My Android Stuffs: September 2012

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Google Play Movies and TV now available for the Sony NSZ-GS7 [Google TV]

Google has finally made their Movies and TV app compatible with the Sony NSZ-GS7 Google TV box. One would think that an app for viewing TV shows would work out of the box for a TV set-top box, but until today it just wasn't so. It's all part of the bigger issue Google has with delivering content and media to Android devices, which currently outnumber everything else on the market from a market share perspective.The good news is that you finally can watch shows and films you're rented or

CyanogenMod says goodbye to faithful ROM Manager in favor of built in updates

For years, ROM Manager was the de facto standard of getting CyanogenMod updates. The familiar orange gear with the top hat has been a staple of the CyanogenMod app drawer for a very long time. However, the CyanogenMod team has opted to go with its own update system.Many people may be wondering why. It’s perfectly natural, as ROM Manager has been around as long as single-core 1GHz processors. It’s really like an old friend. According to Android Police, it is because CyanogenMod is completely

Best new Android games (late September edition)

“Game over” is a non-existent term in Android game developers’ books. Day in and day out, new Android games sprout in the fertile soil of the garden known as the Google Play Store. Popular games today started as new games, and went on to become well-liked and well-recommended.We don’t know what will become, months from now, of the new Android games that we feature in this late September edition of our twice-a-month roundup of the best new Android games. But, we do know they’re

Barnes & Noble drops the price of the Nook Glowlight to $119

With Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite starting to ship tomorrow, Barnes & Noble has raised the stakes by dropping the price of its Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight from $139 to $119.While originally it was thought that it was only certain retailers like Target and Walmart dropping the price of the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, Barnes & Noble’s own listing for the e-reader is now showing the price as $119.Dropping the price of the Nook Glowlight brings it to exactly the price of the

Amazon Kindle Fire (2012) Review: For The Budget Minded, A Great Entertainment Device - But Not Much Else

According to Amazon, the original (2011) model of the Kindle Fire (KF) captured 22% of the tablet market. Whether or not you believe that figure, it was almost certainly the most popular Android tablet of the year. When compared to the often-times much more expensive tablets on the market, it was easy to see why: the Kindle fire offered 90% of the experience for 50% (or less) of the price.But that was before the competition hit back. Samsung released the comparable (but more capable) Galaxy Tab

Galaxy S3 4G LTE with Jelly Bean on top hitting Telstra on October 9

Australian Android device buyers that haven’t purchased a new smartphone in a while will be happy to hear that there’s a new device heading to Telstra in the following days, the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G.Okay, so maybe the handset is not so new, considering that it’s just the 4G LTE version of the Galaxy S3 launched by Samsung this summer, but the carrier is finally ready to offer this particular model to its subscribers.In addition to true 4G LTE capabilities and the regular specs and

Official CyanogenMod 9 Nightlies For The Sony Xperia Ion Now Live At Get.CM

Getting tired of running the stock OS on your Xperia Ion? If so, official CyanogenMod nightlies are now available for the device (codenamed aoba). The first CM9 build hit get.cm just a bit ago, so you're only a download away from having one of the smoothest, best supported AOSP ROMs on the planet.Definition: A "nightly" is a bleeding edge release that is built on a daily basis, usually at night after a full day's worth of new code has been committed. It could oftentimes be unstable and not

Sony begins to rollout ICS to Xperia U, Xperia Sola and Xperia Go

Sony recent announced it has begun to roll out Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to three of their devices. The Xperia U, Xperia Sola and Xperia Go were all released with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) as they represent entry level devices in Sony's lineup. We saw an update a few weeks back for these devices and we wondered whether or not that would pave the way for ICS, and we're glad to see that it did.Here are some of the new features you can expect with the update:Lock screen with better

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Apps of the Week - Space Images, Mini Motor Racing, WatchESPN and more!

It's the last week of September, and the Android Central writers have another diverse set of app picks for your enjoyment. Have a look into space, play some games, watch your favorite sport and keep yourself from getting lost with these picks this weekend. And remember, Google is still running its $0.25 app promotion to celebrate 25 billion downloads. Read on, then head to the Google Play Store and grab a few great apps.I’m a huge space nerd. I’m fascinated by it and love to learn as much

Judge Lucy Koh To Be Reunited With Her Favorite Friends Again, Court Orders Her To Review Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Injunction

It looks as if Judge Lucy Koh isn’t quite finished yet in regards to the Apple vs. Samsung saga. If you recall, we mentioned that Samsung confirmed its intentions to appeal notable items such as the injunctions of its tablets— and it now appears that it has gotten its wish thanks to the U.S. courts. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently granted Samsung’s request to have the injunction of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 remanded in order for the trial court to re-consider

Motorola to soon push ICS update to DROID XYBOARD 8.2 LTE

Just about anybody that has had a Motorola Android device will say that updates get delayed quite often. Look at the DROID RAZR for example. The infamous 4.0 ICS update was pushed back for months, leaving consumers anxious to receive some “tender, love, and care.”Owners of the XYBOARD devices haven’t see too many updates besides 4.0 for Wi-Fi-only models. With a recent .PDF file showing up on the Verizon Wireless website, it looks like the DROID XYBOARD 8.2 (LTE Edition) will be getting

Technology behind the Kindle Paperwhite explained [video]

The Kindle Paperwhite is popular. So popular in fact, that unless you’ve already preordered it, you won’t be able to get your hands on it until October 22. While you wait for your order to arrive, Amazon has released a video that shows off some of the technology inside the Kindle Paperwhite.In the video, VP of Kindle Project Management Jay Marine says ”This is the Kindle we’ve always wanted to build.” It sure seems like it, because a surprising amount of work went into what you

The New York Times Android application gets a big update with overhauled interface and other features

When it comes to getting your daily news, it doesn’t get much bigger than the New York Times. They always seem to be on the bleeding edge of news and they know what’s going on before most of the world does. Unfortunately, the New York Times Android app doesn’t follow that philosophy. It was still a good news for source, but like newspaper, the user interface was old and outdated.That all changed recently. The New York Times application recently got a major overhaul. This didn’t just

Download your original YouTube uploads with Google Takeout

Have you ever uploaded a video to YouTube and realized later on that you lost the original files? Well thanks to a new feature in Google Takeout, you can now download your original files exactly as they were.Previously, users were able to download videos that they had uploaded to YouTube, but there was a catch: they were transcoded, meaning quality was generally inferior to what they had uploaded. Thanks to the YouTube support added to Google Takeout a few days ago, you can now download your

[Review] iLuv MobiAir iMM377 Speaker Dock Is As Nice As It Is Universal, Which Is To Say 'Mostly'

I have a love-hate relationship with docks. On the one hand, they offer me a place to keep my devices, a home, designating where my fancy smart toy resides in an otherwise chaotic world. I may change which pocket, hand, spot on the coffee table or place in my heart that a phone belongs, but a dock is always a constant. When night comes, the dock is its resting place. On the other hand, paying $50 or more for a dock that I can only use with one phone is not something I'm a fan of. The iLuv

Poweramp upgrade adds rich notifications and other improvements

A couple weeks ago Poweramp teamed up with TalkAndroid in a contest to give away a Nexus 7 grand prize in preparation for a pending update to their app. As part of the contest, readers were asked what feature they would like to see in the popular music player app. Those who participated can check out how they did with their prognostication skills as Poweramp released the update to the Google Play store today. Among the improvements are “rich” notifications for users running Android 4.1

Apple Maps vs Google Maps: Consumer Reports… reports

Image credit: Consumer ReportsSince Apple Maps, one of the main advertised features of Apple’s recently released iOS 6, is not the great out-of-the-box product the iPhone maker believed it would be, we keep finding various comparisons between Apple’s mapping and navigation solution and Google’s own Google Maps, in addition to ads and funny memes. In fact, today we’re going to look at an Apple Maps vs Google Maps report coming straight from Consumer Reports.The publication compared the

No Ice Cream Sandwich for Atrix 4G, Electrify and Photon 4G, Motorola reveals

A few days ago we told you that the Motorola Atrix 2 will be getting the Ice Cream Sandwich update at some point in the future, but we have some bad news for Motorola fans that still use other older Motorola devices such as the Atrix 4G, Electrify and Photon 4G.Motorola has updated its software upgrade page to reveal that these three handsets will remain on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. That’s certainly disappointing news considering that all three devices were launched last year. The Atrix 4G hit

Open webOS is alive and kicking, but who will actually care?

