Monday, September 24, 2012

Google Alert - android

News10 new results for android
 
Jelly Bean is coming to the Galaxy S3.
CNET
Samsung's Galaxy S3 is widely viewed as one of the top Android-based smartphones on the market. The device boasts a dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and shipped with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). A big draw for consumers is its ...
See all stories on this topic »
Apple's 4-Inch iPhone 5 vs. Android 4-Inch Plus Devices
Tech.pinions
On Android the app lets me see about 6.5 messages and the iPhone shows me 6 full messages, which is one full message more than the iPhone 4S. My conclusion is that the 4.6″ Galaxy Nexus provided no significant value with respect to email over Apple's ...
See all stories on this topic »
Android Updates Google Maps as Apple Maps Flails
NBC Bay Area (blog)
Google added more features to its Google Maps app this week, at the same time Apple's iOS 6 update was released and kicked the search titan's map software off the iPhone. The new update makes it easier to customize searches on the maps and sync ...
See all stories on this topic »
Netflix Pushes More Immersive Android App Update
PC Magazine
"We're really excited about our new experience on Android,"Chris Jaffe, Netflix's director of product innovation, said in a blog post. The video streaming and DVD rental company understands that more people use Netflix on mobile devices, citing the ...
See all stories on this topic »
How Amazon Plans to Tackle a Lack of Tablet-Optimized Android Apps
TIME
Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets have a lot to offer that vanilla Android tablets don't–lower prices and a larger media selection, for example–but a huge selection of tablet-optimized apps isn't one of them. Still, Amazon has a few ideas on how to improve ...
See all stories on this topic »

TIME
While Apple's Maps Falters, The Android Ad Men Fight Dirty
All Things Digital
Those holding the Galaxy S3, Samsung's recent flagship Android smartphone, look down upon the Apple acolytes. This time around, Motorola was also quick to capitalize on anti-Apple sentiment. Now under new, Googley management, Moto had no problem ...
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Reserve game or movie rentals with Redbox for Android
CNET
In the past, it was easier to load the Redbox Web site and reserve copies of movies or games there. The reserve feature is especially useful in heavily populated cities, where something might be gone by the time you make your way to the physical Redbox.
See all stories on this topic »
Siri-ous New Voice Assistant for Android devices
The Herald | HeraldOnline.com
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 24, 2012 — /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- AVX is a newly released voice assistant for Android that is particularly useful in the car and is making waves due to it's extensive list of features that outshine even what Siri on the iPhone ...
See all stories on this topic »
Opera Mini 7.5 for Android hands-on
The Verge
When it comes to browsers, Android users have long been spoiled for choice — aside from the default, pre-installed Browser app, options include the ubiquitous Chrome, which left beta in late June, the popular Dolphin, which markets itself on the basis ...
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ZeroDesktop Extends Cloud Services Brokerage Solution to iOS and Android ...
Sacramento Bee
SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 24, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- ZeroDesktop, Inc., a leading developer of next-generation personal Cloud Operating System and Cloud Service Brokerage solutions, today announced the expansion of its portfolio of Cloud Services ...
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Blogs5 new results for android
 
Samsung Galaxy S III Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Update Starts Hitting ...
By Natasha Lomas
Samsung has begun rolling out Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) to its Galaxy S III smartphone in Europe -- which could mean it's the first non-Nexus Android phone to get the 4.1 update.
TechCrunch
Netflix extends new user interface experience to Android phones ...
By Richard Lawler
Netflix's new user interface experience popped up on Android tablets last year before progressing to the iPad and finally iPhones just last week, but now.
Engadget HD
Opera Mini 7.5 update for Android adds Smart Page for social and ...
By Sarah Silbert
Opera Mini for Android has been upgraded to version 7.5, bringing with it a new \
Engadget
Android 4.1 comes to Galaxy S III; 15 more models to follow - GigaOM
By Kevin C. Tofel
Samsung is wasting little time in getting Android 4.1 to its successful Galaxy S III smartphone. Although slated for an October release, the company has the software available in one country now and it listed the 15 other Galaxy devices that will ...
GigaOM
Samsung Begins Galaxy S III Android Jelly Bean Rollout...In Poland
By Matt Brian
Samsung begins rolling out Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) to Galaxy S III devices, starting in Poland.
The Next Web

Web1 new result for android
 
Android Authority - Google+
Android Authority - Eat, Sleep, Android. - Android Authority is an established, independent voice that covers the latest Android news, Android phone reviews, ...
https://plus.google.com/+AndroidAuthority


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MOGA Bluetooth gaming controller set to drop soon

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 03:12 AM PDT

Gaming and Android have become good buddies lately. On tap this year, we have OUYA and XBMC. We’ve also seen the likes of Ringbow, DRONE and Gameklip. People like games, but they don’t always prefer to use the touch controls on their phone for hours on end. Thumb cramps anyone? This is the niche where the MOGA Bluetooth controller sits nicely.

