Saturday, December 29, 2012

Android Central

Android Central

Samsung's Galaxy S3 extended battery to become available Jan. 5, in Germany at least

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 05:07 PM PST

Android Central

Before the holidays, an OEM extended battery kit surfaced for the Samsung Galaxy S3, initially going on pre-order at a British retailer. While that same retailer is still taking pre-orders for the item without an expected shipping date, Amazon Germany has gone one better. 

According to the item's listing on Amazon.de, the Samsung Extended Battery Kit will become available on January 5. Pricing is relatively consistent with earlier reports, coming in at €39.90, slightly cheaper even than the expected RRP of £40 (€48) in the UK. There is no word yet on if/when we can expect to see wider availability of this. 

Additionally, click on past the break for a quick video -- in Slovenian, and you'll want to spin on to about 1:05 -- which demonstrates the extended battery and replacement battery door. The best news? It doesn't seem to add much additional thickness to the phone. 

Source: Amazon via All About Samsung

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Huawei Ascend Mate leaked again ahead of expected CES unveiling

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 04:24 PM PST

Android Central

Following the first sighting in the wild of Huawei's upcoming 6.1 inch monster phone, the Ascend Mate, the device has been leaked once more ahead of an expected CES unveiling. This time, the device is seen posing for a series of photos alongside -- albeit, only just -- another Huawei device we're expecting to see at CES, the 5 inch D2. 

The photos obtained by MyDrivers, show what is essentially a big -- really big -- black slab, with on-screen buttons. There appears to be a slight curve to the back of the device, which should make it a little nicer to hold in the hand. If a 6.1 inch smartphone could ever, truly feel nice in the hand. Thickness is supposedly just 9.9mm. 

Android Central @ CES

Spec information still remains in the rumor territory at present, but MyDrivers goes on to claim that the Ascend Mate is powered by a quad-core 1.8GHz processor -- likely an in house effort -- 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera and a 4000mAh battery. Nothing here sounds too out of the ordinary, certainly not for a 2013 release, but until we actually get something official we'll keep the rumor tag on them. 

Along with the photos, a leaked advertisement for the Ascend Mate has also been seen. It makes no bones about who Huawei is competing with in this space -- the 5.5 inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Samsung has set an extremely high bar in the super sized phone market with the Note and the Note 2, and anyone who considers challenging had better bring their 'A' game. The Note offers a specific experience though, with the S-Pen, whereas at least for the time being, the Ascend Mate just looks like a gargantuan sized version of some of Huawei's other Android smartphones. 

Whatever the Ascend Mate may or may not turn out to be, Android Central will be in Las Vegas to bring you all the action as it unfolds. 

Source: MyDrivers via Unwired View

Get a free flip cover and tectiles from Samsung for registering your device

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 03:33 PM PST

Samsung Tectiles

Samsung is running a promotion on its official Facebook page that lets Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy SIII (S3) users get their hands on a free flip cover and set of 6 TecTiles for registering their device. All you have to do is head to the Samsung Facebook page, click the "Holiday Offers" button and then follow through to register your device. While quantities last, you can get some free swag for giving Samsung a little information about yourself. You'll need an active Facebook account and authorize the Samsung "app" for your page, but that's about it.

Registering your phone with the manufacturer may already be something you want to do, so might as well get something free for it, right? Head to the source links below to get your own.

Source: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Forums; Samsung (Facebook)

Custom ROMs for your Alltel RAZR MAXX are just a flash away

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 02:05 PM PST

Razr Maxx

Verizon may take most of the headlines, but the Motorola RAZR MAXX (sans Droid) also made it's way to other carriers -- like Alltel. We love seeing the smaller carriers getting great Android phones like the MAXX, but folks who want to run a custom ROM are usually out of luck when this happens. Not so this time.

Forum Moderator, Alltel subscriber, and Android hacker cole2kb has you covered. He has taken the most popular ICS and Jelly Bean custom ROMs for the Verizon version of the RAZR MAXX and ported them over to Alltel. Getting them installed is as easy as flashing the original ROM and a small patch from recovery. He's even figured out how to get MMS working, so you're set there.

This is why we love Android. Users getting their hands dirty to bring more options to the folks who want them. Thanks, Chris -- and I'm sure plenty of folks on Alltel are thankful as well. Click the link below to get started.

Got ROMs? Flashable ZIPs for your Alltel MAXX!

Introducing phon.es - our new URL shortener for Android Central and Mobile Nations!

