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- HTC One up for sale early at select AT&T stores
- Google buys prediction company Behavio – wants to know the future
- Motorola X-Phone may be a no-show at Google I/O
- Verizon Wireless may begin offering 12-month smartphone finance plans
- Motorola DROID Bionic Jelly Bean update detailed by Verizon Wireless
- Facebook Home coming to HTC One and GALAXY S 4 next
- ZTE Director launches on US Cellular for those on a budget
| HTC One up for sale early at select AT&T stores Posted: 12 Apr 2013 04:16 PM PDT We have some excellent news this Friday evening to share with you guys. It appears that not just a few, but multiple AT&T stores across the U.S. appear to be a bit confused about the release date and are selling the HTC One today. Yes the HTC First officially goes on sale today, but we’re getting multiple reports that stores are freely offering the flagship HTC One.
Basically today is HTC and Facebook’s big day with the HTC First smartphone – the first Facebook Phone – and Facebook Home both becoming available today. Luckily for us the memo might have been a bit confusing because AT&T stores are also offering up and allowing people to purchase the HTC One right this moment. So why is this a big deal you ask? The HTC One is arguably the best Android smartphone on the planet at the moment, and we’ve been loving both the international and AT&T 4G LTE models in our reviews. This device from AT&T isn’t supposed to be available until April 19th. So this is a little over a week early. Hurrah! Did you pre-order one? We’re getting scattered reports that users who pre-ordered have actually walked into their local shop and there was more than a few available and on display. Then went home with a shiny new HTC One. After a few delays the devices release date ended up a little later than expected, but it looks like multiple stores have some in stock and are willing to sell them as we speak. Give it a try or call your local shop. Let us know how it goes in the comments below. — Thanks T-Boy and MacK Device Info
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| Google buys prediction company Behavio – wants to know the future Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:32 PM PDT Today Google has added yet another company to their growing roster of employees and acquisitions, only this one is pretty unique and interesting. We’ve learned Google has acquired a start-up company called Behavio, which uses smartphone sensors of all types to become a powerful prediction engine. This is just one more step in Google’s efforts to know what we want before we do.
Behavio essentially records and gathers data of all types from the wide array of sensors and info on our smartphones. Then in return analyses this data and can come up with accurate predictions of all types of things. It has been said their technology can predict riots and many other social related incidents, just to name a few. Using things like physical location, speed, contacts, nearby devices and events, sound levels, phone activity and more all gathered and monitored, then in return predict behavior and things of that nature. Pretty scary stuff when you really think about it. It targets more than just people too, and can target and analyze entire communities of groups of people at events. According to TechCrunch the company was acquired by Google, and we can’t wait to see how it’s used. A few updated reports and the team at Behavio themselves have stated they weren’t bought by Google, and instead will be moving in and joining forces with Google in Mountain View. So we’re unsure if this was a buyout or not. We can see this type of technology being integrated to many aspects of Google’s day-to-day. Things like Google Now, search, and much much more. This also goes nicely with their latest Machine Learning purchase detailed below. [via Behavio] |
| Motorola X-Phone may be a no-show at Google I/O Posted: 12 Apr 2013 02:34 PM PDT We’re starting to see a few more reports this afternoon regarding Motorola and Google’s rumored X-Phone device, but the information certainly isn’t good news. While the X-Phone hasn’t even been remotely confirmed we’ve been hearing rumors about a May reveal and June release date for well over the past month. If the phone is real, word on the street is it has now been delayed.
If you didn’t notice, we’re being extra cautious with this report simply because we can’t really call it a delay. Especially because the initial release date was only a rumor, not to mention we can’t even confirm the device is indeed real. So with that being said, the Motorola X-Phone has been delayed and won’t arrive until August or later. The plans could have changed, or they might be seeing production delays on some of those rumored special features. That means all those reports and rumors suggesting Android 4.x/5.0 Key Lime Pie would debut on the new X-Phone at Google I/O in May are basically wrong, or the plans have changed. Initially the WSJ blew up the news with reports of a product being developed by both Google and Motorola called the X-Phone and X-Tablet, but the waters are a little muddy these days. So far all we have are a few reports from “confirmed sources” and some leaked video of an unknown Motorola device looking a lot like a Nexus, so for now we’ll just have to wait and see. While Google’s made it clear they haven’t taken part in Motorola’s upcoming devices because they were already in the pipeline, we’re still curious to see how this develops. Hit the links below for everything we know thus far, or that’s been reported at least. [via PhoneArena] |
| Verizon Wireless may begin offering 12-month smartphone finance plans Posted: 12 Apr 2013 01:49 PM PDT A short while back we learned that Verizon Wireless would consider dropping the two-year agreements. This comment came by way of Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. While this initially sounded like good news, it was really nothing more than the carrier saying this was something they would consider — should it become something the customers began asking for. Well, flashing forward till today and it looks like we have a bit of follow up.
The latest is coming by way of a leaked memo and while it doesn’t specifically address the contracts, it does address the item that would be the biggest side effect of not having a two-year agreement. By that we mean you will be losing the device subsidy and have to pay the full retail pricing. Anyway, as you can see from the image below, this memo is talking about a device payment plan.
