Android Authority |
- Verizon may launch the Galaxy Note 2 only on November 29
- Jelly Bean update arriving on HTC One X in Singapore and Taiwan, HTC One S is next
- 7 sizzling new Android apps of the week (October 26 issue)
- 32GB Google Nexus 7 $269 from Best Buy in Canada
- Android Authority On Air – Episode 35 – Who wants an iPad Mini? (Not us.)
- Original Galaxy Note is the best f*king phone in the universe and a steal at $600 Bell-locked
- LG Nexus 4 lost and found in a bar way back in September [video]
- Xbox SmartGlass for Android available for download in Google Play, ready to control your Xbox 360 consoles
- Dead Trigger’s Halloween update is here, with a bundle of new features
- AutomateIt: Automating actions according to rules and triggers
| Verizon may launch the Galaxy Note 2 only on November 29 Posted: 27 Oct 2012 02:14 AM PDT
While you can already pre-order the Galaxy Note 2 on Verizon right now, with an expected delivery date of November 27, the carrier has been pretty slow in revealing when it's going to launch the device. A leaked internal document now reveals what we've pretty much come to expect. According to the screenshot, as posted on Droid-Life, Verizon will only be stocking the Galaxy Note 2 (Titanium Grey and Marble White) on its stores on November 29, which makes Big Red the last major carrier in the States to officially launch the Note 2.
Sprint and T-Mobile are already selling the Note 2 online and in their brick-and-mortar stores, while AT&T is expected to follow suit on November 9. Would it be right to assume that Verizon needs those extra days so that it can ruin the device's home button with its logo? If you can't wait for a month to get the Galaxy Note 2 and its S Pen, and are toying with the idea of scoring it elsewhere, you may want to check out our Note 2′s availability roundup post from a few days back. What's it going to be — stay with Verizon and bear the long wait or jump ship to another carrier? Related Posts |
| Jelly Bean update arriving on HTC One X in Singapore and Taiwan, HTC One S is next Posted: 27 Oct 2012 02:06 AM PDT
HTC has said early in the month that it'll start serving Jelly Bean and the new HTC Sense 4+ to the One X and One S in October. With only a few days left in the calendar, it seems the phone maker has succeeded in meeting its target. For folks who are in Singapore and Taiwan, chances are you'll be getting a bundle of Jelly Bean surprise from HTC soon, as the Android 4.1 update has reportedly hit the handset on said countries. Given the nature of such software upgrade, it may take a few days for the roll out to be completed, so don't be alarmed if you don't get the over-the-air notification to download and install the new firmware right away. The update should also be heading to more countries in the region in the coming days. As for the HTC One S, HTC North Asia General Manager Jack Tong said that the Jelly Bean update for the phone isn't that far behind. While he didn't mention a specific date, one hopes that it'll arrive before the end of the month as well. So, did you get the Android 4.1 update yet on your One X? Share your excitement with the rest of our readers in the comments below. Related Posts |
| 7 sizzling new Android apps of the week (October 26 issue) Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:00 PM PDT
You just have to love app developers. They’re always hard at work breathing life to their ideas, getting them out of their heads, and onto our mobile devices. Thanks to these little idea seeds, our lives are much easier. We don’t need to waste time waffling over getting this or that, or tossing and turning all night in bed, waiting for sleep to claim us. Apps also let us get ahead of our business competitors and keep us reminded of the things we need to do. This week, we took a look at the menu in the Google Play Store kitchen and handpicked seven of the most interesting, most useful, or most promising new Android apps fresh out of the oven. Go ahead, celebrate the end of the week by trying these new Android apps. Random Service Having trouble deciding which movie to watch this weekend or which food to eat? Use DreamDroid’s Random Service app and make a choice instantly. No need to flip a coin to make a decision. Just input all your choices into the app and it will automatically decide for you. You can place the titles of tonight’s movies, the choices of food you want to eat, or even the names of people you want to hang out with. No need to waste time deciding; this app can choose for you. Get the ads-free Random Service app for free from the Google Play Store. The Sleep Machine Having a good night sleep is very important to help your body prepare for the next day. But, due to certain factors, you may find it hard to get some rest. Thankfully, you can use The Sleep Machine app to help your body get the rest that it needs. Developed by WeGotAnAmp, The Sleep Machine helps you sleep by playing relaxing tunes. The app offers natural sound effects