Android News 24 : Android News
Android 5.0 ‘Key Lime Pie’ Concept Design has us dreaming for the future The wait and anticipation for the next version of Android right from Google has been a long one. After initially expecting it to debut at Google I/O last month only to be denied any such details, we’re all left wondering what they have in store, and when. While Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is the next version we’ll see, likely this month, some truly amazing fan UI concepts have us craving that Key Lime Pie. When we say fan-made UI concepts, we mean these aren’t real, official from Google, or anything of that sort. Instead this is one designers “conceptual design” and dream of what Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie could and should look like. And it’s freaking amazing. Google needs to hire this guy immediately. Before Apple or someone else does. |
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series quad-core benchmarks: This thing is fast It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Ever since Qualcomm announced their Snapdragon 600 and 800 processors, we’ve been wanting to get our hands on them. The Snapdragon 600 outperforms anything on the mobile market as we’ve seen with the HTC One and Galaxy S4, but it’s about to get even hotter with their faster, better, more efficient 2.3 GHz quad-core 800 series processor. Thanks to Qualcomm for bringing us out to San Francisco to get a dedicated first-look at these new processors that will be powering our favorite devices. We’re taking a look at a Mobile Development Platform model of both a tablet and a smartphone rocking Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 series quad-core chip. And WOW does this thing fly. If you thought the benchmarks of the 600 were impressive, prepared to be blown away. |
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T-Mobile's Sony Xperia Z officially official, launching 'in the coming weeks' The parade of smartphone announcements marches on this morning with the introduction of T-Mobile s Sony Xperia Z. T-Mobile just revealed that it plans to offer the Xperia Z in the coming weeks, making it the first big U.S. operator to officially pick up Sony s flagship smartphone since its debut at CES in January. The T-Mobile Xperia Z looks fairly similar to the international model, save for that T-Mobile branding on the back, and it features a pretty similar spec list too. Here s what we know about the Magenta variant of the Sony Xperia Z so far:
While it may have taken the Xperia Z a good bit of time to find a home on a major U.S. carrier, it s nice to see that consumers will finally be able to snag Sony s latest flagship through an operator. The Xperia Z has actually been available from Sony s U.S online shop since early May, but that unit was unlocked and priced at $629.99 full retail, which is a buying method that most U.S. wireless users aren't accustomed to. |
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HTC Desire 200 official: tiniest HTC One yet! The HTC Desire 200 isn’t a device you’ll be seeing out there in the wild as often as the HTC One – mostly because it wont be released in the USA until it’s passed through the paces internationally. That said, it’ll be quite the release when it does hit the likes of T-Mobile and AT&T: and good luck to Verizon too: (we’ll see some “DROID” attached to it then). Herein lies the smallest vision HTC has released this year. A 3.5-inch display at HVGA resolution sits up front of this device with Android (of unknown generation type) and HTC Sense runs inside. This device looks like it’s running the same software that the HTC One X and HTC One V ran last year – perfectly fine for those looking for the baseline Android experience with HTC. |
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Android 4.2.2 is coming to HTC One, although no date is set HTC has always had a rather slow pace when it comes to Android updates, with most phones sitting on old software and some premium handsets from last year not even getting a taste of Jelly Bean. However, with the amount of sales for the HTC One, we may see the Taiwanese company push to get Android 4.2.2 on the smartphone fast. HTC has already confirmed the update will be coming to the HTC One, but they have yet to set a date and we feel like this will be a classic HTC moment, where we will finally see an update when the next generation is revealed. |
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Get the stock android feel on your phone in 4 simple steps Android has evolved a lot in the past few years, from being a relatively new, unpolished operating system to a well polished smooth one. We all can agree that the latest version of android is one of the most polished android OS that we have seen up to date and as the OS is getting better and better each year, its popularity has also grown tremendously. No wonder, almost all manufacturers, whether local ones or global giants like Samsung have atleast one, if not a range of android handsets under their name. But what spoils the true android experience is the number of bloatware that these manufacturers and carriers install on these devices. No one can deny the fact that people love stock android and the recent availability of stock android versions of the best selling devices like the Galaxy S4 actually proves this point. |
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What is 4G LTE Advanced? Samsung’s CEO just announced a new variant of the Galaxy S4 which will launch a new wireless technology called 4G LTE Advanced. Exactly what is LTE 4G Advanced Technology? LTE 4G Advanced, also known as LTE-A, will be able to theoretically achieve download speeds up to 3Gbps and upload speeds of up to 1.5Gbps. In the real world, it is expected to be two times faster than current LTE technology. 4G LTE Advanced is able to provide a dramatic increase in speed because of Carrier Aggregation technology. One of the problems with current LTE technology is that the usable frequencies are all split up like a patchwork, making it difficult for carriers to efficiently take advantage of them. Carrier aggregation will allow carriers to combine two separate spectrum bands to minimize latency and improve data rates. By doubling the amount of spectral bandwidth, you double the data rate. Theoretically, LTE-A will allow for the aggregation of up to five separate spectrum bands. |
