Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Android Community

Android Community


NVIDIA set to license their graphics tech to the mobile market

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:10 AM PDT

NVIDIA had some pretty big news to share with us this week, and have announced in a recent blog post that they’ll be moving away from simply making GPUs and processors like the Tegra 3 for mobile. They aren’t going anywhere, but instead will be licensing out their graphics technology and visual computing portfolio to other manufacturers.

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We can still expect to see their Tegra 4 later this year, followed by what surely will be an impressive Tegra 5 after that, but starting with their next-gen GPU others will be able to enjoy it as well. What does this mean? You’ll be able to get that stunning Tegra-like graphics performance for gaming from others, not just NVIDIA’s Tegra 4/5 powered devices.

This is mainly a move in the PC sector, where they’ve already licensed their tech to Sony in the PS3 for enhanced graphics, and even Intel pays them hundreds of millions a year to license their graphics technology. NVIDIA holds over 5,000 patents and is the leader in visual graphics and computing, across the board. Their upcoming GPU platform Kepler will usher in a new era of visual computing power, and will be for both the desktop and mobile market. And this will be the first platform they’ll license out to manufacturers.

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So where we see Mali 400 GPUs powered by Samsung’s Exynos processors, Adreno with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, and Imagination Technologies PowerVR in others, soon manufacturers will be able to add NVIDIA’s Kepler platform to their chipsets. While it’s highly unlikely we’ll see a Qualcomm Snapdragon with NVIDIA’s tech under the hood instead of Adreno, a move like this could save millions in R&D just by licensing the tech from NVIDIA.

It’s an interesting move, and one that NVIDIA feels will be the right one moving forward in this mobile computing era. We also feel like this could really help Intel tap into the mobile market, as they’ve struggled lately. More details can be had from NVIDIA themselves.

SOURCE: NVIDIA Blog

AT&T NEC Terrain announced for the rugged Blackberry fan

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 10:17 AM PDT

For those busy with both work and life, today AT&T and NEC have announced a device for those needing a rugged smartphone. One perfect for the BYOD market. It’s for both work and play, according to NEC, and blends Android and a Blackberry into one oddly shaped smartphone. It’s a rugged and military spec smartphone, and even has those Push-to-talk features some still love.

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This device was first spotted back in April thanks to a few leaksters, but today we’re learning all the official details, release date, and pricing right from AT&T themselves. So for those that still want a dedicated keyboard and want this phone, here’s what we know as of now.

It’ll be available come June 21st through AT&T Business Solutions, and online for $99 with the usual 2-year contract deal. According to NEC this phone “embodies toughened versatility and business-ready features” but all we’re seeing is a rugged budget phone with a keyboard. Sorry NEC. Anywho, the specs leave a little to be desired but overall it should handle daily emails and all those busy tasks with ease.

With a 3.1-inch touchscreen covered in Gorilla Glass for protection, you’ll also enjoy a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor running at 1.5 GHz, then a 5 megapixel (720p capable) camera on the rear and VGA front, of course a huge QWERTY keyboard, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. More details can be found from AT&T themselves, soon, because their product page appears to be broken. I’d rather get the Galaxy S 4 Active.

SOURCE: AT&T

Falcon Pro Twitter client removed from the Play Store

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 09:51 AM PDT

If you’re like us, then you probably use Twitter quite often to follow @Androids and keep up with the latest smartphone news and rumors. One of the most popular Twitter apps for Android, Falcon Pro, has been a hot topic lately because they keep running out of token limits and are having to deny users access to their app. And now, as of this morning it’s no longer available on the Play Store.

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Twitter has a ridiculous 100,000 limit on 3rd party apps, something which has caused amazing apps by great developers to abandon their Twitter clients. And now it looks like Falcon is falling victim to the same limit being imposed (sadly) by Twitter. This isn’t the first time they’ve dealt with it, and even Monday reset the apps token limit for those no longer using the app on their Android phones.

