Saturday, September 22, 2012

Google Android News Android Forums

Google Android News Android Forums

ASUS Padfone 2 specs possibly leaked by photo of packaging

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:44 PM PDT

Who among us doesn’t enjoy a supposed leaked photo of a yet-to-be-announced device, even if it’s just the box? Just yesterday, it was revealed that the Padfone 2 will be announced on October 16. Besides the release date possibly being announced, that announcement may not matter too much if this picture is what many believe it is. Granted, it could always be the work of a clever photo job. In fact, there seems to be conflicting info in the spec list vs. the icon regarding the display (Super IPS vs. SuperAMOLED). If the picture is real however, which was posted on a Chinese forum simply titled “Padfone 2 specs revealed,” then what we’re looking at may very well be the unveiling of the specs of the new Padfone. The specs begin with the model number “A68″ which makes sense for the Padfone 2 as the original was dubbed the “A66.” The rest reveals a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 13MP camera, 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 Super IPS+ display, LTE, and 2GB of RAM amongst other goodies. What do you think – real or faked? We’ll probably found out very soon.

source:  mobile01

Walmart to stop selling all Amazon Kindle products

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:09 PM PDT

Yesterday, Walmart announced that they will discontinue the sale of all Amazon Kindle tablets and eReaders. The superstore chain is hardly the first to discontinue Amazon’s products (earlier this spring Target announced they will discontinue the popular tablet and eReaders), but certainly wont be the last.

Amazon’s vast online sales combined with the slim profit margin on the budget-priced android device isn’t as retailer friendly as other tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Apple iPad. Even though retail access to the budget priced tablet behemoth has been cut slightly, don’t expect the sales numbers of the latest series of android tablets to be anything short of its predecessors blockbuster numbers.

Source: Reuters

Latest Verizon roadmap shows DROID Incredible X, Samsung Stratosphere 2, LG Revolution 2, and more

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:11 AM PDT

Our friends at Phone Arena received the latest Verizon roadmap and it shows some interesting stuff. Now we already know about the upcoming HTC phone sporting a 5-inch display and rocking a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, but this roadmap reveals how they will market it. It looks like it will be called the DROID Incredible X as opposed the the HTC One X 5. According to the map, it will launch in November, just about one year after the Rezound. The model number is ADR6435LVW

Next is the LG Spectrum 2. We’ve heard about a possible Spectrum 2 for a while now,  but I thought it might have been cancelled since the original Spectrum really didn’t generate much interest. It is a rebranded version of the LG Optimus II LTE and it will sport a 4.7-inch (1280 x 720) True HD IPS display, a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, an 8MP rear camera, 2100mAh battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It should be hitting the shelves in early October.

Then there is the Samsung Stratosphere 2, which will obviously be a slide-out QWERTY phone. This will most likely be similar to the Galaxy S Relay 4G for T-Mobile, but with a larger screen. It’s rumored to have a 4.3-inch display and a 1.5GHz dual core Snapdragon S4. It could launch later this month.

If you’re wondering about the DROID RAZR MAXX HD or the DROID RAZR HD, the RAZR MAXX HD was listed as November while the RAZR HD was listed as quarter 4. November happens to be in quarter 4, and we can only assume they will launch together.

Other notables is the Pantech Perception (formerly known as the Star Q), which replaces the Pantech Breakout and a couple of ZTE tablets (7-inch and 10-inch). As for other devices, Verizon is going to launch Windows Phones from the three major players sometime in November. They will have the Samsung ATIV S, the HTC Windows Phone 8X, and the Nokia Lumia 920. Then there’s BlackBerry 10, which won’t show its face until Q1 2013.

source: phonearena

Crowdsource platform to help shoot down bad patents

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:44 AM PDT

Yesterday the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Stack Exchange and Google announced a new joint effort to try to bring an end to overbroad and ridiculous patents before they can be used by patent trolls to cause harm to companies. A change in U.S. patent laws went into effect this month that permits the USPTO to accept comments and evidence regarding prior art and obviousness from third parties when evaluating a patent application. Prior to this change in the law, the USPTO could not accept third party information.

