Sunday, July 1, 2012

Android Phone Fans

Android Phone Fans

Sony’s website hints at OnLive compatibility for its new Google TV box

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 06:08 PM PDT


Sony’s new Google TV set-top box (NSZ-GS7) has been one of the most exciting products revolving around Google’s smart TV platform. Its upgraded specs and reasonable price make it much more enticing to try out Google TV. The excitement only lasted so much, though, until the Vizio Co-Star was announced along with its $100 price tag and OnLive compatibility. And though Sony’s box won’t beat Vizio’s price, it might just bring cloud gaming to the table, as well.

Our good friends from Venture Beat have found a very interesting bit of details from Sony’s official website. On the product site, under the specifications tab, one can find the OnLive controller USB dongle listed under the optional accessories section.

This probably means that, like most new Google TV products, Sony’s new set-top box will also come with its good share of OnLive gaming capabilities. The app was not pre-installed in our review unit, but that doesn’t mean that an update or download can’t be done.

I am a huge fan of cloud gaming services, as they are shaping a new generation; one were consoles could become obsolete. Cloud gaming allows users to enjoy the best titles with low-end devices, as the game is really being processed at the company’s headquarters. This system also makes gaming more affordable, as well as accessible. It is just as easy to take your games wherever you go without losing your progress. I can start playing on my TV, move on to my computer and then keep playing the same game on the road, with my tablet or smartphone.

Of course, this is nothing but speculation. Sony hasn’t commented on the matter. But we are going to assume that listing the OnLive controller as an optional accessory definitely means something is in the works.

[Source: Sony Via: Venture Beat]

Google Currents to be pre-installed in all Android 4.1 Jelly Bean devices

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 05:08 PM PDT


Google Currents has much competition, but there is no doubt it is one of the best news/feed apps in the Google Play Store. This application has been available for anyone since December, but Google is taking a major step to improve its popularity. According to an email Google has been sending to Currents partners, this app will now come pre-installed with all Android 4.1 devices and updates.

Google expects a major flux of new users coming to the app. The Search Giant goes as far as saying that pageviews and readership should vastly increase, due to this action. A statement that may very well be true, as the app will be at Android’s core for everyone. Or at least everyone with Android 4.1, but many of us will have it soon enough.

So there goes a bit of your storage space, guys. It is a good app, though. When you get your Android 4.1 update, or download the Google Currents app, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel!

[Via: The Verge]

Poll: Should RIM partner with Google to make Android BlackBerry devices?

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 04:11 PM PDT


RIM’s downfall has been significant since the new-generation smartphone boom. With competitors like Apple and Google (along with all its partners), the arguably outdated BlackBerry OS and devices have seen a major loss of marketshare. This comes after the company’s many years substantial success. Of course, BlackBerry 10′s delay until 2013 is not helping the situation, forcing Research in Motion to consider drastic options.

According to Reuter’s sources, one of the manufacturer’s options under discussion would be to simply leave BlackBerry OS. The company would then focus on making Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices featuring BlackBerry’s solid build quality and highly acclaimed physical keyboards.

The idea surely seems attractive to Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, as he has recently reached out to RIM in an effort to strike a partnership. But of course RIM is a bit wary of such decisions, as it would mean the loss of the Canadian company’s independence.

Microsoft is not the only one interested in partnering with the BlackBerry manufacturer, though. In a recent interview with ABC News, Google Design Chief Matias Duarte clearly expressed his interest in BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard coming to the Android platform.

"I am still a huge fan of hardware keyboards. Many of the products I have worked on in the past have had them. I think there is a place for them -- it’s all about choice and different types of devices. I would love, personally, to have a portrait oriented device, like we made at Palm.

If RIM wanted to work on Android devices, I would really welcome that. They clearly make great physical keyboards."

Undoubtedly, a shift to Google’s Android OS would boost BlackBerry’s success. RIM fans have been moving out of the BlackBerry platform for years. Only to move on to greener pastures with iOS or Android devices, as well as other mobile operating systems like WebOS and Windows Phone.

Android continues to be the most popular mobile OS in the world, with over 1 million Android activations per day. Joining the green robot’s club would ensure its success, especially with former BlackBerry fans who would still love to see RIM prosper. Many of them still love the devices and physical keyboards, but BB OS is simply not up to par with the competition.

