Android Community |
- Asphalt 7: Heat updated with two new Nissan cars and race tracks
- Samsung Galaxy Camera heads to Verizon with 4G LTE
- Official Nexus 4 bumpers sold out on Google Play
- HTC One VX budget smartphone available today from AT&T
- Motorola further details Jelly Bean plans, Atrix HD next on list
- Rockstar confirms Vice City delay, release set for late next week
- Jelly Bean leaks again for Verizon Galaxy S III
- Sony releases flash tool for Xperia devices
- Kindle Fire and Fire HD will receive Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features early next year
- Samsung Galaxy S III gets Jelly Bean 4.1.2 “Premium Suite” update
- HTC Butterfly X920e coming to China this month; 3G Butterfly goes global
- Amazon Appstore booming with help of Kindle Fire
- Android Community Nightly: December 6th, 2012
- T-Mobile adds three new markets to network refarm
- AT&T LG E940 1080p quad-core phone hits GLBenchmark
- Snapseed for Android Review
- T-Mobile to completely end device subsidies next year
- HTC’s November sales numbers still in a slump, down 31 percent
- Amazon launches A/B testing for developers, talks Appstore growth
- Google Play Books and Movies now available in Brazil
| Asphalt 7: Heat updated with two new Nissan cars and race tracks Posted: 07 Dec 2012 11:33 AM PST Today the folks from Gameloft have issued a quick update to one of their best games to date. That being one of my all-time favorite racing (or any) game for Android — Asphalt 7: Heat. This impressive racing game has always been a favorite of mine and now it just got better. They’ve announced two new Nissan Nismo special edition cars, new events, tracks and more.
Asphalt 7: Heat has been updated to allow all you racing fans some extra fun for the weekend as we get ready for the holidays. For those that don’t dare drive during the holiday rush, just stay home and drive through the streets of Tokyo in a brand new race track for Asphalt 7. Gameloft’s promises two new high speed special Nissan event challenges, a limited edition Nissan race track through the streets of Tokyo, followed by two brand new race cars you can save up and enjoy. The Nissan Juke-R, as well as a special edition Nissan Nismo Juke. Both of these new options are pictured below for you race fans.
For those that have ever updated a Gameloft game, especially Asphalt, it could take a few minutes so be prepared to find a nice stable WiFi connection. Even with the option for incremental updates in the Google Play Store Gameloft still wants me to download the entire 1.6 GB game again, so it’ll take a while. Give it a go right this minute by heading down to the Google Play Store.    |
| Samsung Galaxy Camera heads to Verizon with 4G LTE Posted: 07 Dec 2012 11:18 AM PST We received a few tips last week that Verizon and Samsung were planning to release the Galaxy Camera complete with 4G LTE speeds and today it appears to be official. While neither party has officially announced the connected smart camera for Verizon, it’s been confirmed right on Samsung’s official site.
After our review, we came away pretty impressed with the Galaxy Camera. The smartphone camera blend into one from Samsung, although you won’t be making calls with this device. We first spotted an FCC filing showing LTE under the hood, and now it is official. AT&T’s model went up for sale last month but it only uses their HSPA+ speeds.
The product page went live listing the Verizon-bound model as model EK-GC120, and so far we have no further details on when Verizon and Samsung plan to offer the smart camera. Most likely it will arrive before the holiday rush, as that just makes sense. You’ll enjoy that 4.8-inch display, quad-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and everything else we love about Android with the Galaxy Camera. Instagram photos never looked so good. Once Verizon and Samsung officially announce the 4G LTE Galaxy Camera we’ll update with pricing, details, and a release date. Based off of AT&T’s price, we’re expecting a similar $499 price point from Big Red. Are you interested in the Galaxy Camera now that Verizon will be offering it with their blazing fast speeds? You can upload those awesome 16MP photos and 1080p video super fast to share with the world. Device Info
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 [via The Verge] |
| Official Nexus 4 bumpers sold out on Google Play Posted: 07 Dec 2012 11:09 AM PST Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past month or so, you probably already know that Google has been having some issues keeping the Nexus 4 in stock. The phone, which ships with some solid specs and can be purchased unlocked for an excellent price, has proven to be pretty popular with the Android faithful, which means that many are facing long shipping times or sold out alerts. It turns out that isn’t the only thing Google is having stock issues with, as the official Nexus 4 bumper is now listed as sold out on the Google Play Store.
