Android Authority |
- The first non-Nexus Android 4.1 Jelly Bean phone is a ZTE!
- Transformer Pad Infinity to launch in Australia on August 7
- Galaxy S3’s inner beauty exposed thanks to intrepid X-Ray technician
- Best Android apps for brain training and exercise
- Galaxy S3 sales top 10 million in less than two months
- HTC Desire HD Ice Cream Sandwich update officially canceled
- The Dark Knight Rises gets Nexus 7 fix in app update
- 16GB Nexus 7 completely out of stock, Google stops taking orders
- Google attempts to join HTC as co-defendant against Nokia
- Rdio Android app gets major update with UI tweaks and extended search results
| The first non-Nexus Android 4.1 Jelly Bean phone is a ZTE! Posted: 23 Jul 2012 02:52 AM PDT
Just a few days ago, we were discussing how ZTE might be the one to start the “stock Android revolution“, with their upcoming Grand X flagship, which will arrive with stock Android 4.0. ZTE is trying hard to become a stock Android manufacturer, and they’ve been working with Google to bring out stock Android devices faster into the market. According to Kan Yulun, VP and CTO of ZTE's handset division:
One of the results of this close relationship is the ZTE N880E smartphone, which was launched in China in May with Android 2.3, but is now jumping straight to Android 4.1. This will make the ZTE N880E the first smartphone to run Android 4.1 in China, and (to our knowledge) the first non-Nexus device to run Jelly Bean. How is this possible, you may wonder? My guess is ZTE was one of the limited number of partners that received the PDK beta, before Google even announced Jelly Bean to the public.
The ZTE N880E looks like a mid-range phone in terms of specs, but the Jelly Bean upgrade should make it run smoother than ever before, and it’s the reason why I’m excited for Jelly Bean to arrive even on lower-end smartphones. The full list of specs of the ZTE N880E includes:
It’s nice to see that Google is working so closely with manufacturers to bring out upgrades faster, but ZTE wasn’t the only one in the limited beta program for the PDK. We’ve heard rumors that Samsung may upgrade the Galaxy S3 to Jelly Bean as soon as this August, and of course we know HTC is preparing to upgrade their One series smartphones to Jelly Bean very soon as well, so they must’ve been included in the limited beta as well. This is great news all around for the Android ecosystem. Not only some smartphone manufacturers are starting to switch to the Google Experience version of Android, but the PDK is helping them upgrade to the latest version of Android much faster than before. Hopefully, this also means that Android manufacturers will support their devices with upgrades for a lot longer than a year, and that they will upgrade more of their models as well. This article, The first non-Nexus Android 4.1 Jelly Bean phone is a ZTE! , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Transformer Pad Infinity to launch in Australia on August 7 Posted: 23 Jul 2012 02:26 AM PDT
Good news for Android fans in Australia that yearn to try out Ice Cream Sandwich (and soon Jelly Bean) on a sleek, high end 10-inch tablet. Today, ASUS Australia sent out press invites for an August 7 event dedicated to the launch of the Transformer Pad Infinity TF700. The Transformer Pad Infinity is ASUS' current flagship model, boasting a beautiful 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 pixels Super IPS+ LCD display that is perfect for enjoying media and games. Speaking of games, the Tegra 3 quad-core processor will do light work of powering even the most demanding TegraZone exclusive titles. The TF700 comes with 1GB of RAM,two storage options (32GB and 64GB), and a 8MP rear camera. Check out our quick hands-on video from COMPUTEX 2012 to learn more about the beautiful Infinity. According to an ASUS statement from last week, the Infinity will be among the first devices to receive an Jelly Bean update, sometimes in "the coming months". At the press event in August, attendants will also get some hands-on time with ASUS' other star device, the Google-branded Nexus 7. Thanks, Josh! This article, Transformer Pad Infinity to launch in Australia on August 7 , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Galaxy S3’s inner beauty exposed thanks to intrepid X-Ray technician Posted: 23 Jul 2012 01:29 AM PDT
Do you love teardowns? I do too, but the thought of losing a beautiful device in the process is always making me a bit sad. Call me sentimental, but I wished there was a more humane, non-invasive way to see what makes my Samsung Galaxy S3 tick… Well, there is. Engadget reader alexcaron works with mammography machines, and, in his spare time, he likes to shoot bursts of X-rays at consumer devices, such as the iPad, Galaxy Tab 10.1, or the Nexus S. The results are beautiful, ethereal images of the innards of our beloved gadgets, which reveal many of their components. Alex stuck a new Samsung Galaxy S3 in the X-Ray machine, obtaining the image you can see below. What strikes me is just how much of the space inside the Galaxy S3 is taken up by the battery. You can also spot the two cameras, speakers, the antenna, and various circuits.
