Android Community |
- HTC M7 further confirmed by a screaming Peter Chou
- Pocket Casts 4: New features, new design and coming later this month
- RunKeeper 3.0 for Android released in beta, we go hands-on
- HTC M7 possibly headed to all major US carriers but Verizon
- Sony Xperia Z pricing revealed as pre-orders go live in the UK
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 benchmark filing suggest a MWC announcement
- GameStick Kickstarter campaign closes with nearly $650k in funding
- ASUS MeMO Pad 10 press images and retail product listings discovered
- Verizon Wireless introduces two new pre-paid smartphone plans
- HTC M4 and G2 smartphone details begin to leak
- EVO 4G LTE gets a quick OTA update, still on 4.1 Jelly Bean
- HTC M7 rumored to launch March 8th on multiple US carriers
- HTC Thunderbolt is back: gets update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- IDC: Samsung and Asus tablet sales showing huge year-over-year growth
- T-Mobile details latest Galaxy S III and Galaxy S II software updates
- Blackberry 10 gets help from Android with 28,000 repackaged apps
- Apple loses in effort to overturn Galaxy Nexus sales ban
- Motorola X-Phone confirmed by job listing
- OUYA console April deliveries close to selling out
| HTC M7 further confirmed by a screaming Peter Chou Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:00 AM PST It seems pretty clear that HTC is going to be announcing the M7 shortly, however just in case anyone still had any remaining doubt as to whether the handset is real — this video should remove that doubt completely. You see, HTC CEO Peter Chou recently took to the stage during a company event and not only chanted M7, but also took out the phone to test the camera.That said, we should clarify that this was a private HTC event, however in the world we live in today, that video has since been found on the web.
Anyway, the details are coming by way of the Chinese language Mobile01 website and while we were not given any specifics in terms of specs, Chou did show the M7 in two colors — black and white. The video does not offer any closeups of the handset and based on that, it is near impossible to speculate in terms of display size. Needless to say, the phone looked average size and if nothing else, it was certainly not oversized. You can get a brief (and somewhat distant) look in the above image. For a bit more entertainment though, click play on the video below to see Peter Chou leading the troops in a chant of terms such as HTC, M7 and HTC One. With this latest HTC M7 mention out of the way, lets touch back on some of the previous rumors. HTC previously announced an event for February 19 and that is believed to be when the M7 will be officially announced. Otherwise, the specs are still looking like they will come in as a 4.7-inch 1080p display, quad-core 1.7GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 2300 mAh battery, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, 12 megapixel rear-facing camera, Jelly Bean and Sense 5. Finally, HTC is rumored to have the M7 available with several US carriers on March 8. [via Engadget] |
| Pocket Casts 4: New features, new design and coming later this month Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:22 AM PST The app description for Pocket Casts had recently been updated in Google Play. The update was in regards to questions about whether the app had been abandoned since it hadn’t been updated in quite some time. That last update came back in February 2012. Putting the past aside though, it looks like the long awaited Pocket Casts update will soon be available.
The details are coming direct from the Shifty Jelly team and note that Pocket Casts 4 will be available for Android this month. And nicely done, this is one where the Android users are getting things first. The Pocket Casts 4 update is coming to iOS “later this year.” We will not rub that in though, instead we will focus on what v4 is going to bring. In short — new features and a new look. Pocket Casts 4 is said to have been completely redesigned. We suspect the folks building the app may be a little bias, however they are saying that it looks “completely awesome” and now reflects a “modern Android user interface.” Until we get hands-on with the app, we are going to have to take them on their word. Of course, a new look will be welcomed. Other goodies coming along with v4 include tablet support, with specific focus on the Nexus 10 and Nexus 7 as well as remote backup, smart dynamic playlists and cross-device syncing of subscriptions, playlists and play states. Basically, Pocket Casts 4 should be welcomed by those who regularly jump between devices. Finally, while these changes should be enough to get excited about, it appears as if there will still be more. In fact, the Shifty Jelly team left off by saying “a lot more” will be coming in version 4. |
| RunKeeper 3.0 for Android released in beta, we go hands-on Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:44 AM PST RunKeeper for Android is still sitting at version 2.14.2.2 in Google Play, however those looking to see the 3.0 release can now do so. The RunKeeper team has recently released v3.0 in beta form and made it available for anyone that wants to check it out. The beta release can be found by way of the RunKeeeper Blog, but keep in mind — you will need to sideload the apk file. That small detail out of the way, lets get into what has been changed.