The swift demise of Palm’s webOS mobile operating system should be a cautionary tale for all actors in the technology world. From media darling to virtual oblivion in just a couple of years, webOS shows what can happen when great technology ends up in the wrong hands. And boy, they were wrong.HP bought Palm in early 2010, and market watchers noted that the main reason why HP paid the $1.2 billion was webOS, a Linux-based OS that was supposed to be HP’s ticket to the mobile bonanza. Needless

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 – how much does it cost to charge them?

We’re back with one more iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 comparison, after performing our own drop test, comparing them on video, checking out benchmarking results, display quality but also various ads. This time around we’re looking at a report that shares more details about the corresponding electricity cost for each device.According to Opower, the iPhone 5 will cost you $0.41 to charge every year, while the Galaxy S3 is slightly more expensive, at $0.53 per year. Why is the Galaxy S3 more

Friday, 28 September 2012

Firefox OS has a long way to go to compete with Android

According to a recent report, Mozilla’s Firefox OS should only expect to see around 1 percent of the global smartphone OS market in 2013, compared to Android’s 67 percent. The report says it could take as long as two years to turn this around, so should Google worry about Firefox OS at all, or turn their focus on other competitors?TechCrunch reports that according to a report by Strategy Analytics, Mozilla’s Firefox OS will likely only see about 1 percent global market share, and Android

Evernote Food updated with new camera, image features

Posted Sep 28 2012 by Scott Webster in News, Software News Evernote Food has received its first update today which basically amounts to a couple of new camera and image features. Now you’ll find that it’s possible to snap a number of photos in succession using the Multi-Shot Camera. What’s more, it’s easy to rearrange the order of images that you’ve already taken. Head to Google Play and download the 1.1 release of Evernote Food (for Android) today.Download Evernote Food

Pantech Burst Will Be Upgraded To Ice Cream Sandwich Via Pantech's Site On September 27th

PantechUSA announced via Twitter this morning that its Burst budget phone will finally be receiving an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade, in a little less than a week. Curiously, it won't be available over the air. Details haven't been released yet, but the update will be made available on the company's website here.Major announcement: Pantech Burst ICS update will be available for download on Sept 27 on PantechUSA.com. Stay tuned for more details!— Pantech USA (@PantechUSA) September 21, 2012We

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Eken B70: Another low cost Android ICS tablet, just $99

Being an early adopter of new technologies can be a bit of a double-edged sword. You get the latest and greatest gadgets and electronics, but you also pay a premium to get them in most cases. Many of us love having the most cutting-edge technologies on hand and wouldn’t trade it for the world, myself included. Still, there is also a clear value in waiting for prices to drop for those that aren’t so concerned about having the best or latest gear. For Android tablets, the time for great

Samsung delaying production of flexible AMOLED displays

While Samsung hoped to begin production of its new flexible AMOLED displays in 2012, it looks like a wrench has been thrown into the gears, causing the company to delay production.Samsung is experiencing troubles with low yields in the LITI process that the company is using to produce red and green pixels for the new displays. Blue pixels aren’t affected, as they are created using an FMM process instead.Samsung hopes to overcome these technical issues soon enough to still be able to produce a

Day two of Google’s 25¢ apps now live

Posted Sep 27 2012 by Scott Webster in News The second day of Google’s 25¢ app sale-abration is underway and it’s a new baker’s dozen of apps and games for your Android phone or tablet. As was the case yesterday, there’s a handful of titles we would have no issue recommending at full price, let along for a cool quarter. Our advice to you is to break out a few dollars and catch ‘em all.Tags: Color & Draw for Kids (phone), Color & Draw for Kids (tablets), Cut the Rope:

Images and specs leaked for new Samsung Galaxy Music devices

Foreign site Telekom Presse obtained some images and specifications for a pair of Samsung devices that are in the works. The devices are the Samsung Galaxy Music and the Samsung Galaxy Music DUOS. Contrary to the bigger is better trend, these devices will come with 3.0-inch screens, an A9 850 MHz processor and 4GB of internal memory that can be increased via the addition of 32GB microSD cards. The pair of phones will initially come loaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The DUOS version

MOO adding NFC option to business cards

Sure, NFC hasn't quite taken over the world yet, but that doesn't mean it can't be useful. And MOO, maker of extremely cool business cards (it's where we do business), will be adding an NFC option. You can't order them just yet, but MOO's slipping an NFC-enabled card into new orders (it says it's got 150,000 of them to give away), to whet appetites.MOO says it'll have its own NFC-writing app as well, so you can rewrite the tags as you see fit. (We presume current NFC tag writers will also

#iLost Apple Maps vs Google Maps ad faked by Motorola, new report reveals

A few days ago we showed you a new ad that’s making fun of Apple, the iPhone 5, and the new Apple Maps in particular. The ad came from Google’s Motorola encouraging users to pick the Droid RAZR M instead of the new iPhone 5, as the latter, dubbed #iLost in the ad, would not be able to show you the “real world.”The ad, which was posted also on Motorola’s Google+ page, had the following status:Looking for 315 E 15th in Manhattan? Google Maps on Droid RAZR M will get you there & not

[Awesome] Make your own Android figurine via Cubify

Android figurines are all the rage these days, but wouldn’t you like to create your own? Well Cubify gives you the opportunity to do just that. You can completely customize it with accessories, outfits, uniforms, tattoos colors, and so much more. They have a pretty slick interface which will show your creation in 3D. After you’re done, all you have to do is place your order, and your custom bugdroid will be delivered to your doorstep. You have your choice of three different sizes;

Google turns 14 today, sort of

Happy 14th birthday, Google! Has it really been that long? Actually, it’s been longer. If you head over to Google’s search page today, you are greeted by a birthday cake with 14 candles and a hovertext reading “Google’s 14th Birthday”. After a few moments, the cake changes into a Google logo (both pictures seen above). While the 27th is the day that Google has now decided to celebrate, the company’s actual roots go back a couple years earlier.In 1995 Larry Page was visiting Stanford

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Addicted to your mobile? You may be nomophobic

Siegfried Lundberg/Flickr I’m going to guess if you’re on Android Authority that you’re probably a little nomophobic. Let’s face it, anyone who attends AA is an addict. The term nomophobia was created by British researchers in 2008 to describe a fear of losing access to mobile technology. If you feel a pang of anxiety when your Android smartphone goes missing then you could be a sufferer.A survey of 1,000 British workers sponsored by SecurEnvoy found that 66 percent of people fear

Google Maps Street View dives under the waves

Do you ever have that moment where you're scuba diving in the south Pacific, and you're wondering "Was I supposed to turn right at the coral reef to get back to the resort, or keep swimming straight?" It happens to me all the time. Luckily Google, as ever, has us covered. The Google Maps team has just released a handful of new Street View locations that are underwater. Various spots along the coast of Australia, the Philippines, and Hawaii can take you down to see some of the wonderful aquatic

Update for Foursquare for Android brings back nearby friends and adds social history

Foursquare is used by about 20 million people around the world. As a result, the app has received somewhere between 10 and 50 million downloads from the Google Play Store. Yesterday, the application received an update that added a few new things and brought some old features back. The core of the application remained unchanged, but the new features should help keep Foursquare members in the app longer.The biggest new feature introduced is called social history. On every venue page now, there

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 ads reloaded: Samsung releases NYC and San Francisco TV commercial versions

A week ago, Samsung launched its new TV ad that promote the Galaxy S3 at the expense of the iPhone 5. The commercial, which we knew it was in production for a while now, adhered to the same scenario: Samsung poking fun at Apple’s customers that line up in front of stores to get the latest iPhone while reminding everyone that “the next big thing is already here.”The ad came right in the nick of time, two days before the iPhone 5 was launched in the U.S. and eight other markets, and the

Google Maps goes indoors to show you various locations in France

It appears as though Google Maps is beginning its next step forward. While Apple Maps is currently in the biggest-internet-joke-of-the-week phase of their development, Google Maps has been working on something else. Namely, indoor navigation for various places in France.Google Maps has done the whole indoors thing before. Floor plans are already available for 20 United States museums and several other locations. It’s nice to see Google continuing their indoor campaign.For now, the new indoor

