Friday, September 27, 2013

Android World Update # Samsung executive says the Galaxy Gear “lacks something special”, and I agree

Phandroid
Android Phone News, Rumors, Reviews, Apps, Forums & More! 
Want new traffic sources?

Download a copy of our complimentary eBook today, and read about sources that most marketers are not aware of.
From our sponsors
Samsung executive says the Galaxy Gear "lacks something special", and I agree
Sep 27th 2013, 18:11, by Edgar Cervantes

Samsung Galaxy Gear 6 colors side

I have said it time and again: the smartwatch market is a sleeping giant, simply waiting for the manufacturer who will do it right. Naturally, we assume that a large manufacturer like Samsung (or Apple) would have the most chances – given their resources and expertise. This was simply not the case for Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, though, a smartwatch that failed to impress me one bit (see our hands-on for more).

I am not alone when it comes to this stance. In fact, a Samsung executive is said to agree with me! The executive decided to stay anonymous (of course), but the source is reliable.

“We’ve acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special. With more investment for user interface and user experience, Samsung devices will be better in terms of customer satisfaction.”

Samsung Galaxy Gear 2There are many issues with the Galaxy Gear, and this comes from a person who is “overly excited” about smartwatches (just ask other Phandroid bloggers). First and foremost, the device is only compatible with Samsung devices; Android 4.3 Samsung devices, at that.

This means that it is Only compatible with the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 for now. This is simply ridiculous! We know Samsung holds most of the Android marketshare, but that continues to be one huge “if”.

One good thing about Samsung’s name is partnerships, though. The device is set to launch with 70 apps, a number you can’t ignore when it comes to smartwatch support. But that is about the only cool thing about the Galaxy Gear. The camera is not necessary, the 315 mAh battery will give you a full day of battery life at best and the 1.63 inch LED display is bad for daylight use.

Toq-8At this point, I am putting all my attention on the Qualcomm Toq. The company no one ever expected to make a smartwatch totally left Samsung in the dust… Samsung! The Toq will feature a Mirasol display, 2-3 days of battery life, wireless charging, bundled bluetooth headphones, and more. It simply seems to be much better planned for good everyday use.

What do you guys think? Which smartwatch are you putting your money on? How could Samsung improve the Galaxy Gear? You can see our comparison post to see how the smartwatch competition is going!

[Engadget]

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

Android World Update # 8 Reasons Why Every Boss Should Have a Sony QX10

Android News + App Tests - AndroidPIT
This feed includes text previews of the latest news articles and app tests on www.androidpit.com. Click on the article title to read the entire article. 
Refresh your vocabulary.

Learn a new word everyday by subscribing to Word of the Day. A great tool if you're studying for the GRE, GMAT or LSAT, or simply want to enhance your lexicon.
From our sponsors
8 Reasons Why Every Boss Should Have a Sony QX10
Sep 27th 2013, 17:19, by Kris Carlon

We get a little stir-crazy in the AndroidPIT office sometimes, and we're not entirely immune to slacking off in various ways either. We know we're not alone when it comes to that, so we thought we'd share some funny ways one of our current favorite gadgets, the Sony Cyber-shot QX10 could be used by bosses around the world (but hopefully not ours) to keep track of employees like us.

AndroidPIT QX10 Spy Vid
We all live in constant fear... / © AndroidPIT

(This is a preview - click here to read the entire entry.)

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

Android World Update # Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Region Locking: What You Need To Know

Android News + App Tests - AndroidPIT
This feed includes text previews of the latest news articles and app tests on www.androidpit.com. Click on the article title to read the entire article. 
Refresh your vocabulary.

Learn a new word everyday by subscribing to Word of the Day. A great tool if you're studying for the GRE, GMAT or LSAT, or simply want to enhance your lexicon.
From our sponsors
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Region Locking: What You Need To Know
Sep 27th 2013, 17:40, by Edwin Kee

Do you agree that the whole issue about region locking can be quite a pain sometimes? Well, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is not immune to region locking just in case you were wondering, and here we are with additional information on the subject. Firstly, you ought to take into consideration that 'unlocked' Galaxy Note 3 models in Europe as well as Latin America will end up as region-locked, only if you first 'activate' them using an unapproved SIM card. If you have taken that route already, fret not, there is an opportunity to make a U-turn afterwards.

note 3 teaser crop
Region locks can be quite a pain sometimes... / © AndroidPIT

 

(This is a preview - click here to read the entire entry.)

