Android Authority |
- Shocker! Nexus 7 3G model no longer in stock on Google Play
- Samsung Galaxy S3 available for Cricket customers on November 23
- Deal: HTC’s Droid DNA goes up for pre-order on Wirefly for $149.99
- Samsung has begun production of 10 nm 64 GB memory chips for mobile devices
- Acer Iconia A500 is the first non-Nexus device to get a (barely) functional Android 4.2 port
- Motorola wants a cut of Microsoft’s Surface profits
- Texas Instruments to fire 1,700 people, OMAP to focus on embedded systems
- Android is wild and uncontrolled, says Steve Ballmer
- Who wears the pants in the Android family, Google or Samsung?
- Free Android 4.2 keyboard with gesture typing now available in the Google Play Store (update: now available for ICS devices)
| Shocker! Nexus 7 3G model no longer in stock on Google Play Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:28 AM PST
Sold out! This is what customers see when they try to purchase the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 from the Play Store. In fact, the two devices have been out of stock pretty much within minutes after they were made available there – except for the 16GB Nexus 10 tablet. If you're hoping to snag the Nexus 7 with mobile data, you can kiss your HSPA+ dream goodbye for now. Like its two Nexus cousins, Google has sold all of its inventory of the 7-inch slate. If you're feeling lucky, you can try to refresh the page every now and then. But then again, Google did say it will only replenish the stock of the Nexus devices "in the coming weeks". Did anyone manage to order the Nexus 7 3G yesterday? Are you hopeful that it'll become available again on Google Play soon? Related Posts |
| Samsung Galaxy S3 available for Cricket customers on November 23 Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:21 AM PST
This holiday season Cricket Communication is giving you another reason to celebrate. In an official announcement, Cricket has confirmed the launch of its second 4G LTE smart phone, the Samsung Galaxy S3. We all know about the cool features of the S3, which is quite contrasting from Cricket's first 4G device, the LG Optimus Regard. The popular S3 will be available for $549.99 outright, and with monthly plans starting from $50 from November 23. The more exciting part is that it is available on Cricket's new 4G LTE Android Double Data service plans for a limited time, that will offer double the data allowance the company usually offers in Cricket's 3G plans. The plans will be in the denominations of $50, $60 and $70 per month. The $50 4G LTE plan gets you a juicy 2GB of full-speed data, the $60 plan offers 5GB of full-speed data, while the $70 plan gets the customers 10GB of full-speed data. Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3 model has been available for quite some time on other carriers, but now is a great chance to own the device for Cricket's customers. Be ready to get your S3 on November 23! Cricket Brings the Popular 4G Samsung Galaxy S III to its Growing Line-Up of High-Quality & Affordable Smartphones~ Samsung’s Best-Selling and Ultra-Advanced Smartphone Arrives in Time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday Gift Shopping~~ Designed for Video and Intelligent Multitasking with 4.8 inch Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz Dual Core Processor and 16GB Memory
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Cricket Communications, Inc. today announced the availability of its second 4G LTE smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S® III (R530). Cricket’s Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone with its brilliant 4.8 inch display, and no contract, unlimited data, talk and text plans from $50 per month would make a stunning gift for the holidays. Find yours at Cricket company-owned stores, dealers and atwww.mycricket.com by November 23, 2012 for $549.99 (MSRP). (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120202/LA46949LOGO) “The Samsung Galaxy S III is a revolutionary 4G LTE smartphone and will be available at Cricket in time for the holidays,” said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president of devices for Cricket. “As we continue to expand our 4G LTE network, the Galaxy S III excels in both our 4G and 3G LTE markets. We are very proud to offer our customers the highest level of wireless technology on one of the coolest devices in the market today.” The Galaxy S III comes with a brilliant 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED™ touch-screen, 1.5 GHz dual core processor, and runs on Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system. With a 2100 mAh Li-Ion battery and picture-in-picture technology, it has enough power to watch video and check email at the same time. Added functionality like S Voice™ technology makes using the device easier, simply raise the phone to your ear and dictate your request. Capture every moment without shutter lag and enjoy 8 megapixel photo clarity with added LED flash camera/camcorder and a 1.9 megapixel HD front facing camera. The Samsung Galaxy S III is available on Cricket’s new 4G LTE Android Double Data service plans that offer, for a limited time, double the monthly full speed data allowance offered in Cricket’s 3G rate plans. The $50 4G LTE Android Double Data Rate Plan