Android Phone Fans |
- Google Now adds real-time incidents reports to help users avoid traffic before their commute
- Will HTC unveil an Android Wear powered Smartwatch along with the HTC One 2014 in NYC?
- HTC One (2014) vs HTC One (2013) comparison [VIDEO]
- HTC One (2014) appears on Rogers site, confirms specs and features ahead of official launch
- Google partners with Luxottica (owner of Ray-Ban, Oakley, and more) to design future versions of Glass
- LG gives us a closer look at the G Watch powered by Android Wear
- Verizon HTC One (2014) unboxed, camera samples provided too [GALLERY]
- Android 4.4.3 starts making the rounds, said to fix battery draining bug
- Google Now arrives on Windows and Mac OSX via Chrome web browser
- Google Photowall for Chromecast app displays your photos on a beautiful canvas
- Pre-order the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 starting today; ships April 11th
- Twitter #Music will never come to Android… because it’s officially dead
- OnePlus One’s processor upgraded from Snapdragon 800 to Snapdragon 801
- Samsung SD and microSD cards see steep discount on Amazon today only
- Would Apple really make an iTunes app for Android? New rumors say “yes”
| Google Now adds real-time incidents reports to help users avoid traffic before their commute Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:42 PM PDT
Google Now diehards are in for a treat. Rolling out via the Google Search up today, Google has announced the latest feature to hit Google Now: real time traffic incident reporting. Whether it’s an accident or simple road work, Google Now will now send a notification before you start your commute — allowing you enough time to plan an alternate route. It’s just that smart. Information is gathered from Waze (as noted in the notification) and like always, doesn’t the require the user to do a thing. Anyone notice this pop up in Google Now yet?
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| Will HTC unveil an Android Wear powered Smartwatch along with the HTC One 2014 in NYC? Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:05 PM PDT
Tomorrow at 11am in New York City, HTC plans on unveiling their next flagship phone, the all new HTC One (M8), the successor to last year’s One. The new 2014 edition of the HTC One has big shoes to fill, seeing as the original HTC One was able to snag the smartphone of the year title at the Global Mobile Awards. The build quality and user experience of the HTC One was able to capture awards, but HTC has still produced profits below expectations. The Taiwanese smartphone maker has a lot riding on tomorrow’s event as they struggles to escape from Samsung’s marketing muscle. Last month, HTC’s rival Samsung announced the Galaxy S5 along with new wearables: the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit. While the new line of Gear devices seems to be more appealing than the original Galaxy Gear that launched last fall, Samsung’s new smartwatches have already been overshadowed themselves thanks to Google’s recent Android Wear announcements.
This is where HTC has a chance to stick to Samsung once and for all. Back in October, HTC’s Peter Chou mentioned the company's view on wearables. He indicated that the wearable market was important and that HTC would want to get it right the first time. He said they weren’t interested in coming out with a weak entry device (like the Galaxy Gear), but instead wanted their first foray into the new product category to be something special and useful for everyone. Additionally, last month HTC’s Cher Wang mentioned the company would be getting to wearables before the end of the year. If you didn’t notice, HTC is part of the Android Wear ecosystem, listed as a hardware partner on the official Android Wear website. Chances are, that membership means sometime in the future, HTC will produce a wearable device powered by Android Wear. Entering into the wearable tech market with an Android Wear powered device would be an intelligent business move for HTC. They would be absorbing some of the current hype surrounding the Moto 360, the LG G Watch, and cool tools developers are making. More importantly for consumers, HTC could announced and sell the two devices together as a bundle. Will HTC unveil a smartwatch, smartband, or another wearable tomorrow in New York City? Your guess is as good as ours. One thing’s for sure, we know the HTC One 2014 (M8) is coming tomorrow morning (or tonight, oops). Anything else will be a welcomed addition. Our own Rob Jackson will be onsite for the event and we’ll let you know when we know more.
