Sunday, November 11, 2012

Android Community

Android Community

Google refunds Nexus 7 buyers with “Price Protection” in the Play Store

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 04:14 PM PST

We have some good news today for the multiple readers that purchased Google’s awesome Nexus 7 tablet late last month, only to find out on the 29th that Google dropped the price of the 16GB tablet $49 dollars. Earlier today we reported ASUS giving out vouchers, and it looks like Google will be doing the same or better for their customers. This is extremely good news.

Google has introduced a “Price Protection” model for devices in the Google Play Store. For those who aren’t keeping track at home the 16GB Nexus 7 was $249 and on October 29th Google announced it would replace the 8GB model and cost only $199. I’d be pretty upset if I recently bought the 16GB model, and a few days later it’s $50 less. So today they are reassuring customers that they’ll refund that money.

“If we reduce the price of a device on Google Play, we’ll refund the difference in price if your purchase occurred within 15 days of said price reduction.”

As you can see above, this is clearly aimed at all those 16GB Nexus 7 purchases. If you bought the Nexus 7 from Google on or after October 14th, you’re eligible for a refund of the difference in price. Most likely Staples, Office Depot, and other retail stores offer something similar and we’d recommend you give it a try.

If you are one of the many who purchased the Nexus 7 16GB in that time frame, be sure to hit the source link below and follow the instructions and request a price protection refund. We have a feeling the Galaxy Nexus might be getting a price drop soon too, so this should also cover that should you run into the same circumstances. Enjoy the $50 refund folks!

[via Google Play Support]

Motorola VP details “Test Drive” allowing users early access to software updates

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 02:47 PM PST

Motorola‘s on a roll this afternoon. Earlier they announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was rolling out to the DROID RAZR M, and today they’ve confirmed their plans to refine and speed up the software update process, and make fewer and bigger bets on awesome hardware. Then they mentioned a new program called “Test Drive” which will allow customers early access to major software updates.

Today in a blog post Motorola’s VP Punit Soni had a few awesome new updates and details for all you Motorola users. Everything mentioned above and more is detailed in the blog post linked to above. Back in September Motorola announced that moving forward they’d be a “New Motorola” when they added Google staffer Dennis Woodside as their CEO — and now we’re slowly seeing the benefits.

It’s nice to hear one of their new top priorities is delivering quality and timely software updates, but the new test drive feature is something we’re excited about. Motorola previously had their “Feedback Network” where a select few could soak test software updates, but this looks to be a much improved system moving forward.

Starting with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Motorola will begin their “Test Drive” program. The program isn’t open yet, nor do they have a sign-up page live. We’ll be hearing more on that, and other updates very soon right on their blog said Punit. Speaking of the blog, Motorola also took this time to mention the new and improved Motorola will be focusing on keeping all their customers in the loop with hardware and software. We can expect more info and announcements often right from the Motorola Blog.

[via Motorola]

Scarface the game lands on the Google Play Store

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 02:18 PM PST

Say hello to my little friend! Ladies and Gentleman, Scarface has landed for Android. I’m Tony Montana! What we have here is a game developed by the company Fuse Powered, and is a multiplayer game in collaboration with Universal Partnerships. One of the most epic movies from the 80′s has been turned into a blood and money thirsty MMO game for Android with over 96 missions and more. I’m getting excited.

This game has just landed in the Google Play Store, but is currently a soft-launch or beta until they officially announce the game next week. For now the full MMO multiplayer aspects of the game aren’t fully included, but will arrive with an update later next week. You’ll be able to fight, rob, and attack players and Mafia members from around the world.

Oh man, I could get in some serious trouble with some of my favorite lines and quotes from this movie. Just for fun, here’s a few:

“Another Quaalude, She gonna love me again” “She’ll be back, she’ll be back” and “I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.”

This is more than just a game too. This is an MMO, a soundboard, and much much more. Fuse Powered has added official pictures, video clips, and sounds from the movie right into the game so you can enjoy all the famous quotes. You’ll be able to visit six different Miami locations (including South Beach, Downtown and the Club District) as well as interact with many of the other stars in the film. It looks like this will be a free-to-play game with some in-app purchases, but we aren’t fully sure. You can add friends and make allies to boost stats and more, but will probably be able to buy your way to the top too.

Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments down below.

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[via Google Play Store]

AT&T Samsung Captivate Glide getting Ice Cream Sandwich tomorrow

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 01:47 PM PST

If you happen to own a Samsung Captivate Glide through AT&T, then you’ll probably like this next bit of news. AT&T has announced that the long-awaited Ice Cream Sandwich update will be available for the Captivate Glide starting tomorrow, November 10. Of course, it’s now been over a year since Android 4.0 was released and there are even a few devices running Android 4.2 these days, but who’s really keeping track of that stuff anyway?


In a post over on the AT&T Consumer Blog, the carrier briefly goes through some of the new changes that come along with this upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. If you follow Android news (or better yet, have been using Ice Cream Sandwich already), you should know the drill by now – a new browser, unlocking to the camera, text messaging, and dialer, and new swipable notifications. It’s stuff a number of us are familiar with, but for Captivate Glide owners on AT&T, it’s all new.

