Android Authority

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• Sony Xperia Z Ultra screenshots surface, showing specs, home screen and launcher
• Galaxy S4 Active ships to AT&T customers early, appears in new live pictures
• Rumor: Galaxy Note 3 to launch earlier than expected in order to make up for poorer Galaxy S4 sales
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 offers “ludicrous speed,” its GPU is the “new king,” benchmarks show
• Is your Nexus 7 lagging lately?
• Displaymate pits the Xperia Z against the HTC One and the Huawei Ascend D2 in a Full HD display battle royale
• Verizon is closing out HTC Droid inventory in preparation of the HTC One
• The Best Android apps for Kids! (video)
• FCC chairman nominee voices support for ending the ban on cellphone unlocking
• Gamestick delayed for a second time
• Samsung still struggles with tablet market growth in the U.S. market, but why?
• Dish abandons Sprint offer, focuses on Clearwire
• AA Q&A Episode #003: Galaxy S4 Active, HTC One Verizon release date, Samsung Facebook phone?
• Huawei Ascend P6 available for pre-order in the U.K. for £329.95 SIM-free
• Back to Basics: Android skins explained
• LG to manufacture flexible displays this year, first device in development
• Falcon Pro pulled from the Play Store, after reset fails to resolve token limitation
• Nvidia will license its GPU technology to compete with ARM and Imagination
• Google Now wallpapers available to download to your computer, smartphone or tablet
• HTC One mini to be available on AT&T, report says

Sony Xperia Z Ultra screenshots surface, showing specs, home screen and launcher Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:32 AM PDT Thanks to a reportedly leaked batch of screenshots, we now seem to have a big picture of what hardware the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, also known as Togari, will pack. A second set of leaked images apparently reveals the launcher of the handset. The source for both sets of pictures is senior XDA-developers forum member Trekest and the screenshots are said to be shared by a "friend," so let's take this with a pinch of salt. According to the following images, the Xperia Z Ultra specs list should include a Qualcomm MSM8974 (Snapdragon 800) CPU clocked at 2.15GHz and an Adreno 330 GPU. The pictures also show the presence of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean as the platform (build number 14.1.B.1.125). Benchmarks for the device aren’t available, as apparently “the OS on it is clever, it recognizes known benchmark apps and forces you to uninstall them, otherwise it locks up until you do.” The most interesting component by far is the display. While the screenshots indicate a 6.21-inch panel with 1824 x 1080 resolution (Full HD) and 320 PPI density, all other reports on the device pointed towards an even larger, 6.44-inch unit. The size difference can only be accounted on the navigation bar, which eats a small portion of the viewing area. When it comes to storage, the prototype has 16GB of internal storage and it includes 2GB of RAM. Considering the huge size of the handset and that only 8.88GB of the storage can be usable, this should be a clear indication of a microSD slot presence. Other details mention the integration of no less than 22 sensors. Previous reports have also given sparse details about an 8-megapixel Exmor RS main camera and a 2.2-megapixel shooter on the front. The size of the handset should be of 179.2 x 92 x 6.5mm. The device would be nearly as thin as Huawei's latest Ascend P6. The second set of leaked images shows the launcher of the handset. Assuming they're the real deal, these images seem to indicate that we're indeed looking at a large display – as you can see, the dock includes six icons: However, an image of the Xperia Z Ultra is not available from the same source. Apparently, his friend wouldn't even show him the handset, which is "gigantic," meaning that "you can forget about one-handed operation with this thing." The handset should be unveiled during Munich and Paris events set for June 25 and July 4, respectively. +Chris Smith contributed to this report.

Galaxy S4 Active ships to AT&T customers early, appears in new live pictures Posted: 20 Jun 2013 01:57 AM PDT The release date of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active on AT&T is June 21, but it seems that the carrier is shipping the devices to customers earlier. According to AT&T, both the Urban Gray and the Dive Blue version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active are already shipping to customers, as of June 19. The funny thing is that, with the devices already sent to customers, this can hardly be called a pre-order process anymore. If you want to take a look at the AT&T-exclusive device in real life before you actually purchase it, Punk Panda, a user of Chinese social network Weibo, has posted some hands-on photos, including one that shows the back of the device with the AT&T branding. There is also an image that shows the device with the back plate taken off, allowing you to take a look at the removable battery. Also, in another picture, you can see the little rubber plug protecting the USB port from water and dust. All of the images give the impression of a very sturdy device, which is exactly what was expected of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. Of course, we’ll find out more when we get our hands on it for a review.

