Android Central |
- Nexus 4 coming to O2 UK next month
- ADW Launcher comes back from the dead with a new update
- Need for Speed Most Wanted review
- MetroPCS reports Q3 2012 earnings, $193 million in net income
- Weekly photo contest: The weather
- Shadowgun: Deadzone open beta expanded to include Android SDK 3.0+ devices
- Nook HD and HD+ start shipping this week
- Updated Google Search on iOS on par with Android
- Ask AC: When will my current Nexus get Android 4.2?
- How to try out a Nexus 4 (and GSM) with no commitment
- Google's Matias Duarte answers burning Nexus questions
- Open webOS on the Galaxy Nexus is starting to look good
- No Tricks, Just Treats Halloween Sale - Save 15% on ALL Accessories at ShopAndroid.com!
- ZTE take 4th place in the smartphone manufacturing wars - but for how long?
- Samsung Galaxy Note 2 starts shipping in Canada
- LG Spectrum 2 available on Verizon for $99 on contract
- Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE launched on TELUS
- AMD getting into the ARM processor game
- Nexus phones and tablets
- Deal of the Day: Krusell ActionCover Case with Stand for Galaxy Note
- O2 reportedly secures Nexus 4 exclusivity in the UK
- Diner Dash now available on Amazon's Kindle Fire
- Soti Pocket Controller coming to Android
- EE 4G LTE arrives in the UK - 11 cities to start with, but plenty more to follow
- Daily Steals selling unlocked Galaxy Note 2 for $579
| Nexus 4 coming to O2 UK next month Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:54 PM PDT
O2 also isn't confirming reports that it'll have a one-month exclusivity period in the UK, however the silence from other British operators suggests this may well be the case. Also absent is any hint of pricing -- again, the Nexus 4 is to be offered SIM-free from £239 via Google Play, so if O2 wants to lure customers into a two-year contract, it'll likely have to offer the phone for free. We'll be bringing you even more Nexus 4 coverage in the days ahead, so keep it locked to Android Central. Source: O2 UK 
   | ||
| ADW Launcher comes back from the dead with a new update Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:45 PM PDT Just in time for Halloween, ADW Launcher is back from the dead. One of the more popular launchers all the way back in the days of Android 2.3, ADW hasn't seen an update in quite a long time. The latest update, version 1.3.3.7 cleverly, brings a completely redone UI and set of features along with compatibility all the way up to Android 4.1. Both the free and paid versions have been updated, and offer a crazy amount of customization options on the homscreens, app drawer, icons, themes, folders and anywhere else you could think of. It may be a bit overwhelming for some, but if you're willing to put in the time to customize it, you may get just what you're looking for. There are way too many new features to list, especially in the paid version for $3.00, but overall things seem smooth and well improved. It's good to see that ADW is back in the launcher game with Jelly Bean. You can grab ADW Launcher at the Play Store link above. 
   | ||
| Need for Speed Most Wanted review Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:33 PM PDT Need for Speed Most Wanted careened into Google Play today, hauling with it high expectations based on the long-standing franchise. The latest Need for Speed racing game for Android excels in graphics, and offers an otherwise pared-down, straightforward racing experience. Race types are all familiar, including the usual 6-car run, one-on-one, time trials, and checkpoint races. 
   | ||
| MetroPCS reports Q3 2012 earnings, $193 million in net income Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:12 PM PDT Most people haven't paid a whole lot of attention to MetroPCS prior to its announcement of merger plans with T-Mobile USA, but now the earnings may be worth a look. For the third quarter of 2012, the regional carrier posted net income of $193 million (operating income $292 million) on revenues of $1.25 billion. Net income was up substantially from the year previous, while revenues were nearly flat. Subscriber churn remained high at 3.7-percent, although it was a decrease from 4.5-percent in the same period last year. Net subscriber losses of 312,291 for the quarter brought the total subscriber count just under 9 million. Even with the net losses in customers, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) remained flat at $40.50, but on a good note CPU (Cost Per User) dropped slightly to $18.38. This quarter was a bit of a mixed bag for MetroPCS. We'll see how things shape up as the merger comes closer to completion in 2013. Source: MetroPCS Investor Relations 
   | ||
| Weekly photo contest: The weather Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:20 PM PDT Tuesday means another AC photo contest! This week, let's talk about the weather. Good weather, bad weather, or evil weather like you see above. If it happens outside, we want to see it. This isn't just confined to pictures of rain or snow. Feel free to think outside the box and show us something that makes us think of good (or bad) weather. We love it when you guys get all artistic and surprise us. It makes it that much more fun to look at all the pictures. Since it is a contest, there are prizes involved. We dug around and found we still have five Android mini collectibles left to give away, so the best five photos each get one. Read the full rules in the forum contest thread and show us what ya got. Enter this week's photo contest
   | ||
| Shadowgun: Deadzone open beta expanded to include Android SDK 3.0+ devices Posted: 30 Oct 2012 02:49 PM PDT Roughly two weeks ago, the Shadowgun: Deadzone beta was opened to Tegra 3 devices. Now, MADFINGER games has opened up the beta to include Android devices with SDK 3.0 or higher. Besides the updated device compatibility, they also introduced some new features as well:
So if you've been itching to give this a try, but didn't have a Tegra 3 device, now is your chance to hop over to the Play Store and give it a try. Just a reminder, this is a beta, so don't be surprised if you find a glitch or two. Check the Play Store link above to see if your device is compatible. 
