Android Central |
- Sony Xperia Z camera preview
- Synaptics Sensa concept tablet showcases problem (and solution) with shrinking bezels
- Fingerprints-on with Lenspen's latest Sidekick and Smartklear display cleaners
- Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE hands on
- Sony Xperia ZL hands-on
- Sony Xperia Z hands-on
- Teaching kids with Big Bird, smartphones and augmented reality
- Sprint to introduce local FM Radio on selected smartphones later in the year
- Jelly Bean rolling out to the HTC One X on Rogers
- Hisense unveils the 55 and 65 inch XT780 with integrated Google TV
- Viewsonic VSD240 Smart Display eyes-on
- Relive the NVIDIA CES press conference in its entirety
- Verizon chief McAdam thinks ending phone subsidies is a 'great thing'
- First look: NVIDIA Grid gaming server on an HTC One X
- Firefox for Android updated with better JavaScript performance and more
- iRig Recorder coming to Android at the end of January
- Mobile Nations 2013 CES Experience Day 2: Let's Hit the Strip!
- AT&T saw record number of Android sales in Q4 2012
- Mobile Nations at CES 13: Day zero
- Alcatel introduces One Touch Evo7 HD tablet with Jelly Bean and 4G capabilities
- Alcatel announces new Scribe HD LTE and 1080p Scribe X
- Sony Xperia Z heading to three UK carriers, Phones4U releasing in March
- First look at the Ubuntu OS on the Galaxy Nexus
- Hands-on with the ASUS Transformer AiO
- Hands-on with the ASUS Qube Google TV box
| Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:59 PM PST
One of the Sony Xperia Z's most noteworthy features is its 13MP Exmor RS camera. The upgraded sensor and lens combo has been talked about since last summer, and Xperias Z and ZL will be the first mainstream Western phones to ship with this new camera assembly. At CES in Las Vegas today, we took the opportunity to snap a few shots on the Xperia Z, in addition to testing its 1080p and HDR video recording capabilities. The show floor is a difficult environment for photography, but the Xperia Z seemed to hold up pretty well. Notably, the noise that affected earlier Xperia cameras in less-than-ideal lighting conditions seems to have been addressed in Sony's latest Exmor RS. Later, we tried out the Xperia Z's 1080p recording and HDR video capabilities, capturing just under a minute of footage in the elaborate Sony CES booth. Both left a positive first impression. Regular video footage, which can be recorded at up to 1080p, is crisp and clear, and the built-in mic was sensitive enough to capture subtle background noises. In HDR mode, you lose some fine detail, and very dark areas can result in some noise becoming visible, but the overall effect is very impressive. Note the details in the light fittings above the booth that are visible in the HDR video, but not the regular one. I's still early days, and the device we used to capture these photos and videos was far from final, so there's likely room for some improvement between now and launch day. But for a general idea of what to expect form Sony's latest smartphone camera, you can check out all our photo and video samples after the break. 
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| Synaptics Sensa concept tablet showcases problem (and solution) with shrinking bezels Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:46 PM PST
We're seeing plenty of manufacturers that are trying to remove as much space around the displays of their mobile devices as possible, but few are considering that this may actually introduce usability issues. Synaptics, a touchscreen solution provider for many popular handsets, was showing off a concept tablet called Sensa at CES 2013 to show how super-skinny bezels can introduce stray thumb inputs, as well as how they might be able to fix it with a rear sensor and touch rejection. 
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| Fingerprints-on with Lenspen's latest Sidekick and Smartklear display cleaners Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:42 PM PST
Lenspen has been making screen and lens cleaners for some time now, with its technology being used by many major camera manufacturers, and now it has a new line of smartphone and tablet cleaners as well. The idea here is that instead of using a towel to clean the screen, you use a carbon-covered pad that's much more efficient at picking up oils. The carbon absorbs much more oil than any towel can, and these stow away nicely to boot because they're about the size of a flash drive. The original Smartklear (the small red one) has been around for a bit, but now has a new shell to match the newest model, the tablet-sized Sidekick (here in blue.) These things work, and the idea is really cool if you end up cleaning smudges off your devices incessantly like we do. Beats the heck out of stuffing a microfiber cloth in your pocket all of the time. Stick around after the break for a quick look in a video and a few more pictures from the CES show floor. 
