Android Central |
- Woz on the Apple v Samsung patent fights: 'I hate it'
- US Cellular launches Wi-Fi Now app
- CyanogenMod 10 nightly builds for the Motorola Xoom WiFi and LTE now ready
- FUD fighting: Every smart device has unpatched vulnerabilities
- Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE coming to Sprint on Sept. 16
- EarPods for ear holes on Android
- Motorola announces Android-powered desktop system with 18.5-inch touchscreen
- LG and Qualcomm holding U.S. event on Sept. 19, Optimus G unveiling likely
- Google Wallet usage has doubled in usage since opening up to all credit cards
- HTC One X+ shows up at FCC with AT&T LTE
- Tonight, on the Greatest Android Podcast in the World
- Tripit adds push notifications for travel alerts
- Deal of the Day: Samsung 2100mAh Extended NFC Battery w/ Door for Verizon Galaxy Nexus
- If you've seen one, you've seen the next one
- SouthernLINC to get the Motorola XT626 in November
- Motorola Atrix HD update brings camera, battery and Wifi tweaks
- eBay app hits version 2.0 with UI redesign
- The Motorola Droid RAZR M available today from Verizon
- Rogers announces LTE expansion across Canada
- Intel completes Android 4.1 Jelly Bean port
- Working with NFC Tags, Playing with the Fire HD [From the Forums]
- Jelly Bean rolling out for Canadian Galaxy Nexus phones
- Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD vs. the iPhone 5
- HTC One X vs. the iPhone 5
| Woz on the Apple v Samsung patent fights: 'I hate it' Posted: 13 Sep 2012 04:17 PM PDT
Bloomberg has posted a short interview with Apple co-founder and everyone's favorite geek Steve Wozniak, and part of it spoke about the ongoing legal battles between Apple and Samsung. Woz, who is a tech fan in general and has went on record praising Android, doesn't seem to like the direction his old employer is heading.
He also spoke about the updated camera in the new iPhone 5, which he hopes has improved because his friends tell him that the Galaxy S3 (Galaxy S III) and Motorola RAZR takes better pictures than his iPhone 4 does. We have to wonder why he is using an old iPhone, but agree that the Galaxy S3 can take some awful nice pictures. Maybe Woz is a bit idealistic, but it helps us remember that not everyone wants thermonuclear patent war. Source: Bloomberg 
| ||
| US Cellular launches Wi-Fi Now app Posted: 13 Sep 2012 03:58 PM PDT
U.S. Cellular is taking steps to help its customers find public Wi-Fi hotspots when they're out of the house by launching their own Wi-Fi Now app. The app, which is available for download from the Google Play Store (and soon Amazon App Store) for current customers, runs on the device and will automatically connect to known good Wi-Fi access points. The app can also be configured to automatically connect to Wi-Fi at home after manually entering the connection information. U.S. Cellular also states that it will be loading the Wi-Fi Now app on all Android devices it sells from this point forward. If you're willing, using an app like this can really help cut down your monthly data usage. Compared to having a persistent Wi-Fi button in your notification bar bugging you all day like some recent Verizon and AT&T devices, we think that U.S. Cellular has a better approach here. Giving the user the choice on whether or not to automatically connect is a good thing. Take a look at the full press release after the break. 
| ||
| CyanogenMod 10 nightly builds for the Motorola Xoom WiFi and LTE now ready Posted: 13 Sep 2012 03:03 PM PDT
Although the Motorola Xoom WiFi hasn't been suffering from any lack of love, the LTE versions haven't exactly felt the same. Sure, you can go ahead and flash a build of Jelly Bean to the device if you're rooted but for the more adventurous out there you now have another option to try out. CyanogenMod 10 nightly builds for the Motorola Xoom WiFi and LTE are ready for your flashing pleasure. These are official builds from the CyanogenMod team but it's important to note, you'll be on the bleeding edge if you flash any of them. Some things will work, some things -- not so much. If you don't really care about all of that, you can hit the CyanogenMod site using the links below and get started with CyanogenMod 10. Make sure you drop by the Android Central forums and let us know how things are working out for ya! Source: CyanogenMod, Downloads: WiFi, LTE 
| ||
| FUD fighting: Every smart device has unpatched vulnerabilities Posted: 13 Sep 2012 01:59 PM PDT
OMG! Have you heard? Half of all Android devices have unpatched vulnerabilities, and are out there, sharing the same air as we are! The horror! That's the feeling you'll get if you poke around the Internet today and read a blog or two, where folks are talking about a study from Duo Security, a company that sells authentication software to be used on smartphones. They even have a nifty little app you can install to check your Android device to see if it's vulnerable. The app isn't in Google Play, but it's linked at the bottom of the post if you want to check it out yourself. Sounds scary, right? That's 50 percent of Android phones, all over the world, all unpatched and ripe for some sort of online hacking has got to be bad. It's the end for Google and Android, and we're all screwed. Just. Stop.Here's what's going on. The app you can download runs and scans your device to see if any of eight popular root exploit holes are still open. These are things that were patched in more recent versions of Android or newer versions of the Linux kernel. If your phone or tablet is unpatched, you'll get a warning about it. It's all above-the-board, and these exploits probably are unpatched in 50 percent of Android phones. But what about the other thousands of exploits, or the ones that haven't been made public yet? You can't just use the eight easy ones and call it a day. My Galaxy Nexus is safe, according to this app, but it's sitting there with an unlocked bootloader, rooted, and ready for bad things to happen. You're not getting the full story from this app -- or from the blogs out there talking about it. But we can help. 