Let’s get the bad (or good?) stuff out of the way: MOGA only has compatibility with games that have been specifically crafted for gamepads. So if you have that latest issue of Minecraft for Android, you may be out of luck. With that out of the way, let’s talk about this niche market and how many options are available at the moment for the serious gamer. I mentioned a few above, but really, the possibilities are almost endless.

The reason behind this burgeoning industry is that smartphones, by and large, are becoming more useful through their powerful GPU’s and CPU’s like the ARM Cortex A15. The only problem, for the serious gamer, is the poking about the touchscreen: nothing beats an actual gamepad. I can assert that this is true after playing a first-person shooter once with a touchscreen. My hands hated me for 2 days after that. Had I used a nifty d-pad like the MOGA, I would have had less strain on my joints. But enough about my lack of gaming foresight…

If you are interested to pick one of these u and add it to your growing zoo of gaming weaponry, PowerA,  the awesome company behind MOGA, has already worked out deals with major mobile game developers. Gameloft, Namco, Sega, Atari and Remedy Entertainment are currently on that list. Finally, the controller is set to release October 21, with a price tag of $50. Start saving your allowance now, kids.

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This article, MOGA Bluetooth gaming controller set to drop soon , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Happy Fourth Birthday Android!

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 02:25 AM PDT

Keith Bellvay

Can you believe it has been four years since the little green Android shuffled out of Google HQ, smiled sweetly and then launched its assault on the smartphone market? According to IDC, in the second quarter of 2012, there were 104.8 million Android smartphones sold, representing a 68.1 percent share of the market.

The open source platform was originally released on September 23, 2008. So, four years ago yesterday, the Android platform was actually released. It had been announced in November 2007 by the Open Handset Alliance as a potential competitor for Apple's all-conquering iPhone, which had been released in June 2007. The opening salvo in the war was the HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1 released in October 2008.

We had to wait until 2010 for the long-rumored "Google phone", which turned out to be the HTC manufactured Nexus One, to hit the market. That same year Android outsold iOS and it has continued to do so ever since. The Android Market has morphed into Google Play and serves up over 600,000 apps and games to Android users everywhere. With over 20 billion downloads of Android apps and games, as of June this year, it seems to be doing pretty well.

Over the years we've had Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. Here at the Android Authority offices we spent a luxurious Sunday afternoon gorging on all manner of desserts as a tribute to the best mobile operating system on the planet. So raise your cream cake or ice cream cone and make a toast to Android "Here's to another four years!"

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Happy birthday Sonic! Sonic CD, Sonic 4 Episode 1 and 2 get price cuts on Google Play, Fourth-gen Google Nexus smartphone coming by the end of the year?, Amazon Appstore celebrates its first birthday with a number of discounted apps


This article, Happy Fourth Birthday Android! , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Globalfoundries says their new 14 nm transistors can boost battery life by 60%

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:50 AM PDT

Globalfoundries is a company that deals with the fabrication of chips. Companies like Qualcomm or Texas Instruments design chips, but then they have to send those designs to someone like Globalfoundries to make the physical products that handset makers then put into their devices. The chips in today’s flagship phones are made with transistors that are either 28 nanometers (Snapdragon S4) or 32 nanometers (Samsung Exynos 4 Quad) in size. Making transistors smaller has numerous advantages. First, you can get more chips out of a silicon wafer, which means the prices of chips goes down. Second, smaller chips use less electricity, so they run cooler and they also give you more battery life. Third, because smaller chips use less power and make less heat, companies can make them go even faster.

Now that you have that background information, let’s get to the actual news: Globalfoundries is announcing that they’re ready to make chips using 14 nanometer transistors. Chips using these transistors will supposedly “tape-out” next year. To put it another way, chip designers can start producing sample 14 nanometer chips as early as 2013. And at some point in late 2014 or early 2015, there’s a high probability that you’re going to be able to buy a phone with one of these new 14 nm chips. They should deliver 60% more battery life than an equivalent 20 nanometer chip. What’s funny is that 20 nanometer chips aren’t even out yet, so we’re talking about about something that’s really futuristic here.