Right from the beginning, existing RunKeeper users will notice a big change — a new look. RunKeeper notes this as being a design that has been done with Android guidelines in mind. Putting the specific guidelines aside, we can say that the look is much improved as compared to the previous release. Some of the other changes touch on the ‘Me’ tab, the in-app reminders, audio cues and in-activity splits.
Diving in a bit further with each of these and we have a ‘Me’ tab that now pulls in details including your goals, personal records and activity totals. Simply put, your data is now easier to find given it is all in one location. The in-app reminders will let you schedule your next workout time and the in-activity splits will now display your pace per mile/km or workout interval. As for the audio cues, they were simply noted as being enhanced. That all being said, there are some known bugs. If you are running Android 2.3 you may want to skip the beta as you have some crashing when viewing the training plan schedule and pop-up notifications are said to be hard to read. Otherwise, the bugs seem to be on the smaller (more of a hinderance than anything) side. Still, you may want to visit the RunKeeper Blog to check the complete list. A Google Play release date has yet to be announced, however we suspect that will come at a time when the bugs seem to be taken care of. One final warning, installing the beta release will overwrite the currently installed app (but your data will remain).    |
| HTC M7 possibly headed to all major US carriers but Verizon Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:29 AM PST The leaks are starting to flow in pretty quickly now that HTC’s officially announced they will be unveiling their new handset in just a few weeks time. February 19th will be their press event in NYC and London where we expect the new HTC M7 to finally see the light of day. Yesterday we reported a possible release date, and now we have launch partners.
We’ve seen various leaks that show the new flagship smartphone arriving for almost all major US carriers and until today that included Verizon, but not T-Mobile. Now according to HTCSource, who’s been accurate in the past on HTC news, it looks like the tides have turned and everyone will be offering this new impressive smartphone but the folks from Verizon Wireless. At least not at first. Verizon is known for doing things a little different, or at their own pace to put it lightly, and this looks to be no different. Reports are claiming T-Mobile, AT&T, and the Now Network will all have the M7 (still just a codename) come mid March. Apparently Verizon either won’t offer the M7 at all, or won’t be a launch partner for unknown reasons. Possibly because it doesn’t have the “DROID” name attached to it, or they don’t want to launch so close to their own flagship HTC DROID DNA. We’re also assuming the HTC M7 will be one of the first 4G LTE capable T-Mobile handsets. Making the M7 be a full 4G LTE smartphone across all major US carriers. Things are really getting interesting. It looks like March 8th could be the international release date, and hopefully come Feb 19th HTC confirms the US release dates (or plans) too. We’ll be there live for plenty of hands-on so stay tuned right here at Android Community. [via HTCSource] |
| Sony Xperia Z pricing revealed as pre-orders go live in the UK Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:04 AM PST If you are in the UK and looking forward to getting your hands on the Xperia Z, it looks like Sony has inched things one step closer to a release. We are seeing some pricing along with some pre-order availability. Xperia Z details have recently appeared with Sony as well as with several carriers and retailers to include Phones4u, Carphone Warehouse, Three and O2.
Beginning first with Sony, they have the handset priced at £529 with a “coming soon” message. Additionally, Sony has the Xperia Z listed as being available in three colors — black, white and purple. The Sony listing has the option to pre-register, however at the moment that means nothing more than being able to enter your email address in exchange for the promise of more information when it comes available. Moving over to Phones 4u and of the four remaining, they have the least information. This listing is just a teaser page that shows the handset as being available in black or white and coming soon. Carphone Warehouse will also have the handset available in black and white. They have options to grab the Xperia Z on 24-month agreements with Vodafone and O2. Pricing with Carphone Warehouse begins at £33 per month and so far, nothing in terms of off-contract pricing. Retailers aside and moving toward the carriers. Three will have the handset available in black or white and have options for 24-month agreements (starting at £34 per month) with an upfront cost of £69. The pre-paid pricing with Three is £449.99. O2 will switch things up a bit in terms of colors — they have the Xperia Z in black or purple and have the handset priced anywhere from free up to £479.99. Those looking to get the Xperia Z for free will have to sign up on a £47 per month 24-month agreement. Finally, while we have yet to learn the exact availability date, Three has offered an estimated delivery date of February 28, 2013. [via GSM Arena] |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 benchmark filing suggest a MWC announcement Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:26 AM PST Additional Galaxy Tab 3 details have recently been revealed. These latest are benchmark results and all things considered, it is looking more and more as if Samsung will officially unveil the tablet during Mobile World Congress. These benchmarks are shown as being for the GT-P3200, which is codenamed Santos. Of course, as we have seen in previous leaks, the P3200 is only one of a few possible Galaxy Tab 3 tablet variants.
