Friday, October 18, 2013

Android World Update # Android Community

Android Community
Tracking the Android Platform Revolution 
Exotic travel ideas.

Searching for your next vacation destination? Subscribe to Off The Beaten Path, a newsletter featuring captivating locales to help you to plan your next trip.
From our sponsors
Nexus 5 "press images" suggest Telus will have the device, but we're not so sure
Oct 17th 2013, 21:15, by Nate Swanner

The crew at Mobile Syrup have released images that they believe to be the Nexus 5 for Telus. While it definitely looks like the Nexus 5 from leaked shots that have been floating around, we're still not convinced they're the real deal.

telus-nexus5-2


In looking through device images on the Telus website, there really aren't any that look like these. Most phones feature a face-on view — which we see here — but nothing much beyond that. That makes us wonder why there is a shot of the device in landscape, or a view of the device with the screen turned to the side.

Let's move onto that picture of the device in portrait, turned slightly to the right. If you look at the "Telus" logo, it's not even slanted. If that were an actual device with the Telus logo or wallpaper, the logo itself would be turned slightly. It isn't.

telus-nexus5

The "Google" folder image and camera icon are new, which lend credence to this image. then again, we have nothing official to go from when considering Android 4.4. These could be very crafty fakes, made by someone who has an idea of what Android 4.4 should look like, or a real leak (which we doubt). To us, the camera icon looks cartoonish, and the folder would make icons hard to decipher on that screen.

While the Telus site has a few pics of phones in landscape, there are none with the Telus logo as seen here. All pictures on the site are basically stock images Telus has tossed some photoshopped shading onto, as you can see with each image having a shadow from the top center. That shadow doesn't seem to make an appearance on the white portion of the screens, which allegedly have Telus wallpaper.

nexus-5

As we move closer to the launch of the new Nexus device, false pics and renders pop up. We're simply not convinced these are legit, much less coming to Telus. On the other hand, Mobile Syrup did provide that extended video of the Moto X prior to launch, and that video turned out to be quite real.

In terms of quality, we just can't call these real. The shading is suspect, and the unslanted logo reeks of a poor photoshop job. Aside from the face-on, there is nothing like this on the Telus website, and we find it hard to think they'd break tradition for the Nexus 5. The wallpaper doesn't look like one Google would ship stock with a device, either.

UPDATE: It seems as though Telus has similar images to the portrait image we were critical of for their Nexus 4 page. This doesn’t resonate with our other criticisms (wallpaper, Google folder, landscape image), but we will it’s not as big a departure as we originally thought.

Thanks, Walter!

Ubuntu 13.10 arrives for Nexus 4 and Galaxy Nexus smartphones
Oct 17th 2013, 20:40, by Robert Nelson

Despite seeing record breaking numbers the Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding campaign didn’t end up being successfully funded. But while we may not be seeing Canonical release the Edge smartphone, we are seeing the release of Ubuntu for smartphones. In fact, as we had been expecting to see, Canonical has released Ubuntu 13.10 with support for smartphones.

20130108_162118-580x349-540x324

This is available as of today and assuming you have a compatible handset, you could be running Ubuntu on a smartphone today. The list of compatible devices is short, and in fact, it contains just two; the Nexus 4 and the Galaxy Nexus. This release, while new, is being billed as feature complete, ready for your phone and as containing everything that developers would need.

The process of installing Ubuntu on your device is likely not for everyone. In fact, we would suggest leaving this to those with a bit more experience in loading and using different ROMs. Or at the very least, leave this for those who happen to have another phone, just in case something goes wrong. With the standard warning out of the way, Canonical has Ubuntu 13.10 supporting GSM.

In other words, those carrying a Verizon branded Galaxy Nexus are going to be out of luck. Otherwise, the handset should have all the “shell and core applications” as well as the ability to make phone calls and send SMS messages. There will also be WiFi and a working front and rear-facing camera. Anyway, we suspect some will be missing the extent of apps available from the Play Store, but as it stands Ubuntu 13.10 for smartphones should have most of your needs covered.

Anyway, if you happen to have a compatible device and are looking to get playing, head to the Ubuntu for phones website where they have a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of the installation process.

SOURCE: Business Wire

Play Store update could give new navigation, possible switch to card interface
Oct 17th 2013, 20:28, by Nate Swanner

No big surprise, but news that is long overdue. According to Android Police, the newest version of the Play Store will feature slide-out navigation, rather than the top-right menu housing everything. Much like we see with other Google apps, the Play Store will house navigation from the left, and settings in the top right three-dot menu.

playstore


While no UI changes are noted, Android Police also says they are hearing the Play Store mobile site could switch to a card interface very soon. This all sounds just like Gmail, which altered the navigation ahead of switching the interface. Let’s hope that when they do, they fix the scrolling issues seen on the web version.

This brings one of the most visited and used Google services in line with the rest of their apps and services. All major apps have seen the update, with Maps and Gmail following the lead set by Google+ and Google Now.

A unified approach is a now fully complete for Google, and if rumors we hear of Android 4.4 are true, even things like Downloads will see an update. As we wait for news on the Android 4.4 release, Nexus owners learn more and more about what they can expect to hit their devices soon after.

Verizon saw 1.1 million new connections, $20.4 billion increase in revenue for Q3 2013
Oct 17th 2013, 20:07, by Nate Swanner

Verizon announced their earnings for Q3 2013 today, and they’ve impressed once again. Continuing to steamroll the industry, Verizon reports over one million new wireless connections, and reports their LTE service is now carrying 34% of their network activity.

Verizon-Wireless-logo-building-540x276


Overall, Verizon reports they have an 8.4% increase year-over-year in earnings on a $0.78/share increase. This time last year, they had a $0.56/share uptick. Verizon also notes they saw an 8% increase in retail sales revenue, and a 33.8% increase in operating income.

Specifically related to wireless technology, Verizon sees a $20.4 billion increase in total revenue over this time last year, and wireless has grown 7.2% for big red. Service revenues were up $17.5 billion, and retail sales grew 8% to $16.8 billion.

The 1.1 million new wireless connections include 927,000 postpaid customers. According to Verizon, this now gives them 101.2 million wireless customers overall, and 95.2 million postpaid customers. That's a 5.2% increase over last year, on an average of 2.7 connections per account.

Through their move away from unlimited data, Verizon now has 42% of their postpaid account on a "Share Everything" plan. Verizon also notes their LTE network covers 97% of the US population, in 500 markets. According to Verizon, over 300 million people have access to their LTE service, which they note has seen a "substantially completed deployment".

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

No comments:

Post a Comment