Can companies keep on making smaller and smaller transistors? Some say yes, others say no. Making chips with smaller transistors means building new chip fabrication plants, and those aren’t exactly cheap. Last year Intel committed to spending $5 billion to make a fab in Arizona.

We hope we explained all this clearly. We’re chip geeks, and we hope to turn you into one too!

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This article, Globalfoundries says their new 14 nm transistors can boost battery life by 60% , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 benchmarking – which one is better?

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:46 AM PDT

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3

Now that the iPhone 5 has been officially launched in several markets, we're able to compare it with the hottest Android handsets in town. In fact we have already pitted it against the Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Nexus, the HTC One X and the LG Optimus 4X HD. In case you're also interested in durability tests, you'll also have to see our iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 drop test performed right on iPhone 5 launch day.

But what about benchmarking? Pre-release iPhone 5 benchmark tests revealed the iPhone 5 is by far one of the best performing iPhones out there, and that it can match and even surpass some of the hottest Android handsets in town, Galaxy S3 included.

Once the iPhone 5 was actually launched, several websites put the iPhone 5 through various tests to see what it's capable of. Naturally, one of the Android devices that was immediately compared with the iPhone 5, when it comes to performance, was the Galaxy S3, the best-selling Android handset of the year, although other devices such as the HTC One X or the newly launched LG Optimus G popped up for comparison in some of the tests.

The results? Like it or not, the iPhone 5 is clearly one of the best phones of the year, even if it packs only a dual-core processor. But is it better than the Galaxy S3? As you expect, there's plenty of disagreement on the matter. In what follows, we'll take a look at various reports from AnandTech and PCMag, two publications that have independently tested the device. We're also going to look at a CNET report mentioning those tests, although it's worth saying that the latter has not actually performed the tests.

AnandTech tests

AnandTech put the iPhone 5 through a variety of tests including Geekbench, BrowserMark, SunSpider, Google's V8 and Octane benchmarks and GLBenchmark 2.5. In every test (see screenshots attached in the gallery below) the iPhone 5 did a lot better than any of its predecessors.

Before showing the results, several explanations are offered on the A6 processor and its performance in tests:

As always, our performance analysis starts out on the CPU. Although we originally thought the A6 ran its two CPU cores at 1GHz, it looks like max clocks range between 800MHz and 1.2GHz depending on load. Geekbench reports clock speed at launch, which varied depending on CPU load. With an app download process in the background I got Geekbench to report a 1.2GHz clock speed, and with everything quiet in the background the A6 reported 800MHz after being queried. This isn’t anything new as dynamic voltage/frequency adjustment is in all smartphones, but we do now have a better idea of the range.

The other thing I noticed is that without a network active I’m able to get another ~10% performance boost over the standard results while on a network. Take the BrowserMark results below for example, the first two runs are without the iPhone 5 being active on AT&T’s network while the latter two are after I’d migrated my account over. The same was true for SunSpider performance, I saw numbers in the low 810ms range before I registered the device with AT&T.

The publication notes that the A6 chip inside the new iPhone is able to deliver twice the performance of the A5 found in the iPhone 4S. As for GPU performance, the iPhone 5 almost matches the iPad 3.

Unfortunately for Galaxy S3 fans that would like to hear the Galaxy S3 does better than the iPhone 5, the tests performed showed that in all cases the Galaxy S3 is mentioned, the iPhone 5 does better than the Android handset. It's worth pointing out that the article was not a comparison with Android devices but rather testing against the previous-generation iPhone, which was also updated to iOS 6.

However, an other Android handsets surprised in tests, coming out ahead of the iPhone 5 in a few GLBenchmark 2.5 tests, but also ahead of the Galaxy S3.

PCMag tests

Unlike AnandTech, which compared the iPhone 5 mostly to the iPhone 4S throughout its article, PCMag went ahead and declared the smartphone "the fastest smartphone in the land:"

We crown the iPhone 5 speed king after pitting it against every other iPhone we’ve tested, along with today’s top Android phones.

The iPhone 5 looks to be the fastest smartphone we’ve ever tested at PCMag.com.

The publication used five tests to measure the performance of the new iPhone 5: SunSpider, BrowserMark, GUIMark 3 Bitmap, Geekbench and GLBencmark 2.5 see the gallery below for actual results.

PCMag concludes:

A phone’s hardware performance can’t be taken in isolation, but it’s definitely a piece of the puzzle. Based on these benchmarks, the iPhone 5 lives up to the promise of being twice as fast as the iPhone 4S. It’s also, for now, the fastest handheld computer sold in the US.

