Android and Me |
- Umeox X5 is super thin, especially in the specs department
- To celebrate The Simpsons: Tapped Out release, we’re giving away a Kindle Fire
- Verizon Galaxy S 4 Developer Edition now available for purchase for $649
- Buy a Nexus 4 from T-Mobile, get a free wireless charger
- OUYA finally hits store shelves, starts selling out fast
- Peter Chou eyes HTC resurgence: Give us some time and we will stage a comeback
- Google Play Music All Access: Sign up by June 30 for special $8/mo rate!
- More Motorola pitch leaks; “hello again”
- Sony SmartWatch 2 unveiled: the perfect companion for your Android device
- Sony outs gargantuan Xperia Z Ultra
| Umeox X5 is super thin, especially in the specs department Posted: 25 Jun 2013 12:46 PM PDT The battle for the thinnest smartphone is a little ridiculous, but it’s always great to see the cool devices that come of it. The Huawei Ascend P6 claimed to be the world’s thinnest smartphone at only 6.1mm thick, but the new Umeox X5 blows it away by a good margin. Unfortunately, that’s the only arena where the Umeox X5 holds the trump cards. This new device has a crazy thin body of just 5.6mm thick, which is pretty amazing. But what sacrifices had to be made to achieve that thinness? For starters, the phone is by no means high-end. It has a 5.3-inch display at what is probably 720p resolution, a dual core processor, an 8MP camera and Android Jelly Bean. And you can imagine the tiny battery fitted in there. It may not be the best smartphone experience in the world, but if you’re looking for a phone that will double as a ninja star, this is probably what you need. If you want a great experience, we’d recommend buying something a little more high-end. As always, it’s interesting to see how thin manufacturers can make devices. We don’t yet have a price, but we know it will be released in European countries this summer. Where does your alliance lie in the battle between aesthetics and specifications?        |
| To celebrate The Simpsons: Tapped Out release, we’re giving away a Kindle Fire Posted: 25 Jun 2013 12:15 PM PDT So, you like The Simpsons and you like tablets. What if you could have both? With the release of The Simpsons: Tapped Out on the Amazon Appstore, you can! Fans can play as characters from the show to help rebuild Springfield in a series of different quests that allow you to work with other famous Simpsons characters. In honor of The Simpsons: Tapped Out release, we’re giving away a Simpsons branded 8GB Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet. We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to enter the contest. All you have to do is sign into your Android and Me account and leave a comment on this post telling us why you love The Simpsons. That’s it. One lucky winner will be chosen at random, and they’ll receive a free Kindle Fire to use to their heart’s content. To clear up a couple of things, the contest is open to those who are 18 and older and live in the US. The entry period goes through this Friday, June 28, on which we’ll select a winner. Remember that you have to be signed in with your Android and Me account to enter a valid comment. If you don’t have an account, then you should create one. It’s free and takes about ten seconds of your time. Plus, you get access to all sorts of contests like this if you do sign up. Unless you’re some kind of person who doesn’t like free stuff, hit up the comments below and get entered for your chance to win! Don’t forget to follow the Amazon link below to get your Simpsons: Tapped Out game on. Happy commenting!      |
| Verizon Galaxy S 4 Developer Edition now available for purchase for $649 Posted: 25 Jun 2013 11:35 AM PDT Samsung has always been friendly to the developer community. Their devices are easy to root and are unlocked. Samsung has even reached out to the community. Remember, they gave a free Galaxy S II to Team Hacksung for the development of CyanogenMod for the device. However, carriers have not been equally friendly. The Verizon Galaxy S III was launched with a locked bootloader, and no unlock method was ever provided. The Galaxy Note II met the same fate, sharing a similar lock method. Not only was it upsetting to many fans of modifying devices, it was plain insulting to offer the only models that were locked down. Unfortunately, with the Galaxy S 4, AT&T followed the same path. The two biggest carriers in the US locked their phones down tight. If you want a Galaxy S 4 with an unlocked bootloader but refuse to switch carriers, what do you do? You’ve got two options. Samsung has just released the Galaxy S 4 Developer Edition for Verizon Wireless. This device will be identical to the model sold in Verizon stores, but will come with no bloatware and a fully unlocked bootloader for your modding pleasure. It’ll set you back $649.99, so you’ll have to pony up big money for it. Strangely, the AT&T developer edition model is not currently out yet. We saw it at one point, but it’s not on the site anymore. Hopefully Samsung will release it soon. There is another option available to the daring and those willing to void their warranty. After the release of the Verizon Galaxy S 4, a bootloader unlock method was unofficially released. It’s a hack, so it may very well be dangerous and will definitely void your warranty. It isn’t something you should do if you’re not comfortable with it, but the option is there. The fact that the developer edition is necessary at all is sad, but that’s the kind of carrier-controlled world we live in. At least we have a means to get a bootloader unlocked device in the first place, right? But tell us, will you buy a developer edition device off contract? If you want to, hit the source link.      |