allows 2GB of full-speed data; the $60 plan allows 5GB of full-speed data and the $70 plan offers 10GB of full-speed data. The introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S III follows the company’s announcement today that 4G LTE service is now available in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Laredo, Corpus Christi and the Brownsville-McAllen-Harlingen market, Texas in addition to existing 4G LTE service in Las Vegas and Tucson. The company’s LTE service now covers approximately 21 million potential customers. About Cricket For more information about Cricket’s dynamic service and newest device lineup and to check for availability, visit www.mycricket.com. To follow Cricket’s latest news and updates online, visit Facebook atwww.facebook.com/cricketwireless and Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cricketnation. Samsung, Galaxy S, AMOLED and S-Voice are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Other company names, product names and marks mentioned herein are property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks. SOURCE Cricket Communications, Inc. For further information: Greg Lund, Media Relations, +1-858-882-9238, glund@cricketcommunications.com Related Posts |
| Deal: HTC’s Droid DNA goes up for pre-order on Wirefly for $149.99 Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:01 AM PST
The HTC Droid DNA is more than just a smartphone that boasts an impressive 5-inch Full HD Super LCD 3 display with 440ppi, but it also represents HTC's hope and determination to get back in the smartphone game. If you like what you see of the Droid DNA and are more than happy to help HTC climb its way back up, here's a deal from Wirefly that you don't want to miss out.
There's a special promotion for the Verizon-bound Droid DNA on Wirefly, where you can pre-order the monstrous phone for $149.99. That's a $50 saving from what Big Red is charging for the super phone. In addition to the discount, Wirefly will also waive the shipping cost. The retailer said that the DNA will be shipped out on November 20. In case you missed the announcement, Verizon will start selling the HTC Droid DNA in its brick-and-mortar stores on November 21. The 1080p display isn't the only thing that makes the Droid DNA worth lusting over, as it also packs a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB onboard storage, 8MP main camera, 2.1MP front-facing camera, WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, 4G LTE, 2,020mAh battery, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Related Posts |
| Samsung has begun production of 10 nm 64 GB memory chips for mobile devices Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:45 AM PST
Samsung Semiconductor, the part of the company that makes the various bits and bobs that are essential to making your smartphone actually work, has just announced that they’ve begun producing 10 nanometer 64 GB storage chips. They’re insanely fast, capable of hitting 260 megabytes per second read speeds and 50 megabytes per second write speeds. Best of all, since these chips use ultra tiny 10 nanometer transistors, they’re 20% smaller than chips from the previous generation. Now for the important question: When are these chips going to end up in a smartphone sitting on a shelf at your local electronics store? That wasn’t specified, but considering these things started rolling off the factory lines “late last month”, it’s likely going to take at least a quarter or two until they get put into a retail device. Best case scenario, the Samsung Galaxy S IV will use this stuff. Worst case scenario, it’ll be in the Galaxy Note III. This is all speculation by the way. What about sizes smaller than 64 GB? Don’t worry, Samsung’s got your back. Smartphones and tablets typically stack memory chips on top of each other in order to save space on the motherboard. The smallest 10 nanometer part Samsung is producing can hold 64 gigabits, which is 8 gigabytes. Considering how many people were disappointed by the fact that the Nexus 4 shipped with only 8 GB or 16 GB of storage, there’s a strong possibility that the Nexus of 2013 will come in 16 GB and 32 GB varieties. Why do we even need on-board storage to be this fast? Because no one likes to wait during file transfers. That and what happens when every high end smartphone ships with a 1080p screens? All the elements that a developer uses to make their app is going to have to be high resolution, which means more storage is going to be needed, and said storage has to be lightening quick, because again, no one likes lag. Related Posts |
| Acer Iconia A500 is the first non-Nexus device to get a (barely) functional Android 4.2 port Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:43 AM PST
