services like Netflix and Hulu Plus for streaming movies from practically any device. Including some TVs, and if you don’t own a smart TV you can access these services with gaming consoles, Bluray players, computers, etc. As for other media like music, images and games, I usually either don’t need to display it in a screen larger than a phone/tablet or don’t care enough to buy an accessory for it. One can also use Media servers like imediashare, Plex, PlayOn and aVia to stream personal content to a larger screen. So for the few times I would use such an accessory, I have an alternative way to take care of it, albeit not as convenient. Let’s not forget about DLNA, as well, which is coming to many of the newest Android devices. Regardless, it seems like many times we can find a reason not to get one of these. And very few of our Twitter followers mentioned that they do, indeed, use an MHL adapter regularly. On the other hand, some of you may really like them. You can literally just plug-and-play. No need to configure apps and networks, no necessary internet connection and a generally less confusing experience. But how many users actually fall in this category. We would like to find out and decided to reach out to all of you and see what you think. Are MHL adapters a thing of the past? Do you own one? If so, do you use it regularly? Go ahead and participate in the poll and let us know what you think in the comment section! Take Our Poll

Don’t try older Samsung MHL adapters with the Galaxy S3! It won’t work Posted: 09 Jun 2012 03:56 PM PDT Many of you have pre-ordered the US versions of the Samsung Galaxy S3 by now, or already have an international version. And if you have been rocking an older Galaxy S device with the MHL adapter, it is important to note that the cable will not work with your shiny Galaxy S3. Not that this is the biggest surprise, as new devices usually require new accessories. This minor inconvenience is due to a difference in the pin layout for Samsung’s flagship smartphone. We must consider that the Galaxy S3 is a beast of a device packed in a very sleek form-factor, so it probably isn’t Sammy’s purpose to simply snatch more cash from its customers. The new accessory goes for about $30-$40. Retailers around the world are already selling it for the international version, so the new MHL connector will most definitely be at your carrier’s store once the phone is released. You can snatch it for a bit of extra cash if you like watching your content in the living room screen. Beware, though, as reports state that this accessory doesn’t work well with 720p displays, even though it works like a charm with 1080p full HD TVs. If you would like to see the new adapter, you can check out Clove’s unboxing video right below. [Via: Engadget]

Meebo discontinuing most of its services next month Posted: 09 Jun 2012 03:20 PM PDT Talks of Google purchasing Meebo have been circulating the internet for almost a month. We found ourselves very confused about what the outcome could be, but it seems some major changes are taking place – Still leaving us confused. Meebo just announced most of its services will be discontinued come July 11th. Meebo Messenger (shutting down July 11th, 2012) Downloading chat logs: We have created a page where you can download your chat log history at https://www.meebo.com/chatlog-download. This page will no longer be available after July 11th, 2012. Sharing on Meebo (shutting down July 11th, 2012) This is the product currently at meebo.com, designed to connect users to their interests. Downloading share history: If you log in to meebo.com you will see a link that will allow you to download your complete share history. This will no longer be available after July 11th, 2012. Meebo Me (shutting down July 11th, 2012) All embedded Meebo Me widgets will cease to function. You will still need to remove the Meebo Me embed code from your site. All Meebo Mobile Apps (shutting down July 11th, 2012) This includes our iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps. Chat logs can be downloaded at https://www.meebo.com/chatlog-download until July 11th. Meebo Support does mention that the Meebo toolbar will continue to be available and supported for site publishers for the weeks and months ahead. But what plans may be set for the future is still unknown to us. For now, you can go ahead and download your chat logs and share history. And if you would rather get out of this mess before the waiting is over, you can also delete your account. [Source: Meebo Via: Engadget]