| Buy a Nexus 4 from T-Mobile, get a free wireless charger Posted: 25 Jun 2013 11:20 AM PDT If you’ve been trying to decide on whether to buy a Nexus 4 on a payment plan from T-Mobile, there’s no better time than now. For a limited time, each purchase of a white 16GB Nexus 4 comes with a wireless charger, a $60 value. When the Nexus 4 first launched, it was much cheaper to purchase the device outright from Google Play. That’s not necessarily the case at the moment. The T-Mobile white Nexus 4 comes with 16GB of storage and a wireless charger for a grand total of $408 upfront, or $20 a month with $0, yes zero, money down. For the same configuration at Google Play, you’d pay $350 for the phone and another $60 for the charger. It’s actually $2 more expensive to buy a white Nexus 4 and wireless charger from Google Play and you don’t have the option to pay it off over time. As far as we’re concerned, the Nexus 4 is still an amazing device more than capable of holding its own against the competition. And it’s still guaranteed to get another couple big updates out of Google before it hits the end of the line. Don’t wait to jump on this deal.      |
| OUYA finally hits store shelves, starts selling out fast Posted: 25 Jun 2013 10:34 AM PDT The OUYA console started as nothing but a Kickstarter, asking for a steep $950,000. However, it reached that goal in under a day. With a whole month to raise money, the project ended up with over $8.5 million. They had exactly what they needed to deliver what they advertised, and so we waited. The dev kits were created, and developers received both praise and complaints. There were issues with the controllers, so the OUYA team redid them entirely. They focused on finishing the software, improving it little by little. A single developer worked on the parental lock system, finishing it in time for launch. And then launch day was upon us. Today is the big day, and at $99.99 per console, it’s time to see if OUYA will actually gain popularity. Unsurprisingly, it is completely sold out at Target. Amazon is “temporarily out of stock.” Best Buy doesn’t have them in most stores in my area. All signs point to great success. Fortunately, it seems that you can still buy them on the OUYA site (hit the source link for that). Unfortunately, some Kickstarter backers haven’t received their consoles yet. The OUYA team cites shipping issues, It seems that most of those who didn’t get their consoles were international backers, so shipping could indeed be the issue. We hope whatever the hang-up is will be resolved soon. When you receive a tracking number, you expect it to work immediately, but sometimes these tracking numbers don't do that. The reason for this is that when the product leaves Hong Kong, the tracking process does not initiate until it arrives for the first scan at your country's local depot. As a result, you could have a period of up to 10 days within which the product appears in limbo. This, we all agree, is very frustrating.Ken StephensOUYA We also hope production will be able to keep up with OUYA’s popularity. It’s not easy when you’re a small company and need to produce large amounts of product. But the company seems to be doing a pretty good job, and we’re happy to see the console selling. The cheap, Android-powered, hackable console could change the game market quite a bit, but we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out. For now, we’ll just enjoy ourselves some video games. Did you buy an OUYA?      |
| Peter Chou eyes HTC resurgence: Give us some time and we will stage a comeback Posted: 25 Jun 2013 10:27 AM PDT Whether you like the HTC One or not, you have to agree that the phone has had a successful launch. It’s currently available on three of the largest service providers here in the US, with a Verizon launch pegged for sometime this summer. In the past 18 months, HTC has seen its stock price tumble nearly 80 percent as sales and profits decreased and competitors like Samsung stole HTC’s dominant market share in the Android space. During HTC’s annual shareholder meetings, CEO Peter Chou committed to growing HTC’s market share and reclaiming the company’s position as a global smartphone leader. Heavy research and development efforts mark 2013 as a watershed year for HTC. The company is currently planning a new global marketing strategy in hopes of regaining its crown. We managed to maintain a 4-percent global smartphone market share last year and we are determined to do our best to expand the percentage to 10 to 15 percent in the future. Give us some time and we will stage a comeback. We will redouble our efforts this year to further enhance our brand recognition and loyalty around the world.Peter ChouHTC It’s unclear how long it will take for HTC to grow its market share to 15 percent, but it is clear that HTC will continue its push to develop more products like the HTC One. Do you think Peter Chou is being too ambitious by expecting to double or even triple HTC’s current market share?      |
| Google Play Music All Access: Sign up by June 30 for special $8/mo rate! Posted: 25 Jun 2013 09:17 AM PDT Google Play Music All Access was announced at Google I/O 2013. It’s an awesome service that gives you all the music Google has to offer for a monthly fee. It also comes with customizable radio channels. The current price is $7.99 a month for unlimited music streaming and radio, which is a great price considering how much music they have to offer.