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| Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:14 PM PST
Just a day after Samsung announced that its flagship Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet will arrive on Verizon Wireless shelves in the coming weeks, the LTE-enabled unit reared its head at Samsung's massive CES booth here in Las Vegas. Other than the honking 4G LTE logo on the back (really, this makes the Note 2's tattoo look modest), this device is identical to the tablet we've grown to love-- same 10.1-inch display, same S-Pen functionality, and same TouchWiz interface. This unit will ship with Jelly Bean out of the box, and Samsung reps say that while there is no hard release date, we should expect it "shortly." Be sure to hit the break for more shots. 
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| Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:58 PM PST
It's no flagship, but there's plenty to like about the Xperia Z's little brother
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| Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:37 PM PST
Sony's first high-end phone of 2013 brings to the table a 1080p display and a glass-backed chassis
But Sony’s still hanging in there. It recently became the number two Android OEM in the UK. And though it’s yet to make much of a dent in the U.S. market, at least it’s got devices for sale on a major national carrier, which is more than can be said for some of the smaller Android players. So that’s where we are in the lead-up to the Xperia Z announcement. Unveiled just three months after the Xperia T launched, the Z is a device that shows Sony isn’t resting on its laurels, at least when it comes to hardware. It’s right up there with the fastest, most beautiful smartphone hardware available, and frankly, that’s a first for Sony. 
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| Teaching kids with Big Bird, smartphones and augmented reality Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST
I'll admit it -- I've rolled my eyes and filled up my e-mail's trash can and the hundreds and hundreds of mentions of "augmented reality" -- that technology that uses your phone's camera and puts cool things on the screen, on top of real life. But maybe I've been looking at it all wrong. It's not all about goofy symbols and flashing signs for places to go and putting funny faces on people. Qualcomm's showing off "Big Bird's Words" here at CES. The app uses the Qualcomm Vuforia system for an interesting way to help children expand their vocabulary. (We'll forget, for the moment, that you're letting your child play with an expensive smartphone here.) The idea is that the app puts a word on the screen, and your kid has to find that word somewhere in the house. Say, on that particular object. (There's no reason it couldn't also do the same with the object itself, we suppose, but this one's about the words.) Get it right, and Big Bird applauds you. Get it wrong and, well -- there are no losers here. C'mon, it's for kids! The big deal here is that Vuforia has added word recognition to its stables. Big Bird is just one example, of course. Check out the demo video above, and imagine the possibilities. 
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| Sprint to introduce local FM Radio on selected smartphones later in the year Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:26 PM PST
FM radio may not be top of the shopping list when shopping for a new smartphone, but nevertheless it's a feature many want to have. Sprint is jumping into the FM radio space having today announced a preliminary agreement with the American radio industry. It will enable Sprint customers to listen to local FM radio content on a range of their new smartphones starting later this year. All this is made possible by what Sprint refers to as NextRadio, which it also says will offer a range of interactive listener features not currently available -- although what those are remains a mystery. The announcement marks the first time a U.S. carrier will offer FM radio across a whole range of its devices. Demonstrations of NextRadio are taking place this week at CES in Las Vegas. The full press release can be found after the break. 
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| Jelly Bean rolling out to the HTC One X on Rogers Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:13 PM PST
HTC continues to roll out Jelly Bean to the One X across the globe, and right now folks on Rogers in Canada get their turn. You can check for the update in the settings menu (Settings > About phone > System software updates) and 635MB later you'll have Sense 4.1+ on an Android 4.1.1 base. As a One X user myself, I highly recommend you do this one. Google Now and project butter make this a great update to an already great phone. Source: MobileSyrup. Thanks, Jonathan! 
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| Hisense unveils the 55 and 65 inch XT780 with integrated Google TV Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:44 PM PST
Hisense is one of those OEM's that you may not have heard much about, but is a more household name in some corners of the globe. They first dipped their toes into the Google TV world with the Pulse set-top box, first announced back at IFA 2012 in Berlin. Now they have returned with their next Google TV hardware, and it's a little different this time around. Unveiled at CES in Las Vegas, the XT780 has Google TV integrated within. No set-top box this time. The XT780 will be available in both 55 and 65 inch variants, and as far as TVs go, it's a pretty handsome looking thing. With Google TV comes the usual sort of pre-loaded apps like Pandora, Netflix, Chrome browser and the Google Play Store. There's no mention of what kind of horsepower this TV is packing to run Google TV, or pricing and availability information at this time. The full press release can be found after the break. 