Verizon Wireless now selling the Sony SmartWatch Posted: 09 Jun 2012 02:45 PM PDT Time to stop the endless quest – The Sony SmartWatch can now be purchased straight from Verizon! It is hard to come accross a Sony store, and many of them don’t usually have the accessory in stock. The Sony SmartWatch also can’t be found in many other stores, so it is nice to hear that Big Red will be carrying this device. Verizon has started selling the Sony Smartwatch though its website, as well as retail stores. It goes for the same $149.97 price, so this should be a no-brainer if you have been looking to purchase this smart watch. You should now be able to head over to your nearest Verizon store and (with some luck) find this bad boy in stock. If you haven’t heard of it yet, the Sony SmartWatch is a wrist accessory that connects to your Android 2.1 or higher device. It displays notifications and allows you to control certain functions straight from your wrist. The device is fairly new, so there is not a huge selection of apps and games available yet. But with 60 applications now available, and more coming, there should be more than enough to get you started. Those interested can head over to their local Verizon store or purchase it online. But just out of curiosity, how many of you have been itching for one of these? I currently use an iPod Nano as a wrist watch and I have to say I am not satisfied. It does not offer the same functionality as one of these, though. [Source: Verizon Via: Engadget]

Lamborghini joins the luxury Android market with its new smartphones, made of gold and crocodile skin Posted: 09 Jun 2012 02:11 PM PDT Those that can afford it find ways to stand out from the crowd. Many of us can purchase the best smartphones in the market, but can we pocket out $2,750 for a phone made of gold and crocodile skin? Lamborghini is sure that some of you can and has decided to manufacture luxurious Android smartphones and tablets running at that price-point. These devices are the Lamborghini TL700 (smartphone) and the Lamborghini L2800 (tablet). And just like its competition (Tag Heuer being the most popular), the specs of the device are not even close to being considered high-end. Lamborghini TL700 – $2750 Android 2.3 3.7 inch WVGA sapphire crystal display Qualcomm processor of unknown speed 5MP rear camera VGA front-facing camera 4GB of internal memory 1,400 mAh battery Lamborghini L2800 – $2290 Android 2.3 9.7 inch, 1024 x 768 pixels sapphire display 1.2 GHz Qualcomm processor (probably single core) 5MP rear camera 4GB of internal memory MicroSD card support Pair of speakers on the back It is sad to see Android 2.3 in a smartphone being announced during mid-2012, but it is depressing to see the same for a tablet. Especially one that is going for almost $2300. But if you have the money and really like a phone with good aesthetics, these devices will be available next August in Russia. There is no mention of it coming to other markets, but we are sure you wouldn’t mind importing it for a bit more cash. What do you guys say? Would you buy any of these luxury devices? I am more of a functionality guy, so I would rather get a normal device with stunning specs. Even if I had an unlimited amount of cash (in some alternate universe). [Via: Mail.ru, Talk Android]

ASUS Padfone now available in the US for $860, includes Padfone Station Posted: 09 Jun 2012 01:29 PM PDT The ASUS Padfone is one of the most unique devices out there. Though its specs are nothing special among high-end devices, its multi-functional nature makes the smartphone/tablet very enticing. It is indeed a captivating offer. Many of us have been waiting for it to come to the US. If you are part of that group, it can now be yours for the good $859.50 that Negri Electronics sells it for. This is the international, imported version. This usually means that the price will be much higher… and it is. But Negri Electronics is also throwing in the ASUS Padfone Station (tablet accessory), making it a much more reasonable deal than what it seems at first look. “Asus Padfone Features 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display, Snapdragon S4 with the new Adreno 225 GPU, and 8MP camera with LED flash and f/2.2 aperture, as well as 16GB of internal storage plus microSD slot, and comes with the Padfone Station, a 10.1″ tablet display; it has what we would expect from a modern high-end.” – Negri Electronics You would be among the first to own the ASUS Padfone, so it might very well be worth it if you were already planning on getting it. If you are interested, just head over to Negri Electronics’ website and check out all the details. What do you guys say? Would you pocket out that amount of cash for a device that doubles as a phone and tablet?