Apparently, the X-rayed Galaxy S3 still works fine, so it's not the same device that caught fire a few weeks back, apparently due to exposure to an external source of radiations. This article, Galaxy S3's inner beauty exposed thanks to intrepid X-Ray technician , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Best Android apps for brain training and exercise Posted: 22 Jul 2012 09:00 PM PDT
We are in the age where technology allows us to do so many things that in the past we could never do or never do well unaided. Because of technology, ironically, many people are no longer exercising their mental skills and, instead, are making their gadgets do things like computations and analyses for them. In turn, their mental capabilities become rusty. After all, “Use it, or lose it.” If you refuse to let your brain turn to mush, we’ve put together a list of apps that can help you exercise, train, and sharpen your brain. They are mostly free to download from the Google Play Store. Read on to learn about the best Android apps for brain training and brain exercise. Flex those mental muscles, yeah? The Moron Test
Do you think you are smart? Or, are you a moron? One way to find out if you are either of the two is by trying the puzzle-filled game called The Moron Test. As the name of the game suggests, it tests your mind through different obstacles and challenges which are seemingly easy yet tricky. Every time you solve a problem or finish a challenge, you’re closer to being a genius. You need to finish all the obstacles for you to be hailed as a genius. The game has a fun and animated interface, featuring different animated characters adding to the fun factor of the game. It’s great to play with your friends or the whole family. The Moron Test lets you exercise your brain through various challenges while being user friendly. Take the test to know whether or not you are a moron. Brain Age Test Free What do you think the age of your brain is? If you are curious, we suggest that you try and play Brain Age Test Free. It’s an easy and simple game that analyzes your brain age by testing your short-term memory. When you play the game, you will see bubbles with numbers inside them. The numbers will eventually disappear and you have to tap the bubbles in the numbers’ descending order. You have up to 3 chances before the app will start to analyze your brain age. Play the game 10 minutes a day and it will help exercise your brain, particularly your short-term memory, making you more alert and most importantly, making your brain younger. You can also track your progress through the progress screen. The game is very user friendly, perfect for everyone no matter what age or brain age. Brain Age Game We have already mentioned one brain-age determining app and another app of this sort is Brain Age Game. Playing this game lets you determine what your brain age is, but what makes the Brain Age Game unique from The Brain Age Test is that it also measures your memory age and arithmetic abilities. It has different kinds of brain tests that will help you workout your brain reflexes and concentration. At the end of each test, the app will show your scores, which you can opt to post on the global scoreboard. Tracking your performance and improvement is also supported via the Progress button on the homescreen, as well as sharing your results to Facebook every time you play. The Brain Age Game is a great and fun way to exercise your brain. You can encourage your Facebook friends to workout their brains, too. Memory Trainer There’s no doubt that the human brain is capable of more than what you are using it for, and the only way to squeeze some extra performance from your brain is by training it. Memory Trainer does just that for you, exercising your brain to improve spatial and working memory, as well as helping in improving your concentration through regular workout sessions. The app is very handy; you can use it during your short breaks or while waiting for something. It explains to you more about memory training, allowing you to have an in-depth understanding of how it can improve your brain. The app allows you to track your progress and continuing your last session is also supported. If you think you’re getting the hang of it faster than you thought, you can also tweak the difficulty settings of each session to make it more challenging. Math Genius Brain Trainer Solving mathematical problems does improve your brain skills, since it requires concentration, observation, memorization, and computation. You need to have imaginative thinking to be good at math and you can get a daily dose of that with Math Genius Brain Trainer. This app provides you math puzzles to solve. They can be addictive, certainly useful if you want to make your brain perform better. The app puts your brain to the test with infinite levels, and playing it regularly improves your skill in doing quick and accurate calculations. If you love puzzle games, then for sure you’re