Mobile Archives - Page 7 of 15

HTC Adds A Timeline To Their List Of Android 4.0 Device Updates, Due To Roll Out This Summer

Many of the popular Android manufacturers have been starting to release the lists of devices that they plan to update to the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. HTC started the year off by telling us what devices they would be updating, but never actually giving us any dates. Motorola and Samsung have recently released the list of devices they plan to update as well, however only Motorola has given us an ETA, although it was just in the different quarters of the year, mostly Q2.

HTC has now given us even more information on the times they will be updating their devices, with a broad but still informing timeline they have released on their website. There’s really no surprises, and nothing has really changed from what they told us earlier in the year. Most of the devices that would be expected to receive ICS are on the list, and are going to receive it sometime this summer. HTC has almost 20 devices who have made the cut for the new OS, and only the DROID Incredible 2 has something a little different than the others with a “to be determined (by the end of August)” next to its name. This is probably a non-issue, but no other device has anything like it so we’ll be sure to keep our eyes out for any changes.

Here’s the list of devices that HTC has promised updates for and when they will be getting the update:

DROID Incredible 2 by HTC	To be determined (by the end of August)
HTC Amaze 4G	May-June
HTC Desire S	June-July
HTC Desire HD	July-August
HTC EVO 3D	June-July
HTC EVO 4G+	May-June
HTC EVO Design 4G	June-July
HTC Incredible S	June-July
HTC Sensation	March-June
HTC Sensation 4G	March-June
HTC Sensation XE	March-June
HTC Sensation XL	April-Jun
HTC Rezound	June-July
HTC Rhyme	June-July
HTC Thunderbolt	July-August
HTC Velocity 4G	March-June
HTC Vivid	March-June

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III Available For Pre-Order In US

If you absolutely can’t wait to get ahold of the brand new Samsung Galaxy S III, and you don’t mind paying full retail we’ve got great news for you. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Amazon you can now preorder the unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S III in the United States.

There are no definite launch dates set for the US carriers. We’re supposed to hear about US carriers at a Samsung event in the US in the coming weeks. However, there is a release date for the unlocked version via Amazon and that date is just a week or so away on June 1.

The unlocked version will be of the GSM variety and work on T-Mobile and AT&T as previous unlocked flagship Samsung Android devices always have.

The preorder will only set you back $799 so go on you know you want to! Hit the link below.

Preorder Link

Source: Phandroid

China Finally Clears Google’s Acquisition Of Motorola Mobility Months After US And Europe

The mobile industry was taken by storm with the news of Google acquiring Motorola Mobility last year. This brought together Google, the company who created and produces the Android OS that we all know and love, and Motorola, one of the top Android manufacturers with several highly successful devices including the original DROID which launched Android 2.0.

There were some issues though, as a lot of analysts were predicting that this acquisition would have some trouble getting cleared. It also spawned the ideas of other Android OEM’s such as Samsung, HTC, and LG having much worse relations with Google and Motorola, and that Google could possibly play favorites with their new hardware company. These rumors were soon put to rest by Google, Motorola, and the other manufacturers themselves. This brought the reason for the acquisition to light, that the main reason Google acquired Motorla Mobility was for patents. With Apple constantly giving Android device manufacturers trouble with things like patents, there couldn’t have been a better idea than to stock up on patents through the Motorola acquisition.

A few months back, both the US and Europe cleared the deal for the two companies, and now the last thing standing in Google’s way has as well. China has also cleared the acquisition which means the two companies will be able to finally make this thing official very soon. In fact, Google has released a statement saying that they should finalize things as early as next week, and Motorola Mobility will officially be a part of Google.

Source: Engadget

Updated Motorola ICS Roadmap Released, Good News For Most Users

Ever since we got our first taste of ICS with the Galaxy Nexus, Android owners from just about every carrier and manufacturer have been patiently waiting for the beloved list that maps when their device will get Android 4.0. After just about every other OEM roadmap has been released, Motorola has finally updated their release map, and many users should be glad to see their device on the list. Folks using the Motorola Xoom WIFI in the US have already received the update, but there are a lot of new devices that are still waiting.

