Android Authority |
- T-Mobile sets the Nexus 4’s price back to $199.99
- Google issues maintenance updates for Translate, Voice, Authenticator and five other Android apps
- Here’s what IDC says is happening in the tablet market, this year and beyond
- Nexus 7 3G hits retail stores in Australia and NZ for $369
- Get your flow on: Swiftkey Flow beta now available for download
- Heroes of Order and Chaos by Gameloft is now on Android
- Dropbox updated, now allows moving folders and files
- Enterprise users can now deploy apps through Google Play Private Channel
- Chameleon Launcher coming to smartphones, Nexus 4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 owners and other testers wanted
- Nexus Wireless charging Orb coming… when?
| T-Mobile sets the Nexus 4’s price back to $199.99 Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:18 AM PST
Despite the lack of LTE radio, the back glass debate, and the Google Play Store fiasco, the Nexus 4 is still one sizzling hot commodity. With no signs of the demand slowing down anytime soon, did T-Mobile take it a step too far by selling the Nexus 4 for $399.99 with a contract? That's the shock that many learned yesterday, when the Nexus handset returned to its "in stock" availability status on T-Mobile's website. If you're planning to virtually pelt some rotten eggs, you may want to save it for another occasion, as the listing has been updated to reflect the Nexus phone's correct price. The listing now shows the original price of the Nexus 4 with a T-Mobile contract, which is $199.99 — definitely not $399.99. For those who aren't convinced, you have to choose "Google" from the manufacturer list on the sidebar to get the right price. Those who don’t mind being stuck on a two-year service agreement with T-Mobile can go ahead and order the Nexus 4 from T-Mo’s online store. Are you in or out? Related Posts |
| Google issues maintenance updates for Translate, Voice, Authenticator and five other Android apps Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:17 AM PST
What makes Google's first-party Android apps generally get the thumbs up from the most users and get ranked very high in the most downloaded Google Play charts? Well, there are a number of things, but it's mostly about support and the number of updates issued to iron out kinks, but also to always improve and tweak the user experience. Sure, you might say that Google would not need so many updates if the apps wouldn't be so glitchy in the first place, but let's not get caught up in details and look at the bright side of things. We can for example be very grateful today for a slew of upgrades being rolled out straight from the busy offices in Mountain View. Among the tuned-up apps, we have some greats – including Translate or Voice – but also some "minions", like Catalogs or Apps Device Policy. Probably the most critical update went to Translate, who's now reached version 2.5.3. The translation tool has got new handwriting recognition for a number of new languages, including Afrikaans, Icelandic, Macedonian, Slovak, and Welsh. You can also translate from Chinese, Japanese or Korean by using your cameras' text recognition functions, but this only works for horizontal texts for now. Next up we have an upgrade to version 0.4.2.75 for Google Voice. The 2-year old app that's still technically a pre-1.0 product should now be less glitchy than before after two major bug fixes have been rolled out.
Unfortunately, while the issue of delayed SMS notifications seems to have been swiftly solved, the fix for inbox syncing and duplicate notifications is only partially working. Big oops for Google here! No oops and no problem with Google Authenticator's update bringing the app to version 2.35 however. While this is also a "minor" maintenance upgrade, like all the others, it comes with two very important tweaks – a bug fix in account setup flow and UI improvements than you can actually spot with your naked eye. Zagat, Google Apps Device Policy, YouTube for Google TV, Google Catalogs and My Tracks are the other apps recently upgraded, but we're mostly talking about barely noticeable improvements. Zagat, for instance, got a fix for a pretty uncommon bug that caused unexpected crashes, while YouTube for Google TV now comes with support for ad skipping. Google Catalogs version 1.3.0 has "improved stability" and "improved resolution for Nexus 10", the new My Tracks app has an ever so slightly changed map view and app widget, while finally Google Apps Device Policy v4.13 comes with support for control of Lock Screen Widgets. Anyone overly excited about any of these updates? How about very disappointed? Related Posts |
| Here’s what IDC says is happening in the tablet market, this year and beyond Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:11 AM PST
Research firms like IDC, Gartner, and others sometimes screw up their predictions big time. For instance, Gartner said in 2011 that Android will get 38% of the tablet market by, wait for it, 2015. And here we are, discussing IDC's latest figures, which say that Android tablets already make up about 42% of the tablet market. While it's fun to predict market shares for years in advance, there's really no telling what will happen six months from now, and four year predictions are pretty much useless in the tech world. But trends do matter and they are worth analyzing. With this necessary caveat out of our way, here's what IDC says it's happening in the tablet market, this year and beyond. To summarize:
Here’s IDC tablet market share data:
What do you make of these statistics? Related Posts |
| Nexus 7 3G hits retail stores in Australia and NZ for $369 Posted: 06 Dec 2012 12:52 AM PST
