Android Archives - Page 5 of 12

Apple May Seek Restraining Order Against Samsung Galaxy S III Launch

Many long time Android enthusiasts have been quite impressed at how the Samsung Galaxy S III launch in the US has gone thus far. Samsung held their event on May 3rd in London and announced an international release of the new flagship device later on that month.

At the time of the press event Samsung had said that the US would see the device later this summer. Based on previous product launches of high end Samsung Android phones, with the four major carriers in the United States, Android enthusiasts feared that we wouldn’t see the device until September, just before the seasons change.

Monday, Samsung and Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and US Cellular all divulged their plans for the launch of the phone and it’s going to be sooner thrasher than later.

Well now there is a chance that Apple may rain on Samsung’s parade. Apple was in court earlier today, and in court said they may seek a restraining order, as early as tomorrow, against the import and sale of the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Reuters is reporting that Apple attorney Josh Krevitt made that claim at a hearing today before Judge Lucy Koh, who has been presiding over all of the Apple vs Samsung and Samsung vs Apple law suits in the United States.

Apple filed papers on Tuesday seeking to ban the import and sale of the Samsung Galaxy S III. Both parties appeared before Judge Koh in a hearing today. Koh told the attorneys that she wouldn’t rule on anything pertaining to the Galaxy S III as the Galaxy Nexus was the focus for today’s hearing. Koh said that Apple could file a temporary restraining order against the Galaxy S III.

Source: Reuters

Foursquare 5.0 Brings Complete Redesign, Available For Android And iOS

The completely redesigned, new version of Foursquare that we have been hearing about for so long is finally here today–and it is awesome. Foursquare is still Foursquare. Meaning you still check-in, you still can explore, you still compete for mayorships with your friends and complete strangers. However, the way Foursquare goes about this puts a bigger emphasis on finding you new things to do.

It all starts with the design. As soon as you open the app for Android, you will notice that it has the brand new ICS themed layout that we’re starting to see with more and more apps. In the iOS version, the same idea is present only in the standard row of tabs on the bottom of the screen. In the same direction that both Facebook and Google+ have gone, Foursquare is also enlarging all of the photos in the app, making it a more visual experience than ever. This works hand-in-hand with the new Facebook Timeline integration, which inevitably makes Foursquare look like a native part of Timeline when posts are viewed on Facebook. The whole thing just feels like that “modern social network” that all of the top social giants seem to be heading towards these days.

The Explore feature now remembers the places that you often go and the places you mark as a favorite, and suggests them to you. For example, right now my Foursquare app knows that it is Thursday afternoon, so it reads “Suggestions for Thursday afternoon.” Under that line, it shows a lot of my favorite lunch places, starting with Chipotle Mexican Grill. And to be honest, I could go for some Chipotle right now, which is exactly the reaction that Foursquare was looking for with their new app.

You can view your stats in a beautiful new grid layout, that shows your friends, check-ins, mayorships, and trophies as well. It looks really good, and is definitely the best Foursquare experience yet. In my opinion, this update is exactly what Foursquare needed to renew its novelty feel, keep users coming back, and bring back users that have parted ways. Grab the update for Android in the link below, and the update for iOS is available at the iTunes link below.

Play Store link

iTunes link

AT&T Galaxy S III Available For Preorder Today, Launches June 18

Today, AT&T’s Galaxy S III is up for preorder. The device has the exact same specs as the rest of the US verisons, except for an option to grab the 32GB model. Sorry AT&T subscribers. The phone is $199 on a new contract, and $549 without a contract. It will be launching on June 18, which is three days earlier than most of the other launch days carriers have been posting. Maybe this is AT&T’s way of apologizing for skimping out on that extra 16GB of space.

The device will be available in both the Pebble Blue and Marble White editions, and is currently on their website to begin preorders as I write this. Of course, AT&T happens to be the carrier with the best current competition for the Galaxy S III, the HTC One X, so we will have to see how it stacks up in sales now that customers can grab both devices upon entering an AT&T store. Let us know in the comments if you are or aren’t looking to pick up a GSIII, and we will bring you our own reviews when we conclude them.

