Android Authority |
- Verizon’s Pantech Star Q 4G LTE leaked, slider phone with Snapdragon S4 and ICS
- Rogers offers HTC Desire C for free, goes for $30 on Fido
- Google Fiber plans: 1 Gbps for $70, 5 Mbps Internet for free, and more
- Google Handwrite: A new way to Google on your mobile device
- 3 out of 5 first-time smartphone owners in the US choose Android
- Sony refusing to fix phones with unlocked bootloaders
- Making of: DoubleTwist Alarm clock
- Xiaomi earns nearly a billion dollars in H1 2012
- Motorola talks unlocking bootloaders; starts with Motorola Photon Q
- Dual-SIM Motorola Motoluxe XT685 released in China, ships with Android 4.0 ICS
| Verizon’s Pantech Star Q 4G LTE leaked, slider phone with Snapdragon S4 and ICS Posted: 27 Jul 2012 03:17 AM PDT Now that summer break is almost over, Verizon is hoping to catch the new school year momentum by unleashing the Pantech Star Q 4G LTE. The Star Q's main attraction is its 5-row QWERTY keyboard, which should be welcomed by text-obsessed students or other folks who often have to do their word processing on the road. Slide-out QWERTY keyboard aside, the Pantech Star Q 4G LTE is no slouch in the speed department. The phone is equipped with a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor; the same chip used in high-end Android smartphones. It boasts a 4-inch display of 800 x 480 resolution, 3MP rear camera, and a front camera. Another surprise is the inclusion of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. As pointed out by Androidandme, sample pictures taken with the Star Q's camera can already be found online on Picasa. And if you're wondering how the phone performs in Nenamark benchmarks, you can find the result here. Verizon hasn't set a specific launch date yet for the Pantech Star Q. But looking at the online trails of the phone, we expect to hear an official announcement from Big Red really soon. The Star Q will likely find a spot in the carrier's mid-range lineup, and we don’t think that the phone will cost more than $100 with a contract. This article, Verizon's Pantech Star Q 4G LTE leaked, slider phone with Snapdragon S4 and ICS , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rogers offers HTC Desire C for free, goes for $30 on Fido Posted: 27 Jul 2012 02:37 AM PDT As previously hinted, HTC's latest entry-level phone, the Desire C, has finally landed in Canada on several wireless carriers. The first is Rogers, which will practically give away the phone to willing customers. The second carrier that will sell the fiery-looking phone is Fido. If you don't mind being stuck with Rogers for the next three years, you can get the HTC Desire C for as little as $0.01. Considering they'll also throw in a free Bluetooth headset as a bonus, it's not at all a bad proposition. Alternatively, you can purchase the phone outright for $200 with no strings attached. Over at Fido, the phone is being offered for $30 – but you'll only have to sign a two-year contract. Plus, we believe the required monthly plan is slightly lower than that of Rogers. Similarly, purchasing the phone without a plan will only set you back $200. The HTC Desire C comes in two colors: white and red. It may look like your ordinary HTC phone from the outside, but pry open the back panel and you'll see some dope transparent red plastic innards. If you're into smaller sized Android phone, the Desire C's 3.5-inch HVGA display should be a right fit. It certainly helps that the phone comes with Beats Audio enhancement, Sense 4, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This article, Rogers offers HTC Desire C for free, goes for $30 on Fido , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Fiber plans: 1 Gbps for $70, 5 Mbps Internet for free, and more Posted: 27 Jul 2012 02:29 AM PDT One of the most awaited projects from Google in the past few years, Google Fiber, has finally been launched. The average American consumer should be very excited about this project, because, even if Google doesn’t intend to compete with other ISPs on a national level, the service should still push ISPs to try to match Google’s speed and pricing. Seeing how US has one of the slowest and most expensive internet industry in the world, this move is a very welcome one, indeed. But why is this important to Google? Google is at a point (and has been for a while) where it can only grow by expanding “the Internet”. They grow by helping people browse faster and get access to faster Internet. Plus, gigabit speeds will help proliferate more advanced web-apps, once people won’t have to worry about their Internet speed anymore. A fast browser and a fast Internet connection is what’s needed for that, as we already have very cheap storage and powerful enough computers. Google has split their Google Fiber plans in 3:
$120/month package
$70/month package
Free Internet package