Rumor: Galaxy Note 3 to launch earlier than expected in order to make up for poorer Galaxy S4 sales Posted: 20 Jun 2013 01:51 AM PDT Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy Note 2 A new report suggests that Samsung may be interested in launching the Galaxy Note 3 earlier than initially planned, in order to compensate for poorer than expected Galaxy S4 sales. Galaxy Note 3 – a savior? Unfortunately, it's not clear when the Galaxy Note 3 would be announced and when it would hit stores. Earlier rumors suggested that the handset would arrive in September at IFA 2013 in Berlin, Germany, just like its predecessor did, but at least one recent report did say that the handset could be available earlier, in July or August. An earlier Galaxy Note 3 launch would surely not bring back lost Galaxy S4 sales, but it will help generate increased buzz around Samsung devices. Moreover, the sooner the handset is unveiled, the faster it will hit stores, and therefore the more money Samsung will make from early sales. More Galaxy Note 3 sales will make up for some of the lost Galaxy S4 sales, even though, historically, the Note models have not sold as well as their corresponding smaller flagship devices. For what it's worth, the Xperia Z Ultra (ZU or Togari) is expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks and hit stores thereafter – Sony may be interested in beating the Galaxy Note 3 to market with bigger smartphones, just like it did earlier this year when the Xperia Z was launched a few months before the Galaxy S4. This may be another reason for the Galaxy Note 3 to arrive earlier than supposed to. Is there a serious Galaxy S4 sales problem? Galaxy Note 3 concept Now ETNews says that Samsung is dropping orders for Galaxy S4 supply components for the month of July down to 6.5 million units. That's definitely an impressive drop compared to April's and May's numbers, 10 million and 12.2 million, reportedly. Still, not many other flagship out there can complain of such a “problem,” having to go from 12.2 to 6.5 million units from May to July. Naturally, these numbers aren't officially confirmed by Samsung at this time, and they don’t represent sales numbers for the Galaxy S4. The company only announced that it sold over 10 million Galaxy S4 units, reaching the milestone in less than a month after the device hit stores. Thus, the Galaxy S4 became the fastest selling Android handset so far, beating its predecessor. But the handset is not quite ready to become the best-selling smartphone to date, a title still held by one of the iPhone versions out there. It’s also worth remembering that Samsung doesn’t announce handset sales numbers in its quarterly earnings report, but it does mention milestones – that means we’ll have to wait to see how fast the 20 million sales mark is hit. Since Samsung announced its 10 million Galaxy S4 sales mark, we've seen a variety of reports saying that analysts and even Samsung expect sales to drop, even though Samsung’s CEO says the handset is selling well. Initial estimates suggested that the company could sell about 10 million units per month, but considering that Samsung is said to drop components orders, that may not happen. Is the Galaxy S3 cannibalizing sales? Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S3 In addition to dropping supply orders, the company apparently has other measures in place to try to increase Galaxy S4 sales. One of them is retiring the "old" Galaxy S3, which is still a worthy investment for smartphone buyers considering that last-year's flagship is still able to offer an impressive performance. Not to mention that since it's an old device, the Galaxy S3 is available for a lower price in various markets, which surely appeals to plenty of buyers who aren't necessarily interested in buying the latest device available. However, it's not known at this time to what extent the Galaxy S3 is cannibalizing Galaxy S4 sales, in case that’s actually a problem for the company. Healthy competition Furthermore, other Galaxy S4-branded devices have been recently announced including the Galaxy S4 Active, the Galaxy S4 Mini and the Galaxy S4 Zoom. While they're yet to hit stores, these devices may also prevent some buyers from getting the original Galaxy S4. Of the three models, just the Active is a flagship device ready to match the original in performance, but all of them carry the same flagship name. But, at the same time, the fact that they are part of the Galaxy S4 family, could be enough for plenty of buyers to choose them instead of mid-rangers or low-end offers from the competition. We'll also note that, for the Android ecosystem, it's certainly good to hear that the Galaxy S4 is having some sales troubles. That means devices like Sony's Xperia Z, HTC's One and LG's Optimus Gs are worthy competitors. And then there's also the iPhone, whose sales have not dropped once the Galaxy S4 sales. As always, more competition should benefit customers. Wrap up At the end of the day, nothing is officially official, so we can only speculate on available reports. Again, no matter how important the sales drop for the Galaxy S4, chances are the handset will still outsell its main competitors including the Xperia Z, the HTC One and the LG Optimus G Pro. And if Samsung wants to correct its Galaxy S4 sales issues by launching the Galaxy Note 3 faster than planned, then it’s even better for Android buyers – there certainly are a few of you anxiously waiting for the device. We'll point out that while this looks like bad news for Samusng – Galaxy S4 sales not matching estimates – the picture isn't as bleak as some people paint it. Samsung is still shipping plenty of mobile devices, and it's only Android manufacturer to really profit in this complex mobile business. Whether it will hit internal Galaxy S4 sales goals or not, Samsung will surely report better than average overall sales numbers in the following quarter.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 offers “ludicrous speed,” its GPU is the “new king,” benchmarks show Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:07 AM PDT Qualcomm development tablet and smartphone | Image Credit: AnandTech After seeing several unofficial Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 benchmark results that suggested the new flagship System on Chip from Qualcomm would blow the competition out of the water, we now have official tests showing the same thing. Various publications including AnandTech and Engadget have been invited to check out the new SoC (Snapdragon 800 MSM8974) on a Qualcomm development tablet and smartphone, and the results are very interesting – and in line with what you expect. In short, the Snapdragon 800 – which is said to power various upcoming flagship Android handsets including the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the HTC One Max (T6), the Sony Xperia Z Ultra (ZU or Togari), the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE Advanced version and the LG Optimus G2, to name just a few – is able to deliver a remarkable performance, particularly in the GPU department. Image Credit: ArsTechnica Several benchmarks have been used to gauge its potential, and the Snapdragon 800 SoC has been pitted in an Engadget test against several worthy competitors including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 found aboard the HTC One and the Galaxy S4, the Exynos 5 Octa that powers certain Galaxy S4 versions, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro in the HTC Droid DNA, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S400 in the HTC First, the Exynos 4 Quad in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 but also the NVIDIA Tegra 4 SoC in a reference device. AnandTech compared the Snapdragon 800 against some of the SoC mentioned above, but also against SoCs in the iPhone 5 and iPad 4, and, finally, the publication compared the Snapdragon 800's GPU against several PC GPUs. Image Credit: ArsTechnica The hardware The hardware used to test the new Qualcomm flagship SoC is certainly interesting, so here's what the company offered the publications: Tablet: 11.6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution 2.3GHz MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 processor (4 Krait 400 CPUs) Adreno 330 GPU clocked at 450MHz 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM at 800MHz 32GB flash storage microSD support USB 3.0 support microHDMI support 3.5mm headset jack 12-megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash 2-megapixel front-faing camera 3400mAh battery LTE Wi-Fi ac support Bluetooth 4.0 LE GPS NFC 11.7mm thickness Phone 4.3-inch display with 720p resolution 1500 mAh battery most of the other features similar with the test tablet. The results As you'll notice in the following gallery of benchmark screenshots, the Snapdragon 800 did more than well whether we're talking about the phone and tablet. Testing them both, Engadget found them to offer "ludicrous speed," with only the Tegra 4 SoC capable of putting up a decent fight. The more thorough results come from AnandTech, which focused mainly on testing the performance of the tablet offered for demo. While the CPU of the Snapdragon 800 was not able to outclass the competitors in all tests, the GPU was found to offer impressive performance, outscoring its main rival in the process. The site concluded that the Snapdragon 800 CPU is more than a match for ARM Cortex 15 and Intel Bay Trail, while the GPU is the "new king," with Adreno 330 becoming the GPU to beat this year. The SoC fared well against PCs too in a GPU comparison, although the performance, as expected, is not quite there yet. In the gallery below, you'll see various benchmark results as performed by AnandTech: ArsTechnica compared available benchmarks with previous results for other gadgets, and its graphs show that the Snapdragon 800 GPU is "even quicker than Tegra 4 or the iPad 4." That said, we're very interested to see the first Snapdragon 800-based devices hit stores, and we're particularly looking forward to see what new tablets will be powered by the new processor, as so far we only have rumors about future smartphones that will use the flagship SoC.

