Thursday, January 31, 2013

Google Android News Android Forums

Google Android News Android Forums

Carbon backup app hits the Play Store in free and premium versions

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 10:42 AM PST

Koushik Dutta, developer of popular apps like DeskSMS and Clockwork Mod recovery, has been teasing up with betas of his new app, Carbon. Those betas have expired today, but the official app is now available in the Play Store in two versions, a free and paid app. The app backs up your apps and data to an SD card, or cloud storage if you don’t have enough memory on device to store all of your apps. Rooted devices can just use the application itself, but unrooted users will need a companion desktop application to get it working. Motorola users are left out in the cold on this one, though; there’s a bug in Motorola’s software the breaks Android’s backup features.

The free version of the app is ad-supported and lacks a few features of the premium version, such as Android-to-Android sync and cloud sync. There’s also a scheduled backup feature planned soon for the premium version. If you’re running Android 4.0 or above, hit the links below to try out the app.

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Play Store Download Link (Free)

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Play Store Download Link (Premium)

Featured Android App Review: Keeping Touch [Communication]

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 09:50 AM PST

Do you always forget to call your loved ones or important work contacts? We are all busy with work, school, and family, but there are certain people in our lives that we want to make sure that we connect with regularly. It could be a close family member, an important work contact, or a friend. With our busy schedules, sometimes we just forget. If there was an app that allowed us to organize our important contacts so that we’re reminded when necessary, maybe we would be better connected. Appropriately named Keeping Touch, from Morice Keeping, does just that.

With Keeping Touch you can set up all your important contacts for reminders so that you never forget to call them. You can set them up for every day, every three days, weekly, every two weeks, monthly, every two months, every 6 months, or yearly. Upon opening the app you will see three tabs, Assistants, Statistics, and Contacts. You will set up all your reminders in the Contacts area. If it’s the first time that you’re opening the app, there will already be two default groups: Close Family and Best Friends. You can add to these groups or create your own groups. There’s no limit to the number of groups or the number of contacts that you can have in each group. If you want to add a new group, just hit the plus sign at the top right. Assuming you already have a group that you want to add a contact to, just tap it. You will see the group name, as well as the alert frequency and the time of day that you want the alert to happen at.  You will then see the number of contacts that are part of that group. Just hit the plus icon and your entire list of contacts will be displayed. The ones that are already part of the group will be checked at the top. You can uncheck them to remove them and/or you can add any other contacts by checking them. Then it’s a matter of letting Keeping Touch do the rest for you.

At the specified time, you will get a notification to call the contact(s) in the group. From the notification itself, you can tap that person and open the app and see all your notifications in the Assistants tab. You can tap or delete them if you so wish, but you can also call each contact directly from the app and the alarm will be reset. If you go to the Statistics tab you will see how well you’re doing at keeping in touch with these important people. You will get a percentage of calls made for each group as well as an overall percentage. Keeping Touch is simple, straightforward, and gets the job done. Three things I like in an app.

Now you could set up reminders in your calendar or in another task manager app, but Keeping Touch is easier to use in that all your contacts are visible from within the app, you can place phone calls directly from the app, and it tracks your progress. Everybody is different and what works for one person may not work for another. This is one app that just might make things easier when it’s important that you don’t miss calling certain people. Keeping Touch is only 99-cents, which is a small price to pay to make sure you don’t lose that important customer. Check out their quick video below and hit one of the download links to get started. As always, let me know what you think.

Keeping_Touch_01 Keeping_Touch_02 Keeping_Touch_03 Keeping_Touch_04 Keeping_Touch_Splash_Banner

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Play Store Download Link

More evidence of a white LG Nexus 4 surfaces

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 08:55 AM PST

Late yesterday we reported on a leaked image that purported to show a new white version of the LG Nexus 4 smartphone. The question on everyone’s mind was whether it was a legitimate image. Today more images have surfaced showing a white, well mostly white, LG Nexus 4 device. The images showed up on a Vietnamese web site and show the device being held in someone’s hand as they rotate the device around for different views in a series of fifteen shots. Not impossible to fake, but these latest images would require a lot more effort to produce if someone were trying to pull a hoax on the tech world.

