Android Central

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• Sprint and Dish fight over breakup fee, SoftBank increases offer
• Notification Center settings in latest Chrome Canary for Mac
• Talk Mobile 2013: The State of Mobile Gaming Survey
• Gmail, Google's take on the email system
• McAfee introduces 'Security Innovations' app to reduce device loss and theft
• Have Verizon FiOS? Now you have streaming TV in an Android app
• President Peña Nieto signs law to reform Mexican telecom industry
• Android Central App gets dark theme, font size options in Version 1.2!
• Google closes acquisition of Waze
• C Spire to carry the HTC One
• Moving apps to the SD card on the Samsung Galaxy S4
• NYKO unveils NVIDIA Shield accessories at E3
• Deal of the Day: LLOYD FX Case for LG Nexus 4
• Galaxy Ace 3 tipped for July launch at Carphone Warehouse
• White Ascend P2 up for pre-order at Phones4u
• New APIs to allow Chrome to interact with your iTunes library
• Inside the different Android Versions
• Paranoid Android team open-sources its 'Halo' multitasking feature
• Apple's iOS 7 'copied' everyone - and that's a good thing

Sprint and Dish fight over breakup fee, SoftBank increases offer Posted: 11 Jun 2013 04:19 PM PDT Dish keeps pushing, but SoftBank has more cash on the table The ever-changing saga between Sprint, SoftBank and Dish continues today with new information regarding both talks between Sprint and Dish as well as a revised offer coming out of Japan. Dish, which has an offer on the table for Sprint to the tune of $25.5 billion is in advanced talks with the carrier that may end soon if specifics of the deal cannot be agreed upon. The current hang-up is over a proposed "breakup fee" -- Dish is offering a fee of $1 billion, while Sprint is expecting something more to the tune of $3 billion. Much like the one that AT&T had penned with T-Mobile, the breakup fee requires that Dish pay Sprint if its deal is not approved by the necessary regulatory agencies. Sprint wants to make sure that going through the regulatory approval process with Dish will be worth its while, especially considering that the regulatory bodies seem to approve of the Sprint-SoftBank deal already. Meanwhile, in a last-ditch effort to outdo Dish in terms of raw cash thrown at Sprint, SoftBank has changed the structure of its bid to make it more appealing. The Japanese carrier is now offering a full $21.6 billion for a 78-percent share of Sprint, an increase from $20.1 billion and 70-percent previously. It has also increased the cash portion of the offer to a total of $16.64 billion, or $5.50 a share, which now beats Dish on a cash-basis. Being the capital-strapped carrier that it is, Sprint may see the increase in cash as just what it needs to quickly expand its LTE network after the deal closes. Sprint is swaying in the direction of SoftBank for the moment, turning down Dish's current offer and giving it until just June 18th to give its "best and final offer" for the carrier. Indications are that this is also the most SoftBank is willing to budge, having added to and revised the terms of its deal multiple times since first announcing that it planned to step into the U.S. market. Let's remember that Dish still has a play on the table for Clearwire, which could cause more headaches if Sprint chooses to go with another buyer. Source: WSJ; Bloomberg

Notification Center settings in latest Chrome Canary for Mac Posted: 11 Jun 2013 02:59 PM PDT A way to shut off some of those Chrome Notification pop-ups finally lands on OSX Chrome Canary, the bleeding edge version of Chrome designed for ultra-early adopters, is a great platform to preview features that will be making their way into the Chrome stable channel some day. The Notification Center for Chrome is one of those features, and now Canary for the Mac has a much improved version, complete with settings. Chrome notifications are those toast message boxes that can appear for certain apps, like Gmail or Google Drive. They're designed to be a little bit of a nag so that you notice them, but quickly disappear after you've had time to look. They're generally a good thing, until you get overloaded by too many apps that want to tell you things. This has been in the Windows and Chrome OS builds of Canary for a while, and the improved Notification Center is expected to appear in the Linux beta channel and Canary for Linux soon.  If you want to give Canary a try, you can safely install it alongside any Chrome channel. Click here to give it a look. Via: OMGChrome

Talk Mobile 2013: The State of Mobile Gaming Survey Posted: 11 Jun 2013 02:22 PM PDT We're fans of numbers and quantifiable data here at Mobile Nations, and so following after the first week of Talk Mobile 2013, we're turning to our good friend the survey to help compile some data. We looked at mobile gaming and consoles, the dark underbelly of mobile gaming, multiplayer mobile gaming, why our current games aren't better, and what the future of mobile gaming might look like. And now it's time to put some numbers behind all that, thus the survey. Before you head off for the survey, however, we wanted to tell you that later this week we will be posting a Talk Mobile 2013 Week 1 wrap-up podcast, as well as highlighting the best comments from the week - and recognizing the very best among those. But back to the survey - you'll find that here. And notice that putting in your email address while you complete the survey enters you for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Best Buy. Is it a blatant incentive? Perhaps, but at least it's not an in-app purchase beckoning for you to hit the buy button to make this level that much easier. Click here to take the Talk Mobile 2013 State of Mobile Gaming survey!

