Android Central |
- Facebook testing automatic photo uploads via Android app
- Rhapsody app updated with ability to download tracks, albums
- Google Maps updated with synchronized search history
- Verizon LTE network expansion goes live in many U.S. cities, others ready tomorrow
- Win one of ten tickets to the Big Android BBQ in Dallas
- LG Optimus G video test
- Sprint hits 1 million LTE devices sold
- American Airlines wants flying to be more personalized, giving 17,000 flight attendants a Galaxy Note
- LG Optimus G confirmed for Canada on Bell, Rogers, and TELUS
- Ice Cream Sandwich update coming to some Xperia Ion users on AT&T
- LG Optimus G arriving in the States in Q4; we go eyes-on its UI
- US Cellular Galaxy Note 2 pre-order page is up, shipping the end of October for $300
- Samsung's latest commercial: The next big thing is already here
- T-Mobile U.S.A. announces John Legere as new CEO
- Live from New York City with HTC!
- Motorola RAZR i initial video review
- Deal of the Day: Seidio ACTIVE Case for Samsung Galaxy Note
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will hit 5 US carriers by mid-November
- AT&T LTE goes live in eight more locations, including Detroit and Seattle
- The Beeb moves beyond Flash with BBC Media Player for Android
- AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 gets minor software update
- Vodafone UK launches the Sony Xperia Miro
- Duarte: I'm 'a third of the way to where I want to be' with Android
- Announcing Android Central's Nexus 7 a Week giveaway!
- T-Mobile MyTouch and MyTouch Q update offers Carrier IQ opt out
| Facebook testing automatic photo uploads via Android app Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:31 PM PDT
Facebook appears to be jumping on the automatic uploading of pictures bandwagon, rolling out a feature to select users that lets all pictures they take get uploaded to a private photo album in their account. Similarly to the way the Dropbox and Google+ apps operate, photos will be uploaded in the background and then managed at the user's discretion later. Facebook officially points out that they're rolling the feature out to a very small set of users -- which is customary for new Facebook features -- but considering there is already a help page for the feature, we'll bet that it will be coming to more users soon. The other services do this feature well, but for those of you who prefer Facebook it's good to see some feature parity coming even as Facebook moves towards making a native Android app. Source: The Verge, Facebook Help 
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| Rhapsody app updated with ability to download tracks, albums Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:12 PM PDT
Popular music service Rhapsody just released an update to its Android app in the Google Play Store, version 3.0.1, bringing the ability for subscribers to download individual tracks or complete albums. This is a welcome addition for the data conscious among us, letting users download some choice tracks before leaving the house and not relying on streaming 100% of the time. Especially if you find yourself re-listening to the same few albums, it really makes sense to download those locally. Additionally, the app lets you choose where you'd like to put those downloaded songs, whether on internal storage on an SDcard if you're short on space. The Rhapsody app can be found at the link above in the Google Play Store. 
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| Google Maps updated with synchronized search history Posted: 19 Sep 2012 03:20 PM PDT
The latest version of Google Maps has just been pushed out in the Google Play Store, and offers a large bit of functionality to the app. Now when you are using Google Maps on your computer, all of your searches for maps and directions will be synced between that device and your phone or tablet -- provided you're signed into your Google Account and have your web history enabled, of course. For example, after you look up a restaurant listing on your computer, as soon as you launch Google Maps on your phone, your search results will be pre-populated with the result you chose on the computer previously. Also new is the ability to go back through your past searches and completed navigation directions through the "My Places" menu. Additionally, if you choose to enter pre-defined addresses for your home and work and tie them to your Google Account, simply typing "home" or "work" into the directions field of the Google Maps app will give you directions to each place. It's the little bits of integration like this that make Google Maps the premier example of an integrated mapping experience. If you haven't yet, go grab the update in the Google Play Store at the link above. Source: Google Maps Blog 
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| Verizon LTE network expansion goes live in many U.S. cities, others ready tomorrow Posted: 19 Sep 2012 02:57 PM PDT
Verizon has announced the launch of a bunch of brand new LTE markets today, in addition to some expansions planned for tomorrow. The newly-launched Verizon LTE markets include:
A few more expansions on existing LTE zones are planned to go live tomorrow, some of which we had heard about last week. They are... 
