Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Android and Me

Android and Me

Google Glass retail launch still a year away

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 01:35 PM PDT

So you’ve been tuned in to the hype machine for the last year. You’ve seen the unboxings, you’ve read the Google+ Posts, and now you want to know: when can I, a plain ol’ consumer, get my hands on Google Glass? I’m sorry to let you know, you’ve still got another year’s wait ahead of you.

In an interview with BBC Radio, Eric Schmidt made it clear that a retail launch of Google Glass is still “a year-ish away.”

Well, the developers are beginning now. It would be fair to say that there will be thousands of these in use by developers over the next months. And then based on their feedback, we'll make some product changes – and it's probably a year-ish away.Eric SchmidtGoogle

As badly as we’d like to see Glass available to the public at a more affordable price (developer editions run $1,500), a smooth launch of a finished product is much more important. There will surely be handfuls of bugs to sort out from Glass’ current position, and new features introduced as well.

The Next Web is reporting, citing Glass-Apps.org, that a series of gesture-based actions may be added to Glass in the coming months. Found deep in the code for Google’s My Glass app are references to the ability to pinch (in the air) to zoom and control a browser window, and wink to take a picture. While there is a proximity sensor on the inner edge of Glass, some of the features hinted at may require a hardware revision, which would push a retail launch back even further.

Hopefully by I/O 2014, we’ll be talking about how to buy Glass, and what kind of apps to install once you get your hands on one. This year though, we’ll still be salivating at all the fancy Glass demos, hoping to get our hands on one right along with you.

    

LG Optimus G Pro US unveiling set for May 1

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 12:51 PM PDT

As a follow up to an event invitation sent out early last week, LG has announced that their upcoming May 1 event in New York City will showcase the unveiling of the US LG Optimus G Pro.

It’s no secret that Samsung’s Galaxy Note series of devices has captured a fair share of success, but LG isn’t content to sit back and watch Samsung dominate. LG’s answer to the Note II, the Optimus G Pro, will finally launch in the US sometime after its upcoming May 1 unveiling, as announced by LG in a press invite to the event.

The international LG Optimus G Pro is a high-end larger smartphone, featuring a 5.5-inch 1080p HD display, Snapdragon 600, 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, Android 4.1 and a 3140 mAh battery. While the US variant will undoubtedly feature region-specific radios, don’t expect much else to change.

LG has found success in Korea with the Optimus G Pro, selling over 500,000 handsets in just 40 days. It took four months for the original Optimus G to sell one million units; LG is on track to easily beat that. Keep an eye out for more LG Optimus G Pro info as May 1st approaches.

    

HTC One Mini in the works? M4 gains metal alloy chassis, could launch late Q2

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:25 AM PDT

It’s certainly no secret that the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 will be battling things out in the high-end smartphone segment, but new details regarding the upcoming HTC M4 could make the mid-range smartphone a huge success. According to the latest rumor, Catcher Technology (current supplier of HTC One’s zero-gap aluminum chassis) has been named the exclusive supplier of the metal-alloy chassis that will be used in the HTC M4. Catcher Technology estimates it will ship 700,000 units in the second quarter, suggesting that the HTC M4 will be on the market before the end of June.

Previously leaked images of the HTC M4 showed the device clad in soft-touch polycarbonate, not a metal-alloy chassis. While some may quickly write off the new rumor because of this discrepancy, we’d like to remind you that multiple leaked images of the HTC M7 depicted a device that was completely different than what was eventually unveiled as the HTC One.

The HTC M4 spec sheet is rumored to feature a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, 4.3-inch 720p display, 16GB of internal storage, 13 megapixel camera with a f/2.0 lens, 1080p HD video recording and a front-facing 1.6-megapixel shooter. The device is certainly not on the same level as the HTC One, but if HTC manages to add front-facing stereo speakers and cram those specs into a zero-gap aluminum chassis, we suspect the HTC M4 could launch as the HTC One Mini and outclass the rumored Samsung Galaxy S 4 Mini in specs, design and build quality.

For now, the HTC M4, its specs and build materials are all classified as rumors. We would love to see HTC take on Samsung with a mid-range HTC One Mini, but we’ll have to wait a few more months for this story to play out.

    
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