We have also seen the GT-P5200 and the GT-P8200. As far as these benchmarks go, they were discovered by the folks at PocketNow and are showing the GT-P3200 as having a 1280 x 800 display resolution along with a 1.5GHz processor and running Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean. While these GLBenchmark filings tend to be accurate, we should point out that this model number and display resolution differs from earlier details. We had once seen the P3200 as having a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600. Those same previous details were showing the GT-P5200 (with an 8-inch display) as having the 1280 x 800 resolution. Just to round out the model numbers, the GT-P8200 is said to be the 10.1-inch model with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. We had also heard stories about Samsung dropping the 7-inch display size from the Galaxy Tab lineup. This would have them sticking with the 10.1-inch model and adding in an 8.0-inch model. That said, while we have seen some conflicting reports, it seems fairly certain that Samsung is indeed working on the Galaxy Tab 3. [via SlashGear] |
| GameStick Kickstarter campaign closes with nearly $650k in funding Posted: 01 Feb 2013 07:47 AM PST The GameStick console launched on Kickstarter back in early-January and since then it seems to have attracted quite a bit of attention. In fact, the game console attracted so much attention that the initial funding goals we quickly meet and additional perks were added as new funding levels were reached. All things considered, except for one small issue that resulted in the GameStick Kickstarter going down for a few hours, they seem to have done rather well.
And by done rather well, they have closed out the Kickstarter period as having been funded to the tune of 648 percent. As you can imagine, Anthony Johnson, CMO, PlayJam has said they are “overwhelmed, excited, grateful, thrilled and everything in between." The final total had the GameStick campaign at $647,658 in 31 days time. Perhaps more important at this point though, the GameStick will be shipping (to those who backed on Kickstarter) in April 2013. On the flip side, those who missed the Kickstarter can still make a purchase. Pre-orders will be available “shortly” from the gamestick.tv website. For those who are still not familiar with the GameStick, it is an Android powered game console with a controller. The console plugs into your HDTV using HDMI and the system focuses on portability.
The competition here is the OUYA, which is another Android based game console. The difference here seems to be that the GameStick has a bit more to offer in terms of portability. Granted, that is not to say the OUYA is large and heavy to carry around though. All said and done, if you backed the GameStick Kickstarter you have some time to wait before delivery and those who didn’t back, you will soon be able to pre-order. [via SlashGear] |
| ASUS MeMO Pad 10 press images and retail product listings discovered Posted: 01 Feb 2013 07:18 AM PST We have yet to see anything official in terms of an announcement from ASUS, however it looks like some additional MeMO Pad 10 details have surfaced. These latest come in addition to the recent unboxing video and include some press images as well as some retail product listings.
Diving right in here, the press images offer another look at the tablet. Of course, given we had already seen the unboxing — we had already known what to expect in terms of looks. That is not to say these images are useless though. In fact, they do show the tablet as coming in two colors — blue and white. Coincidentally, the MeMO Pad 10 looks similar to the Transformer Pad 300. Perhaps nicer though, these images also arrived with some details in terms of the specs. Keep in mind, we have seen some of these before, and while they are still not official, they do seem to add a bit of further confirmation. That said, the MeMO Pad 10 should arrive with a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) IPS LCD display, quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Other details include the tablet as having a microSD card slot, USB and HDMI as well as a 1.2MP front and a 5MP rear-facing camera. Otherwise, while we have already seen some retail listings, we are expecting to see an official announcement during Mobile World Congress. In the meantime though, the listings that have been spotted are showing prices ranging from 329 euro on the low-end and up to 389 euro on the high-end. Finally, in addition to seeing the blue and white press images, these retail listing also show the MeMO Pad 10 as being available in red and pink.    [via Tablets Magazine] |
| Verizon Wireless introduces two new pre-paid smartphone plans Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:43 AM PST Verizon Wireless has officially unveiled a pair of new pre-paid smartphone plans. These new plans are available as of today and are being touted as “wallet-friendly.” That being said, the plans have arrived priced at $60 and $70 per month and they each include some data along with voice and messaging.