Gmail, Google's take on the email system Posted: 11 Jun 2013 01:25 PM PDT Quickly becoming the standard by which all email clients are measured, Gmail was around long before Android. Starting in 2004 as a web-based email service with a fresh design and drastically more online storage than its competitors, Gmail took over as an email service with incredible mind share. With the launch of the HTC G1 in 2008, having a Gmail account took on new meaning as your window to connect to all services around Android and Google. We've come a long way since the G1, but Gmail is still an immensely integral part of the Google ecosystem. Even as Google has branched out to include dozens of services to be tied to what is now a "Google Account", the popular vernacular of referring to "my Gmail account" remains. Google prides itself on making Android devices a fantastic platform for integrating and managing email that comes to your Gmail account, particularly by staying up-to-date with new design and features for the app as Android is updated. Shortly after each new version of Android is released, Gmail is one of the first apps to follow-up the OS update with a new design. In keeping with the times, Google has periodically added new features such as increased storage and integration with other Google apps. Above you can see a video walkthrough of the latest major revision of the Gmail for Android app, version 4.5. You can also find more stories about Gmail below. read more

McAfee introduces 'Security Innovations' app to reduce device loss and theft Posted: 11 Jun 2013 01:12 PM PDT Building on its history of making security applications that cover a broad range of use cases and features, McAfee released a new app called "McAfee Security Innovations" that aims specifically to help users not lose or have their device stolen. The app does so by working with the fact that users often have more than one device, letting them link the devices together to alert the user whenever the devices are more than 30 feet apart at any time. The so-called "Smart Perimeter" feature will set off an alarm if the devices become separated and let you track down whichever one is out of your possession. The app also includes two more quick pieces of security by way of a safe QR code reader to check for malicious material before redirecting you to its content, as well as a "Data Vault" to lock specific data on the device with a PIN. McAfee Security Innovations is available for free in the Play Store at the link above.

Have Verizon FiOS? Now you have streaming TV in an Android app Posted: 11 Jun 2013 12:00 PM PDT Verizon today announced the availability of an Android app for its FiOS customers, allowing them to stream 75 channels of live TV, manage the DVR and watch FiOS video-on-demand. If you're at home, the app also will serve as a remote control for your box. Verizon notes that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1 are supported, as well as what we presume is the Galaxy Nexus and a few other phones for which, frankly, Verizon appears to have made up names. (Supports the "Nexus 1" and "Moto DroidX" Really?) The app runs on Android 2.3.3 and up. Source: Verizon

President Peña Nieto signs law to reform Mexican telecom industry Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:25 AM PDT Potentially drastic changes will be made to increase competition among communications companies Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has signed into law some pretty strong legislation that aims to cut down on the monopolistic practices of telecom companies in the country. Taking aim at companies such as América Móvil and Grupo Televisa, the law creates a new regulator agency, called Ifetel, that will oversee placing regulations on large companies in the sector to promote competition. Currently, América Móvil is far and away the largest mobile carrier in Mexico with nearly 70-percent of all mobile subscribers. New regulations will aim to limit the amount América Móvil can throw its weight around against the rest of the industry by eliminating its ability to have exclusivity for device launches and even setting rates for calls between carriers so that the incumbent network pays more to complete them. The legislation goes so far as to give the government the power to force companies to sell off assets to reduce their advantage in the marketplace. Some may think these regulations are drastic, but given the telecom landscape in the country Peña Nieto sees it as the right thing to do. Competing carriers such as Telefónica -- which has approximately 20-percent market share -- are happy to see any progress made towards leveling the playing field. Source: WSJ

Android Central App gets dark theme, font size options in Version 1.2! Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:54 AM PDT New font sizes, read/unread options also available in this latest update It's a banner day for the official Android Central app! We've just released Version 1.2 with a few more heavily requested features, some bigfixes and your basic smorgasbord of awesomeness.  If you've yet to experience the glory that is the Android Central app, go ahead and hit up that download button. We'll wait. Then join us after the break as we walk you through a couple of the new features including -- yes -- a move to the dark side. read more