Google Introduces Offline Maps And Higher Resolution 3D Maps

Last week Google told us they would be showing off the “next dimension of Maps” today, and so they have. A lot of people thought it would have to do with 3D, and some of it does, but the big deal of Google’s event is the introduction of offline Maps. And offline Maps is a big deal.

I can’t count the amount of times that I have had to wait on Google Maps to pull up my directions or navigation due to a poor data connection. Now, this is usually when I am in the middle of nowhere, but it was still an issue. Google will now allow users to download Map areas to their device (this is already offered in Labs, to some extent) and will improve upon any offline downloading that is currently available. They didn’t specify exactly how it will all work, or how much you can have offline at a time, but it will be coming to Android soon.

They also will be improving their 3D maps pictures, giving them much more detail and more of a realistic look. This feature will be coming to both iOS and Android however, because Google is looking to bring these features to both platforms. Google has started using new forms of mapping to obtain these images which will give us higher resolution images as well. They have also introduced a new backpack camera that they will use to obtain Street View pictures in places that they can’t get cars.

Pretty cool stuff.

We’ll be sure to let you know when Google finally pushes these features to their iOS and Android apps, and give you our opinions of how they actually work when on devices.

Austin Startup MapMyFitness Announces $9 Million Dollar Round

Austin fitness startup MapMyFitness has received a $9 million dollar round of funding.

SiliconHillsNews is reporting that Austin Ventures and Milestone Venture Partners led the series B round for the fitness app development startup. Competitor Group Inc, and The Running Specialty Group LLC also participated in the round through other business partnerships.

The Austin based startup makes a variety of fitness apps that allow their users to track their progress on their smartphone or other mobile device. They’ve already built up a strong community of over nine million registered users. They are currently adding 25,000 new users per day.

“Austin Ventures’ continuing enthusiasm is a great validation of our success to date. We’re also thrilled to leverage Milestone Venture Partners’ unique expertise on healthcare technology services, and to deepen our business partnerships with Competitor Group and run.com, the e-commerce platform for The Running Specialty Group,” said Richard Jalichandra, chief executive officer of MapMyFITNESS. “This Series B funding allows us to continue innovating and improving our tools for people of all levels to improve their fitness, nutrition and overall health.”

One of MapMyFitness’ strong points is how their apps are resonating within the fitness community. Fitness event producers have used MapMyFitness to track participants progress in races, decathlons and more.

“MapMyFITNESS’ amazing growth of one of the largest audiences of runners, walkers, cyclists and active people has tremendous synergy with what we’re doing at Competitor with events like the Rock N Roll race series,” said Scott Dickey, president and chief executive officer at Competitor Group, Inc.

“The MapMyFITNESS team has created one of the most engaging utilities for fitness enthusiasts, one that complements what we’re trying to do with our new website, run.com,” said Ken Gart, President of The Running Specialty Group.

MapMyFitness is available across multiple platforms. Of course iOS and Android are their leading platforms but it’s also available as a native app for Blackberry, Windows Mobile and iPads.

Linkage:

Find out more about MapMyFitness here

Source: SiliconHillNews

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Microsoft Unveils SmartGlass, Internet Explorer For Xbox, And 35 New Service Providers For Xbox

While they didn’t bring a next-gen console to E3 this year, Microsoft really pushed the limit on what the Xbox 360, their current-gen console, can do. Xbox has recently been given access to an “app store” where users can download and purchase things, and download service providers and apps such as Netflix and YouTube. These were obviously a huge hit, and Microsoft is planning to expand their providers by adding 35 new companies to the mix. Machinima, Nickelodeon, and Paramount can all give users a taste of what they can view with their cable providers, and do it all from one console. Microsoft has also announced they will be adding NBA Gametime and WatchESPN apps to the market so users can finally catch live sporting events via their Xbox. Clearly, this is bad news for cable companies.

