Update - 325

Google Doodles Now On Google Now Posted: 14 Feb 2013 05:16 PM PST One of the few complaints I’ve heard about Google Doodles is “I never see them!” The complaint usually stems from users who, like most of us I assume, type their searches into the “omnibox” or via a mobile device. Google has managed to spread the Doodle love to Android users via Google Now. The Doodle isn’t exactly the same as what you’d find on Google.com and you won’t be able to interact with the image in the same way but it will, at least, give you an idea of what everyone is talking about. If you haven’t updated to get yesterday’s awesome Google Now upgrades, do it now! Source: Android Central Come comment on this article: Google Doodles Now On Google Now Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

HTC One (aka M7) to debut on AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile on March 22? Posted: 14 Feb 2013 01:08 PM PST With next Tuesday being the big day for the unveiling of the HTC One, we do expect that it will become available sometime in March. We have heard that it could debut as early as March 8 in Europe, but what about the U.S.? Right now the word is that it will land on AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile on March 22. We are hearing that there will be a 32GB model and a 64GB model and contract pricing will be $199 and $299 respectively. What about Verizon you ask? Well back in January, we got wind that it was heading to Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, and T-Mobile was yet to be confirmed. The absence of Verizon is a little disappointing, but I guess it’s not a shocker since they just released the DROID DNA. I think it’s possible that the HTC One might still end up on Verizon, but maybe at a later date as another follow up to the DROID Incredible line. I guess we will have to wait and see. source: HTCSource Come comment on this article: HTC One (aka M7) to debut on AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile on March 22? Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Sony Xperia Z to be demoed to the public at a UK retailer ahead of release Posted: 14 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST Sony’s anticipated flagship in the Xperia Z will be publicly demoed ahead of it’s initial release at a UK retailer. While the device was unveiled during this years CES, many have been eager to see it in action. Starting tomorrow on Feb 15th, Phones4U will be displaying demo units of the Xperia Z at more than 300 of their retail locations. Anyone willing to give Sony another shot in purchasing this Android device? Hit the break for the full press release! LONDON, 14th February, 2013: Phones 4u today announces that it is the only independent retailer to offer consumers live devices to preview and trial of the new the Sony Xperia™ Z  ahead of the handset's general release at the end of February. From 15th February, consumers can visit over 300 Phones 4u stores across the country to trial live Sony Xperia Z smartphones, experience the handset's flagship features – including the stylish, waterproof body and powerful 13 megapixel fast-capture camera – and pre-order the newest addition to the Xperia range of handsets. Customers will have the opportunity to experience a live product demo, with Phones 4u's expert staff providing an in-depth walk through of the Sony Xperia Z's full feature package. The first 1,000 customers to pre-order the Sony Xperia Z at Phones 4u will also receive a free pair of Sony MDR-1R Headphones. Scott Hooton, Chief Commercial Officer at Phones 4u comments, “We always pride ourselves on providing our customers with the best possible customer service, and are delighted to be enhancing our in-store experience by offering the opportunity to fully experience the Sony Xperia Z before it lands for general sale. By doing so, we're giving people the freedom to test out the handset before they commit to a pre-order, ensuring they're picking the smartphone that's right for them." The Sony Xperia Z features the world's sharpest, boldest and brightest display, designed by the engineers behind Sony BRAVIA® TVs.  The Full 1080p HD, 5'' display features the highest pixel density of any smartphone, while the OptiContrast™ panel guarantees crystal clear images and a seamless black finish when switched off. Customers will also benefit from a range of features including: ·         A 13 megapixel fast-capture camera, with a next-generation Sony EXMOR RS sensor, with sleep to snap in under a second and superior auto mode ·         Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quad-core processor for super-fast performance •        Dust-resistance and a water-resistant rating of IP55 & IP57 •        Battery STAMINA Mode – which drastically increases battery life  by reducing consumption while the phone is on standby The Sony Xperia Z is available to pre-order at Phones 4u now, with free Sony MDR-1R headphones going to the first 1,000 pre-orders.  Available at Phones 4u free from £36 on contract on a range of networks from 28th February 2013. Come comment on this article: Sony Xperia Z to be demoed to the public at a UK retailer ahead of release Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Archos officially announces Platinum line of tablets that will go on sale this February Posted: 14 Feb 2013 11:20 AM PST We first saw this line of tablets back in CES. Now Archos has officially announced that the line should be available this February to consumers. There will be 3 different tablets, the 80, 97 and 116 all ranging from 8 to 11.6 inches in screen size. While different in screen size, the specs should be relatively the same with all powered by a quad-core 1.2Ghz processor with an 8-core GPU and 2GB’s of total RAM. The screens will also be powered by IPS type technology that Archos claims will have a resolution that rivals Apple’s recent iPad. The most intriguing of the 3 is most likely the 9.7 inch Platinum tablet. The screen size is in that “sweet spot” and offers a 2048×1536 resolution display. While it’s still less than the Nexus 10, it’s still a very high resolution. Seems like Archos is certainly stepping things up int heir tablet department. Will you be interested in giving them a shot? Hit the break for the full press release! ARCHOS Introduces the New Platinum Range The Platinum tablets are amongst the first Android tablets to offer a super high resolution IPS screen combined with the performance of a Quad-Core CPU Denver, CO – February 14, 2013 – ARCHOS, an award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, introduces the Platinum range, a new line of tablets that feature a sleek aluminum design combined with the best high definition IPS displays, quad-core processors and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. There will be three tablets in the range including an 8-inch, 9.7-inch and 11.6-inch all of which deliver true vivid colors, sharper text and amazingly fast performance. The entire Platinum range will all share the following features: •    High-Definition IPS display with capacitive multi-touch screen •    QUAD core CPU at 1.2 GHz with 8-core GPU, with 1080p video decoding •    2 GB RAM •    Android 4.1 Jelly Bean •    Full access to the 700,000 applications •    Archos Media Center applications •    Front and Back Cameras •    Mini-HDMI and Micro SD ports The ARCHOS 80 Platinum, an 8" tablet, features a 1024×768 resolution IPS screen and when compared to the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 it is almost twice as fast, has double the RAM and has a back camera for a fraction of the cost. The 80 Platinum will be available in February for $199. The ARCHOS 97 Platinum HD, a 9.7" tablet, features a stunning 2048×1536 resolution IPS screen, which is comparable to the Retina display found in the iPad, but is 40% less expensive. The 97 Platinum HD will be available in February for $299. The ARCHOS 116 Platinum, an 11.6" tablet, features a 1920×1080 resolution IPS screen, unlike anything currently on the market. The 116 Platinum will be available in April for $349. Come comment on this article: Archos officially announces Platinum line of tablets that will go on sale this February Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 1.0 will be available on more than 70 devices Posted: 14 Feb 2013 11:10 AM PST Today, the popular mobile processor company Qualcomm, talked about their Quick Charge 1.0 project. It’s part of a Snapdragon-powered phone’s power management and in theory should allow your device to charge up to 40 percent faster than before. The best part is that you don’t have to purchase any new accessories to take advantage of this new technology, your old existing USB charger and cables will suffice. Here’s the list of devices that will support this great new feature! Acer Cloudmobile S500 Asus Padfone Casio G'zOne TYPE-L CAL21 Medias X N-07D MEDIAS U N-02E MEDIAS U N-02E ONE PIECE Disney Mobile on docomo N-03E MEDIAS TAB UL N-08D Fujitsu Arrows A 101F Arrows ef FJL21 Regza Phone T-02D ARROWS Kiss F-03E HTC 8X 8S Droid DNA Evo 4G LTE One S One VX One SV HTC J butterfly HTL21 Huawei Ascend HW-01E Stream Kyocera Digno S KYL21 LG Escape Mach Motion 4G Nexus 4 Optimus G Optimus it Optimus Vu 2 Spectrum 2 Optimus Regard Optimus LIFE L-02E Motorola Atrix HD LTE Droid RAZR HD Droid RAZR M Electrify M Photon Q 4G LTE Droid RAZR Maxx HD Nokia Lumia 820 Lumia 920 Lumia 822 Lumia 920T Panasonic Eluga Power P-07D Pantech Flex Vega PTL21 Vega Racer 2 LTE Samsung Galaxy Express Galaxy Rugby Pro Galaxy S Relay 4G Galaxy S III Galaxy S III Progre Galaxy Victory 4G Ativ S Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (LTE) Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (LTE) Galaxy Tab 7.7 Plus Sharp Aquos Phone Series Aquos Phone Serie SHL21 Aquos Phone si SH-01E Aquos Phone sv SH-10D Aquos Phone Xx 106SH Aquos Phone Zeta Aquos Phone Zeta SH-02E SH-01E Vivienne Westwood PANTONE 6 200SH AQUOS PAD SHT21 Sony Xperia AX SO-01E Xperia GX SO-04 Xperia SX SO-05D Xperia TL Xperia T Xperia VL SOL21 Xiaomi MI2 Mi2 ZTE Grand X LTE Flash source: Qualcomm Come comment on this article: Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 1.0 will be available on more than 70 devices Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

The Internship trailer debuts Posted: 14 Feb 2013 10:46 AM PST Last week we reported on a planned Google+ Hangout to debut the trailer for the new movie “The Internship” coming out this summer. This is a natural fit for Google since the movie takes a comedic look at the life of a couple interns working for the search giant. The Hangout was hosted by Conan O’Brien on February 13th to reveal the trailer for the movie starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson which is set for a June release in the U.S. You can check out the trailer below and note the extensive scenes shot on Google’s Mountain View campus. Clearly Google has been very cooperative with development of the movie. Director Shawn Levy has indicated that he was very interested in tapping into the culture of Google as part of the movie-goers experience. We will be able to find out how successful he was when the film opens. Click here to view the embedded video. Come comment on this article: The Internship trailer debuts Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Alcatel Wireless introduces its OneTouch Star smartphone, brings Jelly Bean goodies to a modest package Posted: 14 Feb 2013 10:44 AM PST Modest wireless carrier Alcatel has gotten in the spirit of Valentine’s Day and formally introduced its OneTouch Star smartphone. This device comes in a lovely pink shade and will come with all the bells and whistles found in a typical lower-level midrange device: an AMOLED display with an 800 x 480 resolution, a 1GHz dual-core processing unit plus 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and oh by the way will arrive with Jelly Bean fully-loaded. No word on when it will be available exactly, but we suspect we’ll see it at a certain trade show coming up very soon… source: Alcatel Come comment on this article: Alcatel Wireless introduces its OneTouch Star smartphone, brings Jelly Bean goodies to a modest package Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 chip won’t ship until July Posted: 14 Feb 2013 08:35 AM PST It appears that we are are going to wait a little longer before we finally see all the things that NVIDIA has cooking for us in 2013. According to NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, the upcoming Tegra 4 chip will not ship until mid-July, which means most Tegra 4 devices won’t ship until at least August or September: "We ship Tegra 4 starting in Q2 [of fiscal 2014]. We are ramping production now and we will have full production release. [The second quarter] is when we ship to customers. Q2 is also when we ship the Tegra 4 based Shield device…Although it is in the latter part of Q2, it is going to be in Q2." Unfortunately, that means that revolutionary mobile gaming device Project SHIELD will be slightly delayed too. Here’s hoping the extended wait will be worth it for all you fanatics out there. source: electronista Come comment on this article: NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 chip won’t ship until July Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Android 4.2.2 update for Nexus 4 wipes out unofficial LTE Posted: 14 Feb 2013 08:15 AM PST Remember not too long ago when some adventurous tinkerers found out you could enable LTE on the Nexus 4 because of how similar the hardware is to the LTE-enabled Optimus G? Well, if you’re one of the few using that trick, you may want to hold off on updating your Nexus 4 to 4.2.2. Apparently, in the latest version of Android Google has completely taken away the ability to turn on LTE for the Nexus 4. It’s definitely a disappointment, but when you think about FCC regulations and the like, it shouldn’t surprise anyone Google made this decision. If you just can’t live without LTE, though, I’m sure a few developers will figure out a way to get that unofficial support back, but until then you’ll just have to live without it. source: Ars Technica Come comment on this article: Android 4.2.2 update for Nexus 4 wipes out unofficial LTE Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Latest Gartner report shows that mobile phone sales are down overall and Samsung still leads the pack, but Huawei may be primed for a major year Posted: 14 Feb 2013 07:52 AM PST It appears that there is some minor slowdown in regards to the overall growth of mobile phone sales. According to research firm Gartner Inc., worldwide mobile phone sales amounted to 1.75 billion total units for 2012 which was a solid number, but represented slightly disappointing 1.7 percent decline from 2011 sales. Moreover, while Q4 2012 smartphone sales saw record smartphone sales of 207.7 million total units, which was up 38.3 percent from the Q4 2011— the overall demand for feature phones remained weak throughout 2012. Gartner found that overall phone sales totaled 264.4 million units in Q4 2012, which was down 19.3 percent from Q4 2011 and even found that sales will continue to drop for 2013 as well. Additionally, the latest Gartner report pretty much solidified what we already knew— Samsung and Apple are far and away the top manufacturers in all the land by owning a 52% market share– though there may be a surprising competitor lurking in the shadows. Samsung held steady as the world’s #1 smartphone by having 64.5 million units sold for Q4 2012, up a whopping 85.3% from Q4 2011; Samsung also sold 384.6 million mobile phones for 2012, 53.5% of which were accounted by smartphone sales. Something surprising that resulted from Q4 2012 is the rapid ascension of a new brand that is quickly becoming familiar with consumers. Huawei had a surprisingly solid Q4 2012 by selling 27.2 smartphones to mobile users— which represented a 73.8% increase from Q4 2011. Additionally, Gartner is predicting a major year for Huawei as they have some superphones on the way that will go directly at the likes of Samsung and Apple. You’ll find complete details of Gartner’s latest study once you hit the source link below. source: Gartner Come comment on this article: Latest Gartner report shows that mobile phone sales are down overall and Samsung still leads the pack, but Huawei may be primed for a major year Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!