LG Venice comes to Boost Mobile on October 10th

Boost Mobile Squeezes Latest Technology into Ultra-Thin LG VeniceIRVINE, Calif. (BUSINESS WIRE), September 26, 2012 – Boost Mobile, a leader in the no-contract wireless industry, and LG Electronics USA today announced a new Android-powered smartphone, the LG Venice, that delivers style, cutting-edge technology and affordability combined with Boost Mobile’s Android Monthly Unlimited with Shrinking Payments.Only about one-third of an inch thick and weighing a mere 4.41 ounces, the sleek LG

YouTube for Android updated with new UI for Froyo and Gingerbread, fresh Watch experience

Thanks to a YouTube app update that just rolled out today, anyone with a Froyo or Gingerbread device can now enjoy refreshed UI and preloading mechanism. Google has also made a few tweaks to the Watch screen, though there's nothing particularly dramatic. This update added the ability to move videos to your personal YouTube TV queue - a great touch for those of us that want to watch videos in their full glory on the big screen. Finally, a few more channels have been added to the Channel

Google Play Services developer tool rolling out soon

Love it or hate it, Google+ is clearly a priority for Google. Today the company launched the new Google Play Services platform in order to give developers an easier way to integrate Google services and Google+ features into their apps.The new platform consists of two different components. The first part is a services component that is delivered through Google Play and runs on Android devices. The second part is a client library that developers package with their apps.Using Google Play to

Leak: Samsung Galaxy Music: 3 inch screen, dual SIM, Android 4.0

Earlier this week, Samsung published a list of devices that are due to get upgraded to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. One of the devices on that list was the Galaxy Music. We like to think that we know just about everything there is to know about Samsung, so when we saw “Galaxy Music” we started scratching our heads. Thanks to SammyHub, we know now a little bit more about that device. They say it’s going to have a 3 inch screen, an 850 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, front facing speakers, a 3

Samsung confirms Galaxy S3 already updated with USSD exploit fix

Yesterday we reported on a particularly nasty security vulnerability in some Samsung smartphones, which could lead to a factory reset being triggered upon visiting a website containing malicious code. Phones confirmed to be affected included the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Beam and Galaxy Ace. Our testing on various Galaxy S3 models was inconclusive, though. Some models seemed vulnerable, while others were immune.This morning, we have official confirmation from Samsung that Galaxy S3's around the world

Google Maps isn’t coming to the iPhone for at least another few months

Apple released a new version of their mobile operating system last week. Dubbed iOS 6, it adds several features that aren’t really all that exciting, but what’s making the internet go insane and foam at the mouth is the fact that Apple decided to rip out Google Maps and replace it with their own in-house developed mapping solution. We’re sure you’ve heard about how laughable Apple’s maps are by now. Not only are they uglier than Google’s maps, more importantly Apple’s mapping data

Google’s Sergey Brin thinks self-driving cars for the average person will be available in 5 years

It’s no secret that Google and their engineers love to push the envelope and make things that seem improbable happen. One of Google’s smartest minds, Sergey Brin, stated that we should all expect self-driving cars within the next 5 years. He envisions this to be much safer and adds, “Forty thousand Americans and 1 million people worldwide are killed in automobile accidents every year.” In theory, this certainly seems like a great idea and would be more efficient on paper considering

RIM’s CEO says BlackBerry 10 will beat Windows Phone 8; Android and iOS are too tough to compete with

Research in Motion, remember those guys? They’re hard at work on their next generation operating system, which they’re calling BlackBerry 10. Yesterday the company showed the world a sneak peak of what it’s going to look like, and we’ve got to admit, it does look rather interesting. It’s heavily inspired by Nokia’s MeeGo operating system, Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, and there’s even some hints of Android in there. But what about RIM’s ambitions? Thorsten Heins,

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

How to tell if your Samsung phone is vulnerable to today's USSD hack

There's a lot of confusion as to exactly which Samsung phones are affected by today's big scary USSD vulnerability, which could cause some phones to factory reset themselves upon visiting a malicious web page. Some Galaxy S2 and S3-class phones are susceptible, others less so. In some cases it depends if you're running the latest firmware or not. In others, there's no patched firmware available yet.Samsung will surely be hard at work rolling out fixes for devices that remain susceptible, but in

The Case That Isn't There: We Review The DodoCase for Nexus 7

Cases for my devices fall into two camps: there are cases that are merely "there," and cases that "do." The cases in the first camp usually don't serve any other purpose besides scratch/scuff prevention, and the latter group add some utility, usually in the form of bells and whistles. However useful they are, though, is typically offset by one fact: they usually look like ass.So when I laid my eyes on a DodoCase for the first time, I had a little bit of an epiphany. This was a case that was

iPhone 5 A6 chip made by Samsung, ARM cores ‘were laid out manually – as in, by hand,’ iFixit confirms

Since the competition’s flagship smartphone for the following year or so was launched officially in several markets a few days ago, we took it for a ride, literally, and compared it against the most important Android handsets out there, and particularly against the Galaxy S3.We measured their build quality by arranging a close encounter between each device and some hard concrete in Hong Kong, but we also looked at various other comparisons done by others, including an iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3

[New Game] Indestructible By Glu Mobile Is Like Twisted Metal, Only Tiny

During the days of my youth, I loved Twisted Metal for the original PlayStation. When Twisted Metal III came out, my mind was blown. I just loved smashing cars with other cars. And guns. And bombs. Then, in 2001, the Twisted Metal series reached the pinnacle of its greatness with Twisted Metal: Black. Sadly, it's all been downhill from there for Mr. Grim and company.If, like me, you want to relive the glory days of Twisted Metal, then Glu Mobile's new game Indestructible is one of the closest

G-Note 2 hitting UK shelves next week

If you’re in the UK, chances are you’ve been waiting with baited breath over the eventual release of this monster device. Well, the wait comes to an end next Tuesday, when Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange start taking orders through Phones4u, a well known UK retailer.Let’s get down to the pricing, since that’s what most of you want to know. It varies per network: on O2, you can swing a free Galaxy Note 2, and an allowance consisting of unlimited texts, unlimited minutes and 1GB of

Nexus 7 and Google Play Books now available in Japan

Google has a treat today for all Android fans in Japan. The Google Nexus 7 is now available in the country, and brings with it Google Play Books for the ride. Available from the Play Store for 19,800 Yen ($250) for the 16GB variant, it's good to see the same great pricing expanding across the world with the device. Despite rumors of an upcoming launch in India before the years end, this marks the first expansion into the Asian market following the Australian, North American and European launch

Monday, 24 September 2012

Pocket Planes sets course for Google Play

Pocket Planes, the adorable pixelated successor to Tiny Tower, found its way to Android over the weekend. Instead of building a massive self-sustaining skyscraper, players build out an airline, complete with a wide variety of aircraft, destinations, goods, and passengers to deliver. There are sets of missions that change regularly, and players that contribute deliveries to them are listed on worldwide leaderboards, as well as smaller ones in flight groups with your friends. I've played a fair

Game Review: The Tiny Bang Story Brings The Beauty, Lets Us Look for Gameplay

Point-and-click adventure games and I have a little bit of a problem with each other.No matter how hard I try, I can never really escape the weird cycle of clicking on everything possible in an effort to get something to work instead of methodically assessing my situation and thinking about what works. Perhaps it's part personal fault and part game design, but it really frustrates me when the most efficient way of progressing is just using every item in every possible way - something will

The Nexus 7 Is Now Available In Japan

Hey, do you live in Japan? No? Well that's alright, because you'll still probably be happy to know that Google's first Nexus tablet is expanding its worldwide footprint, and this time it's headed to the land of the rising sun. This also seems to be confirmed on the Japanese Nexus splash page, which lists a price of 19,800 Japanese Yen for the 16GB model.Japan joins the seven other countries the Nexus 7 is currently sold in - the US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Spain. Google has

Google Play Books Updated To 2.6.31 - Adds Highlighting, Translation, Dictionary, Sliding Page Turn, And More

The Google Play Books app just received a substantial update, bringing the app to version 2.6.31 on compatible devices. Here's the changelog:Added highlighting, notes, dictionary, "Places" info cards, translation, sepia mode, and sliding page-turn. Fixed crashes on launch on certain devices including HTC Wildfire.Details:In "Flowing Text" books, you can tap & hold to select some text and then- HighlightAdd notes- Translate- See definition in dictionary info cards- See a map and Wikipedia

Featured Play Store Newbie: Pirateville 2 – Pirate Island [Gaming-Casual]

