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- Nexus 5 leak: Real prototype or geeks wish list of specs
- Motorola X line to compete with Samsung’s GALAXY
- LG Optimus L9 gets updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- App Sales: Modern Combat 4, Jet Set Radio, GTA III and more
- Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processor mass-production to begin in Q2 2013
- Motorola DROID RAZR HD update improves camera and connectivity
- Google Reader now has 100,000 users who want it saved
- Samsung GALAXY S 4 accessory page goes live
| Nexus 5 leak: Real prototype or geeks wish list of specs Posted: 16 Mar 2013 05:52 AM PDT It has been some time since we last heard any serious chatter in terms of the Nexus 5. Some may remember back to October of 2012 and at that time it was looking like the next Nexus could be coming from HTC. Well, flash forward back to the present day and it looks like the HTC possibility may have been put to the side.
Notice how we say may in there because while this latest image and spec leak focuses on LG, it is being reported that Google is “currently evaluating several prototypes from different manufacturers.” That being said, what we are seeing today comes by way to the folks at Android and Me who are reporting based on an “anonymous source, who claims to work for Google.” Said source has passed on an image along with some other details and specs.
We obviously remain a bit skeptical. Well, skeptical to the point we will not say that this is the final design or anything like that. On the flip side though, the possibility of this being one of a few prototypes does sound somewhat reasonable. Great emphasis on somewhat. If nothing else, the specs do have us interested. The handset is said to be the LG Nexus 5, which is currently being referred to by codename. That name is “Megalodon” and we suspect the mega in the name may have something to do with the specs. Fun fact, Wikipedia notes that the Megalodon is “regarded as one of the largest and most powerful predators in vertebrate history, and likely had a profound impact on the structure of marine communities” and possibly grew upwards of 67 feet. Back to the task at hand. The handset reportedly has a 5.2-inch (1920 x 1080) OLED display, 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM, 3300 mAh battery and options for either 16, 32 or 64GB of internal storage space. The camera situation looks to be a 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera with 1080p recording at 30fps and a 16 megapixel rear-facing camera with 4k recording at 30fps or 1080p recording at 60fps. The camera details seem a bit on the high-end if you ask us. In fact, all the specs seem to be a bit on the high-end. To the point we cannot say this enough, but we remain skeptical. There is also one other bit that seems to be, well, not right. The reported spec list also includes an integrated DVB-T / ATSC-antenna. Bottom line here, you can read the specs and even check out the above image and hope for it all to be true, but for now this remains nothing more than rumor. Anyway, as this sort of sounds like a wish list of specs, lets go that route — shout out in the comments and let us know what you hope to see from the Nexus 5. Go crazy and all out, after all, that is what this list seems to be doing. |
| Motorola X line to compete with Samsung’s GALAXY Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:22 PM PDT Now that Samsung’s Galaxy S4 has been announced and detailed, it’s time to once again focus on the next major smartphone we’re still waiting to learn about. And that is the rumored Motorola X-Phone. There’s tons of rumors floating around and many which we can’t give any credence to, but a few details that surfaced this afternoon were worth taking a second look at. It sounds like the X line of devices will compete with Samsung’s Galaxy range.
The rumor mill is turning at full force according to this report by Android and Me, much of which we think is extremely out of reach and nothing we’ll be seeing anytime soon. Motorola doesn’t let us unlock our bootloaders, replace our batteries, or anything else – so why would they let us customize our devices anytime soon? That’s basically where that rumor goes. That being said, many aspects of the rumors and report seem very realistic and logical. Especially the parts stating the Motorola X-Phone isn’t just a phone, but part of a new branding strategy by Motorola. The Motorola X line is their new attempt to take on the Samsung Galaxy lineup. Just like HTC is doing with their One, and LG with the Optimus. Original reports from the WSJ stated Motorola have a next-gen X-Phone and X-Tablet in the works. So this makes sense to be their new line branding. The report goes on to talk about customer customizable hardware, updates from Motorola, and even customize ringtone, wallpapers and more before even getting the device. That seems rather unrealistic, but you never know. Maybe that’s Google’s WOW factor we’ve heard their CEO’s talking about lately.
