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Posted: 09 Feb 2013 05:58 AM PST
It looks like another patent case has returned to the news. This case involves Motorola Mobility, or in this case Google and Microsoft. This latest decision has a judge ruling that a few of the Motorola Mobility patents are invalid. The ruling was brought down by U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle this past Thursday.
 This case has Motorola looking for up to $4 billion per year for wireless and video patents. On the flip side, Microsoft had returned saying that Motorola deserves much less — in the ballpark of $1 million per year. Basically, a case where both sides are very far apart in term of a number. As for the latest decision in this case, the judge ruled that three of the Motorola Mobility patents are invalid. The key here, only portions of these patents are invalid, which basically just means that they cannot be ruled out entirely. Specifically, as was pointed out by Reuters, Judge Robart ruled that parts of those patents are “indefinite,” which means “Motorola’s patent language did not distinctly articulate the invention.” The remaining parts of those patents are still active in the lawsuit and a decision is expected to arrive sometime during the next several weeks. All said and done, this could be an important decision for Google who purchased Motorola for $12.5 billion giving them 17,000 patents. Should the ruling favor Microsoft, this means Google will have less bargaining power when it comes to negotiating future deals with other companies. [via phoneScoop] |
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Posted: 09 Feb 2013 05:36 AM PST
A recently published report from Opera Mediaworks is showing record growth in mobile advertising as well as Android being on the rise. The report is showing information from Q4 2012 and taking the data from an advertising platform that is currently serving up more than 50 billion ad impressions per month across a network of 12,000 mobile sites and apps.
 To begin with, this report shows Q4 2012 as being a “record quarter.” In fact, they are touting this quarter as having “more than a two-times increase in impressions and revenue to publishers compared to any other quarter in 2012.” Of course, it was said that this can be associated with the impact of the holiday shopping season. Touching on the Android side, it is said to be on the rise and as having been influenced by the adoption of the Samsung Galaxy S III. Yes, another report telling us that Samsung (and in this case, the Galaxy S III) are key in terms of Android. Still, while Android and the Galaxy S III are doing well, it was said that iOS is still on top in terms of monetization. Not letting iOS have all the glory though, Android smartphones did edge out the iPhone by 2 percent in terms of the market share of global impression volume. Other goodies from the report show that music, video and media are the top categories in terms of impressions with 21.4 percent. On the flip side of the most impressions, the report notes that entertainment proved more valuable and earned “slightly” more revenue overall. Furthermore, the report details “significant growth” from the Russian Federation which is said to be the result of Android device adoption. Aside from the growth in the Russian Federation, it was also shown that North American requests dropped due to the growth of international traffic. [via SlashGear] |
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Posted: 09 Feb 2013 05:06 AM PST
BLU Products has officially begun shipping a pair of Android smartphones in the US market. The devices include the BLU Studio 5.3 II and the BLU Tank 4.5. These handsets are both available unlocked and with sub-$200 price points. Well, more accurately — they are both priced at a contract-free $199. Those considering a purchase will be able to do so direct with BLU Products as well as with other online retailers.
 Kicking things off with the BLU Studio 5.3 II. As the name would imply, this device is sporting a 5.3-inch display. In this case the display is IPS with a qHD resolution of 540 x 960 and a pixel density of 208ppi. Other specs for the Studio 5.3 II include 4GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, 2200 mAh battery, 2.0 megapixel front-facing camera and 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with auto-focus, LED flash and 720p HD video recording.  Moving over to the BLU Tank 4.5 and the features once again come in with the name. Those looking towards the Tank 4.5 can expect to find a 4.5-inch qHD (540 x 960) IPS display with a pixel density of 245ppi and a rugged exterior. The Tank 4.5 has the IP67 certification which means that it is dust- and sand-proof as well as water-resistant in up to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. Being rugged aside, the Tank 4.5 also has 4GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, 1760 mAh battery, front-facing camera and 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash. Features shared across both devices include Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, dual SIM support, a dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9 processor with PowerVR SGX Series 5 graphics and connectivity for GSM Quad Band 850/900/1800/1900 and HSDPA 850/1900. While certainly not having over-the-top specs, these do seem attractive at the $199 price point. |
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Posted: 09 Feb 2013 04:46 AM PST
We recently learned about how the OUYA game console was planning to take the mobile approach in terms of future console releases, and well, it appears as if game approvals will also be taking a similar path. The details are again coming from OUYA CEO Jane Uhrman who recently commented about the process. She didn’t go into specifics, however she did offer a quick summary as well let everyone know that the process will be kicking off later this month.
 Basically, game developers will be able to submit their apps for approval by the OUYA team fairly soon. Uhrman has yet to give a specific date and at this time has left it as coming somewhere in the middle to the end of February. Simply put, if you are working on a game for OUYA, you may want to start getting things ready for the approval process. Speaking of, Urhman also spoke about how that will work. She once again noted the mobile market, stating that the game approval process will be “similar to mobile” and that developers will submit games and they will be reviewing for “intellectual property infringement, and malware, and excessive pornography.” Perhaps the key portion here, the process is described as being a “quick review” which means you shouldn’t have all that long to wait between submission and entry into the storefront. All things considered, it appears as if the OUYA console has been doing well, not only back in the Kickstarter days, but also since. They managed to raise way over the initial funding goals — initially looking for $950,000 and managing to secure more than $8.5 million. Looking forward, they also made some recent announcements about retail availability. At this time the console is available for pre-order with several retailers including Amazon, Target and Best Buy. Retail availability is expected for June. Finally, if you are waiting on a pre-order to arrive or still considering placing a pre-order and are looking for a bit more detail and information — make sure to check out our OUYA Starter Guide which breaks down which apps and gear you will want to have from day one. [via Engadget] |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 03:54 PM PST
The folks from NVIDIA are getting busy with their Tegra 4 quad-core powered gaming console, simply named Project SHIELD. You should all know plenty about this impressive little gaming system already, so today their just teasing us with a video showing some of the awesome games we can expect to enjoy. Get ready to fight like Mike Tyson (biting ears) in Real Boxing for Android on Project SHIELD.
 A new game Real Boxing by Vivid Games looks to bring real life in-the-ring experiences to our favorite mobile devices. Today NVIDIA is sharing a first hand look and preview of the game and their new device in a blog post. It looks like NVIDIA will be having what they’re calling “Android Thursdays” where they’ll be showing off the Android side of Project SHIELD every week. This means each Thursday you can expect an awesome new video or blog post from NVIDIA sharing details on upcoming games, Tegra 4 news, and their Project SHIELD game console. Today’s Friday and we’re a bit late, but we’ll be sure and show off anything new leading up to the device launch. Check out this stunning looking game: I don’t know about you guys, but that game sure looks awesome. Being able to have controls and a console like experience will really bring Android gaming to an entirely new level. Not to mention streaming that to the big screen TV in your living room so the entire group can watch you KO your best friend. For all the Project SHIELD news you can handle stay tuned right here, and hit the links below for more details. Don’t forget to check out our Tegra Hub full of Tegra-powered goodness. [via NVIDIA Blog] |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 03:41 PM PST
Google’s former head and current Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt looks to be parting ways with Google, at least a little bit. New details this afternoon have confirmed that the once big wig will be selling around 42% of his stake in Google Inc. The plan was announced today by Google and apparently will take place over the next year.
 Eric Schmidt has played a huge role on the growth and success of Google, and while we aren’t quite sure what the reasoning is behind this — it will probably turn out just fine for all parties involved. According to Google the reasoning and plan behind this move is simple. And that is to give Schmidt “individual asset diversification and liquidity.” Schmidt will be selling around 3.2 million Class A common Google Inc stock according to Reuters, which equals out to just over 42% of his total stake in the company and search giant. The once CEO of Google currently owns over 7.6m Class A and B stock, and Google has agreed to let him drop his shares over the course of the next 12 months. Schmidt will be selling these assets and shares over the next year and Google states it will be spread out in order to reduce the market impact. The stock being sold represents around 8% voting power in Google, and I sure wish I could buy it all. Google shares were at a closing high of $785.37 today with the news, and it will be interesting to see how that gets impacted. We aren’t sure how this will affect Google moving forward, but it’s interesting nonetheless. |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 03:21 PM PST
A brand new comedy movie featuring the two awesome dudes from Wedding Crashers, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn is coming soon. And to make thing even better the movie will be about two interns working for Google. It’s called The Internship and we mentioned it on our sister site back in September. These two celebrities were shooting tons of scenes of the movie right at Google’s HQ in California.
 It’s a pretty interesting idea, and we’ll have to wait for additional details. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are playing two interns at Google who lost their previous jobs and are trying to get back into the game, and it should be loads of fun and have plenty of comedy moments. Today we’ve learned that they’ll be hosting a live Google+ hangout and you won’t want to miss it. Hosted by Conan O’Brien the live Google+ hangout will feature both Owen and Vince talking and taking questions live right on Google+ and it will also serve as the debut for their official movie trailer. We still don’t know all the details and haven’t seen any previews yet, so I’m excited to see what this movie is all about. Here’s the teaser: Google was nice enough to open up their HQ to the entire film crew for a good portion of the film, and we’re told to expect plenty of guest appearances and possibly even some treats along the way. Maybe Sergey Brin will be spotted in the movie, who knows. The official Google+ Live hangout will give us our first look at the trailer, then both actors will be talking about “life at Google” so hopefully it’s worth the watch. As the trailer states, it takes Place on February 13th (my B-day) at 11 PST 2 EST. Don’t miss it! [via Droid-life] |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 02:11 PM PST
Just like last year and the year before the folks from Verizon Wireless are the number 1 ranked wireless carrier in terms of customer care and service. According to the popular JD Power and Associates, who’ve awarded Verizon the top spot for the fourth year in a row, Verizon isn’t showing any signs of slowing down and continues to offer great customer service.
 The full report and awards are based off of feedback from thousands of customers and questions in a series of online surveys. Telephone, walk-in, and online customer care is all tallied up for a total score with a possibility of 1000. Verizon once again tops the chart with a score of 766. AT&T took a close second but still didn’t outscore Big Red. Interestingly enough the folks from T-Mobile have taken a turn in the wrong direction, and actually scored last among the 4 major US carriers. A full 50 points below Verizon while AT&T was just 7 points behind the leader. That’s pretty much dead last and certainly not a good sign.  Verizon has quite the social network customer care plan especially over on Twitter, so that probably net them a few additional points. The survey also calls out non-contract pre-paid customers and MetroPCS was leading the pack, with Cricket Wireless down near the bottom. T-Mobile use to have the best CS around. So what’s changed? We don’t want to call anyone out but feel free to drop a horror story or two below. Good experiences are also nice to read too so lets hear em. [via CNET] |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 01:48 PM PST
Issue 40065, a seemingly simple sounding number, however for the more than 450 people that have starred the issue — it apparently means poor Wi-Fi connectivity on their Nexus device. Or more specifically, on a Nexus device running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. This of course could include the Nexus 4 smartphone as well as the Nexus 7 and 10 tablets. The interesting part here, this thread was originally created back on November 20, 2012.
 The thread then remained open until February 1, at which time it was marked as closed without any resolution being given. Users continue to comment, however still nothing in terms of a solution or even a response from Google. Some users are reporting the connections dropping in the middle of browsing and others are reporting issues when streaming audio with the display off. The long and short of the story though — many are complaining about dropped connections. There are some solutions being tossed around. For example, some are suggesting the use of apps like WiFi Manager or WiFi Fixer. But these sound like a workaround as opposed to an actual fix. Other suggestions include turning NFC off, but again, you shouldn’t have to turn something off to make something else work when they are both features of the device. Basically, there are lots of people complaining and lots of workarounds being talked about, but nothing in terms of an actual solution. Or for that matter, an acknowledgement from Google. You can see an example of this in action in the above video. Keep an eye on the Wi-Fi icon, it basically just goes in and out. If nothing else we hope to see a resolution for this before more Android users take drastic action. And by that we mean swapping out a Nexus device for an iPad. Yes, there were a few that mentioned that as their solution. While I am a bit hesitant to say this, my Android 4.2.1 running Nexus 7 seems to be pretty solid in terms of a Wi-Fi connection. Anyone here having trouble with Wi-Fi connectivity on Android 4.2? Thanks for the tip Jason! [via Google] |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 01:28 PM PST
The original HTC DROID Incredible is still alive and apparently active at Verizon Wireless. Because they’ve decided after a few years of inactivity to fix a few pesky bugs. Today reports have surfaced that the OG DROID is getting a quick update solving the reboot problem that plagued the device.
 When I first heard the news that this nearly 3 year old phone was still getting some sort of support and an update from Verizon my first thought was.. what about the Nexus? In all seriousness though, for the folks that still have and use the DROID Incredible a major bug that was causing serious random reboots has been solved and fixed with this update. I’m a bit surprised to see this update coming out this week, but I’m sure any owners of the handset will gladly accept the tiny tiny 4MB update file. Yup, it’s only 4MB and shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to download. Then a quick reboot and you’ll be good as new. Well as new as Android 2.3 Gingerbread at least. The DROID Incredible is getting pretty old these days, and the ONLY thing they fixed is a random reboot bug. No added security, features, or anything else is included in this update. We’ll take what we can get though so if you’re still rocking this old smartphone get ready for an update. Head into settings and check now, then let us know if you still experience reboots post update.
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 01:02 PM PST
There’s certainly no shortage of what we call 2D side-scroller platform games on Android. They’re simple, easy to play, and usually a good bit of fun. Meet a new game called Vector that was just released and spotted by Android Police. The same free running side-scroller action we know and love has been mixed into an arcade style Parkour game. It’s fun yet challenging so read on for more details and our hands-on video.
 If you’re a fan of side-scroller games, love Parkour, or are just looking for a fun and exciting new game for your favorite Android smartphone and tablet this is worth checking out. The game starts off with a “Big Brother” tied down society vibe where you quickly rebel. This is where the running comes into play and the game even has a Mirrors Edge feel to it. If you’ve ever played that on PC you’re probably excited to try this on Android — and you should be. Using the standard swipe for jump, slide, and tricks you’ll be jumping over obstacles, avoiding the bad guys and earning bonus points in no time. They’ve added an additional few options to this otherwise traditional game to keep it fun. You’ll be rolling, doing backflips, and other tricks all Parkour style for the runner in you. Check it out: “Run, vault, slide and climb using extraordinary techniques based on the urban ninja sport of Parkour.” As you can see in our hands-on video this is more than just your average side-scroller. All the flips and tricks adds a unique and fun element, and the black body silhouette with the awesome graphics in the background sure are nice. Don’t get too distracted though because if you miss a jump Big Brother is right on your tail ready with his taser to haul you off to jail.  Vector is free to play, but there’s ads and junk after every single level. They’ve integrated power-ups and a coin system for tricks, stunts, as well as an incentive to get faster and better. Coins let you buy tricks to beat the levels quicker for more stars, and they certainly help. A few times I quickly got frustrated with the controls, but like any platformer game it’s all about timing. You’ll have to pass 30 levels to get to round two for a new backdrop and an entire new experience, and they offer a paid version for $0.99 in the Play Store. This is a pretty fun new game so check it out. Vector Play Store Link           |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 12:42 PM PST
The title of this post may be a bit of a stretch. Truth be told, I do like the idea of mobile payments, specifically Google Wallet. But in my case, Verizon isn’t playing nicely so that sort of rules that option out. Truthfully though, NFC is about much more than mobile payments. In fact, I would argue that even if I had Google Wallet on my Galaxy S III, that would probably be the least used NFC related feature.
 You see, mobile payments may attract quite a bit of the NFC related attention, however there are plenty of other use cases. For this post, I will concentrate on two — sharing of files and automation. More specifically, sharing using S Beam and automation using TecTiles. There are other options available, especially in the form of NFC tags, however given I use a Samsung device — that is where my experience comes from. Not to mention, given the recent reports telling us how popular Samsung is at the moment, we suspect more than a few others have Galaxy devices in hand. Beginning first with the sharing. You may remember some Samsung commercials touting this feature. They seemed silly and sort of cheesy at the time, but after putting that to use — it has proved wonderful. This one is rather simple, assuming both devices have the NFC and S Beam setting turned on — open the file you want to share, hold the two phones together and then “touch to beam.” Personally, this comes in handy for sharing everything from music or video files to images and even links. Sure, you can always email files, however once you are familiar with this method of sharing, sending an email to a person sitting in the same room will feel silly.  The other item is the automation, something that I am more than a bit obsessed with. I want features on or off depending on where I happen to be at the moment. What better way to get those settings adjusted than to do it with fewer taps. I should point out that I also use a few other apps for this, one called Silence and one called Atooma. Those aside, the Samsung TecTiles work wonders. I have a tile on the light switch in my office. This one is pretty simple, it will make sure my phone is on vibrate so I am not disturbed with a ringing phone while working. I also use a tile in my car. This one does three things, it turns my Bluetooth on, turns my Wi-Fi off and launches Slacker. All items that I want and/or need in the car.  Of course, sharing and automation are just two examples of what can be done. The moral of the story is that if you happen to think of NFC as only being associated with mobile payments, you may want to give it another thought. We are also a bit curious, is anyone using NFC on a regular basis? If so, what are your use cases? |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2013 12:28 PM PST
It seems we cannot go a day without having some HTC M7 related rumor or leak. Today is no exception as there is now some chatter surrounding the name. According to what we are seeing, the device we have come to think of as the M7 may not launch as the M7. Instead, it may be something much simpler. Something that now looking back seems to make a bit of sense.
 We cannot say with certainly that this is accurate, however given the screaming Peter Chou video and the reputable source of this bit of information — it seems likely. Bottom line here, @evleaks is reporting that HTC will be launching the M7 as the HTC One. Touching on the screaming Peter Chou portion and we remember that he was not only screaming HTC M7, but also HTC One. At the time it seemed a little strange that he was mixing the two devices, however it now looks like he was simply screaming two names for the same device. Keeping with the One series branding that HTC already has also seems to make sense for the company. Either way though, whether HTC announces this handset as the “One” or the “M7″ one thing seems clear — it has attracted more than a fair share of attention. We are expecting HTC to make this all official during the February 19 event. Otherwise, the rumored features look to include a 1080p display, quad-core processor and camera lens with ultrapixels as opposed to megapixels. The HTC M7 is also expected to have 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 2300 mAh battery, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, Jelly Bean and Sense 5. |
Sunday, February 17, 2013
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