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| HTC One (2014) vs HTC One (2013) comparison [VIDEO] Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:13 PM PDT
If the HTC One (2014) hasn’t leaked out enough for your liking, we now have another look at the device, this time in an in depth comparison video showing off HTC’s upcoming flagship going head-to-head with last year’s model. The video, brought to you by TechSmartt, does a good job at comparing many of the hardware and software differences between the two models, even going as far as adding a few benchmarks in for good measure. If you didn’t already know enough about the HTC One 2014 from countless previous links, here’s yet another great resource. Cheers. |
| HTC One (2014) appears on Rogers site, confirms specs and features ahead of official launch Posted: 24 Mar 2014 04:49 PM PDT
We’re less than a few hours away from HTC finally pulling the curtain off their latest flagship device, the all new HTC One 2014. The subject of countless leaks, if you thought there couldn’t possibly be any more surprises left to be announced, the folks at Canadian carrier, Rogers, are spilling all the beans (whichever are left, anyway). We’re not sure if someone jumped the gun, but the HTC One 2014 is now officially available for reserve and listed — along with all of its specs and features — on their official site. According to the listing, here’s what you can expect to see from the upcoming HTC One 2014 when it’s officially unveiled tomorrow:
As far as hard specs, there really isn’t too much here we didn’t already know/expect. The camera specifically is only listed as coming with an “UltraPixel”, leaving out actually MP. We’ll know everything come tomorrow morning once the all new HTC One 2014 is officially unveiled. Of course, Phandroid will be on hand for the event, bringing you our own hands-on footage. Stay tuned! [Rogers]
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| Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:47 PM PDT
Google is getting ready to take their wearable headset into the mainstream. In an unexpected announcement made only moments ago via their official Google+, the Google Glass team have revealed their newest partnership in Glass eyewear: Luxottica. For those unaware, Luxottica are the folks responsible for such popular brands as Oakley, Ray-Ban, Arnette, Oliver-Peoples and more. According to Google, these guys will not only help in building and designing Glass compatible sunglasses and prescription lenses, but because of their retail prowess (over 5,000 stores in the US), will help make Glass available to even more people once it’s officially ready for public consumption. It’s still unclear whether we’ll see Oakley/Ray-Ban specific Google Glass designs, or if the partnership is only referring to the attachable shades/lenses. We’ve reached out to Google for comment and will let you know when we hear more. |
| LG gives us a closer look at the G Watch powered by Android Wear Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:12 PM PDT
If the quick peek in Google’s official Android Wear video wasn’t enough for you, it’s now possible to get a closer look at LG’s upcoming smartwatch — The LG G Watch — in the latest adverts for the wearable.
Posted to both LG Mobile’s official Facebook and Google+ pages early this morning, the image shows the watch as it’s secured onto a wrist, carrying a much more squarish design than Motorola’s take. Unfortunately, bezel-hounds will also notice the wasted space around the display, leaving us to wonder how the heck Motorola managed to pull of a nearly bezel-less design. In any case, what say ye? Just as sexy or sexier than the Motorola Moto 360? |
| Verizon HTC One (2014) unboxed, camera samples provided too [GALLERY] Posted: 24 Mar 2014 02:18 PM PDT
When it rains, it pours. And after seeing the all new HTC One (2014) given the hands-on treatment in a 14-minute long video earlier today (the video has since been taken down), some new folks inside Russia are now getting their hands on the phone. Post by PDA Plaza Россия. Online retailer PDA Plaza somehow managed to get their hands on the Verizon Wireless model of the HTC One (2014), and after unboxing the device on their Facebook page, were kind enough to upload some camera samples for us. Some things to keep in mind: it’s not clear which mode they were shooting in, and just like we saw with last year’s model, camera quality can easily change in later software updates. That being said, it appears that the photos were taken with the phone’s 4MP UltraPixel camera, not the rumored high resolution shooter. Check ‘em out for yourself below.       |
| Android 4.4.3 starts making the rounds, said to fix battery draining bug Posted: 24 Mar 2014 01:43 PM PDT
Ever since that nasty 4.4.2 battery draining camera bug began rearing its ugly head, we knew Google’s plans to soon release an update dealing with it. After Android 4.4.3 was spotted making the rounds, it looks like that could be sooner rather than later. The folks at the TuttoAndroid made the discovery today, after coming across the new firmware after it was logged accessing another site.
The new build — said to be KTU72B — was further confirmed by Llabtoofer, a popular Android dev known for regularly obtaining leaked Android builds. Still under testing, Llabtoofer mentions it will more than likely fix that 4.4.2 camera bug, with Mike1986_ on Twitter (another Android dev) mentioning that changes will be small, and that it should be arriving relatively soon. In case you were hoping a completely overhauled camera app would find itself added to the mix, it’s not likely. Because there’s no such thing as perfect, is there anything you would have liked to have seen Google address in Android 4.4.3 (besides the battery draining bug)? |
| Google Now arrives on Windows and Mac OSX via Chrome web browser Posted: 24 Mar 2014 12:28 PM PDT
If you’ve got a computer with the Chrome desktop browser installed — good news! Starting today, you’ll now have the power of Google Now at your disposal. Google announced the news on their Google+ page and says the update will be pushing out to Chrome browsers (stable channel) over the next few weeks, so don’t freak out if you don’t have it quite yet. Because Google Now relies on both the Chrome web browser and your Android/iOS device, you should make sure both are signed into the same Google accounts to reap the benefits. Once done, you’ll have Google Now cards displaying on the side of the Google homepage, showing you everything from weather, sports scores, traffic commute times, and event reminders — all on your Windows or Mac computers. It was back in February that Google Now graduated from Chrome Canary to beta builds, with today marking the first time it’s now finally available to anyone running the stable (regular) versions of Chrome. |
| Google Photowall for Chromecast app displays your photos on a beautiful canvas Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:12 AM PDT Google’s bringing an interesting new app for Chromecast users today that will allow you to proudly and beautifully display your precious memories on the big screen. It’s called Photowall, and according to our brethren over at iSource it’s already out for iOS. The Android version has yet to hit Google Play, though Google tells us it should be on its way at some point later today. The app — which Google curiously calls a “Chrome Experiment” — gives you functions for not only uploading photos to be used in these unique collages, but also the ability to draw on the photos (just in case you need to caption it with funnies or add a little pizzazz). One great use of this highlighted by Google is to allow people to snap photos at a party and send them to the Chromecast’s Photowall, so everyone at the party can take in all the memories from many different perspectives. Photowall doesn’t require a Chromecast, though — you can also feed it to any Chrome-based browser. We’ll be looking for the Google Play link later on today, but those of you on iOS can join in on the fun right now by heading to the app store. We will update this post with the Google Play link once it’s finally made available. [Update]: The app is now available for download in the Google Play Store. Get it while it’s hot! |
| Pre-order the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 starting today; ships April 11th Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:58 AM PDT
Just a friendly reminder to pre-order the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 starting today, folks. You’ll be able to grab the device for $0 down payment and 24 equal installments of $27.50 per month. That adds up to about $660 full retail. Orders won’t be charged until the thing ships, though, which T-Mobile expects to happen around April 11th. We went hands-on with the device back at Mobile World Congress, finding out that the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a great smartphone for today, but is sadly unequipped for tomorrow. Samsung didn’t raise the bar like they continue to do with the Galaxy Note 3, though we expect the Galaxy S5 to be a hot item this Spring and Summer once it’s finally available. Grabbing one for yourself? Let us know in the comments below. Otherwise, let us know what other phone has your attention right now. You can head to T-Mobile’s site to pre-order the device right here (and don’t forget that AT&T is also accepting pre-sales right this moment, as well). |
| Twitter #Music will never come to Android… because it’s officially dead Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:45 AM PDT
Remember when we were screaming not-so-niceties at Twitter for leaving Android out of the Twitter #Music train? The music discovery app that aimed to suggest new music based on who you were following was an iOS-only affair to start, though Twitter led us to believe they would be bringing an Android app soon after. Unfortunately, that’ll never happen, and it’s not because Twitter hates Android. Twitter #Music is officially dead, with the company quickly announcing that the service is being pulled from Apple’s App Store immediately (those with the app installed will see it continue to work until April 18th). We can’t say we’re sad to see the service go considering it didn’t seem to disrupt the music discovery scene like we thought it would. While the thought of personalized music suggestions based on who you followed and what you tweeted was great, it ultimately failed to capture the interests of mainstream music listeners.
