Android Phone Fans |
- AT&T HTC One X Rooted On 2.20 Firmware
- 8GB Nexus 7 No Longer In The Play Store, Possibly Never To Return
- Sh*t Android fans say [VIDEO]
- Was this photo taken with a Sony Odin C6503?
- Best Buy outs LG Spectrum 2 before Verizon does
- Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD Review
- iPad Mini vs Nexus 7
- Artist proves Galaxy Note 2 is as nice as a Wacom tablet and Photoshop [VIDEO]
- USPTO invalidates Apple’s “rubber-band” patent for the moment
- AT&T Galaxy Note 2 coming November 9th for $300
- Android Overload: Faked 5-Inch Sony Odin Pictured In The Wild, Next Version of Google Wallet Coming Soon, and More
| AT&T HTC One X Rooted On 2.20 Firmware Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:26 PM PDT
Oh, happy day, HTC One X users on AT&T. Root has finally been achieved on the device, and the instructions are actually relatively simple. Those of you lusting over all the ROM development brewing for the AT&T One X were no doubt cursing the stars after updating to the latest 2.20 firmware. Aside from the usual bugfixes that typically come with an OTA (over-the-air) update, handset manufacturers usually take the opportunity to patch up root exploits, keeping bootloaders locked up tight (as per the instructions from carriers), and kept custom ROMs out of the question. This is exactly what happened on the latest 2.20 update, but it didn’t last long. Last night, XDA member djrbliss discovered an exploit that, not only allowed him to gain super user permissions on the AT&T One X, but also crack open that prudish bootloader as well. The process involves gaining temporary root, and then using HTC’s own bootloader unlock tool to finally gain permanent root, where you can then flash custom recoveries and/or ROMs. With a Jelly Bean update coming down the pipeline, there’s no telling for how long this root method will work, but tis the cat and mouse game Android modders and the OEM’s play.
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| 8GB Nexus 7 No Longer In The Play Store, Possibly Never To Return Posted: 23 Oct 2012 04:11 PM PDT
If you jumped onto the Play Store today looking to pick up an 8GB version of the tab in time for the holidays, you may have noticed the $200 8GB has been completely sold out, listed as “coming soon.” So what gives? Well, there have been whisperings that Google could have plans to completely phase out the 8GB version of the Nexus 7, in favor of offering the 16GB models for the exact same price. Google’s expected to announce the news on Monday at their Android event in New York, along with a beefier 32GB model carrying the same price point as the 16GB. Are things starting to make a little more sense now? As many early adopters of Google’s flagship 7-inch tablet have found out, the measly 8GB of storage offered in the lowest-end model of the Nexus 7 fills up quick. Throw a couple of Tegra 3 optimized titles on that puppy, and you’ve got only a handful of games that can be stored on the tablet with little to no room for your budding HD kitty video collection. Couple that with the Nexus 7′s lack of memory expandability, and you have yourself a severely handicapped little tablet. With today’s announcement of the iPad Mini, we’re hoping Google has a little more up their sleeves than just storage space if they want to keep a strong competitive edge against Apple’s finest. We’re also expecting a new 3G model for the Nexus 7, as well as a speedy update to the unannounced Android 4.2 (still Jelly Bean) and possibly a 10-inch Nexus 10 tablet. Make sure to stay tuned as Phandroid will be reporting live from the event, bringing you the latest as it goes down.What do you guys hope Google will announce?
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| Posted: 23 Oct 2012 03:22 PM PDT A stampede of “sh*t X people say” videos has been flooding YouTube lately. These are usually spot-on in a very comical way, even though they can be a bit over over-exaggerated. We have seen videos of “sh*t Mexicans say”, “sh*t photographers say” and “sh*t your mom says” (literally). More recently we even saw a “sh*t Apple fans say” video; but as much as we love to make fun of Apple “fanboys”, we can get caught being just as silly sometimes. Seeing the Apple-centric video made me wonder why there are no “sh*t Android fans say” videos. Surely, they would be a hit, right? Well, now we have one! The guys from MobilePhoneFinder have put it together and it is hillarious… and so right. I know I can definitely be quoted on some of these comments – we are sure many of you can be, too! (Don’t even try to hide it!) So sit back, chill out and enjoy the video as we struggle to get past this never-ending war between operating systems! How spot-on are these guys? Have you ever stated these arguments? Sh*t Apple Fans SayAnd if you haven’t seen the “sh*t Apple fanatics say” video, you definitely have to. Get ready, because you are about to have a blast!
