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- Samsung gives world an “official” leaked image of Samsung Galaxy S IV
- Google updates Gmail’s mobile web interface
- Details Leaked About Lenovo K900 Launch Date and Pricing
- Report says Android activation rate now at 2 million per day and global growth is 150 times faster than U.S. growth
- Angry Birds Reaches 1.7 Billion Downloads and Celebrates With Animated Series
- Featured Android Game Review: Protoxide: Death Race [Racing]
- Patent Reveals Google’s Plan To Bring Backside Controls To Future Devices
- HTC6445LVW Could Be Next-Gen DROID DNA Or Verizon’s HTC One
- iON Intelligence Battery App beta from OtterBox released to Google Play Store
- HTC Sense 5 ROM Hits The Droid DNA
| Samsung gives world an “official” leaked image of Samsung Galaxy S IV Posted: 11 Mar 2013 07:13 PM PDT
With Samsung’s Unpacked Event and the official reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S IV only days away, Samsung has finally released a small bit of imagery to whet the appetites of fans. Using their Facebook and Twitter accounts, Samsung posted a mostly silhouetted image of the top half of the Galaxy S IV with the lighting barely revealing the Samsung text on the face of the device. You can see Samsung is continuing with the curved theme of their devices of the past year. The post from Samsung follows on the heels of another teaser video published by Samsung today. source: Samsung Mobile USA Facebook, @SamsungMobileUS
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| Google updates Gmail’s mobile web interface Posted: 11 Mar 2013 06:51 PM PDT
Gmail users might want to check out the mobile web version of the email service after Google announced an update to the interface today. The latest update introduces several design cues found in the iOS Gmail app to the web interface for mobile devices. Google made the changes after receiving so many comments from Android users who saw the redesigned interface released by Google this past December for iOS devices. In addition to the interface changes, which closely follow Android design guidelines, the mobile web app includes better search capabilities and integration with Google Calendar. You can check out the new interface by firing up your favorite web browser on your Android, Blackberry, or Kindle device and heading over to gmail.com. You can also get a feel for the new interface if you use the Gmail Offline Chrome extension on your computer. source: +Gmail
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| Details Leaked About Lenovo K900 Launch Date and Pricing Posted: 11 Mar 2013 06:39 PM PDT
As previously reported, the Lenovo K900 is a mid-range device with some impressive specs. Though the device is a mere 6.9mm thick, it packs quite a punch with its purported Z2580 Clover Trail+ Atom chipset. The CPU will be a dual-core 2GHz processor. That’s only the beginning, the K900 will also come standard with a 5.5″, 1080p Full HD touchscreen. I know, you have heard all this before, right? So let’s get down to the good stuff! When will the product roll out and where? Production is already underway for the K900 and reports indicate it will hit the ground in Japan on April 17. How much will it cost? Glad you asked! Reports show that the cost of the handsets will be around $481 (2,999 yuan, €371, or £325). This pricing sounds legit when compared to current market values of similar handsets going for around $450-$550. Of course, these projections are subject to change between now and the launch date, but stay tuned and we will keep you posted when we know more. Here are some of the specs you can expect from the K900:
Source: Unwired View
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| Posted: 11 Mar 2013 04:12 PM PDT
It appears that there may spike in the number of Android activations per day, thanks to some preliminary reports. According to Asymco, the last reported number from Google was at 1.3 million activations per day in September 2012 with an overall activation of 500 million devices. It has been 5 months since Google reported anything, but Asymco is estimating that activations are now at a rate of 2 million per day with a total number of activations reaching 800 million. This influx of activations is surely impressive but there are some interesting facts to consider. The results also show that while the number is certainly a jump from the last report, U.S. user activations aren’t so high. The data shows that only 9% of overall Android usage is in the U.S. and only 0.6% of new Android users are in the U.S. This means that Android is being activated 150 times more globally than within the U.S. itself. This is very interesting when you consider how many Android devices come with cheaper price points. One possible explanation, as the source notes, is that variants of the iPhone can be had on contract for $0. While the same is true for Android, the numbers show that when the prices are equaled, iPhone is outgrowing Android within the U.S. Globally speaking, the iPhone is seeing the majority of its growth in the U.S. while Android is thriving internationally. Google has always prided itself on delivering an open source operating system and shows no signs of changing its gameplan any time soon. However, with the majority of new users outside of the U.S. markets, it will be interesting to see what Google does with future devices to attract the American consumers more effectively. Source: Asymco
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| Angry Birds Reaches 1.7 Billion Downloads and Celebrates With Animated Series Posted: 11 Mar 2013 01:34 PM PDT
That’s right ladies and gents, the ever popular Angry Birds mobile game is hitting the big screen! For those of you that just can’t get enough of your favorite angry birds kicking pig butt, now you won’t have to. Plans are in works to release a 52-episode animated series of the angry fowls and their porky nemesis’ this month. Back when Angry Birds first hit the scene their goal was to hit 100 Million downloads (lifetime). Well, they have far surpassed that number and are still going! Angry Birds has just broken the 1.7 Billion download mark, and there is no end in sight. They are like the Energizer bunny, they just keep going, and going, and going…. You get the point. Rovio, the creators of Angry Birds, has plans to launch their own Toon Channel, which will be accessible through their various game’s homescreens. The launch is planned for March 16, and the plan is to release one episode per week for 52 weeks. That’s a lot of animated Angry Birds goodness! The channel will also be carried by Comcast through their on-demand services in the US, Samsung will host the channel on their wide array of TVs globally, and Roku set-top boxes will follow. That’s not all! Countries such as Australia, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Finland, Israel, France, Germany, Norway, Chile, and Brazil have also joined the Angry Birds animated craze and plan to broadcast the episodes upon launch. No UK broadcaster has announced hosting the season, but with all the hype, they are probably working on a deal. “Launching the channel, and partnering up with some of the best video-on-demand providers and TV networks, is an important milestone for us on our journey towards becoming a fully fledged entertainment powerhouse.” said Rovio’s Chief Executive, Mikael Hed. “With over 1.7bn downloads, we can reach a far wider and more engaged global audience than traditional distribution would allow.” With the brilliance of Rovio’s marketing team, one has to ask “Was their decision to make the original Angry Birds game free in the IOS and Android app stores because they were losing ground in the marketplace, or so they could maximize the number of devices their software could populate in anticipation for the animated series launch?”…. You be the judge. Source: The Guardian
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| Featured Android Game Review: Protoxide: Death Race [Racing] Posted: 11 Mar 2013 01:13 PM PDT
HeroCraft Ltd is no stranger to TalkAndroid since we have reviewed many of their games. They recently released a new one called Protoxide: Death Race, and it’s a lot like Wipeout. This one was actually shown over a year and half ago, but it didn’t hit the Play Store till about 2 weeks ago. Every game has to have a premise, and this one is based on the “world after 2012″ as in after the apocalypse. Let’s face it, none of that matters because this game is all about speed and little bit of destruction. It’s a matter of either passing or taking out your enemies on some pretty fast tracks.
There are twelve different types of war-gliders and sixteen tracks in four locations. As in most games like this, the majority of them need to be unlocked. You can play a quick race or enter the campaign mode, which will allow you to unlock everything Protoxide has to offer. There are three types of races: a simple Race where you try to finish first, Deathmatch, where you need to destroy a certain number of enemies, and Survival, where you need to destroy all the enemies. You can even play against your friends online and around the world by creating your own race or joining an existing one. Gameplay is pretty straight forward. To steer, you tilt your device (only method for now). As you race along the track, you need to watch your health and nitro boost levels, both of which don’t automatically accumulate. You can gain both nitro and health by picking up certain bonus items on the track. This is also how you gain weapons and increase your protective shield. To take out enemy war-gliders, a target automatically appears over each opponent. All you need to do is hold them in your sight so that the target locks and shots will fire automatically. If you’re being attacked, there will be a triangular symbol above you so that you know to either avoid the shots by “hiding into a turn” or using your shield. Unfortunately Protoxide: Death Race isn’t going to blow you away with graphics, but if you’re not a stickler for that type of thing, it’s still a lot of fun. Considering the number of tracks and vehicles, it should keep things interesting for a while. Protoxide costs 99-cents and is available now in the Play Store. Check out my hands on video as well as HeroCraft’s trailer below, and hit one of the download links to get started. As always, let me know what you think. Features:
     Click here to view the embedded video. Click here to view the embedded video.