going like this game, too. It’s user friendly and it includes instructions to give you hints on how to the play the game. You can also tweak some of the app’s settings via the Preference button found on the homescreen. You can also continue your unfinished games anytime you want via the Continue button. Brain Genius Deluxe Brain Genius Deluxe is another app that is filled with brain training exercises, dedicated to help your brain think better. In this app, you have to prove that there is a genius within you by passing all of its 23 brain training games. You may think that those may not be much, but these games are challenging since they are timed. Playing it also allows the app to analyze your brain skills such as observation, memory, calculation, and reasoning. You can also track your performance when you use this app. Brain Genius Deluxe is also available for iPhone/iPod Touch users, allowing you to compare your scores with your non-Android friends. And, if ever you need a break from the challenges, you can check out the bonus games included. Interface-wise, the app is very easy to use and each challenge is easy to understand. It has a fun and nice-looking interface, too. Brain Cafe | GeoQuiz Learning never stops, even when you step out of the four corners of your school. There are always new things to learn about, and our very own planet Earth simply doesn’t run out of interesting wonders. Learning about these wonders is fun and enjoyable with GeoQuiz. It simply provides you with trivia about different things on our planet. You can easily learn new things in a specific field that you prefer since the app allows you to choose from various categories. Everything is presented well in the app’s brilliant-looking interface which features different landscapes and views. GeoQuiz is easy to use and it has loads of knowledge waiting for you to discover. Find Differences Do you have sharp eyes? Can you pay attention to small details? To be able to do so, your eye-and-brain coordination should be high. Find Differences is a fun and easy to use app that will help you improve your attention skills and exercise your brain, too. All you need to do is to spot the tiny differences for every pair of high quality images that the app presents to you. They could be tricky, but the app can give you a hand, giving you 5 free hints and for every 200 points that you earn by playing the game, you get another free hint. It’s great to play when you have nothing to do, letting you kill time while working out your brain. Math Workout Another app that gives you a daily dose of mental math exercises is Math Workout. It has brain training exercises and math drills designed to keep your mind sharp and alert. The app lets you choose among different kinds of categories and challenges. If you have done all of the challenges or you are not up for them, you can choose to challenge other players of the app via the Online World Challenge. Tracking your mental math progress is also supported by the app, letting you know how fast you are learning or improving your arithmetic skills. The app is also easy to use and you can use it no matter what your age is, guaranteed to make your mental skills sharper. Chess Free One of the classic mind games that really requires critical thinking is chess and Chess Free simply lets you enjoy this game on your smartphone. It’s one of the best free chess games that you can get on Android and it’s really a quality chess app if you consider its nice and classy interface and the game features. The game has 10 levels that you can play, from novice level up to expert. It’s also great since it uses the Treebeard chess engine which plays chess in a very human-like manner, allowing you to learn from the great moves that it will make. It also has a CPU thinking option where the moves that the CPU is considering to make are shown. It also has other features like stats, timers, hints, and handicaps which can help you evaluate how you are improving in each level that you play, not to mention a Review game mode to let you see every move that you and your opponent made during the game. Ches Free is definitely a great game to play with your friends. PowerVocab: Vocab Word Game Playing word games is also a great and fun way to exercise your brain and to enrich your vocabulary. One great app that helps you with flexing your skill with words is the PowerVocab: Vocab Word Game. It has features like Learn words, Challenge quiz, and Search words that help challenge and exercise your mental skills. You can also choose to challenge other live users. The app itself is not just something that you can play during your past time because it also functions like a real dictionary. Each word is presented with complete definition, examples, and phonetic pronunciation, which is very handy if you encounter words that you do not understand. It is a good way of exercising your mental muscles while at the same time enriching your vocabulary. Classic