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| Was this photo taken with a Sony Odin C6503? Posted: 23 Oct 2012 03:11 PM PDT In a string of “man, this is getting old” news, a shot of the Sony Odin C650X was faked. Everyone reported on it until the Photoshop experts claimed it was, yet again, a hoax. Well, here’s something that might not be fake — a photo that was said to be taken with one Sony C6503. This is one variant of the Odin that may be headed to Asia, and if this EXIF data is to be believed then this is even more proof it exists.
While the photo has since been removed from Picasa (we can’t even find a link to the old listing) the photo was posted to Polish site SmartFan.Pl, and taking it for a spin through several independent EXIF viewers show that it does, in fact, have the same 13 megapixel sensor that the Odin has been rumored to have all along. The camera sensor seems to have a max aperture of 2.0, and this photo was taken with 400 ISO and 1/8 shutter speed. It sounds like a standard affair for Sony’s smartphone sensors so there’s nothing too surprising there. And other than the date the photo was taken — yesterday, if you care — there’s not much else to go on here. It would have been nice to see the capabilities of this sensor in natural daylight situations but we can’t have our cake and eat it, too. And should this even turn out to be real we’re lucky to be able to get our eyes on something — anything — that will reaffirm our faith in its existence. As it stands, though, we’re just scratching the surface of what’s shaping up to be a very impressive offering by Sony. It’s slated to be a 5 inch 1080p superphone that should knock our socks off when it’s unveiled, but who knows how long it’ll take before we’re treated to such a beast. Take a quick gander at the photo above.
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| Best Buy outs LG Spectrum 2 before Verizon does Posted: 23 Oct 2012 01:16 PM PDT
We’ve been waiting on the LG Spectrum 2 for a while. Verizon might have the Optimus Vu dangling in front of those who like phablets but there’s still a market for this particular device. It appears we’re as close to an announcement as we’re going to get as details of the phone have been outed by an unlikely hero. It wasn’t a shadowy tipster or some fairy godmother of smartphone information. Nope, instead it was Best Buy that put what would appear to be the first glimmer of official information we’re going to get ahead of Verizon’s official unveiling. Best Buy’s listing confirms a number of specs, including a 4.7 inch 720p HD display, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, Ice Cream Sandwich, an 8 megapixel HD rear camera with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 4G LTE and more. The retailer even gives us an off-contract price to look forward to — just $650 if you want to walk away without a two-year commitment. Many of you will opt for the two-year deal, but pricing for such a deal would most likely be around that $200 mark if other recent Verizon devices are anything to go by. LG’s Spectrum 2 is yet another device in a long string of them that the OEM hopes will help them reestablish some decent ground in the smartphone market. LG seemed all but ousted from the game following a line of uninspired and unreliable models in 2011, but the advent of the LG Optimus G, LG Optimus Vu, and the Spectrum 2 look to breathe life into its lineup. As for official word from Verizon we wouldn’t be surprised to hear them announce details within the week, though perhaps it being up on Best Buy this early was just a mistake. We’ll just have to wait and see. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
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| Posted: 23 Oct 2012 12:42 PM PDT
Back in February, Huawei surprised us at Mobile World Congress with the unveiling of their MediaPad 10 FHD. It wasn’t the fact that the Chinese company produced a tablet that had us doing a double-take. Rather, it was its unexpected compliment of top-notch hardware and design, including a quad-core CPU developed in-house by Huawei and a 1080p display. Months later, we have jumped at the chance to finally get a closer look at Huawei’s biggest tablet triumph to date, but does it live up to the hype? Read on to find out. HardwareAs we have already mentioned, the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD features a pretty impressive list of specs. But that’s not the first thing you notice about this tablet. The first thing you notice is it’s slim 8.8mm frame and all around solid design. It’s time we stop thinking about Huawei as a maker of budget-friendly devices, because there is nothing apparently cheap about the construction of the MediaPad 10 FHD.