The plan here by Falcon is to revoke all tokens for the app, requiring users to update from the Play Store and sign in again. Which then weeds out users that initially downloaded and used Falcon, but have since moved on to other options, clients, or smartphone platforms. However, after the first time gave them a month of new users, Monday’s reset only lasted one day before Twitter shut it down. Well, according to the developers “Did Twitter just shut me down?”

For now we’re not exactly sure what is going on with Falcon Pro, the popular Twitter client for Android, but in an attempt to solve the issue the developers have just removed the app from the Google Play Store. This way users don’t pay the $1.99 only to have a Falcon that doesn’t work. For those curious, if you already have the app and are signed in and enjoying it, things should continue to work. At least for now, but anything is possible at this point.

This situation isn’t getting any better and we’re hoping Twitter addresses the problem, but that’s doubtful. For now a pretty great alternative Twitter app is Robird Android, and you can learn more on Falcon’s fate from the link below.

VIA: @Falcon_Pro

LG “Always On Voice Commands” tipped for smartphones in 2014

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 08:41 AM PDT

If you were wary of the Xbox One’s ability to see and hear you basically 24 hours a day, you might want to skip reading this story. LG has been tipped by several sources to be bringing forth a new smartphone inside 2014 that’ll be working with Always On Voice Commands. This means it’ll be listening all the time.

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If you’re one for believing “three different sources who are familiar with the situation” as Gotta Be Mobile is, you’ll be pumped up for LG’s next generation in smartphone technology. Or next generation in do-it-yourself spy technology: however you want to look at it.

These sources are saying that LG’s smartphone technology will be used for navigation, primarily – here working with “certain settings or environments” rather than 100% of the time, all day long. This could have interesting effects on how the brand is seen in the world of automotive connectivity – much easier to speak to a smartphone when you don’t have to touch it all the time.

This fits well with the Qualcomm chatter earlier this year about Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 always-on voice activation, complete with the yelling.

It also fits well with LG’s recent big hits with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors – the LG Optimus G Pro works with a Snapdragon 600 while the LG Optimus G works with the first quad-core processor from the SoC maker. LG also scored big with the Google Nexus 4, a design based on the Optimus G with the same quad-core Snapdragon processor inside.

Now we’ve just to wait for the announcement – or the LG leaks galore!

HTC Butterfly S official: UltraPixel Camera, BoomSound, 5-inch display

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 08:02 AM PDT

When the HTC One was introduced not long after the DROID DNA (and the original HTC Butterfly), it seemed as if the larger-display-toting machine would be left in the dust, so to speak. Not so! Here we’re seeing HTC upgrade the HTC Butterfly line with an HTC Butterfly S, a machine that takes essentially every great part of the HTC One and adds a massive display to boot!

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What we’re expecting with this machine is that Verizon will eventually pick it up to release not long after the HTC One – it’d be an odd combination to have the two out at the same time, but such is the oddity that is Verizon’s release schedule.

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Inside this machine is a 5-inch 1080p display backed up by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor – the same as the HTC One. Up front is scratch-resistant glass with a 4-megapixel “UltraPixel” camera in the back with a single LED flash bulb.

The display is Super LCD 3 touch-enabled technology-wise and comes in at a cool 440ppi. This device works with a massive 3200mAh battery as well – and it’d better with a display and brightness such as this.

Up front are also a couple of front-facing speakers working with HTC’s own BoomSound technology for massive sound-blasting, these right beside a front-facing 2.1-megapixel camera with 88-degree wide-angle lens. Also inside is HTC’s own ImageChip 2 processor, again the same as the HTC One.

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This device also works with a microSD card for memory expansion – finally! This might seem like a fabulous addition as this machine still works with just 16GB of internal storage, but we’ll have to wait and see if this feature hits the states – it might just be axed before it gets here. Same goes for the black, white, or red colorways.

