Android Community |
- Google Spectrum Database enters 45-day FCC trial
- Galaxy S4 specs leak showing they’re poised for a big launch
- Sony commits to the race for third
- Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.2.2 update is real, hits test devices
- PSA: Evernote security breach – protect yourself ASAP
- Samsung and Chillingo “100% Indie” app portal opens for business
- Huawei Prism II leaks for T-Mobile
- ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean roll-out begins
- LG LTE smartphone sales top 10 million
- Galaxy Note II ‘hack’ briefly exposes homescreen and apps
- Samsung posts Galaxy S IV teaser ahead of Unpacked event
| Google Spectrum Database enters 45-day FCC trial Posted: 04 Mar 2013 11:23 AM PST Google has begun a 45-day FCC trial in an effort to become certified as a TV White Spaces Database Administrator. Basically, this means Google will be working to make more spectrum available. As part of this trial, Google has launched a Spectrum Database website that offers a look at everything from telling us what spectrum is, to talking about how it is restricted but also shared. In fact, Google’s database will allow people to share spectrum.
In this case, Google is working to make more spectrum available for broadband access. In a recent blog post, Google notes that as “more people go online and the number of wireless devices grows, so does the need for spectrum.” This database will serve to help find spectrum that can be used. The site will allow anyone to find out how much TV white spaces spectrum is available in any given location. It is aimed at what Google refers to as industry stakeholders — broadcasters, cable, wireless microphone users and licensed spectrum holders. This trial has gone into effect as of today and will run through April 17, 2013. In addition to Google looking for certification, there are others also looking, one of which is Microsoft. In total there are ten companies listed with the others being Airity, Comsearch, Frequency Finder, KB Enterprises and LS Telecom, Key Bridge Global, NeuStar, Spectrum Bridge and Telcordia Technologies. We obviously still have some time before we learn the outcome of this public trial, however Google has said that the “completion of the trial will bring us all one step closer to freeing up more spectrum.” As to what that means for the end user — the possibility of more available access. [via google.org Blog] |
| Galaxy S4 specs leak showing they’re poised for a big launch Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:57 AM PST The date is growing closer and closer for when Samsung will take the stage in New York City and announce “The Next Galaxy” which of course will be their new flagship Galaxy S4. This week we are starting to see even more rumors, leaks, details, and reports claiming what the next device will be all about. Either way, this looks to be the biggest launch in Samsung’s history.
Not only will the Galaxy S4 be announced in New York City, but Samsung invited everyone to attend the massive launch right in the middle of Times Square. You can experience the event yourself. So what will the new device consist of? Well that’s still all just rumors for now, but some recent benchmarks have potentially confirmed what we were already expecting. Some of the rumored specs include 64GB of internal storage, Samsung 8-core processors, quad-cores for the US models, new camera features to take on the HTC One and Google’s Photo sphere and much much more. The leak below however only shows 16/32GB storage options.
Above is the latest leak revealing the supposed Galaxy S4 running the popular benchmark AnTuTu. Revealing a 1.8 GHz Octa-core (8-core) processor being called 4+4 along with 2GB RAM and PowerVR SGX 544MP graphics for stunning visuals. Then of course the 4.99-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD display is also listed, as well as Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Although not confirmed, other specs include a 13 megapixel rear camera that should be amazing, as well as a 2.1 MP wide-angle front camera for video chat. Above is the first official teaser video for the new Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, and it looks like Samsung entrusted all the details to a young boy. We have a feeling this kid won’t be losing the phone in a bar – just a thought. Samsung’s expecting to sell nearly 100 million units of their new device, so this is shaping up to be one massive launch. We’ll be taking a peek and learning all the details live from NYC so you’ll want to stay tuned. Who’s getting excited? [via PhoneArena] |
| Sony commits to the race for third Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:40 AM PST Back in January we saw the IDC (International Data Corporation) report that covered smartphone sales for the fourth quarter of 2012. That report noted the quarter as having a strong demand for smartphones and of heated competition between vendors. Well, truth be told is that the heated competition seems to be more of two races as opposed to one.