The back of the slate is comprised mostly of a thin metal with a smaller plastic strip housing the 8MP camera and dual-LED flash. The two-tone design of the non-removable back panel is a nice touch. There are stereo speakers here, which serve to reproduce the Dolby 5.1 surround sound technology built into the tablet (Side note: in the above video I had the 8MP camera on the mind when I mistakenly said the device featured an 8mm headphone jack. It’s the standard 3.5mm jack). But enough about speakers and two-tone back panels, that’s hardly the best that the MediaPad 10 has to offer. Power it up and you are greeted with the tab’s 10.1-inch FHD IPS display rated with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, or more than enough to reproduce 1080p quality video and graphics. Powering the slate is a Cortex-A9 quad-core CPU clocked at 1.4GHz. The silicon was developed by Huawei and is the same chipset found within their Ascend D Quad smartphone. Other features include a 1.3MP front-facing camera capable of 720p video capture, an SD card slot, and a non-removable 6600mAh battery. Standard connectivity includes Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, but the tablet is also available with LTE and HSPA+ connectivity. All things considered, the hardware didn’t disappoint. The MediaPad 10 FHD has what it takes to go toe-to-toe with the big boys, the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Transformer Pad Infinity, on paper, and it certainly holds its own in real life trials. SoftwareThe MediaPad 10 FHD ships with Ice Cream Sandwich, and what you get is a barebones Android 4.0.4 device. As such, you get everything you expect from the OS (Holo UI, multi-tasking drawer, Face Unlock, etc.). Combined with the powerful hardware of the tablet, you get a smooth and clean Android experience without the bells and whistles. If you like said bells and whistles with your Android device, you might be a bit disappointed.
There are some minor customizations throughout, mainly visual in nature with some tweaks to icons and the appearance of folders on the homescreens. Huawei also adds in quick toggles for things like WiFi, Bluetooth, and screen brightness directly in the notifications drawer and brings in a full host of custom options for the camera, which we will go into later. You still have access to Google’s full suite of apps as well as their selection of resizable, interactive widgets for things like GMail, books, and photos. On top of this, Huawei has included a few apps of their own like Kingsoft Office and Foxit Reader. Oddly, the application drawer has been replaced with a “+” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. This provides access to widgets but not a master list of applications. Because of this, all downloaded apps must find a place on one of several homescreens (luckily you can add more if need be). Some might find issue that the tablet is launching with a version of Android that can now be considered outdated, if only because Google launched a newer version of their OS less than a year after the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich. We haven’t heard from Huawei if the company plans to update the MediaPad 10 FHD to Jelly Bean, but there is a good chance the tablet will receive the new build in the future. Web Browsing, Games, and MediaThe title of this section mentions several reasons why you might be looking for a tablet, but really they serve as an excuse to talk about the MediaPad 10 FHD’s brilliant display. Surfing the web, playing console-quality games, and viewing HD video and photos is a delight thanks to the high-resolution IPS display featured on the tablet.
The 10.1 inches of screen real estate make rendering desktop versions of websites a breeze and you would be hard pressed to find a tablet that reproduces high-quality media files better than the this one. How about HD YouTube videos? Those look great, as well. Perhaps that’s why it earned the title MediaPad…hmmm. Included with the tablet is RipTide, a jetski racing game that was being demoed on the slate back at MWC. The full-3D graphics are handled with ease by Huawei’s latest slate, but we’re sure this thing could be pushed even further.
With or without the 1080p display, the MediaPad makes a great device for just about anything you throw at it. But with that display it’s all the better. Camera
The title of this section names one reason upon which you probably won’t want to base your tablet buying decision, as the MediaPad 10 FHD is not the tablet to convince us it’s ok to be the fool snapping off photos with a 10.1-inch device. Still, its 8MP sensor is capable of full HD video and does a serviceable job capturing photos, though the results were by no means remarkable.
Photos lacked a certain crispness you might expect from the better phone cameras out there, and colors were muted. We’ll give Huawei credit for adding to the camera experience with several filters and effects to give you a little more bang for your buck, but the novelty fades rather quickly.
Similar parameters are available for video mode, but again they don’t add much lasting value. HD video suffers from similar drawback as still photos. ConclusionThe Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD is a solid tablet that lives up to its name (and spec sheet). Video, games, and web browsing look great on the 1080p display and the quad-core CPU handles all with care. Users looking for the latest and greatest might be disappointed with the tablet’s Ice Cream Sandwich OS, but a lack of Jelly Bean is no reason to snub the MediaPad 10. The tablet makes a great dark horse candidate as an alternative to the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Transformer Pad series.
