Android and Me |
- The future of Android in 2012
- Threads are finally here. Join the league.
- HTC Rezound price slashed to $50 days before Android 4.0.3 update
- Top 10 most popular Android apps from last week: EyeEm, Temple Run, GPS Essentials
- HTC One S review roundup
- HTC One X review roundup
- Samsung offers free extended battery for new Galaxy Nexus purchases
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 06:56 PM PDT  Time and time again, Android’s demise is spelled out by bloggers all across the globe. Whether it’s because of a lack of revenue generated by Android itself, fragmentation, a new iPhone or a patent lawsuit, someone, somewhere is always predicting Android is on the way out. Well if you haven’t noticed, that’s far from reality. Android is doing just fine. But it may not always be the super behemoth we’ve come to know in the past two years. The mobile technology industry could see some major changes as 2012 plays out, all of them affecting Android in one way or another. Nokia Lumia, and what it means for Windows Phone With the Nokia Lumia 900 available for free to new AT&T customers, with a two-year contract, set for release on April 8th, Microsoft may just finally see a substantial gain in smartphone marketshare. Until the Lumia 900, one of the most obvious things holding Windows Phone back was the devices the OS was being slapped on. They were essentially all older Android phones. There hadn’t been a single Windows Phone device that didn’t have a better Android equivalent. And then came the Lumia 900. The Lumia 900 has everything needed to become a blockbuster hit. The internals are good enough to last the average smartphone user a couple years, the display is top notch, it has 4G LTE and it looks absolutely fantastic. It’s totally unique in design. The Lumia screams for attention. It’s how a smartphone should look in 2012. Bright, bold, masterfully crafted. Windows Phone fits the Lumia 900 like a glove. And it’s available to new AT&T customers for free on contract. If you’re upgrading to the Lumia 900, it’s still only $99. Nokia is going to bet the farm on the Lumia 900. AT&T will be pushing the Lumia, Microsoft will be pushing the Lumia and Nokia will likely drop everything they have into ads and marketing campaigns for the Lumia 900. When the Lumia 900 launches on April 8th, and you can find it sitting among the Galaxy Note and iPhone 4S, for less than half the cost of either of those devices, consumers will finally struggle to pick between three operating systems. Not just two. And someone will lose marketshare to it. The question then becomes, who? The iPhone is still on the rise, and that’s just the 4S No matter how the readers of this site view Apple’s iPhone, there is absolutely no denying it is the most popular phone in the entire world. The 4S has shattered previous sales records held by earlier models of the iPhone, and Apple is far from done. According to some recent reports available online, the iPhone is outselling all other smartphones combined on both Sprint and AT&T, and is neck-and-neck with all Android phones combined at Verizon. It’s been this way since October of 2011. That’s half a year of iPhone domination, with no end in sight. And its design dates back to nearly two years ago. Apple is set to release the iPhone 5 this year, sometime between June and October. Not much is known about the iPhone 5, but rumors indicate that it might see some sort of radical redesign and feature access to the three largest carrier’s LTE networks in the US. Whatever it ends up looking like, and whether it’s LTE enabled or not, it’s still going to be an iPhone. And realistically, that’s all it needs to keep selling well. Although a new design and LTE access will definitely help. With AT&T, Verizon and Sprint all selling the iPhone 5, there’s reason to believe Apple will take back some of the market share it once lost to Android. Android certainly won’t just shrivel up and die, but one way or another there’s going to be a shift in the numbers. RIM for sale? If Microsoft and Apple spend all of 2012 gobbling up market share in the US, will Android simply see a sharp decline? I believe there will be a decline, but it will be closer to a leveling out than a sharp decline. There’s still plenty of ways for Android to build and maintain market share, like feature phone users turned smart phone users, and the business sector who previously relied on BlackBerry devices. Recent studies do show the adoption rate of iOS devices in corporate America skyrocketing, but Android could easily jump to the head of pack with one simple move: buying RIM. There’s no way RIM is going to survive the next two years at the absolute most. RIM is hemorrhaging money and losing market share on a daily basis. The next big thing from the company isn’t due out until the tail end of 2012. And by then, we’ll see the next iPhone, next generation Windows Phones and a new breed of Android phones as well. So what is the company going to do? If they’re smart, they’ll sell now while they might still be worth something. RIM still owns some good software. They’ve talked about licensing it in the past, but it may be time to just get rid of it. I doubt Apple would be interested, and Microsoft has their own enterprise solutions. Google’s the only one I could see being really interested. Imagine a line of Android devices built around everything Google would acquire from buying RIM. Imagine being able to merge your BlackBerry Messenger account with Google Talk. Or Google Talk with all the best parts of BlackBerry Messenger thrown in. It could work. Giving Google not only access to the most well known tools in business, but access to some great consumer software as well. Whatever RIM ultimately decides to do, it will undoubtedly impact every industry the company has touched on. I can’t help but wonder just how involved Google will be. Between Amazon and Google, something’s got to give The Android tablet market is sad to say the least. From where things are sitting right now, it looks like Apple has turned the tablet industry into another iPod scenario. But there’s still hope yet. Amazon proved they can move some hardware