Last but not least it goes on to mention the devices being sold online starting in June, which makes sense and goes along with recent reports that Google will offer the X-Phone on the Play Store. In the end we feel like Google and Motorola will offer a few different models that vary on internal storage, and maybe a color or two, and that’s all. Most likely we’ll be seeing plenty more leaks in the coming weeks, and most likely we’ll learn all the details at Google IO in May, just in time for the phone to hit the streets in June. |
| LG Optimus L9 gets updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Posted: 15 Mar 2013 03:40 PM PDT Back in early February LG confirmed that many of their latest devices would soon receive the update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and we’ve been waiting ever since for a few to arrive. This afternoon LG has just delivered one of many and the international LG Optimus L9 is getting Jelly Bean as we speak. Sadly there’s no news regarding the T-Mobile version.
Last month LG promised the updates were coming soon for the L7, L9, and the 4X. Then this morning multiple reports surfaced stating the L9 was getting the update, and we’ve since confirmed the international and European model is indeed getting it as we speak. According to this xda thread it’s live right now for a wide array of countries. We do have bad news however. This 4.5-inch qHD display rocking dual-core budget smartphone isn’t getting the update in the US from T-Mobile. Not yet at least. The T-Mobile L9 was released last year in November and is still currently enjoying Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. More details are available in our full review. We haven’t heard anything yet from T-Mobile, but most likely it will be following shortly. LG has slowly but surely been improving their hardware, and many of their devices are already running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It’s nice to see this update coming somewhat soon, although it’s still later than the majority of other big names like Samsung, Motorola, and HTC. It’s better late than never though right? We’ll update once we hear more regarding the Jelly Bean update for the T-Mobile variant. [via Unwired View] Device Info
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| App Sales: Modern Combat 4, Jet Set Radio, GTA III and more Posted: 15 Mar 2013 01:49 PM PDT Today we have a few awesome games and apps for your favorite Android smartphone and tablet all on sale for excellent low prices. Below we’ll mention a few we figured were worthy of the attention. Not only is one of the best shooters from the folks at Gameloft on sale for just $0.99 but it looks like multiple SEGA games have all been discounted around 40% too. Check it out below.
Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour from the developers at Gameloft is one of the most popular and best selling shooter games for Android, and for a limited time they’ve dropped this top-tier game down to just a dollar. Well, $0.99 to be exact. The Gameloft Blog confirmed the sale today and it’s available for multiple platforms as we speak at the new low price. Then as mentioned above, a few awesome games from SEGA have just been dropped too. Talk about a deal alert. The always fun and extremely addicting Jet Set Radio initially landed for Android back in November for the slightly high price of $4.99, but today they are offering this classic hit title for $2.99 instead. The same deal can also be found for Sonic CD, since we know there’s plenty of Sonic fans around these parts.
Sadly it looks like their latest games Sonic 4 Ep I and II are both priced pretty high and still $4.99 so aren’t partaking the the good deals. Oh and while we’re at it the popular Grand Theft Auto III has been discounted from $4.99 down to just $1.99 again, so get it while it’s available for cheap. Then for the NCAA March Madness fever Sports Tracker PRO is currently 70% off, so check it out. Surely there’s plenty of deals to be had, but these were a few fun ones worth mentioning. Drop us a comment for other good deals and grab them all from the links below. GTA III link |
| Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processor mass-production to begin in Q2 2013 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 01:32 PM PDT Samsung may have announced the 8-core Exynos 5 Octa chip back in January during CES, however it wasn’t until today that we got word of when they would actually begin production. Samsung has said the processor should be in mass-production beginning in the second quarter of the year. This of course ties in nicely with the recent GALAXY S 4 announcement.
As we recently learned, the GALAXY S 4 will be running the Exynos 5 Octa processor outside the US. Those in the US will see the Qualcomm Snapdraon 600. Back to the production though. Looking at Q2 2013 means this should be kicking off sometime in April. Aside from the timeframe regarding the mass-production, Samsung hasn’t given up much more in terms of new details. What we have comes from previous reports. Samsung has previously described the chip as featuring an “unprecedented eight-core ARM big.LITTLE architecture based on the Cortex-A15 CPU. Basically, that the processor has been built for efficiency. They give a fairly simple explanation in the video below. Diving a bit further in and we have an 8-core processor that will be split between four Cortex A15 cores and Cortex A7 quad cores. This will break down by allowing certain tasks to be handled by certain cores. Samsung has said that the Cortex A15 will handle tasks to include heavy duty apps such as graphic-rich games and the Cortex A7 will handle the lighter tasks to include emailing, web searching and mapping. Or in terms of efficiency, this approach is said to be able to offer up to 70 percent energy saving when performing various tasks (as compared to using Cortex-A15 cores only). [via Samsung] |
| Motorola DROID RAZR HD update improves camera and connectivity Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:49 PM PDT Today Verizon is at it again with another software update for the popular Motorola DROID RAZR HD and MAXX HD. It looks like Big Red and Motorola are ready to start pushing out a rather decent bug fixing update that should fix a slew of issues and improve the camera for many. It isn’t Android 4.2.2, but we have all the details for this upcoming update.