Last week I told you about Nevosoft’s Pirateville: The Enchanted Box, and now comes Pirateville 2: Pirate Island. It’s a continuation of Sharpshooter Jack’s adventure, but this time he will encounter secrets of the cursed island with its lost treasures and jewels. In order to do this you will have to assemble a team of other pirates to man your vessel and try to figure out the ancient spirits’ predictions. This will all be done through various hidden object games and puzzles.Features:A

Netflix for Android getting update, new interface similar to iPhone version

Last week, capitalizing on Apple’s release of the new iPhone 5, Netflix released an update to the iOS version of their app. Today they started rolling out an update to the Netflix for Android version, mirroring the changes and improvements they made for iOS. The big changes come in the user interface. Along the top of the screen, Netflix now includes an area for items a user is currently watching so they can just tap on the show to resume. When looking at available titles, two options are

Pantech Announces The Vega R3 Smartphone, The “World’s Best Existing Quad-Core Smartphone”

As we see existing quad-core devices featuring Exynos or Tegra 3 chips, it’s only natural that we start to see offerings featuring the new chips from Qualcomm. Well the newest superphone in all the land is now here: the Pantech Vega R3— a Snapdragon S4 Pro-powered beast. The device features an dual-core APQ8064 1.5GHz chip, 2GB of RAM, a whopping 13MP camera, Bluetooth 4.0 and 2,600mAh battery. While those features are nothing to sneeze at, the device also features a unique 5.3-inch display

Dick’s Sporting Goods debuts official Android app

Dick’s Sporting Goods today announced that it recently began offering an official Android application. Arriving some time late last week, the free app lets users find a nearby store, shop for products, and follow Dick’s on social networks. Like other retail-based apps, this one also provides access to loyalty programs (ScoreCard Rewards Program), and offers barcode scanning for news, prices, and reviews.Download DICK’s Sporting Goods (Google Play)DICK’S Sporting Goods Launches Mobile

First CyanogenMod 10 Nightly Officially Arrives For The Tegra 3 One X

CyanogenMod 10 nightlies have finally landed for the international version of HTC's One X, and you can download the first build right here. As the owner of such a One X, I find myself particularly interested in this bit of news, because I'm rather curious how much better this phone will be running stock Jelly Bean. The One X is a truly fantastic piece of hardware, but its software has always left something to be desired, especially after you've lived with Sense 4.0 for a few months.Hit up the

Could LG Optimus G become the Optimus Nexus? Probably

As many of you know, LG re-introduced the Optimus G yesterday and made it known that it would it hit international markets come October. With us here in the United States anxiously awaiting our release, we begin to wonder how and where it will make its debut. Could it be a Verizon follow-up in the tradition of Revolution or Spectrum? Sure. Could it also be a stock Android 4.1 experience called the Optimus Nexus? Yeah, that sounds possible, too.Considering the beefy hardware and latest

Due to current iOS Maps failures, Apple is now aggressively recruiting ex-Google Maps engineers

It’s no secret that Apple’s iOS Maps is currently a failure, and that’s probably putting it lightly. In the past days since iOS 6's release, I’ve seen countless memes, gifs, blogs, posts, etc. all poking fun at it’s failures. Even Motorola joined in on the fun with their “#iLost” ad campaign. With that said, you better believe that Apple has been listening and isn’t just going to sit back and have themselves continuously ridiculed and embarrassed. After all, we know the

Official Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Update Reportedly Rolling Out In Europe, Starting With Poland

One of the most anticipated OS upgrades in recent Android history has reportedly begun in Europe (specifically, Poland) where official Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean firmware was discovered via Kies a couple of hours ago. Since no carrier marking was attached to the announcement by SamMobile's tracker, it looks like the update applies to the unlocked, unbranded variant localized to Poland - specifically, GT-I9300MBDXEO. Google Now and the updated Google Search, offline speech recognition,

Apple’s desperately trying to recruit former Google employees who worked on Google Maps

Apple released a new version of iOS last week, and chances are you’ve heard that the Maps application in it is a bit … broken. For reasons that haven’t been officially stated, Apple decided to stop working with Google on Maps. Instead they built their own application that integrates fancy new features like “Flyover”, but at a huge cost. The actual mapping data, as in where streets are, where cities are, where major points of interests are, and so on and so forth, a lot of that stuff

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Android hits 500 million installs

Hugo Barra, Google's director of product management for Android, just announced on Google+ that Android devices have officially hit the 500 million install milestone. That number sounds huge until you consider that 1.3 million phones and other devices are being activated daily. The folks on the Android team should be proud, and we'd all like to extend our congratulations to them on this feat. I'm sure many of you guys feel the same, so let 'em know how much we love them in the comments!Source:

Apple to sue Polish online grocery website

So the latest victim of Apple’s eagle-eyed legal team is an online Polish grocery website. The top level domain for Poland is .pl and there’s a website called a.pl which is a kind of online deli store that does home delivery.Apple has apparently filed a complaint with the Polish Patent Office claiming that the Polish company copied one of Apple’s logos on its website, despite the fact that the company is no longer using the logo in question. A Polish patent office spokesman Adam Taukert

Google kills off Motorola’s Webtop. Isn’t Android ready for desktops?

Now that Google has acquired Motorola, they are able to make their opinions clear about whether they think Android is or will ever be suited for desktop use. With the termination of Motorola’s Webtop, it’s becoming clear that Google has no intention of ever using Android as a desktop OS. So the question is, will Google ever compete for the desktop market?Google still has ChromeOS, which I’ve always thought is designed for $200 machines, or devices that are free on contract. But Google

New LG Optimus G promo praises ultra slim 13 MP camera (video)

It’s not easy to be that other Korean Android manufacturer, but LG is certainly working to stand out in the crowd. Despite a very timid IFA 2012 showing, it looks like this fall is shaping up to be rather prolific for LG, with newly unveiled phones already piling up.The Optimus G was made official almost two weeks ago, the Optimus L9 followed the next day, while the first days of September brought us the Intuition, Splendor and Escape. None of these fresh new gadgets is a pushover, but it’s

OfficeDrop refreshes Android app, releases tablet version

OfficeDrop, a service -- and accompanying apps -- that helps you organize documents electronically by scanning them in via your device's camera, has released a tablet app and refreshed its Android phone app (the iOS app was refreshed as well, for those of you who use those kinds of things). The premise is simple but has plenty of potential. Whenever you have a document or something important that you'd like to keep electronic record of, you can open the OfficeDrop app and scan in the document,

TTP AR glasses prototype could potentially one-up Google’s Glasses

Google’s Project Glass certainly isn’t the only show in town when it comes to wearable computers. One of these Google Glass alternatives is from UK-based TTP.This company’s unique glasses solution not only could potentially be better than Glass, but looks better too. Unlike Google’s somewhat odd looking design, the TTP glasses look much more like real eyeglasses.It’s not just the looks that are different. The technology in TTP AR glasses makes use of a micro-projector in one arm of

Initial Impressions Of The (International) Samsung Galaxy Note II

So, the other day, in New York, Samsung gathered up a bunch of bloggers and showed us the international Galaxy Note 2. They wouldn't tell us anything about their North American plans, only that the international version would be pretty close to the NA version, and that they'd be sending out NA review units soon. So, while we're waiting for the real one to get here, we thought it'd be fun to take a quick look at the international version.The Note II is a crazy piece of hardware - just holding it

Monday, 10 September 2012

Google Drive gets updated, new features for presentations, comments and creating folders

Sometime last week, an overeager Tweeter let the cat out of the bag about an update to Google Drive that wasn't quite ready. Fast forward to today and it is ready, and has pushed out into Google Play. The full changelog is pretty hefty, but there's a few key points worth noting. Folder options are now included, allowing you to now create, upload to and move files between folders. For many of us omitting this for so long has been a cause of constant frustration with the mobile app, so it's

Featured Play Store Newbie: LandGrabbers Strategy Game [Gaming-Casual]

Nevosoft is quickly becoming one of the leaders of Android gaming. We’ve already covered a couple of their recent releases, but here’s another one to throw into the mix. It’s called LandGrabbers and it’s set in the Middle Ages when the Crusades were taking place. In this game you’re a brilliant military leader with your own set of troops. Can you conquer the world? This addictive game combines the elements of strategy, simulator, and resource management. There are 27 levels in all

