Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Android Community

Android Community

SwiftKey Flow video teases typing without ever lifting a finger

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:40 AM PST

The extremely popular 3rd party keyboard SwiftKey is about to get a whole lot better. We’ve been hearing tons lately about the upcoming SwiftKey Flow keyboard that will take on Google’s own gesture keyboard, and Swype, but their latest video shows us just how awesome Flow will really be. It’s called “Flow Through Space” and shows that we’ll soon be able to type without ever lifting a finger. Just flowing from word to word all with one seamless motion.

As you all know, we’re huge fans of SwiftKey keyboard here at Android Community. Their awesome keyboard layout, themes, predictive and and “next word” prediction is as good as it gets. SwiftKey 3 has made typing on smartphones and tablets so much better. However their new SwiftKey Flow looks to be even better and bring on an entirely new experience that could trump both Google’s new Android 4.2 Jelly Bean keyboard, and Swype all in one go. Check out this awesome video below:

Flowing through space without ever lifting your finger. SwiftKey Flow is more than just a gesture-based keyboard, it’s an entire new keyboard all together. You can clearly see right on the video the usual typing methods, and the usual swiping method. Then right at the end they just flow from word to word without lifting their finger, only going through the spacebar. SwiftKey’s advanced artificial intelligence and prediction engine picks up all the words and neatly puts out the entire sentence with ease.

Impressive right? It looks like SwiftKey Flow is all but ready to rock and we should be seeing the official beta release to the public soon. If you weren’t excited about SwiftKey’s latest and greatest keyboard already, you certainly should be now. This is an awesome next step for keyboards, and we’re excited to give it a try. Stay tuned for a hands-on as soon as possible.

[via Reddit]

Nexus 7 docking station coming in early December from ASUS

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:37 AM PST

This weekend the official docking station for the Nexus 7 made by ASUS has leaked to the internet. We’ve seen reports and hints at a dock coming soon, but this appears to be rather legit. Official accessories have been pretty rare but thanks to ASUS Japan we now have another look at this upcoming docking station for our favorite Android tablet.

The image above was found on the ASUS Japan official website with a release date stated as “early December” but so far we have no other details at this point. The same image was leaked back in July but we’ve not heard anything since. This will be a landscape only docking station with a few audio options to go along with it. There’s no HDMI-out or anything of that sort sadly, but the image does show micro-USB for the obvious charging. Then we see the 3.5mm audio port for playing that Google Music and more.

So far there hasn’t been any official accessories for the Nexus 7 from ASUS or Google aside from a few rather bland cases. They didn’t offer the smart case option with them, and those seeking better options have had to rely on 3rd party accessories. The Google Nexus 7 has the usual 3 pogo pins on the side for docking, but we’ve not yet been able to enjoy that “feature.”

It looks like those docking pins will finally be put to use here soon if this leak is any indication. According to ASUS Japan the new Nexus 7 landscape dock station will be available in early December, but we don’t have an actual date to report just yet. The dock is listed at a retail price of 3,480 Japanese Yen, which comes out to around $41 for us here in the US. hopefully Google puts this on the Play Store soon (since it’s already early December) for a price right around $39. Who’s interested?

[via ASUS Japan] — Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Google employee confirms Android Key Lime Pie to follow Jelly Bean

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 09:41 AM PST

There hasn’t been too much talk lately about what the next version of Android will be named, but it looks like we just received a nice little hint. Most reports have all but confirmed the next version of Android will be code named Key Lime Pie, but now a Google employee has seemingly confirmed our suspicions with a neat little drawing. Read on for further details.

Manu Cornet, a Google employee and cartoonist, recently drew the image you see above showing the evolution of Android. Showing our favorite little green robot holding a Cupcake, then Donut, and Eclair, FroYo, Gingerbread and so on as he goes through the evolution of Android and its tasty code names. Pretty cute little drawing right? He has some skills.

Then take a look at that last one. It appears to be an awesome little Android eating a piece of Key Lime Pie, the rumored next version of Android. I’d say this basically sums up all the rumors and puts them to rest at the same time. The drawing shows a timid Android growing to a large and in charge BugDroid walking with pride as he enjoys his treats.

Obviously this all could just be us reading into things too much, and doesn’t really confirm anything. Google’s been rather quiet on their names previously, so we wouldn’t expect them to just allow it out with ease. However, this artist being a Googler makes this seem pretty legit. Most likely the next version of Android will indeed be called Key Lime Pie. The question is will it be 4.3, or Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie?

[via Phandroid]

Sony testing chips by MediaTek for affordable quad-core smartphones in 2013

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:49 AM PST

MediaTek might not be one of the first names you think of when it comes to smartphone chips, but that could change soon. Right now, its chips are generally used in low-cost devices sold mostly in the Chinese markets. Most of the big device creators use chips from companies like Qualcomm, NVIDIA, ST Ericsson, but MediaTek has announced that Sony is taking a look at MediaTek for some low-cost devices.



Apparently, Sony has requested samples of MediaTek’s MT6589 quad-core SoC. This means that no actual orders have been placed yet. If Sony finds the chips workable, it could use them is smartphones that it will announce next year. Of course, if Sony does not like the chips, then this could be the last we ever hear about this deal.

Presumably, with MediaTek’s track record, a phone released by Sony using these chips would be of the affordable variety. The chips are made using a 28nm manufacturing process and uses Cortex A7 processor cores. They can be clocked to 1.2GHz and supports LPDDR2 RAM. The PowerVR SGX544 GPU should be capable of handling 720 by 1280 resolutions. The chips can also handle up to a 13MP camera and 1080P video recording.

