Android Phone Fans |
- Sony Xperia Z leaked again: Video stills show off water resistance and sexy skeletal frame structure
- Mad Catz gets in on Android gaming with new GameSmart universal Bluetooth tech
- Tablet Weights give you a stylish display stand for your slate
- Google Now says a giraffe’s tablet of choice is now the iPad [VIDEO]
- New SwiftKey Flow beta available
- Upcoming Google TV hardware teased, ASUS confirmed as partner
- HTC One SV headed to Cricket January 16th for $350
- ComScore: Android, Samsung still holding strong as market leaders
- Grand Theft Auto 3 update adds Transformer Prime support
- HTC’s Chou blames marketing decisions for bad 2012, ready to turn things around
- Don’t forget to sign up for Droid World in San Francisco this February
- Is this really our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S4?
- Samsung starts rolling out software update in the UK to fix Exynos security flaw – S3 gets it first
| Sony Xperia Z leaked again: Video stills show off water resistance and sexy skeletal frame structure Posted: 04 Jan 2013 05:53 PM PST
Ahhhh… The Sony Xperia Z. The equivalent of a smartphone Megan Fox for a smartphone whore like myself, I’ve been itching to get my hands on her -erm, it for weeks now. We’ve gotten a few good looks at the Xperia Z in a few recent leaks, but this time we’re learning of a few added features Sony will be advertising with the device (mostly marketing speak, but fun none-the-less), shown off in a few stills from an upcoming promo video.
The Sony Xperia Z’s latest trick? Water resistance. That’s right, you can drool, splash, or spill whatever liquid you’d like onto the Z — she’ll take it like a champ and come back for more. When it comes to the 13MP Exmor RS camera, turns out it will be capable of both HDR in either photo or video mode, something that should make bathroom for more interesting bathroom selfies. I’ve been waiting for an Android OEM to pick up where HTC left off, focusing on great camera hardware equal (or better) to that of the iPhone’s.
We also get another clear look at the rear of the device, showing a sexy, all glass battery cover. That would naturally lead you to assume the device would be prone to breakage ala the Nexus 4 (a phone now synonymous with fragility), but Sony promises the new “skeletal frame structure” of the Z will keep everything safe and sound. We’ll have to see. Couple these latest features with what we already know from the device — 1080p full HD display, quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB RAM — and the Sony Xperia Z is shaping up to be the smartphone of the year. Well, at least for now. More pics at the source link below. What do you guys think so far? [via XperiaBlog | ePrice] |
| Mad Catz gets in on Android gaming with new GameSmart universal Bluetooth tech Posted: 04 Jan 2013 02:48 PM PST
It’s the next best thing to a standardized format: get one of the biggest peripheral makers in the market to release controllers for Android. You may remember Mad Catz from years past. You know, those gaudy controllers you forced upon your little brother whenever you’d play Street Fighter. Ya, those guys. Looks like they’ll be at CES debuting a whole new set of gaming peripherals, this time designed for mobile devices in mind. Okay, while that may not sound too exciting, the interesting bit is that these new controllers will be taking advantage of Bluetooth Smart, a new universal technology found inside their controller line dubbed GameSmart.
GameSmart is Mad Catz’s new initiative that will allow for game developers to ensure their games are compatible with this new technology, not various controller hardware (MOGA, PlayPad, etc.). In theory, this could make Mad Catz controllers the one peripheral to rule them all. ‘Course as we all know, they just gotta convince game devs of that. Mad Catz will show off a full line of GameSmart products at CES next week, ranging from controllers and mice, to keyboards and headsets. We’ll make sure to give you guys a hands-on when we touch down in Vegas in just a few short days. Stay tuned! |
| Tablet Weights give you a stylish display stand for your slate Posted: 04 Jan 2013 01:45 PM PST It’s no secret that the state of Android tablet accessories is pretty frustrating. Most OEMs drag their feet on delivering proper tablet docks, and some don’t even bother. Heck, we’re still waiting on Google to deliver the official multimedia dock for its own Nexus 7, though recent retailer updates suggest that will come January 10th. Well, the folks behind the famous smartphone coasters have come up with a new tablet for those who want to display their tablets in a stylish way. They’re called Tablet Weights, and the desktop-bound accessories — which are 6 inches in diameter — are made out of a clear acrylic to give you that in-store display look.