To make the process easier, Stack Exchange and Google have teamed up to help the USPTO with the effort. Stack Exchange has been beta testing a forum for users to discuss and identify issues with patents. Using this platform, users can find a list of patents submitted for debunking, submit examples or evidence of prior art, and discuss validity. Once a patent has been vetted, users can submit the record to the USPTO to be considered in reviewing the application. To visit the live platform and help with the hunt, point your browser to patents.stackexchange.com.

In conjunction with the effort, Google has modified their patent search site to show links to Stach Exchange discussions about any patents that come up in the search results.

Stack Exchange's chief of staff Alex Miller is calling the process "Discover, Discuss and Document."  Although there is no reward for busting a patent, Miller indicates they are considering some ways to recognize individuals who help bring a patent down. The implementation of a crowdsourcing solution for patent review grew out of an experiment that started back in 2007 called Peer to Patent, which showed the method was effective.

One downside to the effort is that it will only apply to new patent applications going forward for now. A question to consider though, is why do we have a patent system that works in such a way that this is even necessary?

source: Wired

Jelly Bean update starting to roll for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:22 AM PDT

It looks like the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is finally getting some Jelly Bean love. Not only has Verizon posted the changelog on their site, but we received a few emails from readers saying they already got the update. The build is JR003O and has a file size of 146.6MB. We actually saw this build last month, but we weren’t sure if it was going to be the final build at that time.

Once the update takes place, you will be able to enjoy Google Now, Google’s new enhanced Voice Search, new Notification panel actions, and a smarter keyboard.

So far it’s not available to me, but I need to check again when I get back to a WiFi connection. To manually check to see if it’s available to you, just go to Settings/About Phone/System Updates. Please let us know if you were able to grab the update in the comments below.

Hit the break for additional changelog information

Additional Jelly Bean Enhancements

  • Move between home screens with more intuitive graphics and silky-smooth transitions.
  • More reactive and uniform touch responses.
  • Personalize your home screen easily by placing widgets directly on the screen.
  • Widgets now resize automatically when they are too big.
  • Swipe over from camera to filmstrip view photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don't like.
  • When Talkback is enabled, the "Explore by Touch tutorial" will be enabled.
  • When Talkback is "On", new screen gesture "shortcuts" will be enabled.

Android Beam

  • Easily share your photos and videos with other NFC capable devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, with just a simple tap, in addition to sharing contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps.

Stability and Performance Improvements

  • Users can now choose if pressing the power key will lock the device or not.
  • Proper structure order for folders within email in now available.
  • MMS messages sent to an Outlook E-mail address now have a file extension allowing the image to be opened.
  • Added Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) support.
  • Device is now updated with support for IPv6 web sites. Browse and view all the latest web pages with this internet enhancement.

source: verizon

This just in: Google Maps blows away Apple’s iOS 6 Maps

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:43 AM PDT

Back in 2007, Steve Jobs said that they can’t be everything and that they need to partner with people (Google) who are good at stuff. Unfortunately things changed, and five years later, Apple decided to go after Google with a new maps app as part of iOS 6. If you follow tech news, there’s no question you have stumbled upon an article or tweet about how lousy Apple’s new maps app is.

It’s surprising to see such a bad first attempt from Apple as they don’t normally operate this way. I’m sure they will get it right at some point, but for now we can just laugh at some of these examples, which are courtesy of Google + user Michael Salinger.

The first one (at the top) shows the Olympic Plaza in Calgary an entire block away and there’s a plaza train station that hasn’t existed in years. Hit the break for eight more fails.

Those are houses not Starbucks or BP

Here’s a Japanese plaza in Sao Paulo, Brazil

The University Hospital is depicted in Google Maps as the brown area.

Apple seems to think the hospital has shrunk.

Gothenberg seems to have vanished from Sweden

Here we have information on the Corktown Footbridge, but nothing it has access to.

That should be Carse Road

The name of the Florence Cathedral should be Santa Maria del Fiori not Santa Maria dei Fiori

The Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, Illinois seems to have bumpy water

Pretty funny, check out the tumblr link below to see a bunch more.

source: Google+ / Tumblr

Vellamo Benchmark App Gets Update to 2.0, Turns Into Full-fledged Benchmarking Suite

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 07:10 AM PDT

Benchmarking is one of those tech subjects these days that gets a lot of people worked up. From fan-boys of certain devices or carriers to the family guy a few cubicles down from you at work, you’ve no doubt been approached by someone either in person or online flaunting their latest benchmark scores. But admit it, there’s something about running those tests that we just gravitate to. It’s just in our blood.

Enter Vellamo’s updated benchmarking app from Qualcomm. Vellamo has completely revamped the UI, which is gorgeous by the way, and now features everything from CPU performance to networking capabilities via simulated 3G/4G/WiFi, HTLM5, and web browsing all while comparing your results to other devices. We all know these benchmarks do not mean much in the real world with each and every phone literally being set up differently once it’s in users’ hands. However, Vellamo makes it very appealing to run their app with the latest update, if only to view the gorgeous interface – and maybe grab a glance of how your device still stacks up compared to that new device that just launched. Check it out and let us know what you think of it.

Play Store Download Link

QRCode

Zero market share growth for Android tablets through 2016 according to IDC

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:45 AM PDT

International Data Corporation (IDC) just upped their overall tablet sales forecast for 2012 and moving forward, but sees Android with no gains, and in fact showing a small decline into 2016. Originally IDC estimated that overall tablets would hit 107.4 million units worldwide in 2012, but now that has been increased to 117.1 million. They also revised their 2012 forecast to 165.9 million from 142.8 million. In 2016, shipments could hit 261.4 million.

With all this growth how can Android not show some success? Well in terms of actual units, Android will gain, but when it comes to market share things don’t look good. For 2012, IDC expects Android to have a 35.3% market share, which is down from 38.9% in 2011. By 2016, IDC is expecting a more dismal 30.5%. On the flip side, Apple will drop a little as well. They will go from 60% this year to 58% in 2016. The rest of the market share will be made up from Microsoft’s Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets.   For 2012, they will hit 4% and eventually grow to 11% by 2016. It will be interesting to see if their numbers hold because I’m expecting bigger things from Microsoft when it comes to tablets.

source: IDC

 

HTC Confirms Jelly Bean Update To Arrive On Unlocked One X Smartphones In October, Carrier-Branded Models By Christmas

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:20 AM PDT

 

Those of you lucky individuals who own the HTC One X smartphone can now have something to look forward to. While you still may not know of Jelly Bean’s exact arrival, at least HTC is giving the owners an idea of when the update is due to arrive. The manufacturer has confirmed the update will be pushed to the unlocked Tegra 3 models by October, followed by the carrier-branded models (i.e. the One XL or Snapdragon-powered One X models) receiving the update hopefully by roughly Christmas if all goes well.

The HTC Jelly Bean news doesn’t stop there either. You remember how we told you about that supercharged HTC One X+ that’s on the way? Well that device along with the special One XL arriving on EE’s brand-spankin’ new 4G LTE network will come with Jelly Bean shipped out of the box. And before you ask— there’s no news of when One S owners will get Jelly Bean, but if or when we hear news, we’ll be sure to share it with you.

source: MoDaCo

German court rules in favor of Motorola and Samsung on Apple’s ‘touch event model’ patent

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:14 AM PDT

Apple claims that both Samsung and Motorola infringed on their touch event model patent (EP2098948), but the Mannheim Regional Court just came down with a decision in favor of Samsung and Motorola. The touch event model patent shouldn’t be mistaken for multitouch. This one is a fairly broad patent (not like all the others aren’t) that covers the way the operating system reports or disregards touch events to applications. This could have been a mess for both Samsung and Motorola because if Apple had won, the result would be a need to rewrite, recompile, and reinstall a lot of apps since numerous applications rely on the operating system functionality.

The defense was based on the fact that Android does not store a multi-touch flag in association with each “view”, and this same argument was already successful in the UK and the Netherlands. I’m sure Apple will appeal this ruling just like they did with those.

The reason why this ruling came down for both Motorola and Samsung at the same time was that originally the Motorola case was scheduled for August 31st, but it was postponed. The courts decided to just align both cases when they rescheduled.

source: fosspatents
Posted by at 6:05 AM

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