Saturday, January 19, 2013

Google Android News Android Forums

Google Android News Android Forums

Samsung to announce 5.8” Android smartphone

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 04:28 PM PST

Is it now time to finally say that a phone is just too big? Samsung will soon announce a whopping 5.8″ Android smartphone that is based off of the Galaxy Player 5.8. If a smartphone this size is your thing, don’t get too excited yet because if it is based off the Galaxy Player 5.8, then you should expect that 5.8″ screen to don a TFT qHD screen. Definitely a let down in the resolution department. The model number of GT-I9152 does indicate that this device will have DUAL-SIM support.

Samsung is expected to announce this device in Europe in the near future and probably won’t see a release in the US.

source: Sammobile

Rumor: Motorola X phone could debut at Google I/O with Key Lime Pie in tow

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:32 PM PST

Here’s a rumor to get your Friday Happy Hour going. We have already heard about the Motorola X phone and some think it’s a Nexus device, while other reports say that it won’t be. The latest rumor coming out of the Droid Forums is that won’t be a Nexus device, but it will be the first device to feature Key Lime Pie. Furthermore, it will be announced at Google I/O. Now Google generally doesn’t announce non Nexus devices at Google I/O events, but lets not forget that they own Motorola so this isn’t so far-fetched. I have heard from my sources that it won’t be a Nexus device, but it will be a stock Android device so this information does line up.

Another piece of news is that it will sport a 5-inch edge to edge display. Could this be where the Nexus 5 rumors came from? Maybe there really will be a “5″ at Google I/O, but it just won’t be a Nexus 5. The last piece of info is that this phone won’t be the usual Verizon exclusive that we usually see from Motorola. It will be aimed at all carriers much like the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II.

Again, this is strictly a rumor and we don’t have anything concrete. All I can do is report it. Time will tell if any or all of this information ends up being legit. I would love to see a Motorola high-end stock Android device. Just put a decent camera in it Moto, and it could be the next best phone.

source: droidforums

Carbon Beta 2 released with support for Dropbox, other features

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 01:41 PM PST

Users looking for a backup solution for their Android devices should probably be keeping an eye on Carbon. The app comes to us courtesy Koushik Dutta, creator of Clockwork Mod Recovery and a CyanogenMod ROM maintainer. Earlier this week he released the first beta of his newest creation that will backup apps and data between devices in the cloud.

Today he released the second beta that adds support for Dropbox, though that feature is limited at the moment while Dutta waits for “production” status from Dropbox. New features in this second beta include the ability to save groups and batches of apps, the ability to select all apps for backup, and the ability to backup data only. Fixes included in this second beta address backup/restore windows popping up once per app and some button click issues.

The new Carbon beta will work through January 25th. This version requires a rooted device, but Dutta says the next beta will work on non-root devices. If you want to try out Carbon Beta 2 and you have a rooted device, use the link below:

Carbon Beta 2 APK: http://download.clockworkmod.com/test/Backup.apk

source: Koush’s G+

Leaked screenshots from Sony’s Xperia S Jelly Bean update

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 12:34 PM PST

For all you Xperia S owners out there waiting for your Jelly Bean update, here are a few leaked images to hold you over. Xperia S owners will get a taste of some of the newer features that Sony has recently released, including a new lock screen, power management, Find My Xperia and screen mirroring. The new build will be 6.2.X.X.XX and a will be based on a new 3.4 kernel, compared to the 3.08 kernel which is currently powering the device. The Jelly Bean update is slated for an April release at the earliest, so jump passed the break to hold yourself over till then.

Source: Xperia Blog

XperiaS_JB_1 XperiaS_JB_2 XperiaS_JB_3 XperiaS_JB_4 XperiaS_JB_5


Featured Android Game Review: Galactic [Arcade & Action]

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 12:10 PM PST

Do you like Space games? How about puzzle games? Combine the two of them together and you get Galactic from Androidnova Mobile. Galactic is actually two completely different games, or modes as they call it. The skill mode is my favorite and is more puzzle like. The sandbox mode is more about exploring. They both feature some pretty cool space physics that require quick thinking and reflexes.