| ||
| Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE coming to Sprint on Sept. 16 Posted: 13 Sep 2012 01:46 PM PDT
Although we've seen the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE pop up several times now in training material and various other leaks, Sprint and Samsung have now officially announced the device. Arriving on Sunday, September 16 the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE will lighten your bank account by only $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate. For that money, you'll be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a 1.2 GHz dual-cCore Qualcomm processor, 4-inch touchscreen display as well as a 5MP shooter on the back and a 1.3MP shooter up front. Other features include NFC along with Google Wallet compatibility and the usual TouchWiz components such as All Share and S-Beam. You can jump below for the full press release. 
| ||
| EarPods for ear holes on Android Posted: 13 Sep 2012 01:07 PM PDT
How does Android work with Apple's new EarPods? We take the $29 pair for a spinApple now has EarPods. For your ear holes. And you know what? They're not half bad, especially considering they're only $29. Actually, they're pretty darn good. But what about using them on Android devices? Will they curl up their cute little white cables and slink away, their cries of "Noooooooooooooooo!!!" echoing in the distance? Of course not. That'd be, well, crazy. So how do they sound? And how well do they work? Keep on keepin' on for a few more thoughts. 
| ||
| Motorola announces Android-powered desktop system with 18.5-inch touchscreen Posted: 13 Sep 2012 01:05 PM PDT
Motorola has just launched a really interesting Android-powered pseudo-computer in China that hosts all sorts of home entertainment content. The HMC3260 has an 18.5-inch LED touchscreen that can play TV shows, movies, play games, browse the web, and otherwise run Android apps. Motorola partnered up with a cloud service provider called WASU to load this thing up with content. Here are the specs.
While Android is certainly no stranger to dipping its toes in the desktop computer world, it's not often we see big-name manufacturers create an all-out desktop device complete with a mouse and keyboard. It's still running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, so don't expect a whole lot from the Motorola HMC3260, but the concept sure is interesting. There's no information on pricing or availability, but you can find more info at the source link below. Could you imagine an Android-powered device that would replace a traditional desktop computer? I'm looking at you, Transformer Prime owners. Source: Motorola 
| ||
| LG and Qualcomm holding U.S. event on Sept. 19, Optimus G unveiling likely Posted: 13 Sep 2012 11:17 AM PDT
After a few weeks of teasing the Optimus G, it seems LG's ready to unleash its latest quad-core monster phone. The company's sending out invites press to "live without boundaries" at a joint Qualcomm-LG event to be held in New York City next Wednesday, Sept. 19. LG and Qualcomm's joint shindig will take place within hours of HTC's big announcement in the same city, where we're expecting new Android and Windows Phone devices (we'll be at that event, too.) Though a combination of leaks and official teaser videos, we've learned that LG will deliver a phone with a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, a 768x1280 True HD IPS display, a 13MP camera and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich -- quite a tantalizing device. We'll be live in New York next Wednesday to bring you full coverage of the Optimus G's U.S. debut. 
| ||
| Google Wallet usage has doubled in usage since opening up to all credit cards Posted: 13 Sep 2012 10:12 AM PDT
The last big update to Google Wallet allowed users to add whatever credit card they wanted to the NFC payment app for Android. Google proudly proclaimed today that usage of the app has more than doubled since then. Though users can add any card, Google has been gently prodding credit card companies to optimize their own section for the Google Wallet app, like Discover had recently done. As a Canadian, my biggest interest in Google Wallet's increased adoption is geographic spread. Sure, the U.S. is the biggest market for this sort of thing and will be for the foreseeable future, but it's a big world out there, and Google has enough of a head start on mobile payments that they can get a foothold in new markets well before other smartphone platforms. Quick show of hands, how many of y'all are using Google Wallet now that you can drop in any credit card? Is your phone going to be replacing your real wallet any time soon, or do there still need to be more NFC terminals out there for that to be practical? Source: Google Commerce Blog 
| ||
| HTC One X+ shows up at FCC with AT&T LTE Posted: 13 Sep 2012 09:24 AM PDT
We had heard rumblings of a new version of the HTC One X last week, and things are a little closer to reality as the FCC has passed certification for what appears to be the One X+. The documents show full support for AT&T's LTE network, so that at least gives us a direction to look in. Here are the rumored specs we've heard so far.