Controversy

A CNET iPhone 5 benchmark report stirred some controversy on Google Plus where xda-member Adam Outler called out the publication on Google+ for misrepresenting iPhone 5 tests:

CNET posted a bogus report on benchmarks. I had problems believing that a dual core from apple would be faster than every Android device so I decided to go to the source. Turns out the Galaxy S3 and the Nexus7 both score higher benchmarks than the iPhone 5.

You can see here for yourself. IPhone scores 1590, Galaxy S3 scores 1766. These are the benchmarks mentioned in the article below.
Android benchmarks: http://browser.primatelabs.com/android-benchmarks
iPhone benchmarks: http://browser.primatelabs.com/ios-benchmarks

He is right to question the tests in the article, but only because that CNET story hit the print, so to speak, on September 16, six days ahead of the iPhone 5 launch. However, the article titled "iPhone 5 benchmarks surface: Performance doubles" does not say the iPhone 5 is better than the Galaxy S3, or any other Android device, in tests, but it looks only at a then-unconfirmed Geekbench result, and compares the iPhone 5 with its predecessor:

The iPhone 5′s A6 processor appears to be roughly twice as fast as any chip in an existing iOS product, if results posted by Geekbench prove to be accurate.

The results show a score of 1,601, beating the dual-core A5 and A5X processors in the iPhone 4s and third-generation iPad (Retina), respectively. [...]

If these iPhone 5 benchmarks are legitimate, they would match Apple’s claims. “With the new A6 chip, just about everything you do on iPhone 5 is noticeably faster — up to twice as fast compared with the A5 chip,” Apple states on its iPhone 5 features page.

CNET's story was (coincidentally or not) updated on the same day Outler posted his comments on Google Plus with this line:

For reference, the Samsung Galaxy S III with a Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core chip rated at 1.4GHz landed at the top of Android benchmarks. [Links to http://browser.primatelabs.com/android-benchmarks]

But CNET did not say the Galaxy S3 did better than the iPhone 5, just as it didn't say the iPhone 5 did better than the Galaxy S3 either before the update.

Also the Geekbench browser Outler mentions and CNET links to (see above), do not offer such a huge performance variation. The iPhone 5 is at 1588 right now in that test compared to 1590 (Outler's Google+ post), 1601 (CNET's iPhone 5 pre-release test) and 1640 (AnandTech's test).

As for the Galaxy S3, here are the current scores for the different Galaxy S3 versions:

  • 1753 – Samsung Exynos 4412 1400 MHz (4 cores)
  • 1674 – Samsung Exynos 4412 1400 MHz (4 cores)
  • 1583 – Samsung Exynos 4412 1400 MHz (4 cores, LTE)
  • 1429 – Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8960 1500 MHz (2 cores) – North America
  • 1395 – Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8960 1500 MHz (2 cores) – T-Mobile
  • 1388 – Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8960 1500 MHz (2 cores) – Sprint
  • 1370 – Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8960 1500 MHz (2 cores) – Verizon

So the quad-core Galaxy S3 seems to be better than the iPhone 5, or on par with it in Geekbench Browser tests, depending on what version we're talking about. As for the dual-core Galaxy S3, it's still trailing behind the iPhone 5. We'll certainly keep an eye on those tests and see how the Galaxy S3 performs once it receives the Jelly Bean update.

In the same test, the Asus Nexus 7 currently has a score of 1526.

Conclusion

After we've seen the first iPhone 5 benchmarks, we can conclude that the new iPhone is going to be a tough handset to beat.

Does this mean the Galaxy S3 is a worse choice than the iPhone 5 and therefore should not be purchased? Absolutely not.

Does this mean you have to look at benchmarks before buying any device? Not unless you're specifically interested in such tests – that means “absolutely not” for average users who will most likely not observe any significant changes performance-wise during their day-to-day smartphone-related activities.

Will more iPhone 5-related benchmark comparisons be made in the near future? Absolutely yes, just wait for Jelly Bean to come out for the Galaxy S3, not to mention the launch of the Galaxy Note 2 and the LG Optimus G.

Finally, we'll also tell you that we haven't performed any of these tests ourselves, and that we're looking at what other people are saying about these devices, and their performance as shown by their tests, or existing tests performed by others.

