| Nexus 7 LTE seen in Germany and Italy ahead of mid-September release Aug 29th 2013, 02:42, by Juan Carlos Torres The refreshed Nexus 7 seems to be showing up everywhere, with reports of the tablet becoming available across Europe and Asia. But while the rest of the world awaits the arrival of the LTE version of the Nexus 7 next month, it seems that people from Germany and Italy will be able to get their hands on it in advance. 
Launched just last month, the Nexus 7 has been high on the list of many Android users who have been eagerly waiting to purchase the device. And we can’t blame them. The Nexus 7 is absolutely desirable and is totally worth the price jump over last year’s model. With it’s full HD screen, stereo speakers, stunning performance, thin profile, and approachable price tag, the Nexus 7 should be the standard of all 7-inch Android tablets in the market. For more details on what makes this tablet amazing, you can take a peek at our review here. The Nexus 7 has started to become available in many markets, with the UK and Japan added to that list yesterday. However, those are only the WiFi models of the device. An LTE version has, of course, been promised since launch, but leaks and news have put the release date around the middle of September, at least for the UK and Japan, with a US release sure to follow soon. Now there are reports that indicate that the Nexus 7 LTE version is already available in Italy and Germany, way ahead of schedule. The device isn’t available yet on Google’s Play Store, but it seems that some retailers and even manufacturers are already selling it. The Nexus 7 LTE, which will only come in a 32 GB configuration, is tagged at 349 euros, or around $466, quite a bump from the $349 US price. VIA: Android Authority |  | Android product manager Hugo Barra tipped to be leaving Google for Xiaomi Aug 29th 2013, 01:59, by Juan Carlos Torres In a rather surprising move, Google’s Hugo Barra has reportedly tendered his resignation and is rumored to be heading for Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. Barra is Google’s Vice President of Product Management for Android and his departure might send a few wrong signals regarding Android’s future. 
Xiaomi is a company that is not well-known in other markets but has gained a substantial following in China and Taiwan, where their devices are said to be selling like hotcakes. The company, however, doesn’t only make smartphones but also tries to give added value on software that it builds on top of the Android system. Now the rumor is that Barra will be heading for this company for a yet unknown purpose or position. Hugo Barra joined Google in 2008 after leaving speech and imaging technology firm Nuance. Starting as group project manager for mobile, Barra rose to director and then VP of Product Management, becoming one of the visible faces of Google’s Android team at events such as Google I/O. Barra’s latest stint was to unveil the new Nexus 7 last month. Barra’s rumored resignation comes a few months after Andy Rubin, creator of Android and former Google VP of Mobile and Digital Content, shocked the industry by suddenly stepping down to focus on other things in Google. While this leaked information might raise some questions, not to mention a few eyebrows, about Android, not only is it too early to speculate on anything, but it is quite unlikely that such an event would drastically change the course of Android’s direction. VIA: AllThingsD | | BLU DASH JR, DASH MUSIC 4.0, DASH 5.0 added to DASH smartphone roster Aug 29th 2013, 01:14, by Juan Carlos Torres Mobile phone manufacturer BLU has just added three new smartphones to its DASH line that are aimed to be easy on the wallet as well as easy for beginners. The DASH JR, DASH MUSIC 4.0, and DASH 5.0 are meant to help transform feature phone fiddlers into smartphone savants. 
The DASH JR is an entry level phone with entry level specs. A 1 GHz Cortex-A5 Spreadtrum 6820 processor and 256 MB of RAM powers the device, paired with a MALI 400 graphics chip. It has a 3.5-inch HVGA TFT screen with a resolution of 320×480 pixels. It features a 2 megapixel camera that is capable of shooting 480p videos at 30 fps. It only has 512 MB of internal storage but is expandable with a microSD card. Not surprisingly, the DASH JR only runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The other two smartphones break into Android 4.2 Jelly Bean territory. The DASH MUSIC 4.0 is, as the name implies, built for music and video. Running on a dual-core 1.3 GHz MediaTek MT6572 chip with 512 MB of RAM, the DASH MUSIC 4.0 is decked with a 4.0-inch 480×800 TFT LCD. A MALI 400 GPU, dual front-facing speakers, and a 3.2 megapixel rear camera give the smartphone its multimedia flavor. The DASH 5.0, on the other hand, answers the need for larger screens, featuring a 5.0-inch 480×854 FWVGA display. It also has a 5.0 megapixel camera and a VGA front-facing camera. Both the DASH MUSIC 4.0 and the DASH 5.0 come with 4 GB of internal memory and dual SIM functionality. 
The three smartphones are definitely nothing to write home about but their price might be. The DASH JR has a sub-$50 price tag, while the DASH MUSIC 4.0 will sell for $99 and the DASH 5.0 for $129. All three will be sold unlocked and will come with six color options. SOURCE: BLU       | |
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