It isn’t hard to see why, either – even though the bumper offers less protection when compared to other cases, it still gets the job done. The bumper only costs $20, which is cheap when you consider just how much some other cases can cost. The inexpensive price tag and the fact that it’s made for the incredibly popular Nexus 4 seem to have made a deal too good for Nexus 4 owners to resist. There’s no word on when these bumpers will become available again, so now it’s time to play the waiting game. The good news is that a rubber bumper isn’t nearly as complex as a smartphone, so it shouldn’t take very long for more to be made. Of course, even if these bumpers do become available again soon, there are still the stock issues with the Nexus 4 to worry about. Indeed, the Google Play Store currently says that 8GB Nexus 4s are sold out in the US, while those who opt for the 16GB model instead have a 6-7 week wait ahead of them. That means if you order the 16GB Nexus 4 today, you might not get it until we’re closing in on February. That’s not a desirable situation in the least, so here’s hoping that Google and LG get their stock problems sorted out soon. |
| HTC One VX budget smartphone available today from AT&T Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:56 AM PST After initial launch plans back in November were delayed, today the folks from AT&T have announced their new budget friendly HTC One VX is available right now. HTC’s new pocket and wallet friendly smartphone is available in stores and online for the low low price of just $49.99 and we have all the details on this impressive phone below.
The One VX would be considered top tier just about a year ago, but now in a world of HD displays, quad-core processors and more this solid and rather impressive smartphone can be yours for only $49.99 and a new 2-year contract from AT&T. That cash still gets a beast of a smartphone powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Sense UI 4, and Qualcomm’s very capable dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. You’ll be enjoying games and more on the 4.5-inch qHD 540×960 resolution display, and the phone features 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, and a micro-SD slot for expanding storage. The only other downfall of this smartphone is they’ve lowered the rear camera down to 5 megapixels, compared to the usual 8MP on most HTC devices, but then again for someone not needing the best of the best $49 is hard to beat here. AT&T announced this new budget phone rather silently, and HTC didn’t say much either. HTC’s busy promoting their new Verizon-powered DROID DNA, and AT&T is pushing the new HTC One X+ quad-core smartphone. Either way this holiday season AT&T customers have an excellent choice in the HTC One VX. Get it today from AT&T and enjoy that beats audio integration. Device Info
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[via SlashGear] |
| Motorola further details Jelly Bean plans, Atrix HD next on list Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:45 AM PST Ever since Motorola announced that it plans to update a lot of its more recent devices to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, many customers have been waiting for patiently for their upgrade to arrive. Some handsets, such as the DROID RAZR M, the DROID RAZR HD, and the DROID RAZR MAXX HD have already received or are in the process of receiving their updates, but there are plenty more handsets left to upgrade. Motorola has updated its list of devices getting Jelly Bean upgrades, covering most major regions of the world like the US, Canada, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America.
First up on the list for the US? The Atrix HD, which is scheduled to begin getting Jelly Bean sometime this month. Canada’s Atrix HD and DROID RAZR HD will be getting the upgrade to Jelly Bean in Q1 2013, as will a number of handsets in the US. In fact, looking at the list it seems that the US Electrify M and the XOOM WiFi + 3G/LTE are both scheduled for Q1 2013 upgrades to Jelly Bean. Other than those, there are a number of handsets that Motorola is planning to upgrade to Jelly Bean, but doesn’t have a specific timeframe for yet. In the US, that includes handsets like the Electrify 2, the PHOTON Q, DROID RAZR, RAZR MAXX, and the DROID BIONIC. Have a look at Motorola’s full list for the US below. Sadly, heading over to the Motorola Owners’ Forum to view the full list for all regions also gives you this warning: “If your Android 1.5 (‘Cupcake‘) through Android 2.3 (‘Gingerbread‘) model is not listed here, it is not slated for any further Android operating system upgrades.” This means that some of you will be stuck on Cupcake or Gingerbread indefinitely, so it may be time to upgrade. Motorola has a number of Gingerbread devices that qualify for its “trade up” program, but you’ll still need to shell out for a new handset, albeit with a discount from the company. Is your device going to get an upgrade to Jelly Bean, or will you be left with an older version of the Android OS?  |
| Rockstar confirms Vice City delay, release set for late next week Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:20 AM PST If you’re one of the many who was extremely excited about the classic Grand Theft Auto: Vice City coming to Android, only to be disappointed when it was pulled from the Play Store we have an update. I wouldn’t call this good news but today Rockstar Games has confirmed the delay, apologized, and hopes to release the game sometime late next week.