The Nexus 7 3G has been on sale in several markets for quite some time now, but it is still nowhere to be found in Australia. Well, that's about to change in the coming days. Asus has announced that the 32GB Nexus 7 with mobile data will land in Australia and New Zealand this December, where it will retail for a cool AUS$369. Stores that will have stocks of the tablet include Harvey Norman, JB HiFi, Dick Smith Electronics, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, and Radio Rentals. You should be able to find the Nexus 7 3G soon in Office Works, EB Games, BSR, and various Asus channel resellers as well. Meanwhile, the 3G variant of the Nexus 7 is still unavailable for purchase from Google Play Store, but we're hearing that it'll be updated soon. Anyone excited about the arrival of the Nexus 7 3G? Related Posts |
| Get your flow on: Swiftkey Flow beta now available for download Posted: 06 Dec 2012 12:45 AM PST
A couple of days ago we've told you about the newest version of the popular Android keyboard, Swiftkey. Dubbed Flow, the new Swiftkey brings gesture based typing and an innovative new feature that lets you type entire phrases without ever lifting the finger from the touchscreen. Great news for lazy typists everywhere! Yesterday, the official account of the Swiftkey developer tweeted that the new Flow beta is less than 24 hours away. True to their word, the Swiftkey team has now made the app available for beta testing. Actually, to test the keyboard, you need to be a member of the VIP program, but worry not, contrary to the name, the program is open for just about anyone. The marquee feature of the new Swiftkey Flow is the poetically named Flow Through Space feature. Instead of tapping the spacebar or pausing, you can enter spaces by gliding your finger over the spacebar. In theory, this should really speed up your typing, but from our initial experience, it's better to lift your finger from the touchscreen from time to time, to avoid messing up entire phrases. Besides Flow, Swiftkey is the same great predictive keyboard you know and love. The latest update has a bunch of neat themes for you to choose from, and some tweaks to the usability part. Given that Android 4.2 incorporates a Flow-like gesture typing keyboard, it's a great time for the Swiftkey team to kick it into high gear. If you are curious to try out the new Flow, check out the "VIP" program and don't forget to let us know your thoughts. Related Posts |
| Heroes of Order and Chaos by Gameloft is now on Android Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:08 PM PST
Gameloft has just released the much anticipated Heroes of Order and Chaos for Android. This new game is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) type game much like League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients for your home computer. This challenging genre, while simple in concept, requires great knowledge of every single element of the game, if you want to master it. After picking either a 3v3 or 5v5 multiplayer match, you will be grouped with other players and fight for map supremacy against the opposing team. Not only do you have to battle it out with live players, but there are towers and game controlled minions that will attempt to stop your team from destroying their objective. What helps determine victory is which character you pick before the match begins and the items you buy after accumulating gold while playing. This and plenty of team strategy from beginning to end will give a higher chance of success. If you want to check out this great looking game, head on over to the Play Store and give it a shot. It’s free to download and is sure to feed your MOBA cravings when you are on the go. Related Posts |
| Dropbox updated, now allows moving folders and files Posted: 05 Dec 2012 09:54 PM PST
The basically ubiquitous Dropbox brings a new update to their cloud-based storage service, bringing the version history up to 2.2.2. If you use Dropbox almost primarily on you mobile devices, there is a new feature that has been introduced – the ability to move files and folders around your storage. Simply press and hold on the file or folder in question and you will be given a submenu where ‘Move’ can be selected. Then a selection of your entire Dropbox is thrown right back at you, where you can select the ultimate location. It might not be as flashy as a drag and drop interface, but it gets the job done. You should be getting nudged to update your Dropbox already, but otherwise, get over to the Play Store to get it. And don’t forget to tell your friends about Dropbox – everytime someone signs up, you get more space in your drive. I’m up to 8.5 GB, myself. Related Posts |
| Enterprise users can now deploy apps through Google Play Private Channel Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:46 PM PST
BYOD is the in thing among enterprise users nowadays. If you’re not familiar with the term, then you’ve probably been living in a cave for the past couple of years or so. Basically, enterprises are moving away from proprietary devices or a limited set of devices, and are allowing employees to work, collaborate and communicate with their preferred “bring your own” devices. Case in point: Yahoo!’s new CEO Marissa Mayer wants everyone to ditch their BlackBerry devices in favor of smartphones — a choice of either iPhone, Android or Windows Phone. But even as businesses allow employees to bring their own devices to work, sometimes companies will need to deploy a set of proprietary applications and programs. This might make it a bit difficult for IT departments to deploy apps to users devices. iOS, for one, does not enable side-loading of applications without jailbreaking. Android users have it easier, as IT departments can simply distribute .APK files for installing on devices. But an update on Google Play makes it easier for enterprise users to install — and manage — their internal applications. A new feature called Google Play Private Channel lets IT departments deploy apps through the official Android apps repository. All a user needs is a company email address to be able to install these apps. The system requires that your company runs Google Apps for business, education or government, which means it will be easier to tie everything into one ecosystem — Google’s. Sure, Android users can easily side-load .APK files to install apps. But I see a few advantages with Private Channel.
