Android Phone Fans |
- Google Sending Android Developers Subpoena Warnings Over FBI Investigation
- Google Shows Off Google+ In New Video – Your Friends and Family Still Aren’t Going To Use It
- Sega Teases Zaxxon Escape In New Trailer – Coming Soon To Android [Video]
- Heads Up: You Can Now Search Inside of Gmail Attachments – Grab Your Tinfoil Hat
- Google to buy face recognition company Viewdle
- AT&T launches new prepaid smartphone plan for $65
- Sharp begins production of 5 inch 1080p displays designed for smartphones
- ASUS Transformer Prime gets port of Open WebOS
- Google finally edges Microsoft’s market cap, still has insurmountable climb to best Apple
- Adobe Reader XI for tablets will include documents signing, annotations, and more
- GameKlip Review
- Samsung Galaxy Note 2 now available in the UK from Three, O2, and Vodafone
- After delay, Jelly Bean update arrives for ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity
- Official: Sony Xperia TL headed to AT&T’s 4G LTE network
- Jelly Bean leaks for Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S3
| Google Sending Android Developers Subpoena Warnings Over FBI Investigation Posted: 01 Oct 2012 07:28 PM PDT Now, we’re not exactly sure what’s going on here but our inbox is exploding with developer friends who have been receiving emails from what appears to be Google’s legal team via the FBI, notifying them of a subpoena hitting Google. Essentially, it’s Google giving Android developers fair warning that they were forced to give out contact information and saying the FBI may follow up with developers individually as part of a subpoena. We’ve called the Atlanta FBI and confirmed the E-Mails are 100% legit.
The representative we spoke with at the Atlanta FBI immediately asked if I was calling in reference to the Google E-Mail after identifying myself as a Phandroid writer. Without reference number, she confirmed the e-mail was real but that Google should not have sent it. Apparently they jumped the gun and she ensured that developers have nothing to worry about. If the FBI determines any of these developers are victims, they may follow up, but she insisted that developers should act as if the E-Mail was never sent in the first place. We’ll have to wait for an official word from Google regarding the issue before we can cofirm, but we can’t help but wonder if this has something to do with the drama surrounding Google and the rival Aliyun mobile OS giving its users access to a plethora of pirated Google Play apps. Did Google simply act too fast? Or did they simply think developers deserved to be notified immediately regarding the release of their contact information? Or was there a miscommunication between Google and the FBI? We can’t be sure until we hear further official word from Google and/or the FBI… but you can be sure that we’ll keep you posted. Thanks, Anton and everyone who sent this in!
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| Google Shows Off Google+ In New Video – Your Friends and Family Still Aren’t Going To Use It Posted: 01 Oct 2012 06:28 PM PDT I’ve had this little talk with you guys in the past, but it seems that while we’re all fans of Android, that doesn’t mean we worship every service Google pushes out of their HQ as some sort of golden calf — and I think Google+ is one of them. Now I’m not saying Google+ will suffer the same fate as Buzz (they seem to be throwing a lot more effort and money into G+ — I just don’t see it taking off as the new Myspace anytime soon. That’s not to say that Google+ isn’t awesome. I honestly believe it’s leaps and bounds better than Facebook (but only a hair better than If nothing else, let this be a rallying cry for all the Android evangelists out there. It’s really up to us to get our less tech savvy friends and family on Google+ because lets face it, without them, Google+ will be nothing more than a feature packed ghost town.
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| Sega Teases Zaxxon Escape In New Trailer – Coming Soon To Android [Video] Posted: 01 Oct 2012 05:35 PM PDT There’s a good chance you haven’t the slightest clue on what “Zaxxon” was, or how it changed video games in the 80′s. Perhaps I’m showing my age a bit, but I remember going to my grandma’s house and there was 2 games we’d play on her dusty old ColecoVision — Donkey Kong and Zaxxon. Developed by Sega back in ’82, Zaxxon was one of the world’s first isometric space shooters and guess what? It looks like it’s about to get a long overdue sequel/remake for your Android device. Sega uploaded a very brief teaser video for the upcoming title and while it doesn’t give us a chance to view actual gameplay, it does give us a quick peak at the games visuals which look pretty impressive. But then again, maybe I’m just looking though nostalgia goggles. What do y’all think? [Via GameFans]
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| Heads Up: You Can Now Search Inside of Gmail Attachments – Grab Your Tinfoil Hat Posted: 01 Oct 2012 05:11 PM PDT Alright, so either you’re going to love this new “feature” or you’re going to never want to send emails again. Apparently, Google has upgraded their indexing of user attachments inside Gmail that goes beyond the searching of text inside TXT or HTML files, adding Word Docs, Powerpoint, PDF, and other formats to the mix as well. That means if you someone sends you a Word Doc, you no longer have to remember the subject or text of the email — instead you can just search for keywords found inside the Word Doc itself. Awesome? You bet. A little scary? Well, there’s that too. How do you guys feel about Google’s new indexing of your email attachments? [GoogleOperatingSystem | Lifehacker]
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| Google to buy face recognition company Viewdle Posted: 01 Oct 2012 04:03 PM PDT Google went on a bit of a shopping spree as they’ve snapped up another technology firm that should help them in a few different areas. It’s being reported that Google has purchased Viewdle, a software firm that specializes in facial recognition technology. Facial recognition is nothing new — in fact, there is a face unlock feature in Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean — but there’s no secret that there is always room for improvement. Unfortunately we can’t be too sure of Google’s reason to want them, but an automatic tagging system for Google’s social sites like Picasa and Google+ quickly come to mind. The news has not yet been confirmed by either party, and even when/if it does go down Google and Viewdle might not be interested in disclosing too many details. Any other thoughts as to why Google would want Viewdle? Make your thoughts known in the comments below.
