Monday, February 4, 2013

Android Central

Android Central

Three UK customers to get LTE as standard on existing price plans

Posted: 03 Feb 2013 05:06 PM PST

Android Central

Three customers will all get 4G service as standard, with no price hike

The UK LTE market just got a whole lot more interesting tonight, as Three UK has announced that it'll bring 4G LTE service to its existing customers at no extra charge. The network, which plans to roll out 4G on newly­acquired 1800MHz later this year, says its subscribers will get the LTE upgrade as standard, assuming they're using a compatible handset.

Currently EE is the only network offering 4G services in the UK, and due to its effective monopoly the carrier is able to charge much more than its competitors. Today's announcement heralds the arrival of unlimited LTE ­­ something not offered by EE ­­ for as little as £12 (~$19) per month on a rolling one­month contract.

The news may give prospective EE customers pause, as that carrier's contracts all run for at least 12 months, and there's no unlimited option available. If Three can pull off its promised 4G launch without any price hike, EE ­­ and rivals planning LTE networks of their own ­­ may be forced to reexamine their pricing.

Three didn't give any exact timeline as to when in 2013 it'll launch LTE, but the terms of its 1800MHz purchase from EE require the latter to hand over the spectrum by September at the latest. In the meantime, all the major UK mobile networks are competing for 800MHz and 2600MHz airwaves in the long­delayed 4G spectrum auction.

Source: Three UK

Wine on Android demoed at FOSDEM

Posted: 03 Feb 2013 05:05 PM PST

Wine

Wine, the software that's officially not an emulator but allows Microsoft Windows applications to run on Linux, Mac OS, and other platforms, was shown running on an Android environment today at FOSDEM in Brussels. Alexandre Julliard, of Codeweavers and Wine's original developer, demoed Wine on a Apple Macbook running Linux and the Android emulator. The initial tests show Wine running pretty slowly, but Julliard blames much of this on the fact that Android was emulated on the system.

While running Windows programs compiled for ARM processors on Android devices is an interesting idea, things will really take off if Intel can push the X86 processor to Android tablet manufacturers. An Atom CPU powered Android device will allow Codeweavers to push their CrossOver commercial products, like Office, for both consumers and business users. 

Source: Phoronix

Upset the Fruit Basket is a deceptively tricky casual game

Posted: 03 Feb 2013 03:31 PM PST

Upset the Fruit Basket

It isn't every day that you find a game that is a truly fresh take on a classic game style. There are dozens of games out there that are simply a couple tweaks away from infringing on Tetris and Bejeweled trademarks. Upset the Fruit Basket takes inspiration from these staple game types, but builds something fun and unique that you can enjoy for its own merits.

Read along with us after the break to see how Upset the Fruit Basket is able to stand out.

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Carbon for Android (the Twitter app) now available

Posted: 03 Feb 2013 11:35 AM PST

Carbon Twitter for Android

Carbon is for Android smartphones only, separate tablet app in the works

After more than a year in the works and a couple of false starts, Carbon for Android -- the Twitter app -- is finally available on Google Play. Everything we showed you a week ago in our exclusive preview still stands. The scrolling is the gold standard for any other application. The animations are as subtle as they are impressive. And the overall design and feel is among the best we've seen in a Twitter app. And the keyword and hashtag filters can help clean up your timeline in a way usually reserved for desktop Twitter clients. This initial release is just for phones, but rest assured a tablet version is on the way.

Best of all, Carbon is free.

One update from our preview regards the settings menu, which wasn't active in our early build. We've updated our post with a bit on it. 

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Alleged Asus Memo Pad 10 press shots appear, launching at MWC?

Posted: 03 Feb 2013 08:32 AM PST

Android Central

Android Central at Mobile World Congress

Asus is no stranger to Android tablets, and so while nothing official by any stretch, it's not at all surprising to hear that a new tablet is reportedly heading to Mobile World Congress later this month. Following on from the already announced MeMo Pad 7, what we see here is allegedly the new MeMo Pad 10. 

The MeMo Pad 10 is said to follow on from its 7 inch sibling in hitting a lower price point. Reported specs include a 1280x800 display, a 1.2GHz Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5MP rear camera, 16GB of on board storage with microSD card expansion and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. 12 months ago specs such as these would have put the MeMo Pad 10 at the bleeding edge, but by current -- and forthcoming -- standards, it would sit in the mid-range, lower price bracket quite nicely. 

The source of the images, tabletsmagazine.nl, claims that several Dutch retailers have already begun to offer pre-orders for the MeMo Pad 10, starting as low as €299 (£259/$407), which sounds very competitive for a decent 10 inch tablet. Of course, until it's official, nothing's official. Treat it as you would all leaks, but we'll be in Barcelona in little over three weeks to see just what Asus does bring. 

Source: tabletsmagazine.nl (Translated)

From the Editor's Desk: Tales of incredulousness

Posted: 03 Feb 2013 05:33 AM PST

Phil Nickinson

As is so often the case in life, the little things can make a big difference. I was worried that our little Valentines Day contest -- we're giving away a pair of Nexus 7s and Nexus 4s -- would come off as too cheesy. Sappy, even for me, a guy who grew up believing John Cusack's "Better Off Dead" was actually a preferred way for high school to pan out. (Sadly, I played trombone instead of the sax -- not quite the same romantic effect there. And no bitchin' Camaro, but my sun-faded 1985 BMW 325e with no air conditioning, speedometer and, occasionally, brakes, at least sounded cool on paper.)

But it's working. At the time of this writing, there are some 28 pages of entries. Somewhere around 600 pictures posted of all kinds of happy couples as I sit here Sunday morning finishing this column. Pictures of boys and girls. Boys and boys. Girls and girls. Dogs. Cats. Even saw someone with someone in a cow suit or something. (I don't judge.) In a job like this, it's both a blessing and a curse to not actually have to interact with people all the time. But every single time -- from the occasional reader meet-up (and we really need to do more of those) to events like Google I/O and CES -- getting to meet even just one of our reader is energizing in a way that's tough to describe.

So thank you for that. Each and every one of you. I can't wait to pack up the hardware and get it off to a couple happy couples. But we've got another couple weeks -- and hopefully many more inspiring pictures -- to go.

And now, a few more thoughts to keep things going ...

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Posted by at 6:53 AM

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