The Google Fiber service will only start in Kansas City (both Missouri and Kansas) for now, but Google promised it will become available in other cities, depending on how much those cities want them there. Google announced that the fiber network will be turned on selectively, in the neighborhoods of KC that are most interested in getting Fiber. To gauge this interest, Google has announced a sign up program ($10 fee); the “Fiberhoods” with the most signups, will get Google Fiber first. The sign up period extends to September 9, so if you want to benefit from Google Fiber, head over to the pre-register page. Are you hoping Google Fiber will be available in your area, too? No related posts. This article, Google Fiber plans: 1 Gbps for $70, 5 Mbps Internet for free, and more , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Handwrite: A new way to Google on your mobile device Posted: 27 Jul 2012 01:25 AM PDT Google Handwrite is one feature that Galaxy Note owners will be happy to get. The newly unveiled function will make the Note’s stylus even more useful – users can now search on Google by handwriting the words. And, while this sounds like the perfect application for the stylus of the Galaxy Note, Handwrite seems to work just as well with fingers. To use the new Handwrite feature, go to your Search Settings at the bottom of the Google.com page and enable it. A small toolbar will then pop up at the bottom of the page on smartphones running Android 2.3+, tablets running Android 4.0+, and on all iOS 5+ devices. The Handwrite input method will work best in Chrome and on the stock Android browser, but Google warns it’s still “experimental”. In addition to these limitations, the feature seems to require a moderately fast device. If you have a low-end phone, it might prove too slow to use. Google Handwrite is not Google’s first dabble in handwriting recognition. They used to have a scribbling app for Android, that you could use to write the first letter of what you were looking for in your phone, but they terminated that in one of their recent product clean-ups. Google also recently added handwriting in the Google Translate app, which can be especially useful for people who use non-latin scripts, like Chinese of Japanese. If Google is working on these sort of apps for handwriting, I wonder if they will also drastically improve handwriting recognition and stylus support in future versions of Android, which should make styluses even easier to use with Android. This article, Google Handwrite: A new way to Google on your mobile device , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 out of 5 first-time smartphone owners in the US choose Android Posted: 27 Jul 2012 01:13 AM PDT There are many reasons why Android is the most popular operating system around, ranging from its open source nature to its availability to all consumers, regardless of financial capability. Android has been dominating the smartphone market across the world. We know about how Android’s market share in Spain is a whopping 84%, and around 50% in the US. But that number is all set to grow, although slowly, if a new report by Comscore is any indication. Comscore, an internet marketing research company, has just released a report, which states that 62% of first-time smartphone owners choose Android devices, with 25% picking iOS. Granted, this is likely because Android includes all devices across the price spectrum, with iOS featured on only the high-end iPhone. While Apple might be better off financially against Android device manufacturers, market share numbers are also a very important factor in the race for smartphone and OS dominance. Highlights of this report include:
Important to note is the last point, of an upgrade from one smartphone to another, where the numbers are somewhat similar to the current market share breakup. Safe to assume that, as expected, Android users upgrade to another Android device, with iOS users staying loyal to Apple. Check out the press release below for the complete Comscore report. What are your thoughts? Is it unexpected that first-time smartphone owners prefer Android? Is there any area of the report that surprises you? Let us know in the comments section below. The Great American Smartphone Migration: Nearly Half of Feature Phone Subscribers Who Acquired a New Device in April Switched to a Smartphone62 Percent of First-Time Smartphone Owners Chose Android Devices, While 25 Percent Opt for iPhones RESTON, VA, July 25, 2012 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from a study of first-time U.S. smartphone owners with insights from the comScore MobiLens service. The study found that nearly half of feature phone subscribers who acquired a device during April 2012 switched to a smartphone, an increase of 9.5 percentage points from the previous year, as smartphone adoption continues its upward climb in the U.S. Among this audience, 61.5 percent of consumers acquired devices running the Google Android platform, with 25.2 percent choosing Apple devices and 7.1 percent opting for Microsoft smartphones. "The growing number of smartphones available to consumers, accompanied by the decrease in price points and surge in mobile media content, have made smartphone ownership possible and desirable for many more Americans," said Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile. "Within the year, we expect to see smartphone owners become the mobile majority, a milestone that represents not only the evolution of the mobile landscape but highlights the enormous potential for marketers as these powerful, ubiquitous devices open new opportunities to reach a growing audience of consumers." Smartphone Adoption among Feature Phone Owners Surges Nearly 10 Percentage Points in the Past Year In the past year, smartphone adoption has grown rapidly with nearly 110 million Americans owning a smartphone device in April 2012, up 44 percent from the previous year. Analysis of new smartphone owners found that 47.5 percent of feature phone subscribers who acquired a device in April switched to a smartphone, an increase of 9.5 percentage points from the previous year. Slightly more than half (50.7 percent) of feature phone subscribers in the market for a device chose to acquire another feature phone, with this audience witnessing a rapid decline in the past year.
