Androids: November 2013

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Galaxy Note 3 Experience app lets you try out Note 3 features on any Android device

Can’t make up your mind about the Galaxy Note 3, Samsung’s latest and most powerful phablet, and are still wondering whether it’s a device you should upgrade to from your current device? Well, Samsung wants to help, so the company has released a new app called Galaxy Note 3 Experience, which, as the name suggests, will let you experience some of the features of the device on any Android device.

The first Tizen phone might not be anywhere near a market launch, but Samsung does keep working on the OS itself, constantly improving and adding new features. We recently saw images of Tizen 3.0 running on a Galaxy S3, and now it’s been confirmed that Samsung will be officially showing off the latest version of its OS at the upcoming developer conference in Seoul.

Samsung’s Analyst Day in South Korea wasn’t only about the presentation from key Samsung executives. In fact, a report by Wall Street Journal claims, investors got a glimpse of the future at the closed door conference where reporters were banned from attending it and the investors, prohibited from taking any photographs.

The conference showcased some concept versions of foldable mobile phones with one analyst describing couple of devices on showcase.

Yesterday, Samsung gave us a lot of details about its plans for upcoming smartphones and tablets at its Analyst Day event, and confirmed that its flagship devices would all use 16-megapixel cameras next year, including the Galaxy S5 and Note 4. Now more details are coming in on the matter, and it seems like Samsung will be using its recently unveiled ISOCELL technology on the 16-megapixel camera sensors, something which we already suspected.

The Galaxy Round is currently available only in South Korea, as Samsung wanted to test the market response to a smartphone with a curved display before launching it worldwide. Well, while that may be the case, it’s often not that difficult to buy such devices in other markets, thanks to third-party retailers and the good old eBay. In the case of the Galaxy Round, it looks like a retailer in the US, and one in Australia, are currently listing the device on their websites.

Telstra launching Galaxy S4 with Cat4 4G (150 mbps) on November 12

Want faster internet speeds than what your current 4G-enabled smartphone allows? Telstra might just be looking to take care of that for you, as according to AusDroid’s sources, the carrier will be launching a new variant of the Galaxy S4 that supports Cat4 4G, which will offer theoretical speeds of up to 150 mbps.

This variant will probably be the one that has the Snapdragon 800 chipset inside, as that is the only SoC that currently supports Cat4 4G (also called LTE-Advanced). Other specs should remain the same, including a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 13-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM, 16GB storage and microSD slot, 2,600mAh battery, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

The Verizon Galaxy Note 3 is finally getting its first software update, to build VRUBMJ7. Unlike the updates for the international variant of the device, this one is more than just a stability update – it improves the poor sound quality that users have been complaining about, and fixes a few connectivity issues. That’s about it for the list of changes in this one.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids in August and the tablet is now official for Samsung’s home market. Tailored for kids, the tablet features a jazzy colour and comes with pre-loaded content ranging from education, games, entertainment etc. The tablet also comes with a Kids app store, Parents mode that enables parents to restrict the tablet’s access to a specific time limit and even a set of apps and a full tablet mode that makes the tablet work as a regular Galaxy Tab device.

China is the world’s largest smartphone market today, and things there work a lot differently than in other markets. Numerous local manufacturers in China offer consumers low-cost, high value devices, which makes it difficult for global manufacturers to sell too many smartphones in the country, at least not as much as they’re able to in other countries. But for Samsung, that doesn’t seem to be proving to be much of a problem, as it looks to make its mark in the Chinese market.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 didn’t really make much of an impact in the market when it was launched back in late 2011, but many fondly remember it to this day for a single reason – it was the one and only tablet Samsung launched with a Super AMOLED screen, one of the best anyone had ever seen on a tablet back then. Our own Danny is a huge fanboy of that tablet, and now it looks like tablets with AMOLED displays might be making a return to next year.

The word phablet is currently a word in the Oxford dictionary, and while many don’t like it, it has been used so often since Samsung launched the original Galaxy Note that it became pretty much difficult to ignore it. But it doesn’t look like those at Samsung are keen on the world – at today’s Analyst Day event in Korea, company CEO JK Shin used the word fonblet several times, and this has caused something of a stir in the media.

Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 4 and other flagships to have 16-megapixel cameras

Of all the rumors and speculation we’ve heard about the Galaxy S5, one common theme among them has been the fact that Samsung’s next flagship will have a 16-megapixel camera (possibly with optical image stabilization). Now, a report from the Korean Media claims that all 2014 flagships from Samsung will feature 16MP shooters. This isn’t surprising – every Galaxy Note has featured the same camera as that year’s Galaxy S, so if a 16MP camera debuts on the S5, the Note 4 should have one as well.

When it comes to releasing kernel source code, Samsung wastes no time. The Android 4.3 rollout for the Galaxy S3has only just begun, but interested developers can already download the relevant kernel source from Samsung’s Open Source Release Center, and start releasing custom kernels and ROMs that work well with the official Android 4.3 update on the device.

Samsung has announced a new LTE-equipped handset for its home market. The Galaxy Win will sell on SKT and LG U+ for 550,000 won and the affordable price tag brings support for 4G LTE and 1.4GHz quad-core processor. The international Galaxy Win features a slower 1.2GHz quad-core processor.

The phone runs on Android 4.2 and brings in features like Group Play, S Translator, Sound 7 Shot. There’s also Korea specific Smart DMB and ImageON.

According to a new report, Samsung expects to sell only 360 million smartphones next year. Wait, “only” 360 million, isn’t that a lot? Well, yes, it is, but for Samsung, a company that has seen immense growth in sales in recent years, with the Galaxy S4 becoming its most successful device this year, that’s the smallest predicted year-on-year improvement in the case of smartphones.

For those looking to extend the usage times of their Galaxy S4 Active, Mugen has announced the availability of a 5,500mAh battery for the device, which it promises will last over twice as long as the standard battery, which has a capacity of 2,600mAh. Not a far-fetched claim, considering the capacity has been more than doubled, though you’ll have to make do with a bulkier battery and add-on battery cover.

We knew the Galaxy S4 Zoom was headed for an AT&T launch, and today the carrier has officially announced that it will be carrying Samsung’s camera-cum-phone, with availability set to begin from November 8th. The price has been set at $199 on a two-year contract, or $25 a month on AT&T’s Next program; you’ll also get a free Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 with the phone, as part of the carrier’s ongoing free tablet deal, and a $100 Promotion Card if you trade-in an eligible device.

Android might be free, but when a manufacturer wants to make an Android phone, it has to pay the price of a few patents that companies like Microsoft and Nokia have held for a few years; when you don’t pay that price officially, you get sued into oblivion by the likes of Apple and so many others. However, Nokia is one company that won’t be suing Samsung any time soon, as the two companies have renewed their patent license agreement for five years.

Samsung’s 12.2-inch tablet could go into production by the end of 2013, according to a new report published by DigiTimes. The report specifically talks about the tablet’s screen, saying that Samsung has adopted a film-based capacitive touch solution provided by China-based Shenzhen O-film Tech, and that the company hopes its global brand recognition and marketing resources will prompt other manufacturers to follow suit with similar large-screen tablets.

Things don’t seem to be going so well for Tizen, Samsung’s upcoming mobile OS. After its launch was delayed from early 2013 to late 2013, word is coming in from the Korean media that the launch might have been delayed yet again, to sometime in spring next year. Earlier rumors suggested that CEO JK Shin had personally delayed launch so they could create the “best smartphone,” and it looks like the company is still a ways off from achieving that goal.

After much rumors and speculation, a device with a flexible display was finally unveiled by Samsung in the Galaxy Round, followed by LG with the LG G Flex. However, while we were all expecting something similar to what we see in sci-fi movies, these devices don’t make much use of flexible displays, other than using them to curve the screen from a particular angle.

The clamshell phone powered by the mighty Snapdragon 800 processor (clocked at 2.3GHz) that we’ve been hearing about in recent times has finally been made official by Samsung, at China Telecom’s “Heart of the World” charity concert. The device will be joining the SM-W2013 and the recently launched Galaxy Golden in the carrier’s flip phone lineup, and will cost somewhere around CN¥10,000, which translates to around $1600.