Is your Nexus 7 lagging lately? Posted: 19 Jun 2013 08:41 PM PDT The Nexus 7, though one of the best 7-inch tablets around, is experiencing some issues lately. Some users have reported performance issues with their tablet; things like stuttering, lagging, slow playback. The issue may not be the tablet, necessarily, but being the scapegoat for this issue could be the silver lining for Google. It seems that the Nexus 7 simply hasn't aged well, or rather Android has lapped it. Reports of similar issues on other tablets are rampant as well, and it points to an issue with Android 4.2, not so much a hardware issue. As Android versions improve, the single gigabyte of RAM housed in the Nexus 7 may just not be adequate to keep up. The only real fix is better hardware. So, what's the fix? There isn't one, really. You can root your device and flash a different ROM, but that's no guaranteed fix. You can do a factory reset, but Android 4.2 will be right back once the device updates again. There are apps that will polish up the available memory, which can improve performance, but that's tedious to do often. The only real fix is better hardware. In considering the Nexus 7 versus the Nexus 4, where both operate on the same iteration of Android, the Nexus 4 has none of these performance issues being mentioned. What it does have is double the RAM, and a better processor. We still hope the new Nexus 7 hits our hands in the fall, when Google likes to announce their new Nexus devices, and we need to see some much improved specs. It's oddly satisfying to hear people complain about the Nexus 7 in this respect. It indicates a nice market share for the flagship Android tablet, and a user base hungry for an upgrade.

Displaymate pits the Xperia Z against the HTC One and the Huawei Ascend D2 in a Full HD display battle royale Posted: 19 Jun 2013 08:00 PM PDT 2013 will most likely be remembered as the year of the Full HD screen in the smartphone market. Pretty much anyone who wants their flagship smartphone to be considered high-end has managed to stick a Full HD panel on their smartphone. But as we have found out all too often, screen resolutions and pixel densities are not the be-all, end-all of a great display. Screen resolutions and pixel densities are not the be-all and end-all of a great smartphone display. So to find out which Full HD smartphone was the best in its class, DisplayMate pitted the HTC One against Huawei Ascend D2 and the Sony Xperia Z in a shootout for the title of the best Full HD LCD panel. Both the Huawei Ascend D2 and the Sony Xperia Z have 5-inch Full HD panels with a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch. However, the Ascend D2 utilizes IPS LCD technology and the Xperia Z uses a TFT display. The HTC One has a slightly smaller 4.7-inch Full HD Super LCD3 screen, and therefore comes with a slightly higher pixel density of 469 pixels per inch. Of course you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference, because these are all very sharp displays and unless you walk around with a magnifying glass, you won't be able to resolve any pixels. The color gamut for both the HTC One and the Huawei Ascend D2 are very accurate and therefore tend to produce more accurate colors, while the Xperia Z's color gamut is a little too large and can produce inaccurate and exaggerated colors. Credit: DisplayMate The brightness on all displays was found to be excellent, with the HTC One having the brightest screen at 491 cd/m2, the Xperia Z coming in second at 478 cd/m2, and the Ascend D2 coming third at 421 cd/m2. The much maligned viewing angles of the Xperia Z were again found to be poor, and were a major factor against the Xperia Z, however, the HTC One and the Ascend D2 were both found to have excellent viewing angles, but like all LCD panels suffered from reduced brightness when viewed from an angle. The final, and perhaps most important test was the display power consumption test, and the HTC One came out on top here. When tested at the same luminance and same 5-inch screen area, the HTC One was the most power efficient at 1.03 watts, the Xperia Z second at 1.07 watts, and the Ascend D2 third at 1.12 watts. Credit: DisplayMate Displaymate criticized Sony's Bravia Engine for its poor calibration, and recommends users to turn off the feature on the Xperia Z for a much improved viewing experience. It also took issue with HTC's calibration for using unnecessary image and color processing in an attempt to make the HTC One's display stand out, causing distorted and over saturated colors and contrast. Unlike Sony, HTC doesn't give you an option to turn off the processing. In the end, Displaymate heralded the Huawei Ascend D2 for the most accurate colors and a superior picture quality and gave it an A rating, with the HTC One taking second spot with a solid B+, and the Xperia Z garnering a rather disappointing B-. If you'd like to see how the other big Full HD smartphone did in the Displaymate tests, you can check out the Samsung Galaxy S4's display battle with the iPhone 5 by clicking here. HTC One vs Sony Xperia Z [5:53] HTC One Review! [8:34] Sony Xperia Z Review [9:38] Do viewing angles mean anything to you? Have you noticed over saturated colors on your HTC One?