You see, Apple and Samsung are clearly in the top two. Apple was showing a 29 percent share with Samsung taking a 21.8 percent share. The next in line was Huawei, Sony and ZTE with 4.9, 4.5 and 4.3 percent respectively. Well, it seems as if Sony has committed themselves in the race to third. Seems that the new races are for first and then for third. In terms of Sony besting Huawei and taking the number three spot, Kunimasa Suzuki, the head of Sony’s mobile business, while speaking in Tokyo talked of additional phone models. Specifically, of introducing cheaper models for developing nations. Flooding the market with lower priced devices would certainly be one method of taking number three. We have yet to see a timeline, or for that mater, any specific plans. Basically as of now it seems as if Sony will be altering their development plans based on the specific market. Time will tell how well this plan will work out, but we have to say, Huawei seems to be putting out a decent amount of lower end devices as well. This Sony plan almost seems to have been taken from Huawei. Here is to the race for third. [via Reuters] |
| Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.2.2 update is real, hits test devices Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:23 AM PST Last week reports surfaced from Verizon’s official Twitter account that an update for the Galaxy Nexus was in the works and coming soon. Like many of you, we were extremely skeptical considering the device is four updates behind the rest of the Nexus family. Today though, it looks to be real as the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus has apparently begun rolling out to beta testers.
We were wondering when the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon would get Android 4.2, and if so, would it even be the latest. Now though, Droid-Life has received confirmation that not only is the update real and coming soon but users will be updated to the absolute latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. That isn’t all either because there’s also a brand new radio on board. Hopefully we’ll be getting some better 4G LTE post update. Verizon’s Twitter account said the update was “coming soon” and I was certainly not about to hold my breathe considering how long it’s been since we’ve received an update. If this ends up accurate, and Verizon can actually get it out in a timely manor and not dilly daddle, we’ll be enjoying the latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean soon enough.
The image above comes from XDA member El Madhatter, who has been the source for early Verizon Gnex updates in the past, so this is looking pretty good for you Verizon users right about now. He reports the new radios seem to be working quite well but we’ll have to wait until this arrives for more users. All you Verizon users get ready for Photosphere features, lockscreen widgets, and everything else that Android 4.2 has to offer. If the testing phase goes well we could be seeing this roll out in the next few days. We’ll report back when we hear more or get a zip you can flash yourself. [via XDA Developers] |
| PSA: Evernote security breach – protect yourself ASAP Posted: 04 Mar 2013 09:49 AM PST This past weekend Evernote became the latest to post a security notice. The company had said they “discovered and blocked suspicious activity” on the network and as a result — all Evernote users were required to perform a password reset. The methods by which Evernote handled this issue seemed to have been good, though there were some complaints.
Keeping away from those for a moment, lets instead dive into what happened with Evernote. The Evernote team has said that the activity they blocked was an attempt to access secure areas of the service. The good news here, Evernote also went on to say that they found “no evidence that any of the content you store in Evernote was accessed, changed or lost.” Perhaps even nicer, they also found no evidence that payment information was accessed. Some of the data that was accessed included usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords. The passwords, while accessed should still be safe as Evernote had them hashed and salted. Basically, it seems that this password reset is just a matter of additional security. In addition to changing your Evernote password, you should also reset the password for any other services that shared your Evernote password. While you should never share a password across services, we know there are plenty that do just that. Some tips for choosing a new password include keeping clear of simple passwords based on dictionary words or passwords that tie into your life personally such as a name of a loved one. And in fact, we would suggest using a password generator to create something truly random. Another good tip is to avoid clicking a link in any password reset email and instead surf to the website on your own. Now lets get back to the complaints that we have seen. It seems that some users were upset they didn’t receive an email first. It seems some users were getting on-device error messages before any email was received from Evernote. As an Evernote user myself, I noticed the same. In fact, I had an email in my inbox from IFTTT before I had one from Evernote. The one catch for me, I had been reading my Twitter stream and had seen their tweet announcing the reset so it was not much of a surprise. Of course, all said and done, we suspect no timing in an event like this will be perfect and overall we commend Evernote for acting so quickly. [via Evernote Blog] |
| Samsung and Chillingo “100% Indie” app portal opens for business Posted: 04 Mar 2013 09:03 AM PST Samsung and Chillingo announced the 100% Indie app portal in early-February and coming as was promised, the portal has gone live. For those who missed that earlier bit, the 100% Indie app portal is promising to “inspire, promote and motivate game developers.” At least in part, that motivation will come in the form of an attractive revenue share model.
