Android Authority |
- Motorola pushes out new software update for Photon Q 4G LTE
- Deal alert: RadioShack has the 32 GB Nexus 7 available for $229 for limited time only
- Sony aims to ship 50 million smartphones in 2013, 40% to be built by someone else
- Will it blend, 7-inch tablet edition: iPad mini vs Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire HD
- Lost Apple orders force Samsung to question building another fab
- iPhone users consume more data than Android users, but there are exceptions
- T-Mobile Nexus 7 release date and pricing spotted in leaked documents
- Kmart offering $40 Android tablet on Black Friday 2012
- Half-priced Angry Birds games available from Amazon before Star Wars version launch
- Another HTC Droid DNA image render surfaces
| Motorola pushes out new software update for Photon Q 4G LTE Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:22 AM PST
Jelly, is that you? Sorry, the latest update heading to Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE on Sprint isn't the bump up to Android 4.1 that you may have expected. But let's not pass up the opportunity to make the slider handset runs better. What's new then? According to the changelog, software update version 77.8.10.XT897 for the Photon Q 4G LTE will bring the following enhancements:
The update isn't that big and is only about 50 MB in file size. You should be getting a notification on your Photon Q 4G LTE to download and install the file. If not, you can check manually on the phone's "System updates" menu. As for Android 4.1, Motorola hasn't provided a timeline on when the QWERTY phone will be upgraded to the latest OS. Speaking of this non-Jelly Bean update, have you received the update notification yet on your phone?
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| Deal alert: RadioShack has the 32 GB Nexus 7 available for $229 for limited time only Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:14 AM PST
The (virtual) ink might have barely dried out on Google's announcement of a 32 GB Nexus 7, but you can already get the refreshed tab for $20 less than its initial price. If you've therefore still not jumped on the Nexus 7 bandwagon, you no longer have an excuse to keep avoiding one of the world's cheapest Android-based tablets. To take advantage of the deal and get your own 32 GB 7-incher for just $229, you'll have to visit RadioShack's online store. You'll first still see the tab available for $249, but if you add it to the cart, proceed to checkout and apply the "RMN20" promotional code, you'll get the 20 bucks off. This is a limited time only deal, but we don't know exactly when it'll end, so you'd better hurry and get it while it's hot.
You can also use the discount code for other RadioShack orders of more than $125, but certain conditions and restrictions apply. Brick and mortar stores are for example excluded from the promotion, while a bunch of online available products will also deny you the discount, including refurbished devices, certain computers, tablets, netbooks, mobile phones and gaming hardware. Unfortunately, the 16 GB Nexus 7 is not up for grabs from RadioShack, so you can't take advantage of the promotional code to get that bad boy's price down to $179. As for the 32 GB model, that should leave the retailer's warehouse in one or two days if you order it now, so you'll have it on your hands in no time. RadioShack is also throwing in free shipping and handling, so you really have nothing to object to this deal. Especially with the official Android 4.2 upgrade looming and the rest of the tech specs still being as solid as one would expect from such a dirt-cheap gadget. Any takers? Or would you rather wait for the 32 GB Nexus 7 with 3G connectivity? Don’t forget, that will set you back 300 bucks… Related Posts |
| Sony aims to ship 50 million smartphones in 2013, 40% to be built by someone else Posted: 07 Nov 2012 02:17 AM PST
Sony is on track to ship 35 million smartphones this year; that’s 8.75 million per quarter. Last week the company’s Q3 2012 financial results showed 8.8 million smartphones were sold, so it looks like everything is going to plan. But what about next year? According to sources who have spoken to DigiTimes, Sony wants to bump up their smartphone shipments to 50 million in 2013; that’s 12.5 million per quarter. The report goes on to say that as many as 40% of those phones may be outsourced to companies like Foxconn, Arima, and Compal. Now this isn’t anything new. Many of Sony’s low end Android devices are made by Foxconn, and Arima is expected to ship their first Sony smartphones by the end of the year. Should companies be in charge of making their own devices? Put yourself in the shoes of a company. You buy many of your components from Taiwan, right? Are you really going to want to ship those components to a foreign country just to assemble them? No, you’re not. That and where exactly is one supposed to find the man power to build that many phones? China already has the infrastructure that enables companies to instantly start producing a product. It’s pointless to recreate that somewhere else just so you can say that you own a factory.