*Acquired phone in month refers to people who received a new phone during the month including people who purchased a device, who received a phone but did not directly purchase the device, etc. 3 of 5 First-Time Smartphone Owners Chose Android Devices Among those feature phone subscribers that acquired a smartphone device in the past month, 61.5 percent chose a Google Android device, while 25.2 percent acquired an Apple device. Devices operating on the Microsoft platform accounted for 7.1 percent of acquired smartphones, while RIM represented 4.8 percent. In comparison, among existing smartphone subscribers that acquired a new smartphone device in the past month, 54.2 percent chose Android devices while 33.5 percent preferred Apple devices. RIM accounted for 9.6 percent of acquired devices, while Microsoft represented 3.0 percent.
*Acquired phone in month refers to people who received a new phone during the month including people who purchased a device, who received a phone but did not directly purchase the device, etc. About comScore comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo. Contact:
This article, 3 out of 5 first-time smartphone owners in the US choose Android , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sony refusing to fix phones with unlocked bootloaders Posted: 27 Jul 2012 12:56 AM PDT Smartphone manufacturers have been known to lock the bootloaders of their devices, ostensibly because of security concerns. This is an ongoing battle between the large Android development community and device manufacturers, with the former obviously hoping to take full advantage of the open-source nature of Android. The search is still on to find the perfect way to provide complete user access while keeping the device secure. Some manufacturers, like HTC, provide an “official” bootloader unlock process for certain devices (which unfortunately does not include the One series of devices yet). Sony has also done the same, with a bootloader unlock option available for almost the entire Xperia lineup, which you can find here. But you might want to take in this new information before jumping to unlocking the bootloader of your Xperia smartphone. According to XperiaBlog, Sony is refusing to fix hardware issues of their devices if the bootloader is unlocked, claiming that it is illegal to do so. This is definitely a surprising turn of events considering that Sony “supports” unlocking your device bootloader, albeit at your own risk. There is also the fact that the unlocking of the bootloader should not create an issues with the hardware of the device. If you thought re-locking the bootloader is the way to go, unfortunately that does not seem to work either, as they know if the bootloader has been unlocked in the past. Granted, Sony mentions that unlocking the bootloader “may void the warranty of your phone and/or any warranty from your operator.” The keyword here is of course, may. If Sony was going to take such a hard stance on going through with the unlock, it should have been stated outright, instead of the vague connotation of the disclaimer. Stay tuned to see how this issue plays out! What are your thoughts? What do you think about Sony’s harsh stance when it comes to unlocked bootloaders? Should people with devices from other manufacturers also be worried about the same treatment? Let us know in the comments section below. This article, Sony refusing to fix phones with unlocked bootloaders , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Making of: DoubleTwist Alarm clock Posted: 27 Jul 2012 12:41 AM PDT The reason everyone is moving to smartphones is because of the endless possibilities made available to users thanks to the app world. There are 600,000+ apps available on the Google Play Store, enough to satisfy everybody’s requirements. Anything you can think of, there’s probably an app for it. Yet, as consumers, we tend to ignore the person or team behind these apps. Most of the apps on the various app stores are created by third-party developers, who spend hours and works very hard to make our lives easier. Today, we give you a small glimpse into the thought process behind the design and creation of an app, with the Alarm clock app by DoubleTwist. If you thought making apps was easy, you’re in for a surprise! What is the Double Twist Alarm clock?Double Twist is known for creating one of the best Android media players and has also released an alarm clock app, which, if integrated with the Double Twist player, lets you choose a song or playlist to wake up to. Other features of the DoubleTwist Alarm clock include:
Let’s take a look at the process behind the making of this alarm clock app. Making ofDoubleTwist Alarm was developed by Sebastiaan De With, a creative director, design speaker, and consultant. He’s put in a lot of time and effort into creating the app, and has posted a glimpse into the process on his blog. Here are some of the highlights:
These are just the highlights of a detailed explanation behind the creation of this app. You can find the full post on his blog here. Wrap-upOur smartphones have become an essential part of our lives. The first thing we do when we wake up is check our phones, not only for missed calls or messages, but e-mail, Facebook updates, news, and anything else you use your phone for. I haven’t worn a watch since I got my first cellphone, and I’m wholly, sometimes stupidly so, dependent on my phone. Suddenly, even some thing as simple as an alarm clock app becomes essential, and the Double Twist Alarm clock is one of the best ones available. You can check out the alarm clock by DoubleTwist from the Google Play Store here for only $1.99. This article, Making of: DoubleTwist Alarm clock , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xiaomi earns nearly a billion dollars in H1 2012 Posted: 27 Jul 2012 12:30 AM PDT There is a wave of Chinese manufacturers looking to establish themselves in the international Android market. When we think Chinese OEMs, the first thought goes to companies that have have been frequenting tech shows with some amazing devices on