Android Authority |
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean coming to HTC One X and One S this month
- Deal of the day: Motorola Atrix HD available for a penny from Amazon Wireless
- The HTC One X+ is now official: Android 4.1, Tegra 3 and LTE, bigger battery
- Gmail now lets you search for text inside your attachments
- AT&T introduces a new $65 prepaid plan; stay away and go with Straight Talk
- Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean now on more than 25% of Android devices
- Navy-built spyware makes 3D model from camera images. Could your Android smartphone be spying on you?
- Rumor: Google acquiring facial-technology startup, Viewdle
- Sharp 1080p 5-inch display begins mass production
- iPad mini release date set for early November, following mid-October announcement?
| Android 4.1 Jelly Bean coming to HTC One X and One S this month Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:23 AM PDT
October shapes out to be a great month for Android lovers. The latest good news comes from HTC, which today announced the HTC One X+, a revised and improved version of the One X, that you can read more about here. Tucked away in the press release announcing the new One X+ is a little gem – details about the Jelly Bean update for HTC's One X and One S:
We do hope that "from October" means in the following days, but we can't deduce anything more specific from HTC's brief statement. Also, it's very likely that the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the One X and the One S will first roll out to the international unlocked versions of the devices. Carrier-branded versions (like AT&T's One X model or T-Mobile's One S in the US) typically follow weeks or even months later. Along with the serving of Jelly Beans, the One X and One S will probably receive the upgraded Sense 4.1 overlay (although HTC left this open by using the "4+" version), which provides enhanced performance and a number of bug fixes. HTC INTRODUCES THE HTC ONE™ X+. HTC also announces SenseTM 4+ with Android Jelly Bean upgrades for TAIPEI – 2ND OCTOBER, 2012 – HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today unveiled the HTC One™ X+, a refreshed version of its award winning HTC One™ X smartphone, running the HTC SenseTM 4+ experience on Android™ Jelly Bean. The HTC One™ X+ combines the iconic design, amazing camera and authentic audio experience of the HTC One series, with increased performance, longer battery life and expanded internal storage. “We are taking the HTC One™ X to a new level with the introduction of the new HTC One™ X+,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. “Our customers will have super-fast browsing, an even better camera and more immersive entertainment with Beats Audio.” Performance, Endurance and Storage In addition to its increased performance speeds, the HTC One™ X+ introduces extended performance with the inclusion of a 2100 mAh battery, giving you up to 50% (6 hours) more talk time, and longer to browse the web and enjoy your favorite music and videos2. Imaging, Music and Movies Exclusively available on HTC smartphones, Beats AudioTM provides authentic, studio-quality sound that delivers the most immersive sound experience with an enhanced audio profile, crisper vocals and detailed high notes for your music, games, movies and videos. Making it easier to listen to music out loud, and through SenseTM 4+, the HTC One™ X+ introduces a new Tap and Go function, which allows you to connect the phone and your music to Beats speakers’4 when you tap them. To disconnect, it is just another quick tap. Providing exclusive access to thousands of movies through HTC Watch 2.0, the HTC One™ X+ will appeal to both the avid film fan and the casual movie-goer. Combined with the introduction of video hub, another benefit of SenseTM 4+, for the first time you will be able to put all your video entertainment in a single place. Easy Set Up Availability Related PostsGalaxy S3 Jelly Bean update coming in October as Samsung confirms Android 4.1 status, HTC One X Jelly Bean update coming in October, new report says, Verizon Galaxy Nexus Jelly Bean upgrade coming up as JRO03O update?This article, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean coming to HTC One X and One S this month , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Deal of the day: Motorola Atrix HD available for a penny from Amazon Wireless Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:02 AM PDT
Motorola has been a sort of an Android black sheep these past few days, making a couple of announcements that have put the Google subsidiary under public scrutiny for all the wrong reasons. First we heard about the Droid Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD launches being pushed back to the end of the year due to problems with the placement of the phone's antennas (aka "death grip"). Then Moto itself revealed that there will be no Ice Cream Sandwich updates for the Atrix 4G, Electrify and Photon 4G, three not so old phones that everyone expected to be upgraded at some point. We know that bad things always come in threes, so it was only a matter of time until Moto closed the circle. However, just when we expected the Razr maker to strike out, they got back in the game with a home run. The Atrix HD, the best Moto smartphone on AT&T, has been heavily discounted by Amazon Wireless, being now offered for the symbolical price of a penny. The 4.5-incher might not be as snappy and good-looking as the Razr HD, but it's still a very cool high-end(ish) handheld released just a couple of months ago. Amazon's special offer is that much cooler given that you can purchase the Atrix HD for just $0.01 no matter if you're a new AT&T customer or an existing one wanting to upgrade or add a line to an account. Of course, you will be asked to sign up to a 24-month carrier agreement either way, but this is still one heck of a deal.
Still don't trust us when we're telling you the Atrix HD is one fine piece of technology and that you won’t regret getting it? Take a look at its spec sheet below and see for yourselves:
There's no expiration date mentioned by Amazon for the special offer, and, while we don't think the deal will end very soon, we would advise you to hurry up and get an Atrix HD as the stocks could be limited. Are you planning to do that? Why? Why not? Related PostsCrazy deal from Amazon: Motorola Droid Razr now selling for just a penny, Good deal: Motorola Atrix HD only $49.99 on Best Buy, Deal: Amazon Wireless offers high-end Sprint Android phones for a penny, Samsung Galaxy S3 at half-priceThis article, Deal of the day: Motorola Atrix HD available for a penny from Amazon Wireless , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| The HTC One X+ is now official: Android 4.1, Tegra 3 and LTE, bigger battery Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:52 AM PDT
The HTC One X+ is a smartphones we’ve been hearing rumors about for months. Today it finally becomes an official device. Here’s what you need to know: It’s exactly like the HTC One X, except for a few small things. One, the NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip inside is clocked faster. In single core mode, the One X+ can hit 1.7 GHz. Two, the GPU is also faster, clocked at 520 MHz versus the 416 MHz in the original One X. Three, unlike the One X LTE variant, which was a One X with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 inside, the LTE variant of the One X+ uses NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 alongside Qualcomm’s MDM9215 modem. How will that impact battery life? We don’t know yet. Speaking about battery, the One X+ has a 2,100 mAh battery versus the 1,800 mAh battery in the original. Other notable changes include the front facing camera, which has been bumped up to 1.6 megapixels versus the 1.3 megapixel sensor in the original. The audio has also been upgraded courtesy of a new amplifier that makes the rear speaker suck less. As for software, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is on-board, along with what HTC likes to call “Sense 4+ UI”. When will the One X+ come out? October, aka this month. Should you buy it? That’s incredibly hard to say. We’re huge fans of the Galaxy S III, we’re foaming at the mouth over the Note II, and within the next 30 days we’ll likely hear about the next Nexus device from Google. That means HTC’s One X+ struggles to get out attention. That and you can only buy it in black, which is a bit … limiting. But hey, if you’re an HTC fan, then there’s no reason for you not to get this thing if you have the money. And if you’re already an HTC One X or One S user, you should know that you’ll get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean within the next few weeks. Update: While we try to get our hands on this beast, have a look at these two videos from Recombu and C|Net UK to get an idea about what’s new with the One X+. Related PostsTegra 3 One X gets Jelly Bean port, HTC releases statement on official update, HTC says customers want thinner phones, not bigger batteries. Do you agree?, HTC to crank up the battery on One X+, rumors sayThis article, The HTC One X+ is now official: Android 4.1, Tegra 3 and LTE, bigger battery , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Gmail now lets you search for text inside your attachments Posted: 02 Oct 2012 12:03 AM PDT
When Google announced Gmail on April 1, 2004, people thought it was a joke. What company in their right mind would offer users 1 GB of email for free? Fast forward to today and we’re not being the least bit hyperbolic when we say that Gmail has become an essential part of our lives. Not only does the threaded conversations UI make email easier to use, but the attitude that Google insists you have with email, that you should never delete a single message, completely changes your relationship with data. Today Google is announcing that they’re making Gmail even better. Gmail users will now be able to search for text that’s inside their attachements. Here’s a hypothetical situation: Your friend forwards you a PDF of their itinerary to you so you can pick them up from the airport. You want to meet them at the gate, but you have no idea which airline they’re flying. Search for your friend’s trip, load up the PDF, and boom, there it is. Google being Google, this feature will work everywhere. In a browser, in the Gmail app, you get the idea. Privacy nuts are probably going to go nuts and insist that Google is reading your sensitive documents, but come on now, let’s be serious. What’s a DOC file or a PDF file or a PPT file when you