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| Win one of ten tickets to the Big Android BBQ in Dallas Posted: 19 Sep 2012 02:54 PM PDT
Listen up guys and gals -- it's that time of year, and the annual Big Android BBQ is just a month away. It's a weekend of fun, food, and Android that nobody should miss, so we want to help 10 of you get in the gates! Keep in mind that we're only giving away tickets to get into the BBQ itself, so you'll have to find your own way to Dallas for the weekend of October 19 to 21, and you'll probably want somewhere to sleep when you get there. Entering to win is easy -- click this link to go into the forums, and drop a line in the thread that lets us know you wanna go. We'll pick 10 winners at random, then get with you to find out all the particulars. Simple. Don't miss this chance to have a helluva good time with some great Android-loving people! Enter to win tickets to the Big Android BBQ | More info about the Big Android BBQ
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| Posted: 19 Sep 2012 01:57 PM PDT You wanted a video test from the LG Optimus G, you're getting a video test from the LG Optimus G. We're here in Seoul, South Korea -- home of LG, no less -- to give this guy a go. By default, the video camera shoots at 720p, but you can ratcheted it up to 1080p if you so desire. As you can see, video quality is decent enough. And as you can hear, some wind noise got through, but the audio's still fairly coherent, insofar as the sound quality is concerned. (The same can't be said for this weary traveler, unfortunately.) The video side of the camera app is plenty functional if not exactly stylish. The buttons are all where you'd expect, and they're nice and large. You've also got some real-time effects you can apply, including funky faces and funky backgrounds. Apparently it's a big thing with the kids. 
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| Sprint hits 1 million LTE devices sold Posted: 19 Sep 2012 01:55 PM PDT
At a recent conference, Sprint announced that they have sold 1 million LTE devices and counting. As much as it might pain us Android fans, the iPhone 5 is listed there and probably helped Sprint at least a little bit in crossing that milestone. Sprint has a lengthy list of new LTE markets it plans on addressing before the end of 2013 in addition to its existing 19 metropolitan coverage zones. Sprint's LTE network is relatively young, having only launched in mid-July, so it's understandable that they're pumped about the milestone. For all of the LTE devices it has sold, Sprint still has a lot of financial ground to make up, but with the holiday season around the corner, at least they'll have a slightly easier time addressing that challenge. I just can't help but imagine Verizon and AT&T bigwigs (who have been selling LTE devices for a long time now) chortling at Sprint's LTE device sales figure. Sprint customers, what's your favorite LTE device that they're offering? The rest of y'all, are there any Sprint-exclusive devices that tempt you to switch, or is service the key differentiator for you? Source: Sprint 
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| Posted: 19 Sep 2012 12:31 PM PDT
American Airlines and Samsung have joined forces in the past to bring in-flight entertainment to travelers by way of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and now they're expanding their deal and starting a new initiative. American Airlines will be handing out the Samsung Galaxy Note to flight attendants to help make traveling possibly a little bit more enjoyable. The Galaxy Note will be loaded with customer information so flight attendants will have access to a wide array of details:
In total, approximately 17,000 flight attendants will have the devices in their hands starting later this year through mid-2013. As noted in the press release below, the Samsung Galaxy Note was chosen based on flight attendant feedback over a number of months and testing various devices. The large display, thin profile and durability won out as well as the include SAFE security features. Source: American Airlines 
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| LG Optimus G confirmed for Canada on Bell, Rogers, and TELUS Posted: 19 Sep 2012 12:09 PM PDT
LG showed off the Optimus G to America earlier today after an initial unveiling in Korea. Canadians will also be able to get their mitts on LG's new flagship device by way of Rogers, Bell, and TELUS. The official announcement from LG Canada doesn't mention much about pricing, but did say we could expect the new phone in November. The Optimus G is due in the U.S. in Q4, so it's entirely possible that they'll be launching around the same window. Here's a quick run-down of the specs.