The base can hold a tablet in a few different orientations — portrait, landscape, and even at a 20-degree angle if you need it elevated to work on. The non-skid silicon gracing the edges keep everything from slipping and sliding about. One has to wonder whether or not one of these is worth the unattractive price of $50, though. The materials might be nice and the flexibility of it might be ideal, but at the end of the day it’s just a generic tablet stand. I wouldn’t mind having one, but at $50 I would much rather get something like Logitech’s wireless keyboard. That particular device comes with a carrying case that doubles as a tablet stand. It won’t quite hold the tablet up at a comfortable 20-degree angle for a workstation-like experience ala the Tablet Weight, but I would imagine it’s infinitely more useful for those who just want something to prop their tablet up. You can buy the Tablet Weight from NewPCGadgets right here. |
| Google Now says a giraffe’s tablet of choice is now the iPad [VIDEO] Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:43 PM PST
Okay, everyone stop what you’re doing. Forget Exynos bugs or glitterless Nexus 4′s, this is something that Google needs to address immediately. If you’re one of the lucky few with a device running Android 4.1/2 Jelly Bean, you probably haven’t even noticed but doing a quick Google Now/voice search for “what is a giraffe” will give you all the information you need on the Giraffa camelopardalis, including the animal’s tablet of choice: the iPad. (Drops coffee mug). I know, I know. This needs to end… NOW. Apparently this has less to do with Android and more to do with Google speech-to-text engine which is confusing all sorts of phrases ending with “with,” into adding “he now praises the iPad.” While we can’t be sure if this is an inside job — possibly an attack by Apple — but I wouldn’t put it past them. So, if you’re an Android fanboy with little ones, you now have one more query to keep your kids from searching (in addition to blue muffins or whatever that is). Thanks, everyone who sent this in! |
| New SwiftKey Flow beta available Posted: 04 Jan 2013 11:54 AM PST
Folks in the SwiftKey Flow beta will want to check their emails as chances are you’ll find a nice email letting you know a new beta version is available. Nothing groundbreaking or exciting will be found here, but the barrel of bug fixes and improvements will be sure to make any beta user happy. The list of what’s changed is rather long so let’s jump right into it:
Of course, this is still a beta and there are still some glaring issues. The folks at SwiftKey have already identified some issues that are still being worked on, including the personalization service continuing to run when not in use, a lingering flow trail at the end of words, enlarged prediction text on LDPI devices and more. You can find the full list over at SwiftKey’s site if you’re curious to know what else might not be working right just yet. And remember: if you download a beta, well, you’re a beta tester. If you notice something that’s not already on the known issues list then leave some feedback. If everyone does their part then it’s easier on the developers, which means we get a stable version faster, and in turn means everyone can ride off into the sunset as happily as the happiest man ever could. Grab your download here for smartphones, and here if you want to install it on your tablet). [via SwiftKey] |
| Upcoming Google TV hardware teased, ASUS confirmed as partner Posted: 04 Jan 2013 11:02 AM PST
On a post to the official Google TV blog today, Google has teased us with a list of vendors we can expect to see debuting new hardware at next week’s CES show. Among the bunch us none other than ASUS, the Nexus 7 maker that has been linked to the thumb-sized Qube, itself suggested as a potential candidate to earn its own Nexus status (and replace the ill-fated Nexus Q). Also tapped to present new Google TV gear are Hisense, TCL. Along with ASUS, their hardware is said to be “launching in the coming weeks.” On top of those companies, existing partners including LG, Vizio, and Sony will debut new set-top boxes and televisions featuring the platform. A few new apps will also find their way to Google TV, including Amazon, SiriusXM, and more. Check out the official blog linked below for more details. [via Google TV Blog] |
| HTC One SV headed to Cricket January 16th for $350 Posted: 04 Jan 2013 08:49 AM PST Our friends with Cricket are getting a pretty decent new smartphone option as the HTC One SV has been officially announced for the regional carrier’s lineup. The device, headed to store shelves January 16th for $350 (off contract), features a 4.3 inch display with WVGA resolution, a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor, a 5 megapixel 1080p HD camera, a 1.6 megapixel front-facing camera, 4G LTE, NFC and more. For software, you can expect Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4.