In skill mode you will find 60 levels to solve. Your job is to move your planet to a portal, but along the way you will need to fling to different orbits and pick up energy stars. You will have to time your releases so that you spend a minimal amount of time in space because you will have limited energy. Yes you can freely move around, but if you run out of energy, you will blow up. The energy stars will give you energy along the way in case you do find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and although you can complete each level by not grabbing all of the stars, you want to grab all of them for the highest possible score. Controls are pretty simple as it’s just a matter of tapping your finger when you want to fling or placing your finger on the screen for the direction you want to move.

Sandbox mode is completely different in that you start out as a meteor and your goal is to pick up other meteors in order to transform yourself into bigger masses. So you start out as a meteor, then become a planet, then a star, and eventually a blackhole. You will explore in what seems like an infinite amount of space and complete various missions. You can even produce fleets. You move around by tapping the screen in the direction you want to go, but I found it difficult to move fast enough to avoid attacks. You can also pick up masses by tapping either two fingers or three fingers.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the skill mode a lot more. It was easier to understand and I found it to be very challenging. I was playing it the other night and sighing a lot as I failed. My wife was asking what was wrong. Oh nothing, just another game that has me frustrated. Of course I mean that in a good way. Although I didn’t care for the Sandbox mode that much, the bottomline is that everyone is different and the fact that you get two games for the price of one is a major plus. The cost is only 99-cents so give it a try. You can check out my hands on video below (as well as the trailer) and hit one of the download links to get started. Let me know what you think.

Features:

  • Two different modes as Skill and Sandbox
  • 8 different languages: English, French, German, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish and Russian
  • Each modes is optimized for both tablets and phones
  • Unique physics-based gameplay

SKILL MODE:

  • 50 Different Levels
  • Unlock 10 Bonus Levels
  • Various Level Mechanics
  • Travel Through Space Layers
  • Gain Rank By Collecting All Stars

SANDBOX MODE:

  • Explore The Space
  • Experience Different Space Objects
  • Transform Yourself In To Bigger Ones (meteor > planet > star > blackhole)
  • Produce Fleets
  • Be A Nightmare(blackhole) For Others
  • Accomplish Different Missions (25+ Quests)
  • Unlock 20+ Achievements

 

Galactic_01 Galactic_02 Galactic_03 Galactic_04 Galactic_05 Galactic_06 Galactic_07 Galactic_08 Galactic_Splash_Banner

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Play Store Download Link

Rhapsody teams up with Metro PCS to offer $5/month unlimited music streaming

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:58 AM PST

Metro PCS is continually working to improve its services and add new users to its customer base. Recently, Metro released “Simpler” plans, a set of off-contract plans that give you access to some blistering 4G data speeds. Now, for $5 more per month you can use your newfound 4G data speeds to stream as much music as you want from Rhapsody’s impressive song database. Yesterday, Metro PCS announced in an official press release that they are teaming up with online music pioneer Rhapsody to offer their users a very affordable online streaming solution. In order to take advantage of this great deal, you must be using one of Metro’s “Simpler” plans. $5 a month is a pretty good deal for legal music consumption. If you want more details, check out the press release below.

Rhapsody and MetroPCS Offer Best Unlimited On-Demand Mobile Music Deal Anywhere

More than16 million songs and original editorial content available to MetroPCS customers at lowest cost

SEATTLE-January 17, 2013- Rhapsody introduced a new mobile music offer with MetroPCS that will help millions of consumers make good on their resolutions to spend less by offering the best value for unlimited on-demand mobile music bundle anywhere.
“We recognize that music is an important aspect of many of consumers’ lives and we are committed to providing services that enhance our customers’ mobile experiences at a price they can afford,” said Phil Terry, senior vice president, corporate marketing, MetroPCS. “We’ve seen great success with our Rhapsody Unlimited offer and now that we have the best value in town for unlimited, on-demand mobile music, we expect even greater success for MetroPCS.”

Available now, MetroPCS customers can add Rhapsody for $5 to its newly simplified $40, $50 and $60 monthly smartphone plans.
“We are thrilled to work with MetroPCS to bring on-demand music to the consumer with these amazing plans,” said Jon Irwin, president, Rhapsody. “The future of digital music is the mobile phone, whether it’s in your pocket, in your car or connected to an in-home audio system, and our future will be built on partnerships with service providers like MetroPCS, who can bring Rhapsody to a broader audience through compelling offers like this one.”

