Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Android Authority

Android Authority


Are current smartphones good enough?

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:17 AM PST

Best-Quad-Core-Android-Phones---2012

Our phones are what keep us connected to the world. We are increasingly dependent on our devices to navigate us through our day, so we should be concerned with their functionality. As a central part of our lives, we want them to be as powerful, smart, and intuitive as we aren't. Is that phone in your pocket or purse strong enough? Moreover, are any phones out there really able to keep up with us? Do we need more than what we have, or are current specs able to provide?

In taking a look at current phones, we'll break it down into three categories: screen, hardware, and battery. These three characteristics should cover the bulk of our wants and needs, as well as allow us to consider which upgrades are necessary or wanted. They're often dependent on one another, so a fail in one area may actually indicate a failure overall. It's time to get your phone out and judge it mercilessly!

The screen

It's the first thing you see, and one of your largest concerns. A phone's screen is extremely important to us, as it's our only real interaction with the device. Are you reading this on your phone? Is it crisp and clear, easily zoomed in and out? Can you see any pixels when you zoom in? If you aren't happy with the screen on your phone, it may be time to upgrade. Then again, you may be falling prey to a mob mentality.

Screen 600

Resolution

In this modern day of mobile technology, we are terribly demanding about screen specs. We want the densest screen resolution with the truest colors, all at a bargain. Manufacturers have been fantastic about meeting our demands, but we still want more. Is your resolution good enough, or are you just falling victim to the mass hysteria about PPI (pixel-per-inch)?

Studies show that current PPI is not visible to the naked eye. Any phone with a PPI of 250 or greater is essentially "flawless" to our eyes, so this talk of resolution has become moot. High-end phones are all 250PPI and above, meaning the only thing more pixels per square inch are really doing is eating up precious battery life.

Materials

As much as we like our resolution, that really only matters if the screen remains beautiful. If the screen is scuffed and scratched, not much else matters… ugly is ugly, high resolution or not. While we used to coddle our phones and swathe them in a screen protector immediately out of the box, those days are behind us.

Corning

Corning has developed a line of very thin, very resilient polymer glass-like material that acts as a screen on modern devices. These polymers are so advanced, they resist just about anything. Known as the "Gorilla Glass" line, the one thing we notice every day is just getting better. If you think your current screen is nice, wait until Gorilla Glass 3 comes out. Thinner and more resilient to scratches or breakage, it can only enhance our experience. Gorilla Glass 3 was announced and displayed at CES 2013, so look for it on your next device purchase.

Technology

If our current crop of smartphones have resolutions we can't discern and glass that resists scuffing, it better be responsive, too. While phones used to require a bit of a heavy hand, a recent development will allow you to be as light on your fingers as you wish you could be on your toes.

3projectbutter_1

Project Butter may be a technological breakthrough, but its design is for your tactile enjoyment. Realizing that Android devices weren’t as smooth an experience as they hoped for, Google engineers set out to enhance that by increasing responsiveness and sensitivity on our screen. Released with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Project Butter would give us a leap forward in interaction with our device.

No guts, no glory

You may love to wax philosophical about your screens, but it's all the stuff we don't see that is the true heart and soul of our device. Whether that be playing a game or the ability to access LTE service, what sits behind your screen is the workhorse of your phone. As ever-changing as the technology is, it's always improving and may see a plateau soon.

qualcomm-quad-core-snapdragon-chip

Processor

Dual-core, quad-core, million-core… who cores? You do, and you should. The processor is the most visibly invisible part of your device. Noticing a little lag? It might be your processor. Your phone's processor is the tie that binds all the rest of it together, and it absolutely has to keep up.

In an age where a dual-core device is standard, our processors are well beyond where we thought we'd be at this point. A phone will routinely clock in a 1.5GHz, a standard usually reserved for entry-level laptop computers. The processors in our mobile devices are robust and fast, but often depend on other factors to truly showcase their talents. It's easy to blame the processor, but it may not be the culprit if you feel you're being robbed of speed and performance.