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Samsung Galaxy S 4 with LTE-Advanced support slated to launch in the near future Samsung Galaxy S 4 family has grown quite a bit in recent weeks thanks to new additions like the Google Edition Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S 4 mini, Galaxy S 4 Active and Galaxy S 4 Zoom. It appears that the company s got at least one more Galaxy S 4 up its sleeve, though, as co-CEO J.K. Shin has revealed that Samsung will soon release a new version of the Galaxy S 4 with support for faster 4G data speeds. Speaking to Reuters, Shin revealed that Samsung is prepping a Galaxy S 4 model that will be capable of accessing LTE-Advanced service. The device will be powered by a Qualcomm processor and is expected to be slightly more expensive than the regular Galaxy S 4. Shin said this new LTE-Advanced Galaxy S 4 will hit South Korean shelves as early as this month, adding that Samsung is currently holding discussions with multiple overseas carriers about launching the speedier S 4. As its name suggests, LTE-Advanced is an improved version of the LTE service that many operators already offer. LTE-Advanced isn t nearly as widespread as plain ol LTE quite yet, though, with Russian carrier Yota launching the first commercial LTE-Advanced network in October 2012 that produced speeds of 300Mbps. In the U.S., AT&T is aiming to begin work on its own LTE-Advanced offering later in 2013, and Verizon has confirmed that it s planning to support the speedier data service as well. With so little LTE-Advanced service available right now, it appears that only a small number of consumers will actually be able to use this upcoming LTE-Advanced Galaxy S 4 to its full potential. |
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Upcoming Huawei Ascend P6 Hits 2 Million Pre-Orders One of the biggest surprises of the year in the mobile industry has definitely been Huawei. The company started the year by releasing the 6.1-inch Huawei Ascend and today in London it will announce its newest flagship smartphone the Huawei Ascend P6. Various reports classify the device as the thinnest phone in the world, as it’s expected to be only 6.18 mm. Before today’s event, the company decided to run a quick-poll to see how many consumers plan to purchase the device. According to the numbers, so far the demand has been mind-blowing. Up to now, two million pre-orders have already been placed. Though, something we have to mention here is the fact that these “pre-orders” don’t require a credit card number. So these numbers are probably not even close to the actual amount of customers who will actually go out and buy the P6. |
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GEAK Watch wants to be the first true Android ‘smartwatch’ While wearable technology and computing is really starting to take off, I’ve found myself struggling with the idea behind a smartwatch. I’ve admitted I’m not a fan in the past, but this new watch from a Shanghai-based company called the GEAK Watch has my attention. Why you ask? Because it claims to do so much more than most of those other so called “smartwatches” we’ve seen in the past. This watch is overall just an impressive sounding (and looking) device. While the general edges look a bit too iPhone-like, it’s the specs and features that has me excited and interested. |
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Oppo Find 7 with Snapdragon 800 and 4,000 mAh battery in the works The popular and still growing Chinese manufacturer Oppo has a pretty decent phone on their hands with the Oppo Find 5, but we’re now hearing a Find 7 is coming soon to trump the newly released handset. Interestingly it will still sport a 5-inch 1080p HD display, and not be called the 6. Instead going right to being called the Find 7, and it has some stellar specs to go along with that name. Everything we loved about this device is getting improved with the Find 7, and it is rumored to be arriving in late September this year to take on the competition. So what makes the Oppo 7 so impressive? Not only will it rock the same 5-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD display, Android 4.2 (or newer) latest Android OS, and a 13 megapixel camera, but it’s what’s under the hood we love. They’ll be improving the processor to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 quad-core, probably 2.3 GHz, adding 2GB of RAM, increasing the front camera to 5-8 megapixels, and capping this all off with a massive 4,000 mAh battery. |
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LG Optimus G Pro achieves sales of one million units in Korea After achieving sales of 500,000 units in early April, LG announced today that the Optimus G Pro has crossed the one million sold milestone in Korea. The Optimus G Pro first launched in Korea in February, meaning it took the device four months to hit the one million mark, which LG says is the shortest amount of time that any of its devices have hit sales of one million units in Korea. Breaking things down even further, the company explains that the Optimus G Pro has moved 8,000 units per day since its debut. The Optimus G Pro is LG s entry into the growing phone/tablet hybrid market, touting a 5.5-inch 1080p display that LG says is large but still usable with one hand. That large display and other high-end specs make the Optimus G Pro a flagship product for LG, and I m sure that the company is pleased to see that sales of the device in its home country are strong. Since its Korean debut in February, the Optimus G Pro has made its way into several other parts of the globe, including AT&T in the U.S. Have any of you used an Optimus G Pro? |