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| Viewsonic VSD240 Smart Display eyes-on Posted: 08 Jan 2013 12:30 PM PST
Best known for making displays for computers, Viewsonic is showing off the new version of its "Smart Display" line, the VSD240, at CES 2013. You'll here Phil say it at the start of the video -- you really can't call this a tablet. Viewsonic is positioning this as a display that you can use for your computer or other device, but just have Android available for when you want it. It's a 24-inch 1920x1080 multitouch display, with a full array of ports on the back for connectivity -- from USB to HDMI. Viewsonic tells us that the final model will be available with a DVI pass-through as well, which will let you power another display out of it. On the Android side, we're pretty much just looking at a "tablet" install of Jelly Bean 4.1, with not very many customizations that we could see. Pulling up the keyboard is quite comical, actually, as it's just the tablet one scaled up. We're looking at a 1.7GHz Tegra 3 chip powering this thing, and it seemed quite fast especially compared to the previous model. There's also 16GB of storage on-board, which is nice. Viewsonic expects this to come to market under $500, which is pretty competitive for a large multitouch monitor even without a full install of Android on it. Stick around after the break to see a quick eyes- and hands-on with the Smart Display, as well as a quick shot of the port selection on the back. 
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| Relive the NVIDIA CES press conference in its entirety Posted: 08 Jan 2013 12:07 PM PST
And now, NVIDIA has posted the press conference in it entirety online for us to enjoy at our leisure -- posted above for everybody. See all the official introductions for yourselves, and then be sure to check out our hands on coverage. We're pretty excited about it all. If you didn't get that impression yet, you might want to head back and check out the post-event podcast with Phil, Alex and Simon. More: Hands on with Project Shield, NVIDIA Grid 
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| Verizon chief McAdam thinks ending phone subsidies is a 'great thing' Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:58 AM PST
While he may like the idea of ending subsidies (what CEO wouldn't like to cut out a costly policy) he is not very sure that the customers will bite. AT&T Mobility Chief Ralph de la Vega also said that they are watching the T-Mobile strategy, and AT&T could make a similar move if it becomes popular. As it stands now, neither of the big two US carriers think customers like the idea of paying for their own phone and saving money monthly. With good reason -- people hate change, and people hate spending hundreds of dollars in up front costs. But if Verizon (or AT&T) would cut back on the monthly fees like T-Mobile has done, we think this would be a great thing as well. What say you? Holler in the comments. Source: Wall Street Journal 
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| First look: NVIDIA Grid gaming server on an HTC One X Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:47 AM PST
One of the more esoteric toys NVIDIA brought to CES this year is its new NVIDIA Grid server rack. For a good many of use, there might as well be little green hamsters running on little green wheels inside these rather cool-looking racks. (Don't ever let anyone tell you NVIDIA doesn't put a little style into what it does.) But the bottom line is that this is a rack of 20 servers, with some 240 GPUs, capable at cranking out some 200 teraflops of gaming to your smartphone or tablet. OK, not just yours. Lots of them. At once. You're not going to be buying this -- major gaming corporations will.
But that doesn't mean we didn't get a chance to actually see it in action. NVIDIA's got Grid rigged up at its booth here at CES, feeding a number of devices. We took a quick look at it pumping out some console-quality gaming to an HTC One X. The results were pretty darn good. (Especially considering a couple handicaps our demonstrator had to deal with. You'll see in the video.) All in all, NVIDIA Grid looks to very much be a viable service for getting games to all your devices, without actually having to have the games on your devices. Check it out after the break. 
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| Firefox for Android updated with better JavaScript performance and more Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:45 AM PST
Mozilla has updated Firefox for Android, and mixed in with the rest of the changes is a new JIT JavaScript compiler known as IonMonkey, which claims that it will allow web apps and games will run up to 25-percent faster. We all love faster. Of course, that's not the only change under the hood. The browser is now able to be used with the Google Now search widget, meaning if you do a search Firefox is listed as a way to carry it out. Another neat new feature is integration with "Safe Browsing." We've all seen notes from Google that a website we want to visit may be "harmful to your computer", and now that same database is in use in Firefox for Android. There is also a handful of boring but essential bug fixes and tweaks. Firefox for Android has come a long way, and it's well worth trying again if you were unsatisfied with it in the past. It's becoming my browser of choice on Android for general web-surfing. It's free (of course), grab it at the link above. 