VIA SlashGear; VR-Zone

Samsung and Facebook talks reveal little

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 07:27 PM PDT

Mark Zuckerberg is an interesting fellow. If he’s not living on what he catches, or scouting the world for new talent, then he’s heading out to South Korea to talk to Samsung execs about finding ways to better promote Facebook through their product portfolio. Sadly for us, not many details can be made, but we can make some educated guesses as to why he’s there in the first place.

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Sadly for Zuckerberg, the shares in Facebook he put up to market in May of 2012 haven’t really soared as much as he had planned to. So it’s likely with some diligent decision making that he’s headed out to the land of the most successful mobile phone company in the world, to actively seek ways to secure his investments and gain market share. Or at least we suspect.

Although Zuckberg himself didn’t make a statement while being caught leaving Samsung HQ, Samsung President Shin Jong Kyun did talk about “the state of the information-technology industry”, according to the President himself. Then, if that wasn’t enough, Zuckerberg was scuttled over to the President of South Korea herself, Ms. Park Geun Hye. Talking to her, he reportedly theorized about ways that Facebook can make a bigger impact in the international mobile market, and what kind of effect it can have on business and trade relations.

Samsung and HTC were the first to feature the Facebook application on their Android OS respectively, however Facebook itself has struggled to maintain stability in the financial market. Its share has seen a massive drop of 9.8 this year alone, which has investors and users alike worried.

SOURCE: Edmonton Journal

AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 in Aurora Red out now

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 06:55 PM PDT

Only just recently we discussed how Samsung was looking into switching it up color-wise for their Galaxy S 4 Line, and now AT&T has come in with their brand new “Aurora Red” paintcode. Spicing up (most literally) the S 4, this vibrant red is only available to AT&T customers on a two year agreement for $199, or can be picked up on its own, off contract, for $639.99.

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The Samsung Galaxy S 4 AT&T “Aurora Red” edition comes with all the same specs as the standard S 4. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 line is currently expanding as well, with the introduction of the Galaxy S 4 Mini, the S 4 Active, and the S 4 Zoom. We ponder whether all of these will get some interesting colors as well.

However, as of most recently, there have been hints that Samsung would offer the original Galaxy S 4 in more colors. The new red color from AT&T does confirm that more variants are on the way, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see some really interesting colors popping in our pockets. If you’re not into waiting, ColorWare currently offers your own custom S 4 colors… at a magnificent $1000 a pop, not including price of the phone itself.

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 AT&T Aurora Red Edition can be picked up now at any AT&T or Samsung certified retailer. If you’re not into red, we suggest playing that aforementioned waiting game; There could be something different in store for you. What colors would you most like to see?

SOURCE: Samsung

Nuance Dragon Mobile 4.0 brings Facebook updates, e-mail, and more

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 06:21 PM PDT

In the same way that Dragon Naturally Speaking can enhance a PC users day to day life, Nuance Dragon Mobile, which recently bought up Swype, has the ability to make the life of someone on the go a bit easier as well. The new 4.0 update brings some much needed new features, not to mention a slightly more intuitive interface.

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The Nuance Dragon Mobile 4.0 update brings voice notifications that tell you what your texts say, phone calls and Facebook status updates, voice-enabled email composition and reading, as well as a “Intelligent Driver Mode” which automatically detects when you’ve entered a car and turns your device into a hands free unit. Right now, it can work on Android 2.3 Gingerbread or higher.

Dragon Mobile is a free app, so for what it offers, you can’t really go wrong. You wake it up out of its “sleep” state by saying “Hi Dragon” and then it begins to utilize the hands free portion of your device. It’s similar to S-Voice for all androids, but offers more functionality. You can see more in the video below:

Nuance Dragon Mobile 4.0 is available now on Google Play. Numerous other functions are available, such as the ability to connect hands free to Bluetooth devices, make outgoing calls, organize your calendar, and browse the internet all hands free. The best part is that Dragon Mobile is free as well, so really, you can’t go wrong.