Remember when…

Memory is an increasing concern amongst cell phone users. As we matriculate into the age of cloud storage, less on-board memory is being afforded us to our device. A standard of 16-32GB is normal, and some devices have a mere 8GB of storage. When you take into account that Android takes about 3.5GB of memory, and a robust FPS game can eat up an additional 1-2GB, the 8GB phone is simply not going to work for many users. A 16GB phone seems to be the norm, but 32GB is an ideal standard device makers can easily achieve. Memory costs relatively little to make and install, and almost no additional room when upgraded. This is one area we'd love to see an upgrade to.

Nexus 4 battery

Battery

The one thing we can all agree on is our battery life is in desperate need of an overhaul. Getting through a full day, using our devices normally, is tough. We shouldn’t be asked to simply reduce our usage or change our screen brightness to accommodate the battery. On top of the poor battery life, some phones don't have removable units to allow for a backup battery to be switched out.

Some phones, like the Droid RAZR Maxx HD, have great battery life, but not for any type of technology. The phone simply has a gigantic battery tacked on to a phone with an ultra-slim profile. While the larger battery doesn’t take anything away from the phone, it also doesn’t push any boundaries. Dropping an over-sized battery into a device is a novel idea, but a band-aid on a larger problem.

New thinking

Some really interesting things have been introduced in terms of battery technologies. Some of that technology is just too radical to be cost effective, while some could be easily instituted. The current thinking of a larger battery is just not going to cut it, and carrying a battery pack is not an option.

A recent study by Northwestern University has yielded what could be an important breakthrough. Rather than mess with exotic materials or some other method of changing the entire way batteries are made or designed, Professor Harold Kung tried a radically simple approach. One that, if proven successful over time, may change the way we think of batteries and charging.

Holes… millions of them

Professor Kung understood that the movement of lithium ions between the sheets of graphene in your battery is the key factor in performance and charging time. As a battery is used, the lithium ions travel through that graphene from the anode to the cathode, and back again for charging. He took to poking millions of microscopic holes in the graphene layers, reducing the roadblocks of all those lithium ions. the result was a faster charge, going from dead to fully charged in 15 minutes.

Removing roadblocks could have the same effect on battery life, also. A quick charge could mean less battery life, meaning we simply make many small charges in our day rather than one or two big charges. This also reduces overall life, as a battery is often rated for how many "cycles", or charges, it can endure.

To counter this issue, Professor Kung and his team placed silicone between the graphene layers to assist in the travel of the Lithium and create a superhighway of power. This also allows for energy to be stored and utilized more effectively. The result of all this science? A battery that lasts a week on one 15 minute charge. It is also shown to be five times as effective as our current battery technology after a full year's worth of charges. "We have found a way to extend a new lithium-ion battery's charge life by 10 times," Professor Kung said. We all know how much Larry Page loves doing things ten times better, so let's hope Google and Motorola take a hard look at this.

Jelly Bean

Jelly Bean

Services

This may be the secret of your device, and it's not even there. The services you access are the easiest to transition away from, but are also the reason you have the device to being with. As services get more comprehensive and useful, phones must meet the demands. It's an odd symbiosis between hardware and nowhere.

Take Google Now, for instance. It has no bearing on your device, physically, but it demands as much from your device as almost anything else. Ask it a question, and every part of your handy little friend is being tested: the screen must display and be responsive, the processor and radios must react in time. The battery has to be on-call, powering the device, and the even the memory might be needed (depended on what you search for). That's a second or two of your time, and a lot of stress on the device.

We love to play games, and we enjoy our maps and cloud storage, but it's those things that are killing our phones and tablets so quickly each day. The next time you are reading Flipboard, or playing a game, consider just how much your device is going through to make that possible. While we shouldn’t be asked to give up what we’ve been given, we should respect that too much of anything is going to be a bad thing for our devices.

motorola-x-1

Conclusion

Are our phones good enough? Yes… for now. We'll always want more, and manufacturers will always push the boundaries. This is how great things happen, and why we'll ask the same thing a few years from now. Do we need more? Maybe not, but we want it. Simple things like battery life and on-board memory are two things that can change immediately and have a huge impact on our mobile lifestyle.