In fact, both of the plans include unlimited calling and text messaging. The $60 plan will give the subscriber 500MB of data and the $70 plans brings the data up to 2GB. Those choosing to go this route will be on a month-to-month basis, which really just means that you will not be signing a two-year commitment. That bit sounds sounds nice, however that means you will need to bring, or purchase a smartphone. Unfortunately, if you go the purchase route, you will need to purchase that smartphone without any of the subsidies. Verizon Wireless has several handset options to choose from including more than a few that happen to be running Android. Of course, if the cost of a new smartphone is an issue, Verizon Wireless has reminded users that they do not necessarily need a new smartphone. They have said that “no-longer-used smartphone sitting in a drawer at home can be activated on a prepaid plan with no annual contract.” Bottom line here, regardless of whether you have an old phone or decide to purchase something new — Verizon Wireless now has two new pre-paid plans available. |
| HTC M4 and G2 smartphone details begin to leak Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:21 AM PST Much of the HTC related chatter has focused on the M7 smartphone lately. We are expecting HTC to come forward with an official announcement on February 19, however it the meantime, it looks like details for some follow-up devices have recently leaked. These latest are coming by way of @evleaks and include some early details on the HTC M4 and HTC G2.
These devices are both smartphones and so far, we have yet to see anything in terms of when these are expected to be announced. That being said, this leak did include some specs for each of the handsets. As the M4 appears to be a sibling to the M7, lets begin there. Details for the M4 include a 4.3-inch 720p display, dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon SoC processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 1700 mAh battery, 1.6 megapixel front-facing camera and a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera. The steps down as compared to the M7 include the display, which drops from 1080p to 720p and the amount of internal storage space also drops — going from 32GB to 16GB. Otherwise, the M4 is expected to arrive with LTE support and running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Sense 5.0. Another small drop as compared to the M7 includes the front facing camera which goes from 2MP down to 1.6MP. Moving over to the HTC G2 and we seeing what we believe will fall into the budget lineup. That is to say a device with a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 1.0GHz Cortex ARM processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, 1400 mAh battery and Ice Cream Sandwich. The G2 is also expected to have a 5 megapixel camera on the back. With that, given the hype surrounding the M7 launch, these two will most likely be unveiled after or done at the same time but without any fanfare. [via Unwired View] |
| EVO 4G LTE gets a quick OTA update, still on 4.1 Jelly Bean Posted: 31 Jan 2013 04:37 PM PST Today it looks like HTC is pushing the updates quite hard. After hearing the venerable HTC Thunderbolt will finally get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, it looks like the newer, thinner HTC EVO 4G LTE from the Now Network is getting a little update itself. While it has already received Jelly Bean it’s still getting a bug fixer update today.
We’re not too sure what’s all in this quick little 44MB update, but the carrier themselves have confirmed it’s currently rolling out to users. Mainly we’ve been hearing this is all about bug fixes with WiFi and the proximity sensor to name a few, as well as general performance increases. After some digging around users are reporting in-call proximity sensor improvements, enhanced MHL quality and options with video streaming to an HDTV, Bluetooth and Wifi improvements and updates, as well as power management improvements across the board. Most updates claim better performance and battery life so we’ll have to test that out ourselves. It also appears that they’ve silenced the camera shutter sound when the phone is actually set to silence, something that was a petty issue for some in the past. Overall the file is quite small, and we haven’t heard what all else is included at the moment. Either way the EVO 4G LTE already is enjoying 4.1 Jelly Bean, so go ahead and check for updates this evening and let us know how it goes by dropping us a comment below. Device Info
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| HTC M7 rumored to launch March 8th on multiple US carriers Posted: 31 Jan 2013 03:51 PM PST In just under 3 weeks we’ll finally be seeing the new and improved smartphone plan from HTC. We’re of course talking about the often leaked HTC M7 smartphone to replace their popular One series. Earlier this week HTC confirmed they’ll be holding a press event February 19th to announce a new device, and most likely that will be their new M7 flagship. Now some new reports and rumors are claiming to have plenty of details pertaining to their launch plans.