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| iRig Recorder coming to Android at the end of January Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:20 AM PST
IK Multimedia has announced that they are bringing the iRig Recorder app to Android. iRig Recorder is a great and ultra-portable way to record audio on the go, and editing and export options make for a powerful piece of software. Combined with their hardware -- 3.5mm compatible microphones and a 3.5mm to XLR conversion dongle -- you can get darn near professional quality recordings saved right to your Android device. This is great news for musicians and anyone doing field work that requires high quality recording. Accessory companies have been notoriously slow to embrace Android. We get it -- it's hard to justify all the work when you're making money hand over fist from iOS devices. But the numbers are too big to ignore forever, and it's great to see companies that want to support the most popular computing platform in the world. Look for the iRig app in Google Play at the end of the month, priced at $4.99 for the full version. The press release is after the break. More: IK Multimedia 
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| Mobile Nations 2013 CES Experience Day 2: Let's Hit the Strip! Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:01 AM PST
The second day of the Mobile Nations 2013 CES Experience started out with a lot of sightseeing. After leaving the accommodations at the Rio, our team made it to Paris, Planet Hollywood, the Bellagio, the Cosmopolitan and Caesar's Palace…Eyes were wide and a great time was had by all. Hit the link below for some cool photos from the day, along with a wrap up on the evening of day 2! 
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| AT&T saw record number of Android sales in Q4 2012 Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:41 AM PST
AT&T reports its Q4 2012 earnings on Jan. 24, 2013. Source: Press release 
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| Mobile Nations at CES 13: Day zero Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:16 AM PST
Once again Mobile Nations has assembled at CES, and we've come together with the Cell Phone Junkie to talk NVIDIA's Project Shield, 4K (2160p) televisions, giant phones, low-end phones, and all the rest of the news -- and the show hasn't even officially started yet!
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| Alcatel introduces One Touch Evo7 HD tablet with Jelly Bean and 4G capabilities Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:03 AM PST
Not content with releasing 5 smartphones so far this week, Alcatel is also today announcing the launch of a new tablet with cellular data capabilities. The One Touch Evo7 HD is a 7-inch tablet, that can be upgraded to 3G/4G via a removable data module that can be installed or removed to each users desires. Spec wise, the Evo7 HD will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean over the top of a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with a quad-core GPU. It's pretty thin and light, coming in at just 10mm thick and weighing 12.35oz. There's a push on individualizing your tablet too with a full set of accessories coming to market with the tablet, such as flip covers, pouches, and colored frames to change the appearance of the tablet. Sadly we're not treated to any information regarding on board storage at this time, and while the specs we do know aren't going to set the world alight, the Evo7 HD could be a solid budget offering at the right price. As with their smartphones, Alcatel will be showing off the One Touch Evo7 HD at this weeks CES 2013 event in Las Vegas. The full press release can be found after the break. 
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| Alcatel announces new Scribe HD LTE and 1080p Scribe X Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:01 AM PST
Following yesterdays announcement of three new Android smartphones from Alcatel, they're back again today with the announcement of another 2 -- the Scribe HD LTE and the Scribe X.
The Scribe HD LTE looks to be the same device as the Scribe HD that was announced yesterday, but with the added bonus of 4G LTE data capabilities. It's a 5 inch device with a quad-core processor and Jelly Bean. Not bad. The Scribe X is a pretty interesting looking device. It's a much higher end smartphone from Alcatel, and packs some extremely competitive specifications. Like the Scribe HD LTE, the Scribe X has a 5 inch display, but this one is a full HD 1080p resolution display. It's packing a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, with a 12MP rear camera and a 720p capable front facing camera. We're also promised a bevy of creative features and accessories centered around creating movies, editing photos and wireless sharing to your TV. We're lacking any information on RAM, storage and battery size at this time, but on the face of what we do know, the Scribe X can potentially go toe-to-toe with the newly announced Sony Xperia Z. Both are to be shown off for the first time during the ongoing CES 2013 show in Las Vegas, and the full press release can be found after the break. 