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| AT&T launches new prepaid smartphone plan for $65 Posted: 01 Oct 2012 02:53 PM PDT AT&T has announced a new plan for those who aren’t keen on signing contracts but want to use smartphones. It’s an unlimited text and voice plan for $65 per month and it includes 1GB of data. AT&T will still offer their old plans of $50 for unlimited talk and text; and $25 for 250 minutes, unlimited text and the option to add a data plan at additional cost. While AT&T’s calling this plan affordable it’s still rather expensive compared to offerings from some of the other big guys. It’s relatively affordable, really, so don’t go expecting huge value unless AT&T is your only option for some reason. Read on for full press details.
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| Sharp begins production of 5 inch 1080p displays designed for smartphones Posted: 01 Oct 2012 01:56 PM PDT With the vast amount of innovation we’ve seen in the mobile space over the past few years you’d think these companies have already achieved everything under the sun, but Sharp is looking to push the bar even further now. 5 inch+ phones are nothing new thanks to the first phone of that size — the Dell Streak — and the decidedly more popular Samsung Galaxy Note, but to date those phones haven’t been able to achieve screen resolutions higher than 720p. Sharp has been working to change that, however, with a 5 inch 1080p HD display designed to be used in smartphones, and it looks like they’re finally ready to go into production. With a 1920×1080 resolution and a pixel density of 443 this should be one of the most sharp looking (no pun intended) displays there are. Sharp does produce its own line of Android smartphones but like Samsung it has no problem offering components to competitors. We could see these displays in major smartphones by the beginning of next year, though we expect adoption rate to be a tad slow. OEMs would have to consider the cost of the display, and we imagine most of them are living happily enough with 720p solutions at the helm. It’s exciting news regardless, and it gives us yet another glimpse at what to expect from the mobile space in 2o13.
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| ASUS Transformer Prime gets port of Open WebOS Posted: 01 Oct 2012 01:37 PM PDT Although WebOS seems to be a mobile operating system on life support, it’s no surprise there is still some interest. It is a very good operating system, and had Palm and HP not dropped the ball on the Pre series and the TouchPad respectively it could have seriously challenged the market as a premier operating system. Despite all that, developers are still making it accessible through Open WebOS, a development effort that will keep the operating system ticking on modern devices. The only problem with WebOS in general is still its lack of developer support, and with a very limited userbase to target that problem won’t be eradicated anytime soon. A new device is being supported as the ASUS Transformer Prime has gotten its very own port of Open WebOS. As exciting a development as it is we have to let that excitement die down for just a bit. The port is not yet ready for consumption by the general public, and to avoid being blamed for WW3 Steven Troughton, the main developer responsible for the port, will not release it at this time. It’s coming, though, and you should do yourself a favor by following this Twitter account for news on its arrival. [via WebOS Nation]
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| Google finally edges Microsoft’s market cap, still has insurmountable climb to best Apple Posted: 01 Oct 2012 12:46 PM PDT Today marks one historical event that Google will probably be celebrating. For the first time ever, Google now has a market cap higher than rival Microsoft’s. Investors pushed Google about $1 billion ahead of the Washington tech giant with $248.82 billion for Google and $247.23 billion for Microsoft as of the time of this writing. Google is said to have reached this point because of their ability to offer a multitude of successful computing products, most of which are designed to drive internet traffic back into Google’s bread and butter: ads and search. No one can deny Google’s meteoric rise to dominance in the smartphone space with Android. After contributing to the efforts that made Windows Mobile and Blackberry OS nearly irrelevant, and after overtaking its biggest competitor Apple, Google has created a place for themselves in one of the most important technological markets there is. Mobile is so big that Apple currently commands a staggering $617.76 billion market cap, much of which the iPhone is responsible for. Apple doesn’t hold much weight in desktop computing compared to Microsoft, but its status as both software and hardware vendors, its hugely lucrative iTunes business, and its aforementioned mobile success alongside strong brand loyalty will make it difficult for Google to hit that next milestone. Apple would have to purposely sabotage its own company to come down from that pedestal anytime soon. Regardless, today’s milestone is no doubt big for Google. Even if it turns out to be short lived, this changing of the guard will forever be acknowledged as the moment where Microsoft finally realized that mobile computing and a focus on strong internet services is just as important as the traditional desktop model. [via Financial Times]