According to details acquired by HTCSource the 19th they will unveil their new and improved smartphone plans all starting with the M7. That’s just a codename, and most likely will branch into the “One” naming scheme. And here comes the good news. According to them the handset will hit the streets starting on March 8th internationally, and quickly follow to the US market if not the same day. Not only that, HTC will also be launching the flagship device on multiple US carriers. Just like the Galaxy S III, Note II, and a few other recent phones HTC’s looking to launch one flagship smartphone on all US carriers. Previous rumors hint at the major 3 US carriers, except we haven’t seen a report regarding T-Mobile yet. That means the others could all offer the M7 with 4G LTE and multiple color options. We’ve seen leaks showing a black handset, but sources claim an aluminum and white model are also in the works. If all holds true multiple US carriers could launch the new and improved HTC M7 in March and get a good head start on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S IV. As a reminder the M7 rumored specs contain a 4.7-inch 1080p full HD SLCD3 display, a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor, possibly a Tegra 4 or new Snapdragon 600 series, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and what we’re hearing is an extremely impressive 12 megapixel rear camera. Add in Jelly Bean, Sense UI 5.0 and a 2,300 mAh battery we’re certainly looking forward to seeing more. Stay tuned as we’ll be live in NYC for the full announcement. [via HTCSource] |
| HTC Thunderbolt is back: gets update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Posted: 31 Jan 2013 02:18 PM PST If you’re the proud owner of the HTC Thunderbolt we have some amazing news today that you probably thought was never coming. You’ll never believe this, but HTC and Verizon have just confirmed and approved the update to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich for the LTE-packing device. After initially hoping for an August release date, multiple delays, and lost hope of many the update is finally being delivered.
Slow Clap! Can we give Verizon and HTC a heartfelt applause for their efforts please? For the many many HTC THunderbolt owners that haven’t given up on the first 4G LTE handset to grace Verizon, or haven’t resorted to a 3rd party custom ROM like CyanogenMod, this is excellent news. Verizon and HTC will be delivering the update very soon. It’s listed as “coming soon” but that could be as soon as this weekend. To be honest we had completely lost hope, and I have a feeling we’re not alone with that either. The last we heard they were pushing for a December release date following an initial Android 4.0 ICS leak back in November. Without any more wondering we can officially confirm the update is coming soon thanks to the Verizon support page.
The HTC Thunderbolt will be getting upgraded to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, and along with it comes HTC Sense 3.6 for the UI tweaks. The improved launch bar, lockscreen notifications and shortcuts, Face Unlock, and a completely new user interface are a few of the things you’ll notice right away. This is a major update from Gingerbread, and one that thousands of Thunderbolt users should be extremely excited to receive. It should also help with battery life, but don’t expect miracles for the battery-draining smartphone. For those poor users that haven’t moved on to bigger and better things, the Thunderbolt update to ICS should arrive in the next few days so stay tuned. We’ll report back when we hear more. Who’s excited? Device Info
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| IDC: Samsung and Asus tablet sales showing huge year-over-year growth Posted: 31 Jan 2013 02:11 PM PST We recently saw the IDC report for Q4 2012 smartphone sales and it looks like we now have the report for tablets. And while Samsung is not leading the charge in the number one position, they have shown some rather large year-over-year growth. In fact, both Samsung and Asus are showing year-over-year growth much greater than 100 percent.