In other news, the iOS version launched on time and works just fine. Thursday GTA: Vice City was set to launch on Android for their 10th anniversary of the awesome game, but it ended up being riddled with issues, validation errors, and eventually they removed the game from the Play Store. We’re hearing it was released early and caused issues with their system, but that should of been an easy fix.
The image above is the quick comment that was released this morning on the Rockstar Games Blog. As you can see they clearly apologize, but then mention their “goal” is to release the game for Android by the end of next week. Sadly I have a feeling that won’t be happening either. GTA:3 was delayed multiple times, and we have a feeling the same situation might happen here with Vice City. Hopefully they’ll be able to launch the game for all us Android fans next week and we’ll be enjoying the beaches of Miami in no time flat. We’ll report back as soon as Rockstar announces an official date or when it actually becomes available. |
| Jelly Bean leaks again for Verizon Galaxy S III Posted: 07 Dec 2012 09:41 AM PST If you’re the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S III from Verizon Wireless we have some good news this afternoon. It appears that yet another version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean has leaked for the smartphone, and now it’s only a matter of time before an official update arrives from Sammy and Big Red. This isn’t the first leak, but it’s a brand new crisp version of Jelly Bean for you to try out.
We’ve seen Android 4.1 Jelly Bean leak for the Verizon Galaxy S III before, but this build is labeled November 30th and is the newest official version that has leaked yet. This is official software from Samsung, but has leaked to the public and isn’t technically official yet. Today’s leak is build VRBLK3 and is available now from XDA. For those that would rather wait for the official over the air update directly from Samsung and Verizon, we’re hearing that is just a few weeks ago. Reports from Droid-Life are suggesting December 14th is the release date set by Verizon for the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S III. Although this is simply an anonymous tip. As soon as Verizon confirms the update with support documents we’ll know it’s coming soon, and we’ll be sure and update with all the details. Hopefully you GSIII owners on Verizon will get some tasty Jelly Beans before Christmas. Then you’ll be enjoying Google Now, project butter, expandable notifications and all that goodness that comes from Google’s latest OS. For an idea of what to expect you’ll want to check out this video from Samsung. Device Info
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| Sony releases flash tool for Xperia devices Posted: 07 Dec 2012 08:49 AM PST Sony has released a new flash tool for its Xperia devices. This tool will only work for Xperia devices with an unlocked boot loader. The purpose of the tool is to take devices that have a custom firmware installed and moving it back to official Sony software. Sony is calling this new software a beta, so that means it’s not 100% finished.
Sony also included a step-by-step process for using the program. The process is fairly easy, and the only thing that varies between devices is which button needs to be held down after you turn the phone off. In all, Sony has seven steps listed, and the whole process should be relatively painless. The video below breaks the process down. Sony has posted a giant list of all the regions where the program can be used to flash a device back to factory software. The list is massive, and seems to include nearly every country where Android devices are available. The only countries not able to use the program are China, North Korea, Iran, Burma, Cuba, Sudan and Syria. If you own one of the supported devices and want to ditch your custom ROM, Sony is making the process a little easier. [via Sony] |
| Kindle Fire and Fire HD will receive Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features early next year Posted: 07 Dec 2012 08:12 AM PST Kindle Fire and Fire HD owners are going to get some exciting new accessibility features during the early part of 2013. These new features are designed to help users who are vision impaired make use of Amazon’s popular tablets. The new features are called Voice Guide and Explore by Touch. These features were previously only available on Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch devices.