Twitter starts allowing image uploads from their mobile site for Android 4.x users

As if we needed any further indications that Twitter is moving away from third party clients, a new addition to their mobile website seems to have recently appeared. First spotted by the guys over at The Sociable, the mobile tweet composer now has an image upload button tucked in the bottom left hand corner. The catch, it seems the new feature is only available to users on Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. It apparently also works on iOS 6 -- not that we'd know anything about that around

Dashlane: Keeping your passwords and login info safe

When we are very much active online or we have numerous credit cards in your possession, there is always the fear of having our private details and information breached by an unknown individual. We can’t always shake off the idea that there are malicious thieves lurking around us.We can never be too safe. Our identities online are not always assured of foolproof security. Coming up with very long passwords consisting of a lot of numbers and letters is not enough. What we need is a secure

Demolition Dash brings endless running destruction to Amazon Appstore

Demolition Dash has just made the leap to Android with a launch on the Amazon Appstore. The endless running game puts players in control of Zilla, a monster that has recently awoken from an ancient slumber and is now eager to wreak some havoc in cities across the world. Although Zilla has his Disney-esque charm, there's are plenty of explosions and panicking military personnel to keep the game entertaining for us older folks. Here's a quick run-down of the features. Two game modes guarantee

New mod unlocks 720p recording ability for Google Nexus 7

After just a few months on the market, the Google Nexus 7 has quickly solidified its position as king of the 7-inch tablets.The Nexus 7 may have some pretty serious competition with the newly announced Kindle Fire HD, but that doesn’t mean sales for the device are going to slow down anytime soon.A direct comparison between the Fire HD and Nexus 7 has Google’s tablet leading the pack in features. There is one area where Nexus 7 doesn’t shine its brightest, though: its camera.The Nexus 7's

Google discontinuing their pre-paid credit card from Google Wallet

Back when Google Wallet first launched, Google also launched their own, pre-paid credit card for use with the mobile application. Then, just recently the service was opened up to allow the addition of other credit cards. Today, we're receiving emails in our inbox from Google themselves with further Wallet related news. As a result of opening up the service to other cards, the Google pre-paid card is going away. So you need to spend that money, and spend it soon.It isn't just over, just like

Install Jelly Bean firmware update on ASUS Transformer Infinity TF700

Last month ASUS pushed out an update to their ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 to install Jelly Bean. This left owners of the higher-end ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 feeling a bit left out in the cold. XDA forum member MysticMgcn has come to the rescue in the form of instructions on how to use the TF300’s firmware on the TF700. According to his How-To post on the XDA forums, the only two things not working are changes to screen brightness and changing the DPI, which is set to 160. Screen

Renaissance Blood THD on sale for $0.99 until September 13

Everyone loves a deal right? The developers of the Tegra 3 title, Renaisance Blood THD, have one for you. They have reduced the price of the game to just $0.99/£0.62 for one week only running until September 13. With the regular price of the title set at $3.99, there's a healthy saving to be had.This is all in aid of the latest update to the game, which along with some fixes also brings with it the all new stage 3 and the ability to use the continue button 3 times in a match. For anyone

Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE review

When Android first broke onto the main scene with the G1, QWERTY keyboards were all the rage. Device after device was released with a physical keyboard for several years, some good and some bad (cough Moto Backflip cough). We’ve seen a trend over the last year or two, in which QWERTY keyboards were abandoned, in favor of slimmer devices with larger screens to compensate for the lack of said keyboard. Just a quick glance at the devices of today shows this: the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S3,

What are the best casino games available on Android?

Online games for mobile phones – especially for mobiles using the Android operating system – are available in larger numbers than ever before as mobiles slowly overtake computers as the preferred option for online casino gamers. The sheer quality and variety of the casino games that Android phone users can now get is great news for those who use these phones, but can also make the process of sorting the wheat from the chaff a more onerous one. Therefore to assist with this these are some of

Sunday, 9 September 2012

Gogo going to get your Android device online overseas in 2013

Here's some good nerd news for you road warriors who fly outside the U.S. Gogo has signed a deal that will bring in-flight Wifi to flights over portions of the Atlantic and north Pacific, and over Asia, South America, Africa and Australia. That means you can drag out the laptop if you want, but it also means you can whip out your Android smartphone or tablet instead. That's something I find myself doing with increasing frequency. A laptop on a plane means work. An Android smartphone means

The Circle Is Complete: Galaxy Note II For Verizon Pops Up In Screenshot, Model SCH-I605

BriefMobile has received a screenshot this morning that would seem to confirm the existence of a Verizon-flavored Galaxy Note II, rounding out the phone's appearances on each of the US's "big four" carriers.Last week, we saw the device leaked for T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T. We had figured, at that point, that Verizon wouldn't be getting the device. Particularly because it's selling the LG Intuition, which is the Note II's one and only phablet (shudder) competitor here in the US.The screenshot

New Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean firmware leaks – I9300XXDLI5 – release date for final Android 4.1.1 update still not available [Download]

Those of you who are anxiously waiting for Samsung to finally release the Jelly Bean update for its hottest Android 2012 handset, the Galaxy S3, surely know by now that we have seen a plethora of Android 4.1.1 builds getting leaks for the international version, for T-Mobile’s Galaxy S3, but also for the Bell Galaxy S3 variant, with the latter also working on other carriers in the region.These are not Jelly Bean-based custom ROMs, but they are instead leaked firmware versions that Samsung is

Weekend project: DIY USB on-the-go from old cables

USB on-the-go cables are handy as heck with Android devices. They're a specially wired cable that allows the same USB port you use to charge or communicate with a computer to be used to connect USB peripherals right to your tablet or phone. That means things like game controllers, mice or keyboards, USB thumb drives, or even USB hard drives if you have access to an older model one with a separate power supply.There are no set and fast rules about what USB gadgets you can and can't use, or if

Galaxy S2 Jelly Bean update, where are the leaked Android 4.1.1 pre-release versions?

We keep talking about Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean updates for some of the hottest Android devices in town, Samsung smartphones and tablets included, but we’re yet to see any roll out details for any of them.Luckily for Samsung device owners, we’ve seen a variety of leaks for some of the company’s smartphones and tablets, which indicate that final Jelly Bean builds will be soon rolled out. The list of supported devices that already have a variety of leaked pre-release ROMs include the Galaxy

Total Commander For Android v2.0 Beta Now Available, Features Drag-and-Drop support, Built-in Audio/Video Player, And More

Total Commander, one of the most powerful file managers for Android, has now been updated to version 2.0 beta. Like previous TC betas, this one isn't yet available in the Play Store, but can be found on the official TC for Android forums. It's worth noting that this version will install on top of the Play Store version if you have that one, so you're not stuck with two different versions on your device.This update brings a host of new features, making this already-impressive app even

Could Apple be doing a simultaneous launch of the iPhone 5 internationally?

While we don’t usually feature non-Android related announcements here on Android Authority, we do have space for relevant industry news. And the next-generation iPhone launch is surely a significant event for many reasons. Apple has a media event on September 12, and rumors have it that this will include the sixth-generation iPhone (the “iPhone 5?), an upgrade to the iPod line, and possibly an iPad Mini.What’s interesting to note is that the international launch and release dates may also

Sony Xperia Tablet S teardown by … Sony itself!

Folks, we usually get teardown features from the likes of IHS iSuppli and iFixIt, and are primarily meant to confirm the components and even the prices of devices. In time for the UK and U.S. releases of the Sony Xperia Tablet S, we get a product teardown of the ICS tablet. But what’s interesting is that Sony itself did the teardown of its own tablet computer for fans and analysts alike. Sony’s Tablet S teardown showcases the device’s components, ports and peripherals, which include (from

Leaked: Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean update for Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and Galaxy Note 10.1

Good news for Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and Galaxy Note 10.1 owners who have cravings for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The folks at Sam Mobile have gotten a hold of the pre-release OTA update of the buttery smooth OS for the two tablets.To be more precise, the leaked OTA files are for the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (GT-P3100) and the Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000).You can find download links of the leaked Jelly Bean firmware for the two slates, as well as the instructions, on Sam Mobile’s website below. The

New Kindle Fires can be ad-free for a one-time $15 fee

The Internet has been in a tizzy since we heard that Amazon would not be allowing the removal of the "special offers" package from the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD units. If you weren't aware how all this works, previous Kindle readers were available at a little bit lower price, but included ads to help support them. For a small fee, you could have these removed.We first heard that Amazon would be including this on all the new Kindle Fire devices, and apparently that they would not be

Amazon and Google no longer friends? Kindle Fire HD integrates Bing instead of Google

We earlier learned that a few major companies are trying to reduce their dependence on Google for content and services. For example, Apple is ditching YouTube on iOS 6 and is also moving away from using Google Maps. Amazon is itself going for Nokia Maps instead of Google Maps in its new Kindle line. But in an even more drastic move, Amazon actually integrates Bing search instead of Google in the Kindle Fire HD.Eliane Fiolet of Ubergizmo was able to get a hands-on experience with a Kindle

Saturday, 8 September 2012

Apps of the Week - Playboard, TVCatchup, Gear of the Day Outdoor Deals and more!