As far as what the images show, it appears the device will still have a black front with only the back side getting changed to white. It also appears the decorative dots present on the current black Nexus 4 are replicated on this new white version. Of course, no word from Google or LG regarding the leaked images or availability of a white Nexus 4.

lg_nexus_4_white_leak_01 lg_nexus_4_white_leak_02 lg_nexus_4_white_leak_03 lg_nexus_4_white_leak_04 lg_nexus_4_white_leak_05

source: Unwired View

Vertu Luxury Smartphone Powered By Android Rumored To Be On The Way

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 08:03 AM PST

 

It appears that there is yet another smartphone on the way from Vertu. In case you’re not familiar, Vertu is a luxury brand that was sold by Nokia sometime last year. According to Eldar Murtazin, the new Vertu smartphone will make the official switch from the Symbian platform to the Android platform. In addition, the new smartphone will only cost a “measly” $4,000— compared to tens of thousands of dollars for previous Vertu smartphones. Hopefully the rumored smartphone will arrive with a butler as part of the package, but then again– that might be some wishful thinking.

source: Engadget

US Cellular Offering $300 To Bring Your Family Plan Over

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:51 AM PST

US Cellular, the nation’s eighth largest wireless provider, is offering anyone bringing 2+ lines a fat $300 payoff. The carrier will issue payment in the form of a MasterCard debit card. The phone selection isn’t too bad either, the Galaxy S III is available for a subsidized rate of $149 while the Galaxy Note II is $349. US Cellular only has a handful of LTE cities, none in California, but they tend to makeup for their lack of 4G coverage with lower rates. As a CDMA carrier it is unable to support GSM phones like the Nexus 4 which made its long awaited return to the Play Store yesterday.

There’s a $30 activation fee and the promotion does not apply in all markets so interested parties should hit the source to investigate further.

Source: US Cellular

RasBean Jelly ROM for the LG Nexus 4 Review: Simple, Clean, and Bug Free

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:40 AM PST

Are you one of the few that were lucky enough to nab the elusive Nexus 4 by Google? If you do possess Android’s hard to attain device and are into modding/rooting, then finding the perfect ROM can be hard, and maybe even overwhelming at times. RasBean Jelly is a custom AOSP ROM made by the developer Rascarlo and has been around since the Galaxy Nexus days when it was called Rascream (back when Ice Cream Sandwich was the latest ROM). If you’re an avid ROM flasher, then you’re well aware that a handful of the ones you flash tend to have bugs and other problems that you’ll frequently encounter. While that’s expected, that’s one thing that I don’t particularly enjoy about flashing custom ROM’s.

With RasBean, I have never encountered a bug or any problems in any build that I’ve tried, even in my ICS Galaxy Nexus days. RasBean is an AOSP based ROM that’s dedicated to speed and overall stability. While Rascarlo does include several additional features to the ROM, he makes sure to clean the ROM of necessary codes and “bloat.” Thus, if you’re a huge CM or AOKP fan, then this ROM may not be for you as it doesn’t have the dozens upon dozens of added features that those two ROM’s tend to have. But if you’re looking for a super fast ROM with no bugs, then RBJ just might be for you! Hit the break to find out more.

Theme:

Let’s start off with the theme: While RBJ is mostly a “stock” 4.2 Jelly Bean theme, Rascarlo has implemented his own slight modifications in the way certain things look. As you can see from the image above and on the header, he has “blackened” most of what used to be a gradient gray throughout the ROM including the settings menu and other portions of the ROM. In my opinion it makes the ROM look cleaner and fits the overall Jelly Bean theme. As you can see by the above screenshot, he also changed the color of the Navigation Bar to match the same blue that’s throughout the ROM. As for apps he’s also blacked out the MMS apk (SMS app) and the People’s app (shown below). Because this is an AOSP ROM and Rascarlo likes to keep his ROM clean and free of “bloat,” CyanogenMod’s much popular, and loved, Theme Chooser feature is NOT included. There are a couple of themes that you can flash over that several devs have made for this ROM if you prefer a different theme than the one provided.

Features: 

Feature wise, if you’re looking for a ROM that offers dozens and dozens of features similar to AOKP or CM 10.1 then this ROM may not be for you. Like I said before, the goal for this project by Rascarlo is to keep the ROM as bloat free as possible and staying true to AOSP’s code and not “messing” with it or adding too much to it. Thankfully, he did add a couple of features that helps make the ROM better without losing speed or stability. While it’s not much, the ROM does offer some battery image changes, a DPI change for your navigation bar, button customization’s within your lock-screen, and LED Customization.

 As you can see with the image above, he added a couple useful tiles as well as “torch” when you scroll to the bottom.

Final Thoughts: 

RasBean Jelly is available on 4 devices (Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, Nexus 10) in the links at the bottom. I didn’t include battery life and performance (benchmarks) because results of those always fluctuates depending on the user and device. Personally, battery life has been great for me and always lasts throughout the day with my Nexus 4. Bottom line: RBJ is fast, stable, provides adequate features and a great tweaked Jelly Bean look.