Verizon is closing out HTC Droid inventory in preparation of the HTC One Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:12 PM PDT Earlier this month Verizon finally confirmed what we all knew already, the HTC One would be coming over to the Big Red carrier. Unfortunately, they were pretty vague with their release timeframe, simply suggesting "late summer". Luckily we are now seeing a pretty strong sign that launch day is coming soon. According to Droid Life, several Verizon stores are running promo sales for the Droid DNA and Incredible 4G LTE in an attempt to clear out remaining inventory in time for the HTC One's arrival. What's interesting here is that Verizon is clearing out both existing HTC Droid-branded devices, with no apparent HTC Droid replacement in sight. So what does this mean? It could mean many different things. It could simply mean that Verizon wants to focus completely on the HTC One, and feels that it’s time to cut loose these older HTC Droid models. It’s also possible that the HTC One could be arriving with Droid branding. Considering Verizon specifically referred to the device as the HTC One, this seems unlikely, but again we can’t say for sure. Another possible theory is that Verizon is launching both the HTC One and Droid DNA 2. With the HTC Butterfly S now official, it makes sense that Verizon might plan on launching the smartphone as a Droid-branded alternative to the HTC One later this year. Again, that's just speculation. What adds some fuel to the Droid fire is that the @DroidLanding twitter account recently reactivated in conjunction with some kind of augmented reality Droid-branded game. These changes could mean that Verizon has new plans in store for the Droid brand. Or it could have absolutely nothing to do with the HTC One or the discontinuation of these two phones, hard to say for sure.

The Best Android apps for Kids! (video) Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:47 PM PDT It’s almost unexpected that a family wouldn’t own a smartphone, tablet, or even an iPod. Even though they’re very popular among teenagers and adults, kids take great interest in these devices, too.  Thankfully, the Google Play Store is full of kid-friendly applications, and we’ve put together a list of apps that all kids should find interesting. In a rush? Head to the bottom of the article to watch the video, otherwise, stick with us as we look at these few kid-friendly apps. Table of Contents: Duolingo Angry Birds Turbo Kids Kids Doodle Kid Mode Video Review Wrap Up Duolingo First up on our list is Duolingo, This fun and simple app helps both adults and kids of all ages learn how to speak a second language. The only pre-requisite here is that you can read. Duolingo offers Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. It’s pretty much most of the Latin based languages. Each lesson is broken up into a bunch of smaller exercises, and in some cases, this can be a good thing. As adults, it doesn’t take long to speed through them, but as you know, little kids tend to take a bit longer. All in all, Duolingo is a great way for parents and kids to bond and learn a second languages. It’s also educational, which is a win-win situation, in my book! Angry Birds There are billions of people who love Angry Birds, and seemingly, there are another billion people who don’t like Angry Birds. While many types of people play this game, Angry Birds is without a doubt also a good game for kids, given it’s colorful and cute nature. Angry Birds is awesome, and has virtually no content that could make parents blanch at the idea of letting their kids take the game for a spin. We’re not going to go into the mechanics, since basically everyone know how Angry Birds works. Given the fact that there are 6 games, there’s hundreds of levels to wade through, and that’ll no doubt keep your child occupied for a long time. They’re hard to pass up, being free and all. Turbo Kids Turbo Kids is a fun racing games that all kids will enjoy, perhaps because of the vibrant colors and cute creatures. You can play as either a boy or girl, and the goal of the game is pretty simple — you race against the AI players and try to finish in first place. Instead of the classic 3-star point system that you would find in Angry Birds, this game gives you stars based on how you place. If you come in fifth place, you get one star, third place will net you two stars, and first place will get you all three stars. It’s not just a racing game, as powerups are placed on the track to spice things up a bit. Some powerups will increase your speed, make you jump higher, and restock your freezing bullets, which, as implied, can freeze other players in place for a short amount of time. It’s a very simple game, and it can be a lot of fun. Kids Doodle Most kids enjoy drawing and doodling, especially when there are bright colors involved. If you’re looking for an app to do just that, then Kids Doodle is something you might want to consider. Like most of the apps on this list, Kids Doodle is very simple so little minds can easily grasp it. It’s actually a pretty fun doodling app though. Each new canvas is a different color, and there are over a dozen options for your brush. Don’t worry about changing the colors, as the brush rotates colors on its own. Finally, there’s an option to play back all of the strokes on the canvas so kids can watch themselves draw. Kid Mode Kid Mode may sound like an app, but it’s not. It’s actually a home screen replacement, more commonly known as a launcher. To activate, you simply set it as your launcher, just like you would when using Action Launcher or Nova Launcher. Inside this particular launcher is a myriad of activities and apps for kids to enjoy, including the ones already downloaded on your device. You’ll find a doodle pad, kids books, kids games, and other stuff that your kids will thoroughly enjoy. Perhaps the best part of the Kid Mode launcher is that it locks them out of the rest of your phone so they can’t, say, go on a spending spree with your Google Play account. I had that happen once, it wasn’t pretty. Video Review Wrap up If you take a look at our leaderboard (image above) you can see how these apps stack up against each other. As per the norm, these are based on Google Play Store ratings and downloads. There is no bias on our part whatsoever. Got a kid-friendly application that we missed? Be sure to let us know about it in the comments below!

FCC chairman nominee voices support for ending the ban on cellphone unlocking Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:53 PM PDT From the Wireless Device Independence Act to the Unlocking Technology Act, there have been several bills proposed that aim to tackle the issue of cell phone unlocking in the United States. While the various forms of proposed legislation have yet to get very far, it remains clear that not only is most of the U.S. public in favor of making cellphone unlocking legal again, so are many U.S. politicians. The latest politician to speak up in favor of cellphone unlocking is the newly nominated chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler. Recently Wheeler was nominated by President Obama to become the new FCC head, and today the would-be Chairman appeared in front of the Senate Commerce Committee for a nomination hearing. During the hearing, Wheeler made it clear that he feels that cellphone locking should be legal and that library of congress shouldn’t have had the reach to ban unlocking in the first place. “I am a strong supporter of intellectual property rights. At the same point in time, I believe that when I as a consumer or you as a consumer, or anyone have fulfilled our commitment and we’ve paid off our contract, that we ought to have the right to use that device and move it across carriers as we see fit. I look forward to working on this issue and resolving this issue to give consumers flexibility.” While Wheeler claimed interest in changing the law here, he also admitted he's not exactly sure how the issue should be handled. “I don’t know whether it [should be] a permanent exemption [to the DMCA], whether it is a rewrite of the Copyright Act, or what the appropriate solution is, but I do believe there needs to be a solution and consumers should have the right to unlock their phones after they’ve lived up to their side of the agreement." What do you think of the issue of cellphone unlocking? How should it be handled going forward?