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| Posted: 23 Oct 2012 12:01 PM PDT Apple has just announced the new iPad Mini, a smaller 7.9-inch iPad priced starting at $329 for the lowest WiFi model. Of course, with a more affordable iPad there is only one question to be answered – will it beat the Android competition? Like all other Apple products there is no doubt this little guy will sell, and probably sell unlike any other iPad to date. It is Apple, after all, and people will go for the brand, but is it really a better deal? Apple is getting very competitive and has decided to compare the iPad Mini to the Nexus 7 in its own keynote announcement, but let’s jump in and see it from an objective point of view.
After selling 100 million iPads since the line’s debut in 2010, the iPad mini walks in sporting a 7.9 inch IPS display with 1024×768 resolution, Apple’s A5 processor, 16-64GB of internal storage, and more. It may not be as affordable as the almighty Nexus 7, but it has its lures. It is very thin and portable at 7.2 mm thick and 308 grams light, and will offer the speed and smoothness from iOS 6. But let’s take a look at more of the main key differences: As you can see from the chart above, the iPad Mini is no bad contender, but it is lacking a few things. An obvious one is NFC. Apple’s known to take the wait and see approach so we weren’t necessarily surprised to see it absent as it was in the iPhone 5. It has the same resolution as the iPad 2 (1024×768), but that is not quite Retina Display. Heck, it’s not even quite HD ala the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7. You’re getting higher pixel density over the iPad 2, of course, but it won’t best the Nexus 7. It also boasts 10 hours of battery life (the Nexus 7 doesn’t do bad at all in this category) and a 5 megapixel iSight HD camera with a front-facing FaceTime camera opposed to the Nexus 7′s 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. Compared to its big brother iPad, which is now in its 4th generation with an HD FaceTime camera and an A6X processor, it doesn’t seem to be much more than a smaller version without as fast of a processor. But Apple’s looking to attack a sector of the market that they feel the Nexus 7 and even Amazon’s Kindle Fire simply won’t be able to match them in. You see, the Apple brand will always be the Apple brand. People will forever be enthralled by its products no matter what you say, and even at a starting price of $500 the iPad has dominated the market. Imagine those folks who’ve always wanted an iPad but the tablet was just too rich for their blood — suddenly things get a little worrisome for Google and Amazon, don’t they?
Paying $329 instead of $500 to be able to say you have an iPad will be huge for many people, and the can of worms Apple’s opened up might just be the hardest outbreak to contain in the tablet space yet. We’re not saying the sky is falling below the point of no return, but Apple will no doubt be able to secure a huge chunk of market share with this device, and it’s going to be much harder for the competition to win it back than it was for smartphones. Did Apple ruin the chances of any OEMs reaching mainstream success in the tablet market or do you think there’s still a chance for the likes of Samsung, Amazon, and Google’s Nexus line to band together and take down the army that has become this coalition of iPads? Be sure to leave a vote in the poll and make your way to the comments section for further healthy discussion! Edgar Cervantes and Christopher Chavez contributed to this article.
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| Artist proves Galaxy Note 2 is as nice as a Wacom tablet and Photoshop [VIDEO] Posted: 23 Oct 2012 09:03 AM PDT Many of us will be perfectly fine drawing out words, formulas, and basic shapes when using the S Pen on the new Samsung Galaxy Note 2. But one artist has set out to remind folks that the Note 2 is more than just a great note-taking tool — it can be a powerful tool to drive your creative juices. Artist Geremy Arene used the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to draw a portrait of a character from Twilight, and he let us sit in on all 2.5 hours of it (though it’s time-lapsed to about 10 minutes, of course). The result is a very detailed portrait that could pass off as something done with a high quality Wacom tablet in the desktop version of Photoshop. Geremy didn’t even use Photoshop for these pieces, though — it was Sketchbook Mobile that gave him the results you see above. We’re not sure if this was for any specific reason, though it’s worthy to note (hehe) that Samsung and Sketchbook have partnered up to provide creative tools on the Note devices, and the app is likely more optimized for the Wacom digitized display and stylus that the Note 2 features. An interesting interview with Geremy took place at Phonandroid. For starters, he says his desire to do digital paintings on these mobile devices has been around for a long time, but limitations have kept him from going with these solutions full time. He determined HTC’s Flyer simply wasn’t ready for what he wanted to do with such a device (and believe you me, it wasn’t), and while the original Galaxy Note was a stark improvement over that the stylus and display still weren’t up to the standards he required.