Amazon says that the Voice Guide feature uses tech from a company called IVONA, which is a leading text-to-speech software engine company. Using the voice technology, any action performed by the user is read aloud. For example, when a user launches a book, the tablet announces the title of the book and the fact that book has been opened. Visually impaired users are able to navigate the tablet via the Explore by Touch feature. Users can swipe a finger across the screen and the tablet will announce whatever they happen to touch. Tapping an item again will cause the device to perform the action. This allows users to scroll through their books and find exactly which one they want. [via Slashgear] |
| Samsung Galaxy S III gets Jelly Bean 4.1.2 “Premium Suite” update Posted: 07 Dec 2012 07:34 AM PST Samsung has begun rolling out the Jelly Bean 4.1.2 update for Galaxy S III owners. Samsung calls the new features in the update “Premium Suite.” It adds features that users are already enjoying on the Galaxy Note II to the incredibly popular Samsung phone. So far, users in Poland have received the update while users in India, the UK, France, Sweden, Italy, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Algeria should see it soon.
The second set of features is called the enhanced features. The first big feature there is multi-window support, which makes multitasking more enjoyable. It allows users to see two apps on the same screen simultaneously, which is quite convenient. Facebook Lock Ticker makes it easy to minitor Facebook feeds directly from the lock screen. Auto Share Shot allows users to share photos automatically. The video above is labeled part 1, which leads us to believe that Samsung is going to announce more features in the inevitable part 2 of the video. Keep your eyes locked to the update section of your phone, as the update should be rolling out gradually to other regions soon enough. [via Slashgear] |
| HTC Butterfly X920e coming to China this month; 3G Butterfly goes global Posted: 07 Dec 2012 06:32 AM PST Last month, HTC showed off the J Butterfly, a monster of a smartphone with a 5-inch screen and impressive hardware under the hood. The J Butterfly that was first shown off was Japan only, with the device coming to the US as the Droid DNA. Now, buyers in China will be able to grad a version of the phone in a couple of weeks. It looks like the International version will be HTC Butterfly with 3G connectivity.
HTC will be selling it in brown, red, and white. It features a 5-inch HD LCD 3 1080p display, a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor and 2GB of RAM. It also comes with 16GB of internal storage space, and a 2020mAh battery to power the beast. Spec for spec, this phone is nearly the same as the J Butterfly and Droid DNA, just renamed for a new market. The only real noticeable change is the lack of 4G data connectivity. Still, it looks like a fantastic phone, and with the explosion of Android in the Chinese market, it should do very well. [via Slashgear] |
| Amazon Appstore booming with help of Kindle Fire Posted: 07 Dec 2012 05:44 AM PST Amazon’s Appstore is posting massive growth this year. A large reason for this large success is due to the popularity of the its Kindle Fire line of tablets, which do not have access to Google Play, so the Amazon Appstore is their only option. Amazon also has great developer features that are helping to spur the large growth.
The Kindle Fire line has grown to multiple devices since the original. However, it’s not all tablets, because there are a few phones that come with the Amazon Appstore preinstalled, which could also be helping the growth of the Appstore. Amazon also offers free premium downloads from time to time in an effort to pull in users on other Android devices. As I said previously, Kindle Fire devices do not support Google Play, which certainly helps stack the deck in Amazon’s favor. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; if a company has a popular product there is nothing wrong with using it to leverage something else in the line. With the popularity of the Kindle Fires continuing to grow, Amazon is likely see its Appstore continue to blow up as well. [via SlashGear] |
| Android Community Nightly: December 6th, 2012 Posted: 06 Dec 2012 07:15 PM PST We Android fans had a pretty big day today, with some very noteworthy news stories hitting throughout. Apple and Samsung have gone back before Judge Lucy Koh to continue discussions about the trial that ended with a $1 billion fine for Samsung. Meanwhile, we saw a heavily redacted settlement statement from the Apple and HTC patent trial. Today was also a big day for Google, as it and Nik Software launched the Android version of Snapseed on the Google Play Store – an app that we reviewed later on in the day.
MetroPCS has added the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G to its smartphone line up, but unfortunately it’s a phone that’s stuck on Gingerbread – at least for the time being. The Archos GamePad launched today, but only in Europe meaning those in the US are going to have to wait a bit longer. Today was the day that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was supposed to go up on the Google Play Store, but it was sadly pulled shortly after launch. It was a good day for DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD users, as Verizon and Motorola began pushing updates to Jelly Bean out the door. LG is blaming the Nexus 4 stock shortage on incredibly high demand (which seems like something we could have figured out for ourselves), and MediaMonkey released a beta Android app for its popular media player. Google launched Google+ Communities today, along with releasing Google Play Books and Movies in Brazil. Amazon told us that Appstore downloads have grown by 500% in the last year, while it seems that even an excellent handset like the HTC DROID DNA can’t help pull HTC out of its rut, as the company’s earnings were down 31% in November. T-Mobile told us that it will end all device subsidies next year, on the same day that it announced three markets for its mobile network refarm. We also heard that the Samsung Galaxy S IV could launch with an unbreakable screen, which is an interesting thought. Finally tonight, a mysterious new phone called the LG E940 has popped up in GLBenchmark – it has a 1080p screen, a quad-core processor, and it looks like it will be offered through AT&T. That does it for tonight’s Android Community Nightly, but be sure to check back with us tomorrow for all of Friday’s Android news. |
| T-Mobile adds three new markets to network refarm Posted: 06 Dec 2012 05:53 PM PST It’s been a pretty big day for T-Mobile, but the news just keeps on coming. On top of the day’s other news, T-Mobile has announced that it has added three new markets to its network modernization efforts. According to the company, customers in Seattle, Minneapolis and Atlanta should be experiencing faster data speeds on unlocked devices.
T-Mobile is making HSPA+ service available on its 1900MHz spectrum as part of its network modernization. This network modernization is costing the company $4 billion, so T-Mobile is spending quite a bit of money on its refarm. T-Mobile says that a total of 18 markets have been refarmed including these three new ones, and that it should be making more announcements before the end of the year (which is just a few weeks away for those of who haven’t been paying attention). Of course, next year is going to be big for T-Mobile, as it begins rolling out its long-awaited 4G LTE network. We don’t have a specific date for the initial launch, but we do know that T-Mobile is planning to kick off in early 2013. It has a lot of catching up to do, as Verizon plans to have its 4G LTE roll out done by the middle of 2013, and AT&T has been rolling out its LTE network at a very fast pace. T-Mobile was making headlines earlier today after it announced that it will be ending subsidization on smartphones next year. This obviously means contract-free smartphones, which is something that other carriers don’t like to offer. We’ll see how that will work out soon enough, but in the meantime, we’ll wait for more news on T-Mobile’s network modernization. Stay tuned. |
| AT&T LG E940 1080p quad-core phone hits GLBenchmark Posted: 06 Dec 2012 04:28 PM PST Now that quad-core smartphones are pretty much the norm, everyone in the smartphone market is shifting their focus towards larger 1080p HD displays and beyond. HTC has their DROID DNA, and now a new phone by LG has been spotted sporting similar specifications. Read on below for more details on this upcoming quad-core powerhouse from LG for AT&T.
Mid November we spotted a quad-core 1080p smartphone from LG that we reported about, but today we’re getting something even better — the carrier. In what appears to be a similar device what we have here is the LG E940 running running on AT&T’s network. Based on the GLBenchmark details that leaked this very well could be another flagship smartphone from old LG. The results confirm Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, a quad-core processor (probably a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro) and of course the star of the show here being the 1920 x 1080p full HD resolution on this bad boy. We’ve heard reports already of an LG Optimus G2 to replace their current flagship, and this could very well be it headed to AT&T. For a comparison the LG Nexus 4 was codenamed the E960, but here we have the E940 — although smaller numbers don’t mean a lower model with LG. The benchmark results don’t really reveal any other details aside from the few mentioned above, but we can expect at least a 5-inch screen and hopefully Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean by the time it hits the shelves sometime in 2013. Most likely we’ll see this 1080p phone and many many others at CES next month. See more yourself at GLBenchmark. [via Phandroid] |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:56 PM PST Editing photos on the go can not only be a headache, but it can also be expensive. There is no lack of photo editing apps on the Google Play Store, but some of them require an upfront payment while others aren’t exactly easy to use. Arriving today on the Google Play Store is Snapseed, which not only lets you edit and apply filters to your photos, but it also lets you do it all for free.