Gamestick delayed for a second time Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:18 PM PDT As summer rolls on, the Android gaming platform war heats up. With such platforms as OUYA and Project SHIELD on the horizon, and the impressive Project M.O.J.O. being announced, it's no time to lose ground. Gamestick, perhaps the most interesting of the new Android consoles, may be doing just that. Having already been delayed once, the makers of Gamestick have once again set the launch back. The previous setback had to do with "high demand", which necessitated Play Jam to reconsider their manufacturing process. This new deferment is a bit simpler to fix, as it has to do with the user interface. The Gamestick has already gone out to developers, but the UI is still a work in progress. As it stands, the first units have not gone out to early adopters who backed the kickstarter campaign. It's a slippery slope, that is only getting steeper. If Gamestick wants to avoid being lost in the shuffle, getting the initial units out quickly is important. Those early adopters provide valuable feedback, allowing the team to make tweaks as needed. The UI being unfinished is cause for concern, but not devastating. The most important thing is developer support, and developers have their Gamestick units. While we'd still like to see Gamestick in the wild, we'll wait a little longer for a great product. Not too long, though.

Samsung still struggles with tablet market growth in the U.S. market, but why? Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:07 PM PDT When it comes to the smartphone and tablet world, Samsung is easily one of the most recognizable brands. In many markets Samsung leads the pack, especially when it comes to smartphones. Things are a little different in the United States, however. According to ComScore, Samsung is currently the second most powerful smartphone presence in the United States with 22% of the market under its belt. The Korean giant clearly enjoys an impressive amount of sales, and is second only to Apple in terms of smartphone market penetration. Where Samsung doesn’t shine so bright in the U.S. is in the tablet space. Strategy Analytics reports that globally Samsung reached 18.9 percent control of the tablet market in the period ending in March, which is a massive jump over the 7.6 percent they held during the same timeframe back in 2012. Most of this growth is thanks to Samsung's extreme popularity in markets such as South America and Eastern Europe. The later of these sees Samsung with 33 percent of the tablet. Meanwhile, Samsung tablet growth is much slower in the United States. In a Korea Times report, an unnamed Samsung source states that Samsung's tablet marketshare in the United States is "hovering around 13 percent, well below Apple's 50 percent. Our technicians and management are now trying to come up with a different approach". With Samsung growing rapidly in just about every other global market, what gives? What's holding Samsung back in the U.S. Market? Probably one of the most obvious reasons for Samsung's tablet struggles in the United States is that this is Apple's home turf, and Apple enjoys a fiercely loyal following in the North American market. Being honest though, let's look at Samsung's tablet offerings. What you'll see is devices with reasonable features and functionality, but you will also see retail prices that are equal to Apple's iPad and iPad Mini. The only major exception to this is the Nexus 10, which is just $399 for the 16GB model. Samsung’s devices might be slightly more powerful than Apple’s in some ways, but pricing is a real problem. This is because there are primarily two type of U.S. Tablet buyers: Those that want an iPad. And those that want a solid tablet experience, at a discount price. Sure, there are those of us Android users that specifically go after Android tablets regardless of the price, but we are arguably a minority here. The non-Apple tablets that have made the biggest market impact are devices like the Google Nexus line and the Kindle Fire. These are products that are both capable and highly affordable. Amazon and Google’s tablets reach rock-bottom prices by creating great products but only giving the features that are really needed – without all the extra fluff. They also are able to compete because they make most of their money back on services, not hardware. Samsung is right to be interested in changing its tablet approach if it wants to dramatically expand its marketshare in the North American market. As industry sources speaking to Korea Times note, Samsung tends to focus its marketing on hardware prowess, which is something many Americans just don't care about. What Samsung needs to do differently I might personally be drooling over devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 with its Intel processor, but most folks really have no idea what the difference is between an x86 processor and a ARM device. The average consumer wants to check their Facebook, Twitter and G+. They want to play Angry Birds and Temple Run. As long as the tablet handles that and is affordable, that's all these users are really looking for. To succeed, Samsung needs to find a way to cut out unnecessary (read: expensive) features that mean nothing to John Q. Public. They also need to focus on lowering the pricing, instead of charging premium prices on their devices. Samsung also needs to consider if its own special "features" like TouchWiz and its custom alternatives to Google apps are helping their image, or hurting it. Samsung seems to fight against Google’s ecosystem, instead of promoting it, and this could be something that could potentially detract interest from some tablet buyers. Ultimately Samsung has been one of the most valuable players in the Android space, and one of the keys to Android’s global success so far. That said, if the Korean firm really wants to take things to the next level in the North American market, they need to refocus their direction in the tablet space. What do you think, what could Samsung do differently with its tablets to better promote them in the North American market? Conversely, do you feel that Samsung’s existing tablet line-up is perfect the way it is?