At the end of June, however, the price will be raised to $9.99 a month. If you sign up before the June 30, your rate will be locked in at $8 a month. If you’re serious about using All Access, then we highly suggest you sign up now and keep the subscription going. Signing up will give you a 30-day free trial, so if you don’t like it, it won’t cost you a cent. Go try it out. If you do like it, you can take advantage of the discounted rate. Are any of you planning to keep using it?      |
| More Motorola pitch leaks; “hello again” Posted: 25 Jun 2013 08:21 AM PDT After last night’s cryptic leak about a possible ad campaign for Motorola, we’re back today with some more info. Once again posted on B.A. Bäkken's Behance page, these pictures present a different story. A story of Motorola’s return; emphasized with the phrase “hello again”. The mock-ups tie in with the ones from last night. They’re in a very different style that implies the new Motorola will reinvent the way it looks and works. As you can see, the mock-ups are simple and typographical with a pleasant color palette of slightly muted colors. They bear a striking contrast to the dark and bold design that we saw in the farewell mock-ups. But the text in the mock-ups plainly tells us that there will be massive changes. Phrases like “Nothing won’t change” and “What could change? How about everything” have not a hint of subtlety about them. Unfortunately, this set of mock-ups didn’t include any sort of date to give us a hint. But if this set of rumors and leaks is to be believed, then we should see some big changes coming from Motorola. How will this affect Motorola’s plans for the Moto X phone? We have no idea. What is Motorola going to look like when they come back? We don’t know that either. All we can do at the moment is speculate about what this could mean. With that in mind, what do you guys think could be in store for Motorola? What are your predictions?                    |
| Sony SmartWatch 2 unveiled: the perfect companion for your Android device Posted: 25 Jun 2013 07:11 AM PDT Move over Pebble, the leader in smartwatch technology is back with a new device and the market power to dominate the space. The Sony Smartwatch 2 has officially been unveiled, sporting a new design, new interface and a cornucopia of new features. Specs include a 1.6-inch (220 x 176) touch display, NFC for easy pairing with your Android phone, Bluetooth 3.0 wrapped inside a dust and water resistant (IP57) aluminum body with a design reminiscent of the Sony Xperia Z. Sony will also include a stainless steel wrist band with the Smartwatch 2, but users will be able to personalize the device with any standard 24mm strap. Similar to last year’s device, the Sony Smartwatch 2 allows users to receive notifications, answer calls, control music, track their workout and even read synced emails and notifications when the device is not connected to a phone. The user interface has received a face lift that mimics many of the familiar elements found in Android. Sony claims the Smartwatch 2 features the “longest battery life for a smartwatch,” which translates to 4 days of moderate use or 7 days for those who simply use the device as a standard watch. Pricing for the device has not yet been announced, but the Sony Smartwatch 2 is currently scheduled for a global retail launch in September of this year. GalleryShow Press Release Introducing Sony SmartWatch 2 – the world’s first water-resistant smartwatch with NFC connectivity*
25th June 2013, Mobile Asia Expo, Shanghai – Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) today introduces Sony SmartWatch 2 SW2, the most advanced smartwatch available*. Sony SmartWatch 2 is a second screen for your Android smartphone that, as well as enhancing existing phone functionality, offers unique new benefits. Combining form and function in a sleek design, it serves as a multi-functional watch, notifier, Android app interface and phone remote control, all-in-one. Openness with Android