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 11:32 AM PST

phon.es

We've talked a bit in the past about URL shorteners and how they can save space -- or wreak havoc. It's really all about trust, right? We've used third-party shorteners like bit.ly before, and since then we've been using Google's own shortener, goo.gl. Now we've got our own.

From here on out, if you see a link to phon.es (it's phones, get it?), you can rest assured that it's from us. Actually, it's from any one of the Mobile Nations sites, which comprises Android Central, CrackBerry, WPCentral, iMore and webOS Nation.

So when will you see a phon.es link? Most likely it'll be on a service like Twitter or App.net, where characters are at a premium. So instead of http://www.androidcentral.com/lg-nexus-4-review, you'll see http://phon.es/n4review -- or something even shorter.

Nobody knows phones better the members of Mobile Nations, and phon.es is just one more way we're continuing to improve Android Central, the Mobile Nations network, and life on Earth in general. Enjoy!

Black Galaxy Note 2 spotted, reportedly coming in early 2013

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:59 AM PST

Android Central

Rumors of new Samsung Galaxy Note 2 colors are nothing new, and nothing particularly surprising, given the diverse palette of Galaxy S3 colors now available. Since the phone's launch, though, many have to been hankering for a Galaxy Note 2 in classic black. If the latest rumors are to be believed, that's exactly what'll be coming in early 2013.

Swiss blog AndroidSlash has today come across a high-res press render of a Note 2 in black. And, well, it's a Galaxy Note 2. In black. Interesting to note is that the black Note 2 seems to retain its faux-metal texture, whereas the black Galaxy S3 lost this effect in favor of glossy plastic effect.

There's speculation that this, and other Note 2 color variants, will be shown at Mobile World Congress in February. But remember Samsung's also going to be at CES in just over a week, so there's a chance we might see the Note 2's new coat of paint sooner than expected. Lucky for you we'll be reporting live from both shows in the new year.

Anyone want to place bets on when the inevitable berry pink version will appear?

Source: AndroidSlash; via: SamMobile

Win a $10 Google Play Gift Card because it's Dec. 28!

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:50 AM PST

Android Central Stocking StuffersSo we're kind of starting to wind down this contest a little bit. We say "kind of" because we're actually a week or so behind, and we're going to make up for that before the end of the year.

Anyway, here we are again, with another $10 Google Play Gift Card to give away. It's one of 31 that we're awarding, and remember that all 31 winners -- one for each day in December -- will be entered to win a new Nexus 4, which is sitting here on our desk, unopened, waiting for a good home.

What hoop shall we have you jump through today? Hows about this: Name, in reverse chronological order, the last three smartphones you owned. If you've owned less than that, it's cool. Hell, we envy you a little bit. Just tell us what you've had. We'll pick a winner at random and bestow upon you $10 worth of free apps, music, movies, magazines or TV shows.

Good luck!

Another new wave of Nexus 4s shipping

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:55 AM PST

Nexus 4

Nary a moment too soon, word in our Nexus 4 forums is that another batch of the hard-to-buy (and harder-to-ship, apparently) smartphone is on its way to the good boys and girls. The phone's still sold out on Google Play, both in the 8- and 16-gigabyte versions, as are the rubber bumpers. (Interesting, though, is that it's saying we've reached our limit for bumper purchases, not that they're sold out. Apparently we're consider bumper horders or something.)

Anyhoo. Be on the lookout for a shipping e-mail if you haven't gotten on already.

More: Nexus 4 forums

OUYA ships 1,200 developer consoles, opens dev portal

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 05:13 AM PST

Begone, doubters. OUYA -- the Android-based game console that shattered about 16 Kickstarter records -- has shipped to developers. Some 1,200 of them have shipped to developers. And it's important to stress that these are for developers. (Did we mention anything about developers here? Because we really should.) As you can see in the video above -- and can the same people who "boxed" a device be the ones to do an unboxing video? -- these are limited-edition devices, with transparent plastic and bugs and other things that are going to be completely reworked before production units ship in the spring.

What this milestone represents, of course, is a major step forward for a project funded by regular folks -- you and me -- through Kickstarter, meaning it's kind of a crapshoot as to what we'll actually get, when we'll get it, and how good it'll be when it hits our doorstep. (And full disclosure here: Android Central backed OUYA at the $1,337 level, so we've got one of these dev units on the way.) There won't be any apps on this dev version, but the egg has to come before the chicken. Or maybe it's the other way around.

In other news, OUYA has fired up its developer portal, where you can download the developer kit, upload games and get things ready for launch in a few months. Huzzah!

More: OUYA; OUYA Developer Portal
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