Android and Me |
- Top 10 most popular Android apps from last week
- Is Samsung looking to trash Tizen, fork Android?
- Motorola DROID Ultra photo, press shot
- Samsung to launch Galaxy Note 3 Sept. 6 at IFA
- Moto X features “Clear Pixel” camera for better low-light performance, device casing leaked
- LG sends out invites for August 7 event, makes it clear it’s for the Optimus G2
| Top 10 most popular Android apps from last week Posted: 08 Jul 2013 12:46 PM PDT Every week we cover new Android apps with Fresh Meat on Wednesday followed by Android Gaming on Thursday and Top 10 app updates on Friday. Now every Monday we will look back and see which ones were the most crowd-pleasing among our audience. Read on for the 10 most popular Android apps among your peers from last week. 1. PowerLine
I haven’t had a chance to try this app yet, but based on your feedback it’s a great little app to get a quick glimpse of various aspects of your device. 2. dialapp: context aware dialer
Dialapp brings a new approach to your standard dialer by predicting who you want to call based on location and other factors. It’s a unique approach to dialing, and it appears to intrigue many users. 3. Kitty Play
Homescreen customization is one of the great aspects of the Android ecosystem. Kitty Play understands this and provides you with a large number of themes and wallpapers to make your Android device uniquely yours. 4. Fonelink
Fonelink is a great way to send SMS messages from your phone using a PC. Simply install the client on your PC, and when your phone receives an SMS message, you can reply using your PC. 5. Spotlight
Spotlight aids you in finding the hottest games and apps available, including free apps and games. Don’t worry if you miss one of the daily free games or apps; Spotlight provides you access to these apps for 5 days after they are made available. 6. #Square
#Square is a great app to help “square up” your images. The application takes square images that are easily exported to Instagram and other services without the need to crop the image. 7. GO Weather EX
GO Weather EX is a well-done weather application with appealing visuals and many customization options available, including several widget sizes. 8. Twilight
The Twilight app has appeared on our Top 10 list almost every week since its debut on our Top 10 New apps series. Be sure to check out this app if you find yourself having difficulty falling asleep. 9. GoBank
GoBank is a new take on the traditional bank. You can signup for a bank account and manage it all from the GoBank application. Finding a nearby ATM should not be an issue;there are over 42,000 ATMs that are accessible free of charge. 10. Taskbar – Windows 8 Style
Taskbar – Windows 8 Style is still hanging around our Top 10. You can now have the familiar Windows Start button on your Android device. |
| Is Samsung looking to trash Tizen, fork Android? Posted: 08 Jul 2013 12:14 PM PDT If some tweets from industry insider Eldar Murtazin are correct, Samsung could be headed down an interesting path with Android. In order to fight falling stocks and continue growth, Samsung could be looking to diversify their portfolio, but not with Tizen like originally planned. Samsung may be working on their own version of Android. According to Eldar Murtazin, Samsung and Intel aren’t just looking away from Tizen, which is apparently on life-support as it is, but are working on another Android-based project. Work on Tizen is being pushed back and delayed, and there’s good reason for it. Developers aren’t too keen on Tizen, and Samsung already has an established ecosystem they may be looking to take outside of the normal Google arena. There’s no specific news or rumors saying so, but the writing’s on the wall. There’s good reason to believe Samsung is working on their own forked version of Android. We’ve seen this approach before with Amazon and the Kindle Fire and know that it can work. Here’s what we’re working with: As mentioned above according to Murtazin, Samsung and Intel are working on an Android-based project. We know that Samsung needs to diversify their portfolio and reduce dependency on others if it wants to really thrive and sustain growth. Samsung is one of the only companies outside of Amazon who has the ecosystem to support a portfolio of devices without relying on Google and Google Play; it already have an app store, a media hub and everything else needed to build their own OS. And it makes some degree of sense. Most consumers don’t care so much what operating system their phone is using. So long as they have access to the same apps their friends do, that’s all that matters. With such a huge portion of the Android market, developers would be forced to push their apps into Samsung’s app store if they want maximum coverage. By basing their new OS onAndroid, everything would still work like it does now. It probably wouldn’t look a whole lot different. Samsung would just gain complete control over every aspect, giving them more freedom to differentiate. Of course it’s possible that Intel and Samsung are working on something else with Android, but what else could they possibly want to spend the time on? Nothing else makes sense at this point. What do you think? Should Samsung fork Android and distance itself from Google or is it a mistake? If Samsung isn’t forking Android to be used with their own apps and services, what else could they be working on? Let us know in the comments. |
| Motorola DROID Ultra photo, press shot Posted: 08 Jul 2013 11:15 AM PDT Along with the Moto X, Motorola will release a few other phones. These devices, the DROID MAXX, DROID Ultra and DROID Mini, will be Verizon exclusives (as you can tell by the DROID branding) and should be announced at Motorola’s event July 11. However, we’re now seeing leaks of the DROID Ultra in particular, including the above photo of a white model. This XT1080W (the W stands for white) looks straightforward enough, but looking below the capacitive keys, you’ll see that the black strip is actually kevlar (or carbon fiber?). That’s definitely an interesting design choice, and we can only assume that the back is all-black kevlar and that the white model is only white in the front. That’s quite a change from other white devices that have black fronts. The design is quite similar to the older Motorola devices, and we’ve heard that these are the final devices that weren’t made strictly under Google’s rule. The device does have the brand-new Motorola logo up top, so it’s definitely a new device.