Back to Sony, are they going to come out with any interesting phones next year? Rumor has it that they’re working on a 5 inch 1080p superphone, but then again so is everyone else, most notably HTC. Sony’s got some awesome designs, and they’ve proven that they care about software updates, but nothing they do really stands out. We’re really sad to say that, but that doesn’t diminish our optimism for the company’s future. Now that Sony is under Sony proper instead of being a joint venture with Ericsson, things can only get better. Related Posts |
| Will it blend, 7-inch tablet edition: iPad mini vs Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire HD Posted: 07 Nov 2012 01:53 AM PST
Ever since Apple unveiled the company's first "affordable" tablet, the iPad mini, all everyone could think about is if it will blend or not. After all, who cared if the 7.9-incher held its own better than the Nexus 7 in our already traditional drop test? Or if its screen was going to be brighter and more capable than those of Google's and Amazon's new 7-inchers? All that is irrelevant and of far less importance than a gadget's blending abilities. I mean, how many times in your tab's life will you actually need that extra sturdiness or the display's higher contrast? Very rarely, right? And how vital it'll be to know that if you load up your $500 Blendtec blender with your iPad mini and power it up, the tab will turn into a nice pile of dust in no time? Extremely! Fortunately, the excruciating wait is finally over, and it's time to let Tom Dickson, our favorite demolition man, take over and provide the oh-so-needed answers. Will the iPad mini, Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD blend? Tune in to the clip below and find out. Warning: This is not a video for those of feeble spirit or faint-hearted! Not only will the three tabs be pulverized (oops, spoiler alert), but they'll also be slammed and broken in half. Don't worry though, because everything happens for the higher purpose of science. Just kidding. Everything doesn't happen for a reason, and these three gadgets are pointlessly and senselessly destroyed. Still, can you deny yourselves the guilty pleasure of watching? Related Posts |
| Lost Apple orders force Samsung to question building another fab Posted: 07 Nov 2012 01:29 AM PST
Samsung makes many of the components that are required to build smartphones, tablets, and computers. Apple buys a lot of those components. Take the recently launched iPad mini for example: Can you guess who’s responsible for the screen and the A5 processor? Now the thing is, Apple hates Samsung. For good reason too. Because Apple orders parts from Samsung, Samsung knows what Apple is going to build in the future. And because Samsung has a rough idea of what Apple is working on, they can rapidly release products that compete with Apple’s portfolio. According to DigiTimes, who has a track record that’s 50/50, meaning they’re hard to take seriously, but they’re also impossible to ignore, they say Samsung is going to delay building a new fab due to Apple. Because Apple hates Samsung guts, they’re shopping around, looking to get components from various other companies. Rumor has it that this year we’re going to see the first iOS devices ship that use processors made by TSMC instead of Samsung. This fab that Samsung is delaying, it was supposed to start volume production in 2014. It was going to pump out 20 nanometer and 14 nanometer processors. So what’s going to happen now? We’re not really sure. Samsung had some issues meeting demand for the Galaxy S3 when it launched back in May/June. We don’t have any official confirmation about which component was responsible for causing those supply constraints, but we doubt it was the processor. At the end of the day, Apple deciding to do less business with Samsung means Samsung can use more of their components to increase phone production. That’s the key take away here. Samsung is absolutely dominating the mobile phone market, and we don’t think that losing Apple orders will impact their future. What might hurt Samsung? Google deciding to stab them in the back, but we don’t see that happening. Related Posts |
| iPhone users consume more data than Android users, but there are exceptions Posted: 07 Nov 2012 12:51 AM PST
According to new data published by FierceWireless and the NPD Group, it looks like iPhone owners use more data than their Android counterparts. How was this data collected? NPD’s SmartMeter app was installed on roughly 1,000 smartphones. They’ve been collecting data from Android users since April 2012, but last month they started gathering data from around 100 iPhone owners. Translation: Their sample size for iPhone users is decent, but still one tenth that of Android users. Here’s what the data shows: On Verizon, America’s largest operator, an average Android user consumed 0.57 GB of data in September. An average owner of an iPhone however, they consumed 1.58 GB. Moving on to AT&T, the operator who has been selling the iPhone the longest, their average Android user used 0.89 GB of data in September, whereas an average iPhone owner used 1.35 GB of data. So why are there such huge differences? We want to say that it’s because Android smartphones are often purchased by people looking to upgrade