such as the hypnotic sound falling rain, the relaxing sound of ocean waves, and the soothing crackle of a bonfire. Use this app together with your device’s headset for optimal effects. Get to sleep easily with the ads-free The Sleep Machine app for free from the Google Play Store. Perch Apps can do just about anything, including monitoring your business’s competition. Developed by Closely, Inc., Perch gives you a personalized stream of social media and promotion activity for businesses in your area. You can get a list of businesses nearby, thanks to Foursquare, and pick the businesses that you want to monitor. See how other businesses are engaging their social network followers and what kind of promotions and daily deals theyhave in store for their customers. Perch offers small business owners, or those who want to stay at the top, a great way to keep a bird’s eye view of their competition. Tracks Thanks to the Internet, you don’t need to wait for your pictures to be developed so that you can share them. Tracks, developed by Tracks Media Inc., is another way for you to enjoy videos and pictures with friends without having to be limited to Facebook. Make a Track for an event, such as a friend’s birthday party or a wedding, or for something you’re interested in, like the beach or the clouds. Friends can either join your tracks or you can invite them yourself. Simply tap on a track and take a picture that you want to show to those who have access to the track. Simply sign into Tracks with your Facebook account to get started. You can also sign up for a Tracks account if you’d rather not use your Facebook account. If you’ve signed in using Facebook, Tracks will intelligently pull images from your albums so you can view them easily on Tracks. ReNotify We’ve all had that moment where we stand awkwardly in the middle of street, trying to find the note we made using our Android devices. Wouldn’t it be neat if we could access and make notes with the use of the notification bar? Developed by Liam Lang, ReNotify has a simple cause — to set notifications and notes lightning fast while you’re on the go. Make a note and have it stay on your notification bar until you take notice of it. You can choose to have fixed notifications, a very handy option for chronic forgetters. ReNotify can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. Color Grab How does teal really look? Is it a lighter shade of blue or green? How about fuschia? These questions may not be asked on a daily basis but when these do pop into your head, what do you do? Thankfully, an app can help you in that department. Just point your camera at a color and Color Grab will detect it. This app is especially useful for graphic designers and people who have a bit of difficulty recognizing colors. Pointing your device’s camera at a color will instantly let the app recognize the hue, no need to press the shutter button. Color Grab by Loomatix is a free app you can download from the Google Play Store. LED Flashlight Pro X With Halloween just around the corner, equipping yourself with handy tools will definitely keep you safe while you go around the neighborhood. Developed by Xffect.com, LED Flashlight Pro X packs a very powerful and bright light for all your lighting needs. Need to go to the bathroom without blindly feeling the wall for the light switch? Use your Android device and launch this app instead. You can also let your kids download this app to their phones so they can use it when they go trick or treating, complete with a Halloween theme, a surefire way to get them and yourself in the mood for some spooks and ghouls. In exchange for nada, you can download and install LED Flashlight Pro X to your Android device. Did any of these freshly cooked Android apps make it to your Android device this week? Which ones? What do you think of the new apps featured on our list? Tell us which ones you liked by voting in the poll below. Stay tuned for next week’s new Android apps. (with contributions from Alvin Ybañez and Dan Evans; banner image uses Shutterstock photo “Danger cooking” by 2happy) Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.Related Posts |
| 32GB Google Nexus 7 $269 from Best Buy in Canada Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:35 PM PDT
The 32GB Google Nexus 7 has drummed up interest from tablet buyers who think 16GB is not enough for their storage needs. But even before any official announcement, rumors and leaks of the pricing have sprung up, such as the $249.99 pricing from Office Depot, which was quickly pulled out. This time, it looks like the 32GB variant has landed on some retail stores, and some lucky buyers already have their hands on the tablet for $269. A 9to5Google reader sent in a few photos of his receipts and serial number stickers clearly indicating a price of CAD 269 for a 32GB Google Nexus 7 by ASUS, bought from Best Buy. Now since this is in Canada, that’s 269 in Canadian dollars, which is equivalent to about 269.30 in US greenbacks.