The revenue share is tied in with the name. You see, developers that sign up and release an app in the 100% Indie app portal will get to keep 100 percent of the revenue they earn for the first 6 months time. From that point it begins to drop. This goes to 90 percent from months 6 to 12, to 80 percent for the next 12 months and then eventually settles in at 70 percent. The 100% Indie app portal will be available on Samsung devices (using Samsung Apps) and as we saw with the original announcement, will not be exclusive. In fact, it was said that developers publishing in the portal will be free to also publish their apps in other stores. Say, the Amazon Appstore or Google Play. Interested developers will have to apply for entry into the Indie portal where the apps will be checked for “quality and suitability.” Assuming your app is approved for entry, you will receive a Samsung invite code in return. In addition to the above average revenue sharing, the 100% Indie portal will also offer some other developer perks. These will include what Samsung and Chillingo are describing as “resourceful tools, inspiring articles and information to encourage and motivate developers to create incredible games.” [via Twitter] |
| Huawei Prism II leaks for T-Mobile Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:20 AM PST T-Mobile currently has the Huawei Prism as a no-annual contract device and assuming this latest leak proves accurate — the carrier will soon be launching the follow up device. The recent leak is showing the Huawei U8686, which will launch with T-Mobile as the Prism II. We have yet to see if this will land in the post-paid or pre-paid lineup, however we expect that it will be low priced either way.
That low price assumption is based on two factors — the specs and the price of the currently available Prism. T-Mobile has the Prism available for $149.99, or for $69.99 if you are willing to pick it up refurbished. This leak didn’t include a full set of specs, but it did come along with an image of the front and backside of the device. You can get a look at the handset in all its glory above. Nothing all that exciting from the image. The handset has the three capacitive buttons, one for back, home and menu and is lacking a front-facing camera. There is however a rear-facing camera of unknown megapixels. Specs for the handset look to include Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean along with a 1.0GHz processor and HVGA quality display. The leak has yet to specify a display size, however we are thankful that it will at least be launching with Jelly Bean. The previous Huawei Prism, which launched a while back, did so with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread. While we wait for an announcement from T-Mobile, we also realize that if some recent rumors come true, the point about the Prism II launching as a post-paid or pre-paid device will not matter. If you remember back to last week, T-Mobile rumors were suggesting that contracts would soon be a thing of the past. [via Twitter @evleaks] |
| ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean roll-out begins Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:51 AM PST ASUS has announced the Jelly Bean update for the Transformer Pad TF300T tablet. The update will be arriving as Android 4.2 and in a bit of good news, the update will begin arriving for those in the US as of today. The update will be delivered over-the-air and other markets can expect this update to arrive later in the month.
Coincidentally, this also marks the first non-Nexus branded device to get Android 4.2. Seems those sporting a TF300T have gotten lucky. ASUS hasn’t gone into much detail in terms of specifics for this update, however they have said that it will enhance performance and stability as well as “improve the user experience with new features.” One of those new features will be the support for multiple users. Those looking for the update can sit back and wait for the notification to arrive on their device or probably more likely — can check for it now. Bottom line here, this update should give a nice boost and even extend the life for the Transformer Pad TF300T. Aside from the TF300T, ASUS has also said that an update will be coming for the Transformer Pad Infinity, MeMO Pad Smart 10-inch and ASUS MeMO Pad. The update for these devices will be Android 4.2 and so far it looks like that will be coming sometime during the second quarter of 2013. [via SlashGear] Device Info
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| LG LTE smartphone sales top 10 million Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:26 AM PST LG recently announced that the Optimus L Series of smartphones had topped 15 million in sales. And as of today, LG has returned with another sales milestone. This one is not covering a specific series of phones, but LTE devices in general. In short, LG has announced they have crossed the 10 million mark in terms of LTE smartphone sales.