SOURCE: Dragon Mobile Assistant

GameStick delayed yet again; Now expected in August

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:38 PM PDT

GameStick, which has been a continual development of a gaming controller equipped with Android (similar in concept to OUYA) that can be played on your TV, has announced that they will push back the release of the controller itself by at least a month. This follows them doing this once before, as they promised they would have it delivered by the first of this month, and instead put it back yet another month (July 1st).

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GameStick themselves have been garnering a fair bit of attention due to the fact that they’ve put off the release of the actual controller for the past couple months. In theory, their launch was supposed to coincide with OUYA, but it didn’t. They do have BETA test units out, for some heavy monetary supporters, but they haven’t yet given out controllers to their pledges who have provided $300USD or more, to provide reviews and feedback.

They did reveal a brand new “OEM” production line controller, nicknamed “The Kickstarter” controller and announced it would be available for June 1st, then July 1st, and now August 1st. To say that it has some investors getting antsy would be an understatement. They have also shown off the docking units, the way the controller itself is made, what it’s made of, and how viable it is financially.

The major hurdle they are claiming to have is the calibration of the UI unit itself. They claim that it’s prepared for DEV distribution, but not for mainstream usage by the general public or the backers of their fund. With OUYA suffering jolts for its build quality, but also positive reviews for its ability to be toyed with, it’ll be interesting to see if GameStick can up the ante and deliver on all their promises.

SOURCE: GameStick Kickstarter

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series quad-core benchmarks: This thing is fast

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:04 PM PDT

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Ever since Qualcomm announced their Snapdragon 600 and 800 processors, we’ve been wanting to get our hands on them. The Snapdragon 600 outperforms anything on the mobile market as we’ve seen with the HTC One and Galaxy S4, but it’s about to get even hotter with their faster, better, more efficient 2.3 GHz quad-core 800 series processor. We have our hands all over their developer kits below.

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Thanks to Qualcomm for bringing us out to San Francisco to get a dedicated first-look at these new processors that will be powering our favorite devices. We’re taking a look at a Mobile Development Platform model of both a tablet and a smartphone rocking Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 series quad-core chip. And WOW does this thing fly. If you thought the benchmarks of the 600 were impressive, prepared to be blown away.

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The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 will be their flagship and top-tier chip for the rest of 2013, and into 2014. And it will be powering an entire host of devices, not just smartphones. Qualcomm claims it will power all "premium mobile and computing devices." More than just mobile! The 800 will be their first processor on the very efficient, faster, and completely improved 28nm processor fabrication. Much like Cortex-A15 based processors. Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC’s include the new next-gen quad core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU which will make gaming come to life, Hexagon v5 DSP and more. They've also integrated their latest 4G LTE Cat 4 modem that will usher in 4G LTE-Advanced. This chip aims to deliver increased system performance, connectivity, battery life, and much more.

For more details on the random and developer only hardware we’re testing, which also isn’t final hardware or software, nor has the regular power constraints of consumer devices, check out our Qualcomm 800 first look coverage. Now enough of that, lets talk about speed.

In case the image above didn’t explain enough, the Snapdragon 800 is just scary. We have a feeling other chip makers in the business have some serious work to do. As a comparison the GALAXY S4 with the Snapdragon 600 gets about 13,000 in Quadrant, and 20-22,000 in AnTuTu (popular benchmark apps) across the board. However, the Snapdragon 800 we’re enjoying here blows past 21,000 in Quadrant (nearly double) and tops 35,000 in AnTuTu. Holy Snapdragon!

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Those results are more than 4 times what we’ve seen with devices just last year running the most powerful dual and even quad-core chips. The Transformer Prime and NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 is barely on that map. A very important aspect of benchmarks, since they don’t determine performance 100%, is the breakdown in Quadrant. Something like I/O is important for opening apps, multi-tasking, loading the gallery and more. With the Snappy 800 I/O results alone are higher than any other processors results combined. I/O alone is faster the 600 as a whole. Check this out:

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These were just tablet results, which were done on an 11.6-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD display. Add this same chip into a smaller 4.3-inch 720p smartphone and you’ll see even different results. Equally impressive indeed!

Running these same tests on the Snapdragon 800 developer phone we saw similar results across the board. Quadrant topped 21,000 again, with I/O hitting 14,000 and CPU blowing past anything we’ve seen to date. However AnTuTu wasn’t as friendly with the phone, for whatever reason, and we only saw a score of around 25,000.

We were able to get a few minutes with both the smartphone and tablet, but obviously talking about them like normal devices doesn’t do us much good. So what should you, the reader take away from all of this? The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series quad-core processor (rumored for multiple devices in Q3 of this year) will usher in faster and more efficient smartphones than we’ve ever used. One’s that will also be extremely powerful, yet sip battery life. Then when you do use them to their full extend, using Quick Charge 2.0 (by Qualcomm) you’ll get powered up faster than ever before.

The developer kits should become available to public developers soon enough, and we’ll be sure to update when we know more. Stay tuned as we dig through the treasure trove of numbers and performance results we’ve just witnessed.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series developer platform first look

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:02 PM PDT

Today we’re lucky enough to be getting a first-hand and up close look at the latest and greatest in mobile computing from the folks at Qualcomm. Their Snapdragon 600 series is an extremely impressive quad-core chipset powering all of today’s most popular handsets, but now we’re looking at what’s next which is what many are waiting for, and that is the 2.3 GHz quad-core 800 series.

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The Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 and 800 series processors were announced earlier this year to follow up the wildly successful Snapdragon S4 Pro powering Google’s Nexus 4 and more, and we’re happy to be taking a look at the best part of the entire pack. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 powers the HTC One, Galaxy S4, and many upcoming flagship devices, but the next-gen wave of devices later this year will all (hopefully) enjoy the Snapdragon 800 and all it has to offer.

The Snapdragon 800 will be Qualcomm’s flagship and top-tier silicon for the rest of 2013, and into 2014. A system on chip that Qualcomm claims will power all "premium mobile and computing devices." The 800 will be their first processor on the improved, faster, and more efficient 28nm processor fabrication. Much like the Cortex-A15 processors. Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC’s include the new next-gen quad core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, Hexagon v5 DSP and more. They've also integrated their latest 4G LTE Cat 4 modem to deliver increased system performance, connectivity, battery life, and much more.

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Not only that but the 600 offers 40% performance improvements over the S4 Pro quad-cores from last year, but the Snapdragon 800 series will offer 35% better performance than the 60, and 75% more than last year’s flagship. We’d say that’s a pretty huge increase. More details about these devices (which have a slew of everything, obviously, for developers) can be found right here from Qualcomm. Let’s talk about the hardware.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP (Mobile Development Platform) Phone
As mentioned above, these devices are clearly for developers and testing, so come with an array of ports, cameras, sensors and anything else any manufacturer could possibly imagine. We’ll never see one hit the market, but it’s still fun to check out while we prepare to benchmark this beastly new processor.

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The 800 series MDP Phone only comes in at 4.3-inches and 720p, but they’ll be testing 1080p plenty on the tablet. The quad-core Snapdragon 800 works at speeds reaching 2.3 GHz, which is blazing fast, yet it’s still efficient. We have 2GB of 800MHz LPDDR3 RAM, a 12 megapixel rear and 2.1 front camera setup, 6 microphones and ultrasonic emitter, pen support for stylus activities, then tons of sensors and connections. We’ll be testing the performance soon, so here’s some pics.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP (Mobile Development Platform) Tablet
The tablet is a bit more impressive, but again only for development so it’s just full of awesomeness to test any possible solution. We have a large 11.6-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD display with 10-point multitouch. The same 2GB of RAM, 32GB storage, 12 and 2MP cameras, and that impressive 2.3 GHz quad-core 800 series chip.

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An important thing with the 800 series processor is Quick Charge 2.0 support, making charging our devices up to 65% faster than anything in the past. As we grow to quad-core processors, 1080p displays (in phones too) and beyond bigger batteries are needed, and charging needs to be faster. Qualcomm addressed with with an efficient chip, and ultra-quick charging systems.