Whether you’re a newbie to the realm of photo editing or you’ve been doing it for years, Snapseed is suspiciously easy to use. Once you’ve selected the photo you want to edit, you select your editing tool or filter from the sidebar and then the app tells you how to make your changes. Most of these editing tools and filters use incredibly simple swipe controls: simply swipe up and down to select the enhancement you want to apply, then swipe left or right to adjust that enhancement.
Some features require a little more than just swiping around the screen, but for the most part, that’s how you’ll control Snapseed. The editing tools you’ll have at your disposal include things like crop, straighten, tune, and selective adjust, but if you don’t want to tinker around with all of those, you can have the app automatically adjust your image for you. Automatic adjust works pretty well for quick clean up jobs but if you want to make more specific adjustments outside of correcting the contrast and color, you’ve got those other tools to work with. The filters are especially cool and some of them are surprisingly deep. Using these filters, you can apply a vintage look, which makes your picture look aged, or go for full-on black and white. You can use the drama feature to increase the saturation and filter strength, or grunge to make everything look dirty and add an interesting filter to your image. Grunge is probably my favorite filter of them all, just because pictures end up looking so cool after applying it.
Of course, if you don’t like the edits you’ve made to your image, you can revert it back to the original. Once you’ve got it just as you want it, you can share it to your favorite social networks or email it out from right there in the app, as well as save it to your device. Snapseed also comes with Google+ integration, which allows you to share it to your Google+ profile very quickly. All in all, Snapseed is an incredibly cool app – though it may not have the same depth as other photo editors out there, you can still make plenty of changes with the app. Those who love to edit their photos will probably be kept busy by Snapseed for quite some time, and it isn’t hard to imagine this app having a presence on a ton of Android phones and tablets. After all, there’s a reason why it was named iPad App of the Year and why Google bought it: it allows you to easily edit and share images on the fly. Even better is that it’s completely free, so you might as well download it and give it a try considering you’ve got nothing to lose. Snapseed is available now on the Google Play Store [download link].       |
| T-Mobile to completely end device subsidies next year Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:37 PM PST We are hearing some interesting news today out of the T-Mobile camp. It looks like those folks are looking to shake up the mobile industry and make some massive changes. T-Mobile hopes to completely get rid of device subsidies attached to contracts and such starting early next year. This means no more discounted phones and 2-year contracts, instead you’ll be on value plans and make payments towards your purchase.
According to FierceWireless T-Mobile will be completely killing off subsidies starting next year. This model is something T-Mobile has been offering for some time. Instead of signing a new 2-year contract and getting a brand new Galaxy S III for $199 you’ll have no contract, join a value plan, and pay an additional $20 a month (or so) on your bill as you pay off that smartphone. Whether this is less out of pocket or not depends on a few different variables. T-Mobiles new man in charge Legere had this to say: “We think there is a huge room for a carrier to change in a way that the larger players will choose to or will not be able to respond to,” Legere said. He noted that the Value plans T-Mobile will offer next year will be “fair and simple pricing” with “low out of pocket expenses” for consumers. Whether or not Verizon or AT&T follow suite will be a big deal, considering you’ll be able to get contract free smartphones from T-Mobile and not on the others. This could really make a shift for the better and get the ridiculous 2-year contract model on the way out. With technology advancing as fast as it is and Samsung releasing new flagships yearly, do you really want to be stuck into a contract for 2-years. I sure don’t! Although this means we essentially finance our phones from T-Mobile instead of signing a 2-year contract. In 2013 T-Mobile will offer cheap value plans, and what they’re calling “iconic devices” for just $99 with $15 monthly payments to go along with those unlimited 4G data plans offered from the company. Another benefit here is users can bring unlocked devices (like the Nexus 4) over to T-Mobile and enjoy lower value plans than the competition offers. T-Mobile stated 80% of their activations last quarter were these new value plans, so they expect an impressive and smooth transition next year. Thoughts regarding T-Mobiles new plan? I just wish Google would buy T-Mobile already and start a mobile revolution. Yup, I just went there. [via SlashGear] |
| HTC’s November sales numbers still in a slump, down 31 percent Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST The folks from HTC have been facing some increasingly stiff competition. We’ve been following their sales numbers for some time now, a trend that keeps getting worse and worse, and today’s November sales surely don’t look any better. HTC recently released an impressive flagship smartphone in the US on Verizon Wireless. The HTC DROID DNA with a first of its kind 5-inch 1080p display, but it wasn’t quick enough to help out this month.