While the HTC One X+ is shaping up to be a modest update, LTE is always a nice addition. Anyone One X owners considering an upgrade, or is it not worth it just for LTE? Is that fancy NVIDIA chip tempting anybody? Source: FCC Via: Engadget 
| ||
| Tonight, on the Greatest Android Podcast in the World Posted: 13 Sep 2012 07:51 AM PDT
Hello, friends! It's been far too long. Some of us (cough, Phil and Alex) have been on the road for the past couple weeks, so it's been a while since we had ourselves a proper sit-down, drinks-up podcast. But we're getting back in the swing of things tonight, for sure. Yes, we'll talk about the iPhone 5. For precisely 7 minutes. After that, it's all Android, all the time, plus more of your e-mails and voicemails. (Here's how to send those in.) So join Phil and the gang -- and, of course, the chat room -- live tonight at 2 a.m. BST / 9 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. PDT for the live broadcast. You should be there. You will be there. You must be there. After all, you are what makes it the Greatest Android Podcast in the World. Not at a computer? Pick up the free UStream Viewer from Google Play [link] and search for Android Central a little before the show (it won't appear until we go live). We'll see you there! AndroidCentral.com/live 
| ||
| Tripit adds push notifications for travel alerts Posted: 13 Sep 2012 07:33 AM PDT
Tripit -- which continues to rank as one of our top must-have Android apps for anyone who travels -- received an update of note this morning. For Android phones, it'll now push notifications when you have travel alerts (if you have Tripit Pro). That's a big deal. Also, it's now easier to add or edit trips directly on your phone. And for tablets, there are new share/add/edit buttons on the Action Bar, along with some bug fixes. And if you're still fumbling through e-mails at the airport, looking for your itinerary, stop. Download this now. 
| ||
| Deal of the Day: Samsung 2100mAh Extended NFC Battery w/ Door for Verizon Galaxy Nexus Posted: 13 Sep 2012 06:32 AM PDT
The Samsung 2100mAh Extended NFC Battery w/ Door is available for just $26.00, 48% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping. Never miss a deal. Sign up for Daily Deal alerts! 
| ||
| If you've seen one, you've seen the next one Posted: 13 Sep 2012 06:23 AM PDT Submitted without comment. 
| ||
| SouthernLINC to get the Motorola XT626 in November Posted: 13 Sep 2012 05:42 AM PDT
For you folks down here in my neck of the woods on SouthernLINC (represent!), you've got a new Android smartphone coming your way in November. According to this screen shot, you'll have the Motorola XT626 to look forward to in a couple months. It looks like SouthernLINC will be positioning it as a cousin to the Titanium, though it'll obviously be missing the QWERTY keyboard. It'll launch with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and otherwise looks to be the same as the XT626 "Double V" that's been out for a while now, with IDEN capability, a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor and 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, an 8MP front-facing camera with a 1.3MP rear shooter, FM radio, microSD card and other bells and whistles. What we don't yet have is pricing or an actual launch date, so stay tuned. More: Motorola; Thanks, anon. 
| ||
| Motorola Atrix HD update brings camera, battery and Wifi tweaks Posted: 13 Sep 2012 03:55 AM PDT
The first over-the-air update for Motorola and AT&T's Atrix HD is now rolling out, bringing the high definition handset up to software version 77.12.22. There's nothing too exciting contained in this initial OTA, and the software is still based on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. However, there's a decent selection of fixes to make this a worthwhile upgrade for Atrix HD owners -- Wifi and battery performance has been enhanced, as have the camera's low-light capabilities. In addition, there are some new AT&T apps, and security enhancements from "the latest Google security patches." You can find the full changelog at the source link below. If you're rocking an Atrix HD, head to Settings > About phone > Software updates to see if your device is ready to pick up today's OTA. Once you're done, be sure to drop by the comments and let us know how you're getting on. Source: Motorola 
| ||
| eBay app hits version 2.0 with UI redesign Posted: 13 Sep 2012 03:02 AM PDT
The official eBay app for Android has just hit version 2.0, bringing a major facelift to the online auction app. When launching the new app you're greeted with a prominent search bar and My eBay, Motors and Sell an item options at the top. The rest of the front page is filled with useful items like reminders, messages, saved searches and eBay deals. The latest offering dumps legacy Menu button support and adds an overflow settings button instead, which reveals Sign in / Sign out, My eBay and a refresh button. Search has suggested entries, voice input and even barcode scanning right from the search box. There are a few other changes behind the scenes as well:
You can get your hands on the latest version of the app at the Google Play Store link above, and we've included a few screenshots of the new UI after the break. 