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| Patent Reveals Google’s Plan To Bring Backside Controls To Future Devices Posted: 11 Mar 2013 01:13 PM PDT
Google has brought many great concepts to reality and an application published by the US Patent & Trademark Office, shows off Google’s invention of simple backside device touch controls. Apple introduced the idea of backside touch controls on tablets in a patent from 2006 and Google seems to have explored the idea in significantly more detail. It could eventually make its way to future devices such as phones, tablets, e-book readers, Chromebooks, and more. To make backside touch controls on devices more responsive, Google mentions there could be visual, audible, and/or tactile feedback to let the user know an action was completed. Google’s patent application was originally filed in Q3 2012 under serial number 593117. Source: Patent Bolt
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| HTC6445LVW Could Be Next-Gen DROID DNA Or Verizon’s HTC One Posted: 11 Mar 2013 12:38 PM PDT
The HTC6445LVW passed through Bluetooth SIG over the weekend to get certified, and could be the next DROID DNA or even Verizon’s own HTC One. Back in February, a new HTC device with the codename “DLXPLUS”, was said to be heading to Verizon. There’s no mention of a codename with the HTC6445LVW, but considering the DROID DNA’s model number is HTC6435LVW and was codename “DLX”, it’s very possible this phone could be the next DNA. However, examining the specs from codename “DLXPLUS”, it matches up with the specs of the HTC One. If this upcoming device is in fact Verizon’s own HTC One, consumers could see it branded as the DROID One considering the carrier’s love of using DROID for naming smartphones. Via: Ameba
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| iON Intelligence Battery App beta from OtterBox released to Google Play Store Posted: 11 Mar 2013 11:09 AM PDT
Popular smartphone case maker OtterBox is preparing to step things up a bit in the world of device cases with an upgrade to their Defender Series to include a built-in battery. To help make the new case more effective at extending battery life, OtterBox developed an app to run on a smartphone to monitor both the phone battery and the case battery. The new app, iON Intelligence Battery App, is now in beta and is available on the Google Play Store. According to OtterBox, the app not only monitors the power status of the batteries, it will handle the automatic transfer of power from the case to the device. OtterBox says the new Defender Series case will also include front-facing LED indicators to provide power status information for the case. The app is supposed to be able to learn your power usage patterns to continuously refine its accuracy. Initially it appears the new case will only be available for a few Samsung Galaxy S III devices and the app will only work on model numbers L710, I535, and R530. If you have one of those specific versions of the Galaxy S III, you may want to use the download links below to give it a try.   source: Android Police
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| HTC Sense 5 ROM Hits The Droid DNA Posted: 11 Mar 2013 10:10 AM PDT
HTC Sense 5 was debuted in the Taiwanese company’s latest flagship device, the HTC One, and brings a much updated UI. While HTC hinted at a few phones receiving Sense 5, the Droid DNA was left out. Since it’s a fairly new device, the upgrade will happen at some point, but if you can’t wait, a developer by the username newtoroot has you covered. Porting Sense 5 to the Droid DNA has begun and a ROM is available. Everything is working except MMS and Zoe which is HTC’s new feature that allows you to snap still images and record HD video simultaneously. Keep in mind the Sense 5 ROM is in beta so don’t expect it work amazingly well. As a disclaimer, we here at Talk Android are not responsible for anything that happens to your phone. You can check out the video below which shows the ROM in action: Click here to view the embedded video. Source: XDA-Developers
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