ICS update for the Sony Xperia Mini Pro now available Posted: 09 Jun 2012 12:46 PM PDT We’ve got some good news for users of the Xperia Mini Pro: Sony’s now pushing out an update which will bring Android 4.0.4 to your handset. As always, you will probably get a notification. If not, go into settings and force a check for the update. [via Droid Dog]

8 Best E3 Showings (and Contest Reminder) Posted: 09 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT NOTE: You still have a chance to win $2,000+ prizes in the GameFans.com contest! E3 2012 just wrapped up and a lot of exciting new games were announced. From Microsoft’s SmartGlass and more Kinect-enabled experiences, to Ubisoft’s impressive stable of games and beyond, there was a lot to take in. But we’re thoroughly impressed by 8 specific games and showings that we think stole the show. Microsoft SmartGlass and Internet Explorer While the Wii U will allow you to do many of the things SmartGlass will do (namely the common feature of being a companion service for games like Madden where you could use a tablet as your playbook), Microsoft didn’t need to introduce any new hardware. SmartGlass will allow you to use your phone or tablet to enhance the your gaming and entertainment experiences. A free app, it’ll allow you to do things like control Internet Explorer using your smartphone as a touchpad, view Halo Waypoint information while playing Halo 4 (concept) and more. It’s an exciting new feature that will be available for Android smartphone and tablet users at no extra cost. ZombiU ZombiU didn’t really impress graphically — many Wii U games don’t, in fact. But its unique use of the Wii U controller tablet gets a nice big win. Doing things like scanning zombie body parts with the controller to find their weak points are innovative. And there are zombies, so it automatically gets an extra bag of cool points. An honorable mention goes to Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition for doing much of the same. Check out a hands-on video over at GameFans. Watch Dogs Ubisoft almost stole the entire show with Watch Dogs. It’s a game where, as Ubisoft put it, lives and breaths on its online capabilities. As far as I could tell from the trailer, Watch Dogs takes place in futuristic Chicago, a city that has been transformed into an electronic super-cluster of information as every single piece of technology is tied to a central data network. The city is overrun by independent hackers as well as groups of them. Many hack the network as a form of cyber-terrorism, and you, playing as the protagonist Aidan Pierce, are using it to fight a formidable foe.  The main gameplay mechanics involve shooting and hacking, with the latter being a far more important component. Want to stop someone from getting away in a car? Hack it, and they’ll lose control and eventually crash. Don’t even get me started on the graphics, either: I and many others were fooled into thinking this would be a next generation title. It’ll look that good on PC at least, though, and you’ll likely get a slightly worse version on the Xbox 360 and PS3. The Last of Us Knowing Naughty Dog would be at E3, we longed for a look at gameplay of The Last of Us. If it wasn’t for this game, the aforementioned Watch Dogs would have stolen the show, but we knew we weren’t poised for disappointment. What was mistaken to be a CGI trailer by many ended up being actual gameplay, and not only was the experience the same when looking at it behind closed doors, it was also very much different. The Last of Us takes a lot of its cues from the Uncharted series, natch, but there’s one area Nathan Drake can’t compete: the linearity department, or the lack thereof in the case of this new title. You can attack missions different ways, be it an explosive guns-a-blazing Michael Bay style scene or a more subtle, cunning approach. And this is perhaps some of the best artificial intelligence we’ve seen in a video game as evidenced by protagonist Joel’s sidekick Ellie. Keep your eye on this one. Halo 4 While Bungie’s set sail away from the Halo universe, you had to expect Microsoft wouldn’t let it die. We’ve long known of Halo 4′s existence but it was hard to predict whether or not the latest installment would live up to the standards the original developers set. 343 Industries surprised us all at E3 when they came to show what may be one of the most solid Halo offerings yet. While I can’t say for certain this game will play 100% like we expect every decent Halo game does, their gameplay demo didn’t do anything to make us believe they’d screw it up. Perhaps they did a bit of a copy and paste job with the engine, making enhancements here and there to tweak things up, but we’d rather they maintain the look and feel Bungie created than break the game beyond repair. BEYOND: Two Souls Quantic Dreams is back with what looks to be another