offer, such as Huawei, ZTE, Baidu, and Meizu. Another, less known, name that is coming up in conversations is Xiaomi. Xiaomi is very new to the cut-throat world of Android smartphone manufacturing, with its first device, the Xiaomi MI-One, releasing only last fall. But if you’re into Android development or are familiar with custom ROMs, the name Xiaomi will be familiar to you, as they are the developers of the popular MIUI custom ROM. Xiaomi has a high-end smartphone in the pipeline, if rumors of a quad-core Snapdragon S4-powered device are true, and the MI-One is no slouch either, with a dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and an 8MP camera, for the low price of $310. Similar to what Amazon did with the Kindle Fire, all Xiaomi devices will feature their custom MIUI ROM, which is said to provide a faster and richer user experience. Xiaomi’s just-released H1 2012 (half year) earnings attest the growing popularity of the device manufacturer in the largest market in the world. Xiaomi has pulled in 6.1 billion yuan (~$955 million) in revenue in the first half of 2012, and sold over 3 million devices. Granted, this isn’t much compared to the revenue of companies like HTC, Samsung, or even home-rival Huawei, but the comparison isn’t fair just yet, as the Chinese company is only established in its home market. This is truly a great start for a company that is so new to the game, and with its foray into the international market, the number is only going to grow. Xiaomi will likely continue to release high-end devices at very reasonable prices, and the MIUI ROM on-board is a big plus for many users. Even though we’ve seen some great Android devices this year (with more to come), the other Android manufacturers are certainly in for a fight when this Chinese company bursts onto the world stage. What are your thoughts? Would you consider buying a Xiaomi smartphone with the MIUI custom ROM? How popular do you think these Chinese OEMs are going to be on the world stage? Let us know in the comments section below. This article, Xiaomi earns nearly a billion dollars in H1 2012 , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motorola talks unlocking bootloaders; starts with Motorola Photon Q Posted: 26 Jul 2012 06:12 PM PDT Motorola Mobility is notorious for locking the bootloaders on a large majority of their devices. We’ve seen them release device after devices with locked bootloaders and even promises of said bootloaders being unlocked in the future without following through. In fact, the development and modding sectors of the Android community have even sought changes to Motorola’s bootloader policies via online petitions. Sadly, the outcries of the community did nothing back then. However, times they are a changin’. Today, Motorola Mobility announced that their latest device, the PHOTON Q 4G LTE will have an unlockable bootloader. Motorola stated that for quite some time, they have been working with their carrier partners, in hopes to find a way to provide users with the option to unlock their bootloaders. Some of the most exciting news to come out of this is the hint that previous devices may get unlocked as well. We’re not sure if this is via a provided installed application similar to the methods of ASUS or if you’ll visit a Motorola Mobility Dev site for instructions similar to HTC. Whatever the case, it’s coming.
Why exactly is this a big deal? For the general population, this doesn’t matter. However, for the modding community, locked bootloaders are simply a pain. When the bootloader is locked, certain portions of the device are unable to be customized such as recoveries or kernels. A lot of the time, when rooting a device, the first step requires the bootloader to be unlocked or bypassed. So, depending on the device in question and the will of the developer, creative Android hacking has allowed some devices with locked bootloaders to run custom ROMs. Generally, these devices aren’t as stable as they could be if the device was able to be completely customized from the ground up. Is this new found softening of Motorola’s bootloader policy due to Google’s recent acquisition? Your guess is as good as ours. This article, Motorola talks unlocking bootloaders; starts with Motorola Photon Q , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual-SIM Motorola Motoluxe XT685 released in China, ships with Android 4.0 ICS Posted: 26 Jul 2012 01:56 PM PDT When placed beside Moto's greats like the Razr and Atrix series, folks in the US may not be too familiar with the Motoluxe. It's a shame, because the series does have its charms and is actually quite the looker, if only Moto had bothered to sell it in the country. It's a different story in China, where the Motoluxe has found its niche. The latest Motoluxe XT685 has just been introduced for the Chinese market. The Motorola Motoluxe XT685 receives the honor of being the first in the series to come with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the gate. But there are more to like of the phone, such as its WCDMA+GSM dual mode (dual standby), pulsing lanyard-hole notification light, and slim 9.8mm profile. The XT685 has also received some upgrade in the specs department, as it now packs a 1GHz processor. It still boasts 4-inch display of 854 x 480 resolution, 512MB RAM, 1GB onboard storage, an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 0.3MP front-facing camera. Software-wise, Moto has preloaded the Motoluxe XT685 with essential stuff – for the locals – like Sina Weibo and Sohu Women. The Motoluxe XT685 is now available in mainland China for RMB 1,999, which works out at about $300. There's no word yet on whether Moto will bring the XT685 to other countries, but seeing that the older model made it to Europe and Canada – there's hope still that folks outside China will be able to get their hands on the Motoluxe XT685. This article, Dual-SIM Motorola Motoluxe XT685 released in China, ships with Android 4.0 ICS , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android Authority To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment