Sunday, July 29, 2012

Android Central

Android Central

Samsung supposedly set to produce 350 ppi OLED display

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 04:13 PM PDT

resolution

One of the physical drawbacks of OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays is that the manufacturing process can't quite reach the insane pixel density that traditional LCD makers can. We can argue about saturation, color representation, and pentile until we're blue in the face, but this particular issue is backed by real numbers, and because of it, high-end LCD displays like the ones on the HTC One X are more crisp and clear in some areas. 

That all may be changing soon, if we're to believe a report from Korea that Samsung has perfected their FMM (Fine Metal Mask) production techniques to produce OLED displays at up to 350 ppi. In comparison, the iPhone 4S display (labeled as "retina") is 326 ppi. More pixels per inch (that's what ppi stands for) means cleaner lines on text and image borders, and is generally considered a good thing. 

We'll keep our eyes on this one, and if it turns out to be true we should be seeing some interesting screens on Samsung phones late this year. We like interesting.

Source: ETNews (Korean); via  OLED-Info

Samsung goes behind the scenes at the Olympic opening ceremony

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 08:48 AM PDT

As we reported yesterday, Samsung's Galaxy Note and Galaxy S3 phones appeared as part of the Olympic Games opening ceremony in London last night. Now the manufacturer (and global Olympic partner) is taking us behind the scenes, showing how Olympic staffers and opening ceremony performers have been using its Android phones. In addition appearing last night's show in Hyde Park, the Note has been used by Olympic organizers like Head of Ceremonies Martin Green in their day-to-day work preparing for the games. And it looks like Olympic volunteer dancers got shiny white Galaxy Notes for their troubles too, which is nice.

Check out the full presentation embedded above. You'll find more Android/Olympics crossover news over at this story tag.

The Weather Channel app updated with localization for 40 languages

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 08:26 AM PDT

The Weather Channel app updated with localization for 40 languages

Planning a summer event but worried about the weather? You'll be happy to hear that The Weather Channel app for Android has had a fairly beefy update geared particularly to international users.

  • Bug fixes for wide widgets and widget crashes
  • Support for 40 languages
  • Support for metric in the 36 hour forecast
  • Widget bugs fixed on Ice Cream Sandwich
  • iWitness now open to our customers in the United Kingdom -share your weather with us!
  • Expanded test pilot for Session M points

The download link is available below. What's your favorite weather app? International folks, is it hard finding a good weather app in your language?

Download: The Weather Network (Free)

Apps of the Week - The Economist, Babel Rising 3D, Wormworld Saga, and more

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 07:44 AM PDT

Android Central

Oh my! You look like you haven't had a good app in a whole week!  Come in, come in, relax, we have more than enough to go around. Go see Chris. He has a wonderful story to share.  Or Andrew, our new guy. Doesn't he look intelligent reading The Economist? You might want to catch Alex and Richard before they head out the door - it looks like they're planning their transit routes. Here, sit down, kick up your feet, and open Google Play. Isn't that better? 

read more

Phones4U quietly launches the ZTE Grand X, yours for £199

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 07:31 AM PDT

Android Central

ZTE's new vanilla Android mid-ranger has landed at one UK store a little earlier than expected. The Grand X, which we saw at its launch event last week, is now available online at Phones4U, with on-contract prices starting at £15.50 per month, with a £50 up-front charge for the phone. Alternatively you can get it for free on contracts starting at £20.50 per month, or buy it outright for £199.

The Grand X is ZTE's effort to enter the premium handset market in the UK, with a phone sporting a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU and a near-stock Android 4.0 software experience. The phone also rocks a 4.3-inch qHD LCD display, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP rear camera and a microSD card slot. It's not bleeding edge by any means, but considering you'd have paid top whack for that kind of device less than a year ago, a £199 price tag seems more than reasonable. Vanilla ICS should also win the Grand X some admiration among Android purists.

Hit the link below for the full list of tariffs offered by Phones4U on Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile. And make sure to check out our hands-on report and video preview for more info on the phone itself.

Source: Phones4U via Engadget;

More: ZTE Grand X hands-on

Android Central international round-up - July 28, 2012

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 07:04 AM PDT

Android Central

The Olympic Games kicked off in London this week, starting with an opening ceremony featuring two leading smartphones from Samsung, the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note. And with Samsung being not only a leading Android manufacturer, but a global Olympic partner, it's been behind many of the Olympic Android news over the past week, launching limited edition back covers and Android apps based around the games.

But it wasn't all good news for Samsung fans this week, as there was some confusion surrounding the fate of local search on the international Galaxy S3. First it appeared the feature had been pulled, seemingly to avoid further litigation from Apple. However, a few days later it emerged that local search had been removed in error, and since then an OTA has gone out to reinstate the feature.