Another week, another great list of app picks from the Android Central writers. Interestingly, this week there aren't any games! We've gone straight for apps that might actually be useful and save you some time (or in Sean's case, money) rather than waste it away playing Granny Smith. Don't worry though, we're sure there are more game picks to come in the future.Playboard is a really slick social app recommendation service. In addition to being able to subscribe to curated, themed collections

Amazon slashes Verizon Galaxy S3 price to $139.99

The world’s favorite Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3, has now reached a certain point of popularity where it’s more apt to ask the question of who doesn’t have the phone yet. But we’re sure there are still many who are waiting for the price to come down. If Verizon is your carrier of choice, you’re just in luck, because Amazon Wireless has some pretty sweet deal on Big Red’s variant of the Galaxy S3.Are you a new Verizon customer? You can take advantage of the offer by

Amazon CEO praises Android and its flexebility

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took it upon himself to give Google Android OS the praise that it deserves. According to Bezos:Android is accomplishing everything that Amazon needs it to and, at the same time, giving the company flexibility to customize things. We treat Android like Linux, and so it’s a base OS layer. We have a large dedicated team that customizes Android and that’s what you see on the Kindle Fire.I think it’s great to see a CEO of such a huge player like Amazon praising Android

Motorola’s newfound vigor captured in latest Razr ad [video]

Having the full backing of Google is an advantage that Motorola has over other manufacturers. It’s not that the Droid maker was in the dump pre-Google days, but we sure like to see Moto make the best of use of its position. It also certainly won’t hurt for Motorola to flaunt a little.There are some moves that have Google stamp all over them, but we are yet to see the full effect of the takeover.What could the latest commercial for the recently announced family of Droid Razr phones,

Samsung, LG compete to secure camera sensors from Sony, Note 2 falls victim

Sony has been investing heavily in its CMOS production facilities, spurred by the huge demand for imaging sensors for mobile devices. Apparently, the billion dollars that the Japanese have been pouring into their Nagasaki factory hasn’t been enough to ramp up production to satisfy the high demand for its new 13MP CMOS image sensors.According to a report from the Korean website DDaily, Samsung had initially planned to fit the newly launched Galaxy Note 2 with a 13MP image sensor supplied by

Sony Xperia Tablet S now shipping Stateside

Barely a day after Sony started shipping its latest Xperia Tablet S in the UK, we now have word that Sony is now shipping its tablets in the U.S. We have three models on sale Stateside, and these are on stock both at the Sony Store and Newegg.Here are the SKUs, storage capacities and prices:SGPT121US – 16GB / $399.99SGPT122US – 32GB / $499.99SGPT123US – 64GB / $599.99Just a short recap of what you’ll get for your 400 bucks: the Sony Xperia Tablet S is the same magazine-style design

Leaked Screenshots Reveal AT&T's Samsung Galaxy Note II (SGH-I317)

Judging from a new leak released to BriefMobile by a "trusted source," it looks like the Galaxy Note II lineup is pretty much complete for US launch.The source today provided BriefMobile with screenshots taken from an SGH-I317 unit (codenamed toIteatt) running on AT&T's 4G LTE network, and packing all the specs you'd expect from the original phablet's successor – Android 4.1.1. Jelly Bean, a 720x1280 resolution, and a quad-core 4412 Exynos processor.What's more, the source divulged that the

Leak: ZTE Warp Sequent Headed To Boost Mobile With Vanilla Android 4.0, May Be Grand X IN Variant

In a tweet earlier this evening, the recently resurrected evleaks Twitter account revealed what may be a variant of ZTE's Intel-powered Grand X IN phone which we saw at IFA 2012 headed for Boost Mobile.ZTE Warp Sequent for Boost Mobile (ZTE Grand X IN): 1.4GHz, 4.3-inch qHD, 5MP cam. 9/17 for $200. twitter.com/evleaks/status…— E (@evleaks) September 8, 2012It's definitely worth noting, though, that this ZTE Grand X IN (if that is what we're looking at) is a tad different from the original.

Bing will be the default search engine on the Kindle Fire HD

With Amazon unveiling their new Kindle Fire lineup at such low prices given the specs of the tablets, it looks like they have been finding numerous ways to make back some of the money they’re going to lose upon each Kindle Fire they’re going to sell. First Amazon places ads around the OS (most notably the lockscreen) to create some extra revenue, and now they have struck a deal with Microsoft to make the Fire’s default search engine into Bing, as opposed to Google Search in the first

[Game Review] Noodlecake's HueBrix Is A Deceptively Simple Puzzler That You Won't Be Able To Put Down

Android developer Noodlecake has a reputation for making clean, incredibly fun games. Its newest effort is called HueBrix, and it just arrived in Google Play a few days ago. This is a puzzle game that has a simple premise: fill in all the squares. You will only make it a few minutes before the cunning level design starts the slow process of melting your brain.There are over 400 levels in HueBrix, but all of them start in basically the same way. You have a grid of white squares that need to be

Friday, 7 September 2012

Amazon Kindle Fire HD forums open for business

Whew -- there's been a lot of news from Amazon today, and plenty of folks are excited about the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch and the Kindle Fire 8.9-inch. Make sure you see the hands-on videos (click here for all the day's news in one handy list), and see everything Amazon had to say about the new tablets.When you're done, and looking for a place to talk about them, ask questions, and wait it out until they go up for sale, we've got you covered. Head into the new Kindle Fire HD forums and let's talk

uTorrent beta now available on Google Play

uTorrent for Android (Photo credit: Janko Roettgers / GigaOM)Downloading files and media through BitTorrent used to be the realm of desktop computers, but with mobile broadband and unlimited data plans, users now have another way to download through the protocol — uTorrent for Android.BitTorrent Inc. has released the Android client in beta, and it offers functionalities that are good enough for basic peer-to-peer file sharing on mobile devices:Search functionalitySubscription to RSS feeds

Call of Duty: Zombies infects non-Xperia Android devices

After a brief period of exclusivity on Sony handsets, Call of Duty: Zombies is now available on most Android devices. The first-person shooter comes from what was a simple side-game bundled with the popular Call of Duty title for PC and consoles, but has quickly taken on an unlife of its own. It's essentially a wave defense game where players have to keep their hideout barricaded and fortified against hordes of undead while simultaneously clearing out the ones that find their way inside. It's

Motorola announces new “exchange program”

We’re not sure what the deal is with Moto, but they have a reputation for not updating their phones to the latest Android. This is not only frustrating for consumers who may want to see what new features/capabilities their phone has, but also for the company’s public trust. Maybe they haven’t figured out restricting their devices restricts their revenue growth?Then again, maybe they have, which is why they recently went live with a $100 credit program towards a new Motorola device. The

Thursday, 6 September 2012

Sega Releases Total War Battles: Shogun For Android, Brings Real-Time Strategy Designed For Touchscreens

Fans of Sega's Total War series are in for a treat tonight, as the company has just released its newest offerings to the Play Store. Dubbed Total War Battles: Shogun, this real-time strategy title takes you back to medieval Japan on a quest for extreme supremacy. With over 10 hours of "story-driven campaign," TWB: Shogun will certainly fill up some free time, and its touch-intuitive interface will provide the best experience possible. The game not only features local play, but also 1v1

Headset controls on the Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean

Headset controls are something that iPhone users have taken for granted all of these years, with standardized volume up/down and play/pause buttons that work universally if the accessory is "made for iPhone". Poking around on my Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean and using the included Samsung earbuds, the in-line mic and button seem to work just as gracefully. Join me after the break for a quick video showing many ways the Galaxy Nexus’ headset can be used.All of my preferred music and podcast