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

Android World Update # HTC One Dev. Edition 4.3 ROM posted

Android Central - Android Forums - News - Reviews - Help and Android Wallpapers
Android Central 
Ready to move beyond the basics?

Enroll in this advanced DSLR course to explore more creative scenarios, image editing, and videography.
From our sponsors
HTC One Dev. Edition 4.3 ROM posted
Sep 27th 2013, 17:48, by Jerry Hildenbrand

HTC One

A path back for the Developer Edition HTC One when you need it

You got the Developer Edition HTC One so you could dig in there and really mess stuff up. It's fun, and a good way to learn about how Android works at the nerd level. But after you're done mucking around with things, and need your camera or Bluetooth back, you want to return it to the way is comes out of the box.

Luckily, HTC gives you a pretty easy way to do it. They've posted the 4.3 update ROM for the Developer Edition at their website, and with it you're juts a few clicks away from restoring your phone to a "stock" working condition. Of course, the prior versions are still available should you have a reason to want to go back. Kidding. Never go back.

You'll find them at the HTCdev site linked below(search for Brightstar US WWE) and it's something everyone with a Dev edition M7 should keep handy.

Source: HTCDev


    






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

Android World Update # SteelSeries Flux In-Ear Pro Headphone review

AndroidGuys
Android news and opinion 
New Thought, New You!

How to create a joyful life of Health, Wealth, Love & Prosperity. This online course is taught by Rev. Scott DeMarco. Enroll today for just $125.
From our sponsors
SteelSeries Flux In-Ear Pro Headphone review
Sep 27th 2013, 17:08, by David Martin

fluxeverything

So maybe you like to workout, maybe you like to playing video games, or maybe you walk to work. Maybe you’re like me and do a combination of the three.  What is something all three of these things have in common? Music!  Who doesn’t workout with their favorite tunes playing, want to get the most sound out of their video games, or tune out the outside world while going to work? Nobody!  Well the people at SteelSeries have created the perfect headphones to fit your lifestyle called the Flux In-Ear Pro, which sound amazing.

Now, when I workout I have the headphones which wrap around the ear that never fall out (took about 10 pairs to find the perfect ones, Sony’s) and they are resistant to sweat, supposedly. I also have another pair of “pricier” headphones (Beats By. Dre) that I also use for my computer, because heaven forbid my wife hear my speakers playing “Battlefield 4″. Then when I’m heading to work, I don my factory Samsung Galaxy S4 headphones, which have a mic, so I can still talk and not worry about taking out my headphones, although I still get funny looks from people.  However, the Flux In-Ear Pros allow me to use just one pair of headphones for all of life’s activities.

inearflux

The Good: 

  • Sounds amazing, if you like rock, rap, country or extreme video gaming, they pickup everything and put it down clean
  • Fit comfortable no matter what your doing, it does take some getting use to but they fit really snug
  • Flat cable design(no tangles) with plenty of length, swappable connector tips for PC/Mac and a nice case to put it all in
  • Mic, just hit the button to answer/end calls or play/pause music
  • Awesome sound sealing, so without any music playing I can barely hear the people around me
  • Extremely Loud, make sure you have it turned down on your device, because these puppies can get loud, really loud!

The Bad: 

  • Price is $130 which is steep for a majority of us, but the benefit is worth it.
  • Warranty is only for one year

Judgement:

These headphones are built around what the user needs and not having to worry about 3 different sets of headphones is awesome.  I believe that the high price tag is worth it for these superbly made headphones and you will not regret them one bit.  Now the only question is, Will Best Buy take back my Beats?

Still not convinced? Here are some specs:

  • Balanced armature drivers
  • Frequency response: 15Hz – 22KHz
  • Impedance: 26 Ohm
  • Sensitivy: 105dB @ 1KHz
  • Cable length: 1.2m
  • Microphone frequency response: 100Hz – 10KHz
  • Microphone pick-up pattern: Omnidirectional
  • Microphone sensitivity: -38dB
  • MSRP $130
  • Warranty: 1 year

The post SteelSeries Flux In-Ear Pro Headphone review appeared first on AndroidGuys.