We're also left to wonder just what Larry Page was hinting at when he made those hopefully telling remarks about what a mobile device should be able to do. In part, Page said :

Think about your device. Battery life is a huge issue. You shouldn’t have to worry about constantly recharging your phone. When you drop your phone, it shouldn’t go splat. Everything should be a ton faster and easier. There's real potential to invent new and better experiences.

An interesting statement by the CEO of Google. Is he hinting at the mysterious Motorola X project? This comment was made in reference to where Google is at with Motorola, so it would make sense. Then again, maybe he's just saying what's on everyone's mind. Either way, he's right.

Nexus 4 heading to WIND Mobile on February 4

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:08 AM PST

nexus-4-comparison

February is shaping up to be a good month for those who have been impatiently waiting to get the Nexus 4. Yesterday, the highly sought-after phone finally returned to Google Play in various countries, the U.S, Canada, and Germany included, though it will only ship in 1-2 weeks.

We're hoping that Google will have enough stock of the N4 this time around for everyone, but for those who prefer to grab the phone with a contract, we're hearing from Mobile Syrup that WIND Mobile will start offering the Nexus 4 next week.

To be exact, WIND said that the Nexus 4 will be "available in stores from Monday February 4th". Unfortunately, the pricing details haven’t been shared yet.

Other carriers in the country that will sell the Nexus 4 soon include Bell Canada, Fido, and Videotron. Most said that the flagship Nexus device will be up for grabs in early February.

Anyone planning to buy the Nexus 4 via WIND? Why?

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Nexus 4 supposedly headed to Play Stores in France, UK, Spain and Australia today

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:08 AM PST

Nexus 4

Once the ball gets rolling, there's no more controlling… it. That's how we can describe Nexus 4's availability in a nutshell right now, although some of you might still be pissed at how long it took Google and LG to make the "ball" budge.

But there's no time for hard feelings, folks, because the oh so elusive N4 is apparently finally getting the proper launch it deserves. After going live in Google's German, US and Canadian Play Stores yesterday (and sticking for a change), we're expecting the same thing to happen in France, UK, Spain and Australia later today.

The news is obviously not official, but comes from one of the sources that were spot-on with the speculations yesterday. According to this "tipster", the Nexus 4 will be made available once again in GB, France and Spain around 7 AM PST today, while Australians will have to wait until 2 PM PST.

There's no way to be sure all four countries will get both the 8 and 16 GB versions of the phone, but judging by how it went down in the US, Canada and Germany we think you'll have the two at your disposal. We also assume stocks won't ran out in just a couple of hours (this time), but just to be certain you might want to be prepared to hustle.

So, getting one, got one or don’t want one?

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ZTE quietly unveils the 5.7-inch Grand Memo with 720p display and 1.7 GHz quad-core CPU

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 01:40 AM PST

zte-grand-memo

Remember when we (jokingly?) called Huawei crazy for coming out with the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate "phone"? Well, you can say ZTE is officially joining the cuckoo club now, although the company's Grand Memo is a bit more down to earth.

The newly revealed handheld "only" boasts a 5.7-inch display, which, trust us, still makes it impossible to hold with one hand (unless, of course, you're Shaquille O'Neal). The beast has been shown off rather timidly in a Hong Kong event, but we're guessing it'll also make an appearance in Barcelona next month at MWC.

For some reason, ZTE is apparently following Huawei's marketing strategy by the letter, making the gargantuan Grand Memo look a little less premium than the smaller 5-inch Grand S. That's not to say the new fellow is a pushover, though, especially from a hardware standpoint.

zte-grand-memo-2

In fact, the Memo comes with the same 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU as the Grand S, an identically awesome 13 MP rear-facing camera, and, we think, an equivalent 2 gigs of RAM. That said, the display and design are the two little details that make the Grand Memo fall short of a top-tier device.

On one hand, you have a pretty run-of-the-mill 720p panel, while on the other it seems the silver bezel and body finish make the Memo look and feel a lot cheaper than the Grand S. Then again, the 5.7-incher is definitely not chunky, measuring a mere 8 mm in thickness (just a tad more than the 6.9 mm Grand S).

zte-grand-memo-3

The only other feature known for certain is the microSD support (hooray), but, based on a leak from a few weeks back, we also expect ZTE’s big guy to rock a massive 3,000 mAh battery.

In a nutshell, the Memo (aka V9815) should therefore be a larger, less elegant, but also less energy-slaying version of the Grand S. Hmm, that doesn't too bad, but how will ZTE be pricing this? And more importantly, will the giant make its way outside Asia anytime soon? Do you want it to?

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Rdio brings its free music streaming service to more countries

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 01:02 AM PST

Rdio-new

Rdio isn't exactly the go-to service for many when it comes to music streaming (hello, Spotify!). However, the latest announcement might just convince folks to make the switch – or at least give it a spin – as the door to the free music streaming service is now open to users in more countries.

In addition to the U.S., the free service is now live in "nearly all countries" where Rdio is currently available. The list includes UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

New and current users will have access to Rdio's library of 18 million songs and use the music streaming service free for up to six months, but it also depends on how often you stream the songs. You can stream the music on your browser or through the desktop app.

If you think you'll be listening to more music than the given quota, you can sign up for the unlimited subscription plan, which starts at $4.99 per month. Streaming music on the go – such as on your Android mobile device — will cost you $9.99 per month. It'll also give you the ability to listen to the songs offline.

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Nooly ‘nowcasting’ weather app for Android aims to end inaccurate forecasts

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 12:08 AM PST

Nooly main

How many times have you had to reschedule a meeting because of a sudden change in the weather? Have there been any instances in your life where you’ve had to cancel an event because Mother Nature suddenly decided to stop cooperating? How about having a fun weekend game of football cut short because rain clouds got the better of the sun that afternoon? Some or all of these problems and more have probably happened to you at least once before. Couldn’t you have done anything to overcome them?

When people are affected by these types of problems, they tend to blame the weather. The weather doesn’t care, it just keeps on changing. Some people, wanting to be more specific, blame inaccurate weather forecasts. And if you tally the number of mistakes that are often made through so-called “local” weather forecasts, you can hardly blame them.

It’s no secret that weather forecasting professionals and weather forecasting apps – available on the Web and on mobile – are not in the business of fortune telling. They take a certain data set and extrapolate to give the public info on what the weather might be like during the next few hours or days. No one has ever set out to give the world truly accurate, up-to-the-minute weather forecasts based on ever updating scientific data. Until now.

Meet Nooly, the weather “nowcasting” app

The world’s first hyperlocal “micro weather” forecasting app, called Nooly, has finally arrived for Android and iOS. Nooly is designed to deliver accurate predictions for more than just daily or weekly changes in the weather. Its creators claim that it can also predict the exact time rain will start and end, as well as when a light rain will turn into a thunderstorm. It has been in development for over a year now and is currently available as a downloadable free app in its beta testing stage.

“Being so hyperlocal brings with it wide range of challenges,” said Nooly CEO Yaron Reich in a press release. And how exactly did they overcome these challenges? By relying on exclusive patented technology, an extensive amount of data that is being updated constantly and expert contributions from two top intellectuals including Professor Daniel Rosenfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor John Mecikalski of the University of Alabama in Hunstville USA.

Nooly weather app

What Nooly is up against

Nooly is quietly going up against long-standing weather forecasting industry incumbents like The Weather Channel as well as a number of independent weather forecasting outfits, not to mention the built-in weather apps available in Google and Apple’s respective mobile operating systems. In short, Nooly has got all its work cut out for it. Fortunately, the problem with the current state of weather forecasting is pretty easy to define.

All too often, weather forecasts are wrong because the data used for them is not location-specific. Also, it’s not impossible for weather conditions to change drastically over the course of a few short days, leaving predictions – or forecasts – made a few days prior to be completely inapplicable and irrelevant. As a result, weather forecasts are not very accurate and therefore not as reliable as the public needs them to be.

Why Nooly will win

With the use of data gathered in real time from two NASA satellites and over 260 National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) radars, Nooly promises to deliver accurate weather predictions for “every neighborhood / park / road / district in the Continental U.S.” This covers over 13 million locations in the U.S. and Canada, where user location data is used to localize predictions to areas within 0.4 square miles.

Nooly also gives users the option to see weather predictions with 5-minute, 15-minute, and 1-hour intervals. This is what makes its forecasts worthy of being called “nowcasts” that are designed to be accurate predictions of the weather within the next 5 minutes.

A few noteworthy shortcomings

Though it is fighting an uphill battle, Nooly seems to be in pretty good shape, what with the extensive amount of data and the exclusive patented weather forecasting technology on its back. Still, it is not without problems.

Currently, Nooly sits with a 2.8 star rating on its Google Play page, where users have constantly complained about its sluggishness and problematic user interface. One reviewer called it “too portastic” and said it needs work. “It’s a good idea and all the right information is there but the app needs a serious UI update,” he added.

Crave‘s Tim Hornyak also weighed in on Nooly in a piece published on CNet recently. Hornyak says he almost declared Nooly better than AccuWeather or The Weather Channel, until he ran into an inaccurate temperature. “I noticed that Nooly got the local temperature in Montreal wrong, repeatedly listing it at minus 16 C (3 F) instead of the actual reading of minus 9 C (16 F), which I confirmed with a thermometer,” said Hornyak. “That’s a big discrepancy – a long-johns false alarm. Maybe the local version of the algorithm needs tuning.”

Nooly’s future

Is it safe to say that Nooly is now the world’s best weather forecasting app, whether on the Web or on mobile? Not yet. Even its own creators, which boast its use of “cutting-edge technology and breakthrough algorithms that represent a scientific breakthrough in the field of cloud physics and meteorology,” are quick to point out that it is “a work in progress” and that a “few bugs and some other issues (in the app or in the prediction) may happen” during usage. But there’s no denying that it’s an app that’s trying to solve a hard problem. And if things turn out all right, it will be doing just that for people across the world for many years to come.

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Angry Birds Star Wars teaser image posted by Rovio ahead of content update

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 11:58 PM PST

Angry Birds Star Wars teaser
All you Angry Birds Star Wars aficionados out there, get ready for a brand new content update. Rovio has just released the above-posted teaser image labeled #19 via Twitter. Though it hasn’t actually made any official announcements, Rovio has so far indicated that the stuff in the picture is “hashtag coming soon.”

So what exactly will Rovio add to the game as part of the upcoming content update? The teaser image shows us the Millenium Falcon flying through a hole towards what appears to be a cave or a tunnel of some sort, so perhaps there might be an underground level update coming to Angry Birds Star Wars very soon.

If you recall, Rovio also posted a teaser image for a forthcoming Bad Piggies update recently. That update is tentatively called Road Hogs, while this one for Angry Birds Star Wars appears to be called Escape from Hoth, based on a relevant hashtag.

Rovio is usually pretty quick with these updates, so expect not to wait very long for the actual release if you have either of these two games in your Android device app drawer.

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Call of Mini: Brawlers for Android lets you blast your way through zombies sideways

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 11:53 PM PST

Crawl of Mini Brawlers
Can you imagine a world without zombie shooters? Neither can we. The zombie apocalypse is proving to be nothing more than a sci-fi nerd’s fantasy at this point, but that doesn’t mean that games based on it are not awesome. Especially the ones that fall under the category of side-scrollers, like the new game from Triniti Interactive called Call of Mini: Brawlers. In it, players seem to inhabit a zombie-infested world full of characters that appear to be made out of Lego. This applies to both the playable characters and the zombies.