As a former BlackBerry user, I would honestly love to see a well-built BlackBerry smartphone with Android at its core. It would be a bit of an issue to try to work out screen proportions, as the Android OS was not designed for devices of the likes of most BB phones. But with the right mindset and a good amount of work, RIM could bring something great to the table.

Of course, this is nothing but speculations. RIM might simply choose to follow its own strategy and probably die with it. One thing is for sure, though: Windows Phone is also a very young and unpopular platform, making Android a much better option. As for Apple, we know they won’t be working with any partners anytime soon, so it is left out of the equation.

With that, we would like to see what all of you think of this idea. Would you welcome RIM to the growing list of Android manufacturers? Would you go back to owning a BlackBerry if a deal like this ever took place? Participate in the poll and let us know what you think in the comments section!

Take Our Poll

[Source: Reuters Via: ABC News]

Rumor: Bell to launch LG Optimus L5 for a mere $199.95 off contract

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:53 PM PDT


The LG Optimus L5 may not be the device of your dreams, but it will definitely be a stunning deal with a rumored price of $199.95 off contract. This is exactly what Mobile Syrup’s sources claim the Bell device will cost (rumored to launch this July 10th). It happens to be a great offer for the mid-range smartphone featuring Android 4.0.3, an 800 MHz processor and 1 GB of RAM.

There is a bit of the discrepancy in the leaked screenshot, though. The price seems to be consistent under all 1, 2 and 3-year terms as well. This makes us suspect that this rumor may be inaccurate, or the price may simply be used as a place-holder until Bell decides what the appropriate price-range for each contract term.

As mentioned, the device is not your powerhouse, but not everyone needs a super phone. And personally, the design of the L Series has always called my attention. If the device does happen to come with a $200 price free of contract, we are sure many of our Canadian neighbors will be jumping all over it. Would you?

[Via: Mobile Syrup]

Sony Xperia Mini Android 4.0 update now rolling out

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:14 PM PDT


Sony’s promise to update its entire 2011 line-up to Android 4.0 is the best news Sony fans have seen in a long time. The update are coming slowly, but surely, and today’s lucky users are those who own the Xperia Mini.

The Ice Cream Sandwich update will make your phone feel like a completely new device, and it is being rolled out as we speak. Not everyone will be able to simply jump in and grab the update, though. In fact, it is not being carried out over the air.

Instead, users will have to use the PC companion program or Bridge for Mac in order to update their devices. This will make the process much less intuitive compared to your standard OTA updates, but at least there is an official way to get your Android 4.0 update.

Xperia Mini owners will simply have to double check to see if their device is yet available for an update. This is done by checking the Sales Item (SI) 8-digit number under the battery. One can then check the growing list of SI numbers straight from the official Sony website.

The inclusion of your number in the list will mean that your software update is ready to go and you can proceed to use the computer program to update your device.

[Source: Sony Mobile]

Pebble Android SDK released: Will the project take off?

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 01:35 PM PDT


The Pebble is yet another addition to the emerging smartwatch market. As such, it is still unclear if the project will be successful. Developers who want to start playing around with the product now have the SDK available, though, as it was released during Google IO.

This will give developers a head start developing apps for the e-paper smartwatch ahead of its Fall release. For those that jumped in on the kickstarter project, that is. The rest of us will have to wait until the device becomes available for sale at an unknown date.

The Pebble, along with every smartwatch out there, is stuck in a very delicate situation. The smartwatch market is very new, making it very unstable as well. Most users don’t see the benefit in paying for an accessory that is basically an extension to one’s phone. It’s much seen as a luxury or convenience, especially with these products going for over $100.

This brings us back to the chicken and the egg dilemma we are also seeing with Google TV. Developers would rather not waste their effort making apps for a product very few will be using. At the same time, users don’t want to buy products with a limited amount of apps or content.

This situation makes it rather hard to see how a project like Pebble would take off. The kickstarter was very successful, though, with about 85,000 subscribers pledging quickly after its launch. We will simply have to wait and see how developers commit to the platform.

More than a few of us are excited over smartwatches and would definitely pay to own one of these. It must be understood that we are also tech geeks, and the general consumer would see things very differently. Regardless, we would like to learn what our readers think of this. Do you think the Pebble will become a successful seller? Would you buy one? And what would be your sweet spot for a smartwatch, in terms of pricing?