Unfortunately, this won’t be an OTA update, so getting it on your phone will require a little extra work. This means that you’ll have to use your computer to download the update through Samsung Kies. Luckily, Samsung has set up a little step-by-step guide on its website to help Captivate Glide owners snag and install this update to Ice Cream Sandwich.

So, after a lot of talk and a delay or two, Samsung Captivate Glide owners will finally be getting Ice Cream Sandwich. It’s been a long time coming and it isn’t Android 4.1, but it will have to do for now. AT&T says it will be rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich to a number of other handsets soon, so keep an ear to Android Community for details on those incoming updates!

Notion Ink teases Adam II tablet in blurry photo

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 01:45 PM PST

Who remembers the disaster that was the Notion Ink Adam? Well, apparently the company is back for round two because today they’ve teased the first image of their upcoming Adam II tablet. Right on Twitter the Notion Ink team uploaded a rather blurry image of their next-gen tablet, complete with a squared design, white back, and iPhone 4 looking design.

The original Notion Ink Adam tablet was extremely promising. A tablet that was going to be a first of many awesome tablets running Android back in the early days. Instead we got what I can only describe as a buggy piece of hardware that was outdated on release after all the delays, and customer support that was non-existent. Well they had customer support, but don’t get me started.

Originally we all had high hopes for Notion Ink and their Adam tablet. Hopefully this time around they’ll have better hardware, updated software, enough funding to get the job done, and release a tablet that will renew their faith in the Android tablet space. We’ll see.

The image surely doesn’t reveal much. Aside from the fact that the new Adam II sports a nice white color, squared edges on this slate, and a rather thick body. It’s hard to really come up with any thoughts based on this early leaked photo, but we have a feeling Notion Ink will be sharing more details and photos soon. Hopefully they can deliver, but we’ll have to wait and see. If you bought the original, would you buy another Notion Ink tablet?

[via SlashGear]

Rich Miner thinks carriers should develop customized Android interfaces

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 01:02 PM PST

How do you feel about manufacturers putting their own interfaces on top of vanilla Android? We know it isn’t a very popular idea, but Google Ventures’ Rich Miner is wondering why carriers don’t do the same thing. He said as much at the Open Mobile Summit, with Fierce Mobile reporting that he expressed surprise at the fact that carriers don’t take advantage of Android’s open platform to make their phones stand out from the crowd.


“There’s a big opportunity that they seem to have left on the table,” Miner said. Of course, that’s not to say that carriers haven’t tried adding their own features to the handsets they offer (plenty have in the past), but installing custom interfaces has mostly been a manufacturer thing. Miner apparently doesn’t see a reason why it can’t be a carrier thing too, though we’re sure many Android fans would disagree with his assertion that carriers should start doing more to make their devices stand out.

In fact, most of the people we know would pick their carrier based on the quality of the their network and fairness of their pricing, not because the phones they offer have custom interfaces you can’t find anywhere else. A lot of the Android faithful seem to be just fine with the vanilla Android experience, as evidenced by the fact that so many complain about the changes manufacturers make on their phones.

Carriers might just listen to Miner too – after all, he is the co-founder of Android. It might not be a bad idea if carriers can come up with useful interfaces that actually perform well, but ultimately if it just leads to more bloat, we can see it easily having an adverse effect. What do you think? Should carriers start making their own modifications to the Android OS, or should they leave Android alone for the most part?

Google is shifting towards a “mobile first” mentality

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST

The folks from Mountain View clearly have a huge foot in the mobile game, not to mention they’ve been stepping up that game over the past 6 months with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and their new Nexus line. According to a note to investors Google’s been talking more and more about mobile, and multiple employees have stated they are shifting towards a "mobile first" mentality.

This is good news, although we already knew Google had been putting tons of effort on mobile and social with things like Google+. In an investors note to Morgan Stanly, three Google executives talked at the 2012 Open Mobile Summit in San Fran and spoke openly about the future of Google, and where they’re headed. Those three were Rikard Steiber, Google's global marketing director for mobile and social; Francisco Varela, YouTube's global director of platform partnerships; and Rich Miner, general partner at Google Ventures.

Now we all know Google has a huge foot in the mobile market. From mobile search on Google, the number one mobile OS in the world, and new devices like the LG Nexus 4 and Samsung Nexus 10. Google’s been continuously pursuing this as of late, and really stepping up their game on all fronts. From a more social experience on mobile with Google+, improving mobile search, Google Now, and more. While speaking at the summit one Googler even said that Google is now considering themselves a "mobile first" company. Obviously they’ll always probably be a search giant and company, but it’s interesting to hear them say it.

During the Summit, Steiber, Google’s head of mobile and social advertising stated that mobile devices are the future (which we already knew) and that in 2013 mobile will be the leading and primary way users access Google. Google expects mobile to surpass 50% of YouTube traffic sometime in 2013. They mentioned that mobile searches have increased by 200% in 2012 by Q3, and 25% of traffic on YouTube and 40% of video views come from mobile devices alone. A number that has seen huge growth and is up 300% in 2012.

While they didn’t specifically state anything regarding Android, this is a clear indication that Google sees mobile, and Android as a leading platform that needs even more attention. We already know Google’s been aiming big in mobile with Android and their Motorola acquisition, and hopefully we see more awesomeness in 2013.

[via SlashGear]
Posted by at 1:49 AM

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