Simon Have you heard of the Classic Simon game? If you haven’t then we suggest that you should try it out. It’s a very easy 2-player game yet it’s really a great brain teaser to help you give your brain cells some exercise. Its simplicity allows users of all ages to play it. To play this game, all you have to do is just to repeat the colors and sounds in the correct order. The app has a very simple interface with the classic 4 color mode but you can also choose advanced modes such as Super color mode with 9 colors, Magic Memory mode or the Chaos mode. Tease your brain with this vintage app. MatchUp : Exercise your Memory If you like playing memory games and puzzles, you may have already stumbled across MatchUp : Exercise your Memory and similar games. Its definitely one of the best classic simple games that can also help you exercise your mind every once in a while. Not familiar with this game? To play this game, you just have to flip the cards and match them all with the least moves possible. The faster you match all those cards, the better is your memory. If you want more of a challenge, just need add more cards. You can choose among 2×2, 4×4, 5×6, 6×6, 8×8, and 10×10 card grids. The harder the level becomes, the more complicated the images are, so the game will really test your memory, as well as your attention to detail. Playing it often will help train your memory to be sharper. Brain Workout Need a brain workout to improve several brain skills? If that’s the case, then you might want to try Brain Workout. Unlike other brain exercise or training apps, it trains your brain to improve in different areas such as memory, focus, reaction, and accuracy through different brain exercises. It has 4 different brain training games for the brain skills that were mentioned and it also analyzes your performance in each area to help you know where you should improve. The app allows you to keep track of your progress from the first time you use the app. You can also share and compare your results with your friends. Sudoku Free When it comes to exercising your mind, one of the best classic puzzles to play is Sudoku and Sudoku Free is the app of choice if you want a quality Sudoku game. It has a very neat and intuitive interface, letting you reach all the buttons of the app easily, such as the numbers and some other options. It has 4 levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Extreme. It also has several handy features such as automatic saving, Undo and Redo, and intelligent hints. You can also play with other players in real time if you are looking for challenging opponents. You can then post your scores and track your progress online. (Can’t live without Sudoku? See our post about the best Sudoku apps for Android.) Unblock Me FREE Another mind-boggling game that would really squeeze your brain is Unblock Me FREE. You have to get the red block out of the board by sliding the other blocks out of the way. It’s seemingly easy, yet it’s a tricky game that would help you improve your problem-solving skills. The game has 4 levels of difficulty from Beginner to Expert. You don’t have to worry of about running out of puzzles to solve since the game has 4,200 puzzles for you. There are two game modes, namely, Relax Mode and Challenge Mode, the latter you can play if you just want to kill time while the other if you are really serious about playing the game. Unblock Me FREE also has a ranking system to motivate you to play better, a hint system to give you a bit of help, and an Undo system to cancel moves. Brain Test HD Training and exercising your brain will be very addictive and fun when you try Brain Test HD. It includes various games and brain exercises that you can play to improve your memory, speed, flexibility, accuracy, and reaction. It’s also a great app that you can use to turn your waiting moments to fun a brain training session. Like other brain training apps, it also has the feature to allow you to track your performance using a progress graph. It also features brain classification based on your IQ and how well you play the game. You can brag about your high scores to your friends by sharing your results via Facebook. Move the Block If you are looking for a mind-enriching game that you can play with your siblings or your parents, then try Move the Block. It’s a great game for all ages and it’s very challenging, not to mention very brain-stimulating. To play this game, you have to move the columns and rows up and down to achieve a target figure. The app has 100 exciting levels that you can play, so it will be long before you run out of puzzles to solve. Tracking your scores every time you play is also supported in the app, allowing you to see how much you have improved. Your scores could also be shared on Facebook so that you can let your friends know that you are exercising your brain. Reversi Free Reversi Free is another game that can give you a mind-boggling exercise. It’s one of those games which