Thursday, June 27, 2013

Android and Me

Android and Me

With OEM-provided kernels, will Google Play edition devices receive Nexus-quick updates?

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 01:35 PM PDT

The Nexus line of devices provides the true Google experience. Not only do you get Android the way Google intended it, you also get the newest updates as fast as possible. When Google releases a new version of Android, you can be sure that your device will get it shortly.

When the Play Store editions of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One were announced, we assumed they would come with the full Nexus experience, including fast updates straight from Google. However, we don’t actually know that this will happen. So, what will be the state of updates for the Google Play edition devices?

First of all, we’ve already seen a messy situation starting. The Google Play edition devices come with the camera UI we saw in the Android 4.3 build, despite the fact that they run Android 4.2.2. These two devices have a newer Google-provided camera app than a Nexus device. Won’t Nexus owners be a little peeved?

Next, it seems that the kernels for the two new devices are not made by Google, but by the OEM. This means that future updates won’t depend solely on Google, but on the OEMs as well. This makes sense; you’d expect the OEM to make the best kernel for the hardware they designed (unlike a Nexus phone, where the hardware and software are designed together). But this would mean an extra delay while waiting for the OEM to build a proper kernel. Will Google provide the code before releasing the update to Nexus devices or release the code to the OEMs afterward like they have traditionally done?

We don’t know how this will pan out, but we’ll find out when the next version of Android comes along. If you want guaranteed updates as they come out, stick with your Nexus device. It’s pure, unadulterated Google and will stay that way. Google Play edition devices may get the updates at the same time, or they might lag behind significantly. Hopefully their status as stock Android devices will spur the OEMs to place emphasis on these devices, since that’s one of the reasons people would buy it in the first place. However, OEMs might want to focus on their consumer flagships more, which means these devices might fall behind.

Knowing that instant updates may not be guaranteed, would you still buy a Google Play edition device? Or are those updates irrelevant to you, and you’re just buying for the dev support and unlocked bootloaders? Tell us your thoughts!

HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition review roundup

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 01:19 PM PDT

Today the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play editions went on sale through Google Play. A few sites were given early access to the devices and have started posting full reviews or initial hands-on impressions. We took the time to round up some of the best reviews and pulled out some of the highlights. Read on to see how the Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One stack up.

HTC One Google Play edition highlights

  • Camera: ”The only significant drawback in the Google Edition unit we tested is that the camera doesn’t work nearly as well anymore.” ”Google’s not going to win any awards for stock Android’s lackluster camera app.” “Stock Android means living without Zoe and its wonderful features — that’s unfortunate, but perhaps Google’s fun Photo Sphere is a suitable consolation prize?” “The custom gallery with Zoes and the Highlights reel, a huge part of the HTC One imaging experience, isn’t there either.” ”In many cases, I was unable to discern any difference between the skinned-version photos and the stock-version.” “ Google has a lot of catching up to do. The stock camera does offer some basic settings, but they're hidden behind its poorly-thought-out radial menu.” “No Zoes. No Video Highlights.”
  • Performance: “Home screens and app drawer are as snappy as you’d expect the ‘stock’ home screens and app drawer to be.” “It certainly feels snappier.” ”Both phones are at least as snappy as their skinned counterparts, if not slightly faster.” “Benchmarks across the board were practically within the margin of error, including stock vs skinned and GS4 vs HTC One.” “Here we also see some gains for both the SGS4 GPe and HTC One GPe over the normal versions.” “With stock Android, it’s even faster.”
  • Software: “There’s no doubt that stock Android makes this powerhouse of a phone even better.” ”Android users could happily forgo TouchWiz and Sense, making either the stock Galaxy S4 or stock HTC One a better option than what you can get from the carriers.” “The software preferences between stock and skinned end up being a largely subjective thing.” “Even though I regularly critique OEM skins and software decisions, there’s an undeniable certainty that HTC and Samsung respectively do add a lot to their software that makes things better.”