The Motorla DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX are on the list for Q2 ICS updates, and even devices such as the Atrix, Atrix 2, and DROID Bionic, and DROID 4 have made the cut. All of these devices except the pair of Atrix’s and DROID 4 will be updated in Q2, with only these three devices having to wait a little longer until Q3. Thankfully, users will start seeing these updates soon, and will finally be able to take advantage of the features that come with Android’s latest OS iteration. Let us know when you start receiving the updates, and we will continue to keep you updated on Motorola’s behalf.

Samsung Galaxy S III Pre-orders Have Already Hit 9 Million

The Galaxy S II was Samsung’s best and fastest selling phone the company has ever produced. This pushed Samsung to the top of Android manufacturers taking almost 50% of the mobile OS’s sales. The Galaxy S II was one of the best mobile devices put out all year, and because of that it set many records for the company, just recently hitting the “20 million sold” mark.

The Galaxy S III shattered it.

Before this device was even released, Samsung has told us that they have received 9 million preorders for the device already. For one, single Android device, this is unheard of. Heck, this is unheard of from anyone but Apple. But Samsung has really changed everything in Android. To be honest, the GSIII doesn’t really bring any game-changing features–no holograms, no futuristic battery life, no ridiculous screen resolution, just a solid improvement over the GSII. It has a faster processor, a bigger screen, LTE, and of course, Android 4.0 ICS at launch. All of these are features we had come to expect before the device was released, and apparently, that’s all we needed. Some were disappointed that the GSIII didn’t bring just a little more to the table, but clearly it wasn’t that big of an issue for 9 million confident customers.

The Galaxy S III will be hitting the US this summer, with all of its LTE action, but also a dual-core processor as opposed to the global quad-core edition. While this is a little disappointing, the GSIII is still a killer device, and will most likely have incredible sales and reviews when it finally comes to the US. Until then, we will keep you posted with a review when we finally get our hands on one.

T-Mobile Starting BOGO Promotion This Weekend Through Memorial Day

We’ve been waiting for one of those big buy one, get one free promotions at T-Mobile. They typically hold this kind of sale for one day only like Valentine’s day or Father’s day. This year the fourth largest carrier in the US is holding their BOGO event starting today (Friday May 18th) through Memorial Day Weekend (May 28th).

The promotion is working the exact same way that it has in the past. If you buy one new smartphone, and sign up for a new 2 year agreement, you get the second smartphone of equal or lesser value free. Of course the second smartphone also has to be signed up for a new two year contract.

This time around T-Mobile is calling the promotion “Magenta Deal Days” and offers a mail in rebate card for up to $329 towards the cost of the second phone.

That includes the new HTC One S and all of T-Mobiles 4G lineup of smartphones.HTC® One™ S 4G, Samsung Galaxy S® II 4G, HTC Radar™ 4G, Sonic® 4G Mobile Hotspot and the Samsung Galaxy S® Blaze™ 4G.

“Our latest ‘Magenta Deal Days’ promotion continues our commitment to giving our customers the ability to enjoy all the 4G experiences of a smartphone on our best plans ever,” said John Clelland, senior vice president of marketing, T-Mobile USA. “What’s better than getting one of the sleekest, fastest 4G devices on the market? That would be getting two for the price of one.”

Source: MobileBurn

Verizon Clarifies: There Is A Way To Unlimited

There was an outcry yesterday after Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo spoke at a JP Morgan investor conference. During his keynote he talked about Verizon’s move to shared data.

Shammo said that Verizon will start offering shared data plans this summer. This has actually come as welcome news to a majority of Verizon Wireless customers.

Many families want to enjoy the features and convenience of a smart phone without having to get individual data plans for each device and each family member.

New shared data plans will mean a family plan and perhaps small business plans as well, can share buckets of data. This would be similar to the way shared buckets of calling minutes are shared.

The outcry came after Shammo said Verizon Wireless would begin moving customers to tiered and shared data plans at their next upgrade.

Customers who had an unlimited data plan for $30 per month prior to July 2011, were able to stay “grandfathered” into their unlimited data, provided that they didn’t change any other part of their plan. Verizon would even allow upgrade eligible customers, covered by the “grandfathe” clause when they upgraded their device under subsidy.