You can get a closer look at the LG Optimus G in one of our two hands-on videos. Prices weren't mentioned, though retailers like Best Buy, Future Shop, The Source, Wireless Wave, and Tbooth Wireless all got shout-outs. Canadians, anybody ready to jump on the Optimus G? Anyone else a little disappointed that we won't see it on WIND or Mobilicity? Source: Newswire 
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| Ice Cream Sandwich update coming to some Xperia Ion users on AT&T Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:57 AM PDT
Showing up quickly after the international Xperia Ion started to receive an Ice Cream Sandwich update, the AT&T model of the same phone has started to show up in SuS -- Sony's PC companion software -- for some users over in the XDA forums. The AT&T model, LT28AT, is being pushed up to software build 6.1.c.1.105 which brings all of the features and visual cues associated with ICS. If you'll remember back to IFA in Berlin, our own Alex Dobie went hands on with a pre-release build of ICS on the Ion, so that should give you a pretty good look at what to expect. We won't know for sure what other fixes or changes are included in this update until AT&T spills the beans officially. We'll see if the update starts to roll out to more users in the next couple days, and hopefully it'll start to come out over OTA rather than relying on Sony's PC software. Check your own device and let us know in the comments if you're seeing the update. Source: XDA Forums; Thanks Terry! 
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| LG Optimus G arriving in the States in Q4; we go eyes-on its UI Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:15 AM PDT
After yesterday's huge unveiling of LG's latest flagship in Korea, LG today brought the Optimus G to US shores for a debut here in New York. In case you missed Phil's extensive hands-on, this is the device LG hopes will help them compete with the Galaxy S 3, HTC's One line, and of course the iPhone 5. The Optimus G has just about everything you'd want in a smartphone and then some: the 4.7-inch True HD IPS+ display is a stunner, and performance is blistering thanks to the Snapdragon S4 Pro on board. The Optimus G is the first device of its kind with Qualcomm's Pro chip, a quad core SoC which comes equipped with integrated LTE. Other highlights include the 13 MP camera, Ice Cream Sandwich, and NFC on board. LG told reporters today that it's expecting the Optimus G to reach American shelves sometime in Q4 2012. 
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| US Cellular Galaxy Note 2 pre-order page is up, shipping the end of October for $300 Posted: 19 Sep 2012 11:13 AM PDT
After this morning's announcement that the Galaxy Note 2 would be everywhere in the next few months, we've been waiting for word from each carrier. U.S. Cellular has jumped in and put their pre-order page live, and if you can part with $300 (on a contract, of course) you can have a shiny Galaxy Note 2 shipped your way by the end of October. That's honestly a bit sooner that we expected after hearing Samsung say carriers should have them by mid-November, but we're going to complain. No word from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon as of yet, but we expect news soon. Source: US Cellular
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| Samsung's latest commercial: The next big thing is already here Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:07 AM PDT
How convenient. On the same day that Apple released the sixth iteration of its iOS, Samsung has released their latest Galaxy S III commercial. Must be some kind of coincidence. In this latest commercial, you can see many consumers waiting in line in front of an unnamed store, apparently waiting for an unnamed phone. They all seem to be wearing white headphones though, I wonder if that's some sort of clue? Perhaps my favorite line from the commercial was this one:
Anyway, the commercial does tout some of the SGS3's features such as a large screen, NFC and the fact that it's had 4G for a while now. It's pretty funny and unlike their print ad that ran a few days ago, this video was fairly clever. Head past the break to watch. 