| ||
| The Motorola Droid RAZR M available today from Verizon Posted: 12 Sep 2012 10:13 PM PDT
The Motorola Droid RAZR M should be sitting on shelves at Verizon stores nationwide and available online in a few short hours. The 4.3-inch LTE device will cost you $99 -- that's with a new contract and a $50 mail-in rebate -- and features an edge-to-edge Super AMOLED Advance display. The RAZR M may not be Verizon's new Droid flagship, that moniker will likely hang on the RAZR HD Maxx, but from the looks of things it's a pretty darn capable phone. Check out Anndrew's review to see what we mean. The RAZR M looks like it carries on the RAZR name rather well. Anyone heading out (or heading to the mailbox) to grab one of these mid-sized monsters today? Holler in the comments, and be sure to hit up the Razr M forums and share impressions -- we like pictures! Droid RAZR M review | Droid RAZR M forums | Verizon's product page
| ||
| Rogers announces LTE expansion across Canada Posted: 12 Sep 2012 08:11 PM PDT
Rogers has announced a few new LTE markets opening up across Canada on October 1. Kingston, Edmonton, Quebec City, Oakville, Burlington, London, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Barrie are all included, which puts Rogers well on track for their goal of offering LTE to 60% of the Canadian population before the end of the year. Typical speeds are 12 - 40 Mbps. I'm sure the timing of the announcement has nothing to do with a certain LTE phone that was announced today. Any Canadians in these markets excited to get some LTE love? Got eyes on any new LTE handsets to take advantage of the new network? Source: RedBoard 
| ||
| Intel completes Android 4.1 Jelly Bean port Posted: 12 Sep 2012 08:11 PM PDT
Intel has a short and shaky history of putting its chips into smartphones, one that will hopefully go a bit farther into the future now that it has completely ported Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Intel has to go through this porting process because Android is traditionally made for ARM processors, which operate differently from Intel's. Before this port was complete, Intel devices were only capable of running either Android 2.3 or 4.0. While no one at Intel was willing to give a timetable on when current 4.0 devices will be updated to 4.1, we can hope that the process goes smoothly. Intel's "Medfield" Atom processors seem to be a pretty good option right now, but we'll see how they do in the future against the onslaught of great ARM chips out there. We're already hearing rumors that the Motorola RAZR M will be coming to the UK with Intel inside. Motorola and Intel have also reminded us that they're taking us to the edge on September 18th. Guess we'll see what they have up their sleeves soon enough. Source: PCWorld 
| ||
| Working with NFC Tags, Playing with the Fire HD [From the Forums] Posted: 12 Sep 2012 07:49 PM PDT
Just in case you missed out on some of the Android news today, now is the time to go ahead and get yourself fully caught up. Here on the blogs and in the Android Central Forums there is plenty to talk about. Have some questions? Need some help or just looking to chat Android? You know where to go, check out some of the threads below to get started.
We've got nearly 1 million members helping members and nearly 2 million posts in our Android Forums. Are you one of them? Join today! 
| ||
| Jelly Bean rolling out for Canadian Galaxy Nexus phones Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:50 PM PDT
If you're a customer at one of the Canadian big carriers with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, there's a good chance you have a Jelly Bean update headed your way this evening. We're seeing reports from users at TELUS, Wind, Fido, Rogers and Virgin that the Android 4.1.1 update is rolling out en masse, bringing all the great features you've been waiting for. Ideally you would be notified when it's time for your update, but it's easy enough to check yourself. Open the settings, go into "About phone", tap Software updates and check. The OTA won't wipe out any of your data, and only takes a few minutes to install. Seeing your update, or already had it? Shout out in the comments, or hit the forums where Android fans love to talk Jelly Bean. Thanks, everyone! 
| ||
| Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD vs. the iPhone 5 Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:23 PM PDT
So we've already thrown down the gauntlet comparing all aspects of the Samsung Galaxy SIII (S3) and the iPhone 5, and again between the HTC One X and iPhone 5. Just last week, Motorola took the wraps off of its latest offerings, with the Droid RAZR Maxx HD being the cream of the crop. Surely its a worthy follow up to the extremely popular RAZR line, but how does it fare when put up against the latest from Cupertino? Read along and find out. 
| ||
| Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:24 PM PDT
Next up is the showdown between HTC's flagship One X and the iPhone 5. Much like the Galaxy S3 (Galaxy S III), it's more than just differences in the tech specs, as Android has provided a great base for HTC to deliver a first-class experience that rivals what Apple has to offer. It's best if you read the previous post showing the comparison between the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5, and there are a lot of similarities. See the numbers, and our thoughts after the break. 
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android Central - Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment