Android Archives - Page 9 of 12

HTC And Verizon Announce The DROID Incredible 4G At CTIA

HTC and Verizon’s Incredible 4G has been leaked for quite a while now from pictures to specs, and today at CTIA in New Orleans the device was finally announced officially. The DROID Incredible series has been going strong on Verizon for a while now, and they have stayed true to the form factor with the 4G Incredible as well. The screen is still 4″, straying away from the larger phone trend that is taking over the market as of late, and also retaining the plateau-style back that we all have come to know and love on a DROID Incredible.

This Incredible 4G is the follow-up to the DROID Incredible 2, which was a 3G only device, and as far as specs go is a large hardware and software upgrade. This device isn’t likely going to replace everyone’s device on Verizon, but people who are die-hard Incredible fans or in search of a smaller screen may find themselves right at home with the Incredible 4G. The DROID Incredible 4G features, as I said earlier, a 4″ super LCD qHD display which is smaller than most devices available. The device also has received a processor bump to a 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 with 1 GB of RAM, meaning it will likely run ICS at blazing fast speeds. Sense 4 will come on top of Android 4.0, bringing everything that we have seen from the One series on the software end of things. ImageSense will be complementing the device’s 8MP camera, and a standard VGA front facing camera is on board as well. Beats Audio will be bringing you all of the sound for the device, but sadly Beats headphones do not come with the purchase like they did withe the Rezound.

The biggest improvement on this device compared to the Incredible 2, however, is obviously the addition of 4G LTE, something that many will agree should have been present on the Incredible 2 in the first place. Hopefully the 1700 mAh battery will be able to sustain this device for a full day on LTE, and the smaller screen size may make up for what is a somewhat small battery size. HTC has also allowed for the removal of the battery on this device, so you may want to pick up a spare battery depending on the device’s battery life.

Samsung’s London Unpacked Event Brings Us The Long-Awaited Galaxy S III

Today in London, Samsung announced the latest addition the their ever-popular Galaxy line of devices. We were there live covering the whole event, as you may have seen from our liveblog, and Samsung really brought a lot of changes with the newly announced Galaxy S III–but don’t worry because in this case that’s a good thing. Samsung really hit the nail on the head last year with the Galaxy S II, and the device became their best selling phone line ever. This makes the follow-up to that, the GSIII, one of the most anticipated devices of the year, and as Samsung calls it, the most anticipated device in the last 20 years of Samsung’s products.

Samsung was clearly inspired by the success of the Galaxy Note, and you can see it in the sheer size of the GSIII. The device packs a HUGE 4.8-inch HD Super-AMOLED 720x1080p screen. And my friends, this is a beautiful screen. Last year the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung and Google was criticized by some for being too big with its 4.6-inch screen, but clearly this didn’t effect Samsung because they went even bigger on their next flagship device. They also brought the goods with a 1.4 GHz Samsung Exynos quad-core processor, the same one that was rumored to be with the device a few months ago. An 8MP camera on back with 720p shooting capabilities compliments a 1.6MP camera on the front for high quality video chatting. The battery capacity is 2100 mAh, larger than devices such as the HTC One X, and will likely be needed thanks to LTE being on board for these devices. Samsung stated that LTE and HSPA+ will be coming to the states via the GSIII, and we were all relieved to hear so as LTE is at this point the standard in the mobile world. Thankfully Samsung has kept the notification light, and two hardware buttons will be on the face of the device as well. The GSIII has rounded edges and overall a very rounded body similar to the Epic Touch 4G GSII variant for Sprint, and it makes the largeness of the screen a little less obvious when viewing the hardware of the device.

The Galaxy S III comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with an improved version of TouchWiz that Samsung dubbs “inspired by nature.” The lockscreen ripples when touched, and elements of wind and light effect the device when sliding through the homescreens or switching applications. Ice Cream Sandwich is still the obvious OS version, but Samsung has not attempted to “lighten” the presence of TouchWiz much at all, and much of it looks very similar. From the hands-on and videos shown however, the device runs very smoothly and TouchWiz doesn’t seem to be an issue at all. S Voice is basically Siri for the GSIII, and different functions will be able to be performed from that service as well as Google’s own preloaded voice commands. One other thing that we noticed on the software side of things however, is that Google Wallet is missing from the list of supported Google Mobile Services, and we have not yet heard from Samsung as to whether the GSIII will have Google Wallet at launch.

The Galaxy S III will be available in Europe by the end of May, and will roll out to the rest of the globe this summer. No pricing or carriers have been announced as of yet, but we will be sure to keep you updated.

Carrier Billing Comes To Google Play In 7 Countries

The Google Play Store has just expanded it payment option capabilities, with Google announcing the new option to bill you purchases to your monthly carrier bill. This has been done before, through AT&T even (back when it was still called the Android Market), but Google has now made more than apps available for purchase through carrier billing. Now, with carrier billing you can purchase just about anything that you would like on the Play Store, including music, movie rentals, and of course, paid applications.

This isn’t just specific to the US either, as a number of global carriers have agreed to work with Google, bringing carrier billing to 7 countries as of right now with “more coming soon.” The carriers that have partnered with Google are pretty varying as well. Verizon is the only major US carrier to still not be on board, and we’re not all that surprised as it is most likely for similar reasons as Verizon not wanting Google Wallet either. Currently customers of T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint will be able to access carrier-billing, and Google is still stressing the fact that more will be on board “soon.”

In other nations across the globe, carriers are beginning to allow this type of billing as well. While it is not yet widely available, this can really change how we pay for applications and other types of media. For example, it is much easier for people, especially those without credit cards, to purchase media if they just have to bill it to their monthly carrier bill. Parents will likely feel much better about giving their child the go-ahead then giving them all of their credit or debit credentials.

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any other carriers and county that jump on board, and we have a full list of the current carriers below.

Germany: T-Mobile, Vodafone
Italy: Vodafone
Japan: KDDI, Docomo, Softbank
Korea: KT, SKT, LGU+
UK: T-Mobile, Vodafone
US: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile

Source: Google Play’s Google+ via The Verge

Steve Wozniak Says Windows Phone Is Aesthetically Superior To Android, And Even iPhone In Some Ways

Over the weekend, Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, described in an interview what is to be taken as a very positive feeling about Windows Phone. Wozniak has been known to keep his eyes open to the competing technology to his company’s own, and many times try devices out for himself. Wozniak has even said in previous interviews that Android is, in some ways, more functional than an iPhone, which shows how he is the farthest thing from “tied down” at Apple.

Steve went ahead and got himself a Nokia Lumia 900 and had that as well as a two iPhones and a DROID Razr during his interview. The Lumia 900 brought in a lot of hype being the first Nokia-Microsoft phone that was launched, and has received fairly good criticism since its release. Of course, Wozniak was one who agreed that the Lumia 900 is a great device, but also that the Windows Phone OS is quite aesthetically pleasing, and even more so than Android. He went on to say that swiping through the menus and using the device in the same ways that he would use an Android or iPhone, was more intuitive and beautiful when performed on Windows Phone. This may come as a surprise to some, as Apple’s iOS is known for its very smooth and beautiful OS, and for an Apple co-founder to come out and say a Microsoft OS is more beautiful is unheard of.

Wozniak has made blunt statements like this in the past, and it’s very nice to see people in the tech world leaving their comfort zone and trying new things. Wozniak said that someone from Apple must be working on the Windows Phone team, and that the iPhone was still his favorite, so its obvious that his allegiance is still with Apple. While this may be true, Steve Wozniak is a prime example of someone who can recognize innovation, and give it the credit it deserves.

Source: A New Domain

Startup Interview: Meshin’s CEO Chris Holmes, Plus You Could Win An iPad!

Most app developers and development companies have been going to iOS before the Android platform. Trends are showing that’s starting to change. One of the companies that has released to Android before iPhone is Meshin.

Meshin’s co-founder Kristen Galliani explained to Nibletz.com that Apple doesn’t allow apps to call into other apps, that was one of the main reasons they needed the more open architecture of Android to build Meshin, an email and message aggregator, and Meshin Recall. Meshin Recall syncs with Evernote and helps organize your notes by using dates from your calendar. There is a lot more in store for Meshin Recall. The Meshin team is on the tip of the iceberg of the contextual intelligence space.