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition highlights

  • Camera: ”In many cases, I was unable to discern any difference between the skinned-version photos and the stock-version.” “Google has a lot of catching up to do. The stock camera does offer some basic settings, but they're hidden behind its poorly-thought-out radial menu.” “Pictures taken with this Galaxy S 4 look just as impressive as those snapped with the skinned models.” “None of Samsung’s excellent camera app.” “Photos the 13MP camera took look almost identical to those on the TouchWiz version.”
  • Performance: “Both phones are at least as snappy as their skinned counterparts, if not slightly faster.” “Benchmarks across the board were practically within the margin of error, including stock vs skinned and GS4 vs HTC One.” “It feels zippy and light weight — in fact, there’s 12GB of storage available vs. 7GB on units skinned with TouchWiz.” “Home screens and app drawer are as snappy as you’d expect the ‘stock’ home screens and app drawer to be.” “Here we also see some gains for both the SGS4 GPe and HTC One GPe over the normal versions.” “While stock Android makes the HTC One a little faster, it’s a serious change in the Galaxy S4.”
  • Software: “Android users could happily forgo TouchWiz and Sense, making either the stock Galaxy S4 or stock HTC One a better option than what you can get from the carriers.” “This Galaxy S 4 provides the best user experience of any Samsung handset since the unlocked Galaxy Nexus.” “Stock Android is, like almost everything mobile related, a polarizing thing.” “Obviously all the Samsung-specific features which require Samsung apps like Air View, Air Gesture and S Beam are gone.” “Although unadulterated Android is great, as I mentioned earlier I still can’t shake that there’s-something-missing feeling when using it.” “The stock apps look better and are more intuitive to use almost without exception.”

HTC One review roundup

Samsung Galaxy S4 review roundup

What’s your take on the new Google Play editions of Samsung and HTC’s flagship Android phones? Does the benefit of running stock Android outweigh the custom software tweaks that make each of these devices unique?

Google Now updated with live TV, third-party music support

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 12:26 PM PDT

Google has pushed an update to the Google search app for Android that adds some new functionality to Google Now. New cards available in Google Now include information on live TV, third-party music client support and location-aware Google Offers.

Google Now’s live TV support takes the second-screen approach to a new level. If you have a smart TV connected to the same network as your smartphone, Google will offer up additional information on what you’re watching if you tell Now to “listen for a TV show.” As an example, Google says that, “if you were watching Nik Wallenda cross the Grand Canyon this weekend, with Google Now, you could learn that the ‘King of the Wire’ in fact holds seven Guinness World Records, including highest bike ride on a high-wire.”

Other companies, like Microsoft with the Xbox, have tried to get in on the second-screen movement, but Google seems to be headed in a different direction. TV producers don’t need to develop any custom content for Google Now live TV support. Interesting information and facts will auto-populate, much like with everything else in Google Now.

Also new to Google Now is the ability to select a third-party music app when asking Google Now to play an artist or track. Way back in mid-April, I wrote a post titled “What I want to see at Google I/O: Third-party developer support” where I detailed the kind of functionality third-party apps could bring to Google Now. That dream is finally coming true.

Using the new music feature is simple. Just say, “play an artist,” and use the drop down menu on the Google Now card to select the app you want to use.

Google Now also finally gained the ability to open and remind you of saved Google Offers when you near the establishment the offer is for.

What do you think of Google Now’s neat features? Personally, I can’t wait to see what else Google does with third-party apps. Google Now is getting more and more useful by the day.

T-Mobile to debut LTE-Advanced features; here’s what that could mean

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 12:16 PM PDT

T-Mobile may have been the last of the Big Four carriers to debut a 4G LTE network, but that isn’t stopping them from moving on to bigger and newer technologies. Since they got into the LTE game so late, they built their network on 3GPP Release 10 specifications, which form the basis for an LTE-Advanced network.

This doesn’t mean T-Mobile is planning to debut an LTE-Advanced network soon, but they did say that they will be rolling out some LTE-Advanced features later this year. What “features” are they talking about?