If the deal goes through, MediaTek estimates it will ship about 200 million smartphone chips. That would be a huge increase over last year, when MediaTek shipped 110 million units. Time will tell if Sony decides to go with the chips, and as always, we will keep you posted.

Chrome gaining a foothold on Android devices

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:16 AM PST

On desktops, Chrome is far and away one of the more popular browsers, but on mobile, it has taken a while to find its footing. Well, according to a new report from Net Applications, Chrome is finally getting a decent amount of usage on Android devices. For iOS, the usage is still negligible, but at least Android users are moving over to Chrome. It shows Google’s efforts with the browser were not a waste of time.



In the month of November, Chrome accounted for 4.03 percent of mobile traffic for the month on Android. While that might seem small, when compared to previous months where it was barely a blip on the radar, it’s quite a large step forward. In all, Chrome accounted for 1.14 percent of mobile usage. Time will tell if the growth for Chrome on Android continues, but it seems to be moving in the right direction.

Chrome on Android only works on devices with Android 4.0 or later. That means that most Android users cannot even use the browser if they want to. Clearly, this means it will be impossible for Chrome to become the number one browser on the platform just based on the numbers. As more devices upgrade to ICS and above, the potential install base will grow even more, and thus, the amount of people using Chrome should grow.

Chrome is very profitable for Google, so obviously, it hopes to see continued growth from the browser. It drives search traffic for Google and it does not require them to share ad revenue with another browser maker. It’s clear that iOS users are content to stick with Mobile Safari, but Android users seem far more receptive to making the switch to Chrome.

[via Cnet]

Samsung rumored to have three new devices in development

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:28 AM PST

A little smartphone creating company you may have heard of known as Samsung is rumored to be very busy bringing some new smartphones along. Not that this should come as any surprise, after all, if Samsung wants to stay on top of the game, it needs to constantly innovate. Today, SamMobile has broken the rumor that Samsung is working on three different devices.



The first device Samsung is rumored to be working on is being called “Project J.” Based on the reports, it looks like this device could be rumored Galaxy S IV. Samsung could be announcing this phone as soon as April of next year. The rumor did not specify any specs on the device, but we’ve heard rumors a quad-core CPU, a 5-inch screen, and a 13 megapixel camera.

The next device seems aimed squarely at the Transformer Prime. Samsung appears to be working on a 13.3" tablet with QWERTY dock. Unfortunately, that’s about all we know about this possible tablet, so we will have to wait to see if more rumors surface about this tablet. It could be something awesome, but only time will tell.

The last rumored device is a mid-level version of the Galaxy Note II. It looks like this variant will be coming to Europe and will feature lower specs than the standard Note II, and thus, will probably be more affordable. It’s rumored that this device will not feature an S Pen, so that feature would be exclusive the higher-end version. Remember, all of these devices are still rumors until we hear something official from Samsung.

[via SamMobile]

SwiftKey knows about Android 4.2 issue and is working on it

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:45 AM PST

One of the most popular keyboard apps on Android is SwiftKey. However, users with Nexus devices who upgrade to Android 4.2 might find that their installation of SwiftKey gets completely deleted upon upgrading. For some users, the keyboard only gets soft disabled, which is annoying, but not nearly as much as problem as the users who are finding the keyboard to be completely deleted.



In some cases, when the keyboard gets deleted, it can take all of its user data with it. This obviously makes the re-install process a lot more annoying. Thankfully, we’ve found out that SwiftKey is aware of the issue, and they are working on a fix.

SwiftKey posted on its blog and addressed the issue: “This is a rare but unfortunate report that we’ve recently been made aware of. We have contacted the Android development team to understand what caused this in their code. We are doing what we can on our end to resolve this issue for those affected.” For whatever reason, the keyboard and Android 4.2 are not playing nice, and this post makes it sound like it’s an issue cause by Google’s code and not SwiftKey.

SwiftKey recommends re-downloading the keyboard from the same source you purchased it from originally. This means you will only be downloading the app and not purchasing it again. Hopefully, this issue is fixed soon, but for the time being, it looks like simply downloading the keyboard again fixes the problem, so it’s not the end of the world.

[via Android Central]

Nokia looking for a Linux expert for HERE Maps, not an Android phone

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:04 AM PST

Recently, Nokia posted a job listing seeking a Linux expert, and we all became excited that the cell phone giant would be crossing over to the Android side. Unfortunately, Nokia confirmed that the job listing is not related to the creation of an Android smartphone. Instead, Nokia is looking for the Linux expert to help them with HERE Maps.



After all the news reports of Nokia making an Android came out, Nokia's head of media relations Doug Dawson took to Twitter to shoot down the hopes and dreams of people wanting an Android-based Nokia. Nokia’s HERE Maps is not going to keep itself working on other platforms, and that’s exactly the void Nokia is looking to fill. "Our recently posted job is linked to our HERE Maps support for other platforms," Dawson says, "including iOS and Android."

HERE Maps is Nokia’s competitor for Google Maps and Bing Maps. The service is built with the NAVTEQ technology it purchased a while ago. It already powers Nokia Maps on Windows Phone, and HERE Maps will allow it jump onto other platforms such as Android and iOS.

HERE Maps has already become available on iOS, though it was not necessarily met with rave reviews. Users did not seem happy with the Nokia-style UI on iOS. Users also complained on nonsensical navigational directions. Hopefully, Nokia will get things squared away better when it hits Android.

[via SlashGear]
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