Custom Android 4.4 KitKat ROMs now available for the Galaxy Nexus

As expected, the development community has come to the rescue of the Galaxy Nexus, after Google announced that its 2011 Nexus wouldn’t be getting updated past Android 4.3 to 4.4 KitKat – a couple of custom Android 4.4 ROMs are now available for the device, built from the Android 4.4 source that Google released right on the day of announcement of the new version of the OS.

The Z9005, a high-end Tizen phone that shares specs with the Galaxy S3, has been in the news quite often, and now we can take a look at a hands-on video of the device, showcasing Tizen, Samsung’s mobile operating system that the company hopes will one day power everything from mobile to banks, cars, televisions, and more.

Samsung and LG have always been competing against each other in their home country, South Korea, and the fact that both companies released a smartphone with a curved display around the same time shows the extent of that competition. Now, the competition is reportedly heading to China for both companies, as each looks to court consumers in the country with the launch of its first LTE mobile networks.

Apple might sue and badmouth Samsung every chance they get (not that Samsung doesn’t badmouth Apple), but when it comes to getting hardware components for their products, the Cupertino company readily shakes hands with the Korean manufacturer. Apple already gets its iPhone 5s processor made by Samsung, and is now reportedly looking towards Samsung to secure supply for 7.9-inch Retina display panels for the second-generation iPad mini.

The patent wars shall never end it seems. Reuters reports that the Rockstar Consortium, an organization formed to negotiate licensing for patents acquired from bankrupt Nortel and jointly owned by Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson, Sony and EMC Corporation, has sued Samsung, Google, and other Android companies for infringing some of the Nortel patents that the consortium bought back in 2011.

Well, it looks like it is the end of the road for the Galaxy Nexus, the Samsung-made Nexus smartphone that was arguably the most innovative of all Nexus devices (at least in terms of hardware) – Google has confirmed that the Galaxy Nexus won’t be receiving an update to Android 4.4 KitKat, as it is past the 18-month support period that Google (and other manufacturers) provide to any particular device.

The good news keeps coming in for Samsung, even if it does so in an unofficial form. After seeing over 100 percent rise in tablet shipments in a year, Samsung can now be proud of the fact that owners of its tablets are the most satisfied, as found in a consumer satisfaction study by J.D. Power. As expected, Apple follows in second place, while Amazon took the third position.

The study took into account five key factors: performance, ease of use, styling/design, features and price; Samsung scored 835 points, while Apple was a very close second at 833 points. Samsung is the only manufacturer to improve across all five factors since the previous reporting period in April 2013, showing particular strong improvement in the cost factor, while performance and ease of operation were in Apple’s favor (not surprising, considering the performance and user-friendliness of iOS).

Today, Google finally unveiled the long-awaited Android 4.4 KitKat update to the public. And as with every new Android update, it brings quite some changes and improvements over the prior Android version. The new Android 4.4 KitKat update brings improved memory management, a ton of security enhancements, battery life optimisations, a unified SMS and IM system in Google Hangouts, new phone app, Full-screen immersive mode, Low-power audio playback capability and much more.

Samsung SM-P905 visits the FCC, upcoming Galaxy Note tablet with 12.2-inch display

Samsung SM-P905 has just popped up over at the FCC for some inspection. The tablet has been in the rumour mill for quite some time now and up till now the only hard evidence of its existence was its web profile (UAProf) on Samsung’s servers, which also confirmed that the device will feature a massive screen resolution of 2560×1600.

Samsung has announced that it has added support for multiple new services from various partners in its Wallet app (which lets users store and manage tickets, coupons, boarding passes, and membership cards, but doesn’t let them make payments like services like Google Wallet). New partners include American Express, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines, Amtrak, Valpak, eGifter, Gyft, Yowza, SpotOn, Agoda, HRS, Opodo and Thrillcall.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition, Samsung’s mightily spec’d 10-inch tablet, is now available in the UK, following its launch in South Korea and Canada today, and in the US a couple of weeks ago. It’s priced at £494.99 (a couple of bucks less than the standard price), and is available from retailer Expansys, with 16GB of internal storage and Wi-Fi connectivity.