thrilling mystery title. That title is Beyond: Two Souls and it looks to continue that interactive story-telling type of gameplay that Quantic have become known for with Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain. While the graphics don’t look much improved over Heavy Rain, they still look amazing as they have pushed the PS3 to the near limit with both titles. Jodie, a character in the game played by Ellen Page, is wrestling with what appears to be a psychiatric problem, and she also appears to be on the run from some sort of militant or law enforcement agency. At first glance I thought she may have done something wrong as a result of a mental illness, but I just can’t seem to figure out her deal. Even with the trailer we can see it should prove to tell a very compelling story with believable graphics and like Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy, a nice branch-filled tree of possibilities with its story and ending. This game will no doubt challenge users to make tough decisions which will impact the outcome of the game, and that makes it all the more exciting. We’re sure there are many of you who aren’t aroused by what some have called “a movie with interaction,” but if you crave for a good story in a video game this is the cream of the crop. God of War: Ascension The God of War franchise is getting a new installment, but this time we’re getting a look at some events that took place before the original trilogy. God of War: Ascension follows Kratos sometime after receiving his gift from Ares, but before the events in the first game. He still wants to kill Ares for what he tricked him into doing, which was (stop reading if you haven’t played any of the first three games) kill his family. While we weren’t given much in the way of a premise, the game still features a nice mix of fun hack-and-slash combat and puzzles ranging from easy to not-quite-challenging-but-still-takes-some-thinking difficulty. The developers profess we’ll be returning to the more “human” Kratos we briefly experienced in God of War 1 instead of the God he became in latter parts of the series. Needless to say, this game should be on everyone’s radar. Splinter Cell Blacklist The story of rogue ex-cell Sam Fisher continues in Splinter Cell Blacklist, a game that features a middle-eastern setting along the borders of Iran and Iraq. A rogue faction there appears to be mobilizing an attack on the United States, and Sam Fisher wants to get in there and retrieve a blacklist that is crucial to saving his home country from devastating ruin. Like Splinter Cell Conviction, Blacklist somewhat distances itself away from the sneaky espionage gameplay of last year for a better mix of fast-paced, hectic action and stealthy tactical takedowns. With Kinect controls, you can do things like whisper “hey, over here” to lure an enemy into his immediate demise. But that isn’t even the most exciting thing: mercs vs spies is back! The popular multiplayer mode responsible for wasting the lives of many-a gamer has made its return after missing in action for Conviction. There were also be the co-op campaign you’ve come to know and love from Conviction. Needless to say, Ubisoft like have a very successful title on their hand. Honorable Mentions These are the games which impressed us but didn’t quite make the cut: Assassin’s Creed 3: it takes an interesting turn into the era of the revolutionary war. Gears of War: Judgment: without gameplay video it’s hard to say this game will be somewhat of a hit or miss, but it’s one to keep a tab on. Forza Horizon: Need for Speed-like street racing with the Forza engine? Yes, please. Need for Speed: Most Wanted: a most exciting reboot of one of the best games in the series. Madden NFL 13: with the Infinity engine and the new Connected Careers mode, Madden 13 should turn the heads of football gamers everywhere. Pikmin: Nintendo builds on the addictive gameplay of Pikmin on the Wii U. Total win. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2: the repetitive gameplay and graphics engine of Call of Duty will get a decent coat of paint with new futuristic weapons and vehicles. GameFans.com $2000 Contest Reminder Don’t forget that GameFans.com, Phandroid’s sister site dedicated to all things gaming, is still accepting entries for its E3 Launch Contest! $2000 in prizes is up for grabs, including a brand new Nintendo Wii U (when they’re made available), a limited edition Star Wars Xbox 360 with Kinect, an NVIDIA Prize Pack which includes a Tegra 3 Android Tablet, a Logitech Game Pad, a Jawbone Jambox, and a $25 AMEX Gift Card. Finally 10 different winners could win a new game of their choosing. In all, 13 contestants will be walking away with some pretty cool stuff, but you do have to properly enter to qualify. To figure out how you can enter to win all of these things, read the contest post over at GameFans.com!

