This week we got news on the new Samsung Galaxy Note and some release information on the Moto X. The LG G2 has been made official and the Nexus 10 peeks out of the shadows. Unfortunately, we also got some sad news for the AOSP community. It’s Android Authority Weekly!
ADM rolling out: "find my phone", the Google way
Android Device Manager is a smart little tool that you can use in case you misplace your phone (or someone "misplaces" it for you). The app began rolling out to users last weekend, and by midweek, the web interface that lets users manage their devices went live.
We gave ADM a try, and we found it easy to use and intuitive, although the app doesn't offer so many features as, say, Cerberus. Still, should "find my phone" app developers be worried? Probably.
"Note" the date: Unpacked 2 on September 4
Samsung likes to plant little hints to upcoming devices in the invitations it sends out to media, and the one from Monday made no exception. The Koreans asked us to note the September 4 date of the Unpacked Episode 2 event it plans to hold in Berlin.
So, what do you think they will release?
Key Lime Pie, yum yum!
You hear that noise? It's the distant rumble of a new Android release coming, one that is possibly key lime flavored. This week, an Android build bearing the KRS36B code was spotted on the Chromium project page, giving us hope that our days of eating jelly beans may finally be over. Not that we don't like jelly beans, but Key Lime Pie certainly sounds more mouthwatering.
We have little concrete info on the next version of Android at this point, but some pretty solid rumors point to a late fall release.
Moto X to launch on August 23? Moto boss slams Samsung and HTC
Now that the Moto X hype train came to a screeching halt, we all look forward to actually getting the device. Probably to torment us with more rumors, Motorola wasn't very forthcoming about the actual release of the device, but a pretty reliable report suggests we'll see the Moto X on all major US carriers on August 23.
How about the customization options? Sadly, AT&T seems to have the dibs on Moto Maker until early November. Color us disappointed (pun intended).
But it's no joy ride for Motorola – critics have slammed the Moto X for being a mid-ranger disguised as a flagship device. Motorola's Iqbal Arshad felt obliged to answer the criticism, but also to trash talk the competition. Check it out, Arshad took no prisoners.
LG G2 is official
The LG G2 is here! It has buttons on the back, a great spec sheet, and a couple of really smart features. Our Kris Wouk attended the G2 launch event and got some quality time with LG's aspiring Android powerhouse. His conclusions? It's pretty awesome.
We took a closer look at some of the more unique features of the LG G2, such as the Graphic RAM technology, the stacked battery, and the high fidelity speakers. Did we mention it has Viennese singing boys?
Motorola Nexus – wait what?
The guy that thoroughly leaked the Moto X casually dropped this bomb on August 8: "Motorola will release a Nexus smartphone in Q4 (that is not the Moto X)"
Whoa, where did that come from? We don't know for now, and to make things more complicated, rumors suggested that LG was all lined up to make the new Nexus this year. Interesting times ahead!
The maintainer of AOSP and all things holy quits
Jean Baptiste Queru, whom you might know as maintainer of AOSP and all things holy (and #holo) called it quits this week. We don't know exactly what happened, but we think it has something to do with Qualcomm's lawyers. Lawyers – standing in the way of technology since 1860.
JBQ laughed off a petition that people started to get Qualcomm to allow the release of factory images for the new Nexus 7. Related or not, that happened just a couple of days later.
New Nexus 10 (2013): Samsung is out, Asus is in
For the grand finale, on Friday we heard that Asus would be making the new Nexus 10, which may or may not be great news, depending on how you feel about the new Nexus 7. All (we think) we know so far is that the Asus Nexus 10 will be in stores by holidays.
There was some confusion about the issue, because just two weeks ago, a WSJ journalist tweeted that Sundar Pichai himself told him that Samsung would be making the new Nexus 10. As it turned out, the Android boss did not actually say that. The perils of Twitter reporting…
Video roundup
What's your take?
What do you think were the most important news this week, and why?
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