   | ||
| Nook HD and HD+ start shipping this week Posted: 30 Oct 2012 02:22 PM PDT Good news if you’ve pre-ordered the new Nooks. Barnes & Noble will start shipping the 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch HD+ tablets this week. The devices will also start arriving at the book retailer’s 700 stores in the US, and 15,000 other partner stores such as Target, Walmart and Best Buy. B&N’s CEO, William Lynch, has said that the company received a record number of pre-orders for the devices. And it managed to ink two content deals with NBCUniversal and 20th Century Fox just in time for the new Nooks to pull TV and movies from the Nook Video service. Along with Nook Video, Nook Catalog is a recent service launched. It will deliver shopping catalogs from retailers like Pottery Barn, as retailers try to sink their hooks into the consumer market towards the holiday season. The services will help B&N try to close the gap with the flood of other competent tablets in the marketplace, since the Nook doesn’t connect to the wider Google Play store, but to its own Nook Apps walled garden, which only has about 6,000 apps. Amazon’s Kindle Fire also routes back to its own app store, but that has about 50,000 apps in it, by comparison. 
   | ||
| Updated Google Search on iOS on par with Android Posted: 30 Oct 2012 12:33 PM PDT Google today let loose a new version of its Search app for iOS devices. Is it as good as the voice search you find in Android and Google Now? When it comes to results, yes. That is to say, when we took Google's test questions for a spin, using Google Now to launch the search (just because we felt like it) we got the same results -- in just about the same response time -- on a Galaxy Nexus as we did on iOS 6. Why'd we use the same questions Google highlighted on its blog post announcing the update? For one simple reason: Siri, for want of an better term, sucks. And anyone who's ever tried to do the same searches Apple showcased in its advertisements is quite possibly still waiting for an answer. So we wanted to put Google's examples to the test. And we threw in one wild card at the end. How'd they stack up? Pretty evenly matched, I think. You'd expect the results to be the same, of course. Response time is what I was really curious about. Have a gander at the video after the break and see for yourself. 
   | ||
| Ask AC: When will my current Nexus get Android 4.2? Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:53 AM PDT Android 4.2 is official! So is the LG Nexus 4! But what about all those current Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7s out there? They're going to get an update to Android 4.2, right? Most certainly. And we're willing to bet the Nexus S goes along for the ride as well. One thing we don't quite know is when, but we can take a pretty good stab at it. The LG Nexus 4 goes on sale Nov. 13. Don't expect an over-the-air update to push before then, and chances are it'll be at least a few days after that, too. We'll also probably see the Android 4.2 code drop into the Android Open Source Project repositories before any OTA update takes place. In other words, get your finger off that update button, folks. More than likely you've got a couple weeks of waiting ahead of you. (Though if Google wants to push the button early, you won't hear us complaining.) More: Google Nexus forums 
   | ||
| How to try out a Nexus 4 (and GSM) with no commitment Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:53 AM PDT The Nexus 4 has a whole lot of features to be excited about -- that is, unless you're on Verizon or Sprint here in the states. For reasons you can probably figure out on your own, Google has decided to only launch an unlocked GSM model of the Nexus 4, and offer it around the world. This means no LTE -- fear not, it has DC-HSPA+ 42mbps -- but it also keeps the price insanely low. At $299 (8GB) and $349 (16GB) without a contract, it's an extremely tempting proposition. But as we noted earlier, what if you're on a CDMA carrier? Well there are actually some compelling options if you'd like to "test drive" a Nexus 4 -- and GSM -- before you commit to making it your primary device. 