This sales milestone is based on a worldwide market and according to LG, comes as “a result of the company's aggressive push into 4G markets with a combination of the best hardware and advanced 4G LTE technologies.” Some of that market push included LTE smartphone launches in several larger markets to include the United States, Japan, Germany and South Korea. Previous launches aside, LG is also currently underway with the global roll-out of the Optimus G, which will be hitting an additional 50 countries. Looking forward Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of the LG Mobile Communications Company has said that LG will continue to expand their footprint in the global LTE market “with a wider range of differentiated, high quality LTE smartphones." Otherwise, LG has cited Strategic Analytics who have said that global LTE smartphone shipments are expected to “drastically” increase to 275 million units this year. Based on that LG is hoping to be able to double their LTE smartphone penetration this year with expansion in established and emerging markets. Given the devices that we saw come as a result of Mobile World Congress, it looks like those plans are already underway. [via LG Newsroom] |
| Galaxy Note II ‘hack’ briefly exposes homescreen and apps Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:57 AM PST A recently discovered security flaw shows how you can gain brief access to the homescreen of a Samsung Galaxy Note II running Android 4.1.2. This flaw can be used regardless of which method you are using to secure your handset. That is to say it will work against the pattern locks, PIN locks and even Face Unlock. But while that may sound on the scary side, we will also point out that this flaw has limited use.
Depending on what you have on your homescreen, this could mean anything from having someone see your apps or possibly make a call. The catch is, the person using this method has to be quick. Lets begin with this, this flaw can be taken advantage of by activating the screen and pressing the emergency call option. From here you press the ICE button and then hold down the home button for a few seconds. From this point your home screen will flash and show what is there. The key here, assuming you have quick enough fingers, you can possibly launch an app. This comes with some good and some bad. Any regular app will almost instantly disappear into the background as the lock screen returns. On the flip side, you could potentially make a call. The call would depend on whether or not the person has a direct dial widget set up. Basically, in most cases this flaw will result in the person seeing which apps you have on your homescreen and possibly making a prank call. This could also reveal some information though, say in the case of you having a widget with your email or calendar. While we are not sure that everyone should be worried about this, there are a few things to consider. First, if you are worried you can avoid having any direct dial widgets, or widgets with sensitive information on your homescreen. Anyway, this flaw was discovered by Terence Eden who has said that Samsung has been notified and so far he has yet to receive any response in return. Eden goes a step further noting that Samsung has a really poor record on Android security and that you should “avoid purchasing their phones at all costs.” We think that recommendation is a bit harsh, but still, if you are rocking a Samsung device, you may want to keep it close in hand. [via Engadget] |
| Samsung posts Galaxy S IV teaser ahead of Unpacked event Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:23 AM PST We know Samsung will be announcing the Galaxy S IV on March 14, however aside from rumors, leaked benchmarks and other unofficial details, there is not much that is officially known about the handset. Samsung has recently dropped a teaser video ahead of the Unpacked event, however it keeps to the point of being a teaser. In other words, it builds some additional hype without revealing any additional details.
This video introduces Jeremy Maxwell as he takes a secret meeting with Samsung. In the video, Jeremy is given a box which presumably holds the handset. He then, after signing a form saying that he would not share any details, proceeds to head home to where he is seen by Jane who is trying to get the scoop on what is inside the box. Basically, if you were hoping for any details, this video will disappoint. Otherwise, the video measures in at roughly 1 minute and 20 seconds and ends with the “to be continued.” No mention as to when we can expect the next installment to arrive, however with the official announcement coming on March 14, we do know that Samsung likely will not wait all that long. In addition to having the press version of the announcement, Samsung will also be holding an event in Times Square that will be livestreaming the announcement. With that, based on the latest rumors, we are now looking at a handset that will be available in black or white and with storage options of 16, 32 or 64GB. The remaining specs look to include a 5-inch Super AMOLED display, 2GB of RAM, microSD card slot, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, 13 megapixel rear-facing camera and Jelly Bean with the Touchwiz user interface. |
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