According to the report, looking at sales from Q4 2011 as compared to Q4 2012 and we see Samsung showing a 263 percent increase and Asus showing a 402.3 percent increase. That said, just to name the top five, IDC has the list as follows; Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Asus and Barnes & Noble. While we are fairly certain Android users will not be happy to hear this news — Apple still has a good chunk of the market share. The report shows Apple as having 22.9 million shipments and 43.6 percent of the market share. Moving over to Samsung and we see 7.9 million shipments and 15.1 percent of the market share. Amazon, in the third position is the last to have a double digit market share. Amazon is showing 6.0 million shipments with a market share of 11.5 percent. Otherwise, rounding out the top five and we see Asus with 3.1 million shipments and 5.8 percent market share and Barnes & Noble with 1.0 million shipments and 1.9 percent of the market share. In addition to the top five, we also have the “others” category makes up for 11.6 million shipments and 22.1 percent of the market share. Touching back on the huge increase that we saw with Samsung and Asus. Aside from the year-over-year growth percentage, Samsung was listed as going from 2.2 million shipments in Q4 2011 up to the previously mentioned 7.9 for Q4 2012. Asus was shown to have gone from 0.6 million in Q4 2011 up to the 3.1 in Q4 2012. Otherwise, IDC notes that these shipment numbers include shipments to distribution channels or to end users. Also, we should clarify this point for those who see Asus and Samsung and think Android — the IDC counts tablet as mobile and regular operating systems which means that in addition to Android and iOS, they also include Windows 8 and Windows RT. Alternatively, while the fourth quarter was said to be “very strong” for tablet sales, the PC market did not fare quite as well. Tom Mainelli, research director, Tablets, at IDC said that “the record-breaking quarter stands in stark contrast to the PC market, which saw shipments decline during the quarter for the first time in more than five years.” [via IDC] |
| T-Mobile details latest Galaxy S III and Galaxy S II software updates Posted: 31 Jan 2013 01:35 PM PST T-Mobile has detailed the latest software updates for the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy S II smartphones. Neither of the updates are what we would consider major, but that said, it is still nice to see them both getting some attention from the carrier. The Galaxy S III update is pretty straight forward, however those with a T-Mobile Galaxy S II may not necessarily have an update ready just yet.
More on the Galaxy S II in a moment though, for now, lets focus on the Galaxy S III. This update is arriving as Android 4.1.1 with baseband version T999UVDLJC. The update includes security enhancements and an improved user experience. T-Mobile has said that the Galaxy S III update will measure in at 4MB in size and will be available over-the-air or by way of Kies. Nothing further was specified in regards to this update. Moving over to the Galaxy S II and things are not quite as straight forward. We should also mention that this latest Galaxy S II update differs from what we saw rolled-out last week. Basically, if you have a T-Mobile Galaxy S II and have already updated to Ice Cream Sandwich — you are all set and will not get this latest update. This particular Galaxy S II update is for those who haven’t updated in quite some time — for those still rocking Gingerbread. If you, or more than likely, if you know someone with a T-Mobile Galaxy S II that happens to still be running Gingerbread — you will likely want to grab this update. It is not a big update, but it does contain some security enhancements along with some user experience improvements. This update measures in at 6.5MB in size, is available over-the-air or using Kies and will have your Galaxy S II running Android 2.3.6 with baseband T989UVLDH. |
| Blackberry 10 gets help from Android with 28,000 repackaged apps Posted: 31 Jan 2013 01:00 PM PST This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about Android apps running on a Blackberry, but the all-new Blackberry 10 that was announced and shown off this week is getting more than a little help from the green robot. The Playbook enjoyed Android app support thanks to sideloading in OS 2.0, but today we’re hearing nearly 30,000 apps have already been “repackaged” to run on Blackberry.