Call of Mini: Brawlers features 3D graphics, 5 playable characters, and a load of kick-ass weapons that can be used to blast through hordes of zombies in an infinite number of stages. The game also lets users complete challenges and go through certain obstacles apart from simply killing tons of zombies. In short, if you’re a hard core fan of zombie shooters, you’re going to have countless hours of fun playing this one.

To give this game a whirl, just make your way to Google Play where it can currently be downloaded for free. In fact, why don’t you save yourself some time and simply click on the link to Google Play highlighted as a source down below.

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Epic Citadel for Android now available for download on Google Play

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 11:45 PM PST

epic citadel

If you are in the mood to go for a stroll through streets that are filled with eye candy, then point your eyes to the latest Epic Games creation that has just been made available for download on Google Play. We’re talking about Epic Citadel, the Unreal Engine 3-powered tech demo app that’s set in the world of the game Infinity Blade. Epic Citadel should quickly be able to put your Android device’s graphics processing powers to the test.

Epic Citadel is not a game, but it’s set up like one. The main thing that players will be able to do in it is “navigate the dynamic fantasy setting of the award-winning Infinity Blade.” In short, it’s basically a virtual tour of the Infinity Blade world, where there exists an entire town with all sorts of buildings and other structures. Of course, the environmental visuals that make up the actual Infinity Blade world itself are part of what’s on offer as well.

Navigating Epic Citadel can be done through touch controls, and there’s also an option to run a benchmark to find out just how well – or how poorly – certain devices perform with it. For certain high-resolution devices, like the Nexus 10, there’s even a resolution scaling option that should come in handy whether players are using the benchmarking tool or not.

Although not a game in the strictest sense of the word, Epic Citadel offers a sneak peek at what’s possible for Android gaming in the future. Check out its official YouTube video above.

Show full PR text

Epic Games Releases "Epic Citadel" for Android

Android users can download the free app now, plus 'Epic Citadel' gets iOS update

CARY, N.C. (January 29, 2013) – Epic Games, Inc. today released "Epic Citadel" for Android devices. The free app, which is used to demonstrate the studio's award-winning Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) technology on multiple platforms, is available now on Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android. A new benchmarking mode and updated visuals bring added depth to the popular app.

In "Epic Citadel," players navigate the dynamic fantasy setting of the award-winning Infinity Blade. From the circus bazaar to the sweeping cathedral in the center of town, "Epic Citadel" dazzles with a visual parade of special effects.

"While we've licensed our engine to help developers build and ship many fantastic games for Android, 'Epic Citadel' is our first internally developed product to be released to Android users," said Jay Wilbur, vice president of Epic Games. "It's a free, easy way to check out the high-quality experience Unreal Engine technology delivers on mobile devices."

High-End Graphics for Android

"Epic Citadel" was created with the same UE3 tools and technologies used to develop best-selling PC, console and mobile games. Features include:

  • Amazing visuals. "Epic Citadel" pushes the envelope for modern visuals on Android devices. Through the latest advances in Unreal Engine 3 technology, the application delivers unrivaled graphics and special effects that immerse players in the kingdom's grounds.
  • Benchmarking mode. "Epic Citadel" enables users to gather performance data for Android devices through its benchmarking mode, which displays frames per second stats, quality settings and resolution details.
  • Realistic reflections and animations. Environment mapping and other high-end rendering techniques produce lifelike reflections, and vertex deformation and skeletal animation bring trees and banners to life with dynamic movements.
  • Global illumination. Unreal Engine 3's built-in global illumination system, Unreal Lightmass, provides realistic lighting and shadows with minimal development resources.
  • Dynamic specular lighting with texture masks. Sophisticated graphics features impart a tangible quality to cobblestone roads and vivid reflective marble surfaces, while lens flares and light coronas add dramatic emphasis when panning across light sources.