Some features T-Mobile may have in store could increase  data speeds and improve connectivity.  Some LTE-Advanced features we may see include “carrier aggregation” techniques that bond together two or more separate radio channels to get faster data speeds; two-by-two smart antenna arrays (also known as 2×2 multiple input, multiple output, or MIMO) for faster uplink and downlink; and relay nodes– low-power base stations that provide improved coverage and capacity at the cell edge. They’ll also be upgrading 37,000 of their 52,000 cell sites and focusing on large towers before putting up micro cells to improve capacity.

T-Mobile’s LTE network is quickly growing, and they have some pretty lofty goals for the end of the year. If they can roll out things like carrier aggregation, they would only be making their service better. With their recent “Un-carrier” changes, they’ve been moving forward in an industry that’s been stagnating and relying on big numbers to entice customers. We love where T-Mobile is going. Do you?

NVIDIA Shield launch delayed until July

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 12:02 PM PDT

Just a day before Shield was set to launch (and only six days after announcing the official date), NVIDIA has been forced to push back the release of their Tegra 4 powered gaming handheld. The culprit is an unspecified mechanical defect found in the final hardware.

While it’s gratifying to see a company dedicated to perfecting hardware from day one rather than treating customers like guinea pigs, this is frustrating news for anyone who pre-ordered Shield. I’m certain that no one is more aggravated by this than NVIDIA; the last thing they needed was for this launch to be delayed in the impending wake of next gen console launches. Gamers only have so much cash to spread around, and while Shield is geared more toward the PC gaming crowd, there’s no doubt a reasonable amount of crossover.

Hopefully NVIDIA still has some good will built up with the pre-order crowd based on their recent pre-launch price cut to $299.

Shield will need to perform well with NVIDIA’s PC gaming faithful to have a chance, and I suspect it might. The device offers an experience that just isn’t matched by anything else out there at the moment. Whether it has what it takes to win over a sizeable audience will be a big question mark until reviews start rolling in.

Of course, we will have a review of the Shield when it’s available. In the meantime, what do you think it will take to convince people that Shield has a place alongside their smartphone and tablet?

Show Press Release
SHIELD Shipments To Be Delayed Into Next Month

We're grateful for all the enthusiasm that's been expressed for SHIELD, our new portable gaming device.  And we're eager to get it into your hands.

But we won't do that until it's fully up to the exacting standards that NVIDIA's known for. And some final quality-assurance testing has just turned up a mechanical issue that we're not happy with.

So, while we announced last week that SHIELD will go on sale this Thursday, we've taken the hard decision to delay shipping until next month.

The issue relates to a third-party mechanical component, and we're working around the clock with the supplier to get it up to our expectations.

We apologize to those who have preordered SHIELDs and to all those who are waiting for them to go on sale. But we want every SHIELD to be perfect.

New camera UI debuts with Google Play edition devices

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 11:20 AM PDT

In a bizarre move today, Google has snuck an updated camera user interface into the just-barely-not-stock versions of Android 4.2.2 running on the just released Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

Previously leaked as the camera UI to be released with Android 4.3, Google decided they didn’t need to wait for an update to provide new Google Play edition device owners with an improved picture taking experience. While we can’t say just how improved it is, early reports indicate it’s still not up to par with what manufacturers like Samsung and HTC have come up with.

The most notable change to the camera UI is a new option selection mechanism. Instead of holding down on the screen and selecting options from a circle that surrounds your finger, users are presented with a half-circle shape that makes navigation and selection easier.

Once we got our hands on the updated camera UI, we’ll report back on any details you may be interested to know. Hopefully, Google is working on something more drastic for Key Lime Pie.

After user backlash, Imgur app does away with ads

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 11:00 AM PDT

The Imgur app recently came out of beta, and with the finished product came advertisements. This is standard fare for a free app, but apparently a lot of people didn’t like it. Users voiced their displeasure, and soon after, Imgur updated their app and completely removed ads. Have they set a precedent for developers?