Itching for some fresh Android 4.2 butter now that the newest OS version has been pushed to the Android Open Source Project? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but unless you're an owner of a Nexus device, there's probably nothing on the horizon for you before the holidays. That is nothing official, because unofficially Android 4.2 ports are expected to be coming in flocks over the next weeks or so. As a matter of fact, the first 4.2-based custom ROM is already up for grabs via the XDA forum, and, while it's far from fully functional, it's definitely a promising start. After being the first to port Android 4.1 to a non-Nexus tablet back in July, recognized developer RandomBlame has done it again, making 4.2 available to his dear old Acer Iconia Tab A500. As he himself clearly states, if this "breaks your tablet or your lose precious family photos don't blame me, you were warned". Now we definitely wouldn't recommend flashing this ROM unless you feel like your Iconia A500 needs to be punished for something, but you know what they say – baby steps. And for a baby step, this is actually a pretty confident one, as Wi-Fi is reported to be working, as well as external SD cards, navbar, and the multi users feature. The audio, camera and Bluetooth are all messed up, but if it’s one thing we trust on this world, that’s RandomBlame’s commitment to make his ports fully functional in due time. He’s the man, so be sure to check out his latest forum thread even if you’re not going to install the ROM and maybe even throw him a bone or two. Related Posts |
| Motorola wants a cut of Microsoft’s Surface profits Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:22 AM PST
Today, in the opening salvo of Motorola’s suit against Microsoft, the phone maker’s lawyers brought up the Microsoft Surface and claimed that the device's Wi-Fi technology infringes Motorola’s patents. Naturally, Moto want’s a cut from the profit. This comes just a few days after HTC agreed to pay Apple licensing fees for the patents they infringed on, while Samsung rejected negotiations outright. Interestingly enough, Motorola's legal battle over patent licensing originally had nothing to do with the Microsoft Surface and all to do with Windows OS and the Xbox 360. Now, after the release of the new Surface tablet, Motorola has moved its sights onto it. How much exactly does Motorola feel is fair? Well, according to their lawyers, 2.25% of the profit is reasonable.
The patent that Motorola is using as grounds for this request is an invention related to the Wi-Fi 802.11 standards, which is essentially the only communication option available to the Surface, since neither an Ethernet port nor a cellular connection are available on it. Motorola’s claims came with the following reason:
Motorola is eager to point out that the Surface would be useless without its patents. Microsoft, if it does end up losing this battle, might have to pay Motorola (ok, Google), somewhere around 4 billion a year — according to the Microsoft estimate. With that said, Motorola does seem to have proper grounds for its request, but it will not get to profit from it until it convinces a judge to sees things the way it does. Related Posts |
| Texas Instruments to fire 1,700 people, OMAP to focus on embedded systems Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:55 AM PST
Texas Instruments, makers of the famous OMAP line of processors, have been saying for a while now that they’re tired of keeping up with the big boys of the mobile industry. It used to be they could design a chip that would then be used in various products for several years. These days, it’s expected that companies launch a new device every 12 months, and that said device uses a chip that’s more advanced than the one in last year’s model. Today’s news shouldn’t come as a surprise then, TI is announcing that they’re going to let 1,700 people go. What’s going to happen to OMAP? It’s going to be rejiggered for what’s known as the embedded market. Think cars, networking equipment, point of sale systems, and other such products where it’s more important to have a bulletproof chip that’s well supported versus something that’s just the latest flavor of the month. Is this a huge loss? Not really. As we pointed out yesterday, Qualcomm recently overtook Intel in terms of market capitalization, which means the Snapdragon product family is doing outstanding. Then there’s Samsung, who shipped 4 out of every 10 Android smartphones in Q3 2012. The higher end devices use the company’s own Exynos chips, while the lower end models rely on solutions from Broadcom. Back to Intel for a second, that’s the company you should really be watching out for in 2013 and beyond. After years and years of empty promises, they finally managed to make a chip that could fit inside a smartphone: the Motorola RAZR i. It’s fast, it has excellent battery life, it’s almost perfect, save for the fact that it doesn’t have 4G LTE. Intel will fix that next year. And as for NVIDIA … we’re eagerly anticipating “Grey”, their processor that comes with an integrated cellular radio. We just can’t take them seriously until that part starts shipping. Related Posts |