with the Kindle Fire, and Google is looking to get into the tablet game themselves. Could this spell success for Android tablets in 2012? iPad sales didn’t exactly suffer in 2011. In fact, they were quite the opposite. That doesn’t mean other tablets didn’t do well either. The Kindle Fire was a huge success. Amazon sold a boat load of Fires during the holiday season, and they certainly aren’t done yet. 2012 will see the introduction of Amazon’s newest tablets. A larger Kindle Fire that’s priced accordingly could make a killing in 2012. The 7-inch Kindle Fire sold well for just $200, but a $300, or even $250, 10-inch Fire could possibly sell even better. If there are two things consumers care about when purchasing things like electronics, it’s the name and price. Amazon has both going for them. Look for another big year for Amazon in 2012. Google isn’t done trying to make their mark on the tablet market either. During CES, we saw the unveiling of a Tegra 3 powered 7-inch tablet from ASUS that was marked as coming to retail at about $250. There’s good reason to believe that very tablet will end up coming to market at around $150(!), with Google Nexus branding. Between a new Kindle Fire, Google’s tablet, Motorola and Samsung’s continued tablet efforts, Android just might see a considerable gain in tablet market share this year. Galaxy S III, Razr 2, G4X, EVO One Android has plenty of momentum pushing the platform forward. Google is constantly working to improve the software side of Android, and manufacturers are always working on new hardware. We already know the Samsung Galaxy S III is almost upon us, but what other kinds of Android devices can we expect in 2012? The Motorola RAZR, T-Mobile G2x and HTC EVO will all see follow up devices. And they’ll probably all be some of the most popular Android devices launched in 2012 too. There’s also another Nexus coming in 2012, a million Galaxy S III variants and some more DROIDs in the works at the very least. There’s still another trade show to get through before summer is underway, which always ends up revealing some of the hottest Android handsets of the year, and we can’t even begin to predict all the Android handsets that will leak from now until Q3 2012. There’s going to be a lot of awesome Android phones coming out this year, and as usual, they’re guaranteed to be on the bleeding edge of technology. Wrap up Of course, I’m no psychic. For all I know Android could totally bomb, or see another huge gain in market share and leave the competition in ashes. But I don’t think either of those will happen. I really don’t think 2012 is going to play out like 2011 did for Android. Android exploded in 2011. For the most part, it totally dominated the competition. 2012 is going to be the year where things start to level out. Windows Phone gains in popularity, iOS takes a little bit of its pie back and Android comfortably settles in as one of the top operating systems in the world. What do you think will happen to Android in 2012? What kinds of major industry events will shape the future of Google’s mobile operating system? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments. Image via LadyDragonflyCC – BDay Weekend, Holland, Michigan with Creative Commons
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| Threads are finally here. Join the league. Posted: 02 Apr 2012 01:06 PM PDT  If you’ve been paying attention around here lately, you know that big changes are afoot. A few months back we rolled out tweaks to our scoring system. More recently, we launched new user profile pages. When we deployed those changes, astute users noticed an extra tab, not yet live. That tab was for Threads and we’re happy to announce that they’re finally here. Threads aim to be a lot of things, but at the core I guess you’d call it our version of a forum (just don’t let it hear you call it that). We’ve spent a lot of time on boards over the years, and recently even more time blogging, and Threads are a mashup of the two. Threads do a lot of things differently than some forums, most notably costing you points to start a new thread. While anyone can participate in the comments (just like on a regular blog post), starting a new thread is a privilege reserved for users with enough points to previously prove themselves trustworthy. We hope that restricting posting new threads even a little bit will help with the traditional noise ratio you find on some forums. Starting a thread won’t just cost you points, because you’ll actually earn points back for each comment your thread gets. We hope this light competition will foster a creative and thoughtful environment, not unlike our real blogging practices. Speaking of which, exemplary threads are actually eligible to get promoted up to a real article on Android and Me. If you’d like to learn more about how threads will function, you can check the documentation in our new Docs section or just dive into Threads now. Some recent threadsTo get things rolling, I thought it’d be fun to post some of the active threads we’ve had over the past week of beta testing. #thenextinstall Help us pick the next apps in the rough – Taylor is using this thread to source apps for his weekly column where he reviews little-known yet awesome applications and games. Review your Galaxy Note for a free case – Besides points, sometimes a thread can earn you real prizes, as was the case with this challenge. Three lucky users scored a new case from @SpeckProducts. The future of tablets – Pontificating on the future of tablets, and why they aren’t more utilized as text books and the like. Best looking Android device? A quest to find the best looking Android device, from a strictly hardware standpoint. What’s your favorite Twitter app? – The age old question: which Twitter client reigns supreme? In addition to always being located at /threads, you’ll be able to find the most recent threads in the sidebar, visible on almost any page on the site. We hope that you guys enjoy this tool as much as we did building it. Join us in Threads and let us know what you’re up to in the world of Android! Oh, and if you somehow still don’t have an And Me Account, it’s never too late to join!