Despite releasing an improved HTC One X+, and the mighty powerful and impressive DROID DNA HTC’s profits just continue to tumble. According to Reuters this quarter isn’t looking any better than the last. November’s sales were down 31% compared to November 2011. Not a good sign at all. HTC still managed to have sales topping $732 million in the month of November, but they were still 31% lower than last year at the same time. With the holidays quickly approaching we have a feeling they’ll be slashing the price even further on that brand new DROID DNA hoping to rack up some sales. HTC recently inked a 10 year deal with Apple that will stop all those pesky and money draining lawsuits they’ve been engaged with for far too long, and they have multiple changes coming soon. Last month we reported they hired a new CMO to turn around their downward spiral, and yesterday another powerful flagship smartphone leaked to the rumor mill. Hopefully between some impressive new phones and the holiday sales HTC can get a little boost as we head into 2013. [via Talk Android] |
| Amazon launches A/B testing for developers, talks Appstore growth Posted: 06 Dec 2012 01:55 PM PST When it comes to Android apps, there aren’t many companies that give the Google Play Store a run for it’s money, but Amazon sure is trying. The Amazon Appstore comes pre-installed on a lot of the phones we review here at Android Community, and it’s the only app store Amazon allows on its line of Kindle Fire devices, despite the fact that they’re all based on Android. Today, Amazon announced that Appstore downloads have grown by 500% in the past year, which is an absurdly huge number.
As is usually the case, Amazon didn’t share any solid sales data, so we’re left to wonder where the Appstore was a year ago and where it is today in terms of downloads. Amazon also says that the number of games using the company’s GameCenter has doubled since the launch of the Kindle Fire HD, so it seems that tablet singlehandedly gave games on the Appstore quite the boost. It also seems that in-app purchases are the way to go for Appstore developers too, as 23 of the top 25 apps in October used them. Interestingly enough, all of those statistics were merely footnotes to Amazon’s more important announcement. Today the company announced that it has rolled out an A/B testing beta for Appstore developers. With A/B testing, developers can “test simultaneous treatments of their apps, receive data about what's worked best, and quickly adjust their apps to take advantage of this customer learning.” If you’re an Appstore developer and you want to give A/B testing a spin, you can download the SDK here. So, it would appear that Amazon is taking this whole Appstore thing very seriously. The Google Play Store is still easily the biggest Android app store around – and it most certainly will be for a while yet – but you can bet that Amazon will keep pumping resources into its own Appstore to make things work. We’ll just have to sit back and see how this all plays out as time goes on, so stay tuned. [via Amazon] |
| Google Play Books and Movies now available in Brazil Posted: 06 Dec 2012 01:21 PM PST Our good friends at Google have been hard at work bringing many of their music, books, and movies options to multiple parts of the world and today they’ve added one more. Overnight Google rolled out their Play Store Books and Movies to Brazil, and let everyone know with a quick post to Google+. Sadly Brazil is still waiting for Google Music, but this is the first step to bringing them more of Google’s services.
The Google Movies and Google Books tags were added to the Brazilian Google Play Store late last night, and users can enjoy brand new titles like The Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, and even classic Brazil titles like Diálogos ImpossÃveis. It’s not quite all that Google has to offer but this is certainly a good start. This week Amazon also started offering their books and movies to Brazil, so this seems like perfect timing for Google to add them to the officially supported list and get in on the action. Google’s been adding hundreds of movies and TV shows by the month, and their book selection is growing by the day. Hopefully next in line is Google Play Music, but we have a feeling that might take a bit longer. Music requires a lot of negotiations so that might be a slow process. Now that these options are live for Brazilian users you can buy books, as well as rent and buy Google Play Movies right from your favorite Android smartphones or tablets using local currency and more. Movie rentals range from R$3.90 and increase from there, but so far we aren’t seeing too large of a Brazilian selection. Stay tuned for more details as Google improves their library of goods. |
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