Verizon and AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III will not offer 50 GB free Dropbox space Posted: 09 Jun 2012 10:41 AM PDT If you were looking to pick up the Samsung Galaxy S III on either Verizon or AT&T, we’ve got some bad news for you. The free 50 GB storage that has been offered to users of the phone around the world will not be provided to customers on the two networks. Why? Probably because neither the networks, nor Samsung wanted to pick up the tab. While it’s hardly a deal breaker for most people, it does offer an opportunity for T-Mobile, Sprint and other networks such as US Cellular to differentiate themselves a bit. 50 GB on Dropbox is a $100/year value (or $200 over the two years users have access to the space) which could tempt some people who don’t have a preference for a network. [via Android Central]

Chameleon Kickstarter campaign crosses threshold, then cancelled and will restart Posted: 09 Jun 2012 09:34 AM PDT We’ve spoken in the past about Chameleon, an innovative new launcher designed for Android tablets, and it’s Kickstarter campaign. For those who supported the developers by pledging some money, here’s some bad news: a goof-up by the company means that they will now have to restart their entire campaign, right after meeting their $50,000 target. It just happens that those starting Kickstarter campaigns need an Amazon account for receiving payment. For some strange reason, the developer chose to register the Amazon account of an employee while starting the campaign, and now that employee has left the company. And based on Kickstarter’s terms of service, Teknision can’t simply change the Amazon account a campaign is connected to, meaning they’re going to have to start all over again from $0. As an apology for their goof-up, Teknision is giving away the wallpaper pack from the $10 pledge to all pledges $5 and up. Here’s a little note from Teknision on the Kickstarter page: While this campaign has been very successful due to everyone’s support, due to unforseen problems with our Amazon Payments account we cannot accept any new pledges and all existing pledges will be cancelled. We have spoken with Kickstarter, who have told us the best way to resolve the situation is to close the current project, and create a new Chameleon backing page, where you can re-pledge to receive your Chameleon App. We are grateful for all your support and have upgraded all rewards $5 and above with 5 Bonus Chameleon backgrounds. People who have existing credit card authorizations from this project will be cancelled when this project is closed – and thus no charges will be applied to your credit card. We appreciate your patience, we are very excited to deliver world class software to everyone! We are aiming to have the Kickstarter page live early next week, we will be sure to share it with everyone. [Kickstarter via Android Police]

Nenamark result gives a bit more details for the Droid RAZR HD Posted: 09 Jun 2012 09:10 AM PDT After yesterday’s blurry cam shots, we’ve gotten a few more details regarding Motorola’s Droid RAZR HD via Nenamark. The processor is the dual core Snapdragon S4, running at 1.5 GHz and the Adreno 225 GPU. The combination of the two again point towards an end-of-summer release, as we’re expecting the quad core Snapdragons and Adreno 3XX GPUs towards the end of the year. The screen resolution is 1196X720, and in my mind the 1196 pixels also point towards on-screen software keys. The Nenamark result itself was an impressive 59.1, and adding the rumored 13 MP camera and 3,300 mAH battery, this looks like an absolute beauty. [Nenamark via Droid Dog]

NFC payments getting murkier: could Sprint be launching yet another service? Posted: 09 Jun 2012 07:24 AM PDT The world of NFC-based mobile payments is an utterly ridiculous state. Just about everyone is starting their own service, tempted by the opportunities for revenues that come with transactions and partnerships. And to make things worse, it looks like we might soon have another competitor entering the fray: Sprint. The rumor originated at NFC Times, and they’ve highlighted the problems it poses for Google’s own Wallet service. Sprint is currently the only major American telco that supports Wallet, with the rest working on their combined effort Isis. While it’s pretty easy to download and install the Wallet app itself, what this could mean is none of the phones would come with Wallet pre-installed in the US, the only country where the service is currently available. [NFC Times via Android Central]

ASUS Padfone now available in Australia, priced at 899 AUD unlocked for phone and tablet Posted: 09 Jun 2012 06:54 AM PDT We got a tip early this morning that the ASUS Padfone is now available in Australia through Mobicity for 899 AUD (approximately US$890). Customers get the phone (unlocked) and the tablet dock for the amount. Strangely enough, I haven’t found a mention of the keyboard dock, while the stylus-cum-bluetooth headset can be purchased for another 90 dollars. Thanks, Jarrad!

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