really think about it? Just strings of text wrapped in markup language. You, the user, input a query, that query gets converted into a string, and all Google’s servers do is match your input string to the strings that it has in their database. Simple as that. Looking ahead, what else does Google have in store for Gmail? The company is testing a feature whereby your messages are searched whenever you do a Google search. In other words, when you go to Google.com and type in “dog”, you’ll see the top 10 websites about dogs, but in the right hand side you’ll also see all the emails you have that contain the word “dog”. They’re just trying to make things that much faster. Related PostsGmail Attachment Download: Full control over where to save email attachments, Gmail search auto complete now in 47 new languages, Gmail gets more powerful with autocomplete in advanced search, drag & drop navigation, POP refresh, filter export/importThis article, Gmail now lets you search for text inside your attachments , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| AT&T introduces a new $65 prepaid plan; stay away and go with Straight Talk Posted: 01 Oct 2012 11:09 PM PDT
AT&T is introducing a new $65 per month prepaid plan that includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and 1 GB of data. To someone who wouldn’t know any better, that sounds like a steal, but in reality it’s just a scam. First of all, you can’t use this “cheaper” plan with any device you want. You have to go with a “GoPhone” from AT&T. In other words, they’ll gladly give you 1 GB of data per month, because they know no human in their right mind would transfer that much information using a low end smartphone. Second, there’s a better solution out there, one that doesn’t get enough attention. It’s called Straight Talk. When you pay your AT&T or Verizon bill every month, you’re paying the salaries of the people who work in their retail stores, the construction workers who build those stores, the developers who make horrible ROMs that get flashed on operator branded devices, and the list just goes on and on. Enter Straight Talk, which is what we in the industry call a mobile virtual network operator. MVNO for short. They piggy back off AT&T’s network, buying access to it at a wholesale rate, and then reselling that access to you with razor thin margins. Straight Talk gives you a SIM card you can shove inside any phone, and they charge $45 per month for unlimited everything. So do the math: $350 for a Galaxy Nexus, $45 per month for 12 months, that’s $890. Compare to that to someone who pays $200 smartphone and then locks themselves into a plan for two years that costs $90 per month. In the first year alone that adds up to $1280. That’s two Nexus 7 tablets right there! Are there any downsides? Sure. Customer service is abysmal, there’s no roaming, and if your phone breaks you’re shit out of luck, but hey, $45 per month is hard to pass. Related PostsT-Mobile introduces new pricing structure for prepaid mobile broadband plans, Sony introduces hand-cranked USB charger, makes you work for your talk-time, Google Talk is down for "a majority of users" Are you affected by the outage?This article, AT&T introduces a new $65 prepaid plan; stay away and go with Straight Talk , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean now on more than 25% of Android devices Posted: 01 Oct 2012 10:37 PM PDT
Every two weeks, Google publishes a pretty pie chart that shows the version numbers of devices that are accessing the Google Play Store. Today that chart has been updated. How many Android devices are running 4.1 Jelly Bean? Just 1.8%. And what about 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich? An impressive 23.7%. Combine those two figures and you get 25.5%. Translation: One out of every four Android devices in use today runs a version of the OS that’s less than a year old. More than half (55.8%) of all Android devices are still on Gingerbread, which, for those of you who don’t remember this, launched in December 2010. What meaningful conclusions can we draw from this data? Most people probably don’t care about what version of Android is on their device since they’re just fine and dandy with a two year old version of the operating system. The newest version of Android, Jelly Bean is less than three months old after all, is considered a niche platform that developers are probably not targeting as heavily for obvious reasons. When will ICS penetration break the 50% mark? It’s easily going to take another year or so. ICS launched on the Galaxy Nexus in November 2011, but handset makers didn’t start shipping ICS devices until the end of the first half of the 2012. Remember how pissed