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

Android World Update # Android and Me

Android and Me
Meet Your New Android Friend. Your Community For All Things Google Android. 
Complimentary Downloads

7 Days of Complimentary Downloads: 100,000+ Motion Backgrounds, Video Clips, Production Music Tracks, Sound Effects, Special Effects and More.
From our sponsors
Beats finally frees itself from HTC, buys back remaining stake
Sep 27th 2013, 17:00, by Dima Aryeh

It looks like the days of HTC devices with Beats audio may be over. It all started when HTC purchased a 50.1% stake in the company. The two teamed up to create an audio system for HTC devices, which started out as an inflexible bass-heavy software equalizer that didn’t work well. But they improved the software little by little, and the Beats tech slowly became something worth having.

A year later, Beats had purchased half of HTC’s stake in the company. And as HTC has been falling from grace, Beats has wanted to be free. It’s a growing business stuck with a failing smartphone company, and the founders knew that. So they have decided to buy back Beats in full, purchasing the remaining 25% stake that HTC had.

Previously, those behind Beats have stated that they are a quickly growing business and need to expand to work with manufacturers that can keep up with them. In its current state, HTC can’t. Hopefully that doesn’t mean Samsung will be looking for a partnership. But what will this mean for HTC?

HTC thought of Beats as an “important partner,” and used the Beats technology as a selling point. However, I don’t think this will affect their business much. Not too many people would look at their phones and choose them because they have Beats technology. With how trendy the headphones are, many of the users actually own iPhones in my experience. Plus, they still have their awesome BoomSound technology that they can tune in-house. I don’t think this will have a negative impact on HTC.

The deal will be closing by the end of the year, and while the possibility of HTC using Beats technology after this exists (they would just not hold exclusive rights), we wouldn’t get our hopes up. Do you think this is damaging to the company, or will they survive without a software equalizer and an extra logo? Leave a comment!

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

Android World Update # Update Ticker: latest app updates from the Google Play Store

Android News + App Tests - AndroidPIT
This feed includes text previews of the latest news articles and app tests on www.androidpit.com. Click on the article title to read the entire article. 
Refresh your vocabulary.

Learn a new word everyday by subscribing to Word of the Day. A great tool if you're studying for the GRE, GMAT or LSAT, or simply want to enhance your lexicon.
From our sponsors
Update Ticker: latest app updates from the Google Play Store
Sep 27th 2013, 17:00, by Kris Carlon

This week there are a whole slew of small but nice updates for you. Probably the most noticeable changes are to Skype, Gmail and Hangouts, but other apps are certainly pulling their weight - the developers are clearly giving some visible effort to the update process, and we appreciate it infinitely!

updateticker kw39
© AndroidPIT

(This is a preview - click here to read the entire entry.)

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

Android World Update # Android Community

Android Community
Tracking the Android Platform Revolution 
Manage your social media

Best social media tool for image publishing to Facebook and Twitter. Look amazing and delight your followers. Get 40% off when you sign up today.
From our sponsors
HTC One Max release date tipped for October 15th
Sep 27th 2013, 16:53, by Cory Gunther

The HTC One Max phablet has surfaced yet again this morning in another round of images as it passes through China’s version of the FCC. At this point we’ve seen plenty of it and just want to know when HTC plans to unveil the smartphone. Yesterday we heard an October 17th release date, but other sources have something a bit sooner on the calendar.

Screen Shot 2013-09-27 at 9.39.33 AM

At this point all of the rumors, both good and bad, have continued to flood in without any concrete information. We know nearly everything about the device already, and now it sounds like they’ll announce it mid October and try to stir up the Galaxy Note 3 launch, even if they are a few weeks late.

Today another source is reportedly confirming October 15th will be the official announcement date, which means we probably won’t see it available on store shelves til end of October, or early November. We’ve heard reports of aluminum casing delays for the HTC One mini, which could also have caused this launch to be delayed, and now this morning HTC and Beats Audio are parting ways. So maybe they need to remove that from their handset. We’re not fully sure what the holdup is from HTC’s end.