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| T-Mobile U.S.A. announces John Legere as new CEO Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:57 AM PDT
T-Mobile U.S.A. has just announced a new CEO by the name of John Legere who starts the job on September 22. Jim Alling, T-Mobile's chief operating officer, had been interim CEO since June when long-time CEO Philip Humm stepped down. Before T-Mobile, Legere had occupied quite a few senior positions at AT&T and Dell. Legere's immediately preceding position was as CEO of a wireline communications infrastructure company called Global Crossing, a company which suffered shady executive spending and a messy bankruptcy. T-Mobile is still on a rocky financial road, so at least Legere will be in familiar territory. Anyone remember Global Crossing from the internet boom years? How confident are you in Legere's ability to pull T-Mobile out of last place in the U.S. wireless service provider game? Source: T-Mobile 
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| Live from New York City with HTC! Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:26 AM PDT
Android Central and WPCentral are live from New York City for a special event hosted by HTC. The Taiwanese manufacturer is set to unleash some major new products, and rumors suggest that new Windows Phone 8 devices, a refreshed HTC One X and possibly a 5-inch device on Verizon could be on the cards. Whatever's unveiled, we'll be covering it all live, which means you'l be able to follow along with all the latest news as it emerges. And after the event's done, we'll likely have hands-on time with any new devices. The fun begins at 11am EDT (8am PDT, 4pm BST). Check past the break for all our live coverage or click here to go to our enhanced full-width live blog experience! 
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| Motorola RAZR i initial video review Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:54 AM PDT We've spent the past day getting to know the RAZR i, Motorola's new Intel-powered smartphone. Externally, it may look like a re-badged Droid RAZR M, but the main differences lie on the inside. It's powered by a 2GHz Intel Atom CPU, which the manufacturer claims results in improved performance across the board, most notably in games and the built-in camera app. The RAZR i is also the first international Motorola phone to get the company's newly-redesigned minimalist Android skin, which is much more reminiscent of vanilla Android. To learn more about the Motorola RAZR i, check out our initial video review above. When you're done, be sure to check out the rest of our RAZR i coverage from the past day -- 
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| Deal of the Day: Seidio ACTIVE Case for Samsung Galaxy Note Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:35 AM PDT
The Seidio ACTIVE Case is available for just $16.00, 47% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping. Deal also available in the Canada store Never miss a deal. Sign up for Daily Deal alerts! 
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| The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will hit 5 US carriers by mid-November Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT
Samsung has unveiled their U.S. release plans for the upcoming Galaxy Note 2, and things are looking very nice. The Note 2 will be on all five major U.S. carriers by mid-November, making this the second time Samsung was able to pull off a (mostly) simultaneous launch of the same model across the board. We've seen the so-called international version of the Note 2, but what do we get here in the states? A beast, that's what.
That's not a typo -- the Note 2 will be the debut of the LTE optimized Exynos. I know more than a few have been waiting for that one. Of course this all sits under the 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD screen an is backed up by that 3100mAh battery. Jelly Bean is an awesome bonus, and there's a chance that this will be the first phone on Verizon to offer it. Of course the redesigned S-Pen and software optimizations are on-board, and the device will be available in Marble White or Titanium Grey, with flip-cover backs available in Titanium Gray, Marble White, Blue, Pink, Mint, Lime Green, and Orange. Full details from carriers will be coming soon, we'll keep an eye out for all the Note 2 news. The full press release is after the break, and the Galaxy Note 2 forums are open for business! 
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| AT&T LTE goes live in eight more locations, including Detroit and Seattle Posted: 19 Sep 2012 05:54 AM PDT
AT&T has flipped the switch and has turned on its LTE network in eight more locations. Here are the cities that will now be able to experience LTE: In addition, AT&T has also expanded its LTE network in Miami-Dade County, continuing to bring it to more customers in south Florida. It's always good to see more cities gaining access to higher speeds, and if you're a customer in any of these places, we'd love to hear how fast your speeds are now! 
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| The Beeb moves beyond Flash with BBC Media Player for Android Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:03 AM PDT
With the discontinuation of Adobe Flash for Android, the BBC has had to look elsewhere for a video streaming solution on the platform. Its iPlayer media streaming service is heavily reliant on the desktop, and when Flash launched on Android in 2010, it was at the heart of the mobile iPlayer experience, too. Today sees the corporation take its first steps into the post-Flash world, with the launch of its own stand-alone Media Player add-on for Android. The BBC Media Player can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, and it springs into life whenever BBC video content needs to be played, for example through the iPlayer mobile site. There's still some way left to go before the BBC's new home-grown app takes over all video-playing duties on Android. The iPlayer mobile app is still unsupported on Jelly Bean, and the BBC news and sports websites still default to Flash for playback (although the BBC says it's working to more closely integrate the new player with all its multimedia content). Nevertheless, being able to run iPlayer content on the web without sideloading Flash is an important first step. If you're in the UK, you can grab the BBC Media Player app for free from the Google Play button above. 