Now the only way to keep your unlimited data is to elect to stay on the same device or pay full retail for your next device. This can be rather costly for the average customer.

A Verizon Wireless spokes woman confirmed all this to CNet earlier in the day.

While this may seem outlandish to some, those maximizing their unlimited data may find this to be a decent compromise.

Source: CNet

Google Sets A 4-Device Limit On Google Music Unauthorizations, Soon Retracts Due To User Dissatisfaction

Since Google Music was launched, there was always a limit on the number of authorized devices. 10 devices was the most any person could have linked to their Google Play, and everyone (well, most everyone) was fine with that. However, people’s comfort with the service’s limits began to change a little when Google announced that they would only let you unauthorized 4 devices a year from you Play account.

So what’s the big deal?

Well, many people are fine with a 10 device limit because at any time they can un-authorize the devices that they aren’t using and add new ones without any problems. With this new rule however, people can only do this 4 times a year. That means if you get a bunch of devices that you don’t use on Google Play and have maxed out your unauthorizations, you’re stuck with what you’ve got. This is especially bad news for those who root their devices, because a lot of times your Google Music will recognize the same device as a different device because it’s running a new ROM. You can see how this can quickly become an issue. If you have a computer, tablet, and phone all synced and authorized to your Google Play account you should be okay. That is until, you flash a new ROM a couple times to find which one you like most, or add another computer or get a new one. With this new regulation, Google is really handicapping a lot of people who take advantage of using multiple devices.

Because this was such an issue, Google has currently retracted this rule, allowing things to return to normal…for now that is. Google has released the following statement to clear things up a little:

“Yesterday we made a change to our device policy for music on Google Play. Any user can associate up to 10 devices to his or her account. Once you have connected 10 devices, you may add a new device only by deauthorizing an existing one from your account, and you may do this up to four times per year.

We limit the number of times you can swap out new devices at the request of some of our music partners in an effort to limit abuse. We understand this has caused some issues for users who often deauthorize and reauthorize the same device, and we are currently re-implementing the solution in a way that works for our users and music partners.

We apologize for any inconvenience and will update this page as new changes are made.”

Hopefully they find a way to allow users a little more room to breathe with authorizations, because I for one, will not be able to last very long on a 4-unauthorization limit. I’m sure many of our readers would agree, especially those who like to root their devices and flash ROMs. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the situation, and until then make sure you have only the devices you want on your Google Play account, because you may not have much time.

Verizon Will Eventually Force All Users Into Tiered Data, Starting With 4G LTE Upgrades

Farewell, unlimited data, it was a joy having you as long as we could. These are the words that many Verizon customers will be speaking soon, according to CFO Fran Shammo. In an interview with the CFO today, Shammo made the following quote that is likely to break the hearts of plenty of Big Red’s customers:

“LTE is our anchor point for data share. So, as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go on to the data share plan. And moving away from, if you will, the unlimited world and moving everyone into a tiered structure data share plan.”

Many loyal Verizon customers have sat back laughing at those forced into tiered data plans as they were happily grandfathered in to their unlimited data plans. Users who start new contracts have had to make a choice of GB/month and keep watch over their data, while those of us enjoying unlimited have been surfing, streaming, and doing anything we want with our data without batting an eye.

Sadly, this is about to change.

Verizon’s CFO made clear that with LTE being the center of shared and tiered data, any upgrades to 4G LTE will require a switch to a shared data plan. This was where many felt the line was crossed. However, he went on to say that eventually everyone would be on a tiered data, which leads us to believe that at some point (likely a cutoff date) Verizon will force everyone into capped data, even the 3G-only subscibers. New line–crossed again. Whether this is the aforementioned cutoff date, or just a slow migration to only offering LTE devices, which would inevitable force all customers who upgrade into a new data plan, Shammo did say everyone. Many people have been up in arms over this decision, and Verizon really hasn’t answered with any type of response or even comment. Big Red is planning to make a lot of money off the combination of LTE and tiered data, and if everyone is forced over like they have planned, it shouldn’t be too hard. The more families switch to LTE phones and add lines, the more they will have to up the tiers, leaving Verizon to bathe in the heaps of cash. Let us know what you think in the comments, and be sure to check back for more updates.