Meshin is about to unveil their Meshin Recall product for iOS and they are currently looking for Beta Testers to sign up. If you sign up for the iOS beta and refer the most people you could win one of those flash “New iPads” go here to do that.

Meshin came out of the Palo Alto Research Center with their biggest chunk of funding coming from Xerox (remember that little company that makes copiers and fathered the Mac?). PARC needed someone to bring Meshin to life and that someone is Chris Holmes.

With more than 25 years in the tech start up arena and some huge accomplishments under his belt he was the perfect fit.

Check out the interview after the break

Samsung Protesters Promote “WAKE UP” Campaign Outside Apple Store, Only To Generate More Press For The Tech Giant

Samsung and Apple’s patent war has been going on for quite a while now, and the two companies have really been going at it, especially Samsung, when it comes to advertisement. Samsung has not been light-footed when it comes to attacking Apple whenever they can, and the iPhone has been a huge focus of their latest ad campaigns. Samsung has already spent millions of dollars in advertising, whether it’s against Apple or not, marketing their Galaxy devices, and continues to do so.

Today, Samsung hired a group of protestors to stand outside of an Apple store in Australia and relentlessly repeat their motto “Wake Up.” This wake up call is to Apple customers who are specifically looking to purchase iDevices, but other than that they really aren’t saying much. A timer is present with a countdown to the GSIII launch, and we’re not really sure if this group is planning to stay until the timer hits zero, or whether they will call it a day.

In my opinion, hiring a protesting group is money spent that probably should have gone to Samsung’s actual products. Is Samsung’s hardware as completely sound and perfected? No. Is TouchWiz an ICS launcher replacement that we just can’t live without? Definitely not. And if all of this is true, Samsung may need to rethink their marketing strategy. Sure, it’s not all bad, but stunts like this are not only ineffective, but also embarrassing for the company and Android itself. Most of the people walking into the Apple store that day either had no clue what these protesters were talking about, or didn’t care, because obviously Samsung’s products didn’t divert them from the Apple store the first time. While a commercial or two may be fine, Samsung is crossing the line with a full protesting team that is doing exactly what Apple wants in the first place: generating press. If Apple products aren’t good, why would Samsung attack them? Cupertino couldn’t be more pleased.

Source: Android and Me

EXCLUSIVE: Los Angeles: 23 Year Old Woman Launches Smartzer, A Startup That Will Change Video Forever

smartzer, tv, kevin harrington, Karoline Gross, Nibletz

23 Year Old Karoline Gross Is The Founder Of The New Video Platform Smartzer (photo: K. Gross)

This story has wow written all over it and Nibletz, the voice of startups everywhere else has it first.

With all the innovation in video in the past few years we knew it was a matter of time before someone, some company or some startup would find a way to hot link or link map products in videos, like product placements, to actually make them clickable and then purchasable. We didn’t know it would be a 23 year old woman from Los Angeles that would do it. That’s exactly what Karoline Gross and her startup Smartzer are doing.

Imagine watching a movie or an episode of one of your favorite shows and seeing an iPad or some cool new iPad charging cradle you haven’t seen before. When the Smartzer officially launches this fall, and the video content is Smartzer enabled you will be able to click that iPad or iPad charger and see more in-depth information about the product or purchase it. This is what people like Kevin Harrington, CEO of “As Seen On TV” has been dreaming about.

When the technology launches producers will have to integrate the Smartzer system into their videos in order for it to work, but with the progress Gross has made so far, and the fact that she’s in Los Angeles meeting with studio executives all the time, it won’t be too long until we see this technology on the big three networks. You will be able to use your smartphone to watch tv and interact with tv for more than just checking in and redeeming deals, you’ll be able to click, look and buy.

You like the jacket Ryan Seacrest is wearing on Idol, click, look, buy. You like the dress your favorite star is wearing on the red carpet, click, look buy. What about that song in Glee, click, look, buy. Yes we knew it was coming and Smartzer is setting the pace.