their dumbphones, and that such people, the mainstream, typically don’t use all the features of their device, but the data support that conclusion. Apple’s iPhone holds a roughly 50% market share in the United States, making it anything but a niche device. Maybe it’s because iPhone owners sign up for more expensive data plans knowing full well that they’re going to use up all the data they paid for? Again, we don’t know really have a concrete explanation for these numbers. What we do know however is that the data gathering could and should be improved. If the iPhone represents 50% of the American smartphone market, it’s disingenuous that just 10% of the sampled audience uses an iPhone. Oh and as for the one exception to the rule, it’s T-Mobile customers. Since T-Mobile is only now starting to support the iPhone’s 3G radios, it shouldn’t be a surprise that during September an average iPhone owner used only 0.19 GB of data. That’s nothing compared to 1.09 GB on average for an Android user. Related Posts |
| T-Mobile Nexus 7 release date and pricing spotted in leaked documents Posted: 06 Nov 2012 04:10 PM PST
Last week, Google unveiled new Nexus devices including a mild Nexus 7 refresh. The company retired the 8GB model and introduced two 32GB versions, a Wi-Fi-only tablet and a Nexus 7 3G. While the Nexus 7 will be available for purchase from the Google Play Store in various countries and from several electronics retailers, some carriers will also be interested in offering the 3G model to their subscribers. One such mobile operator is T-Mobile, which is also selling the Nexus 4. In fact, we have a new leak to show you today, an internal T-Mobile document that reveals the pricing details and release date for the T-Mobile Nexus 7. And there aren't any surprises there, the HSPA+ tablet will be launched on November 13 and it will cost $299.99. That’s the full retail price for the device, so don’t expect any subsidies for an already affordable device.
To get it, you'll have to submit your order through the Google Play Store, as the device won't be listed apparently in T-Mobile's online store, and from the looks of it, it won't be available in actual T-Mobile stores for purchase either, at least for the time being. Anyone buying the 3G version of the T-Mobile Nexus 7? Related Posts |
| Kmart offering $40 Android tablet on Black Friday 2012 Posted: 06 Nov 2012 03:41 PM PST
Black Friday 2012 is almost upon us, and it appears that Kmart is once again luring consumers with dirt cheap Android products. Among the offerings is a 7-inch ICS tablet for a mere $40, and a 4.3-inch ICS based personal media player for $49. It's important to note that these are budget devices from relatively unknown manufacturers, but it's hard to ignore an Android 4.0 tablet for $40. Did I mention it actually has a 1.2GHz processor? If you're looking for a Galaxy Tab or Asus Transformer, I'm afraid you'll have to shop elsewhere, as these Black Friday tablets aren’t exactly household names. Check the full list of Android based devices for sale:
These budget gadgets from Chinese manufactures don't exactly have the best track record. However, if you want an Android device on Black Friday and want to save some serious cash, Kmart has you covered. Make sure you show up early, as each store will have a minimum of 6 in stock. Related Posts |
| Half-priced Angry Birds games available from Amazon before Star Wars version launch Posted: 06 Nov 2012 03:36 PM PST
With Black Friday knocking on the door, heavy discounts are just the right flavor of the season. Amazon seems to be as excited as all of us are about the new Angry Birds Star Wars game releasing on Thursday, as the company dropped the prices for some of the most popular Angry Birds titles available on its digital content store. These games are up for grabs on the Amazon Appstore at a whopping 50% discount starting today and lasting through 11:59 p.m. PT on Nov. 7. Angry Birds Space HD, Angry Birds Rio HD and the original Angry Birds HD can be purchased for $1.49 each. This seems to be a very good deal when looking at their original price of $2.99. So what are you waiting for? Act fast and order your Angry Birds title today! In case you are already bored with these games, then you will have to be patient for few more days to purchase the Angry Birds Star Wars which debuts on November 8. Related Posts |
| Another HTC Droid DNA image render surfaces Posted: 06 Nov 2012 02:36 PM PST
There certainly is no shortage of information when it comes to leaks and rumors surrounding the HTC Droid DNA. Today alone we have seen the leak of a new Verizon marketing image that shows off the upcoming HTC phablet, and shortly after we learned that Verizon and HTC were holding a press event in New York City on November 13th. Now one of the most detailed renders of the HTC Droid DNA has also been leaked. Like the earlier somewhat blurry press shot leak for the HTC Droid DNA, this leak is courtesy of the famous Twitter user, evleaks. If the rumors prove true, the official unveiling of the 1080p phablet will occur at this special press event with a release coming sometime in early-to-mid December. Are you excited to get your hands on the HTC Droid DNA or will you pass? Related Posts |
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