It’s not the world’s greatest device, but for $350 there’s not a ton more you can ask for. Cricket’s lineup tends to attract the ugly bunch, but for the first time I can say, with confidence, that I wouldn’t have to be dragged to the Cricket store kicking and screaming if you told me this was one of the devices I had to own. I could do without that eye-bleeding red hue they call “Flame” all over the back, but personal taste is personal taste. Read on for full press details.
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| ComScore: Android, Samsung still holding strong as market leaders Posted: 04 Jan 2013 08:27 AM PST According to the latest data put forth by ComScore, Android’s meteoric rise began to slow, if not peak, towards the tail end of last year. Wrapping up the three month period ending with November, Android saw a modest increase to a 53.7 percent share of the overall smartphone market. While it’s still a comfortable lead over Apple, whose share grew to 35 percent, it’s only a few ticks higher than ComScore rankings for summer 2012. Android finished with 52.6 percent of the market for that period.
It’s a similar story for Samsung. The company also saw an increase in market share of about 1 percent, leading to 26.9 percent overall. The company also maintained its lead over Apple. In a separate report by Reuters, analyst Neil Mawston projects the lead will grow greater in 2013, with Samsung’s smartphone sales increasing by 35 percent.
Apple’s iPhone 5 has no doubt helped to keep the margin close, but the same can’t be said for other mobile platforms and manufacturers. The three operating systems ranked below Android and iOS — BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and Symbian — all saw decreases in share. The same goes for the manufacturers bringing up the rear. LG, Motorola, and HTC all saw declines. [via Engadget] |
| Grand Theft Auto 3 update adds Transformer Prime support Posted: 04 Jan 2013 08:05 AM PST Rockstar has issued an upgrade for Grand Theft Auto 3 that fixes and changes a lot of things. Today’s big update finally brings support for the ASUS Transformer Prime, has support for Immersion Haptic Vibration Feedback, new video display settings to customize the graphical elements of the game, improved controls for those playing with game pads (including the one found on the Sony Xperia Play), support for GameStop’s Wireless Game Controller, the game can now be installed to your microSD card and more.
All of these changes will help make Liberty City even more immersive and make it a lot easier to traverse. If you haven’t already given the game a shot yet you might want to head to the Google Play Store as Rockstar is only asking you to pay $1 for this age-old classic. Why not take the first big 3D sandbox game on the go to cause havoc without being tethered to a console? Sure, the visuals are dated by today’s standards but high resolution graphics and better particle effects have helped it age very well. The game was originally rated M for Mature, of course, so if you’re sensitive to violence and aggressive tones, or your child wants to download the game, keep that in mind. Otherwise, you owe it to yourself to play the game that started this sandbox craze and changed the face of GTA for good. You can find it in the Google Play Store. |
| HTC’s Chou blames marketing decisions for bad 2012, ready to turn things around Posted: 04 Jan 2013 07:30 AM PST
Financially, 2012 wasn’t the best year on record for HTC. While the finger could be pointed in multiple directions, CEO Peter Chou told The Wall Street Journal that he believes misguided marketing was the driving factor behind the downturn in profits. He admitted that HTC did not put enough resources into marketing efforts, an area where competitors easily bested the Taiwan-based smartphone maker. But it’s arguable that competitors didn’t best HTC when it came to actual devices. While sales slumped, HTC managed to produce a lineup featuring some of their best devices of all time, phones like the HTC One X and Droid DNA. And Chou knows the trend will need to continue. Cash-strapped HTC will focus on “unique products” in order to establish public demand for their products. A licensing agreement with Apple should help HTC in 2013. President of HTC China Ray Yam recently said the deal would help bolster innovation. But he also mentioned, as Chou did, that HTC plans to revamp their marketing efforts in the new year and hopefully right the ship before it sinks any deeper. [via Engadget] |
| Don’t forget to sign up for Droid World in San Francisco this February Posted: 04 Jan 2013 07:10 AM PST With CES looming (our team is headed out to Vegas as early as tomorrow!) it’s hard to realize that anything will be going on afterward, but don’t forget that February will yield a lot of great events. One of those events is Droid World, a natural extension of Apps World where developers will converge to speak about the exciting and challenging world of mobile application development for Android.