We got a chance to catch up with the busy 23 year old entrepreneur and here’s what she had to tell Nibletz about herself and her amazing startup:

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Charlotte Startup: Rawporter Talks About What DEMO Was Like

Our good friends Kevin and Rob at Rawporter were among the startups that presented at DEMO last week in Santa Clara. We reached out to many of the startups that were coming from “Everywhere Else” to DEMO to talk to them about their experience and what it is they were doing.

Rawporter is an app and service (Service as an app) that allows everyday people with smartphones to take pictures and videos, upload them to the rawporter site and then get paid for providing “man on the street” coverage to news outlets across the country, and the world. It’s also a great service for bloggers to source video that they might not otherwise be able to cover.

“Now anyone who needs custom video and photo content can request it from our users who might already be in the right place at the right time. In exchange for responding to assignments, our Rawporters get the compensation and credit they deserve simply for putting their smartphone to work.” Kevin Davis, co-founder of Rawporter told Nibletz.com

So we wanted to find out why, with all the startup competitions across the country, did Rawporter choose DEMO?

“We knew DEMO was a tremendous platform to launch a new business, but since we’re still bootstrapping, we weren’t sure if we could afford the exhibition fee. Luckily, they offered us a scholarship and that made it a very easy decision. The DEMO team was incredibly helpful and we can’t thank them enough for the experience and exposure that Rawporter received at the event.”

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Google Unveils Google Drive, The Company’s Unified Storage Service

What may be Google’s worst kept secret of all time, Google Drive, was finally announced today. Google has already had storage options available in other Google services (Google Docs, Google Music, Picasa, etc), but today they unveiled Drive as the unified way to manage just about anything you need to store. Google has been known to launch way too many products at a time instead of focusing on one, central service, so it’s nice to see them begin to implement unification into their ecosystem.

Much like they’ve done with the Play Store and Google+, Google is clearly trying to simplify all of their products down to one, easily-marketable line of products. In fact, Google Docs now redirects to Google Drive, and Google has stated that all previously available features will be there from the start. Google is also working on incorporating Google Drive into it’s products so they can dig files, photos, and anything else attachable by email into it’s services that interact with others, such as Google+ and Gmail.

Anyone who wants to can grab 5GB of Google Drive space for free, but getting anything over that will cost you a monthly subscription. 25GB will cost you $2.49, 100GB will be $4.99, and 1TB is $49.99. Google is also throwing in 25GB to your Gmail when you start paying them for Drive, which is also a plus (no pun intended). Google has released clients for Android, Mac, PC, but Apple’s iDevices have been left out for now with “clients on the way.” Google Docs has been updated to be the Google Drive app, so any users with it installed just have to go grab the update, but other than that be sure to check out all of the clients for your devices, and let us know what you think of Google’s new storage service in the comments below.

DROID Incredible 4G Pops Up On Verizon’s Site, Confirms Previous Rumors

Today the rumored and much leaked DROID Incredible 4G popped up on Verizon’s DroidDoes website. It was quickly pulled, but the page was up long enough for our friends at Android Central to grab some screenshots of the device and and specifications. The DROID Incredible 4G has an extremely similar body-type to its Incredible predecessors, especially the DROID Incredible 2. The ever-popular (but sometimes hated) plateau back to the device is still present, and would this device honestly feel like an Incredible without it?

The hardware may be similar on the outside, with its 4-inch screen and slim, rounded body; but the DROID Incredible 4G does have some notable changes as well. First off, there are only three touch capacitive buttons on the face of the device. Back, home, and the multitasking button sit nicely on the device in that order. It is still not confirmed as to whether the Incredible 4G will have the awesome rotating buttons like the Incredible 2 did, but we sure hope it does. HTC has made a point to still include at least some hardware buttons, not completely confident in the software to suffice and that’s okay with me. While I would like to see device makers stop putting hardware buttons on devices at some point, I can see why they still want them around, one reason being that ICS is still only holding around 2% of the shares of Android OS versions.

Another notable addition to this device is full Beats audio support, whether you are playing through speakers or headphones which is nice to have along. The Incredible 4G has also been bumped up to a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, and Android 4.0 and Sense 4 will complement the hardware for an all-around speedy device. A standard 8MP camera is still sitting on the back, and the front has a VGA quality camera as well. The device is set to go for $299 on contract.