To confirm the model variant, the product label has several references to the storage capacity, being “1B32″ instead of “1B16″ for the 16GB variant or “1B8″ for the 8 gig one. Given this pricing, we might expect the same price levels once Google officially launches it on Google Play in the coming week. Is anyone excited for the 32GB Google Nexus 7? Or do you think Google has something more interesting in store for us come October 29th? Related Posts |
| Android Authority On Air – Episode 35 – Who wants an iPad Mini? (Not us.) Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:07 PM PDT
This week in Android news, most Android fans tossed their Nexus 7′s in the dumpster for the iPad Mini due to its’ revolutionary ideas and bar settings specs. And then we woke up from that horrible, pathetic nightmare. We tried to not make this weeks show a hatin’ on the iPad Mini show as much as possible, but at some points, it just couldn’t happen. The iPad Mini is a complete failure…that will sell millions due to brilliant marketing. On the show this week, we go over why the iPad Mini is a “me too” device and nothing more. For those interested in numbers and specs, we also compared the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7 to Apple’s GPS absent, 1024×768 resolution, over priced failure. (Am I being too hard?) Besides busting on Apple, we covered a tidal wave of Nexus rumors. These devices are going to be announced in just a few days. The Nexus 4, 32GB Nexus 7, 3G Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10 are all pretty much done deals at this point. We’ve seen them leaked all over the place from pictures to manuals to retail stores to actually being able to buy or pre-order some of them right now. Since we love to geek out with Android, this week we had a nice geek out session comparing the specs of the Nexus 4 to the Galaxy Nexus. Let it be known now, the Nexus 4 from LG is going to be a beast, a complete powerhouse of a device that everyone is going to want. This week in patent wars, various judges and counties around the world flip flopped on cases between Samsung and Apple. In the UK, Apple released their public apology which basically said Samsung didn’t copy us because they aren’t as cool as we are, but in the US, they were found guilty anyways. Miss the show? Tune in or watch below: YouTube Related Posts |
| Original Galaxy Note is the best f*king phone in the universe and a steal at $600 Bell-locked Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:35 PM PDT Not everyone can afford to buy brand new Android devices, which explains why there are so many Android smartphones and tablets out there, from high-end all the way down to entry-level. But then again there are some people that can afford to keep changing devices and play with the latest tech available – which in the Android universe can be a very expensive habit. Of course, if you sell the old That's what one such Canadian did with a Bell Galaxy Note ad posted on Craigslist. If you didn't know better, you'd think that the original Galaxy Note is the best f*king phone in the universe and that, at $600, it's definitely a very good deal to take advantage of. The full ad is available below, and we're definitely interested to hear whether the person managed to sell his beloved "buffet of awesome." Sadly, the ad was flagged and pulled from Craigslist, so he'll have to find other creative ways to sell the very old (in Android years) phablet.
Related Posts |
| LG Nexus 4 lost and found in a bar way back in September [video] Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:08 PM PDT
Stop me if you've heard this before – and yes, I know I have recently started an article with the exact same opening – but a giant corporation's employee supposed to test new devices in the wild, who clearly doesn't hold his liquor, recently forgot a high-end unreleased smartphone in a bar. This time it's not Apple, whose iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S prototypes were lost in bars in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Of the two, the iPhone 4 has been leaked to the public a couple of months ahead of its launch by the folks at Gizmodo after having purchased it from the finder. This time it's Google and the LG Nexus 4. Just like with the iPhone 4, we also know everything there is to know about the LG Nexus 4 ahead of its announcement, but unlike in the iPhone 4 case, the LG Nexus 4 unit that was left in a bar is not the source of all the leaks. Wired reports that the LG Nexus 4 was found at the 500 Club in San Francisco's Mission District at some point in late September by a bar keep "after a slow Tuesday." Jamin Barton realized this is not your average Android phone when he saw the Google logo on the back of the device and a "not for sale" sticker.
A regular customer told Barton this is the Nexus 4, a yet-to-be-released Google handset, and the same person called Google to tell them what has happened. And apparently Google was pretty pissed off about the whole incident:
Google sent Brian Katz, global investigations and intelligence manager at Google to retrieve the lost device on the night of September 20, and he retrieved it at around 1AM that night from a lawyer acquaintance of Barton. Katz even offered a free phone to Barton with a likely retail value of $300, if he kept quiet about the incident until after Google unveiled it.
But Barton sold his story to Wired, which published it just hours ago, right alongside pictures of the unreleased handset that were taken when the device was found. In fact, looking at one of the photos Barton took, we can clearly see that this LG Nexus 4 was running a Jelly Bean version at the time of the incident. At least that's what that lock screen seems to suggests, given that it's so similar with the Nexus 7's lock screen. However, it's worth mentioning (again) that this isn't the phone we've seen in crystal clear photos posted all over that Byelorussian site that got early access to it – and even posted a pre-release review of the handset. One of the main conclusions of this story is that Google was very desperate and pissed off to have lost a phone like that. Which means it’s even more upset to see all the LG Nexus 4 that hit the web in the weeks following the incident – it’ll certainly be interesting to see whether the company will mention any of the leaks, or even this incident, during the October 29 event.