Though the Olympics is taking place in London over the next few weeks, many Brits are still planning on traveling overseas, with a majority holidaying in Europe. So to help British visitors to Europe get the best deal from their network, we've published our complete guide to each of the UK carriers' roaming plans. A recent ruling from the EU has put an end to the days of paying several pounds per megabyte of roaming data, and there's actually a fair selection of good roaming deals around now. So you'll definitely want to check out our guide if you're hopping across the channel over the next couple of months.

We also got an early sneak peek at some Sony phones expected to be unveiled at IFA in Berlin next month. The entryl-level "Xperia J," as well as the flagship LT30p "Mint" and LT29i "Hayabusa" all leaked out in various forms. All three run Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, and it looks like Sony's abandoned the "clear element" in its earlier 2012 designs in favor of a more traditional candybar layout.

Check the list below for a full run-down of all the major international stories over the past week. If you've got news, you can tip us at the usual address.

Special features:

News:

Apple UK spared from posting Samsung apology, for now

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 06:07 AM PDT

Android Central

Admit it, Android fan. When you first heard that Apple would have to publicly admit Samsung didn't copy the iPad's design, you let out a little cheer. The UK courts seemed to have taken a stand that could make these super rich companies think twice about submitting frivolous lawsuits. 

Now though, Apple has gone and got themselves a stay of execution though on this one it seems. According to Bloomberg, Cupertino has submitted an appeal saying the company didn't want to advertise for its rivals, and as such the order has been stayed until October. So, at least for the next couple of months, we won't get to read about the above device on Apple's website. It seems this, like other Apple versus Samsung lawsuits, will continue to drag on and on.

Source: Bloomberg via iMore

LG Nitro HD sees another Android 4.0 ICS leak ahead of official update

Posted: 27 Jul 2012 11:07 PM PDT

LG Nitro HD

As we already know, AT&T will be updating the LG Nitro HD with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on July 31st but just in case you simply cannot wait, there is a new leak now out there claiming to be to be the official final build. You'll need to use the notably crappy LG Windows Suite to get it loaded up but it's there and available for download.

As with all things not officially official, we suggest some caution loading it but if you're one to tosses that suggestion to the wind, you'll find the link below. If you're on a different carrier, say Bell Mobility you're going to want to read through it all to ensure compatibility but that's where those cautionary measures come in once again.

Source: XDA

From the Android Forums: Nexus 7 hard reset questions

Posted: 27 Jul 2012 06:11 PM PDT

Nexus 7 recovery

Willter12 asks in the Nexus 7 forums,

I have read that a hard reset is activated by:

  1. Turn off.
  2. Hold vol up/vol down/power on
  3. Select Recovery using vol buttons and press power button
  4. After several minutes, screen with red triangle will appear
  5. Hold volume up and press return for menu to make hard reset

All goes well til #4. Here I get blank screen showing "Google" and it never moves into the red triangle picture and just freezes. I have waited over 20 minutes for the boot into recovery menu and nothing happens.

Have I missed a step or is something wrong? If onboard recovery process is broke is there a way to fix it? I would like to have access to hard reset should something dire go wrong.

No I am not rooted nor have I tried to root and have only loaded apps at this point. Everything else is working fine and this appears to be an excellent device.

Thanks for any advice....

You read right, willter12. But it happens that there's a bit of a bug and you won't be able to follow those standard directions with the Nexus 7. Amend them with an extra step -- plugging the tablet into your computer. Once you are at the bootloader screen, you can't move on to recovery unless there's a connection on the USB port. Plugging it into the wall won't work, but the computer you use doesn't have to have the SDK or Fastboot set up on it, it just needs to be turned on. Change your steps to read like so:

  1. Turn off.
  2. Hold vol up/vol down/power on
  3. Plug the tablet into the USB port on a computer
  4. Select Recovery using vol buttons and press power button
  5. After several minutes, screen with red triangle will appear
  6. Hold volume up and press return for menu to make hard reset

It's inconvenient, we agree. But at least it's fairly easy to work around since the computer requires no set-up. As you mention, this is important for everyone -- not just those that live to hack. 

Have a question you need answered? (Preferably about Android, but we're flexible.) Hit up our Contact Page to get in touch!

Dead Space updated to include support for the Google Nexus 7

Posted: 27 Jul 2012 05:57 PM PDT

Dead Space Nexus 7

If you happened to get your hands on a Nexus 7 but were feeling a little bitter because your previously purchased Dead Space wasn't compatible with it, turn that frown upside down. Electronic Arts has issued an update for the game and you'll find the only change is the inclusion of support for the Nexus 7. Go ahead, fire up the Google Play Store and grab the update. If you're new to Dead Space, you'll find the link below.

Download: Dead Space
Posted by at 5:56 AM

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