Google Android News Android Forums |
- Redbox Instant by Verizon arrives on Google TV
- NVIDIA DirectStylus for Tegra 4 allows increased capabilities without a digitizer
- Patriot unveils the Fuel+ line of mobile recheargable batteries for power on the go
- Samsung shows off a practical use of one of their Galaxy S 4 features in new YouTube ad
- Featured Android App Review: Buzz Launcher [Personalization]
- Featured Android Game Review: Space Eon 3D [Arcade & Action]
- Best Android apps for transferring files over WiFi [June 2013]
- HTC releases strong May 2013 revenue numbers
- Intel executive: lack of LTE support is the reason why Intel-based devices haven’t become more popular in the U.S.
- Multiple user accounts coming soon to Falcon Pro
| Redbox Instant by Verizon arrives on Google TV Posted: 04 Jun 2013 04:36 PM PDT
However, at this point, there’s only support for second generation Google TV devices. If you have a compatible device, go try out RedBox Instant by downloading through the Google Play Store. There’s a one month free trial if you sign up now. source: Google TV Blog
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| NVIDIA DirectStylus for Tegra 4 allows increased capabilities without a digitizer Posted: 04 Jun 2013 04:06 PM PDT
The NVIDIA DirectStylus also uses image-processing capabilities of the Tegra 4′s GPU to determine the difference between your stylus, finger, eraser, or palm. The result is thin, passive, pressure-sensitive styluses that can draw different widths. The opposite end can even be used as an eraser, even without being active. Active styluses, for those that aren’t familiar, already have the ability to draw different widths, but they are usually quite expensive since they require a digitizer. This technology, which will be extremely helpful for users in the Asian market where characters are drawn with different widths and lengths, should be available later this summer. Source: NVIDIA Blog
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| Patriot unveils the Fuel+ line of mobile recheargable batteries for power on the go Posted: 04 Jun 2013 01:33 PM PDT
Now that more and more phones are starting to offer non-removable batteries, portable power is becoming more popular. One of the leaders in high-performance memory, Patriot, just announced the Fuel+ line of mobile rechargeable batteries. There are seven models to choose from with the main difference being how many mAh each one offers. The Fuel+ 1500mAh is strictly for iOs devices with it’s lightening connector, but the remaining six models all provide USB ports. The Fuel+ 2200mAh (pictured below) and 3000mAh offers one USB port, while the 5200mAh, 6000mAh, 7800mAh, and 9000mAh models (pictured above) sport two USB ports, and one of them has 2.5 amps of power. All models should be available by mid-June and will carry a 2-year limited warranty. Pricing wasn’t specified.
Patriot Unveils New FUEL+ Mobile Batteries For Reliable Portable Power While On The Go FREMONT, CA (PRWEB) June 03, 2013 Take It, Charge It, Fuel Up. Patriot, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage, and mobile accessories today unveils the next evolution in its ever expanding mobile products ecosystem, the FUEL+ family of mobile rechargeable batteries. As mobile devices have exponentially grown in popularity as a means to consume and share content digitally, staying charged has become a major concern across many different devices and usage behaviors. Patriot's new FUEL+ line of mobile rechargeable batteries have been specifically designed to address this concern providing the best and most convenient solution so mobile users will always have power to express and entertain themselves while on the go. Fully MFi certified, the FUEL+ 1500mAh features an integrated Lightning™ connector and is specifically engineered for use with iPhone® 5, iPad® Mini, 5th Generation iPod® Touch, 7th Generation iPod® Nano. Best for smartphones and mini tablets, the FUEL+ 2200mAh and 3000mAh capacities are the perfect mobile power support to make sure ultraportable devices stay charged and ready for use. For those power hungry users looking to charge up to two devices simultaneously, the FUEL+ 5200mAh, 6000mAh, 7800mAh, and 9000mAh batteries feature two USB out ports, with one port offering 2.5 amps of power. This increased output port offers the fastest available charging and is perfect for large tablets. Patriot's FUEL+ mobile rechargeable batteries are engineered and built with the same high quality components found in name brand laptop batteries. With built-in protection to safeguard against over-charge, short-circuit, and under-discharge, FUEL+ Batteries ensure reliable, efficient, and safe charging cycles. Patriot's FUEL+ batteries also provide power pass through technology that enables output charging to devices while the battery is plugged in to a power source and charging. "As tablets and smartphones grow even more popular and users take their digital lives mobile, keeping these devices powered will be an ever increasing challenge," said Mike Kroll, Sr. Director of Product Management at Patriot. "With this in mind, we've created the full line up of FUEL+ mobile rechargeable batteries to meet the needs of a wide range of mobile usage models to ensure users will have power when they need it most." The full Patriot FUEL+ mobile battery line will be available mid-June and come backed by a 2-year limited warranty.