   | ||
| Google's Matias Duarte answers burning Nexus questions Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:48 AM PDT
One of the first subjects tackled in the G+ post was the new system button placement on Android 4.2 tablets like the Nexus 10. The new Samsung Nexus tablet, unlike predecessors like the Motorola Xoom, ditches a split system bar and notification area, instead opting for a Nexus 7-like status bar up top. Duarte says this is about keeping the Android experience consistent and simple across multiple categories of device --
Duarte says that in Jelly Bean, the system buttons automatically gravitate towards the bottom of the device, unless doing so would reduce the available vertical space too much. In addition, Duarte addressed the question of SD cards, which are absent from Google's Nexus devices --
That's the user experience side of the argument, but if you want to get a bit more technical, you should check out Jerry Hildenbrand's take on why Google's Nexus devices lack removable storage. More: Why Nexus devices have no SD card Source: +Matias Duarte 
   | ||
| Open webOS on the Galaxy Nexus is starting to look good Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:25 AM PDT Work continues on Open webOS for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (and likely will for some time), and today the webOS Ports team has brought a video of UI scaling. As you can see, it's looking more and more like a working smartphone user interface (and animation is getting pretty smooth, too), though we wouldn't recommend getting anywhere near this as a daily driver yet. More: webOS-Ports; webOS Nation 
   | ||
| No Tricks, Just Treats Halloween Sale - Save 15% on ALL Accessories at ShopAndroid.com! Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:01 AM PDT Boooo!!! Scared yet? No? Good. We're looking to help you make it a HAPPY HALLOWEEN this year by celebrating with savings across our Mobile Nations stores. Until Thursday, Nov. 1, at Midnight PST, you can save 15% on ALL Android Accessories at ShopAndroid.com using coupon code treat2012 at checkout. And if you have non-Android devices in the house (and we know some of you do), you can use the same coupon code at our ShopCrackBerry, iMore and Windows Phone stores. Don't forget, we have free shipping on US and Canada orders over $50, and great low cost international shipping options available as well. Don't be scared out of these savings ... click the link below to get started! 
   | ||
| ZTE take 4th place in the smartphone manufacturing wars - but for how long? Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT ZTE has today announced that it is ranked as the 4th biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world as of Q3 2012, superseding HTC. Shipping 7.5 million handsets in a quarter is not to be sniffed at, but we suspect they're still a long way off the top spot. It'll interesting to see how things change over the next couple of quarters. In Q3 this year ZTE were only 0.1% in front of RIM who are still holding on, but with BlackBerry 10 on the horizon they too could move up the rankings next year. In addition, we have just seen Windows Phone 8 officially launch. If sales are good for the updated OS, this will not do ZTE any favors in the short term as they don't have a WP8 device ready as yet. It's always a tough race with smartphone figures, but catching up Apple and Samsung will be a super tough challenge. Only time will tell. You can catch the full press release below the fold. 
   | ||
| Samsung Galaxy Note 2 starts shipping in Canada Posted: 30 Oct 2012 08:37 AM PDT Samsung is now shipping out the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 across Canadian retailers and will be available to buy at most stores in the next two weeks. Last we heard, TELUS, WIND, and Mobilicity would be offering the phone, and since then Bell and Rogers have confirmed that they'll have it. In fact, Rogers and Bell are already taking orders online for $199 on a three-year contract. (Update: TELUS just dropped us a line to let us know that they're facing delays and won't have the device until later this week at the earliest.) To celebrate the launch, Samsung has Psy of Gangnam Style fame performing in Toronto tonight. You can get a deep-dive with the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 in our hands-on video, but here's a quick run-down.
It's a monster of a device, and no doubt many Canadians are itching to get one of these. Who's buying? What are you digging most about the GNote 2? 
   | ||
| LG Spectrum 2 available on Verizon for $99 on contract Posted: 30 Oct 2012 07:57 AM PDT Verizon this morning announced the LG Spectrum 2, a 4.7-inch, Android 4.0 smartphone available online today for $99 on contract (after a $50 rebate). It sports an 8-megapixel rear camera, rocks 4G LTE data and has NFC. (This is the same on Best Buy outed last week.) For those of you hoping for an Optimus G on Big Red, this might be as close as you get. (It's actually an offshoot of the LG Optimus LTE 2, but who's counting?) Let's take a close look at the specs. The display is the same IPS True HD panel as LG's premiere phone. Processor? Same quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro at 1.5 GHz. Verizon doesn't list RAM here, but we're willing to bet it's at as well. It's also got the same software tweaks as LG's version, plus some Verizon thrown in. All in all, for $99, you probably could do worse. We've got the full presser after the break. 
   | ||
| Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE launched on TELUS Posted: 30 Oct 2012 07:33 AM PDT The extra-tough Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE was launched in Canada through TELUS today for $49 on a three-year contract. It's fairly entry-level, but if you're primarily concerned about having a phone that can take a beating, specs won't really matter.