HootSuite swoops in and acquires Seesmic

After a good, long run on Android, Seesmic has been acquired by HootSuite. Seesmic users don't have to worry too much, as HootSuite has promised that they'll continuing supporting the app, though business users will get moved over to HootSuite's offering. Both CEOs sound pretty amicable about how the whole thing worked out."I have always had a lot of respect for Seesmic’s CEO, Loïc Le Meur and the role Seesmic has played in advancing social business." said HootSuite CEO, Ryan Holmes. “We

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Samsung seeks injunction against LG Display to prevent use of stolen technology

A story that sounds like the plotline from an industrial espionage thriller with hidden thumb drives, secretly taken photos, and corporate spies, entered the Seoul Central District Court when Samsung Mobile Display, a subsidiary of Samsung, filed a request for an injunction against LG Display. Samsung alleges LG used or passed “leaked” information on to third parties after Samsung’s own employees or former employees stole the information when given access to a plant to inspect for

Hands on with the DROID RAZR M [Video]

Motorola just announced the DROID RAZR M smartphone and we immediately got some hands-on time with it. As you can see, the device is incredibly compact while in hand, yet the display really pops out thanks to the enormous real-estate available on the phone’s 4.3-inch screen. Also highlighted is Motorola’s Quick Settings access function, which aims to simplify a user’s settings on the phone. The other highlight is Ice Cream Sandwich operating in smooth, buttery fashion that’s

comScore: Android, iOS grow while RIM dips below 10% share

We’re not going to beat you over the head with yet another report about how Android is the king of the smartphone market. OK, maybe just a little bit.It’s no surprise to see the latest comScore report shows Android growing 1.4 percent to hold 52.2 percent of the U.S. mobile market share. It’s also nothing crazy to see that iOS picked up 2 percent themselves, now sitting at 33.4 percent. What is weird to us, honestly, is to see that RIM now only holds 9.5 percent of the U.S.

HTC to return to tablet fray with Flyer 2?

HTC is rumored to dip their toes back into the Android tablet waters as word of a Flyer 2 have started circulating. According to an anonymous PhoneArena source, HTC is readying an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet with a Snapdragon S4 processor, 7-inch (1280×768) display, a 3-megapixel rear camera, and 1-megapixel front-facing camera. The next-generation Flyer is said to feature an anodized aluminum body, much like the HTC One S.It’s possible that HTC might announce the tablet at their

New Android app Via.me blends Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram

So you love to take photos of sushi and clouds huh? Big fan of applying a clever filter or vignette before tossing on Instagram or Facebook? You might appreciate the new Android app Via.me which lets you do just that, but also to also share audio and video. Already available in a web experience and iPhone app, the mobile version has amassed more than 1 million users. Billed as a mashup of Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram, it’s a free app that offers users a bunch of Android features.Photo

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

T-Mobile and Walmart to offer prepaid Samsung Galaxy S2 for $299

The prepaid smartphone market is certainly growing, and growing fast. For a increasing number of consumers, moving to a prepaid service is the best way to get a device and keep the monthly costs down. T-Mobile is helping consumers along with that move to prepaid by introducing the Samsung Galaxy SII (S2) on their prepaid Monthly 4G service in conjunction with Walmart. Starting today, customers will be able to pick up the Galaxy S2 off contract at the full price of $299, with monthly plans

OtterBox Commuter Series case review

The Commuter Series OtterBox is a slimmed-down version of its big brother, the Defender case. Instead of a full three layers of integrated protection, there is just the internal soft silicon core and an external hard plastic cover (though the package comes along with a run-of-the-mill screen protector for good measure). MicroUSB and headphone jacks are protected with flaps, while the hard power and volume keys are accessible through the skin, and the camera and speaker are open. The OtterBox

Galaxy S3 vs iPhone 4S: Samsung finally beats Apple in sales, but is it relevant?

The Galaxy S3 is the company’s 2012 flagship smartphone handset, meant on to take on the iPhone 4S and, most importantly, the upcoming iPhone 5. Since launching in late May, the device has sold more than 10 million units worldwide, although Samsung is yet to offer specific details on the performance of the handset.And it looks like the device is getting more and more traction in the U.S. – where it’s available from a variety of mobile operators, from the Big Four to various regional

Mysterious Samsung SGH-I317 shows itself in GL Benchmarking, what is it?

A previously-unknown Samsung device has recently popped up in GL Benchmarking – it looks like we have a mystery on our hands. What do we know about the new device? It has an HD display (1280 x 720), runs Jelly Bean, has a max CPU frequency of 1600MHz and is dubbed the SGH-I317.Okay, let us attempt to put the puzzle pieces together. The model number indicates that this is either an AT&T device or its meant for the Canadian market. If it’s Canadian, we really can’t tell from the number

White House App Gets Overhauled, Now Supports Tablets, Includes Search And Live Video Functions

Hey, did you guys know there's an election coming soon? I know, it's been a pretty low-profile thing, but it's true. Of course, we want to be a well-informed electorate, right? One source of information that should probably be watched to achieve that goal is the White House. Today, the administration of the most powerful office in the country revealed a newly-designed app that will allow mobile users to watch live presidential events, search its stable of blog posts, videos, and press releases,

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Sony Isn't Considering Competing With Tablet Pricing, Going After Samsung's Crown As 'Top' Android Tablet Manufacturer

When Sony announced its newest tablet last week at IFA, the Xperia Tablet S, we wondered how they'd price the device. It didn't take long before we learned that info, and as expected, it was priced out of the market. At $399 for the 16GB version, $499 for the 32GB, and $599 for the 64GB version, it was clear that Sony didn't take into consideration the competition. Today, in an interview with Reuters, an executive VP with Sony, Kunimasa Suzuki, verified exactly that to be true. He was quoted

Best Android apps for keeping private photos and videos hidden

Most of us have a few photos or even videos on our Android smartphones that we’d rather keep private. Whether they’re a bit racy, potentially incriminating, or just plain embarrassing, it’s probably a good idea to hide them from prying eyes. The good news is you can find Android apps to hide your photos and videos. There are stealth options with fake fronts, password or PIN protection, and even encryption tools. You can even find Android apps to hide contacts and text messages.So, the

Rovio teases next Angry Birds game, ‘something PIG is coming’

Rovio’s Angry Birds franchise has proven itself to be a successful venture, and a new video suggests the developer could soon be expanding its portfolio. Titled ‘something PIG is coming’, the video shows a single bird being pounced upon by numerous little green pigs. It seems as though the tables have turned, this time putting the pigs in charge.Actual gameplay isn’t shown, and a release date wasn’t mentioned. Although, if you’re the anxious type, you can check out the official

Lenovo outs trifecta of tablets at IFA

With all the big Samsung announcements, we almost overlooked a trio of Android tablets that Lenovo showed off at IFA last week. Lenovo looks to be taking some shots at Asus with these devices, as two of them have keyboard docks. But enough about friendly market competition, let’s get into the good stuff – specs!First up is the IdeaTab S2110, which is being hailed as the flagship device of the line. It’s rocking a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 HD display, Ice Cream Sandwich1GB of RAM, 32GB of

Updated Paypal app, new UI

Paypal recently updated their app to version 4.0.0.1., bringing us a brand new UI and bringing the web payment solution’s mobile client more into line with Android’s design language. We also get a new functionality surrounding account management as well as sending and requesting money. Paypal calls it “the features that matter to you most.”Compared to the old interface this is has a much better look and feel to it. The new update also shows present and available balances, which I

TVCatchup app leaves beta, joins Google Play Store

After a fairly lengthy beta test period, UK TV streaming service TVCatchup has graduated its Android app from beta, and launched it on the Google Play Store. The app, like the TVCatchup website, allows license fee-paying Brits to watch live online streams of many of the country's free-to-air TV channels -- currently over 50, the app claims. We've been using the app throughout its beta test phase, and we've found it to be just as reliable as the website.Note that you'll need to be in the UK to

Nexus 7 up for pre-order in Taiwan, to start selling by mid-September

It may come as a bit of a shocker for some, but Google’s highly successful Nexus 7 tablet is still not available in Asia. This is even more surprising if we take into consideration that the 7-incher is co-branded by Asus, whose headquarters are in Taiwan.Now things are about to change for those of you who live in Taiwan and crave a Nexus 7, although the rest of Asia might again be left out of the mix. All three major Taiwanese wireless carriers, as well as a bunch of electronics retail

HTC Desire X gets SIM-free pricing in the UK

The first pricing information for HTC's new Desire X has become available over at an online UK-based retailer. Clove Technology is now listing the Desire X for pre-order with a SIM-free price of £228 inc. VAT (£190 exc. VAT). The phone, which is offered in "stealth black" and "neutral white," is expected to begin shipping in Europe later this month.As we discovered during our hands-on time with the HTC Desire X, it's a nicely balanced mid-range smartphone, with a few outstanding features,

Monday, 3 September 2012

TweetLine: Feature-loaded Twitter client

Numerous Twitter client apps for Android are springing up like wildflowers, each one bringing added features to improve the user experience, such as features allowing you to tweet more than the allotted 140 characters or integrating photo-sharing services with your tweets. More and more features are added to third-party Twitter apps, all in an effort to stand out from among rival apps. Developed by HappyDr0id, TweetLine is also among these third-party apps with added or extra capabilities.