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| Adobe Reader XI for tablets will include documents signing, annotations, and more Posted: 01 Oct 2012 11:38 AM PDT Adobe has announced their new version of Acrobat/Reader. While the desktop apps have gotten some nice upgrades, we at Phandroid are obviously only interested in things that pertain to our favorite smartphones and tablets. The mobile version of Adobe Reader XI, or 11, will offer users the ability to digitally sign PDF documents for those moments when you just can’t print and fax a document. That alone is great, but we’re also getting the ability to add annotations and comments, fill in forms using radio buttons, check boxes and text boxes, as well as the ability to save those forms. Unfortunately all of this is only for tablets at the moment, but Adobe hasn’t ruled out the possiblity of bringing these features to the smartphone version. The software isn’t quite available yet, and Adobe hasn’t given further details on when to expect it. It shouldn’t take very long to get this rolled out to users, though, so keep an eye out on their site for more information. Read on for full press details.
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2012 08:44 AM PDT It wasn’t too long ago I told you guys about an accessory for your Android device that, when combined with the power of your Sony PlayStation 3 Sixaxis controller, transforms your device into a self sustained mini-console. It’s called the GameKlip and I know I wasn’t the only one anxious to get my hands on one. Many of our readers were also intrigued by the idea of the GameKlip, even though some were a bit more apprehensive about throwing down their hard earned money on a piece of plastic. Would it even work? How do you get the Sixaxis controller paired with the Android device? These are all questions I’ll be in answering in my review for the GameKlip. HardwareWhen you order your GameKlip, it will arrive inside a simple ziplock bag and if you’re real lucky, Ryan French — the guy who makes the GameKlip — will even throw in a complimentary roll of sweet tarts. It’s a nice, down-home touch and reminds you this ain’t some big, cold, corporate corporation that just wants your pennies into their bucket. The GameKlip is available only for a handful of devices (detailed on their site) and comes in 2 versions — wired and wireless. The wired version works out-of-the-box with a few Android devices and quickly connects your device to the Sixaxis controller via a USB on-the-go cable. Once connected, everything will/should work like magic without the need for root or other funny business. The wireless model, however, is a bit more tricky. Wireless requires a separate paid application from the Google Play Store (not in any way affiliated with GameKlip), another program you’ll need to install on your computer (to pair the controller), and root permissions on your device in order to get everything up and running. It was a long drawn out process and definitely not the most user friendly set up ever. But as I mentioned in my review video, can’t knock the GameKlip for a finicky app they didn’t create. Design and Build QualityI can’t stress this enough: the GameKlip isn’t being massed produced by some large accessory manufacturer like MadCatz or Nyko. Definitely more of a mom n’ pops operation, think of this more like that old timer who grows and bottles his own jam at the county fair. When it comes to build quality, essentially the GameKlip is a big hunk of crude plastic, molded to fit onto a PS3 controller, without clasps to secure your phone to it. There are no moving parts or joints, it definitely wont fit in your pocket, it’s not the best quality plastic, there are no soft touch finishes or padding — just a simple solution that solves a problem with Android gaming. So how well does it function? Let’s get to that. The top of the GameKlip where you’ll be mounting your device features felt along the clasps to keep the plastic from scratching your device, and to provide for better hold. I can’t help but wonder if rubber wouldn’t have been better suited, but the felt gets the job done (just barely). The glue that holds the felt into place is far from permanent and it’s easy to imagine that somewhere in the future, they’ll fall off and get lost forever. Of course, replacing the felt isn’t exactly difficult and just about everyone’s got some super glue in a junk drawer should it ever come to that. I didn’t like how some of the gooey glue transferred onto my device, but it came off without too much fuss so it’s hardly worth mentioning. The only real problem I had with the GameKlip’s design is that it didn’t hold onto the Galaxy Nexus as shown in the creators promo video (using a different device). GameKlip’s website has you choose your specific Android device for best fit, but that didn’t seem to matter much when it came to the Galaxy Nexus. The left handle of the GameKlip was never able to get a very good hold of the Galaxy Nexus (where the top of the device tapers off and gets really thin) and with a little shake, the Nexus slips right out of the GameKlip. The only time this would ever be a an issue is if holding the controller and device upside down, which unless you’re a trapeze artist — will probably be a rare occurrence. Again, it’s only because of the odd shape unique to the Galaxy Nexus that this was even an issue, but could have been easily been fixed if the grips were just placed up a little higher on the device and/or made of rubber. Keep it upright and all’s fine. SoftwareFor those that don’t want to be bothered by the hassle of carrying around (or losing) a separate USB dongle, wireless is definitely the way to go. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before — you’re going to need a rooted Android device for it to work. If yours fits that bill, the Sixaxis controller can be paired using a variety of methods and with a few apps found in the Play Store. None are really as simple as “install and go,” with most requiring the downloading of separate software to a desktop computer in order to pair the controller with your phone or phablet. Ultimately, going wireless involves more steps and some additional money as well; given apps like “Sixaxis Controller” cost around $2 to download from the Play Store. Stay tuned for a full walkthrough video and post in the future for getting everything set up (I’ll also update this review with the video). ConclusionWhile the GameKlip is far from perfect, in a way, it’s almost not meant to be. It’s simply a quick and easy solution for Android gamers who need a little more precision from their smartphone while gaming on-the-go. Really, the the design and concept of the GameKlip can only go up from here. Can’t say I would be surprised to find other, big named manufacturers jump on a similar design of their own. Honestly, I’d recommend the GameKlip to anyone who plays more than the occasional Angry Birds on his phone. If this review sold you on the GameKlip, you can get your own — $15 for the wireless, $22 for the wired w/dongle) via the GameKlip website (linked below). [GameKlip]
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| Samsung Galaxy Note 2 now available in the UK from Three, O2, and Vodafone Posted: 01 Oct 2012 08:05 AM PDT Samsung’s second take on the phablet form factor has officially launched in the UK as our calendars turn from September to October. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is available today from Three UK, O2, and Vodafone. For Three, the hone will be available for €69 when purchased in conjunction with a €34 or €36 per month service plan or for €499 as a pay-as-you-go option. O2 and Vodafone have not released further pricing details.
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| After delay, Jelly Bean update arrives for ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity Posted: 01 Oct 2012 07:05 AM PDT Originally schedule to launch last Friday, the 28th of September, ASUS announced that the Android 4.1 update for their Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700T) would be delayed until sometime this week. The company’s software department must have worked their tails off over the weekend, as reports are rolling in this morning of Jelly Bean’s arrival for the top-tier slate. We have the visual confirmation straight from our own Android Forums. The update comes just days after ASUS launched the same new software for the popular Transformer Prime tablet. No word on when or if the Transformer Pad TF300 will receive the same treatment. Head on over to the link below to join in on the discussion and let us know what you think of Android 4.1 on the Transformer Pad Infinity! [via AndroidForums]
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| Official: Sony Xperia TL headed to AT&T’s 4G LTE network Posted: 01 Oct 2012 06:56 AM PDT The Sony Xperia TL will soon find a home on AT&T’s 4G LTE network, the carrier announced today, and it’s bringing along plenty of exclusive content from the upcoming James Bond flick Skyfall. The Xperia TL is AT&T’s version of the Sony Xperia T, a phone first announced back at IFA in early September, and features an identical hardware profile. This includes a 4.6-inch 720p HD Reality display, 12MP camera, and a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor. The Ice Cream Sandwich handset will come bundled with Skyfall-inspired ringtones, wallpapers, and other goodies mirroring Sony’s initiative to brand the phone among James Bond’s many gadgets in the upcoming film (produced by Sony Pictures). The phone will also ship with a sample SmartTag, which can be programmed using the Xperia TL’s NFC chip. No precise details on pricing and availability were released.
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| Jelly Bean leaks for Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S3 Posted: 01 Oct 2012 05:58 AM PDT Just can’t wait for the official Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy S3 to come barreling down the pipeline? If you are the owner of Samsung’s flagship smartphone on Sprint’s network, you can take Android 4.1 for a spin now. The official update has leaked for the carrier’s SPH-L710 by way of XDA Forums complete with Samsung’s custom TouchWiz interface. This the JRO03L build of Jelly Bean, Android 4.1.1. As would be expected, the folks at XDA have already created a few variants on the ROM, including Odex and DeOdexed versions while adding in root access by default. This doesn’t appear to be a final build, as users have reported issues with the stock browser, Google Now, and the phone’s gyroscope sensor. Head on over to the source link below for more details and download links. [via XDA Forums | Thanks, Eric!]
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