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| Samsung shows off a practical use of one of their Galaxy S 4 features in new YouTube ad Posted: 04 Jun 2013 12:37 PM PDT
TouchWiz is notorious for having dozens upon dozens of features that most say they would never use and turn off anyways. In Samsung’s recent ad on YouTube, they show off how their Smart Pause feature could be used in a surprisingly useful way. How are you Galaxy S 4 users liking the features of your device? Click here to view the embedded video.
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| Featured Android App Review: Buzz Launcher [Personalization] Posted: 04 Jun 2013 11:35 AM PDT
I’m not big on launchers. It’s not that I don’t think they are cool, but I usually just don’t have time to screw around with them. Well I just came across a new launcher that is not only a game changer, but one that I am happy to say that I am using full time. Have you ever seen pictures of other user’s home screens and wished you could duplicate it? I see them all the time, but I always sigh because I just don’t have the time to set things up. Well Buzz launcher is changing all of this with a very unique take on launchers. It’s one thing to download a launcher, but imagine being able to completely change the look of your home screen on the fly. In no time you will have some of the coolest looking home screens with minimal effort thanks to its huge database from other users. Buzz Launcher allows you to download other user’s cool looking home screens so you don’t have to spend a ton of time setting things up. Before you go thinking that there will probably only be a handful of choices, does over 10,000 sound like enough to you? At the same time, if you do have time and create something cool and unique, you can share it to the world as well.
Just like most launcher replacements, Buzz Launcher has a lot of settings and customizations, but it isn’t as daunting since most of the configurations are set up already. Each home screen has its own Homepack that you will download from the Homepack Buzz Service. Although you don’t need to, you will want to set up an account so you can share your creations. I used Google+. Once you account is set, you can head to the Homepack Buzz store to check out all the different home screens. Unfortunately, you can’t search by keyword, but that is coming soon. Thankfully they do offer 17 categories which include music/video, sports, photography, brand, education, and so on. They also offer staff picks, what’s hot, and what’s new to quickly find some cool stuff. Once you see a home screen you like, select it to find out more about it. This will give you a chance to see what apps are needed in order to make the home screen fully functional. Don’t worry if you don’t use them all because you can still make your own adjustments. If you like what you see, click download to apply it as a new home screen or append it to your current screen as in add more pages to your setup. Once it’s set as your home screen, it will prompt you to download apps or widgets that you don’t already have installed on your device. You can also customize it to your needs as well. For example, if the home screen points to Instagram from one of the icons or pictures, but you don’t use Instagram, you change it to something else like Dropbox. You can also use any image you want for icons. As to widgets, Buzz Launcher is compatible with the Buzz Custom Widget add on (separate download), Minimalistic Text, Zooper Widget Pro, and Battery Widget Z. You don’t have to worry about downloading these right away because if a certain home screen requires any of them, you will be prompted to download. Changing apps or icons is just one aspect of the modifications you can make. You can change grid sizes for both home screens and the app drawer, manager folders, change wallpapers for each screen, add widgets, or just about anything you can think of. The best part of it is that you can save any of your configurations so that you can easily revert back with minimal effort. If you want to share your creation, you can do so as well. Since it’s unlikely that a home screen is going to suit your needs 100%, you will probably find that there will always be something you need to