off we were at CES and Mobile World Congress because all the new phones being announced were running Gingerbread? And as for software updates, we commend Samsung for putting Ice Cream Sandwich on what’s arguably the most popular Android device to hit the market, the Galaxy S II. That being said, we’re still waiting to find out more information about when the GS2 will get get Jelly Bean. Meanwhile everyone else has a mixed track record when it comes to providing timely software upgrades, if ever. Related PostsMotorola RAZR Ice Cream Sandwich coming to Canada in 'early September,' Jelly Bean who?, ICS now on 20.9% of all devices, Jelly Bean on 1.2%, HTC Rezound Ice Cream Sandwich coming in late July, Jelly Bean who?This article, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean now on more than 25% of Android devices , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2012 06:52 PM PDT  Holy malware, Batman! (Image from The Dark Knight / Warner Bros.) Smartphones have become a prevalent part of our lives, that we carry them anywhere — to work, to parties, to the bedroom, and even to the bathroom. This is why smartphones are also one of the things that can be used to spy upon us. You may have already heard about apps that eavesdrop on conversations even when the phone is idle. But a new technology by the U.S. military goes beyond just eavesdropping. The PlaceRaider technology will actually reconstruct a 3D virtual model of your home, workplace, or just about any location, using the phone’s camera and orientation sensors. If you remember how Lucuis Fox reconstructed a 3D image of a Hong Kong building’s interior in The Dark Knight using echo-imaging, this is similar. However, PlaceRaider uses the phone’s camera instead of sonar. The technology is developed by the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, and the malware or spyware aims to gather intelligence (a.k.a. steal information) from visual sources, which may include computer screens, documents and the like. The aim is to gather financial data, identity information, and just about any details that can be “seen” from the target’s location. The app can run in the background of any Android device from 2.3 Gingerbread up. Blurry images and recordings from a pocket or in dark conditions are filtered out. Good images are then sent back to the developers’ servers, where a 3D representation is reconstructed based on location- and position-based inputs from the phone sensors. This includes GPS location direction and orientation.
According to Robert Templeman, who leads development of the app, a 3D representation makes it easier to gather intelligence than simple, raw photographs. The developers recommend that smartphone manufacturers — and even users — secure themselves from this kind of attack by making sure the phone’s camera shutter sound cannot be muted. Another recommendation is the use of anti-malware and antivirus apps that alert the user of any infiltration. Are you worried that Big Brother might be spying on you through your mobile device? Are you concerned about the moral implications of using smartphones to spy on everyone (just as Lucius Fox was)? Related PostsDo Some Spying With Android’s Hidden Camera App, Here’s how Nikon’s first Android-powered Coolpix camera looks like [Leaked press images], Microsoft’s on{x} Android app makes your smartphone even smarterThis article, Navy-built spyware makes 3D model from camera images. Could your Android smartphone be spying on you? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Rumor: Google acquiring facial-technology startup, Viewdle Posted: 01 Oct 2012 05:53 PM PDT
A new rumor claims that Google is acquiring a new facial recognition start-up company called Viewdle. According to Forbes, Google will likely pay around $30 million for the company. Keep in mind that this is all speculation and rumor, at least for now. Not surprisingly, Google and Viewdle both are responding with the same "no comment" routine. So what is Viewdle all about? The company was founded in Ukraine in 2006 and is currently based out of Silicon Valley. The start-up has several Android apps such as SocialCamera and games like Third Eye, in addition to several facial recognition patents that Google is likely to be interested in. Probably its biggest feature, though, is its unique automatic tagging system for photos of friends and family. Will this prove to be more than just a rumor? More than likely. Facial recognition is a hot technology. Google isn’t the only one buying up these types of start-ups, either. One of the biggest facial recognition start-up purchases came from Facebook earlier this year when the social network rival acquired "Face.com" for