As for the kernel, RBJ comes with stock but if you prefer a great custom kernel to pair this with, I would highly suggest Morfic’s Trinity Kernel that can be found here. As always, your device needs to be rooted and bootloader unlocked in order to flash this. If you’re coming from another ROM, a full wipe is needed. The ROM also doesn’t come with your standard Google apps, thus you’ll have to flash that right after the ROM.

If you’ve tried RBJ before, about to try it, or already on the ROM, leave some feedback in the comments section and let me know your experience!

RasBean Jelly [Download]
Rasbean Jelly [Nexus 4 XDA]

You can also follow Rascarlo on Twitter!

Ingress Updates App, Adds Zipcar & Jamba Juice Portals

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:16 AM PST

Ingress, Google’s augmented reality capture-the-flag meets X-Files game, has begun its evolution. The app, updated to version 1.20, has improved rendering, fixed a few bugs and FINALLY allows players to enable/disable email notifications. It’s still in closed beta with a scarce number of access keys, but active players saw portals pop up at Zipcar and Jamba Juice locations this Tuesday.

Portals were originally located at museums, libraries, historic landmarks and other points of interest in Google’s massive database. Players have since been able to submit  portal site submissions to NianticLabs@Google. Tuesday’s round of portal creation, however, marks the first time Google has attempted any form of monetizing the game.

Check out our initial Ingress announcement for a brief recap of the game. Those interested in joining the resistance can still request an invite from Ingress.com. Those leaning toward joining the enlightened should really reconsider.

Source: Ingress on Google+

Sony’s Upcoming “Togari” Smartphone Rumored To Feature Snapdragon 800 Series Processor And A Possible Stylus

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:11 AM PST

 

The whispers are suddenly starting to become screams and shouts about a new  Sony phablet that’s on the way. In case you’re not familiar, Sony has a smartphone codenamed “Togari” that is expected to measure in with a 6.44-inch panel surrounding the device. According to Ramu from the Esato forums, Sony plans on equipping its phablet beast with a Snapdragon 800 series processor, a 6-inch (or larger) full HD screen, a 3,500mAh battery and wait for it—- an actual stylus that would compliment the device is possibly in the works as well.

So while it is still a little early to tell, it appears that Sony certainly is intent on making a Galaxy Note III killer and take a major bite of the phablet market share. We know you are all itching to grab more deets, so head on down to the source link to get a better idea of what Sony is cooking.

source: PhoneArena


JXD-S7300 Gamepad2 offers Android gaming plus nine built-in emulators

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:47 AM PST

Android gaming controllers and gaming devices are going to be the rage this year. We already have controllers from PowerA and devices from ARCHOS and NVIDIA. Of course we can’t forget about the OUYA gaming console. The JXD-S7300 Gamepad2 is another device to throw into the mix. This one features Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, but it also features nine pre-installed emulators for the original PlayStation, Neo Geo, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Famicon, Super Famicon, Sega Mega Drive, and the Capcom Play System 1 and 2.

The Gamepad2 features a 7-inch (1024 x 600) display, a 1.5GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU, a Mali-400 MP2 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, microSD, front facing camera, USB port, HDMI output, 3G connectivity, and both wireless and Ethernet connectivity. It features dual joysticks and the usual buttons, and it actually looks a lot like the Wii U. Just like the ARCHOS GamePad, you will be able to map the keys for any game you wish. Last but not least, it comes with the Superuser app for easy rooting.

The specs certainly aren’t going to blow anyone away, but for $165.99, it doesn’t seem all that bad. If it’s something that interests you, hit the source link to order and see more videos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

source: willgoo
via: geek

Judge Finds Samsung Did Not Willfully Infringe Against Apple Patents, Still Owes Over $1 Billion In Damages

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:18 AM PST

 

Chalk one up for Samsung in the epic (and ongoing) cat fight it has has against Apple. In a sudden turn of events, Judge Lucy Koh recently ruled that Sammy did not willfully infringe on various Apple patents in question, despite the original jury panel finding that seven patents were infringed in the landmark decision late last year. Judge Koh asserted that there was an “objectively high likelihood that its [Samsung's] actions constituted infringement of a valid patent“. Essentially what this means is that Samsung and its legal team had a reasonable understanding and belief that it could go into its legal fight against Apple knowing it hasn’t done anything wrong… at least willingly.

So what this means is that Apple won’t get any additional damages for the willful infringement, though it still does get its big prize in the form of a $1.049 billion check. Judge Koh’s decision only applies to the fact that Samsung did not infringe Apple patents willfully, the original patent infringement ruling still stays intact. Then again— on the flipside, Judge Koh could hypothetically reduce the damages that Sammy owes, though nothing has been said or decided at this time. Still— Samsung can’t help but be happy at this recent outcome as it looks to move past the issue and have unprecedented success to rub in Apple’s face and all.

source: The Verge

 

 
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