We got our hands on the version coming to AT&T, if you want a closer look. Any rough-and-tumble Canadians can pick up the Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE from the TELUS online store over here. Any takers? 
   | ||
| AMD getting into the ARM processor game Posted: 30 Oct 2012 07:18 AM PDT
AMD is quick to point out that their foray into ARM processors is focused on reducing costs and improving efficiency of data centers. That being said, it's hard to believe that it would pump this R&D into making ARM processors without contemplating offering a cheap processor option for phone and tablet manufacturers. It says that the first AMD ARM processors will be coming by 2014. Source: WSJ 
   | ||
| Posted: 30 Oct 2012 06:56 AM PDT Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 -- Google's 'pure Android' mobile devicesGoogle's Nexus devices are sold directly from the Google Play Store, unlocked and running the latest version of Android, 4.2 Jelly Bean. Right now the Nexus line consists of three devices -- the Nexus 4 smartphone, and two tablets, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10.
   | ||
| Deal of the Day: Krusell ActionCover Case with Stand for Galaxy Note Posted: 30 Oct 2012 06:18 AM PDT
The Krusell ActionCover Case with Stand is available for just $14.00 today only. That's over 50% off! Grab yours while supplies last. Never miss a deal. Sign up for Daily Deal alerts! 
   | ||
| O2 reportedly secures Nexus 4 exclusivity in the UK Posted: 30 Oct 2012 05:36 AM PDT O2 UK will be the only British network to offer the recently announced LG Nexus 4, according to reports. UK tech blog Pocket-Lint says O2 has secured a one-month exclusivity period, meaning customers wanting to use one on another network will have to pick it up online via the Google Play Store, or wait until mid-December when other networks will be given a crack at it. O2 and LG are said to have partnered to give away free LG TVs to the first hundred Nexus 4 buyers in the UK. And as with its iPhone 5 launch, O2 will reportedly be erecting a pop-up store on top of the O2 Arena in London, where customers will be able to buy the phone on launch day (assuming paying Google to deliver one on the 13th is just too convenient for you). O2 will be hoping to generate some positive buzz from its exclusive Nexus launch, as it's recently suffered a couple of major network outages. If nothing else, O2's exclusivity bid proves that the Nexus name still holds weight with some carriers around the world. Source: Pocket-Lint 
   | ||
| Diner Dash now available on Amazon's Kindle Fire Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:10 AM PDT Mobile game Diner Dash has made its Android debut on the Amazon Kindle Fire. Bad news for fans without an Amazon tablet though, because the game appears to be exclusive to the Kindle Fire for now. Searching for it on the Amazon Appstore on a different Android device returns no results (although the results return plenty of similar games to be downloaded). The game may seem a little dated, but its publisher, PlayFirst, reminded us that it’s enjoyed over 650 million downloads worldwide. Diner Dash was developed by GameLab before PlayFirst acquired the rights to own it. If you haven’t had enough, the game has spawned four sequels since its initial runaway success. 
   | ||
| Soti Pocket Controller coming to Android Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:56 AM PDT
The product allows you to view and control your device from your PC, as well as display your mobile device on your desktop so you can use it in presentation settings, for example. You can also sync files between PCs and mobiles, with a file explorer tool. The company has a longer list of features on its site. Soti has a Pocket Controller Pro version for BlackBerry devices, and has made a Windows Mobile version before (the older Windows CE-based OS, not to be confused with Windows Phone). 
   | ||
| EE 4G LTE arrives in the UK - 11 cities to start with, but plenty more to follow Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:52 AM PDT We have tested out EE's new 4G LTE service a couple of times already in recent months and have certainly been impressed with the speeds. So, great news today for those of you that live in one of the 11 cities that the service has today gone live in -- namely Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton. EE’s Fibre Broadband service will also today be available to 11 million homes and business premises with download speeds of up to 76Mbps. A few pointers from EE --
Anyone lighting up a 4G phone for the first time today? Let us know how you're getting on! You can catch the full press release below the fold. 
   | ||
| Daily Steals selling unlocked Galaxy Note 2 for $579 Posted: 29 Oct 2012 09:54 PM PDT Here's one for the folks who aren't feeling the draw of the Nexus 4. The Galaxy Note 2 is a killer device, and deals site Daily Steals is offering it at a pretty great price. For just $579.99, this 16GB unlocked European model (GT-N7100) of the Note 2 can be yours in either white or gray. If you're interested in picking up one of these Source: Daily Steals 
   |
Android interface design guru and shirt connoisseur Matias Duarte has taken to Google+ to answer fans' questions about the upcoming 
Soti is preparing to release its Pocket Controller Pro software for Android, in beta.
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android Central - Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers 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