Microsoft has also announced a new application called SmartGlass that will enable users to use their tablets as “remotes” for any Windows 8 devices, and of course, the Xbox to play different media types. Think AirPlay. Users will be able to start streaming content on one device, and pick up on another anywhere at any time. They also are enabling a “second screen” with tablets and phones that can be integrated into the Xbox’s experience, which is likely their shot at Nintendo’s new Wii U Gamepad. This app will also come to iOS and Android, though, meaning Microsoft is looking past just Windows Phone for their newest technology.

Microsoft is also pushing for more Kinect integration by adding easier ways to search with voice and gestures, and Internet Explorer will be added to Xbox by the end of the year. Xbox Music was something we have been hearing about for quite some time now, and today it became official that it was coming, and that it would work with Windows 8 devices. This means the Xbox can literally be the media center of a home for the first time. Sports, surfing the web, gaming, television–all of these can now be accessed by Microsoft’s home console. It’s no wonder the Xbox has become the best selling console worldwide.

Samsung Galaxy S III Carrier Preorder And Launch Dates Announced For Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, And US Cellular

Very early this morning we covered the official announcement of the Galaxy S III coming to five US carriers, and now we have some carrier official announcements as well. All of these devices will come with the beautiful 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, the Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 8MP camera, and of course, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The hardware looks identical to the global version on the outside, and both the Pebble Blue and Marble White versions are launching on these carriers. We will be sure to keep you posted with reviews and more news as soon as we get our hands on these highly-anticipated devices.

VERIZON

First off is Verizon’s GSIII, which will be the same device that was shown in the press release and will be equipped with 4G LTE. This will be the very first Galaxy device since the original Galaxy S to hit Big Red, due to the carrier missing out on the GSII most likely because of the Galaxy Nexus’s arrival. The Galaxy S III for Verizon will be listed at $199 for the 16GB version, and $249 for the 32GB version. It will arrive in both Pebble Blue and Marble White on launch day. Preorders begin June 6, so get ready to start throwing your cash at Verizon on Wednesday.

T-MOBILE

Next we have T-Mobile’s version of the Galaxy S III, which we saw pictured last week. The GSIII will be hitting T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network with speeds up to 21Mbps, and the same overall hardware specs that will be coming to all US models (other than the LTE radio of course). The preorders for the T-Mobile version have not been opened yet, but T-Mobile will sell the device on June 21.

US CELLULAR

US Cellular will be receiving the Galaxy S III as well, with LTE and the same hardware specs as the above versions. The GSIII will be available in Blue and White, however the 32 GB model will only be available in Marble White. US Cellular will begin preorders for this device on June 12, and have not yet released pricing or release dates. Customers can sign up for email updates on the device’s arrival starting June 5 at US Cellular’s landing page.

SPRINT

Sprint will be the only carrier so far to receive the GSIII with Google Wallet preloaded, which is a pretty big deal. The rest of the US carriers have been late to the Wallet party, with Sprint being very supportive of Google’s services and even incorporating Wallet and Voice to their network. The GSIII will again, have the same specs as the rest of the devices and come with an LTE radio to be compatible with Sprint’s to-be-launched LTE network. The pricing will be the same as Verizon’s–$199 for the 16GB model and $249 for the 32GB model in both Marble White and Pebble Blue. Preorders begin June 5 with the device launching June 21.

Instapaper For Android Hits The Google Play Store

Instapaper has long been a favorite app for iOS users, but today Android users can finally join the club. Instapaper launched in the Google Play Store a few hours ago and since has been downloaded on all of my devices. Instapaper is a competitor to Pocket (formerly ReadItLater), and it has been one of my top needed smartphone services for quite some time.

The purpose behind Instapaper is to save the articles that you would like to read, but just don’t have the time to right when you stumble over them. When something is saved to Instapaper, it is immediately downloaded in a compact, text-only version that is made specifically for your phone or tablet’s screen. This makes having to deal with waiting for web pages to load a thing of the past, as the service downloads your articles in the background and prepares them for later use. You can customize the font style, font size, dark or light themes, and just about anything else you would expect from a reader application. The only downside is the steep $2.99 price tag that may make competing apps such as Pocket seem a little more appetizing. If you have Instapaper for Android, be sure to let us know what you think of the Android version in the comments below, and hit the Play link to give it a try.