Source: Verizon via Engadget

“Appreciate” Is Your Personal Android App Store

An Israeli startup called Triapodi has introduced a new kind of Android app store into the Google Play Store. Appreciate is part app discovery app, part aggregator, and also your personal Android app store.

Appreciate has already seen hundreds of thousands of downloads. People are loving the fact that Appreciate can make app recommendations based on the apps you currently have downloaded as well as apps that your friends have downloaded. To achieve this, Appreciate syncs with your Facebook account and other like users across the Appreciate network.

The app, launched in February, has garnered a lot of downloads and a lot of users because of the relevance in their app recommendations. This is due to their “Appreciate Relevance Engine” technology that scores apps on relevance to the user at a number of different levels.

“As we evolved Appreciate as a platform and improved the AI, we were able to make a complete departure from how other marketplace apps delivered recommendations to their users,” said Amir Maor, CEO of Triapodi. “We know our customer. We understand that generic lists of the market’s most popular apps do not meet the needs of the Android community, and we designed our latest version of Appreciate specifically to give our users 100% personalized and relevant app discovery for the first time. It is all about giving our customers exactly what they need.”

The current version of appreciate has these features:

* Connect to Facebook and see what apps your friends discover
* Get personal application recommendations based on what YOU like
* View for every app how well it fits with your personal taste
* Send applications directly to your friends’ device to install

* Get community updates on hot apps people discovered
* Manage your apps
* Gain quick access through app lists
* Share your favorite apps with other users and Facebook friends
* Widget with quick access to daily recommendations

It’s no secret, the despite the fact that Google’s primary business is search, discovery in the Google Play store is like searching for a needle in a haystack. That’s where you’ll come to appreciate, appreciate (see what we did there). Unlike some third party app stores, Appreciate functions within it’s own app and has it’s unique functionality to deliver the best possible app choices from the Google Play Store.

Try it out today.

Download Link at Google Play

Nibletz is the voice of #startups “everywhere else” check out these new stories

We’re on a sneaker strapped nationwide road trip, check it out and support us here

Verizon Continues LTE Domination, Adding 28 Markets On Thursday

Verizon Wireless has announced that their 4G/LTE rollout continues. Thursday they’ll throw the LTE switch on for 28 new markets and expand their coverage in 11 existing markets. They are by far the market leader with 4G/LTE which has been implemented or announced for all four US carriers.

AT&T has also been expanding their 4G/LTE footprint, but not quite at the pace of rival Verizon Wireless.

Sprint has announced that six cities will have 4G/LTE speeds in the middle part of this year. From what we’ve heard from several sources, those cities could be lit up next month.

As for Verizon Wireless, here are the new cities getting 4G/LTE Thursday. As with all of their other market roll outs, you should check your phones today as they tend to turn it on a few days before the official date for testing.

Houma/Thibodaux and Lake Charles, La.; Hyannis/Mid-Cape, Mass.; Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.; Biloxi/Gulfport/Pascagoula and Oxford, Miss.; Atlantic City/Toms River, N.J.; Dickinson and Williston, N.D.; Ashtabula, Bucyrus and Defiance, Ohio; Eugene/Springfield, Ore.; Lancaster, New Castle, Northern Cambria County, Oil City/Franklin, Somerset and York, Pa.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Mitchell, S.D.; Paris, Texas; Burlington/Northern, Vt.; Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Martinsville and Staunton/Waynesboro, Va.; and Sheridan, Wyo.

These are the 11 markets that are getting their 4G/LTE service enhanced:

Denver, Colo.; Dover, Del.; Fort Myers and Lakeland, Fla.; Hagerstown, Md.; Canton, Lima, Mansfield, Toledo and Youngstown/Warren, Ohio; and Erie, Pa.

That brings Verizon Wireless to 258 markets. As you can see from the graphic above Verizon Wireless is well underway with bringing their entire 3G footprint to 4G.

source: Verizon Wireless via Phandroid

Samsung Posts First Galaxy S III Commercial

Samsung held an unpacked event May 3rd in London. If you were fortunate enough to be in the audience, like we were, then you got to see not only the Samsung Galaxy S III but the Samsung Galaxy S III commercial as well.