change. This is exactly what happens for a lot of users in the community so expect to see multiple versions in the Homepack Buzz Store. As of right now, they aren’t grouped together so it can be a little annoying and inefficient when trying to find new home screens. This is something the developer is working on and will change soon. As of right now, the app is considered Beta, so expect a lot of improvements. At the same time, just because it’s Beta, don’t expect a lot of bugs because trust me when I tell you that this app is ready for primetime. This is one of those apps that is hard to describe in text so I put together a hands on video showing you many of the features. Buzz Launcher is absolutely Free and one of the coolest apps I have come across in a while. If you like to change the look of your phone often, you need to check out Buzz Launcher today. I guarantee you that your friends and family will look at your phone and say, “Wow, you’re home screen looks cool, how do you do that?” Check out my video below as well as their trailer video and download links. Definitely let me know what you think. Key Features • MULTI-WALLPAPER SCREEN • MY ICONS • MULTI-GRID • MANAGE FOLDERS • MANAGE APPS • MANAGE APP DRAWERS • GESTURE SUPPORT **Available from Android 4.0.3+ (ICS or Above)** and **Now Available on the Nexus 7**         Click here to view the embedded video. Click here to view the embedded video.
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| Featured Android Game Review: Space Eon 3D [Arcade & Action] Posted: 04 Jun 2013 10:18 AM PDT
Space Eon 3D is the first offering from Grim Genie Game Development. I will forewarn you that it’s not the most polished game as far as graphics go, but it’s one of the best games I have played that uses the accelerometer for controls. I have played a number of games in which the accelerometer controls your vehicle or spaceship and most of the time the sensitivity is always out of whack. Space Eon 3D’s controls are just right. Space Eon 3D is a futuristic shooter game which has the typical storyline. You’re a pilot with no memory stuck in a warzone, and a General seems to know what’s going on and guides you. Lets face it, the storyline is secondary, so you will find yourself hitting skip. The premise is to fly through missions by shooting the bosses or other enemies. Within gameplay you can quickly boost your health or get a temporary shield by flying into the floating heart or shield. You will gain money with each mission that you can use for powerups as well. Powerups include longer lasting shields and stronger firepower. You can even hire helper ships. There are 9 achievements that will allow you to unlock 4 additional planes for your hangar.
There are 20 regular missions along with 10 extreme missions. You will find 3 unique bosses in 6 different boss battles. The menus and gameplay is as simple as it gets. Just hit the arrow keys to select Missions to play, buy powerups, buy upgrades, the hangar for selecting your aircraft, achievements, settings, or high scores. You control your ship by tilting your device, and for shooting, you tap your thumb (or any finger) on the screen. You will see a gauge for your health at the top as well as the gauge for the bosses strength. During missions, you can tap the powerup icon to pause the game and apply any powerups. Space Eon 3D is available now in the Play Store for $1.93, but there’s a Free version also available. It limits the missions to 5, the bosses to 1, and the number of unlockable ships to 2. Because the achievements unlock the ships, you will only find 5 of them as opposed to 9 in the full version. Check out my hands on video below as well as the trailer video and 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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| Best Android apps for transferring files over WiFi [June 2013] Posted: 04 Jun 2013 09:45 AM PDT
Recently, we did a guide on how to move files onto your Android device without using cables. We had quite a bit of feedback on what apps you thought were best suited to file transferring, so in this guide, we’re going to narrow down the topic and talk about the best apps for moving files from your PC to your Android device (and vice versa) through a WiFi network.