are seemingly easy to play yet very tricky. You have to be very clever and careful in flipping those chips, or else a game that you thought you were going to win will turn into a shocking loss. The app has a very user friendly and intuitive interface. It has 10 levels of difficulty including some hints that can guide you in playing the game. It also shows your game statistics such as how many losses, wins, and draws you had. It’s a great game to give your brain a bit of exercise everyday. Brain Exerciser Pump some math problems into your brain to help it exercise with Brain Exerciser. The app tests your arithmetic skills by giving you math questions such as basic subtraction or addition. It may seem easy but if you haven’t been practicing with computations lately, you’ll surely struggle at the beginning. The app has three different games that you can play: Add Like Mad, Number Breaker, and Balloon Solver, all of which are designed to help your mind become alert and sharp. It won’t help you solve complicated math problems, but it’s great to refresh your math skills once in a while. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. Having a sharp mind is not only a gift of genetics but also a result of frequent practice. Exercising your brain cells can make a difference. Even if you are old, your brain can still grow new neurons, so it’s just a matter of putting them to use for you to stay sharp. Try the best Android apps for brain training and brain exercise on this list so your brain will always stay alert and sharp. This article, Best Android apps for brain training and exercise , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Galaxy S3 sales top 10 million in less than two months Posted: 22 Jul 2012 05:07 PM PDT
Samsung's 2012 flagship device, the Galaxy S3, is doing a lot better when it comes to overall sales than its predecessors – sure, the comparison is not necessarily fair since from year to year we're seeing more and more people dumping regular cell phones and feature phones in favor of smartphones. Hence, it makes sense to see the Galaxy S3 sell better than the 2011 Galaxy S2, which itself did better than the original 2010 Galaxy S. The smartphone environment is dominated by the iPhone and by the Galaxy S flagship devices – when it comes to single device sales – in that order. While no Android maker managed to match Apple's sales of a single handset, the Galaxy S3 is probably the first smartphone that will attempt to do it. A new report now reveals that Samsung has already sold over 10 million Galaxy S3 units, after less than two months since its launch – the handset was first released in the UK on May 29. The news comes straight from Samsung's president Shin Jong-kyun, who mentioned the sales mark to reporters. At this rate, Samsung is selling almost 200,000 Galaxy S3 units per day, and the company is expected to sell over 40 million Galaxy S3 units by the end of the year. Comparatively, Samsung sold over 10 million Galaxy S units (as of January 2011) and a combined 30 million Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 units (as of October 2011), although these numbers are certainly higher by now. Samsung is not mentioning smartphone sales in its quarterly reports anymore but the company is expected to have sold 50 million smartphone units in total in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to announce somewhere around 30 million iPhone sales for Q2 2012, it's third quarter of fiscal year 2012, and the company's next-gen iOS smartphone should hit stores at some point in fall. Have you purchased your Galaxy S3 yet? This article, Galaxy S3 sales top 10 million in less than two months , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| HTC Desire HD Ice Cream Sandwich update officially canceled Posted: 22 Jul 2012 02:54 PM PDT
We conclude today the HTC Desire HD Ice Cream Sandwich drama, as it looks like HTC has decided to completely scrape Android 4.0 upgrade plans for the device – see the screenshot above taken from the company’s official blog where its ICS plans were posted back in March. Initially, we heard that Canadian carrier Telus decided to cancel the ICS upgrade for the smartphone, and then we found out it was HTC that decided to temporarily stop upgrade plans. At the time, HTC lead us to believe that the Desire HD will receive its Android 4.0 build in the near future, but now it looks like that won't happen, at least not officially. While developers will certainly find a way to bring various ICS versions to Desire HD owners, if that's not happening already, HTC has explained in a one-paragraph update on that March blog post why it decided not to rollout the ICS update for the once-flagship smartphone:
