Thursday, July 19, 2012

Android Community

Android Community


Verizon posts Q2 earnings with 3 million Android phones sold – 50% smartphone adoption

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:54 AM PDT

In their usual fashion Verizon has posted their Q2 2012 earning report this morning. Just as expected, the numbers were all rather positive for Big Red with things continuing to climb. For the most part we focus on Android and wireless numbers, but did notice Android had outsold the iPhone this quarter too. More details below.

For one, their wireless service revenue grew around 7.4% to $15.8 million year-over-year, and their retail services grew 8.6% compared to Q2 2011 as well. Not to mention they’ve added 1.2 million retail customers while confirming that smartphone adoption and usage is now past the 50% of all subscribers. Pretty impressive numbers for the wireless company, that’s for sure.

In Q2 Verizon sold roughly 2.9 million Android smartphones, and about 2.7 iPhones. Between all the new devices sold and customers added their retail customer count alone is exceeding 94 million. I sure wish they were all paying me monthly payments. Then Verizon took the moment to talk about two key factors in their wireless network. That is 4G LTE and their new Share Everything data plans. This week we announced that Verizon has now rolled out LTE to over 337 markets in the US — and they confirmed that today. Stating over 230 million people in the U.S are blanketed with their 4G LTE services. Verizon even stated that their Share Everything plans were going better than expected, when asked about adoption during the Q and A session.

[via Verizon]


Auralux: A simple yet excellent new RTS game for Android

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Lately Android and mobile games have all been about extremely impressive graphics, stunning visuals, or flying Angry Birds. Today however we have a brand new game that is as equally addicting, extremely simple, relaxing, and fun to play. It’s called Auralux and it’s a brand new simplified (in every way possible) real-time strategy game. From the developers that helped bring Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto III to Android, you’ll want to check this this free game out.

Auralux really is pretty hard to explain, and the screenshots will certainly not give off a good impression. Simply for the fact that they are very plain and simple looking. Don’t let the minimalistic graphics fool you though because this games is loads of fun. You just need to try it yourself. I’ve played a good 3-4 hours of it straight and find it exciting, challenging, yet relaxing at the same time — I’m at odds. The developers Wardrum Studios explain it by stating: “Auralux is an abstract and simplified real-time strategy game designed to provide the ultimate relaxing, cerebral experience.”

For those that like RTS games you can almost think of it like a very generic and basic version of Warcraft or Starcraft. You start with a world, and it create marines, or what the call “units” every second. There’s no time consuming mining, or gathering of gold here though — Auralux does it all. You can add your units to the world for quick upgrades, then you’ll be churning out two units per second. Once you’ve gathered an army you can head to other planets and consume them — which then also churn out one unit per second, or attack nearby worlds.

Be cautious though, as you attack others and deplete your world of units, you are also open to attack and trust me they’ll come at the worst times. There’s no blood or gore, instead just a simple and relaxing melody of music that plays at the same beat as the game. It really sounds odd but this game is way more exciting than I thought it would be. I can’t put it down.

Auralux will be exclusive to Tegra devices for the first few weeks, and will land for all Android devices soon. It is completely free, and loads of fun. If the boring looking screenshots or my simple description don’t have you sold — don’t take my word for it. Try it today completely free from the Play Store or the NVIDIA Tegra Zone links below.

Auralux Play Store link
Auralux Tegra Zone link

Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-14-40 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-14-57 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-15-59 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-22-54 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-27-04 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-27-23 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-28-37 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-28-26 Screenshot_2012-07-19-09-28-07


Verizon launching 4G LTE in 33 new markets tomorrow – over 400 by end of year

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 04:14 PM PDT

In what seems to be a bi-weekly event these days Verizon Wireless has announced yet another set of markets that will be receiving the upgrade to 4G LTE (long term evolution). Verizon has continued to roll out upgrades to their wireless network at a faster pace than all the others — in terms of 4G LTE — and starting tomorrow another 33 markets will get flipped to 4G.

The announcement today confirms that as of tomorrow over 337 markets across the US will now be blanketed in Verizon 4G LTE services. A pretty huge number considering AT&T is no where near that, T-Mobile hasn’t even started yet, and the Now Network just launched their first ones last week. Verizon is also expanding their coverage in 32 markets as well, so this week is another huge one for Big Red. Here’s the 33 new locations starting tomorrow:

El Dorado/Magnolia and Russellville, Ark.; New London County, Conn.; Fort Pierce/Vero Beach and Melbourne/Titusville, Fla.; Columbus and Rome, Ga.; Burley, Idaho; Mattoon, Ill.; Anderson and Muncie, Ind.; Manhattan/Junction City and McPherson, Kan.; Lafayette/New Iberia, La.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Bozeman/Livingston, Kalispell and Missoula, Mont.; Goldsboro/Kinston, Roanoke Rapids and Rocky Mount/Wilson, N.C.; Zanesville, Ohio; Meadville and Punxsutawney/DuBois/Clearfield, Pa.; Orangeburg, S.C.; Sherman/Denison, Texas; Cedar City and Logan, Utah; Rutland/Bennington, Vt.; Lynchburg and Winchester, Va.; Bellingham, Wash.; and Beckley, W.Va.