The tablet is pretty crazy looking, but nothing we haven’t seen before. Below in the timeline you can see our previous coverage of multiple Qualcomm MDP kits we’ve enjoyed in the past. The 11.6-inch screen is quite interesting, and we wouldn’t mind seeing that rumored Samsung tablet come with a Snapdragon 800 and a screen of this size.

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These devices have been making the rounds here at Qualcomm’s Mobile benchmark workshop, so show signs of usage. The developer devices will probably be available to purchase soon (it was $1,200 last year) and we’ll update when we know more. Stay tuned for plenty of hands-on details, and tons of benchmarks as we put this processor through the ringer. We can’t wait to see the Snapdragon 800 series hit smartphones and tablets later this year.

Humble Bundle 6 makes its debut for Android

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 03:50 PM PDT

Nothing is free these days and the world is admittedly getting harder and harder to survive in. That’s why the creators of Humble Bundle 6 are asking you to donate some money (any money) to help support the Child’s Play Charity and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and in return you’ll get five cool games for your Android device. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

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Right now, the average donation is sitting at a measly $4.50, and if you match it, you get two extra games with your Humble Bundle 6 purchase; Broken Sword: Director’s Cut and Frozen Synapse. These two games join Aquaria, Fractal, Organ Trail: Directors Cut, Stealth Bastard Deluxe and Pulse with your purchase should you decide to break even. If you decide that the two extra’s aren’t worth it, you can just donate anything and enjoy your 5 new games.

Humble Bundle was introduced in May 2010, and continues to support numerous charities worldwide. We dig that they’ve so far raised over $33 million to help causes that we ourselves would gladly support as well. Currently, Humble Bundle supports payment through PayPal, Amazon, Google Wallet and Bitcoin.

As for the two charities your money will be going to, the first one (Child’s Play Charity) aims to help children who are in hospital with gifts of toys, books, and video games, to keep their spirits up and improve their living conditions away from home. The other charity (Electronic Frontier Foundation) aims to raise awareness about human speech and other such basic rights in the video game world.

It looks like they have a few more quality games for all us Android fans. Find out more below!

SOURCE: Humble Bundle

Samsung Galaxy Ring announced on Virgin Mobile for $179

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 03:39 PM PDT

Today the folks from Samsung have announced yet another Galaxy device, only this one isn’t a part of their growing Galaxy S4 lineup. The device is called the Samsung Galaxy Ring, and will be available exclusively from Virgin Mobile for those on a budget. The no-contract device has some decent specs too, so lets take a peek below.

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Virgin Mobile is pushing out this mid-range smartphone as a social circle device of choice for those wanting a great phone, good service, and a low price with no monthly contract. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is surprisingly half decent given the $179 price too. Here’s the full rundown on this device, which is actually available today.

The Galaxy Ring will get you a 4-inch display of unknown resolution, a decent 1.4 GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor will also handle all the tasks. Their site says quad-core, but we’re being told this is a single-core budget device, which makes sense given the price. You’ll enjoy a 5 megapixel 720p video capable camera on the rear, and 1.3 front for self portraits.

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The device won’t enjoy any fast 4G LTE networks speeds and is 3G only, but you’ll be enjoying Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a decent device with no annual contract. It comes pre-loaded with Swype for easy text input, and looks to be a decent and well-rounded phone for those on a budget. It’s available today from Virgin Mobile so head to the link below for additional details.

VIA: Virgin Mobile USA

Samsung Event being held on Thursday, to be live streamed

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 03:20 PM PDT

Samsung is preparing their live promotional product introduction event for Thursday, and we’ll be there to cover it. If you don’t like having your news fed to you, and instead like to see it for yourself, you too can watch it via live stream on the Samsung site and on YouTube. Either way you enjoy it, you should be in for quite a show.