All of that has been rectified with the Note 2 and Note 10.1, though. The Wacom digitizer embedded in the display technology surely helps, as does the newly-improved S-Pen with its ballpoint-like tip and 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity. Suddenly, hundreds of designers are salivating profusely. While I could never claim such artistic prowess seeing Geremy’s work come to life on a 5.5 inch smartphone excites the bejewels out of me, so I know you designers are doing a double take on this one. Watch the time-lapsed video above, and see pieces from Geremy via the Galaxy Note 2 above and below (and be sure to stay on the lookout for our review of the device in the coming days!)
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| USPTO invalidates Apple’s “rubber-band” patent for the moment Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:18 AM PDT Apple and Samsung have been battling atop the smartphone mountain for a very long time, and it seems Samsung’s light-saber has gotten itself a very nice modification. One of the biggest patents Apple had in its repertoire to gain a victory over Samsung that would see the latter paying over $1 billion in fees and damages is the “rubber-banding” patent. This patent described the function in a smartphone that would make a list “bounce” back when you try and scroll past the end of it. It’s something Samsung has done since the Galaxy S, and it looks like the OEM could end up in the clear in regards to that one. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has tentatively invalidated the patent (which is patent #7,469,381) and it would appear Samsung will make no delay in acting on this news. Specifically, claim 19 was considered to be invalid on two separate counts of prior art.
Apple will need to produce a case for themselves showing that the functions described in the patent weren’t already implemented and in use in other products before the patent was granted. As you’d expect, Samsung has already notified Judge Koh of the USPTO’s decision, and pending a reversal of today’s actions it could have major implications on the final $1 billion ruling Samsung was dreading to pay. In fact, it’s believed that this patent added to the damages more than any other claim Apple made. That’s not to say Samsung’s damages are going to be reduced to mere pocket change should Apple fail to provide the USPTO with proper evidence (and this may not even make much of a difference at all), but we’d have a hard time believing this doesn’t change the landscape of this case a little bit. Be sure to remember that as of the time of this writing this patent does not affect more recent Samsung devices either way. The rubber-banding functionality has been removed from its smartphones in favor of the standard Android “glow” that occurs when you hit the end of a list or page. And even if Samsung would be allowed to implement this feature following a ruling that Apple’s patent is invalid in this case I think I speak for many when I say that the glow effect is much nicer than the often-whacky bouncing, and that Samsung should stick to the former. Proceedings in this particular development are ongoing and we won’t know if Apple can produce substantial evidence to combat this determination before too long, but you better believe we’re keeping an eye on this one so keep it tuned for the latest. [via FoSSPatents, thanks JDog!]
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| AT&T Galaxy Note 2 coming November 9th for $300 Posted: 23 Oct 2012 07:28 AM PDT The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is getting its official coming out party tomorrow, and the Sprint version of the device is slated to land in stores the day after. We’re still waiting on official dates for Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular, but we’re glad to report that AT&T has finally let out some information regarding the launch of its version. AT&T has announced it would be selling the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 starting November 9th, and it will cost you $300 to walk away with the 5.5 inch bundle of joy. It’s tough to swallow considering Sprint users will be able to enjoy the phone almost two weeks early, but it’s better to know the late release than to not know it at all.
Pre-sale opportunities will begin the same day Sprint’s version goes on sale, though, as users can put money down to claim a Galaxy Note 2 of their own starting October 25th. AT&T’s offering won’t differ much from the other carriers or even the international version. As you know, all carriers are getting the quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos chipset, 2GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel HD camera, a 2 megapixel front facing camera, NFC, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz, the beautiful 5.5 inch Super AMOLED HD display, a monstrous 3,100mAh battery and the all-important S Pen. AT&T’s 4G LTE radios will be the only difference compared to all the rest here so you don’t have to worry about getting a “gimped” experience. Unfortunately we’re still not sure which storage configuration AT&T will be offering, but the general feeling is 16GB which will be offset by the advent of the microSD card slot sitting inside. Folks shouldn’t be surprised that it’s coming to the US late, and although AT&T will be late to the party compared to Sprint (and possibly T-Mobile) we’re sure those who really want the Galaxy Note 2 will have no problem waiting two more weeks than their Now Network counterparts. Will any of you be in line (physically or otherwise) for the Note 2 once it launches? Read on for full press details.
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| Posted: 22 Oct 2012 11:06 PM PDT
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