Google closes acquisition of Waze Posted: 11 Jun 2013 08:46 AM PDT Google 'excited' about enhancing Google Maps with Waze data  The rumors were true -- Google has announced that it's closed its acquisition of Waze, the collaborative navigation and traffic app. In a post on its official blog, the company confirmed the buy-out, saying that it was "excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze." The search giant also said it wants to bring the power of Google Search to the existing Waze app, which allows users to work together to find the best routes. The Waze team, Google says, will continue to operate separately from the Maps team out of its Israel HQ. Google also promised to work closely with the Waze community and allow it to "grow and prosper." More: Google Blog

C Spire to carry the HTC One Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:36 AM PDT Regional carrier C Spire this morning announced that it'll carry the HTC One. And that's all it announced, saying it'll follow up with more details "in the future." We, however, have far more on the HTC One, as well as some kick-ass discussions in our HTC One forums. Source: C Spire

Moving apps to the SD card on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:09 AM PDT Apps-to-SD support is coming to the Galaxy S4 in a new software update - here's how to use it. Samsung's answer to the controversy over storage space on the Galaxy S4 has been to resurrect an old Android feature -- the ability to move apps to your SD card. By offloading heavier apps to your expandable storage (the S4 supports microSDXC cards up to 64GB) you're able to save precious internal storage for other stuff, like the many apps that can't be moved to the SD card. That's right, just like in the Froyo (Android 2.2) days, developers have to specifically allow you to move apps to the SD card, and some popular apps don't support the feature. Nevertheless, if you're big on gaming, the latest mobile titles can take several hundred megabytes each, and the ability to move these apps to the SD card is a great way to save space. The update to allow apps to be moved to the SD card is rolling out now to unlocked German Galaxy S4s, and other regions and carriers should follow in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, you can check past the break for our video walkthrough. read more

NYKO unveils NVIDIA Shield accessories at E3 Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:01 AM PDT   Accessories-maker NYKO today at the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles unveiled a trio of accessories for the upcoming NVIDIA Shield, which is still on track for release this month. NYKO rolled out a pair of cases -- a travel case that very much looks like NVIDIA's own travel case, as well as a hard-shell case (which you see above) for the times that you'll need extra protection. Then there's the NYKO Shield Dock, which connects a dongle to the controller and then attaches to the dock, giving you a stable base from which to charge the device as well as output video. And finally there's a Power Kit that gives you a set of adapters and cables for charging at home or on the road. We've got more pics of the NYKO NVIDIA Shield accessories after the break. read more

Deal of the Day: LLOYD FX Case for LG Nexus 4 Posted: 11 Jun 2013 06:55 AM PDT The June 11 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the LLOYD FX Case for LG Nexus 4. Made from shock absorbent and scratch resistant TPU, the LLOYD FX Case provides great protection for the Nexus 4 from day to day use and accidental drops. The slim, light-weight design of this case completely wraps around the Nexus 4 while also raising the front of the device to protect the screen while face down. The LLOYD FX Case is available for just $8.00, 60% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping! Never miss a deal. Sign up for Daily Deal alerts

Galaxy Ace 3 tipped for July launch at Carphone Warehouse Posted: 11 Jun 2013 03:09 AM PDT Carphone Warehouse has confirmed that it'll stock Samsung's latest entry-level phone, the Galaxy Ace 3. The British retailer hailed the device as "one of the first mid-tier, 4G-ready phones," and the Ace 3 certainly looks like being one of the most affordable ways to get your hands on an LTE-capable smartphone. Carphone's pre-registration page also gives us our first indication of a launch date for the Galaxy Ace 3, with July being targeted for the device's UK release. For more details on the Galaxy Ace 3, check out yesterday's announcement post. Source: Carphone Warehouse

White Ascend P2 up for pre-order at Phones4u Posted: 11 Jun 2013 03:03 AM PDT UK retailer Phones4u sends word that it's offering Huawei's latest mid-range device, the Ascend P2, for pre-order in white. The white P2 will be exclusive to P4U, and is available for free on contracts starting at £25 per month on EE, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile. A release in brick-and mortar Phones4u stores is slated for "mid-June," so buyers shouldn't have too long to wait. The Huawei Ascend P2 in black is already available from other outlets, including Three UK. More: Phones4u