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Although the show in March was an absolute mad-fest (we’re still getting over how over the top it was) we expect this round to come off as more professional, open concept type affair. We could end up seeing some things we haven’t seen before in person (Did someone say Samsung NX Camera?) or we could end up seeing the same stuff we’ve already seen. It’s all a big surprise as of now.

The event itself will be held in London at 7:00pm BST, and will include all of Samsung’s current lineup, as well as a massive entourage of accessories, live video promotions, and announcements. One thing we’re especially looking forward to is the opportunity to get hands on with some devices we haven’t been able to check out firsthand. These include the Galaxy S 4 Zoom, and hopefully (fingers crossed) the Tab 3.

You can expect us to be there, and to come at you live from the event. We’ll also be heavily covering the Android side of things, but might mention some Windows ATIV stuff if they have Android bits. Either way, we’ll be weighing in on everything left and right, so you won’t want to miss it.

SOURCE: Samsung

Verizon DROID smartphone incoming as ‘DroidLanding’ initiates [Update]

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 02:06 PM PDT

Oh snap, what do we have here? For all you longtime readers and Verizon fans, the extremely popular @DroidLanding Twitter page (official by the way) has been a source for upcoming Verizon DROID smartphones for a long time. Dating back to the DROID X, Motorola DROID 2/3, and much more. The promotional Twitter page has been silent since the original DROID RAZR in November of 2011, and today it has fired up again and has our interest seriously piqued.

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Basically this means within the next month or so, a DROID device will be landing on Verizon Wireless followed by a huge promotion, scavenger hunt, or some other exciting and engaging fun by Verizon. The account usually has cryptic tweets about upcoming products, launch pages with all the details (remember the DROID BIONIC) and all types of good content for you DROID fans.

I don’t even know what to think. If memory serves me right (which it usually doesn’t) this account has always been for DROID devices, but exclusively Motorola DROID smartphones on Verizon. We know the DROID DNA and other HTC devices have worn the name, but the @DroidLanding page is all about Motorola. Right?

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Is a Motorola DROID coming soon? Could this be the Moto X phone we’ve been hearing so much about? We have another idea. Maybe this isn’t just Motorola and we can all get excited for the HTC DROID One from Verizon Wireless. We really have no clue. Another guess could be the new 5.9-inch DROID T6 phablet that’s been rumored as of late. I really have no clue what to think, but they’re confirming that “reactivation protocols have been initiated” and we need to “standby for further instructions.”

Update: Verizon and DroidLanding are ready to rock and roll. We should be learning more very soon. They’ve released a video, and it appears another scavenger hunt to find the next DROID will be taking place. Stay tuned

What do you guys think this is? We’ll be waiting…

VIA: @DroidLanding –Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Google aims to improve their Government transparency status

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 01:34 PM PDT

In case you’ve been living under a rock, or protecting your thoughts with a tinfoil hat, there’s been tons of talk lately about the NSA, and government spying in on our calls and more. Between the Verizon NSA news and the so-called PRISM scandal, this has been a hot topic. Google’s CEO shared some thoughts last week, and now we’re getting details about their upcoming plans for transparency in general.

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After all the pushback from customers, many companies have been outing details about just how much the government requests. In an attempt to ease the minds of their users. The discussion about FISA requests isn’t going anywhere, and this news will continue to be a trend until some policies see changes. At least that’s what many are hoping for.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has done a lot of good, but were not here to discuss or argue that. Instead, today Google has confirmed their new approach and request as to how they share these details, and are focusing on even more transparency. Google has petitioned the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts with a request to let them publish all these requests separately. Allowing for more transparency.

They confirmed the details with a quick statement over on Google+, and we’ll have to wait and see how things go. Google would like to publish the FISA requests all in aggregated numbers. National security requests, including FISA disclosures, and criminal requests should all be disclosed separately. Instead of lumping them together in one huge report where important aspects can get lost or overlooked.

I try not to stick my nose into all of this too much, especially given the heated nature of these debates, but figured an update was in order. This is certainly a step in the right direction from Google, and hopefully others follow suite and opt to be more transparent moving forward.