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| Sony Xperia Z heading to three UK carriers, Phones4U releasing in March Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:26 AM PST
Following the Sony press conference at CES 2013, the announcement of the Xperia Z, the next question to ask is -- when and where can I get it? Sony is the number 2 Android smartphone OEM in the UK, after Samsung, so we had no doubts that we'd be seeing it receive a British launch. The good news is that the device itself isn't a carrier exclusive. O2, Vodafone and Three have all released statements of their intent to carry the new 5 inch, 1080p flagship smartphone from Sony. Dates are somewhat lacking, as is any indication of price. But, we do know that O2 will be carrying an exclusive purple version of the Xperia Z, along with the black version we saw yesterday. Vodafone intends to carry the Xperia Z "as soon as it is released in the UK," while Three simply says "in the not too distant future." High Street retailer Phones4U is a little more accurate with a release date though. In a press release issued by the chain, they announce their intentions to launch the handset on March 1 in store, with pre-registration beginning immediately on their website. That press release can be found after the break. Update - We've just received word from Clove Technology that they too will be stocking the Xperia Z. They expect to offer it in the same time frame as Phones4U, and currently are taking pre-orders for SIM-free devices. The price is pretty steep at £528, but we'd expect a high price for a device of this stature. Sources: O2, Vodafone, Three, Clove 
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| First look at the Ubuntu OS on the Galaxy Nexus Posted: 08 Jan 2013 12:03 AM PST Here we are, finally, with our first look at the Ubuntu operating system on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. It's certainly a vast departure from Android, but it is running on Android hardware, and we're all neckbeards at heart. And hacking a new OS onto an old phone is an interesting proposition in any case.
But let's face facts here: The Ubuntu OS, in its form we saw demoed tonight in Las Vegas, isn't anywhere near ready for prime time. It's not just laggy -- touch response seemed way, too, too. Hell, they wouldn't even let us touch it. That's not anywhere near fair to the developers, of course -- we know it's not ready yet. That's important to remember when the first system images are finally released, supposedly sometime in February. But what we did see tonight was kind of intriguing, especially in the context of a potential device for emerging markets. As Jerry pointed out in a recent podcast, you're not going to see an Ubuntu phone in a U.S. carrier store anytime soon. Mozilla's Firefox OS is in that same state of flux, too. But we do love the idea of something different. Something to play with. And so, for now, we'll have to remain content with a brief -- and buggy -- demo. 
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| Hands-on with the ASUS Transformer AiO Posted: 07 Jan 2013 08:59 PM PST
We've got our hands on something from ASUS that we didn't think would be around, and that's the Transformer AiO PC. To be honest it's easy to miss as an Android device because this thing also dual boots Windows 8. This 18.4-inch behemoth isn't actually a desktop computer... it's a tablet. The stand and base with the ports serves as a docking station for this device which can be removed and operated fully anywhere. It's got a nice hefty handle at the top, and a sturdy kickstand at the bottom. It's definitely heavy, so this will be more like a room-to-room mover than an out-of-the-house kind of device. There's a button on the side that flips between Windows 8 and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean seamlessly whether it's docked or in "tablet" mode. The Transformer AiO is running an unspecified ARM chip, but when you place it in the dock, you have the full power of an Intel Core i7 processor to help out with performance (especially in Windows.) It's a little unclear how the processor and OS switching is happening, however. This is definitely one of the weirder form-factors we've seen Android put on, but we enjoy the challenge of trying to understand the possible use cases for these things. Stick around after the break for several more pictures of the Transformer AiO. 
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| Hands-on with the ASUS Qube Google TV box Posted: 07 Jan 2013 08:58 PM PST
Asus spilled the beans on its newest Qube Google TV box earlier today, and now we've got our hands on it. With what we think may be the most interesting design to hit Google TV since... well, ever, the Qube seems promising. As far as the details go, things are a little sparse. We know it's running the current Google TV software with all of the amenities like Chrome and Youtube, and that the Qube will include 50GB of free storage from WebStorage.
Although the unit we got ahold of isn't working, we did get a solid feel for the connectivity options. You've got a full-sized USB port on the right side -- presumably for quick access to plug in drives and other devices -- and everything else is on the back. The back plate sports HDMI in and out -- for TV pass through -- as well as ethernet and another full-sized USB port. An analog in/out jack rounds out the group. The remote is a standard Google TV setup, with a little bit of "Nexus" flare in the coloring. There's also a full QWERTY keyboard on the back that seems to work well, which is important for the browsing-heavy Google TV interface. Overall ilt seems well built enough, with a striking design to say the least. We're hoping to have more time with the Qube while we're at CES, hopefully with one that is actually hooked up to a TV. For now, take a quick walk through the hardware with us in the video and several more pictures of the Qube after the break. 
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