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This article, iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 benchmarking – which one is better? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Apple’s desperately trying to recruit former Google employees who worked on Google Maps

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:18 AM PDT

Apple released a new version of iOS last week, and chances are you’ve heard that the Maps application in it is a bit … broken. For reasons that haven’t been officially stated, Apple decided to stop working with Google on Maps. Instead they built their own application that integrates fancy new features like “Flyover”, but at a huge cost. The actual mapping data, as in where streets are, where cities are, where major points of interests are, and so on and so forth, a lot of that stuff is either inaccurate or completely missing.

According to TechCrunch, Apple is looking to fix this problem as soon as possible, and they’re doing that by trying to hire people who used to work at Google on Google Maps. It’s not really a surprise to hear this, companies do this all the time. What’s surprising is that Apple released Maps in the application’s current state. Many, even the Apple faithful, are suggested that the company should have waited a year or two before pulling the trigger and giving Google the boot.

What’s Google’s response to all this? They haven’t said anything on the record, but it’s all but confirmed that they’re busy working on an iOS version of Google Maps. Hopefully it’ll be out by the end of they year, because we’re going to get annoyed helping all our friends with iPhones get from point A to point B over and over again.

Why should Google even bother releasing Maps for iOS? Because Google makes all their money from advertising. The more people that are using their services, the more people they can serve ads to, which means the more money Google can charge for their ads. And what does Google do with all that money? Hire more talent to make their products and services even better!

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This article, Apple’s desperately trying to recruit former Google employees who worked on Google Maps , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean update rollout begins in Europe

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:56 AM PDT

Samsung has promised back at IFA that the Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3 will come "very soon". Then a company representative told CNET.uk that the much awaited update will arrive as soon as October, without giving away more details, such as versions and the markets that will get the upload first.

The good news that we got this morning is that the Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean update has just begun rolling out for the international version of the device.

According to SamMobile the first country to receive the Galaxy S3 Android 4.1 update is Poland. The update should be available via Kies and Over the Air. The code of the firmware is:

  • I9300XXDLIB/I9300OXFDLI1 – Poland, unlocked

If you own one of the devices listed, check your phone for update notifications. If you decide to install Jelly Bean over the air, make sure to use a stable WiFi connection and have more than 50% battery life. The update can also be installed via Samsung's Kies sync software. In case you don't get a notification, you might want to restart the device.

kies jelly bean galaxy s3

The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update will bring a slew of enhancements and new features to your Samsung Galaxy S3, including Google Now, resizable widgets, and Project Butter.

For now, we have no word about which markets will follow, but we expect more news soon. Stay tuned — we'll be updating this post with new information about the carriers and countries where the Android 4.1 update has become available.

[Update] The initial version of this post stated that the Jelly Bean update has begun rolling out in Romania. That is not correct. We will keep you posted.

According to a thread on XDA-Developers, the update is available on Kies for several versions. The download weighs in at 774MB. XDA users who tried it confirmed that the file is indeed the official Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3 and fully functional. The CSCs (consumer software customization) available are: ALB, BGL, CMF, COA, CYO, CYV, ERO, EUR, MSR, ORL, ORS, SEB, SEE, TMT, TOP, TRA, TSR, TWO, VIM, VVT, XEH, XEO, XEZ, XSK

Other countries to get the update are Croatia and Macedonia.

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This article, Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean update rollout begins in Europe , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Pink Samsung Galaxy S3 deploying in Korea next week

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 11:11 PM PDT

Samsung has been hard at work marketing the Galaxy S3. In addition to the surplus of advertisements, the company is trying to make the device appeal to as many different personalities as possible. What's the best way to do this? Release more colors of course!

After previous rumors of new colors, we thought Samsung was all done. But behold, it is releasing a pink Galaxy S3. This will join the original Pebble Blue and Marble White colors as well as the newer colors, including Amber Brown, Garnet Red, Sapphire Black and Titanium Grey. In case anybody is counting, there are now a total of 7 rumored colors for Samsung's flagship device.

While all of these new colors, especially pink, will not be available worldwide initially, they will undoubtedly make their way around the world eventually.

I find this move by Samsung to be much more than completing the rainbow of Galaxy S3 colors. The company is attempting to boost the interest of females. This is absolutely a good thing because it is no secret that women tend to favor iOS over Android. In fact, I think more companies should be coming up with phones or colors that are in fact designed for women.

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This article, Pink Samsung Galaxy S3 deploying in Korea next week , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Apsalar sheds some light on regional smartphone market shares, outcomes are rather surprising

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:53 PM PDT

Apsalar, a mobile analytics company, has just released some pretty interesting information. They took the current U.S. market share of smartphone operating systems and organized it by region. The results make us think that maybe, just maybe, the location of a person really does affect the type of smartphone they ultimately choose.