Interesting way of formulating this response – "the current version of HTC Sense with Android provides customers with the best experience on the HTC Desire HD." Well, what about customers that really want to try out ICS on the handset? Maybe without any Sense on top of it? Oh wait, that's where custom ROMs come in! Let's hear it from HTC Desire HD owners, are you disappointed? No related posts. This article, HTC Desire HD Ice Cream Sandwich update officially canceled , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| The Dark Knight Rises gets Nexus 7 fix in app update Posted: 22 Jul 2012 02:34 PM PDT
The recently released companion game for Christopher Nolan's summer blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises is available for Android and iOS devices in the Google Play and App Store, respectively. But Android users have discovered that the game is not exactly compatible with the Google Nexus 7, the hottest Android tablet in town that started shipping just over a week ago. Nexus 7 owners were not able to download the game after purchasing it from the Google Play store but it looks like the issue has been corrected with an app update. But that's not the only error Android gamers experienced. It appears that certain game resources were downloaded twice on some devices. You may think that's not such a big problem, but The Dark Knight Rises is a 1.8GB download, so having certain files download twice is certainly annoying, as it requires plenty of additional memory. The good news is that the game promises a great experience, as the player will be able to explore a "huge map," "enjoy stunning graphics for total immersion in the dark universe of Batman," use Batman's arsenal and vehicle collection and deal with "dozens of missions" and "random events" – this immense Batman universe explains why the game needs so much storage space. The game, a $6.99 purchase, is now fixed and can be downloaded from the Google Play. Have you played The Dark Knight Rises on your Android device? What do you think about this latest Batman game? This article, The Dark Knight Rises gets Nexus 7 fix in app update , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| 16GB Nexus 7 completely out of stock, Google stops taking orders Posted: 22 Jul 2012 12:05 PM PDT
Yesterday we showed you that the Google Nexus 7 has been sold out already with various third-party retailers, both the 8GB and the 16GB model. As for ordering the tablet from the Google Play store, the 8GB version had a 3-5 days shipping date while the 16GB version would have only shipped in 3-4 weeks. Those of you that managed to get their 16GB Nexus 7 orders in should consider yourself lucky, as it looks like the model is no longer available for order. Google has stopped taking orders and lists the device as "coming soon.” Interested buyers can sign up to be "notified by email when Nexus 7 (16GB) becomes available." Apparently Google simply didn't make enough 16GB Nexus 7 units to meet demand, according to The Guardian:
Moreover, the same publication notes that the Search giant was taken aback by the decreased interest in the 8GB version, which Google hoped it would sell very well. The company thought that buyers will combine the 8GB physical memory available on the cheaper model with its cloud-based storage solutions to make up for the limited storage space. But it looks like buyers are more interested in storing their files on the tablet instead of relying on the cloud, and that's why the 16GB version is more appealing. That's even more so considering that neither version comes with microSD support, and therefore buyers can't upgrade the storage on the device themselves. Not to mention that some third-party retailers have only been stocking the 16GB version, while the 8GB tablet was available via the Google Play store. Finally, since both models are very affordable, it's really not surprising to see the 16GB Nexus 7 sell out completely. At the same time, let's not forget that the 8GB Nexus 7 tablet is also shipping in 3-5 days, which means Google has sold plenty of units. However, the company, which is expected to sell 2-3 million Nexus 7 units this year, is yet to mention how many tablets it sold since announcing the device in late June at Google I/O. Neither Google nor Asus specified at this time when the new 16GB Nexus 7 batch will be ready, and the UK publication notes that it "could take some weeks to arrive." You may still find plenty of 16GB Nexus 7 stock on sites like eBay or Craigslist, although you should expect to pay a premium price for the tablet. Have you ordered your Nexus 7 unit yet? Which capacity did you choose and why? This article, 16GB Nexus 7 completely out of stock, Google stops taking orders , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Google attempts to join HTC as co-defendant against Nokia Posted: 22 Jul 2012 10:55 AM PDT