New APIs to allow Chrome to interact with your iTunes library Posted: 10 Jun 2013 11:10 PM PDT The users iTunes library is one of the default destinations for the new mediaGalleries API in Chrome The mediaGalleries API is what Chrome and Chrome OS use to access images, videos and audio that is stored locally on the device. This means your media can be treated the same way online media is by Chrome apps, making them available for your viewing and listening pleasure right inside the Chrome browser. A quick posting on Google+ from François Beaufort, everyone's favorite Chromium Evangelist, let everyone know that recent code changes mean that your iTunes library is one of the APIs default locations (your iTunes folder has a system-wide variable so it can be found by any program), meaning that music and other media you've stored there will show up automatically after a local media scan from Chrome -- with your permission, of course. Why is this important? Imagine the Google Music website web app, redesigned so that you can play local music files as well. Or the Google Movies and TV Chrome app, or the upcoming image viewer. All your current media could be easily made available right inside these web apps from Google, or other third party extensions and Chrome apps. We're confident that Google knows that Chromebooks need at least a little bit of ability to play offline content, and building it into an API means that desktop Chrome users can benefit as well, with access to a possibly hefty iTunes library full of DRM-free "stuff". You can check out an example of what they're doing currently if you're running Canary by loading up this Chrome app from Google's github. Source: Chromium.org; Via +François Beaufort

Inside the different Android Versions Posted: 10 Jun 2013 09:04 PM PDT If you've heard of Android, chances are you've heard all about its various versions. Some call it fragmentation, some say it's the nature of open-source, but in reality it's both a curse and a blessing. Regardless, it's good to have a little context about what all these version numbers and names mean when you see them posted on the Internet. Each major version of Android has a dessert-based nickname, and they are all in alphabetical order. We like to think it's because of the delicious things they each have offered, but the folks at Google are pretty tight-lipped about why they used the internal code names they did. They certainly have a good sense of humor, and seem to like tasty deserts. Below is a quick primer on the the different versions of Android that are still alive and kicking, from newest to oldest: read more

Paranoid Android team open-sources its 'Halo' multitasking feature Posted: 10 Jun 2013 05:51 PM PDT Teams and solo enthusiasts alike can now integrate the notification system into their ROMs A few weeks ago the folks over at Paranoid Android took the idea of Facebook's new Chat Heads software and took it a step further to create what it calls "Halo", a new way to manage multitasking on Android. While the software is still in beta officially, the team took to its official Google+ page today to announce that it is completely open-sourcing the software for other ROM makers to implement on their own. The source code, which is admittedly not cleaned up and still doesn't support proper Tablet UI's, comes by way of two links to GitHub with everything ROM makers of any size need to get started with it. With the information and links to the source code, it also took a moment to throw out some thanks to Facebook, a few notes on compatibility and scaling of apps from Google Play, and some notes on the new version of Halo currently being used on Paranoid Android's ROM. The Google+ post also links to a great walkthrough of the feature as it stands now, which you can find above. Source: +Paranoid Android

Apple's iOS 7 'copied' everyone - and that's a good thing Posted: 10 Jun 2013 04:43 PM PDT Some ideas are so good that they should be shared If you had Internet service today, you've no doubt heard about Apple's iOS 7 unveiling at WWDC. If for some reason you haven't, be sure to head over to iMore and find out about all the new features and the new look. We'll wait. OK, now that everyone is on the same page, we're all probably thinking about how a lot of that seems familiar. Apple certainly did a little shopping around when they decided what new features to include, and even how they will all look. Android's represented well, as is Windows Phone, BlackBerry, webOS and even Meego. Fans of all these operating systems are taking to Twitter or Facebook or Google+ to express their feelings over "the borrowing", and there is quite a little uproar being made. But not from me. I think what they did is a good thing. Cherry picking features from the competition means the users of that same competition might get a few laughs at your expense, but it means much more than that. It's validation for the designers and engineers who came up with it first, and it delivers great stuff that looks good to the end users. While iOS 7 may look like a blend of Holo Light with MIUI icons, that flat card inspired interface is a great way to traverse your way through what your phone has to offer. We love it in Google Now and the other updated Google applications, and iOS users will love it when they get the update this fall. And the folks who originally designed it, wherever they may be, can know that they bring joy to millions with their design. The same goes for the Pandora inspired iTunes Radio, or the wireless sharing originally thought up by Bump, or HTC Sense 4's lock screen notifications. Those are features everyone wants, and now iPhone users can have them. While you're reading through the lists of what Apple "stole" and who they stole it from, try to remember that in this business everybody steals from everybody else. And in the end, that means we all get to benefit from a universal set of great features.

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