Verizon also states in today’s report that by the end of 2012 they’ll have reached their goal of over 400 markets with 4G LTE speeds across the US. A pretty big accomplishment in just under 2 years. Now that you’ll be getting 4G LTE I’d suggest you check out the reviews below of a few of Verizon’s newest and best 4G LTE capable devices.


Qualcomm Q3 report shows strong year-over-year gains

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 02:59 PM PDT

Qualcomm has released its financial results for Q3 2012, and even though the company is showing some losses from the last quarter, things are looking pretty great for Qualcomm year-over-year. Take, for instance, total revenue, which was down 6% from last quarter but made a 28% increase from the same time last year, coming it at a pretty solid $4.63 billion. We see something similar happening with Qualcomm’s operating income, which sits at $1.38 billion for the quarter – that’s a 9% decrease from last quarter but a 24% increase year-over-year.


Yet again, it’s the same story for Qualcomm’s net income, with the $1.21 billion figure down a whopping 46% as compared to the last quarter, but up 17% over Q3 2011. Operating cash flow ($922 million as of the end of the quarter) was the only one to break this trend – it’s down 27% year-over-year.

Still, despite posting decreases when compared to the last quarter, Qualcomm appears to be in pretty good shape. Return of capital to its investors is sitting at $802 million, with $429 million of that being paid out as cash dividends. Qualcomm is expecting to stay strong throughout the rest of the year, looking to its 28 nanometer chipsets and the semiconductors to bring in a significant amount of money as the year progresses. Have a look at the story timeline below for more stories about Qualcomm.

[via SlashGear]


Nexus 7 suffering from screen defects and separation

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 01:49 PM PDT

The brand new Nexus 7 tablet from Google and ASUS is a mighty fine tablet. Especially considering it only runs users $199 for such an awesome device. We love ours and you can see for yourself in our full review. Sadly it appears that like many products, a few users are having defects from manufacturing. We are hearing multiple reports that the Nexus 7 screen is separating from the body, or lifting up causing it to creak a little.

A few threads have appeared over on XDA and other places regarding dead pixels (bound to happen on LCD’s) as well as screen separation. The second one being the problem we’re seeing the most. We saw similar reports last year from the IO edition Galaxy Tab too. It looks like the adhesive holding the glass and screen in place is giving away for some, and causing it to lift up to a noticeable level.

Is your Nexus 7 suffering from any problems like this? Is your screen not flush with the rest of the device? We have some good news (if you call fixing it yourself good news.) Apparently multiple reports state the screws on the rear of the device aren’t too tight, and those are causing the slight lift in the display. The rear is extremely easy to pop off — just like a smartphone — and can be easily snapped back into place (see our picture below). Users are claiming a simple tightening of said screws under the hood will tighten it up and solve this problem. However, be extremely careful as over-tightening a screw can cause the screen to crack or warp.

Pictures and more details on the issue and a fix are available at this XDA thread. With such a huge product launch there was bound to be a few having problems. Hopefully this is a limited case but we’ll keep our eye on this for more details.

3T8A95251 nexus_backer-540x3601
Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : Nexus 7
    Manufactuer : Asus
    Carrier : NA
    Announced Date : June 27, 2012
    Release Date : TBA
    Also Known As : Google Nexus 7, MeMo 370T
Display
  • Screen Size : 7 Inch
  • Resolution : 1280x800
  • Screen Type : IPS LCD
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 7.81 Inch
  • Width : 4.72 Inch
  • Depth : 0.41 Inch
  • Weight : 340 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 4325 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : NA
Software
    Android OS:
  • 4.1.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • AMR
  • MID
  • MP3
  • WAV
  • WMA
    Video Playback:
  • h.263
  • h.264 / AVC
  • 3GP
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
  • WMV
    Messaging:
  • IM
Hardware
    CPU : Tegra 3
    CPU Clock Speed : 1300 Mhz
    Core : 4
    Ram : 1000 MB
    Internal Storage : 8 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution : NA
    Sensors:
  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light
  • Proximity
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • A2DP
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
    FM Radio :
    NFC :


SwiftKey 3 update adds Jelly Bean and Nexus 7 compatibility

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 01:18 PM PDT

The extremely popular and most purchased 3rd party keyboard for Android has just received a hot new update. We’re talking about SwiftKey 3. Today they’ve posted a quick update that is available now in the Play Store that solves a few pesky bugs, but most importantly now supports Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the Nexus 7 tablet.

SwiftKey X was extremely popular but the new and improved SwiftKey 3 optimized for all devices, yet tailored around Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is even better. It is regarding as one of, if not the most popular and best keyboard for Android phones and tablets. We love SwiftKey here at Android Community, and you can see our hands-on below.

Today’s update not only allows support for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the Nexus 7, but also fixed some prediction popup bugs, a few UI issues, as well as improved performance. We aren’t seeing anything else new but this keyboard is so close to being perfect there really isn’t much to fix. Being a Play Store editors’ choice app for months on end you’ll surely want to buy this if you’re not a Swype fan. Hit the link below for both the paid and free versions of SwiftKey 3 for phones and tablets.

[via Play Store]


OUYA gets Ethernet port and tablet product manager

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 12:30 PM PDT

With over $5 million pledged and still 21 days to go before its Kickstarter campaign wraps up, OUYA is in a pretty good spot. Some remain unconvinced that OUYA will be able to pull off an Android-based console, but today, the team revealed what they’re calling a “secret weapon.” Muffi Ghadiali has been working behind-the-scenes on OUYA as the person in charge of the development of the product’s hardware and software, and today the OUYA team announced his involvement in the project for the first time. Some of you may know Ghadiali from his stint at Amazon’s Lab126, where he worked on developing hardware and software for the Kindle line of products. Now, he’s all OUYA’s and he’s got a plan to take this project from mere Kickstarter campaign to smashing success.


In an update posted on OUYA’s Kickstarter page, Ghadiali spent some time talking about his past work experience and what he’s doing right now to make OUYA a reality. He says he’s built consumer technology products for the past 15 years, with a focus on hardware and software, and that all this time he’s been building a path for the OUYA team to follow as they attempt to bring the console to market.

As for what he’s currently doing, he says that one of the top priorities right now is getting the OUYA SDK in the hands of eager developers. At first, it sounds like this SDK will just be a slightly modified version of the already-existing Android SDK, and that the plan is to add to it as time goes on. He also states that he’s been working very closely with NVIDIA lately, as the company has been helping him choose the right manufacturers for OUYA and showing him how to get the most out of the Tegra 3 chips OUYA will be featuring. Ghadiali claims that OUYA will be able to “support some intense games” as a result of working so closely with NVIDIA. Finally, after receiving a ton of questions from backers as to whether or not OUYA will include an Ethernet port, Ghadiali confirmed that the console will indeed feature one.

This has been a pretty big day for OUYA and its backers. Now that the console has a big name like Ghadiali’s attached to it, the sky’s the limit, and the announcement of his role in the project might do something to allay concerns that OUYA will only fall flat when its released. Of course, we won’t know the fate of OUYA until some time after the Kickstarter campaign comes to a close on August 9, so keep an ear to Android Community for more news about the little Android console that’s making some pretty big waves.

[via SlashGear]


Nexus One receives Android 4.1 Jelly Bean alpha build [Video]

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 12:18 PM PDT

Now that Google has officially released Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the masses and their open source project, developers are hard at work porting it to other devices. Sadly Google’s popular Nexus One isn’t receiving the same love as the Nexus S or Motorola XOOM when it comes to updates. Don’t worry though, developers have you covered and you can check out Jelly Bean for the Nexus One right now.

Thanks to the XDA Developers team Evervolv and their hard work we now have an early early alpha build of Jelly Bean for the aging Nexus One. Obviously this is still in the early stages, but it appears to function quite well. Google Now also works great and you’ll see plenty of that in the choppy video below.

Apparently almost everything is working great from data, wifi, bluetooth, sound, trackball, and more. We are hearing there might b a few rendering problems in the browser, but Google Chrome takes care of that. This is not a simple flash though. Users are required to flash the new Jelly Bean hboot first, which can be a dangerous process for those who are new. You’ll want to do a Nandroid backup of your current rom, as usual, and then proceed with caution and ask any questions before you start. For official details, download links, and change log (what’s working) you’ll want to head to this XDA thread.

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : Nexus One
    Manufactuer : HTC
    Carrier : AT&T T-Mobile
    Announced Date : December 15, 2009
    Release Date : January 05, 2010
    Also Known As :
Display
  • Screen Size : 3.7 Inch
  • Resolution : 480x800
  • Screen Type : AMOLED
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 4.69 Inch
  • Width : 2.35 Inch
  • Depth : 0.45 Inch
  • Weight : 130 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 1400 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 290 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 2.3.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • AMR
  • MID
  • MP3
  • WAV
    Video Playback:
  • h.263
  • h.264 / AVC
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
    Messaging:
  • SMS
  • MMS
Hardware
    CPU : Snapdragon
    CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz
    Core : 1
    Ram : 512 MB
    Internal Storage : .512 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution : 5 MP
    External Storage:
  • MicroSD
  • MicroSDHC
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 720p Video Recording
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • GSM
    GSM Band:
  • 850
  • 900
  • 1800
  • 1900
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 2.0
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Cellular location
  • Wi-Fi location
    FM Radio :
    NFC :


Google Alert - android

News10 new results for android
 
Android won't save media players
CNET
It isn't Sony's first Walkman to run Android (in January the company unveiled the Z series) nor is Sony the first company to use Android for media players. Samsung and Archos, for example, have used the OS with the Galaxy Player 4.2 being Sammy's most ...
See all stories on this topic »
HTC prepping Android 4.1 update for One XL and One S
CNET
... prepping Android 4.1 update for One XL and One S. Among the latest phones destined for Android 4.1 are HTC's One XL and One S, according to Australian carrier Telstra. Lance Whitney. by Lance Whitney. July 19, 2012 8:13 AM PDT Follow @lancewhit ...
See all stories on this topic »
Android Security Improves with Jelly Bean, but Only So Far
LAPTOP Magazine (blog)
Google has beefed up security in the latest version of Android, making it more difficult for malicious hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the mobile operating system. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean uses full address space layout randomization (ASLR), explained ...
See all stories on this topic »
Android Jelly Bean SDK released to public
InfoWorld
Google's Android development team announced Wednesday evening that the full software development kit for Android 4.1 (a.k.a. Jelly Bean) is now available to the general public, and provided some tips and tricks for working with the new software, to boot.
See all stories on this topic »
Steve Jobs Android comments barred from Apple-Samsung trial
ZDNet (blog)
Reuters reports that Apple wished to keep anti-Android statements made by the late co-founder out of the courtroom; arguing that the sentiments were not relevant to the patent case at hand. The statements Apple requested exclusion for were attributed to ...
See all stories on this topic »

ZDNet (blog)
Android Attackers Launch Fake App Market
InformationWeek
Having a difficult time distributing your malicious smartphone apps? Then why not just create an entire fake app store to peddle your wares? In fact, that appears to be the strategy employed by the creator of "myadroidmaklet.net," a third-party app market that ...
See all stories on this topic »
Android face-off: ZTE Grand X vs Intel Orange San Diego
ZDNet
In general, the Grand X pairs middle-of-the-road specs with a mid-tier price point. Here, we put it up against the Orange San Diego, the first smartphone in the UK to use the Intel Atom processor — a good example of the mid-tier Android phones the Grand X ...
See all stories on this topic »

ZDNet
Neowin: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean review
TechSpot
When Google announced and showcased Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at the I/O conference, it was understood that Google wanted this to be a somewhat minor update to last year's Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), so in this review, we'll just be covering all new ...
See all stories on this topic »
Only Android can refloat Nokia's sinking ship
ZDNet
However, Microsoft's U.S. smartphone market share remains relatively niche at present and breaking the stranglehold of leaders Android and Apple will not be easy," Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston said. Unless Microsoft is either going to continue ...
See all stories on this topic »

ZDNet
Android Hacker: Jelly Bean Tougher To Crack
InformationWeek
... thus foiling would-be kernel attackers. That observation comes via Android security researcher Jon Oberheide, CTO of DUO Security, who's been keeping an eye on the Google Android ASLR-related endeavors, as well as other security improvements.
See all stories on this topic »

Blogs5 new results for android
 
Skyhook SDK for Android touts always-on location finding without ...
By Jon Fingas
Enabling persistent location in a third-party mobile app isn't always easy -- it usually requires either cautious uses of updates, like iOS 5's.
Engadget
Android Developers Blog: Getting Your App Ready for Jelly Bean ...
By Android Developer Relations
We are pleased to announce that the full SDK for Android 4.1 is now available to developers and can be downloaded through your SDK Manager. You can now develop and publish applications against API level 16 using new Jelly Bean APIs.
Android Developers Blog
Nexus One receives Android 4.1 Jelly Bean alpha build [Video ...
By Cory Gunther
Now that Google has officially released Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the masses and their open source project, developers are hard at work porting it to other.
Android Community
Android Overload: 64GB Galaxy S3 Coming Later This Year, T ...
By Chris Chavez
Looks like you've made it to another episode of the Android Overload. This is the place where we stash all of the interesting gems from around the web that we've come across throughout our day. But, for various reasons (some more obvious ...
Android Phone Fans
SDK for Android 4.1 is now available | TalkAndroid.com
By Jeff Causey
Google released the Android 4.1 SDK today and it is now available for download. Included with the SDK are revised versions of SDK Tools (20.1.1) and NDK revision 8b. The new tools will let developers publish code up to API level 16 using ...
Android News, Rumours, and Updates


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