Play link

Samsung Galaxy S III Coming To All 5 US Carriers Starting At $199 Beginning In June

Well folks, it’s here. And it’s come in the best way possible. The Galaxy S III is coming to the US, but it’s coming to all of the major US carriers with the exact same price and no outward changes from the global version. The hardware button, the 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen–everything is just as it was in the leaked T-Mobile pictures we saw.

The official specs for, again, all models on all carriers is the 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen under the safe guard of Gorilla Glass 2.0, a Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, and an 8MP all packaged in a slim 8.6mm shell weighing in at only 4.7 ounces. The device will launch in both the Marble White and Pebble Blue versions, meaning the production issues Samsung was facing with the Pebble Blue version must be coming to an end. S-Voice, S-Beam, and all the other features of TouchWiz4 on Android 4.0 are coming along for the ride, and in the end this phone is left virtually unchanged from the global version in every aspect but the processor. Samsung does claim though, that the dual-core version will have the same speed and performance as the quad-core version, without sacrificing any battery life. And of course, we cannot forget the GSIII’s 2100 mAh battery which will be sure to last you all day even on the various LTE networks.

The Samsung Galaxy S III will hit Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and US Cellular around the same times starting in June. The “exact pricing and dates” will be announced in the coming weeks, with a consistent price starting at $199. We’ll be sure to bring you reviews of this highly anticipated device as soon as we get our hands on a US version.

Source: Samsung

Images Of T-Mobile Galaxy S III Surface, No Major Hardware Changes From Global Version

It was only a matter of time before we started to see something about the US variants of Samsung’s already wildly-popular Galaxy S III, and The Verge has scored a few pictures of what may be the first US GSIII. T-Mobile is the branding that is on the back of the white or blue Galaxy S III, and this device is something of a trend-breaker. In years past, Samsung’s Galaxy series was often altered on its US variants, with each US carrier getting a different look, and also a different name. Sure, the “Galaxy S __” was always still tacked on the end (or beginning) of the device’s name to ensure the branding was present, but other than that we’re used to seeing names like “Epic 4G Touch” or “Skyrocket LTE”.

We’re not sure what this T-Mobile GSIII will be called exactly, but we are noticing that there are very little, if any at all, changes made to this device. In fact, from the pictures shown this model is identical to the global version, save the T-Mobile branding of course. This is also the first time a hardware home button has made it to the States on a Galaxy device, as it is usually removed and replaced by four capacitive touch buttons (or 3 in Ice Cream Sandwich devices). Do we like that the device has stayed the same, though? Personally, I usually favor touch capacitive buttons as opposed to a hardware home button, but I sure don’t like giving up a quad-core processor in my brand new GSIII. Let us know what you think in the comments, and we’ll keep you updated on the T-Mo GSIII’s announcement and launch.

Source: The Verge

Google Unveiling “The Next Dimension Of Maps” On June 6

Google Maps has been the king of maps for a while now, due to its stellar service and incredible iOS and Android applications, but things haven’t been looking very good as of late. When Google decided to start charging for its Maps API’s (in high-usage situations) companies like FourSquare dropped it as its maps provider. Other startups and companies began to do so, and before we knew it Apple is about to release their own Google Maps replacement. This isn’t only because Google began to charge, but it’s also because Apple undoubtedly enjoys their independence, especially from Google.

In the midst of all of these issues, however, Google has still kept improving their Maps platform and applications, adding things like indoor maps and directions and integration into Google+. Now they have announced that they will be unveiling “the next dimension of Maps. On June 6 they are holding an event to showcase this, and it is still unknown what exactly the next dimension of maps is. There are possibilities of a literal meaning such as adding a new 3D spin to Google Maps, or it could be something completely unrelated. Either way, we will be covering it every step of the way so be sure to stay tuned for what Google has in store for the Maps service.

Source: Google

Interview With NY Startup Edamam Becoming The Worlds Food Knowledge Base

Edamam founder and CEO Victor Penev has a lofty goal. He wants his company to become the goto place for food knowledge in the world. While the goal seems quite lofty as I am writing this right now, if you watch the video below you’ll see that Edamam may well be on their way to doing just that.