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| HTC Rezound price slashed to $50 days before Android 4.0.3 update Posted: 02 Apr 2012 12:50 PM PDT  The HTC DROID Incredible 4G may be right around the corner, but if you're looking to save some cash and want a new phone today, the HTC Rezound might be exactly what you're looking for. Both Verizon and Amazon Wireless have dropped the price of the HTC Rezound to just $49.99 with a new two year contract, making it the cheapest phone with a dual-core processor and a 720p HD display. The best part about the new price is that Verizon may release the Rezound's Android 4.0.3 update by the end of this week which should boost performance and improve battery life (one of the major points of contention for current customers). The Ice Cream Sandwich update comes with dozens of new features and a redesigned Sense 3.6 skin which is a slight improvement over its current iteration. For a closer look at the device, check out a full HTC Rezound review. Is $49.99 a fair price for a dual-core phone with a 720p display, 32GB of included storage (16 GB internal and 16GB microSD card), $100 pair of Beat Audio headphones and a fairly decent 8 megapixel camera?
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| Top 10 most popular Android apps from last week: EyeEm, Temple Run, GPS Essentials Posted: 02 Apr 2012 08:55 AM PDT  Every week we cover Android gaming on Wednesday, followed by Top 10 app updates on Friday. Now every Monday we will look back and see which ones were the most crowd-pleasing among our audience. Read on for the 10 most popular Android apps from your peers. 1. Temple RunThis game was a smash hit on iOS and we have been waiting a long time for it to come to Android, so it’s no surprise that Temple Run received over 1 million installs in the first three days. Readers of our site clicked on Temple Run 2x more than any other app last week. It was almost my most-played game in the last Android Gaming Weekly. 2. Dungeon Hunter 3Gameloft’s Dungeon Hunter 3 only debuted this weekend, but it was still able to grab 2nd place. We think it got a lot of installs because it’s a free title, but that same freemium model might also be responsible for the poor average review score of 3.2. Some people still love the game, so give it a try if you are looking for a free action RPG to burn up some time. 3. GPS EssentialsWe had never covered GPS Essentials until it appeared in our Top 10 app updates, but this little app described as “The Swiss army knife of GPS navigation” was the 3rd most popular on our site. It’s free in the Google Play Store where it has an average review score of 4.4, so try it out if you love GPS tools. 4. Camera 360 Installs spiked to 30 day high. We first featured Camera360 a couple weeks ago and it debuted at #1 in our first ever Top 10 Most Popular Apps last week. This time around it dropped 3 spots, but it’s still racking up the installs and maintains an average review score of 4.3. I named Camera360 one of my favorite camera replacement apps, and I’ve still been using it quite frequently. 5. EyeEm Installs spike after featured on A&M. I fully expect EyeEm to become the most popular app next week. It’s that good. EyeEm is another camera replacement app, but it has a unique real-time photo search engine that automatically tags your photos based on location, time, and the objects in a photo. All the standard filters and frames are included, and EyeEm also has a social network that includes public albums of similar topics you might enjoy. If you already installed Camera360, try out EyeEm and let us know which you like better. 6. GO TaskManagerGO TaskManger already has over 10 million installs, but it managed to capture the #6 spot when we mentioned it for the first time last week. The latest major update turned their widget into a more powerful app that they claim is more useful. The app is free in the Google Play Store, so try it out if you need a new task manager. 7. Lightbox PhotosCamera apps have been hot lately, and Lightbox continues to ride that wave. Last week Lightbox ranked #4, but it still managed a respectable #7 this time around. It’s special because it has it’s own social network with a feed of all your friends pics. The app is free and still maintains an average review score of 4.4. 8. The King of FightersThe King of Fighters briefly appeared on the Google Play Store last week, but it was mysteriously pulled down by the time we mentioned it in Android Gaming Weekly on Wednesday. We included a download link in case the game came back, and enough people clicked on it for the game to rank #8 this week. Hopefully, the developer SNK Playmore will resolve any issues and get this classic fighting series back up for sale. 9. SoulCraftThis week MobileBits expanded their open beta of SoulCraft to include non-Tegra devices for the first time. Gamers responded and installed the game over 10,000 times so far. Early reviews are positive, and it looks like this game will keep getting better as it nears release. 10. MyTracksGoogle’s MyTracks has been around a long time, but last week an update added a new feature that let users play back a track as a tour using the Google Earth mobile client. It sounds awesome, and that was enough to help MyTracks crack our Top 10 list. Wrap UpSome quick notes from this week’s Top 10 most popular apps:
Find an app that we should feature on Android and Me? Send us your suggestions and we will check them out.