Outstanding Cross-Platform Performance

Epic has worked closely with hardware leaders to ensure that "Epic Citadel" delivers a superior experience on the latest mobile platforms.

"'Epic Citadel' features beautiful, high-performance graphics that are characteristic of mobile Unreal Engine games. Throughout the app's development for Android, we worked closely with Epic Games to ensure that the visuals can be experienced on NVIDIA Tegra-based devices in all of their glory," remarked Tony Tamasi, SVP Content and Technology, NVIDIA.

"Intel is very pleased to see Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine 3 technology shipping on Android with full native support for x86," said Mukesh Goel, Director of Ecosystem Enabling, Mobile Communications Group, Intel. "We're especially excited by the tremendous performance being realized in 'Epic Citadel' on the Atom Z2460 platform."

"As the leading supplier of mobile and embedded GPUs for both iOS and Android, Imagination has worked extremely closely with Epic for many years as it has continuously pushed the boundaries of mobile graphics with Unreal Engine technology," Tony King-Smith, VP of Marketing, Imagination Technologies. "We are delighted that our collaboration is extending into the Android space and that Epic is making such excellent use of our PowerVR GPUs and tools as it brings the best of gaming capability to the rapidly growing Android market."

New iOS Update

Today Epic also released an update for "Epic Citadel" on the App Store that improves the industry-leading visuals of the iOS app. Available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, "Epic Citadel" now supports high-resolution devices and offers aesthetics even more striking than previously seen.

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Republic Wireless rolls out software update for Motorola Defy XT

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 11:24 PM PST

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The rugged Motorola Defy XT might be a bit long on the tooth, but on the plus side, owners of the device don't to have to fight for the affection of Republic Wireless — as it's the only Android handset offered by the prepaid carrier.

Whether you own the single- or dual-band Defy XT, a software update for your phone is now available to download and install via OTA. The update, which comes with various improvements and tweaks, will bring your phone's software to version 1_65_K-1207.

Here's the full changelog:

  • Ability to place E911 call over WiFi when CDMA network is not accessible
  • Ability to transmit SMS over WiFi when CDMA network is not accessible
  • Ability to manually add WiFi access point via the WiFi wizard
  • Optimization and improvements to cellular calling
  • Audio optimization while using speakerphone on a WiFi call
  • Latest Android security patches to improve device security against malware

The update will be available to download via WiFi only. If you haven't received the notification, you can go to the phone's "System updates" menu and select "Download".

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Android and Me

Android and Me


Great white Nexus 4 caught on camera

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:40 PM PST

Back in October when the Nexus 4 was still more rumor than reality we had leaks from Carphone Warehouse that suggested the LG Nexus 4 would come in both black and white. While the name of course proved to be correct we never actually saw that white model, until now. An anonymous tipster [...]

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Nexus 4 is back in stock in Google Play, hurry up and buy it

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 09:46 AM PST

The widely loved and constantly sold out Nexus 4 is at last back in stock in the Google Play store. Both models are listed as shipping in the next 1-2 weeks, so perhaps not instant gratification, but at least you get to start the countdown until you have it in your hot little [...]

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HTC to beat MWC rush with February 19 press events

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 08:14 AM PST

After a quiet CES it looks like HTC is finally ready to take the wraps off whatever it has up its sleeve for the new year. The favorite is of course the oft-rumored and sometimes glimpsed HTC M7. In a move that mirrors what we’ve seen from many of the other major [...]

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Nvidia to try their hand at smartphones and tablets in order to promote Tegra

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 05:13 AM PST

Nvidia’s succes with their venture into mobile has been hit or miss. Tegra has become relatively well known, but its popularity still pales in comparison to the competition. Namely, Qualcomm. So what’s Nvidia to do about it? Instead of waiting for manufacturers to come to Nvidia for...

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