They launched their consumer facing product, a mobile app which pulls over one million recipes from different sources, at the DEMO conference in April in Santa Clara California. This isn’t just your run of the mill recipes.com app though, the UI is appealing, the navigation is a breeze and you can separate and search through recipes six ways to Sunday.

On the business side Edamam offers an intense, information packed widget for food blogs and websites to tap their vast knowledge base in the same ways as the mobile app and more. They are also offering an API for developer partners to tap that big food database.

In this interview with Edamam they talk about how they plan on being the goto place for food knowledge. In a few years time they hope that the end user will be able to go to the grocery store, by a piece of salmon and get a treasure trove of possibilities wrapped around Edamam information.

Off camera he admitted that he would love to see Edamam being tapped by the users smartphone in the grocery store, and then a smart refrigerator, stove, or other appliance that offers recipes, food guidance, wine recommendations, anything. We’re talking the Jetson’s Rosie in the big data era.

We’ve covered quite a few food startups here at Nibletz, this is the first time that a startup has such a clear path to the future. We really wish these guys well, and after you watch the video you’ll see they have their stuff together and could easily achieve that lofty goal.

Linkage:

Check out Edamam here at their website

See more of our TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 Coverage here

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We Catch Up With Social Photo Sharing Startup StreamZoo At TechCrunch Disrupt VIDEO INTERVIEW

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2011 in New York City, our Managing Editor, Cameron Wright caught wind of Phonezoo’s latest startup project StreamZoo. StreamZoo is a multi platform photosharing application for Android and iPhone that has unique elements that make it one of the most popular photo sharing experiences outside of Instagram.

For starters StreamZoo allows users to follow users and streams that are created by hashtags. For example, co-founder Manish Vaidya talks in part three of this interview about how international users in Indonesia and Brazil make streams for their countries which draw more photos from other users in their country.

Wright also talks to Vaidya about the impact that Instagram has had on StreamZoo. Vaidya says that StreamZoo wasn’t really affected by the adoption of Instagram. Users were steadfast in their ways with their photosharing apps. What did happen however, was when Lightbox was acquihired by Facebook and subsequently shutdown StreamZoo found a lot of users migrated to their service. Those users used a stream #lightbox to find each other on StreamZoo.

StreamZoo also offers a badging element reminiscent of GoWalla which was also acquihired by Facebook. StreamZoo has the ability to create badges centered around locations, businesses, fun places to go and events. In fact Vaidya created a special badge unique to just Disrupt.

In Part I of the interview Wright talks with Vaidya about the progress that StreamZoo has made since they met the previous year. They also talk about how the StreamZoo community influences changes in the 8 person Sunnyvale based team. StreamZoo had gone a little notification crazy but quickly reacted to the community adding a more effective way to manage notifications in messages within the UI. Check out part I below:

In Part II of the interview Vaidya talks about the impact of Instagram, Facebook and Lightbox on the StreamZoo application. Check out part II after the break

Is This The Google Nexus Tablet Passing Through At The FCC?

Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O is a tad bit less than a month away. The conference, which opens on June 27th in San Francisco will bring out a slew of new Google product news.

We are all expecting to hear more about the Google Chrome Box, Google Glass and the rumored Google Nexus tablet. Google is rumored to be launching a seven inch tablet to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire in size, price and content delivery.

Our friends at Phone Arena are reporting by way of Engadget and the FCC that the Asus MeMo Pad 370T has just crossed the desks of the FCCs approval center in Columbia Maryland.

So why is this significant to the Google Nexus Tablet?

Well Asus showed off the seven inch Tegra 3 powered device at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas back in January. However they immediately shelved it when rumors started swirling that Asus had been tapped for the wi-fi only Google tablet.

PhoneArena and others, speculate (with good reason) that the MeMo Pad 370T that the FCC is seeing right now, is in fact the Google tablet without the internal name changed.

We all seem to be in agreement that the Google Nexus tablet will be at least one of the devices given away at Google IO. Seeing it cross the FCC at the tail end of May, further solidifies that thinking.

Source: PhoneArena