SmartWatch 2 is also both sleek and reassuringly robust thanks to its water and dust resistant design, giving you the freedom to enjoy it on the beach or simply on the go – come rain or shine. An increasing market in wearable tech “Sony is the proud leader in the smartwatch market** since introducing our first Bluetooth watch in 2007,” says Stefan K Persson, Head of Companion Products at Sony Mobile Communications. “Competitors are only now launching first generation devices, while we are already launching a 3rd generation device with all the insight gained from over half a “The future of wearable devices is incredibly bright with analyst research predicting 41 million ‘smart’ watches will be sold by 2016,” continues Persson. “We have over 200 unique apps dedicated for Sony SmartWatch with over one million downloads to date and we are continuing to work with our strong developer network to deliver ever more compelling smartwatch experiences.” It’s easy and convenient to access notifications from your wrist such as messages, calls, email, Facebook™/Twitter™, Calendar, or use it as a remote for your Walkman™ or other digital media player. This wireless accessory is ideal for pairing with large-screen devices, such as the newly announced Xperia™ Z Ultra, in situations which call for discrete usage. SmartWatch 2 introduces new features as a natural successor to the current Sony SmartWatch such as NFC connectivity for one-touch pairing, stunning premium design and a range of technologies including higher resolution for sharper viewing, better visibility even in sunlight, longer battery stamina, more intuitive interface, standalone watch functionality and a wide range of pre-installed and recommended apps. When not connected to your phone, SmartWatch 2 works as a standalone digital watch. Read previously received notifications, access the time, set your alarm or even use as a light when searching for your keys. SmartWatch 2 can also be personalised with any standard 24mm wristband and new Sony watchstraps will soon be available for further expression of your personal style. Using groundbreaking design, Sony continues to introduce new technologies and has the largest range of NFC accessories available from wireless headsets to portable speakers, TVs, SmartTags and SmartWatch. Key features for Sony SmartWatch 2
Sony SmartWatch 2 SW2 will be available worldwide from September 2013.      |
| Sony outs gargantuan Xperia Z Ultra Posted: 25 Jun 2013 06:55 AM PDT The rumor mill has recently spent some time churning out reports on a huge Sony phablet dubbed the Xperia Z Ultra. True to speculation, the Xperia Z Ultra is now official. Sporting an expansive 6.44-inch 1080p Triluminous display, the Xperia Z Ultra is a behemoth of device. It’s touting some incredible specs, too, with a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM, an 8MP rear camera, 16GB storage, microSD card slot, 3,00mAh battery and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Even with all that packed inside, the Xperia Z Ultra is one of the thinnest phones on the market at just 6.5mm thin and a weight of 212 grams. Just like its younger brother, the Xperia Z Ultra features waterproofing and dust resistance, so you needn’t worry about dropping it into the pool. On the software side, Sony has included their own Timescape UI with a new battery saving feature called Stamina Mode. Stamina Mode allows the phone to turn off or reduce certain services to help conserve battery life during periods of inactivity. Sony is assuring that you’ll still receive all your notifications and that everything will revive itself as soon as you turn the display back on. Gallery
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra does feature handwriting recognition and support for capacitive styluses, with an added perk. In the above video, you’ll hear Sony say that you can use any pencil with the device. As demonstrated, it’s a cool feature that one-ups the competition. Sony also highlighted one of their accessories for the Xperia Z Ultra. The SBH52, a small Bluetooth device that can clip to your clothing, allows you to both take calls and listen to your music. To connect it to your phone, simply tap the two together and NFC initiates the Bluetooth connection. The accessory is splash-proof and can be used with headphones or can be held up to your face when taking calls. Sony has been a bit tight-lipped about pricing and launch details, but they did say that there will be a global release in Q3. The Xperia Z Ultra will be available in your choice of three colors: black, white and purple. Now that it’s been made official, how many of you are eager to get your hands on an Xperia Z Ultra?      |
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