Articles about Android

Four weeks ago my colleague Joe Wilcox discussed a rumor pertaining a new Google Nexus device. Just days ahead of the October 29 event that the Mountain View, Calif.-based company will hold in New York, LG Australia lists the LGE960 as a Nexus device.

The South Korean manufacturer added a support page for the LGE960, but gives away just a small amount of details. It looks to confirm that the search giant will indeed release a Nexus device that will be available for purchase online straight from the Google Play Store. Another interesting detail is that Australian carriers will also offer the device, suggesting that it may happen in other markets as well.

Continue reading →

The Samsung Galaxy Note II launched barely two months ago at IFA and local US carriers such as Sprint and T-Mobile already make it available for purchase. Verizon is now in the same boat and is accepting pre-orders for the 5.5-inch "phablet."

The Samsung Galaxy Note II will arrive at the big red sporting 4G LTE connectivity and similar specs to the international model. That means the same 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a 1280 by 720 resolution, 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable internal storage and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz running on top of it. On a two-year contract it will cost $299.99 at Verizon Wireless, and is currently available for pre-order in both Marble White and Titanium Gray.

Continue reading →

To answer my colleague Joe Wilcox’s question, I won’t be buying an iPad mini. I will however, be shelling out on a 4th gen iPad. I already own an iPad 2, and was thinking of upgrading to the 3rd gen version, but I knew an update was likely. Even though Apple only rolled out the most recent iPad in March, there were a few clues that suggested a sooner-than-usual upgrade was on the cards.

Firstly, the Lighting port. On the accessories front alone it’s important for Apple to transition its devices to the new connector as quickly as possible, which means putting it in all of its relevant hardware. Secondly, the 3rd gen iPad gets incredibly hot when doing graphically intensive tasks. The new A6X chip will, I suspect, greatly reduce that problem. Making the iPad faster (while keeping the price the same) will also help position it a little further away from the new mini. However, the main reason for the upgrade is much more straightforward: it kicks the hell out of the competition.

Continue reading →

Almost a week ago Sprint announced that it will carry the LG Optimus G for $199 starting in November, and ahead of its release a developer already posted a method to gain elevated rights (also known as "root" among modders) for the quad-core powerhouse coming Sprint's way.

According to the developer rooting the Optimus G for Sprint is done in the same way as for the South Korean version, and only requires to install the LG Android drivers and download the necessary file that performs the process itself. Gaining elevated rights is fairly simple judging by the involved steps that need to be performed, but using this method users will receive a number of prompts in Vietnamese that have to be accepted in order for the process to complete.

Continue reading →

Realtime automobile traffic data service Inrix on Monday released a major update to its freemium Inrix traffic app for Android. Now in its second year on the Android platform, Inrix has improved aspects both premium and free within the application.

Inrix Traffic utilizes live traffic data and scheduled event data to calculate the fastest routes immediately at the time of travel, or at some point in the future rather than strictly using distance calculations like Google Maps. Inrix incorporates school traffic, event traffic, and live traffic to generate trip lengths and live ETAs. This update adds recommended departure and travel times, personalized traffic alerts, and the ability to send out automatically-generated ETA texts and emails to contacts.

Continue reading →

Three weeks have passed since the Android Open Kang Project team released a new build, and after a long wait AOKP Jelly Bean Build 5 is now available, bringing along the latest version of Android with it. Also released is a new app named Kangerator for following and downloading new AOKP releases.

The latest build is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, build number JZO54K and apart from introducing support for the AT&T variants of the Samsung Galaxy S III (d2att) and Galaxy Note (quincyatt) and removing support for the HTC One XL/X (evita), it also brings a number of features from the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich builds, such as NavBar widgets.

Continue reading →

Here at BetaNews, we expected that Motorola Mobility would embody a new attitude about Android updates following Google's acquisition -- fast upgrades for Android smartphones and more developer-friendly approach, similar to the Nexus lineup. That hasn't come to pass. A number of developers are rising with the "Support My Moto" campaign, designed to grab the Google subsidiary's attention and eventually make the company deliver on its promises.

"Support My Moto" campaign claims Motorola promised Android updates, but never delivered. Among the devices: Droid X2, Atrix 4G, Photon 4G, XT882 and MT8720 that are currently left running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Not too long ago, Motorola promised a $100 credit for smartphones that will not receive the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, and according to the XDA Developers user that started the campaign the company is still figuring out how the program will be implemented for non-Verizon users. But according to the supporters of the campaign, these are not the only problems that they are trying to get resolved.

Continue reading →

Last May, Google expanded the carrier billing option in Google Play to include all media content (apps, books, music, movies, TV shows, periodicals) for fifteen different wireless carriers worldwide. In the United States, this included AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

Now, it looks like Verizon Wireless is joining in on the act.

Continue reading →

What happens if you're interested in getting one of the latest Sony smartphones, but you want Android 4.1 Jelly Bean instead of the slightly older Ice Cream Sandwich build? According to Sony, you'll have to wait until the first quarter of 2013 (that's right) to run the operating system that Google announced back in June on devices such as the Sony Xperia T.

The Sony Xperia T and TX are shipping today in a number of "global markets," with the little brother, the Xperia V, on its way as well. For its newly released smartphones, the Japanese consumer electronics maker will release the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade in the middle of the first quarter of 2013. Sony confirmed that the global version of the Xperia Go, Xperia Ion, Xperia J, Xperia P, Xperia S and Xperia Acro S will also receive the upgrade, but did not yet announce when, only "in due course," which might be less than reassuring to owners.

Continue reading →

Today Google started to deploy an updated version of its Google Play Store app for Android smartphones and tablets, bringing along an interesting new feature -- the ability to remove apps from "My Apps".

Before Google Play Store build version 3.9.16, Android users did not have the options to remove unused apps from their account, which was especially bothersome when dealing with hundreds of them that keep piling up (and resyncing to devices). Also newly introduced is the ability to add apps to "My Wishlist", a feature aimed at users that want to keep track of new apps, but wish to postpone installing or purchasing them.

Continue reading →

Could the end of October be any more jam-packed? October 29, same day Microsoft launches Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco, Google will hold an event in New York for Android -- presumably for the next Nexus device(s), just about the worst kept tech secret(s) of the month. Microsoft just can't catch a break. This week, Apple sent out media invites for an October 23 shindig, possibly for iPad mini, coming three days before Microsoft launches Windows 8 and Surface tablets.

Yeah, it's a tough month to be Microsoft -- what, with the company's future hanging on the three products and post-PC, connected-device era stumpers Apple and Google looking to dampen Windows' big days. But what a month for gadget geeks -- and the October 26 and 29 events coming on my three sisters' birthdays (twins, in case three on two days puzzles you): Android devices, iPad mini, Surface, Windows 8, RT and Phone. And, hey, what about some of those new smartphones, like LG Optimus G?

Continue reading →

More Americans are discovering what I did, after buying the original iPad more than two years ago: Reading ebooks, magazines and newspapers on a tablet is an immersive experience and often much more satisfying than print. Today, comScore says that in August, two out of every five US tablet owners read a newspaper or magazine and one in 10 did so almost every day.

The numbers' meaning is greater when taken in context of another. Pew says that during the same month, one in four Americans used a tablet (22 percent as owners, 3 percent borrowing one belonging to another household member). Make no mistake, magazines and newspapers are going digital in ways like nothing seen on the Internet, because of publishers' ability to deliver richer content -- at that, more frequently -- and actually make money doing so.

Continue reading →

The Motorola Atrix HD is not the most modder-friendly smartphone available as it comes with a locked bootloader. Now though, there is a root exploit available that might turn things around and help it receive custom Android distributions.

The exploit gives Motorola Atrix HD users the ability to run applications using elevated, or root, rights. The installation is pretty straight forward, and first requires downloading and extracting a zip archive. The newest ADB drivers from Motorola are required before connecting the smartphone to the computer and running the .bat file. Just a button combination more, and the Motorola Atrix HD is rooted, according to the developer.

Continue reading →

HTC recently introduced the One X+, a quad-core powerhouse that took the flagship role in the company's smartphone lineup. Today, the Taiwanese phone maker announced the J butterfly (codename "htl21"), a 5-inch device with a whopping 1080p display.

The HTC J butterfly comes with impressive specifications, the first of which is a 5-inch SuperLCD 3 display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a density of 440ppi. Power comes from a 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, that is identical to the one found in the LG Optimus G, and 2GB of RAM. On top of the rather modest 16GB of onboard storage, HTC included a microSDHC card slot which is a change of heart from the previously released One S, One X and EVO 4G LTE smartphones that had no expandable storage.

Continue reading →

Yesterday my colleague Joe Wilcox wrote "AT&T starts LG Optimus G preorders Oct. 16, sales Nov. 2," but today Sprint announced that the LG-made quad-core power-house is coming its way, just like the controversial Samsung Galaxy Note II "phablet".

Unlike the AT&T variant the LG Optimus G will come with a 13MP camera, instead of the 8MP shooter announced yesterday, and it will be available for pre-order from November 1, with sales to start on November 11. On a two-year contract the Qualcomm-powered smartphone will cost $199. Also announced is the Samsung Galaxy Note II, that will be available for purchase on October 25 for $299.99 with a two-year contract.

Continue reading →