This device is very similar to HTC’s One S, and this has lead us to believe that this may not be the only HTC device hitting Verizon this year. With HTC releasing their One series, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them release a phone similar to the One X, much like they did on Sprint with the Evo 4G LTE. Check out our opinions on that here, and stay tuned for more updates on this device.

Source: Android Central

Confirmed: Sprint Nexus NOT AOSP

Questions have been raised since the Galaxy Nexus landed on Verizon which/what is AOSP and what isn’t. Well just now, Jean-Baptiste Queru just took to Google+ to explain that the upcoming Sprint LTE version isn’t going to be AOSP.

The short answer is: the Sprint Galaxy Nexus is not supported in the Android Open Source Project.

The long answer: the release process for the Spring Galaxy Nexus is similar to that of the non-yakju variants of the GSM Galaxy Nexus (e.g. yakjuxw, yakjuux, yakjudv…), which makes that device similarly impossible to support in AOSP. There are no source files, no proprietary hardware-related binaries and no factory images available for the Sprint Galaxy Nexus. In addition, since it’s a CDMA device, it would probably be limited by the usual CDMA licensing issues that have been affecting the other CDMA devices.

NY Startup GiddyUp Launches Social Mobile App For Short Term Planning

GiddyUp Co-Founder Elliott Goldwater asks a very relevant question these days, of the last 10 social apps that you downloaded how many do you still use right now. So I did an inventory. I’ve downloaded 36 apps that fit in the social mobile space. Here are the ones that I still use, at least in some kind of moderation: Hootsuite (all the time), Facebook (all the time), Instagram (quite frequently), Path (moderately), Pinterest (minimally), Sonar (moderately), Glancee (moderately), Trover (a little more than moderately). I’ve dumped countless others including Highlight.

So why bother with another social mobile app. Well as Goldwater points out, Giddy Up is a social mobile app in the truest form. The app allows you to plan and attend events and then communicate through the app using your actual friends regular contact info, novel huh.

Event hosts must sign up for Giddy Up however their friends don’t have to. While Giddy Up has integration with Facebook, and Twitter (with Privacy Controls) the foundation for the event is built upon actual contacts in your contact list. The user creates an RSVPable event.

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Mini Review: HTC One S for T-Mobile

HTC sent us their latest device for T-Mobile (announcement is coming shortly from NYC) the One S. This device is part of “the new HTC” a return to form by the Taiwanese company after a devastating 4Q 2011. After an onslaught of very similar models across the “high-end” of the Android OS market the brand was becoming diluted. Last year saw (in the US) the launch of Thunderbolt 4G, Evo Shift 4G, Droid Incredible 2, Merge, Sensation 4G, Evo 3D, Status, MyTouch 4G Slide, Rhyme, Hero S, Wildfire S, Amaze 4G, Evo Design 4G, Vivid, and lastly the Rezound. 16 phones, nearly half of which were considered high-end devices. HTC Chief Financial Officer Winston said “We simply dropped the ball on products in the fourth quarter.” Q1 2012 was a huge disappointment as our sister site TheDroidGuy reported two weeks ago.

So, how about the One is it “the one“?

Hardware

Beginning with the first touch I thought, this feels like their mid to low-end devices – SPECTACULAR. I mean that in all sincerity. I loved the quality and construction of both the Status AND the Radar 4G (Windows Phone 7) devices. They were constructed out of solid pieces of aluminum. I was baffled why two of the best devices were made of this amazing metal but not the “halo” devices like Sensation 4G, Amaze 4G, or Evo 3D. The screen is a 4.3″ SuperAMOLED qHD (960×540) resolution*. It comes with Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and Sense 4.0 HTC’s custom UI overlay. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU, 1GB DDR2, and it operates on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ (42 Mbps) network. It also comes with Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-FI 802.11 b/g/n, and HDMI via MHL connector (not included). The storage is non-expandable 16GB (available space is split into 2.2 GB system and 9.9 GB external partitions). HTC has teamed with Dropbox to provide an additional 25 GB of “free” storage – if you don’t include data usage, that is.