According to the official Verizon support page the RAZR HD and MAXX HD should be getting an update in the very near future. They usually arrive within a few days of Verizon’s posting, so be on the lookout. The update is certainly welcome and aside from Google security patches Motorola’s fixed a bunch of pesky little bugs. The update will bring the RAZR HD to version 9.16.6 and will run roughly 96MB in size, so WiFi is recommended. Verizon states a specific data roaming issues has been fixed, USB connection/deconnect has been improved somehow, and WiFi connectivity has also been improved. Then since cameras haven’t really been Moto’s strong point, the update improves the camera touch-to-focus as well as low light performance. So that’s good news.
Last but not least the media sync and video streaming performance has been improved and beefed up for a better experience and a clearer picture. This is all good news for RAZR HD owners so stay tuned as it should roll out over the next week or so. We’ll update as soon as it arrives. Device Info
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| Google Reader now has 100,000 users who want it saved Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:44 PM PDT Earlier in the week Google announced that Reader would be shutting down as of July 1, 2013. Since that point we have seen a bit of uproar from die-hard users. It seems that Google Reader has a fairly loyal bunch of users. So much so that we have seen a “Keep Google Reader Running” petition launch.
The petition is not the surprising part, but instead the part about how quickly people have been willing to sign. Well within the first day of the news that petition crossed the 50,000 signature mark and coming as of now — the petition has crossed the 100,000 mark. In addition to the fast rise of signatures, we also heard a bit from Brian Shih who is now the former Google Reader Product Manager who seems to have blamed it on Google+ and social sharing. In a statement provided to TNW, a Google spokesperson has said they have “given an overview of our reasoning and plans on our blog posts on the Official Google Blog and the Google Reader blog.” Google seems to have kept clear of discussing the petition which sort of suggests that Reader will shut down as expected regardless of the amount of signatures it receives. On that note, while July 1 is still several months away, we suggest those who rely on Google Reader (ourselves included) begin making other plans. We recently made some suggestions in this post and we encourage those reading to continue on to the comments as there were some additional suggestions from other readers. [via Change.org] |
| Samsung GALAXY S 4 accessory page goes live Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:04 PM PDT Yesterday as we’re sure you all know, Samsung announced their new GALAXY S 4 smartphone to take on the Android competition. Now today they’ve already posted up a microsite showing off all of the accessories for their new flagship smartphone – and they have plenty. While we won’t get into screen sizes, the similar design or plastic, we will share all the accessory details below.
One that I’m sure many are interested in is their new Samsung S Band. Just like other smartbands available like the Fuel the S Band will track footsteps, calories burned, and more then sync back all the details via Bluetooth to the new S Health app pre-installed on your Galaxy smartphone. We didn’t see much of it yesterday, but now Samsung posted the HD image above giving us an idea of what to expect, and the array of colors. That isn’t all either. For those following along live, or caught all of our coverage at the our Galaxy S4 Portal you probably know they have tons more to offer. More details can be found in our S View and accessory post too. Then most interesting was the Samsung GamePad that will attach your smartphone to a controller for a true console-like experience, which also outed the Note III screen size.
Then probably one of my favorite accessories is the new Samsung S View cover for the Galaxy S4. It’s like previous flip cover cases, only the new S View model has a little transparent window so you can quickly check battery levels, time, incoming notifications and emails and more without removing the cover. Pretty spiffy Samsung. Then of course we have the regular flip cover, a wireless charging pad (which they didn’t say anything about), durable full covers, and even a Samsung body scale. Yes Samsung will be selling a scale for your bathroom that will work alongside your S Band, S Health, and their new heart rate monitor band. A little much right? For all the details check out the images and the link to the micro-site below. [via Samsung]       Device Info
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