That aside, this beautiful and aluminum 5.9-inch smartphone with front facing speakers and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean surely will be impressive. If they ever get it on the market and in our hands, of course. Reports of a Snapdragon 800 quad-core have been tossed around, but we’ve also seen a Snapdragon 600 and rumors of something even older like the S4 Pro. We’ll confirm all the details once HTC gets around to making an official announcement.

VIA: PhoneArena

LG talks optical image stabilization in latest G2 video
Sep 27th 2013, 16:00, by Robert Nelson

LG has posted the latest promo video for the G2 smartphone and this time around the talk deals with the camera. Specifically, dealing with one feature that makes the LG G2 camera stand apart from other Android handsets. That feature is optical image stabilization (OIS) and LG has opted to show how this works using a chicken.

20130913_125240-540x405

First things first though, LG has a 13 megapixel camera on the back of the G2 and as we noted in our earlier review, taking pictures from a moving car, while walking or with shaky hands was nothing to worry about. Anyway, LG has dropped this 2 minute plus video titled “Steady Feathers” and is using the chicken to show how optical image stabilization works.

Perhaps the key though, this essentially means the software will be able to make up for your shaky hands. And as we shown in that review, it can also make up for the shakiness that would be associated with taking pictures from a moving car. Anyway, those choosing to skip the video, just so you know what you will be missing — a chicken wearing a football helmet with a camera doing some crazy stunts.

Aside from the optical image stabilization, the LG G2 camera is also able to capture 1080p video at 60 frames per second. We have a sample video coming from the G2 tucked in just below.

Other points about the LG G2 camera include a lens that is protected by a finger print coating and sapphire glass as well as a 4x digital zoom, 9-point auto-focus system and auto scene prediction. Those buttons on the back also double as a shortcut to the camera.

All of this being said, the LG G2 is a solid device and those still considering a purchase may benefit from some of our earlier coverage which included a full hands-on review and well as an everything you need to know style post. Not to mention, we did a battle of the buttons post to show the differences between the Verizon and AT&T models.

LG Spectrum 2 software update rolling out from Verizon Wireless
Sep 27th 2013, 15:15, by Robert Nelson

Verizon Wireless has posted the details for the latest LG Spectrum 2 software update. This update is arriving as software version VS93022A and while there is a decent sized changelog — the changes may not be as exciting as some users were hoping to see. Simply put, there is an update rolling out at the moment, but it deals mostly with apps.

IMG_1235-copy

With that in mind, the changelog seems to follow the usual patterns in terms of a description for this update. Basically, that is to say Verizon notes this update as being one that has been “designed to improve the performance” of your handset. They then go on to list the changes as being “key device enhancements” but again, most of the list includes talk of apps for everything from the My Verizon Mobile to VZ Navigator and even to some third party apps including Real Racing 2.

Aside from one exception, the changelog includes the following items;

  • Google GMS has been upgraded to R5 version
  • Single Sign On (SSO) engine has been updated to 3.1.14
  • My Verizon Mobile has been updated to v10.0.0440
  • VZ Navigator has been updated to v9.0.123
  • Real Racing 2 has been updated to v.000770
  • Verizon Daily Scoop v5.0.8. has been added
  • Verizon Remote Diagnostics (VRD) has been removed
  • Backup Assistant Plus contacts have been enhanced
  • Data Usage Notification' feature is now supported
  • Volume can now be changed while using Visual Voice Mail
  • Access and function Visual Voice Mail even when unsubscribed
  • Use Visual Voice Mail without having to enter a PIN request
  • Contact Backup no longer gets interrupted when making voice calls

That one exception was buried in the middle of the list and while it may not be the most exciting portion — it may be one of the more beneficial and important items. Verizon has said this update includes the latest Google security patches. Specifically, they have noted the following; Google security patches have been performed.

Those carrying an LG Spectrum 2 now have two options in front of them. You can sit back and wait for an update notification to arrive on your handset or take the pro-active approach and look for it now. Those choosing the latter option should grab their phone and navigate to Menu -> Settings -> About phone -> Software updates -> Check for Updates to try and get the process started.

SOURCE: Verizon Wireless

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