The battery, which you cannot remove, is 1650 mAh. This is significantly smaller than the Motorola Droid Razr 1780 mAh (another device without a removable battery). It remains to be seen if this was a mistake or a HUGE mistake on the part of HTC. I’ve never personally owned a HTC device without owning at least one additional battery for it.

Visual/Audio

One of the top selling points for this reviewer is the new HTC ImageSense which “improves every part of the camera including the lens, the sensor, the software, and integrates a new custom HTC ImageChip. Inside it has an 8MP lens with f/2.0 aperture capture. The Rezound shipped with a f/2.2 aperture (smaller is “better”). The camera can be used to simultaneously shoot both video and still shots which I’ve tested extensively. It works amazingly well and is flawless during video playback.

HTC also focused on the sound output in the One S using Beats By Dre Audio to handle the processing of audio. Unlike the Rezound the One S did not come with Beats headphones. The Beats audio has been made available across the range of listening situations that I have used it for. The Rezound’s Beats output was limited to HTC Music and HTC watch. I was severely disappointed with that experience on the Rezound and appreciate that HTC addressed that issue.

Software

HTC launched the One series with Android’s latest 4.0.3 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and their custom UI Sense 4.0. I somewhat jokingly and somewhat seriously commented about my feelings regarding (the unofficial) Sense 3.6 leak for the Sensation 4G a few months back in this video (no need to watch, honestly). I won’t lie – I hated it. I still have a very strong dislike of Sense 3.6 but I’ve come to love Sense 4.0.

Sense 4.0 has followed the lead set by ICS yet still maintains a very familiar feel to the Sense that people have grown accustomed to. When you first turn on the device and the home screen loads the ubiquitous HTC Sense Clock widget greets you at the top of the screen. It looks, refreshed, almost different but isn’t. Well, it is ever so slightly different, it is now using the Roboto font (I believe) – if it is not Roboto then it is a different font than it always has been. The full suite of widgets are pre-loaded from HTC.

So far I’ve truly enjoyed the HTC One S in the short time that I have had it. I only received it on Monday so I cannot, in good conscience, give a full review. I will say that this is one of the fastest phones I’ve used to date, both in benchmarks and in real-world use. There have been very few cases of the phone ever stuttering or seeming to be unresponsive, swiping from home screen to home screen is fast and fluent. Music playback is great, I have yet to playback any video, web browsing is quick. It’s impossible to judge battery life in such a short period of time and to do so would be unfair because of the amount of use it gets. I will say that I have been relatively impressed with battery life so far. I used it a lot yesterday and I only needed to put it on charge one time towards the end of the day.

Mini Review thoughts:

Strengths:

Gorgeous design

Weight and Thinness are nearly perfect (clearly personal opinion)

Camera is spectacular (incredible in low-light situations)

Weaknesses:

Non-expandable memory

Non-removable battery

Extremely slippery

*INTERESTINGLY the resolution shows up as 540×888 in my favorite app for system information Elixir 2 – this application has NEVER been wrong before, so I’ve pinged the developer for some insight. Also it is a PenTile display: The use of a SAMOLED screen means that my biggest gripe with the Galaxy Nexus (though less noticeable here, surprisingly) is the use of the pentile matrix for the pixel layout. I’ll do a separate post regarding PenTile displays tomorrow.

Kansas Startup Front Flip Takes Their Virtual Scratch Card Platform National

In Overland Park Kansas, home to Sprint, a new startup called Front Flip has been trying out a new and fun way of engaging customers and increasing loyalty in Kansas, Chicago, Columbia, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and St. Louis. As we’ve reported with startups like Lokalty and FreebeeCards the loyalty, rewards and engagement space is heating up big time right now. Part of the reason is because local merchants are becoming tired of killing their margins with daily deals sites that only attract a customer one time, and that one time is typically at a loss.

That’s one of the reasons why Front Flip co-founder and CEO Sean Beckner created Front Flip.

“The market is ready for a change. Daily deal programs aren’t building customer engagement or rewarding loyalty — in fact, they have rather the opposite effect,” Beckner said in a release. “Front Flip’s mission is to help businesses engage with their customers in a fun and exciting way both inside and outside the store by increasing understanding and building customer loyalty.”

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