| Android is wild and uncontrolled, says Steve Ballmer Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:50 AM PST  (Photo credit: AP Images) If Steve Jobs was known for his reality distortion field and cool, calculated manner of presenting, Steve Ballmer is the polar opposite. Microsoft’s CEO is known for his energy and enthusiasm. Sure, this is probably what the company needs in order to push its Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platform forward. Chair-throwing incidents aside, Ballmer’s “woo hoo” moments may just help rally Microsoft’s troops forward in the ever-evolving battle for dominance in the mobile industry. In an interview with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman at a “tech influencers and innovators” event, Ballmer was at his usual self, acting as Microsoft’s chief cheerleader, and boasting about how great and different the latest Windows platform is. At one point, he described the platform in words that may have been borrowed from another popular brand (we’re looking at you, Apple). “Wow! It just works!” Steve lauds the Surface user interface, which he describes as “different,” although he says current sales were modest, at best. Excitement aside, one of the highlights in this interview was how the Microsoft CEO had described the company’s two biggest competitors at this point, which are actually the dominant platforms in the mobile industry today. He says Android was “wild” and “uncontrolled,” particularly due to its fragmentation and malware problems. “The ecosystem for Android is a little bit wild,” Ballmer notes, with reference to app incompatibilities across handsets and Android versions. Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS is “high priced” and too “highly controlled.” Ballmer also went on to make a stab at Apple, particularly with the latest criticism against the new iOS Maps app. In his critique of Android and iOS, Ballmer thinks Microsoft can find the right middle-ground between control and freedom in the company’s latest platforms: Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Surface. He highlights that Microsoft is working closely with developers and partners, something that he thinks Apple and Google are lacking at this point. What may be interesting at this point is that the Microsoft CEO might have hinted that Microsoft may be developing its own smartphone hardware. Ballmer says Microsoft wants to take better control of hardware creation. “If we see an opportunity in the software/hardware seam, we're going to take it.” As for the statements on Android, do you agree that the platform is “wild” and “uncontrolled?” Has Android’s success in the market been marred with the side-effect that is fragmentation and the rise of malware? Related Posts |
| Who wears the pants in the Android family, Google or Samsung? Posted: 14 Nov 2012 11:51 PM PST
We all tend to forget that Android is nothing more than just another mobile operating system. Is there something special about the OS that has propelled it to the pole position that it now enjoys? IDC says 75% of all the smartphones shipped during the third quarter of this year were powered by Android. That number isn’t an accident. Horace Dediu, an analyst who is known for keeping his eye on not only Apple, but the mobile industry in general, made a keen observation yesterday.  He said that in Q1 2010, when Samsung started taking Android seriously and launched the first generation Galaxy S, just 3% of the mobile phones they sold during the quarter were smartphones. Today that number is 54%. In terms of actual units, IDC estimates that Samsung shipped 56.3 million smartphones in the latest quarter. Assuming that number is accurate, and assuming they’re also correct with their figure of 136 million Android smartphones being sold in Q3, that means Samsung made 4 out of every 10 handsets powered by Google’s software during the quarter. Dediu focuses on Samsung because along with being the dominant Android handset maker, they’re also the only company in the mobile industry, other than Apple, that’s making serious money. HTC’s margins are barely break even, and everyone else is bleeding. So again, why is this the case? There are many theories, but here’s what we believe: Samsung is in the unique position of manufacturing many of the components that they use in their consumer facing products. Yes, Samsung sells their components to other handset makers, but the bulk of what they output goes into their devices. The only other company that can claim to be even remotely in the same situation, in terms of controlling their own supply chain, is LG. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but without Samsung backing Android, something you could say they did by sheer accident, we’re pretty sure that the OS wouldn’t be where it is today. And that brings up a really important question: Who controls Android’s destiny? Is it Google or is it Samsung? Related Posts |
| Posted: 14 Nov 2012 08:30 PM PST
Google Play Store developer Honso has released the Android 4.2 keyboard for people to try out. This includes the awesome gesture typing we’ve all heard so much about. Unfortunately, there are some issues with it. For instance, it only comes in English. Perhaps even worse is that it is only compatible with devices running Android 4.1 right now. Honso says that there is an effort to back port the Android 4.2 keyboard to at least Gingerbread. Issues aside, the keyboard works as intended. Even down to seeing the word being swiped as you’re swiping it. So for anyone who wants to give the latest Android 4.2 keyboard a shot, now is your chance. You can download it at the Google Play Store for free right now. Has anyone given it a shot yet? 11/15/2012 Related Posts |
The legal battle between Microsoft and Motorola just had some gasoline added to it after Motorola requested Microsoft give them a share of their new Surface’s profits.
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