Then, @evleaks leaked this press shot of of the DROID Ultra, revealing both the front and the back of the black version of the device. We can see a full kevlar/carbon fiber back, further supporting the idea that the white model is dark in the back. This leak also shares the capacitive buttons below the display and lack of Verizon branding on the front of the device. The camera in this device is said to be a 10MP “RGBC” sensor, sounding awfully similar to what the Moto X should offer. This “RGBC” sensor could be the new Clear Pixel camera, standing for the different type of pixels it uses (Red, Green, Blue, Clear). That would be a nice addition to Motorola’s flagship. Other specs are unknown at the moment, but don’t expect them to vary too much from the current crop of flagships. Looking at the capacitive buttons, we can’t imagine it was Motorola’s doing. Now that it’s owned by Google, it seems that Motorola is moving closer and closer to a Nexus style. If the Moto X has on-screen buttons and the Verizon models they will release have capacitive buttons, we can only assume who’s fault it was. It’s not the most pleasant change, but it looks like Verizon really doesn’t like Google’s standards. Did the previous gen Motorola products with on-screen keys upset a Verizon executive at some point? We’ll never know. Seeing the new device in both black and white, does it intrigue you? It seems like more of old Motorola. However, this device can still end up being very competent, especially with that new camera. Tell us your thoughts! |
| Samsung to launch Galaxy Note 3 Sept. 6 at IFA Posted: 08 Jul 2013 10:39 AM PDT With the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Google Play edition launches out of the way, we can finally turn our attention to the next big device slated to launch in Samsung’s Note series of devices, the Galaxy Note 3. It’s starting to look like Samsung will indeed unveil the Galaxy Note 3 at IFA 2013. Multiple rumors point towards the Berlin-based conference as the likely location. In the latest rumor, according to a recent report out of the Korea Herald, Samsung will not be holding a pre-IFA event to release the Galaxy Note 3. Instead, Samsung will announce the device during IFA, which runs from September 6 to 11. Last year, on August 29, Samsung used IFA to debut the Note 2 at an Unpacked event. Also tied to the report of an IFA release is a rumored screen size of 5.7-inches with a full HD screen resolution. Evleaks tipped the same size several weeks ago, so this is starting to look likely. This size, 5.7-inches, makes perfect sense as the size for the Note 3. It fits right in-between the 5-inch Galaxy S4, and 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega. Besides a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, the Note 3 is rumored to launch with a Spandragon 800. At this point, it looks like we’ve only got two months until the Note 3 is finally announced. With the success of the Note 2 behind it, the Note 3 will undoubtedly be a smash success this fall. If you haven’t considered a Note series device in the past, it may be worth another look this year. Note devices make special use of a Wacom |
| Moto X features “Clear Pixel” camera for better low-light performance, device casing leaked Posted: 08 Jul 2013 10:18 AM PDT The more rumors we hear about the Moto X, the more excited we get. People do tend to over-hype some products, but we’re eager to see such a unique device. The newest rumor states that the Moto X will ship with a “Clear Pixel” camera that uses the previously mentioned gesture control. Gesture control refers to the flick motion you use to start the camera. It can be used whether the device is locked or unlocked, somehow knowing exactly when you want the camera (we hope). There may be other gestures included, but that’s not the most important part of this rumor. The Clear Pixel camera sounds brand spanking new, but it’s actually not a very new technology. It’s a Kodak imaging sensor design that can take more light in than other camera sensors. While normal cameras take in a specific color, panchromatic, clear pixel sensors take in all wavelengths of visible light, effectively taking in three times more light. The Clear Pixel camera uses a mix of clear pixels and standard pixels. This design can be adapted to all sorts of devices, and it seems that Motorola is now using it. And we know it’s real, because it has been patented. And there was a time that Google bought a lot of Kodak patents, so Motorola may be getting it from Google. On top of that, there is this Kodak photo from 2007:
If they actually put this technology into the final device, it’ll make a lot of people happy. It will include all the benefits of an Ultrapixel camera without sacrificing important resolution. And if we’re lucky, the Clear Pixel camera could actually work better in low light. But remember, don’t expect too much or you may be disappointed. The casing for the device was leaked, too. But this time, it’s actually separate pieces in two different colors, black and white. Looking closely, the white color has a textured back, so either texture or material could be an option available to consumers when it is released. Otherwise, it’s more of what we’ve seen but demonstrates that customizability of this device will be easy. Add this to the rumors of a pure Android experience with fast upgrades, all -nowing sensors and a sub-$300 price unlocked, and you’ve got yourself an awesome device with what is probably far too much hype surrounding it. Even then, we’re excited for what Motorola has to offer us. What else do you want to see from the Moto X? |
| LG sends out invites for August 7 event, makes it clear it’s for the Optimus G2 Posted: 08 Jul 2013 07:16 AM PDT A fair amount of hype has been building around the rumored LG Optimus G2. Late last night, LG sent out invites to a New York City event. They weren’t exactly trying to hide the fact that the event is for the Optimus G2; the primary catchphrase says, “Great 2 Have You!” with special emphasis on the G and 2. This comes as happy news for most of the tech fans out there who have been eagerly awaiting the Optimus G2. And from what the rumors are saying, this should turn out to be a monster of a device. LG has already said that their next flagship phone will include a Snapdragon 800 processor, so we can check that off our wishlist. As for other specs, we can’t be quite as sure. But in some leaked photos of the device, we saw what appeared to be a rather large screen with very thin bezels. We also saw an odd configuration with the camera set-up that seemed to have a capacitive volume rocker merged into the camera hump on the back. Other than that, nothing is certain except that it’s going to be a very powerful device. We already know that the Snapdragon 800 processor is far ahead of today’s standards, so LG could really take advantage of that and use it to its best ability. What do you guys want to see from the Optimus G2? |
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