The event will feature a lot of key speakers and panelists, and a few new folks have been added to the list of those you’ll want to lend an ear to once they take the stage at the Moscone Center starting February 7th. Folks like Tom Chavez, a NOOK Developer Evangelist for Barnes & Noble, will be on hand, as well as Android Developers Cookbook author Jim Steele, Comcast’s Eric Schrag and more. Everything will be discussed, from the business aspects of application development right down to the nitty-gritty manipulation of code itself. There will be two days of workshops which will be free to attend for anyone interested, so if you can make your way to San Francisco and are interested in development for the biggest mobile platform there is, then there’s no reason you should miss it. Be sure to head to the Droid World site for more information and to register for what is sure to be a great time in Silicon Valley. |
| Is this really our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S4? Posted: 04 Jan 2013 06:33 AM PST
Alright, put on your skeptic’s hat. The above image is making the rounds with the claim that it is our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S4. If it is, it looks like we will finally see Samsung ditch the physical home button and possibly move toward Android’s virtual navigation buttons. We say possibly because there is always a chance that capacitive navigation buttons are present but simply not illuminated (we have seen this on previous Samsung handsets). It also appears that Samsung is looking to squeeze a rumored 4.99-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display into the smallest frame possible by deploying a nearly bezel-less setup. Other reported specs include a 2GHz quad-core Exynos chipset, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP camera. The design itself seems to return to the roots of the Samsung flagship franchise with a look that resembles that of the original Galaxy S more than the most recent device in the line, the Galaxy S3. While it’s probably a bit much to call that original design a classic, it would certainly be nice to see Samsung pay homage (if that’s the intention, anyway). Now, we’re not saying this definitely is the real deal. We’re not saying it isn’t. Either way, it’s worth giving this particular image a good, hard look. If it does turn out to be genuine, it raises another intriguing question. Will we see the Galaxy S4 at CES as initially rumored? [via SamMobile] |
| Samsung starts rolling out software update in the UK to fix Exynos security flaw – S3 gets it first Posted: 03 Jan 2013 08:53 PM PST
Looks like Samsung isn’t wasting any time in addressing the security flaw found in their Exynos processors after formally acknowledging the issue almost 3 weeks ago. Seems Galaxy S3 owners across the pond are now receiving software update I9300XXELLA over-the-air and via Kies to patch up the vulnerability. While there isn’t solid evidence suggesting as much, some are speculating Samsung could be killing 2 birds with one stone, also addressing that nasty sudden death issue plaguing some devices. This is due to the fact that the new software also updates the device’s bootloader as well.
Course, we’ll need an official word from Samsung before confirming but if you’re in the UK — get to updating. As for the rest of us here in the states, we’ll have to twiddle our thumbs a little longer as our respective carriers put the update through its paces before it hits our Note 2′s (don’t worry about our carrier branded Galaxy S3′s, they’re packing entirely different processors and aren’t susceptible to the same security flaw). Should be soon! [via SamMobile]
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