AirDroid was one of the most recommended apps for moving files across networks, and for good reason. AirDroid comes fully equipped to essentially use your phone without actually touching your phone and isn’t just limited to file transfers. The initial set-up and connection is simple: when you first run the app from your phone, you’ll be asked to either sign in or register. You can use your email as a primary sign-in option or use a convenient Google, Facebook or Twitter alternate sign-in instead. After that initial set up, you’ll have a screen that shows two links to go to on your desktop: the AirDroid site for accessing your device over a same WiFi network or a specific IP address for accessing it remotely. For the sake of this guide, we’re mostly going to discuss being able to transfer files through WiFi, but if you ever need remote access away from home, AirDroid has you covered (although it does cap you at a 500 MB monthly limit of transfers). Over WiFi though, there’s no limit to the amount of files you can transfer. AirDroid supports moving files from your PC onto your phone’s internal storage or SD card, but can also pull music, photos, ringtones, or anything else off of your device onto your PC. The speed is dependent on your router, but for most file transfers, it’s much quicker than going through the internet as a middleman. At some points, it almost seems like AirDroid does too much. Your web browser page turns into a mini-homescreen for your device where you can text, play music, change ringtones, and even make phone calls (Phone calls require a premium key). From your computer, you can add shortcuts to specific contacts, upload files onto your device from web URLs, and take screenshots of your phone’s display. It’s ridiculously powerful, incredibly well designed, and for WiFi transfers, it’s free. For a well-rounded utility app, AirDroid is hard to beat, especially for how easy it is to set up.
WiFi File Explorer is similar to AirDroid with its network transferring capabilities, but it lacks all the other bells and whistles that AirDroid has. On one hand, it can be tough to recommend WiFi File Explorer over AirDroid because it lacks those features, but if you’re just looking for a light application to handle moving some songs and photos onto your device without all the extra fluff, WiFi File Explorer is arguably the better app. Similar to AirDroid, after installing the application, it gives you an IP address to connect to on your computer’s web browser. This gives you full access to the files on your device, including internal memory and the SD card. From here, it’s easy to copy pictures from your phone to your computer, or move some music from your computer onto your device. There’s also a few small gauges to give you an idea of things like your WiFi strength and free space on your phone. Best of all, the app runs as a service, so you can keep doing anything else on your phone while files transfer. There is a free and pro version of WiFi File Explorer, with the Pro version adding a handful of extra, handy features like copying multiple files at the same time. Play Store Download Link (Free) Play Store Download Link (Pro)
When thinking about transferring files to your device, file explorers aren’t generally the first things to come to mind, but some file explorer apps do support file browsing on a local network. Apps that do this basically allow you to browse your computer’s hard drive across a WiFi network as if it was an extra SD card in your phone, which is extremely quick and convenient. Solid Explorer is one such file explorer that allows network connections by using an FTP connection. In SE’s menu, there’s a file sharing option. Selecting that will allow you to set up an FTP server and give you a corresponding address to connect to in either a web browser or a file explorer on your computer. The cool thing about that type of connection is that you can set up a bookmark in Windows Explorer that always connects to that one connection, so you can always access your phone’s storage just like you would access a music folder on your hard drive. It isn’t as pretty and it isn’t as simple, but if you want something that integrates into your existing PC setup, using Solid Explorer as an FTP connection on your WiFi network is an excellent option. Solid Explorer isn’t the only option in the Play Store, but it scores some extra points for its root capabilities, holo theme, and the awesome dual-panel view when using the app in landscape orientation. The free application gives you a 14 day trial, but the app is only $1.99. It’s an excellent deal for a powerful file explorer. Play Store Download Link (Free)
Sometimes, you’re not going to want to use your PC to do all of your file management. For moving files onto your device using your phone as opposed to your computer, ES File Explorer has a relatively easy to set up feature that will allow you to browse your computer’s hard drive directly from your phone. Setting up this type of connection is pretty quick, but it’s not automated. First off, you’re going to need to find the IP address on your computer. There’s a handful of ways to do this, but on Windows, the easiest way would be to go to your Network and Sharing Center, clicking your current network, then click the Properties button on the box that pops up. It’ll show a list of properties about your current network, but all you need is the IPv4 address that’s listed. Then, on ES File Explorer, you can tap the fast access button on the top left of the app, then select LAN connection from the Network drop down list. Tap the New button on the bottom left, type in your IP address from earlier in the Server box, then your PC’s user name and password. Click okay, and voila; instant access to any file on your computer hard drive. You can copy and move things around between your PC and your phone’s memory or SD card. ES will also make a shortcut that you can name to have quick access to your PC in the future. The biggest advantage to using ES File Explorer like this is that you’ll be able to manage PC files from your phone instead of managing your phone’s files from your PC. Generally, most users would need to have access to their PC to get files moved around anyway, but in a pinch, ES is extremely useful to have.