VIA: Google

Verizon joins AT&T with Samsung Galaxy Tablet bundle deals

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 12:54 PM PDT

Earlier this week the folks from AT&T announced they’ll be the exclusive carrier of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet with 4G LTE. At the same time they detailed a pretty stellar deal offering the tablet for $199 (instead of $399) when bundled with participating Samsung Galaxy smartphones. A deal indeed. Today Samsung’s confirmed Verizon wants in on the fun, and will be doing the same for the rest of June.

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From what we’re hearing, Verizon will be offering $100 off any Samsung 10-inch tablet with Verizon 4G LTE as a bundle deal for those purchasing the Galaxy S4, or the Galaxy S III. Instead of paying full price for the tablet, they’ll give you $100 towards the tablet of your choice if you’re also getting a new Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

And of course this requires a new 2-year contract, but that was expected. Samsung shared the details this evening over on Twitter, and Verizon’s also updated their tablet support page with the $100 off sticker for those interested. They only have two 10-inch tablets available, but this is a good deal for those in need of a good smartphone/tablet combo for summer, or starting College soon.

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Currently Verizon offers the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet with 16GB of storage and that S-Pen stylus for $499, so you’d get $100 off that slate. Or they also still offer the new Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch 2 model, but I’d go with the Note 10 if it were me. This deal from Samsung and Verizon runs through the end of June, so you’d better hurry and decide what phone and slate are right for you. Reviews of all the above are available in the timeline of links below.

VIA: Verizon

Android 5.0 ‘Key Lime Pie’ Concept Design has us dreaming for the future

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 12:08 PM PDT

The wait and anticipation for the next version of Android right from Google has been a long one. After initially expecting it to debut at Google I/O last month only to be denied any such details, we’re all left wondering what they have in store, and when. While Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is the next version we’ll see, likely this month, some truly amazing fan UI concepts have us craving that Key Lime Pie.

Android 5.0 Lockscreen

When we say fan-made UI concepts, we mean these aren’t real, official from Google, or anything of that sort. Instead this is one designers “conceptual design” and dream of what Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie could and should look like. And it’s freaking amazing. Google needs to hire this guy immediately. Before Apple or someone else does.

A talented designer by the name of Jinesh Shah posted these over on Google+, and it has many wondering what exactly Google has planned for Android 5.0 KLP. Because something like this would be refreshing. He posted a few last week, but yesterday revealed his Android 5.0 Concept part 2, and we’re getting a deeper look at what he imagines Android 5 to look like.

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Android 5.0 People Android 5.0 People Dynamic Group Android 5.0 Dialer

The design can only be described as beautiful, minimal, and exceptionally clean. He’s done a great job blending Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the card-style we’ve been seeing from Google Now and other Mountain View apps. Everything is smooth, and detailed with enough to completely be a daily driver. The lockscreen has been overhauled with even more information than ever before, widgets have been improved, and the entire UI on the top is different too. With the clock and signal indicators coming from the top-down, which makes sense given how we usually interact with the pulldown bar.

Another idea that we’re a huge fan of is changing the contacts and People app, as that’s a mess currently. I’m really liking the simple and clean idea he’s came up with, as well as the groups. Lastly, the idea of having expandable widgets is genius. Just like how we enjoy expandable and more informative notifications in Jelly Bean, he’s making the widgets be expandable in a way you can gesture by sliding up to “hide” the widget. Why waste screen real-estate if you’re not using it. Genius! Someone bake this into a ROM like CyanogenMod ASAP please.

Again, this is just one graphic designers concept designs and dreams of what Android could be, and we figured you’d all love to take a look. While Jelly Bean should be getting updated soon, these give us even more hope and have us dreaming for the future with Android Key Lime Pie.

Android 5.0 Lockscreen Android 5.0 Music Widget Android 5.0 Homescreen Android 5.0 Dialer Android 5.0 People Android 5.0 People Dynamic Group Android 5.0 Gallery