Basically, this would mean you will be able to split the cost of the device out over twelve months. We have yet to hear anything official from Verizon, however the memo does have it noted as “launching soon.” Time will tell how soon, or for that matter, if it comes. In the meantime, this could make for a nice way to stop the two-year cycle. While device prices vary, lets use the Galaxy Note II as an example. Verizon has this handset priced at $299.99 on a two-year agreement with the full retail sitting at $699.99. Based on a twelve month payment option, you would be looking at monthly payments of roughly $58. While close to $60 extra per month is a big jump in addition to your regular monthly service bill, at least you would be done after a year. Then from here you would be free to keep using the device or sell it and use the cash towards something new. [via Droid-Life] |
| Motorola DROID Bionic Jelly Bean update detailed by Verizon Wireless Posted: 12 Apr 2013 01:22 PM PDT Earlier in the month we learned that Motorola had begun testing the Jelly Bean update for the DROID Bionic. And well, it looks like that update is just about ready to begin rolling out to Verizon Wireless users. The carrier has since detailed the update and as such we now know that it will be arriving as Android 4.1.2 and with build number 98.72.22.XT875.
The update is expected to start rolling out early next week, which means you should be on the lookout for an update notification to arrive on your handset. If you are the type of person with some patience, you can sit back and wait for the notification to arrive and then just follow the prompts. Those who feel they need it now — you can navigate to Menu -> Settings -> About phone -> System Updates to try and get the process started. The update will measure in at 98.72MB in size and being we are talking Jelly Bean — it will bring goodies to include a smarter keyboard, Voice Search, Google Now and the smoothness that comes along with Project Butter. Of course Jelly Bean also means the enhanced notifications which will allow you to see things such as the full details from a text message or see the full image from an MMS message. Otherwise, aside from the Jelly Bean specific items, the changelog also shows the update as improving the quality for voice and data connectivity and improving the reliability and connectivity for Back Up Assistant Plus and Visual Voicemail. In addition, the Calendar settings have been improved, the Mobile Hotspot data connectivity has been improved and the Sling and MOG preloaded apps have been removed. But in the end — you are getting Jelly Bean. [via Verizon Wireless] Device Info
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| Facebook Home coming to HTC One and GALAXY S 4 next Posted: 12 Apr 2013 01:05 PM PDT Today is the day that Facebook officially takes over your Android smartphone, as long as you let it at least. Facebook Home was just released to the Google Play Store with support for 5 devices initially, but more are coming soon. For those lucky enough to have an HTC One the app indeed can be downloaded, but doesn’t work just yet.
As we all know the first Facebook Phone is the HTC First, and we can expect more to be appearing in the coming weeks or months. However, for everyone else it will just be a simple download from the Google Play Store. It looks like AT&T has mostly an exclusive (Samsung devices aside) and Home supports the AT&T exclusive HTC First, HTC One X, and the One X+. All which are on AT&T. Then the Galaxy S III and Note II also work today, and are available nationwide on all carriers. As Facebook confirmed earlier this month, the next devices that will receive the option to use Home will be the brand new (and amazing) HTC One, followed by the Samsung GALAXY S 4. Oddly we went ahead and checked and Facebook lets us install Home to the HTC One, only to tell us sorry this won’t work quite yet. Not a very good first impression Facebook! It looks like they are focusing on some of the most popular devices as of late with Samsung, but it’s a shame to see this not available for flagship phones like the DROID RAZR HD. Or, you know, those super popular Nexus smartphones. So for now don’t worry because support for more smartphones are coming soon with the HTC One and GALAXY S 4 probably in the next few weeks, then we’re expecting plenty more to quickly follow.
I like their Chat Heads feature, which works great without Facebook Home as we mentioned this afternoon. Feel free to check out all the links below for more details and our full review of the HTC First and Facebook Home. |
| ZTE Director launches on US Cellular for those on a budget Posted: 12 Apr 2013 12:13 PM PDT Today the folks from ZTE and US Cellular announced the latest smartphone that will be headed to the regional carrier soon. It’s called the ZTE Director and this little entry-level budget smartphone is aimed for those on a budget or looking for their first smartphone. It’s just 1 cent with a new contract, or $99 to buy outright and we have all the details.
It certainly isn’t a top end smartphone, or even mid-range for that matter but the low price should help sway some potential buyers. According to ZTE the Director is a nice little Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone that should make most users happy. Now for the important parts. The Director sports a 3.5-inch WVGA display, a 1.0 GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 512MB of RAM, and just 4GB of internal storage. It certainly isn’t much, but for free you can’t really complain too much I suppose. However, we do get a micro-SD slot for adding more storage and a 3 megapixel camera for those Facebook photos and such. Under the hood you’ll be happy to know there’s an average sized 1,500 mAh battery that should keep the phone juiced up, and music apps such as Slacker Radio and Amazon Music will come pre-loaded for some content enjoyment. More details can be found by heading to US Cellular and taking a look. If you’re interested in a cheap phone for the kids this summer, take a peek at the new ZTE Director from US Cellular. [via CNET] |
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