You just gotta love North American carriers. Nexus devices are the only safe haven in the Android world where users get instant OS updates as and when Google announces them, but US carriers manage to always take away even that convenience from their consumers. On the day when Android 4.4 is expected to be officially announced, Sprint has begun rolling out the Android 4.3 update (build GJ04) for the Galaxy Nexus. Impressive, isn’t it?

The Android 4.3 update isn’t a major one, and includes features such as TRIM support for faster and consistent performance, always-on Wi-Fi location scanning (can be turned off from Wi-Fi settings), support for multiple new languages, improved typing, auto-complete in the dialer, and other under-the-hood tweaks.

South Korea is not the only country to get Samsung’s latest and greatest tablet. According to a report by Mobile Syrup, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is now selling in Canada through retailers like Best Buy and Future Shop. The available quanity seems to be limited, so if you’re planning to get one, you might want to catch hold of it before they’re sold out (at the time of publishing, 13 units were in stock at both the retailers).

Samsung already took home the crown of the largest smartphone maker in the third quarter of this year, shipping more devices than most other major manufacturers combined and grabbing 35 percent of the market, and now IDC’s latest data reveals that the Korean manufacturer saw an equally impressive growth in the tablet market as well. Samsung’s tablet market share gained by 8 percent (to 20.4 percent), and the company shipped 9.7 million tablets, more than double the amount of units shipped in the previous quarter.

Back in August, Monster Watts successfully gathered enough funds from its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to start working on a back plate attachment for the Galaxy S4 Active to enable Qi wireless charging – called the WiQiQi receiver, to make up for the lack of an official wireless charging-enabled back from Samsung. However, thanks to legal issues, production of the WiQiQi charger has been cancelled.

HTC One 801e GSM Mobile Phone (Dual SIM) (Black) - Overview

Introduction

An HTC can better your life! Fun to use and explore, the black HTC One 801e GSM mobile phone can make you beam with pride. HTC BlinkFeed on this phone keeps you connected with your world while the state-of-the-art camera and imaging tools make a masterpiece out of every shot. The 2 front stereo speakers come with powerful amplifiers that make listening to music an absolute treat. Add life to your pictures as you watch them on the photo gallery. With its dual SIM capability, you can use a single device for 2 numbers and the removable back cover makes inserting the cards easier. The 4.7 inch capacitive full HD touchscreen lets you enjoy videos, movies or photographs in superior quality. Chat as if you are face to face with your friends or with business colleagues even when distant with its 2.1 MP front camera. A variety of features like Wi-Fi, 3G, A-GPS, Bluetooth and USB offer user-friendly convenience. Won the efficient performer employee of the year and can't wait to share it with all your friends? Share it, in all detail, with up to 18 hours 3G talk time offered by the 2300 mAh Li-Po battery. The super sleek design and cool black colour make this HTC One Mobile Phone a device worth flaunting.

It's about time. The Google-backed and LG-manufactured Nexus 5 is now really a reality, after countless rumors and leaks (a few of them coming from Google itself). The new device, which predictably boasts the latest and greatest version of Android known as KitKat (or 4.4, if you're so inclined), takes its place in the spotlight in place of the Nexus 4. And, despite coming out at a slightly higher price point than last year's Nexus, it still takes the cake in terms of features, components and other specs. Now that it's ready for the public, let's take a deeper look at the Nexus 5, which will be available on the Play Store today, in both white and black, starting at $349 for AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint (sorry Verizon customers).
We'd like to say we have a few surprises in store for you, but we don't really. So many details about the Nexus 5 leaked ahead of time, and almost all of them have proven to be true. Under the hood is a 2.3Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 800 and 2GB of RAM, pushing pixels to a glorious 5-inch 1080p display. LG has also seen fit to include wireless charging again, so you won't have to wear out that micro-USB port keeping the 2,300 mAh battery juiced, you can use it to power a TV over Slimport instead. You'll also find LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and NFC on board -- basically if there is a method of connecting to another device, the Nexus 5 has it.

menu

Search This Blog

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Monday 18 November 2013

Friday 15 November 2013

Sunday 3 November 2013

Saturday 2 November 2013

Friday 1 November 2013

Introduction