Rhapsody works closely with MetroPCS to tailor its service to MetroPCS subscribers by offering customized programming and editorial content that is updated regularly, a strategy that has been elemental to the success of the offer.

Rhapsody has seen significant growth in mobile with 56 percent of all listening coming from mobile phones, up from 27 percent in 2011. Rhapsody’s Irwin predicts the trend will only accelerate. “This partnership is going to be instrumental in the growth of the on-demand streaming music business,” said Irwin. “This offer brings value to the customer, without compromising how artists and rights holders are compensated, which is a key tenet in how we do business. We’re eager to continue to bring new offers to customers that benefit all parts of the digital music value chain.”

About Rhapsody
The Rhapsody® digital music service (www.rhapsody.com) gives subscribers unlimited on-demand access to more than 16 million songs, whether they’re listening on a PC, laptop, Internet connected home stereo or TV, MP3 player or mobile phone. Rhapsody allows subscribers to access their music through mobile phones from Verizon Wireless, AT&T and MetroPCS, through Rhapsody applications on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, RIM BlackBerry, Windows and Android mobile platforms as well as through devices from Vizio, SanDisk, HP, Sonos and Philips. Rhapsody is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Frankfurt, London, Luxemburg, New York and San Francisco. Rhapsody, and the Rhapsody logo are registered trademarks of Rhapsody International Inc. Follow @Rhapsody on Twitter and keep up with the latest on the Rhapsody Facebook page.

Details of Samsung Galaxy tablet updates released

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 10:20 AM PST

Over the course of the past week owners of Samsung Galaxy tablets, both the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the different versions of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2,  have been receiving an Android update to bring them up to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. For the Galaxy Note 10.1, the upgrade includes not only the Jelly Bean improvements, but Samsung’s Premium Suite as well. All of the devices also benefit from a variety of Touchwiz improvements.

For more details about the improvements, check the press release after the break.

Samsung Releases Android Jelly Bean Upgrades for Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 2
Premium Suite Upgrade for Galaxy Note 10.1 Delivers Improved Performance, Enhanced S Pen Functionality and Fully Resizable Apps

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.,  January 16, 2013– Samsung Electronics America Inc., a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today announced the availability of updates to Android 4.1™, Jelly Bean for both its award-winning Galaxy Note™ 10.1 and its popular Galaxy Tab 2 devices for the Wi-Fi versions.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 upgrade includes all the performance benefits of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as well as Premium Suite, a collection of new features that further upgrades multi-tasking and productivity, while enhancing personalization and offering new levels of creativity. Users will enjoy improved S Pen support and the ability to easily open and resize multiple apps, then view them across the screen layered on top of each other.

"Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 created a new category by delivering content creation capabilities in addition to content consumption," said Mike Abary, senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing, Samsung Electronics America. "However, we always strive to deliver unexpected value to our customers. By providing not just Jelly Bean, but dramatic improvements to the multitasking and S Pen features on the devices, we're ensuring that the Galaxy Note 10.1 remains at the forefront of innovation."

A range of features have been introduced which aim to further boost the capabilities of Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 including:

Multi-tasking & Productivity: Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 pioneered the innovative Multi Window feature which lets consumers experience a dual view, running two apps side-by-side on the screen. The new, updated Galaxy Note 10.1 enhances the experience further in a variety of ways:

Cascade View: The feature allows users to freely resize, move and pin selected applications in multiple views, running them simultaneously or while operating the home-screen. This PC-like feature will help users to be more productive, and actually do multiple tasks at one time.

Air View: Allows users to use S Pen to conveniently and quickly preview content without having to open it. This feature allows user to preview video while scrubbing, preview email attachments without opening, preview photos without opening the album, and more.

Quick Command: With Quick Command, the S Pen quickly activates applications and services that are used most often by allowing you to write command shortcuts using customized and preset S Pen strokes.

Enhanced Personalization:

Enhanced handwriting: Users can quickly and easily send personalized handwritten notes and memos to friends and family via email, as well as hand-write directly into their S Planner

Enhanced S Note: S Note now features additional ready-to-use templates; allows users to add effects to their digital content with Idea Sketch; and enables the insertion of video directly into not only Note templates but also other templates. Users can also launch S Note directly from their home-screen for added convenience.