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| AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 gets minor software update Posted: 19 Sep 2012 03:40 AM PDT
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 owners are waking up to a new software update this morning. The latest 82MB over-the-air upgrade brings AT&T's S3 up to version UCALH9 appears to add in some features that were added to the international model a few weeks back. The most noticeable change is the new brightness slider in the notification dropdown, though according to Android Central forums posters, there are also new VPN and enterprise security enhancements under the hood. On the whole, though, this is a pretty low-key update. The update is still based on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich -- there's no Jelly Bean update for the AT&T S3 just yet. For the technically-minded, a new radio firmware is also included -- version I747UCLH9. To see if your AT&T Galaxy S3 is ready to grab the latest over-the-air update, head to Settings > About phone > Software update. Once you're done, be sure to drop by the comments below and let us know how you're getting on with the new firmware. Source: Android Central forums 
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| Vodafone UK launches the Sony Xperia Miro Posted: 19 Sep 2012 03:25 AM PDT
Vodafone UK sends word that it's launching the social-focused Sony Xperia Miro on Pay As You Go and contract plans. The 3.5-inch Xperia Miro, announced a few months back, combines an 800MHz CPU with 512MB of RAM and a 5-megapixel rear camera. It's unquestionably an entry-level phone, and Vodafone's pricing it as such -- it'll set you back just £130 on PAYG, and it's available for free on contracts starting at a frugal £13 per month. It's not going to blow you away with awesome, bleeding-edge specs, but the Xperia Miro is a reasonable upgrade over the bog-standard Xperia Tipo, and that 5MP camera in particular is probably worth the extra cash. It also comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, so you'll be rocking a relatively modern version of the OS. Right now it looks like Voda's only offering the black Xperia Miro, so you'll have to hold out for another network (or SIM-free deal) if you want one of the other colors shown above. Source: Vodafone UK 
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| Duarte: I'm 'a third of the way to where I want to be' with Android Posted: 19 Sep 2012 02:23 AM PDT
Commenting on Google+ in reply to an article critical of some of Android's design inconsistencies, Duarte revealed that the work he's done so far only takes Android a third of the way towards his ultimate goal.
The designer purportedly made similar comments at Mobile World Congress back in February. So it seems there's undoubtedly a long-term design plan for future versions of Android, beyond the changes already introduced in Honeycomb, ICS and Jelly Bean. For our part, we look forward to seeing the remaining two thirds of Duarte's vision. Source: +Matias Duarte 
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| Announcing Android Central's Nexus 7 a Week giveaway! Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:09 PM PDT
This week all you have to do to enter is head over to the forums HERE and leave a comment. Comments left on this blog post do not count as an entry. Your comment must be in the forums in the thread at the link below to be eligible. That's it! Come back next week to see if you've won, and for your next chance to enter. Good luck! Enter the contest here 
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| T-Mobile MyTouch and MyTouch Q update offers Carrier IQ opt out Posted: 18 Sep 2012 10:12 PM PDT
The T-Mobile MyTouch and MyTouch Q (actually made by Huawei) are receiving an OTA update today -- to software version C85B839SP03. Although the phones will stay on Android 2.3.6 for now, there are a few good things in this one. First and foremost, the update allows users to opt out of the Carrier IQ tracking software that is preloaded on the devices. There's a lot of FUD out there about Carrier IQ, but regardless it's good to see that a carrier is letting people have the option to toggle that data collection off. Also in this update is a camera fix, allowing the phones cameras to now realize a full 5MP resolution for photos. Of course as we'd expect, there are a few other random bug fixes involved in the update as well. You can find more information about the update in the T-Mobile Support articles at the source links below. Source: T-Mobile Support (MyTouch, MyTouch Q) 
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