Of course, the other more important take away is that if you're in charge of testing unreleased handsets in the wild, you may want to stay out of bars, or if you go there, at least learn how and what to drink to make sure such things don't happen. On a lighter side we can't but note that, coincidentally, the first high-end Apple and Google devices that were forgotten in bars were the fourth-generation iPhone and Nexus. Are we looking at a curse here? And since the fifth-generation iPhone was also lost in a bar, will the same thing happen with next year's Nexus? Related Posts |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:29 PM PDT
We talked about Microsoft's Xbox SmartGlass app quite a few times since being made official way back in June. While the app is already pre-loaded on Microsoft Surface tablets, and will be available on various other Windows 8/RT machines, the company will not restrict SmartGlass access to its Windows ecosystem. Microsoft will support other platforms as well, Android included, and today we have some good news for all Android device owners that also happen to own Xbox 360 console. The Xbox SmartGlass app for Android phones is now available as a free download – a lot earlier that previously rumored – and you can get it right ahead. Unfortunately, the app is only available for Android smartphones that run Ice Cream Sandwich or higher. Once installed on the device, the app will let users interact with their Xbox 360 console straight from the handset, with Microsoft expected to add more and more features to this app. Meanwhile, here's what Xbox SmartGlass will help you do:
Have you installed it already? Related Posts |
| Dead Trigger’s Halloween update is here, with a bundle of new features Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:05 PM PDT
Earlier this week, Madfinger Games hinted at a Halloween update for its hit game Dead Trigger. Today, the people behind Dead Trigger have released the update, which is available to download from the Play Store. Not only does the update include visual updates, such as pumpkins for heads on several zombies, but it comes with other additions too. For example, players can now wield a crossbow for 99 in-game “gold” – you have to complete offers to obtain the virtual currency. Moreover, the update includes a new arena, Haunted Graveyard, “the scariest place in the City,” a spooky addition to Madfinger’s take on the festive season. Other changes include the mini gun, which also comes at a reduced price, while the AlienGun effect has been improved for lower-end devices, meaning higher frames-per-second. The game can be downloaded for free right now on the Play Store, version 1.6.0, but be sure to have a stable WiFi connection before attempting to get it, as the file comes in on average at a hefty 154mb. Dead Trigger should be compatible with all Android devices running 2.1 or higher. Check out the promo above! Related Posts |
| AutomateIt: Automating actions according to rules and triggers Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT
Most of us depend on our smartphones for many of our day-to-day activities. We depend on our smartphones to wake us up or remind us of our tasks. We set them to silent mode when in a meeting or watching a movie. When boarding an airplane, we change them to flight-mode as instructed. Our smartphones are like assistants in all that we do. Wouldn’t it be nice if our smartphones could remind us, send messages, turn on/off, or even change profiles and settings automatically? Won’t it be nice to be able to program your phone to do something at a set time so you can go on with what you’re doing? AutomateIt!, an app developed by SmarterApps Ltd, can automatically do things for you without your having to remember them again. If you need to send a message to a person at a certain time, no worries — this app will send it for you. Change your phone mode to flight-mode before you board a plane, no problem — this app will change it for you. Through very easy steps in AutomateIt!, you can program or trigger your device any time. You just need to create a “rule” for your device to make it happen. The easy steps are Trigger, Action, Rule then Save — yes, that easy! You can make a trigger like Airplane Mode, Battery Level, Call, or even Send SMS for particular times. You don’t have to worry about remembering what you need to do because AutomateIt will do it for you. The app will carry out an action or task when you want it to. You just need to create a rule, and you’re all set. You device will remind you automatically or do it for you at the time you set. The app supports many triggers, including the following:
The app can perform many actions, including the following
Essentially this app is an automated assistant. We went through all the features of the app and it seems very fast and easy to use. Basically, you can setup unlimited rules for your device. AutomateIt also has a pro, ad-free version which allows advanced features such as composite triggers, composite actions, additional triggers, and additional actions. AutomateIt also has a “Rules Market” through which you can acquire preset rules from other app users, or share your own rules to the rest of the community. Make your Android device do your bidding. With AutomateIt!, set rules for it to follow, and it will surely make your life smoother and easier. Related Posts |
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