Easy Clip: Allows users to select and clip content to save, paste or share in seconds.

Photo Note: Add personalized handwritten notes on the back of your photos to help capture the moment.

Creativity:
Paper Artist: Besides enabling users to enliven sketches or content with different color or pencil styles, Paper Artist enables over 30 artistic effects that can be applied to images or media. Users can also draw or write onto the content and share it with others.

A smarter S Pen: The S Pen now allows users to select writing or color modes at the touch of a button, or unlock the home-screen simply by removing the S Pen.

Both the Wi-Fi versions of Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1 and 7.0) will benefit from the core improvements of Android 4.1 which features a more intuitive user interface, faster performance and response times across applications, and an overall smoother user experience. This is also complemented by an enhanced user interface optimized for the 10.1-inch screen.

For images and more detailed information, please visit http://www.samsung.com/us/article/galaxy-note-10-1-update.

Galaxy S IV surfaces on Antutu Benchmarks with Exynos 5 Octa cpu

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 10:02 AM PST

With the success of the Samsung Galaxy S III in 2012, interest is high in what Samsung has planned for the successor device. We have already reported on apparent plans for the Samsung Galaxy S IV to be released in May 2013. Samsung dropped a bit of hint during CES 2013 that the new device would have a 5-inch 1080p display. The latest bit of information regarding the technical specifications is based on some Antutu Benchmarks that have surfaced. A Korean variant (SHV-E300S) and an international variant (GT-I9500) showed up with processors clocking in at 1.8GHz, consistent with the Exynos 5 Octa cpu. The testing results also show the device running Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean.

source: SamMobile

Featured Android Game Review: Around the Rock Disc Golf Challenge [Sports]

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 09:44 AM PST

I have to be honest with you, I never heard of disc golf before. I certainly have tried to play regular golf (with the little white ball) and never was all that great at it. I am not sure I would be much better at disc golf, but I can at least have some fun with it on my phone or tablet. In case you’ve been living under a rock (no pun intended) like me, disc golf it essentially golf, but players throw a disc rather than hit a ball with a club. Courses are similar to regular golf in that there are either 9 or 18 holes, but the “hole” isn’t a hole. it’s a basket. You want to get your disc in the basket with the least amount of throws.

Now that we got that out of the way, Around the Rock Disc Golf Challenge from Tibaloid is a complete disc golf game for Android. It will obviously be great for those that are fans of disc golf, but it also caters to those that really don’t know much about it since it’s easy to play. It features a practice mode, which gives you an idea of how to work the controls. In this mode, your job is to get Aces, which is the same as a hole in one for regular golf. If you don’t get an Ace, you can still score points based on how close you are to the basket.

After you’ve practiced a little you can go into tournament mode. In tournament mode, there are two courses, Floating Rock Park and Mystic Rock Park. For tournament play, you play the full 18 holes, but you can also just play the front 9 or the back 9 of either course for a little practice. You also have your choice of baskets, A (short), B (medium), or C (long).

Gameplay is really simple. You throw from a starting pad and you can swipe right or left on the pad to throw a hook shot. You also have a target that you can move around for the location you want the disc to go based on height and wind. Last but not least, there is the power meter, which you will set according to the distance to the basket. After you have everything set, you just swipe to throw. It really couldn’t be simpler. The graphics are also pretty cool because it features a real-time 3D physics engine.

Around the Rock Disc Golf Challenge costs $1.99. Check out my hands on video as well as Tibaloid’s demo video (based on an older version) and hit one of the download links to get started. Let me know what you think.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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LG Reports Its Optimus G Smartphone Has Officially Hit The 1 Million Sales Mark

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 07:25 AM PST

 

LG certainly has lofty sales goals for 2013– and it appears that its Optimus G smartphone sales are certainly helping the Korean brand achieve those goals. According to Korean news agency Yonhap, LG has sold 1 million smartphones since its original launch late last year— despite not being available in China and Europe yet. While the number somewhat pales in comparison to what the Galaxy S III well… continues to achieve, LG certainly has a good start with the Optimus G and will probably end up getting a solid Optimus G sales’ figure by year’s end.

source: The Next Web

 
Posted by at 6:44 AM

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