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| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 08:53 AM PDT  As expected, the first round of HTC One S reviews is finally here. The HTC One S is officially available from retailers across Europe. The HTC One S has taken a back seat, since most have focused their attention on the HTC One X. But that doesn’t mean the phone is any less capable. When it comes to performance, the HTC One S is just as good (if not better) than the quad-core powered HTC One X; however, that doesn’t necessarily make it a better phone. The main drawback of the One S is its qHD Pentile Super AMOLED display, but we doubt the general public will be able to notice any real shortcomings. We’ve read through a few reviews already and captured some of the highlights from each. Read on to see how the HTC One S performed. You may be pleasantly surprised. What people are saying about the HTC One SDesign:
Display:
Performance:
Camera:
Battery:
Sense UI 4.0:
HTC One S review roundup:
Video reviews of HTC One S:Wrap upThe HTC One S will always be overshadowed by the HTC One X. There are a few drawbacks to the phone (Pentile display, no expandable memory and non-replaceable battery), but the HTC One S is still positioned perfectly to be a massive success. Since it doesn’t feature all the cutting edge specs of the HTC One X or the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III, the One S is able to undercut its better-spec’d sibling by $125. While most of us are looking for the next super phone, it’s clear that the One S is a few steps ahead of the best phones from last year. Is that enough to make it your next Android phone? You tell us.
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| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 07:33 AM PDT  Today the HTC One X is launching in Europe and the first reviews are beginning to appear online. We took the time to round up some of the best reviews and then look at what the reviewers were saying about each aspect of the device. Read on to see how HTC’s latest flagship device performed. Overall, it looks like the HTC One X lived up to the high expectations that we set for it. Every reviewer was in agreement that the One X is HTC’s finest smartphone ever produced. The only major complaints we have found are things we were well aware of – the battery if not user replaceable and there is no microSD slot. The absence of a replaceable battery and microSD card might be a deal killer for sure, but if you can get past that the One X delivers one of the best displays and cameras of any Android device. What people are saying about the HTC One X:
HTC One X review roundup score: 8.7+
Video reviews of HTC One X:Most underrated feature: HTC Media LinkThe HTC One X supports the new HTC Media Link HD accessory that brings your phone’s content to a larger display. The only downside is it uses the DLNA standard, so a separate WiFi network router is still needed. 6 Word Wrap Up: ”HTC’s best yet, SGS3 coming soon.”If we wrote a six-word memoir for the HTC One X it would be: “HTC’s best yet, SGS3 coming soon.” Fans of HTC will absolutely love the One X, but we can’t ignore that Samsung has yet to share the official details for the successor to the Galaxy S II. We agree that the One X appears to be the best Android phone that money can buy, but we don’t see anything truly innovative or something that has never been done. What do you think of HTC’s latest flagship device? Do you plan on buying one when it comes to AT&T or Sprint?
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| Samsung offers free extended battery for new Galaxy Nexus purchases Posted: 02 Apr 2012 06:33 AM PDT  Haven’t yet splurged on the Android 4.0 flagship Samsung Galaxy Nexus? Samsung is offering a free extended battery and back cover to customers who purchase the Galaxy Nexus through Samsung Direct. Samsung Direct offers the Verizon branded variant of the Galaxy Nexus, which will run you $299.99 with a new 2-year contract or 2-year contract extension, and a whopping $799.99 without contract. Once you’ve added the Galaxy Nexus to your cart, the free gift will also automatically be added, and your Galaxy Nexus will ship with the extended battery and back cover. Of course, you could save yourself even more money by purchasing the device from Amazon, which has the Verizon variant of the device for $99.99 with 2-year contract, and $499.99 for the AT&T and T-Mobile unlocked version. The extended battery will run you an additional $33.95 for the Verizon variant. Regardless of the channel, if you do pick up the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, we strongly recommend getting the extended battery to go along with it. The Galaxy Nexus suffers the same mediocre battery life that has plagued nearly all LTE smartphones to date, with the Razr MAXX being the lone exception. Be sure to check out our full review of the Galaxy Nexus to aid in your purchasing decision. Samsung Direct’s promotion runs through May 10th, 2012, or while supplies last. Anyone out there planning on taking advantage of the Samsung Direct offer, or do you plan on holding out for newer devices such as the Galaxy S III?
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