This week the new Blackberry 10 launched with what they claim is an app store full of 70,000 apps. During a Q and A session BlackBerry VP Martyn Mallick mentioned that roughly 40% of those are actually Android apps that have been re-purposed and repackaged for BB10. According to PC Mag this has been confirmed and while not a permanent solution to a bigger problem, should help their launch look better to potential customers. Apparently the Blackberry Android toolset is providing an extremely quick and easy way for developers to essentially tweak their apps to be used on Blackberry 10. There’s no back or exit button involved either, everything is gesture based by changing a few lines of code. The apps can look weird and out of place, but at least they work. All they are doing is porting direct Android apps to a toolset that remaps the menu and back buttons to a BB10 gesture, then makes it work on their new mobile OS. This certainly isn’t a good model moving forward, but it’s a start. Dialog boxes, popups, menu button areas and more are all out of place using this method and hopefully Blackberry get their own apps soon enough. Blackberry certainly has made it easy for developers to get their apps on the platform, but this isn’t the plan for their future. With Android having over 700,000 apps in the Play Store, more on iOS, and roughly 100,000 for Windows Phone, Blackberry has a lot of work to do. 70,000 is a good start, but they have their work cut out for them. Thoughts on this repackaging idea? [via SlashGear] |
| Apple loses in effort to overturn Galaxy Nexus sales ban Posted: 31 Jan 2013 12:43 PM PST We heard a bit about the fight regarding the Galaxy Nexus sales back in January. Of course, that was just one point in the fight between Apple and Samsung. And if you remember back to last October, Samsung had claimed a small victory when the US Court of Appeals overturned the preliminary injunction that banned Galaxy Nexus sales. Anyway, as one may have guessed, Apple followed that decision with a request to reconsider.
That being said, according to a recent Reuters report, the courts have since ruled against Apple. The decision came from the US Court of Appeals who rejected the request for a sales ban on the Galaxy Nexus. This decision basically means that Samsung is still able to sell the Galaxy Nexus. Apple had been looking for an en banc review which means that all nine active Federal Circuit judges are asked to reconsider the decision. Based on the previous details, this decision has arrived with little in terms of surprise. In fact, when this topic last came up, Reuters had mentioned that "several legal experts believe Apple faces long odds in trying to persuade the appeals court to revisit its decision." Otherwise, Samsung and Apple have both declined to comment on the situation. The lack of comment is not all that unexpected considering the circumstances of the case. For one, this case is not yet wrapped up. In fact, both companies are expected back in court on this very matter. The trial is set for March 2014. Device Info
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| Motorola X-Phone confirmed by job listing Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:59 AM PST We’ve heard a few little trickles of information regarding the rumored joint effort between Google and Motorola called the X-Phone. While we haven’t seen anything concrete yet, today a job listing from none other than Motorola Mobility themselves has apparently confirmed the device. Spotted by Phandroid, it looks like Moto is looking for a senior director for the product.
Now these sorts of leaks and finding are always interesting, and for now we’re going to take it with a grain of salt. Either way it’s still extremely interesting to see Motorola Mobility posting a job listing and directly calling out the name of the device. It clearly lists “X-Phone” in their inquiry. Interesting right? The full listing has since been filled or removed but was listed as “Senior Director of Product Management for the X-Phone at Motorola Mobility.” If that doesn’t confirm the smartphones existence, not to mention close to managing the final product, then we don’t know what does. The fine print before getting removed mentioned a qualified person to head up execution of a "next generation smartphone platform."
According to sources it sounds like the listing also mentioned the product as being in the “early stages” although according to multiple previous leaks by the Wall Street Journal, the phone is nearly finished while Google and Motorola are also prepping an X-Tablet. Either way we should be seeing and hearing more about this mysterious device soon, so stay tuned. I’m excited to see what Motorola has to offer. [via LinkedIn] |
| OUYA console April deliveries close to selling out Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:45 AM PST If you are still considering the purchase of an OUYA game console, you may want to make that purchase sooner rather than later. Or more specifically, make that purchase before Monday, February 4, 2013. The details are coming by way of a recent status update from OUYA and note that if you don’t place your order before then — you will not have your console in April.
The company has yet to say how much longer you will have to wait, however it looks like the first batch of pre-order consoles is close to selling out. So far they have said they are “nearly out of OUYA consoles for delivery in April 2013″ and will announce additional availability at “a later date.” The pre-orders are currently selling (as they had been) for $99. An additional controller will set you back an extra $30. Basically, those looking for both can expect to pay $129. On top of that is shipping — $10 in the US and $20 to go international. While there is still some uncertainty as to the amount of game titles that will be available, things are looking pretty good. A few days back we got word that the OUYA Game Jam resulted in 166 prototypes. Of course, this comes in addition to the titles that have already been announced. Finally, just to clarify, this April shipping time applies to those who are pre-ordering the console from the OUYA website. Those who backed on Kickstarter can still expect their console to arrive in March. [via Facebook] |
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