Dish abandons Sprint offer, focuses on Clearwire Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:29 AM PDT After tendering an impressive offer for Sprint back in April, Dish Network has decided to withdraw from their bidding war with Softbank. The original offer, deemed to be not "actionable" by the Sprint board, gave Dish until yesterday to counteroffer with a restructured deal. Rather than do so, they are now choosing to focus their efforts on acquiring a stake in Clearwire. Dish has exerted a lot of effort the past year trying to start a mobile network of their own, not having much success. Details of Sprint's rejection have not been disclosed, leaving us with no idea why the Softbank offer is more attractive. In reading the large print, Dish's offer was much more lucrative. It gave more money to shareholders for Sprint, and put more capital into the newly formed corporation post-acquisition. Reports suggest Dish's offer simply leveraged too much of their own assets to make the deal impressive to the Sprint board. Dish's CEO Charlie Ergen tried in earnest to drum up public interest in Dish acquiring Sprint, but it just led to more problems. Sideways chatter about cultural fits and foreign entities taking over domestic companies may have been Dish's opinion, but probably ones that should have been shelved. The focus now shifts to Clearwire, where Dish has a new set of headaches. Sprint's deal with Softbank hinges, in part, on Sprint's ability to acquire the remaining half of Clearwire it didn't already own. Clearwire, facing its own challenges regarding solvency, began taking large monthly payments from Sprint. At the time, it was the only way the Clearwire board could reasonably keep the company viable for shareholders. Not doing so meant they'd run out of operating capital sometime in 2014, and a fire sale would ensue. The Dish offer, peculiar in that it was made while a standing offer for Sprint was in place, offered a much more lucrative chance for Clearwire shareholders to cash out. At a 30% premium over the Sprint deal, the Clearwire board readily approved it. Sprint then sued Dish, claiming the deal violated Clearwire shareholders rights. Keep in mind, the offer in place does not give Dish complete control of Clearwire, should it go through. The deal is really for roughly half of the company, which clearly concerns Sprint. Dish may be looking to squeeze Sprint out, or simply open new doors to additional spectrum. While not for complete control, owning roughly half of Clearwire does put them in a good position to make moves down the road.

AA Q&A Episode #003: Galaxy S4 Active, HTC One Verizon release date, Samsung Facebook phone? Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:24 AM PDT Welcome to another installment of Android Authority Q & A. Each week we take questions from you, our wonderful readers and viewers, and answer them both here and in video form on our YouTube channel. In a hurry or don’t like to read? Skip right to the video. Q Jimmy asks: Which carriers will be getting the Galaxy S4 active? A It looks like, at least for now, AT&T will be the only carrier carrying the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. That could always change in the future, but there’s a lot of talk about the phone being exclusive to AT&T, so we wouldn’t bet on seeing it elsewhere. That said, you never know. Q Kim asks: I’m a Verizon customer and I’m very unhappy with them. Why do they not have the HTC One? Will they ever get it? A Luckily, the HTC One is absolutely coming to Verizon in the future. Right now it looks likely that it’s headed for a July release date. Of course, this isn’t exactly concrete information, but as far as we can tell that looks like the most likely time we’ll see it released, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Q Charn Sharma asks: I just saw on the news Mark Zuckerburg from Facebook went to visit Samsung in Korea. Will there be a Samsung Facebook phone? A AP Photo/Yonhap, Do Kwang-hwan While this certainly is a possibility, especially given the existing of the Facebook-centric HTC First, we wouldn’t count on it. While it seems fairly likely that Facebook would be all over a possibility, Samsung holds on tight to its brand identity. For example, you don’t really see anything like Beat Audio branding on Samsung devices all that often. That said, they’re a company that likes making money, so if the deal is right, it could happen. Q Oscar says: I have an HTC One on T-Mobile and was wondering: will unlocking my boot loader void my warranty? A Yes, unlocking the bootloader will most definitely void your warranty. That’s a big part of why phones likt eh HTC One Developer Edition exist in the first place: so you can have an unlocked bootloader and still get to hang on to your your warranty. That’s not to say you can’t do it, but tread carefully and make sure you’re prepared before you go past the point of no return. Q Jacob says: Hey AA. My first generation nexus is outdated and is slow and laggy. I’m planning to upgrade. Should I get the S4 or wait for the S5? A Considering that the S4 was released pretty recently, you’ll be waiting for a long time for the Galaxy S5, most likely around 10 or 11 months, but possibly longer. You could wait that long if you wanted, but it may not be worth it if you’re not happy with your current phone. Your best bet is to either go for the S4 or wait for the Note 3, if you like big phones. Video Join us next week for more questions and, of course, more answers! If you would like to, head over to the Q & A page to ask us some questions of your own.

Huawei Ascend P6 available for pre-order in the U.K. for £329.95 SIM-free Posted: 19 Jun 2013 10:10 AM PDT The Huawei Ascend P6, the company’s new flagship device, now has a price tag, after being made official yesterday. The handset, which has been first seen in a filing with the Chinese version of the FCC, has been made available for pre-order by Carphone Warehouse and, while it’s not as cheap as previously rumored, it still has a price tag that makes it pretty interesting, if you take a look at its specs. The Ascend P6 costs £329.95 SIM-free or around $516. Carphone Warehouse also offers it free with a monthly deal that starts at £21 per month, and also as an upgrade to your current phone (still free with a plan starting at £21 per month). Another important thing for you to know, if you’re planning on purchasing the Huawei Ascend P6 from Carphone Warehouse, is that the device is expected to arrive on July 4, so you won’t get your hands on it until then. In terms of colors, you can currently choose between white and black – there’s a pink version, too, but it’s not available for pre-order at Carphone Warehouse just yet. What do you get for your money? Well, you get a very slim smartphone – at only 6.18 millimeters thickness and with a weight of 120 grams – which also includes some pretty good specs, starting with a 4.7-inch screen with HD resolution. The device is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Huawei K3V2 processor, as well as 2GB of RAM and has 8GB of internal storage, which can be added to using a microSD card. The rear camera is an 8-megapixel one, while the front one has a 5-megapixel resolution (one that enhances “selfies,” if you’re a fan of that). As for the battery, we’re looking at a 2000mAh one. What do you think of the Huawei Ascend P6′s price? Will you buy the device?