We've covered the Nokia initial filing against HTC, as well as HTC's response to Nokia in a couple of previous articles, but just in case you only need a quick sum up, what you need to know is that Nokia filed suit against HTC (and also an ITC complaint) back in May 2012 for the alleged breaking of no less than 16 patents owned by the Finnish smartphone manufacturer. HTC responded a couple of weeks back and rose a FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) licensing and patent exhaustion defense. So far, this all seems to have nothing to do with Google, right? Well, as it turns out, the Search giant has a totally different opinion on the matter, as a recently uncovered Google filling has revealed that Google has asked the court to join HTC as a co-defendant in the case. Although Google was often forced to provide testimonies relating to its Android OS in lawsuits against third-party Android manufacturers (not to mention that its lawyers attend many Android-related lawsuits), this is the first time when Google steps up and asks to become a co-defendant in a lawsuit that does not target the company directly. It remains to be seen if Google will be granted the permission to share the defendant bench with the High Tech Computer Corporation, even though some analysts claim that both Nokia's filling, as well as HTC's defense do not involve Google in any obvious way. The same experts claim that Google's move might be closely tied with the EU Anti-Trust complaint that it has formulated last month against Nokia and Microsoft, as well as a previous ITC decision that excluded 5 patents leased by HTC from Google. It sure looks like Google's lawyers are becoming at least equally busy as the suit army employed by Apple. They've already started to copy moves from the Apple lawyer rule-book, and now it looks like they are also adopting the same "trial frenzy" attitude that the iPhone maker has been much criticized for in the recent months. What are your thoughts on this? Is Google's attempt to beat Apple at its own game something you frown upon, or is it something you support? Drop us a line in the comment section below and let us know! This article, Google attempts to join HTC as co-defendant against Nokia , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Rdio Android app gets major update with UI tweaks and extended search results Posted: 22 Jul 2012 10:42 AM PDT
Spotify, Pandora, Rdio and Music Unlimited. These are probably the most well-known and popular music subscription services available globally, and they are currently involved in a take no prisoners battle that can only benefit the regular music-loving tech-savvy user. But while the competition should get the best out of online music streaming, there are still a few areas where neither service has managed to reach perfection. We are talking, of course, about the still steep subscription fees and the services' sometimes-buggy mobile apps. On the first front, there hasn't been much movement recently and it almost seems like the competitors are in evil cahoots to keep the price bar high, but as far as that second inconvenience goes, we are noticing quite the involvement from the highly acclaimed streaming services. No less than two of the "Big Four" have pushed some much awaited and appreciated updates to Android in the past couple of days or so, with Rdio quickly following Music Unlimited's suite (or the other way around). Although we don't want to compare apples and oranges, seeing as the two updates don't have much in common, we have to say that Rdio seems to have put a bit more effort into the new Android app than Sony did in its Music Unlimited update.
The 2.2.1 version of the Rdio Android app, available for download over on Google Play, comes with quite a few cosmetic changes, but there are also a bunch of new features and functions added, as well as a number of bug fixes. The UI improvements and enhancements are actually too numerous to mention here, but you'll definitely notice how you can organize new releases in a grid view, jump from a song in a playlist to the album where it came from, and more easily edit and add playlists. You'll also be able to take advantage of a much better organized search section, with optimized and extended results, while the activity stream has been updated with new clickable URLs. Finally, the update's changelog also mentions some "miscellaneous bug fixes", which will most definitely make up for most of the problems that popped up with the app's February update. Hopefully, the new upgrade will not bring some bugs and glitches of its own, which would mean that we could finally enjoy the app on truly any device running Android 2.1 or up, as it has been promised for a while now. Exactly like Music Unlimited's latest update, Rdio doesn't come with any specific support for Google's new Nexus 7 tablet, but unlike Sony's service, we don't have much to worry about. In fact, we're willing to bet that Rdio 2.2.1 will work beautifully on the new 7-incher, so go over to Google Play no matter what Android gadget you are using and download it with confidence. No related posts. This article, Rdio Android app gets major update with UI tweaks and extended search results , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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