Samsung has taken a break from beating up Apple fan boys and gone after Apple in other ways with their advertising. The commercial for the Galaxy S III is very Apple-esque with a variety of people in all kinds of situations. There are several scenes of a wedding, new born baby and snuggling. Most Apple iPhone and iPad commercials feature some kind of snuggling.

The voice in the commercial is warm and inviting.

What’s supposed to be the final stab at Apple is the official tag line “designed for humans” somehow implying that iPhone customers/fanboys are a little less than human. In a lead up to the Galaxy S III release Samsung posted a teaser video that featured a flock of sheep, that were supposed to be Apple fans.

Samsung may not win any awards for this one but it’s heartfelt and shows off the phone in a great light.The built for humans slogan is a bit of a stretch, but hey there’s a war going on here.

The Samsung Galaxy S III will make it’s world wide debut in two weeks in Europe and Asia and later this summer in the US and Japan.

Check out the commercial below:

Washington DC Startup: LightSquared Files For Bankruptcy After Botched 4G/LTE Plan

Many of you know the sad story of Lightsquared, a wireless broadband startup located in the suburbs of Washington DC.

LightSquared was an offshoot startup founded by wireless pioneer Philip Falcone. The company had a firm background in satellite communications under two former names, American Mobile Satellite Corporation and Mobile Satellite Ventures.

It was LightSquared’s intention to take frequencies that had been located near bands used for government and military GPS and use them for next generation 4G/LTE services. They had actually carved out a huge deal to be the 4G/LTE provider for Sprint, the nation’s third largest carrier which also has roots in the same DC suburb of Reston Virginia from their NexTel days.

After months and months of testing and appearance after appearance in front of the FCC the FCC finally ruled in February that “there was no practical way to mitigate potential interference at this time.”

The Sprint deal immediately fell apart after that announcement and a large number of LightSquared employees were laid off.

Well one more nail has been put in the LightSquared coffin as the company filed for bankruptcy protection. LightSquared CEO Marc Montanger told the Washington Post that the company hasn’t given up on it’s plan and the bankruptcy protection was to give them some breathing room.

However, at this time they may not have any large scale customers left. Sprint has resorted back to their own 4G/LTE rollout in conjunction with Clearwire for which they own 50% of. T-Mobile has announced their own 4G/LTE strategy which will be funded through their parent company Deutsche Telekom and some of the nearly $4 billion dollars in break up money and considerations from the failed AT&T/T-Mobile merger last year.

source: Washington Post

Facebook Updates Mobile News Feeds To Display Photos Much Larger

As of late, Facebook has been avidly beginning to change a lot of things when it comes to the mobile end of their social network. Whether iOS or Android, updates have been steadily rolling out to these platforms and predicting what they contain is an almost impossible task. Facebook continues to make changes, and whether we like them or not, we are stuck with them. Unless of course, a lot of people complain, then Facebook might think of changing things back, which is exactly what happened when they tried to add those Messenger and Camera shortcuts a few weeks ago.

Facebook has updated their mobile experience yet again, however, this time it is a rollout that will happen to mobile users automatically, and it is not dependent of what device you are using. Because Facebook pulls their News Feed UI straight from their actual mobile site, all they have to do is change that coding, and it will begin to roll out to all of their apps. What they have done in their most recent rollout, is change how we view pictures in our mobile news feed. Photos that are posted now show up 3X bigger in the news feed, and they really begin to take up a lot of real-estate on your screen, depending on how often your friends post photos. Some are calling the changes a response to Google+’s new mobile update, or that it is just an obvious photography focus possibly due to the recent Instagram acquisition. The photos sort of “pop” off the news feed, breaking the edge of the posts, and also have a shadow that gives them more of a 3D presence. The changes have begun rolling out today, and should start appearing in mobile timelines everywhere very soon. Let us know in the comments if you like Facebook’s new approach to photos, and be sure to check back with Nibletz for more news and updates.

Source: CNET