Setting up a Samba server was one of the methods of file transferring we went over in our earlier guide, and compared to some of the other items on this list, it does have some advantages. Samba Filesharing is the best app to set up a dedicated server on your phone, but it does require root to fully function. If your device is rooted, this app is worth a look. Samba Filesharing can be set to automatically run whenever your device is connected to a WiFi network, (or a particular WiFi network, if you only want it to run on your home network for security) so you can set it and forget it. Once it’s running, you can access your Android device like any other network drive. It’s extremely simple but still has plenty of power-user functions, such as WiFi white listing, web browser and Unix support if you’re using something like a Chromebook instead of a traditional Windows computer, and a handful of other features. Overall, the app is very simple and won’t bog you down in menus and settings to get up and running. Samba Filesharing is available as a free app. Did we miss any of your favorite apps for moving your files across a WiFi network? Let us know in the comments.
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| HTC releases strong May 2013 revenue numbers Posted: 04 Jun 2013 09:36 AM PDT
After watching HTC struggle financially during the past couple years, we have news from them today showing a nice rebound during the month of May. Unaudited revenues rose to NT$29.0B ($969M USD), following up the month of April 2013 when unaudited revenues were NT$19.6B ($655M USD). That is a 48% increase month to month. To add some context, during the first quarter of 2013 revenues for HTC were only NT$42.8B ($1.43B USD), which means HTC has already generated more revenue in just two months of the second quarter than they did during the whole first quarter of the year. During their last conference call, HTC indicated they expected sales to rebound to the NT$70B ($2.3B USD) range during the second quarter. If sales during June are able to just maintain the levels of May, they will exceed that figure handily as they are only NT$20.2B ($676M USD) off the mark after the first two months. The results show just how important the HTC One was to the company and their financial viability. Questions now include whether the HTC One’s popularity can continue to produce brisk sales primarily against competition from the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and whether HTC can follow-up the success of the HTC One with another highly desirable device. source: HTC
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| Posted: 04 Jun 2013 09:33 AM PDT
Intel may be making headwaves by rapidly penetrating the Android world, but it certainly realizes that it has a long way to go before it wins the hearts of the general public in the world. According to Intel executive vice president of sales Tom Kilroy, the “absence of LTE is the reason” is the sole reason for why Intel hasn’t been able to fully gain much traction here in the U.S. Kilroy also adds that “we can’t get ranged by U.S. carriers without LTE, so once we have multimode LTE coming to market later this year, we have an opportunity to compete in that business.” The good thing is this: Intel has finally realized this and has begun developing multimode processors with LTE technology built in since 4G LTE continues to grow and grow at an extraordinary rate. Oh and don’t under-estimate this either direction either it should put a scare into competitors like Qualcomm and even NVIDIA, since each company certainly adopted LTE integration into its chips for some time now. So the overall hope is that with Intel’s new direction, we should see not only faster and more power-efficient chips, but who knows— we may even see a new wave cost-effective devices. source: Fierce Wireless
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| Multiple user accounts coming soon to Falcon Pro Posted: 04 Jun 2013 09:29 AM PDT
Falcon Pro, the excellent third-party Twitter client, has always lacked one important feature; multiple account support. According to a picture on Twitter from Falcon Pro’s developer Joaquim Vergès, multiple user accounts are coming soon in a Falcon Pro 2.0 update. In the screenshot, the feature looks ready for primetime, so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to see that update go live on the Play Store. If you haven’t already used Falcon Pro, now’s a great time to check it out. It’s easily one of the best Twitter clients available, and it’s head and shoulders over the official Twitter app. source: Twitter
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