Turns out most people are getting by just fine with the options already built into their favorite apps (or, you know, asking their friends for recommendations in 140-character requests on Twitter). Twitter says their music aspirations aren’t totally dead, though, as they have given the obligatory speech of wanting to continue to explore new, innovative ways to bring you content based on the music being talked about on Twitter every day. For now, you’ll just have to do with those automatic Last.FM and Spotify #NowPlaying Tweets your annoying friends have setup. [via iSource] |
| OnePlus One’s processor upgraded from Snapdragon 800 to Snapdragon 801 Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:14 AM PDT
Many hopeful OnePlus One owners expressed a hint of dissatisfaction with the fact that the device would come with a Snapdragon 800 processor. While that chipset is no weakling in today’s society, it wouldn’t have been the latest and greatest available. That title goes to the Snapdragon 801, which is inside the Samsung Galaxy S5 and expected to be inside the all new HTC One. Thankfully, OnePlus listened to cries to make the phone more “current,” and have sneakily updated their specs sheet to show that they have, in fact, decided to go with the Snapdragon 801 for their first smartphone. They did so with a quick update to their Google+ cover photo. Snapdragon 801 is a quad-core 2.5GHz SoC that boasts a 28nm process, Adreno 330 GPU, QuickCharge for 75% faster battery charging, integrated LTE, support for Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi ac, 4K video recording and more. It’s satisfying to see a company willing to be so open about their phone while it’s still in the making. What we didn’t expect was for them to be receptive to user suggestions and complaints and actually act on them. It goes back to their commitment of wanting to deliver the best specs at the best price, and we’re glad to see them staying true to that promise in any way they can. We still don’t have the full suite of details about this phone, but OnePlus will undoubtedly reveal everything we need to know in the weeks and months to come (especially considering we’re getting quite close to the Q2 2014 release window set forth by the company). Be sure to read more about all things OnePlus One right here. [via Google+] |
| Samsung SD and microSD cards see steep discount on Amazon today only Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:47 AM PDT Amazon is putting on another one of their famous SD and microSD card sales, with today’s featured manufacturer being everyone’s favorite South Korean company that currently has a choke hold on the Android phone arena. That would be Samsung, of course, as their tiny little storage chips are on sale for up to 65% off at the online retailer today only.
Options in the microSD family range from the 16GB class 10 PLUS to the 64GB Class 10 PRO models. The difference between Plus and Pro? The former gives you up to 48MB/s transfer speeds, while the latter bumps that up to about 70MB/s. Here’s the full breakdown:
And now, for the regular-sized SD cards (for use with a small amount of Android tablets):
The difference between Plus and Pro for the SD lineup is 48MB/s for the former versus 80MB/s for the latter. Not lost on us in that list of options is the fact that the 16GB Pro usually costs just as much as the 64GB Pro. Nonsensical, but at least Amazon sort of “fixed” that with this temporary sale.
Those are great discounts indeed, though some will argue that the cards are already a tad overpriced compared to options from SanDisk and other competing flash storage manufacturers. Regardless, if owning the Samsung brand is that important to you, then this is your best chance to grab these cards at affordable rates. Head to Amazon to get started, and don’t forget to check out our huge list of devices which support microSDXC! |
| Would Apple really make an iTunes app for Android? New rumors say “yes” Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:11 AM PDT
The Steve Jobs Apple of just a couple of short years ago might not have given an inkling of a thought to creating apps for Android, but things could be changing under the Tim Cook regime. New reports suggest Apple is thinking about making an iTunes app for Android to combat ailing digital music downloads. Beyond that, Apple is also reportedly looking to transform iTunes into a more contemporary service, with the company said to be in the “exploratory” stages of crafting a subscription-based model to rival the likes of Spotify and Google Play Music. It’s a natural evolution of the business Apple helped create, and they don’t want to be left behind if popularity of subscription-based streaming models stay on the rise. It isn’t far-fetched to believe that all of this could eventually find a home on Android. Apple has supported competing platforms in the past, with Windows versions of Safari, iTunes and Quicktime all being prominent pieces of software. Apple’s motives might have been due to the fact that Windows was blowing Mac OSX out of the water in terms of market share, but the important thing to remember is that they did it. There’s no reason the same couldn’t happen on the mobile side of things (especially considering Android growth is currently outpacing iOS in all facets of mobile, tablets included). Such a move could be seen as an admission of defeat in the long run, but the businessmen at Apple would probably be more pleased with a better bottom line than the need to uphold the reputation and views of a former, crazed mastermind of a CEO. There’s no word on when this would go down if it were to all come to pass, but you know we’ll be keeping tabs on this particular rumor from here on out. [via Billboard] |
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