Monday, January 7, 2013

Android Central

Android Central

Who won a free phone from Sprint and Android Central? Find out now!

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 03:38 PM PST

Sprint phone winners! With the first week of the new year almost under our belts, it's time to let you all know the names of the lucky people that won the SEVEN phones we teamed up with Sprint to give away!  If your name is listed below, watch your email as I'll be in touch in the near future to get your shipping info. Congratulations to all the winners, enjoy your new phones!

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Leaked renders show new colors for Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 02:19 PM PST

Android Central

We first heard whispers of fresh paint jobs for some of Samsung's 2012 devices a couple of months back. Among them was the Galaxy S3 Mini. The previous rumors from SamMobile said that the new colors for Samsung's 4 inch Galaxy S3 Mini would be landing in December 2012, or early 2013. 

Of course, December has been and gone, but SamMobile is back, this time packing some press renders of the new varieties. In addition to the current white version, it looks like we'll be seeing Onyx Black, Garnet Red and Titanium Gray. All these colors are available on the regular Galaxy S3, and unlike the Galaxy Note 2, it looks like we won't be seeing this one in brown. 

The Galaxy S3 Mini shares the general look and feel of the Galaxy S3, but in a decidedly lower spec body. It does come with Jelly Bean out of the box though, and now at least it seems like there will be more than just plain old white to choose from. No expected date for these new versions has been mentioned at this time.

Source: SamMobile

Falcon Pro update adds light theme and multi window support

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 01:23 PM PST

Android Central

The Falcon Pro for Twitter updates continue to come thick and fast, as today the developers have pushed another one out the door. The headline new features this time around are a "brand new sexy light theme" -- their words, not ours -- and multi window support on compatible Samsung Galaxy devices such as the Note 2. The light theme won't be for everyone, but multi window is a nice touch if you're rocking a device that has it. 

That's not all though, theres a bunch of other fixes and improvements that reads like this:

  • Better Retweet system, with 3 RT options
  • Better image upload, faster and more stable
  • Better double tap
  • Fixed character count with URL's
  • Fixed new tweet button not appearing on search
  • Fixed the FC on new tweet while on followers list
  • Fixed rotation issue on new DM
  • Little UI changes

Falcon Pro has quickly become one of the favorite Twitter clients around these parts, and the developers of the application are among some of the most pro-active we've seen when it comes to updates and new features. Grab a copy of the latest version for yourselves from the link above. 

Belkin introduces WeMo light switch, control your household lighting from your Android device

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 12:25 PM PST

Android Central

Home automation is the stuff nerdy dreams are made of, and Belkin is today introducing a new device to bring a little part of that to life. The WeMo Light Switch, being displayed at CES in Las Vegas, is a replacement for your standard household light switches with WiFi connectivity. The cool part -- it'll be controllable from your Android device. 

Android Central @ CES The WeMo connectivity means you can turn lights on or off from anywhere, schedule an on/off time, and doesn't require your Android device to be connected to the same WiFi network in order to work. So, you leave the office late, it's dark, and as you pull up on the driveway you can turn on the lights so you don't trip over the dog. OK, not the best example perhaps, but you get the idea. 

Android connectivity has been a much asked for feature of WeMo's existing, iOS compatible only, range of home automation devices. With the arrival of the WeMo Light Switch and the app into the Google Play Store, connectivity with their other devices will be opened up to Android users. An open beta will begin in February for users of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and "other leading devices." The Light Switch will become available this Summer. 

Source: Belkin

HTC One VX review

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 07:45 AM PST

HTC One VX

The HTC One VX looks to be a great (and cheap) way to get an entry-level LTE smartphone on AT&T

This may be one of those rare instances in which we know too much. For those of us who live and breathe smartphones all day long (and that includes many of you out there), it's tough to look at an HTC One phone without seeing the entire line in context. With regards for pecking order, there's the One V. The One S. The One S. (There's also the new One SV in Europe and Asia, and in the U.S. on Cricket.) And now, on AT&T, we have the HTC One VX.

Where the hell does this phone fit in?

To answer that question, you need to take it out of context a little bit. Instead of looking at where it sits in the HTC family, think about where the One VX sits in the AT&T lineup. Things start to make a little more sense in that respect, especially considering that as of this writing, the One VX is exclusive to the U.S. carrier.

As its name might imply (again, to those of us who live and breathe this stuff), and as the spec sheet spells out, the One VX picks and chooses from some of the best features of the other phones in the HTC One line. You can't help but compare it to its older siblings. But it's also important to remember where it stands for AT&T. This phone serves a purpose for AT&T -- filling a hole in its lineup -- more than it does for HTC. And that's OK. Because what we end up with is a really good entry-level phone.

So, with all that said, on to our HTC One VX review.

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From the Editor's Desk: Android Central at CES

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 04:49 AM PST

Phil Nickinson

In case you've been living under a rock the past week or so, CES -- the Consumer Electronics Show -- is this week in Las Vegas. And, yes. We're here. Or we're on our way here. You get the idea.

Android Central @ CES

It's easy to be overwhelmed by CES. The flashing lights. The noises. The jingling of coins from the slots. The gratuitous nudity. And that's just the airport.

So here's an easy primer:

  • This evening: Toshiba and NVIDIA are doing their things. You can probably figure out which is the bigger of the two. We'll be liveblogging, of course.
  • Monday: It's Media Day. That's the one where we really go nuts, with 1,700 sites in close quarters, all liveblogging the same thing at the same time. We'll be doing that, too.
  • Tuesday-Friday: CES actually opens at the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

See? That's not that difficult. So how can you keep up with all the Android news at CES? Just keep it glued to AndroidCentral.com/ces. It's that easy.

If you really want to get the behind-the-scenes scoop, though, you need to hop on your favorite social network thingy. Here's who's on the ground for us in Vegas:

And for all your non-Android news, we've got a host of folks from our other sites in town, too. Find them after the break, and get ready for some fun!

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Samsung announces new Bluetooth speaker with NFC and apt-X codec support

Posted: 05 Jan 2013 07:17 PM PST

Samsung Bluetooth Speaker

Samsung has just announced a new set of digital audio equipment, most importantly to us smartphone nerds being a new Bluetooth speaker for pairing with phones and tablets. This newest speaker, model DA-F60, supports both NFC pairing and the apt-X audio codec. This is a not-so-common yet interesting use of NFC, which lets users tap a tablet or phone to the speaker to initiate the bluetooth pairing connection meaning there's no messing around with a manual Bluetooth setup -- pretty neat.

Android Central @ CES

Apt-X, if you're not familiar, is a relatively new audio codec available in some devices that improves the dynamic range and quality of streaming bluetooth audio. The list of supported devices is small but growing -- including the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2, the HTC One (X, S, V) line and Motorola RAZR (original, HD, Maxx, i, M) line.

We should see a bit more of the new speaker (and Samsung's other offerings) at CES this week, and hopefully have some time to play around with these new ones. No pricing or availability is out just yet, but we should expect those shortly as well.

Source: Samsung (BusinessWire)
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