a little under $60 million. Considering Facebook is the biggest competitor for Google+, this purchase isn’t all that surprising. Google+ has quickly sprung up to be one of the most important social networks on the Internet. Acquisition of new technology and start-ups help Google expand the services they can offer through their growing social networking service. What do you think of the talks of the Viewdle acquisition? Related PostsGoogle patents new object recognition technology, likely has plans to use with YouTube, How to Use Facial Recognition for Facebook Friends and Log Your Meetings with Them, Rumor: Google to sell Motorola’s hardware division to HuaweiThis article, Rumor: Google acquiring facial-technology startup, Viewdle , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Sharp 1080p 5-inch display begins mass production Posted: 01 Oct 2012 02:19 PM PDT
Earlier today, Sharp officially announced that they have begun the full-scale production of a new 5-inch 1080p display, featuring an impressive pixel density of 443ppi. Sharp’s latest screen is about 1.3 times denser than their existing 4.3-inch 720p display and is a major record-breaking achievement for the company. Previously, 340PPI was the highest resolution achieved on a smartphone, as seen on devices like the HTC Rezound and Sony Xperia V. The big question is whether or not the 5-inch Sharp 1080p display will be the ticket to Sharp’s recovery from its current fiscal troubles. Although the company continues to innovate, it has also been forced to make tough decisions and cut thousands of jobs thanks to low profit margins and internal struggles. While the quad-core Oppo Find 5 is the only official device to make use of the display so far, rumors claim that HTC is working on a new phone that will also use Sharp’s screen technology . The same rumors suggest that the phone might be part of Google’s official Nexus line. If a Nexus phone does end up using this display, it certainly prove to be a very lucrative move for Sharp. Enough to bring them back to a more stable state? That’s hard to say for sure. The screen will be featured at the CEATEC trade show this week in Japan, where Sharp hopes to attract even more attention to its new high-res smartphone display. Does the idea of an 1080p 5-inch smartphone appeal to you or do you prefer a smaller screen size? Related PostsSharp’s latest Android offerings: tablets and smartphone, Oppo Find 5 to feature 5″ 1080p display, S4 Pro processor and Jelly Bean, New 7-Inch Sharp Galapagos Tablet On Its WayThis article, Sharp 1080p 5-inch display begins mass production , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| iPad mini release date set for early November, following mid-October announcement? Posted: 01 Oct 2012 01:56 PM PDT
In addition to the rumored Nexus-branded device(s) expected to hit stores this holiday season we have one more important mobile device that's said to start selling this fall. Naturally, I'm talking about Apple's unannounced iPad mini, a late arrival at the budget-friendly tablet business, but nevertheless an important player for that niche. Whether you like it or not, the iPad mini will sell like hot cakes, just like its 9.7-inch brethren, and bring some serious competition to a niche where the Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire versions are kings. Just as rumored before the iPhone 5 event, Apple did not announce the smaller tablet during its September presser, intentionally delaying the introduction of a new best-selling device. Now, word on the street via Fortune is that Apple will issue press event invitation for the iPad mini announcement this month. In fact, a sourse says that the press "can expect invitations to go out on October 10:
These details are yet to be confirmed by the company, but we'll certainly know more in the months to come. However, a November 2 launch would give Apple plenty of time to sell a boatload of iPad minis during the Black Friday and Christmas shopping sprees. Japanese blog Macotakara, which has been a rather reliable source of Apple-related intel in the past, says that the new iPad is already in production in Brazil and that it doesn't have any confirmation that production is also underway in China:
We'll be back with more iPad mini details in the future, mainly because it will be an important addition to the tablet ecosystem and a device Google and every other Android tablet maker should pay attention to in the coming months. Related PostsNo related posts. This article, iPad mini release date set for early November, following mid-October announcement? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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