Back to Basics: Android skins explained Posted: 19 Jun 2013 09:16 AM PDT This week's edition is all about the skins that go on top of your Android device. If you missed last week's article about Android versions, you can check it out by clicking here. Let's first start by explaining what a skin is. A skin is an overlay which runs on top of your Android device. Each manufacturer makes its own respective skin which adds features, or changes the appearance of your Android device. The reason manufacturers do this is to differentiate themselves from other device makers, and also to put their own services and apps, in addition to the regular Google apps. Today we'll be explaining the main features of the most popular skins. These include the two latest versions of TouchWiz, which are made by Samsung, the two latest versions of Sense, which are made by HTC, LG's Optimus UI, Sony's Xperia UI, and Huawei’s Emotion UI. We’ll also look at stock Android, just so we know what we compare to. TouchWiz Nature UX 1.0 (On top of Android 4.0/Android 4.1) – Made by Samsung First seen on the Samsung Galaxy S3 in 2012, this skin is designed to mimic nature. From the wallpaper, to the lock screen and even to the notification sounds, the whole UI is centered around nature. In fact the tagline for the Galaxy S3 is "Designed for humans, inspired by nature". TouchWiz is known for its feature rich and colorful user interface, but is sometimes criticised for its software slowing down the system and the fact that some features do not work as well as advertised. It also adds several Samsung apps like Music Hub, Samsung Apps, S Voice, S Memo and S Planner (See gallery below for the full list). Some of the features that come with TouchWiz Nature UX are: Smart stay: This feature tracks your eyes to keep the screen lit when you are looking at it. Multiview: Multiview allows you to open two apps simultaneously on the screen, however it is only available on Samsung's high-end devices. (See gallery below) Pop up Play: Pop up Play gives you the ability to play a movie or video on top of whatever you are doing. S-Beam: S-Beam allows you to share videos, music, photos or contacts, with other Samsung Galaxy S3's, or Note 2's. Burst photo: Burst photo shot takes 20 pictures in quick succession, perfect for taking photos of diving at the pools. S Voice: S Voice is Samsung's answer to Siri. It is an assistant which can change settings and answer question Direct Call: Direct call is a feature which automatically calls the person you are texting when you lift your phone to your head. Air View (Only available on the Note range): Air View previews your photos or messages when you hover the S Pen over your gallery or messages. Popular devices that run TouchWiz Nature UX 1.0: Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0 (On top of Android 4.2) – Made by Samsung TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0 continues upon the basis laid by TouchWiz Nature UX 1.0, and was first seen on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Most of the design remained the same, however the lock screen and settings app were slightly tweaked, as well as well as some new features being added (see gallery below). This version of TouchWiz was considered a refinement over previous versions, however it was still criticized for slowing down the system. Some features that come with TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0 are: Smart Pause and Smart Scroll: Smart Pause tracks your eyes so that when you look away it will pause the video that you are watching making sure you never miss a moment of your favourite videos. Smart Scroll allows you to scroll using only your eyes and also works by tracking your eyes. Air View and Air Gestures (Only available on devices which support this feature): Air View is an extension of the feature seen on the Note range. However, it now works with just your fingers, allowing you to preview photos or emails, and even speed dial. Air Gestures allow you to answer your phone, scroll in the browser or gallery and change music. S Translator: This feature allows you to type or dictate what you'd like to say and then it will read back the translation in the language of your choice, and it can also translate what others say to you. The feature currently supports the languages Portuguese, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. S Health: S Health monitors your daily calorie intake, weight and workouts, it can track your daily incidental exercise with the built-in pedometer (only available on devices with built-in pedometer). It can also be synced with accessories like a heart rate monitor and a body scale. Dual Camera: Dual camera allows the user to take pictures or videos with both the subject and the photographer in the shot. Popular devices that run TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0: Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8, Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. Sense 4 (On top of Android 4.0/4.1) – Made by HTC HTC's Sense UI is very different to Samsung's approach at skins. While Samsung tries to add as many features as possible HTC attempts to create a great user experience without adding many features. It's a different approach, but if you wouldn't use any of the features on TouchWiz anyways then there is nothing to worry about. The unlocking ring from yesteryear is still there, and the famous HTC Sense clock remains, but the whole design overall was simplified to become more attractive, and the over the top 3D animations which plagued older versions were reduced. Overall the newer version provided a lighter, snappier experience, however some people criticized it for the way it strayed from stock Android, especially in multitasking. Popular devices running HTC Sense 4: HTC One X, HTC One X+, HTC Droid DNA, HTC One S, HTC Desire X.

LG to manufacture flexible displays this year, first device in development Posted: 19 Jun 2013 08:35 AM PDT Image credit: Yonhap LG is gearing up to mass manufacture flexible OLED displays by the end of the year, a company spokesman told The Korea Times. According to LG’s Frank Lee, the company will start manufacturing a flexible smartphone panel (probably the same one that LG demonstrated last month) in the last quarter of 2013. The statement contradicts what LG’s VP in Europe recently said about the flexible display technology not being mature enough to make it to the market. LG is likely to beat its major competitor Samsung, when it comes to releasing the first smartphone featuring a flexible display. You might remember that Samsung showed a flexible display smartphone at CES 2013. Lee added that production of flexible displays will take place on LG’s E2 line at the Korean company’s Paju complex, using a “4.5th generation glass-cutting technology for the OLED flexible displays.” LG Display doesn’t plan to make flexible displays for LG Electronics exclusively; other smartphone makers will also be able to buy them from LG, the same report says. It will be interesting to see how the first devices equipped with flexibles display will look, and how they will compare with conventional glass-based panels in terms of quality. However, the fact that the wait has been reduced to just a few months is exciting.