Non-enterprise users might not find this interesting at this point, but I can only imagine the possibilities. Private Channel enables organizations to run their own mini app stores and content repositories. This makes Google Apps an even more interesting suite of cloud-based applications for businesses, schools, government offices, and teams to use than, say, more closed systems like the iTunes App Store or BlackBerry AppWorld. Related Posts |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:08 PM PST
In case you love Chameleon Launcher on your Android tablet, you should know that the team responsible for the app is working on a smartphone version. While we have no release dates for the app at this time, we have some good news for you. The Chameleon team is looking for testers to try out the smartphone version of their launcher. So far, 25 testers are needed to try out the first Chameleon Launcher versions (see Source link below to sign up), and the developers are looking Android users that own one of the following devices:
Here's what else you should know about this Chameleon Launcher tests:
Anyone excited about getting Chameleon Launcher on their smartphone? Are you going to sign up for this testing "job"? Related Posts |
| Nexus Wireless charging Orb coming… when? Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:14 PM PST
Buyers of the Google Nexus 4 have already contended with limited availability and endless ‘sold out’ screens, and it looks like it will remain that way for at least a little while. For anyone that is having trouble ordering one of the hottest phones on the market right now, the reactions are almost procedural – frustration, some anger, repetition as the user keeps coming back to the webpage to check availability, denial as the same status remains, and in some cases, finally defeat when it seemingly never changes. Unfortunately, it looks like users of the new Nexus might have to go through all of this again if they hope to buy one of the more anticipated accessories – the Nexus Wireless Charging Orb. Included in the Nexus 4 is its support of the Qi wireless charging standard, which Google hoped to take advantage of by supplying users with a small Orb that can magnetically keep the phone in place and charge the battery. It is a very nice looking device, and given the new Jelly Bean 4.2 feature called Daydream, it adds functionality by making your phone double as a photo frame, a clock, or a psychedelic color palette. Originally revealed on October 29, users have been excited to use the sleek charging Orb to charge their new Nexus 4 device, only their phones never arrived. Now that shipping of the Google official phone is finally starting to pick up (see our review of the Nexus 4 here), users are looking to the future. But after the 29th, there hasn’t been much word on when the Orb will actually be released – not to mention, we don’t even know how much we have to put down in order to go wireless. And if the past is any indication, we might have to wait for a long time. Google, unfortunately, is rather known for its lack of consistency with accessory availability. I am a current Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus user, and there’s just one thing about this phone I can’t help but be ambivalent about – the pogo pins on the side. These are three dimpled marks on the side that essentially serve absolutely no purpose. Why? Because Google didn’t make accessories – like the charging dock – that accommodate for the differences in the Verizon version of the phone. What are these differences? About 1 millimeter. That tiny amount of distance keeps the pins from touching the charging circuits on the dock. So, without any other choices, Verizon Galaxy Nexus users were left without a way of using the POGO pins for charging.
Not to mention the fact that the Nexus 7 charging dock has been unavailable for some time, as well – only recently has there been word of the official Asus dock being available, but currently only in Japan. Those us in the United States who have had no luck in receiving the Asus dock are stuck using our charging ports, hopefully sturdy enough to withstand the seemingly lifetime of usage they will be getting. Okay, rant over – but this is just a sample of the frustration that users can experience when trying to make sense of the untapped capabilities of their phone. Perhaps luckily, however, there are ways of taking advantage of the Qi wireless charging capability in the Nexus 4, as alternatives to the Orb are available from other manufacturers. Energizer is one of the more well-known charging mats, while LG and Nokia have made their own versions, as well.
All of these alternatives are mat-like in design, unlike the Orb that has the appealing dock-like form factor – yet another reason why people are clamoring for it. Given that we’ve gone over a month since the unveiling of the Orb, users probably shouldn’t be surprised if they won’t have a nice charging Nexus clock/photo frame/psychedelic color palette on their desks for the holidays. Are you anxiously waiting for the wireless charging Orb? Rant about your wait, especially if you are also one of the people still waiting for your Nexus 4!
Related Posts |
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