[Source: Pebble Team]

Nexus 7 factory image released

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:27 PM PDT

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ROM developers, rejoice. The factory image for Google’s Nexus 7 has been released. Of course, you still have to wait until “mid-July” for the source code of Jelly Bean to be open sourced, but I’m pretty certain a few of you would be aching to take a look up this tablet’s skirt.

BTW, if anyone’s interested, the device’s code name is Nakasi, which is a Taiwanese music form. Fitting, I guess, since the aim of the Nexus 7 is clearly to give Google Play a big kick.

You can get the file over here.

[via Droid Dog]

Have ICS? You can get Google Sound Search now (unofficially)

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 11:34 AM PDT

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Want to get your hands on Google’s new Sound Search, that was announced at I/O alongside Jelly Bean? You can, as long as you’ve got ICS, thanks to a developer over at XDA. It’s not completely straightforward, as you need to push two files via ADB, but as long as you have the Android SDK installed and have rooted your device, you should be able to get your hands on the widget (yep, it’s only a widget).

A little more info on Sound Search: it’s along the lines of Shazam and SoundHound, helping you identify songs quickly, right from your home screen. Once it does so, it tells you the name and brings you the price of the song on Google Play. Unfortunately, being in India, I don’t have access to the final bit, but it’s definitely a quick way to get identify the song. I’ve been using Shazam until now, and I’ll probably end up continuing to do so since it stores the songs it has identified in a list, that I can retrieve later. However, for those purchasing music from Google Play, it’s definitely a useful tool.

[XDA via Droid Dog]

 

Click through to read HTC and Samsung’s generic statements on Jelly Bean updates

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 10:38 AM PDT

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It’s that special time of the year again. You know, when Google announces the next delightful Android dessert they want to share with the world. The time when we go “sweet mother of Lord, I can’t wait to have that”, and look in the direction of the manufacturer’s of our beloved devices, hoping that our sweet, innocent smiles will warm their hearts and make them want to work around the clock like Santa’s elves to distribute the goodies to one and all.

And, every time, we get to hear something like this:

"We are excited about Android Jelly Bean and are planning to support it across a variety of our devices. We are reviewing the software to determine our upgrade plans and schedule, so please stay tuned for more updates on specific device upgrade plans."

-HTC

 

Samsung will soon announce which additional devices are eligible for the Jelly Bean update. As the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung leads the Android community with best-in-class devices like the Galaxy S III, and is creating new device categories with products like the Galaxy Note. Samsung has delivered the most Nexus-branded lead OS devices and we are pleased that Google will be bringing Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S customers the first experiences of Jelly Bean on a handheld device.

-Samsung

[via BriefMobile (HTC and Samsung)]

 

Much improved Google Analytics for mobile developers app announced

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 10:08 AM PDT

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The Google Analytics team has released a couple of really useful tools at I/O. The first is an Android app that allows you to to track your data on your mobile device. The second, which I’ve mentioned in the title, is a much improved Analytics engine for mobile app developers.

I just installed the Google Analytics app, and I’m really impressed by it. You can customize your dashboard to add whichever metric you want to see, besides also the automatic and customized alerts you can set up on the website. What I really like, more than anything else, is the real-time data available. If you’re using Google Analytics for your own website (and you probably are) then you’re probably going to want this. I won’t say its a replacement for the website, but it’s definitely a great add-on.


The improved Analytics engine for mobile developers is what I’m more excited about. I was pretty disappointed by the existent offerings, so much so that it became the topic for my Bachelor Thesis that I submitted three weeks back. From the information on their blog post, it sounds pretty exhaustive, and more importantly customizable(more importantly, in my opinion, because I believe that tracking analytics on mobile apps is a vastly different ball game as compared to websites, which was my major issue with the existent tools).

One of the features worth mentioning is the ability to track Google Play traffic sources. Visibility on Play is a huge issue currently, and hopefully this would help developers understand how they’re performing. There’s also app crash analytics and some of the regular new/active users and devices tracking information. If you’re interested, you should really check out the complete blog post over here, and sign up for the beta.

[via Google Analytics Blog]

HTC teases the Droid Incredible 4G on Twitter

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT

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We’ve got the biggest indicator yet that the Droid Incredible 4G will be released this coming week, straight from the official Twitter account of HTC USA. We expect it’ll cost $149, since it’s going head to head with the Samsung Galaxy S3, but since it doesn’t quite match up to it (especially accounting for the rumored loss of the ImageSense technology that allows the burst-image capability on the One X).

[via HTC USA Twitter Account]
Posted by at 8:09 AM

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