Consumer backlash and public opinion can be powerful tools in shaping corporate behavior, but don’t think adless free apps are going to become the norm. Often, advertising is the only revenue generated by free apps. I’m sure Imgur has plenty of ways of making money; they’re a fairly well-sized company. Apps created by smaller developers, on the other hand, won’t have that luxury. They may be putting bread on their table thanks to in-app ads. So, don’t go boycotting apps just because they have ads. Ads are necessary for developers to make money. If consumers begin heavily gravitating toward big name developers that can afford to forgo in-app advertising, the development community may feel the squeeze. Remember, if you don’t like ads but appreciate the product, you can always upgrade to the paid version of the app.

That said, we’re happy to see user feedback making positive changes. The Imgur app has definitely become more pleasant to use. What other apps have been substantially improved thanks to user feedback like this?

Imgur - official app FreeImgur PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One Google Play editions now available

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:19 AM PDT

The long-awaited stock Android versions of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 are now available to purchase on Google Play. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition comes with 16GB of internal storage and a price tag of $649.99. The HTC One Google Play edition with 32GB of internal storage comes in slightly cheaper at $599.99. Google is promising that initial orders will ship by July 9.

While specs of both devices remain identical to the phones consumers have been able to purchase for the past few months, there are a few key differences that make Google Play editions of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 extremely compelling. Both phones are SIM and bootloader unlocked with HSPA+ and LTE support on AT&T and T-Mobile's network. And I guess we should also mention that the stock Android software on both devices will be maintained by Google.

The idea of a stock Android HTC One or Galaxy S4 may be a dream come true for a lot of hardcore Android fans, but many of the key software differentiators that make the two phones appealing are missing without HTC Sense and TouchWiz. It’ll be interesting to see if the general public will care about these two Google Play edition devices or if interest will be limited to a small but vocal group of Android aficionados.

Gallery

samsung-galaxy-s4-htc-one-google-play-edition htc-one-apps htc-one-play-music htc-one-unlocked samsung-galaxy-s4-apps samsung-galaxy-s4-camera samsung-galaxy-s4-unlocked

Is a stock Android Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One Google Play edition in your future?

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition
HTC One Google Play edition

Meet Verizon’s next Motorola devices: Droid RAZR Ultra, RAZR M Ultra

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:18 AM PDT

Verizon hasn’t released a new device in a long time, and Motorola is busy reinventing itself. Neither company has shown anything new or interesting to keep customers engaged or even loyal, and no one knows what’s in store. Luckily, well-timed leaks can help us figure it out. And even better, leaks revitalize consumer interest in a company. Everyone wins!

The newest info released by famous tipster @evleaks reveals the names of two upcoming Motorola devices for Verizon. Not content with letting either the DROID or RAZR brands die, the newest devices will be called the Droid RAZR Ultra and Droid RAZR M Ultra, most likely replacing the Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR M in Verizon’s lineup.

Judging by the most recent RAZR lineup, there probably won’t be anything too special about these devices. Motorola devices have been nice, but nothing stellar, as of late. However, we’re excited to see them anyway, and even more excited to see what the new Motorola has in store for us. Will you be considering the new line of RAZR products on Verizon Wireless?

Motorola Mobility unveils new logo

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:02 AM PDT

It seems Motorola is going through some design changes this week. First we saw some pitch work for a new look and feel, and now we’ve got an official change from Motorola. The classic Motorola logo has been foisted into the modern age. The well-known Motorola typeface that was both bold and italicized has been replaced by a new typeface that is softer, thinner and all in lower-case. It doesn’t look nearly as harsh as before, and this brings the treatment up to snuff with modern design standards.

The “M” logo has also been tweaked. It’s still there, but in more subtle and different colors than the previous bright red. Below the logo, you’ll now see the tagline, “a Google company” in the same new font. The logo change was first spotted on the website for TechWeek, a tech conference in Chicago that Motorola is helping to host. With this design change, we can really see the Google’s influence coming into play: simplicity and beauty. This bodes well for the much-rumored Motorola X Phone.

Thoughts on the new logo?
Posted by at 7:54 AM

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