Falcon Pro pulled from the Play Store, after reset fails to resolve token limitation Posted: 19 Jun 2013 06:23 AM PDT Joaquim Verges, the developer of Falcon Pro, one of the most popular third-party Twitter clients for Android, pulled the app from the Play Store in order to figure out a way around Twitter’s restrictions on number of users. The app reached Twitter’s 100,000  token limit on Monday, and Verges had to reset the tokens and ask users to re-log in, in an effort to clear inactive tokens and allow new users to make use of the app. Falcon Pro went through the issue before, back in February, and the reset of the tokens did the trick back then. This time, Verges doesn’t seem too optimistic about the future of his app. As he details in a Google+ post, the 100,000 tokens limit has been reached once again in less than 24 hours, meaning that he will have to look for a new way around the limitation. The developer warns that the situation could mean the end of Falcon Pro, but hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy one of the best third-party Twitter clients out there once again. Joaquim Verges thinks that the reason why the token pool was exhausted so quickly after the reset was a landgrab that occurred when people learned about the reset. Also, some users have more than one account, which further uses up tokens. @PaulOBrien my only clue is that people rushed to log all of their accounts in. But the stats are very high, I'm seeing 4 accounts/user — Joaquim Vergès (@joenrv) June 19, 2013 If you updated your Falcon Pro installation and can’t use it anymore, you can download the .apk file of the previous version (2.0.2). The app is available on Google Drive one (link below) and worked just fine at the time this article was written.

Nvidia will license its GPU technology to compete with ARM and Imagination Posted: 19 Jun 2013 04:24 AM PDT Nvidia is in a delicate position right now. Its bread and butter, making GPUs for the PC industry, is increasingly skimpy, as customers move en masse to mobile computing and PCs are left to gather dust on store shelves. Between a rock and a hard place The Santa Clara company embarked into a transition to the mobile business, yet, so far, its Tegra line of mobile systems-on-a-chip hasn't made any headway against the giant of the industry, Qualcomm. The new Tegra 4 chip has only made it to one product so far, Nvidia's own Shield console, while the LTE-integrated Tegra 4i is only expected in 2014. Meanwhile, Qualcomm scores design win after design win, and with the new and powerful Snapdragon 800 SoC about to hit the market, it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. Everything’s for sale What can Nvidia do, faced with seemingly insurmountable odds? Play its strongest card – its graphics expertise. In a blog post, Nvidia announced that, starting with the Kepler architecture, it would license "GPU cores and visual computing patent portfolio to device manufacturers to serve the needs of a large piece of the market". This means that mobile SoC makers, such as Samsung, Qualcomm, or even Apple, will be able to use Nvidia GPUs in their designs, in exchange of a licensing fee. This new business model will put Nvidia on a collision course with ARM and Imagination Technology. At the moment, most SoCs in the market feature Mali GPUs from ARM or PowerVR GPUs from Imagination. Nvidia uses its own GeForce GPUs for the Tegra SoCs, but moving forward, it's willing to let other companies use GeForce GPUs in their designs. This means that Samsung, for instance, could pair a quad-core CPU from ARM with a GPU from Nvidia. Nvidia says that it will start by licensing its latest generation architecture, Kepler, a low-power design suitable for a wide range of applications, from supercomputers to smartphones. According to AnandTech, the IP licensing will extend to future architectures as well. Moreover, Nvidia is also interested in licensing its LTE technology, which is based on the acquisition of the modem maker Icera. In other words, everything is for sale. Why now? So, why has Nvidia decided now to go down the path of licensing? One reason would be the difficulties it faces with Tegra. The Santa Clara company faces the prospect of not being able to get the Tegra line off the ground. Selling its intellectual property would bring a solid business model and a lot of potential revenue. But more importantly, more devices will have the potential to take advantage of our investments. That means more of the planet's users will be able to enjoy our advanced graphics technologies. Nvidia blog But there's more – by turning into an ARM or Imagination competitor, Nvidia can bring its technology to more devices, of all types. PCs may be dying, but the mobile industry is still booming, while wearable and other low-powered devices shape up as the next big thing. In a few years, we could see a Samsung flagship or even an iPhone containing a GPU designed by Nvidia, which is not something Nvidia can hope for right now with its Tegra SoCs. As for future classes of devices, the sky is the limit. At the end of the day, the move to license its technology should give Nvidia a solid and flexible business model, that would allow it to continue working on the Tegra line without worrying about achieving immediate success.

Google Now wallpapers available to download to your computer, smartphone or tablet Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:20 AM PDT Many people love the beautiful simplicity of Google Now backgrounds, which makes them perfect to use as a wallpapers. If you’ve always wanted to have Google Now wallpapers as background images on your phone, your wish is now granted. That’s because a Reddit user has tracked down the Flickr account of the artist responsible for creating them. Brent Couchman is a San Francisco graphic designer, who did work for the likes of Coca Cola, Target, Microsoft, and, of course, Google. But back to the Google Now background images. Couchman has posted four wallpapers to his Flickr account (link available in the Sources box below) – Forest Night, Mountains Day, Plains Day, and Beach Night. They’re all available in sizes of up to 1680 x 1050, so they should look pretty good on any device. To download any of them to your computer, just click the one you want, and then, when you get to its page, right-click it and select the size you want – “Original” will get you to 1680 x 1050. Then, proceed to save the image on your computer.

HTC One mini to be available on AT&T, report says Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:17 AM PDT The HTC One Mini, one of the most rumored devices of the year, is said to be coming to AT&T, but no specific launch date has been given. According to Phone Arena, quoting sources close to HTC, the HTC One mini will be making its way to AT&T customers, without an actual release date being specified. You might remember that HTC developer LlabTooFer, a man responsible for many HTC leaks, was recently saying that T-Mobile USA would be selling the device, too. The handset (also known as the HTC M4), has recently made a Bluetooth SIG appearance. Soon after that, more details leaked about it. Although only the official announcement will tell us whether these specs are right, the HTC One Mini is said to feature a 4.3-inch display (resolution is expected to be 720p), and to look very similar to its older brother, the HTC One, except for the plastic ring which it will have around the display. The CPU is said to be a dual-core Snapdragon 400 model, running at 1.4GHz, and the device would run Android 4.2.2 (with the Sense 5 interface on top of it, as you would expect). While there’s no news on release date, the phone is expected in this year’s third quarter, with some reports saying that August will be the month when it will make its official appearance. Are you looking forward to the HTC One Mini? Do the rumored specs look tempting to you?

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