Galaxy Note 2 menu reveals S Cloud product, iCloud cloud-computing alternative from Samsung

Earlier this year, among the plethora of pre-release Galaxy S3-related rumors we’ve seen was one that mentioned the next Samsung smartphone will come pre loaded with the company’s own cloud solution. Dubbed S Cloud, the Samsung cloud was seen as a direct response to Apple’s iCloud that became available to iOS, OS X and Windows users once iOS 5 was released back in October 2011.Samsung never unveiled the S Cloud in May, or later, and we had to put a pin in the rumor. But it looks like

Gojee recipe-sharing app coming to Android on September 5

One of the perks/hassles of being a big-time tech writer (self-irony alert!) is that you get all kinds of requests from different people to write articles about them and their work. Everybody has a breakthrough app, an innovative new game or a cool website they want people to hear about, and they often come to us to make it known.A few days ago, while quickly going through e-mails talking about the latest “next Facebook” or “future Warcraft for Android” I actually bumped into something

CyanogenMod Introduces Quick Message Pop-Ups, Notification Shade 'Quick Reply' Action On The Way

A couple of days ago, the CyanogenMod team announced via Google+ a new feature merged to CM's Jelly Bean code branch – Quick Message. In case you missed it, Quick Message is a feature (built by Dan van Tonder) that displays a pop-up notification upon receipt of a new SMS message, offering the ability to reply from within the pop-up, view the message in Android's Messaging app, swipe to another new message, or close the notification.Today, van Tonder (along with CyanogenMod) announced even

O2 UK blocking ICS updates for Xperia Arc, Ray and Neo

While Sony may have created some excitement in the last seven days with all their IFA announcements, for owners of some of the 2011 Xperia devices on O2 UK there is less cause for celebration. The British carrier has decided to block the update to Ice Cream Sandwich for three Xperia devices, the Arc, Ray and Neo. Despite Sony themselves having already released the updates for unlocked versions of all three devices, O2 claims that performance issues have caused them to block the update for

Sunday, 2 September 2012

Here are the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE full training materials and specs

We've been looking at bits and pieces of info about the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE over the weekend, and now thanks to an insider we've got the full set of training materials available -- including the full technical specs. The Victory looks to be one very solid phone, and should appeal to folks who want or need something a little smaller than the Galaxy S3 (Galaxy S III) but still expect decent performance. Here's the obligatory bullet point list:CDMA, LTE, 850/900/1800/1900mHz, UMTS

HTC Thunderbolt Ice Cream Sandwich update delayed, but still coming

The HTC Thunderbolt was the world’s first handset to launch with 4G LTE support, but Verizon was not able to release it in a timely manner in early 2011, with various delays annoying potential buyers along the way.And it looks like not even HTC can deliver when promising updates for its former flagship handset. Or is Verizon to blame again? The handset was expected to receive its Ice Cream Sandwich update by the end of August, but it looks like HTC was not able to deliver it.Here’s a

New Motorola Droid RAZR model coming to Verizon sans bezel?

Next week will be extremely busy when it comes to press events scheduled by various important players in the mobile business in an attempt to get some attention from the media and the public before Apple unveils the sixth-generation iPhone on September 12.Nokia and Motorola will introduce new handsets on September 5, while Amazon will hold its Kindle Fire 2 press event a day later, on September 6.A new Bloomberg report reveals that Motorola will unveil an interesting product on Wednesday, a new

Samsung Galaxy Victory specs

Complete specs for the Samsung Galaxy Victory on Sprint:Operating system: Android 4.0 Ice Cream SandwichColor: Pearl GrayNetwork: CDMA, LTE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS dual-band 1700/2100 mHzProcessor: 1.2 GHZ dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 LiteDimensions: 4.8 x 2.5 x 0.5 mmDisplay: 4-inch WVGA (800x480) TFT screenStorage: 4 GB on-board, microSDBattery: 2100 mAh; up to 7 hours; talk time, 9 days' standby timeMessaging: SMS/MMS; e-mail POP3, IMAP, Exchange ActiveSyncAudio: AAC, AMR, AWB, M4A, MID,

Galaxy S3 battery problems? Mophie Juice Packs will fix them soon

In case your Galaxy S3 can’t keep up with your mobile needs when it comes to battery life, then you should probably be interested in a battery case accessory for the device.In fact, it looks like Mophie is going to launch Juice Packs for Samsung’s flagship Android handset in the near future. The battery cases from Mophie are quite popular among iPhone users – and have been built exclusively for Apple’s smartphone versions thus far.But Mophie is ready to double the battery life of Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE gets a few more details

We've received a few more specs for the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE, an upcoming (but as yet unannounced) Sprint Android smartphone whose existence we revealed on Saturday.Until now, all we had was the name, the suffix of which obviously (and obtusely) points out that it'll run on Sprint's fledgling 4G LTE network. Thanks to a tipster, we can now nail down a few more details:The Galaxy Victory will have a 4-inch display. That's decidedly smaller than the Galaxy S3 with its 4.8-inch display.

Hands-on with the Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL

When we first got wind of the Huawei Ascend D Quad XL, it was an afterthought at the company's Mobile World Congress press conference. Aside the D Quad, which shipped with a 1800 mAh battery, the Ascend D Quad XL would offer a more substantial 2600mAh. At that show, however, only the D Quad was present -- the D Quad XL was nowhere to be seen.But at IFA 2012 this week, the newly-renamed (we'll leave it up to you to work out why) Ascend D1 Quad XL was proudly displayed at the Huawei booth for all

CNET: Two new 7-inch Kindle Fires to be unveiled on September 6, but no 10-incher

This is starting to get crazy. And ridiculous. Amazon has scheduled a special unveiling event for September 6, and, even with a few days to go, we still have no idea what the Kindle Fire makers will bring to the public attention.We know that we are in for a treat, we know that at least one Kindle Fire 2 tablet is to be unveiled, but rumors keep contradicting one another on the gadget(s)’ specs and features, starting with the display diagonal size.We’ve been reporting on “inside”

Moleskine for Android to launch exclusively on Galaxy Note, will focus on style

(Photo credit: The Verge)Premium notebook brand Moleskine has announced the launch of its Android app, which will be an exclusive for the Samsung Galaxy Note, at least for a few months before being available to the general Android population. Update: the Moleskine app will come pre-installed with the Note II and Note 10.1.The app will run alongside the stock S-Note app, which likewise comes with the Galaxy Note, although the Moleskine app will focus more on style. The Moleskine app will be

Hands-on with Lenovo's new Ideatab Android tablets at IFA 2012

Lenovo has unveiled three new Android tablets at IFA 2012, in Berlin, and we've had the chance to try them out for ourselves. All three tablets run Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, along with some additional UI customizations from the manufacturer.First up is the 10-inch Ideatab S2110, a keyboard-and-tabet dock set similar to the ASUS Transformer series. Inside the S2110 is a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU running at 1.5GHz, backed up by 1GB of RAM. That's billed as a "premium

Edge-to-edge screen to be revealed by Motorola next week?

As we reported a couple weeks ago, Motorola has an event planned for next week on September 5th in New York in conjunction with Verizon Wireless. We have surmised that both Motorola DROID RAZR HD and a Motorola DROID RAZR M devices will be released. Bloomberg is now reporting that a source familiar with plans for the event has indicated one of the devices to be unveiled will be a Motorola smartphone with virtually no bezel, effectively giving it an edge-to-edge screen. If true, this will make

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