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Sony SmartWatch goes open-source, looking for more innovation After releasing the first true smartwatch from a major manufacturer, Sony shows its pioneering skin again by making the project fully open-source. Hoping to attract extra attention and possibly more innovative ideas from independent developers, Sony has granted them opened access. Running on pure Android essence, Sony’s SmartWatch was already compatible with various Google Play applications. Moreover, anyone who wished to develop a new title had the ability of doing so. Now, that level of freedom has been extended even further and in the near future Sony expects the first alternative firmware versions to appear on Open SmartWatch, the official page of the project. Sony also helps all those interested with instructions on how to create a custom firmware for their watches and reasons to do it, complete with developer support. While the gadget has received less media attention than expected, the most-watched companies for such wearable gadgets being Apple, Google and Samsung, the Sony SmartWatch is still capable of doing some nice things. |
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New Nexus 7 apparently has LTE support for Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile The Asus K009, which has positively been identified as the GSM version of the new Nexus 7 thanks to a recent FCC filing, seems to come with 4G LTE support for Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. We shouldn’t be surprised to hear that the second-gen Nexus 7 tablet would get LTE support, since there’s more and more 4G coverage available to U.S. and international mobile device users. But what’s interesting about the FCC filing is that it suggests the handset will come with multi-band LTE support for these three carriers, which isn’t something you see every day in a smartphone and/or tablet. According to the available documentation, the new Nexus 7 will have LTE support for bands 2, 4 (AT&T, Verizon and mostly T-Mobile), 5, 13 (Verizon) and 17 (AT&T). Sprint’s LTE band (25) is, interestingly, not mentioned. |
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Sprint fires up LTE in nearly 2 dozen new cities
Next round of LTE upgrades also announced?Sprint today announced that it's turned on high-speed LTE data in 22 new locations. They are:
That gives Sprint a total of 110 LTE locations. The company also listed a number of cities that will receive LTE service in the coming months in Texas, Wisconsin, Washington and Michigan. |
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European roaming fees to cease from next year
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Hardware identification tool CPU-Z makes its way to Android
The folks at CPUID have been around for a while. Folks using Windows computers have been using their software to get information for overclocking their computers, optimizing performance, and getting hardware information to install Linux since 2009. Yesterday, they brought a beta version of their wildly popular CPU-Z tool to Android. The app is super simple to use, you just open it and read the screen. There no challenge, or high score, or inviting of friends involved, you just get a pretty darn complete set of information about the hardware inside your Android that you can use for debugging, or optimizing, or tweaking just like you would a Windows computer. |
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Rovio Teases Angry Birds GO! Racing Game to Come ‘Later in 2013’ Angry Birds is arguably one of the best online and mobile device games developed in the recent times. The popularity of this game can be attributed to its simplicity in playing yet complexity of the many levels one has to progress to and the comical story and characters. Every now and then, Rovio, the developers of Angry Birds game, release different themes of the game but the gameplay is often the same – birds, albeit different kinds of birds, against pigs. Today though, Rovio is teasing a new kind of game still involving birds, but this time a racing game dubbed Angry Birds GO! |
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Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom purportedly revealed in leaked image
Samsung has been cranking out the Galaxy S 4 variants lately, with both the original flagship, the Galaxy S 4 mini and Galaxy S 4 Active. Today we re getting a peek at may be another variant of the Galaxy S 4, dubbed the Galaxy S 4 Zoom. The image comes to us from SamMobile, a site that s been a fairly accurate source of Samsung leaks in the past. The leaked render shows a device that looks a bit like a mashup of the Galaxy S 4 and Galaxy Camera. On the front there s an earpiece, the usual array of sensors and a physical home button, as well as what SamMobile claims is a 4.3-inch qHD (960x540) Super AMOLED display. On the side of the device we can see a power/lock button, volume rocker and round shutter key. Finally, there looks to be an optical zoom lens jutting out of the unit s backside. Besides its 4.3-inch display, the Galaxy S 4 Zoom is said to feature a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal storage, microSD card slot and Android 4.2.2 beneath Samsung s TouchWiz UI. The rear camera is said to be of the 16-megapixel variety, and as the name of the device suggests, it ll feature an optical zoom lens. The Galaxy S 4 Zoom isn t Samsung s first attempt at mashing together Android with an optical zoom, as the company launched its Jelly Bean-powered Galaxy Camera last year. This new S 4 Zoom looks to be more of a smartphone/camera mashup rather than a straight-up Android-powered camera, though, meaning that users would be able to make calls and perform other phone-related functions with it. |
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AMD wants to get into Android and Chrome. Literally. At a Computex conference, Senior Vice President of AMD Lisa Su said “We are very committed to Windows 8; we think it's a great operating system, but we also see a market for Android and Chrome developing as well”. This could bode well for mobile tech fans, as AMD processors can pack a punch. Fortunately, this is not AMD’s first foray into mobile technology. They had processors in Windows tablets at one point, but those were poorly received by consumers and didn’t sell well. With Android and Chrome, AMD hopes for a fresh start. |
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