Generally speaking, the southeast heavily favored Android, while the northeast and west coast favored iOS. What was interesting is that in some states, it wasn't even a contest. For example, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Alaska and New Hampshire were all overwhelming in favor of iOS. In addition, Virginia, Iowa, Washington D.C., Missouri and North Carolina were all heavily in favor of Android. This totalled out to be 32 states for iOS and only 18 states for Android.

Apsalar used a very specific method of determining which devices would be included in the study. They surveyed the 100 million devices that are currently activated in the U.S. In order to qualify, these devices had to have been used in the past six weeks.

Now, you may be scratching your head at these numbers. Why on earth is iOS claiming so many states when the current market share tells us that there is significantly more Android devices activated than iOS devices? This is because Apsalar tracks six iOS devices for every one Android device. This means that all of the activated Android devices in the US were not included in this study. In order to compensate for the bias, Apsalar supposedly adjusted its results.

While Apsalar isn't currently tracking all active smartphones, it is slowly increasing its coverage. It is currently being funded by six different corporations totalling over $5.8 million. They are currently tracking over 275 million iOS and Android users worldwide. If all of this wasn't enough, they are working directly with 1,000 developers that are using over 1,200 apps. This type of data clearly states that Apsalar knows what they are doing. It will be interesting to see the data once they get a higher percentage of Android users involved.

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This article, Apsalar sheds some light on regional smartphone market shares, outcomes are rather surprising , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Augmented reality laser tag app called Hex3 AppTag hits Android and iOS

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 09:45 PM PDT


Laser tag is a lot of fun. For many of us, it was a staple of childhood fun. For many more of us, it remains a staple of adult fun. There is nothing quite like putting on that vest and stepping into the area to shoot some people with some laser beams. It is now possible to get that kind of action without having to go to a laser tag place or buy the equipment yourself. It comes in an Android and iOS application called Hex3 AppTag.

Okay, so if you wanted to use Hex3 AppTag you actually would have to buy laser tag equipment. What comes in the package is the Hex3 AppTag Blaster and an application to make it work. It’s quite simple, actually. You attach the phone to the Hex3 AppTag Blaster and turn on the application. The Blaster actually uses high frequency tones to communicate with the app, so it doesn’t interfere with any other processes. According to Engadget, you can even take the handle off and put it on a real gun if you wanted to.

When will the Hex3 AppTag be available?

While the blaster and application are not yet available, the release date is sometime in the near future. You can get the Hex3 AppTag Blaster on pre-order for $59.99. Presumably, that will include the application you need to play.

What makes this product so very interesting is the augmented reality aspect. With your phone acting as a viewfinder, you can look through the phone at your targets in order to shoot them. When you shoot, your phone will show you where the laser went and who it hit. There is also single player mode, so even if you have no friends, you can still play. For your viewing pleasure, here’s an official video of some kids playing multiplayer mode.

Of course, the application won’t be stuck on what it has now. Hex3 will be opening up the SDK to developers who can create their own games or otherwise modify the game to their liking. This definitely sounds like a home run for the Android world. Even for the iOS world. So, who’s down for a Hex3 AppTag Apple v Android world war?

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This article, Augmented reality laser tag app called Hex3 AppTag hits Android and iOS , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Robin updates to version 2.0, gets new commercial [video]

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 12:17 PM PDT

We looked at Siri competitor Robin for the first time just a few months ago, but it has already made its way to version 2.0, getting a visual makeover in the process. Will the new look and new features finally give Siri a run for its money?

The most notable of the new features is the overhauled user interface. While there was nothing wrong with the old UI, the updated version is indeed nicer to look at. Other features include the new news room feature, which will read headlines from a variety of categories, and a personal newscast of your Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Though it dubs itself “the Siri challenger,” Robin is far more focused on traffic, directions and parking, which explains why many of the new features lean that way, such as the proactive traffic alerts. This feature notifies you of traffic alerts as you drive, allowing you to look for an alternate route.

Unlike many Siri competitors on the Android market, Robin has a useful method of hands-free activation: simply wave your hand near the device to activate it. This makes using it for navigation on other in-car features much more useful.

Check out the new commercial for Robin below to see a few of the new features in action. If you want to see for yourself, the newly-updated Robin is available in the Google Play Store.

Have you had a chance to try Robin yet? Do you think it’s a worthy competitor to Siri?

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This article, Robin updates to version 2.0, gets new commercial [video] , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.