Android Phone Fans |
- HTC One M8 has the lowest screen latency of any smartphone to date
- Someone created a charger that can fully charge your smartphone in 30 seconds [VIDEO]
- Don’t try this at home: Samsung Galaxy S5 hammer test ends in the most hilarious way possible [VIDEO]
- Telltale’s The Walking Dead game now finally available for Android
- 6 high-priced Android apps worth your hard-earned money
- HTC finds Robert Downey Jr. on set, casually talks about the new HTC One M8 [VIDEO]
- LG G Watch leaks in the wild, pricing and availability allegedly revealed as well
- Samsung Gear Fit update brings portrait orientation
- Samsung Galaxy S5: What they’re talking about
- Get the original Galaxy Gear for $160 on Woot.com today only
- Sprint to begin decommissioning WiMax towers by the end of 2015
- OnePlus One “unboxing” featuring CyanogenMod’s Steve Kondik hits YouTube
- HTC One M8 Ace featured in the ugliest press render ever
- Samsung Galaxy Ace Style is official
- Google I/O 2014 registration window pushed to April 15th-18th
| HTC One M8 has the lowest screen latency of any smartphone to date Posted: 08 Apr 2014 07:04 PM PDT
Whether it’s slicing up fruit in your favorite mobile game, or scrolling through menus and homescreens, screen latency is absolutely vital to the user experience on our mobile devices. Contrary to popular belief, the time it takes for your smartphone to register the touch of your finger tips doesn’t always have to do with the amount of GHz found on your smartphone either. Much of this is software based. You may have heard from friends or family (or even experienced it yourself) how responsive iOS can be even on the oldest of hardware (yes, GPU acceleration helps a good deal as well). Imagine our surprise to find a newly released Android device smashing previous records when it came to screen latency — the all new HTC One M8. In a review we came across from the French tech blog Lesnumeriques, they found the HTC One M8 scored an incredible 46ms screen latency. The next closest device (which held the previous record) was the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at 67ms, followed by a variety of Apple products like the Apple iPhone 5/5s with 75ms. For reference, here’s a chart showing some older devices.
We should note that left out of their tests was the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2, two of the biggest smartphones of the year (although their previous iterations can be found scoring relatively high). You would think a faster processor comes largely into play, except for those awkward times when it doesn’t. So what does this tell us? Well, it let’s us know that the future Microsoft envisioned is closing in fast, and the HTC One M8 could be leading the way. Score another one for the M8. [via XDA] |
| Someone created a charger that can fully charge your smartphone in 30 seconds [VIDEO] Posted: 08 Apr 2014 04:05 PM PDT
Battery life has long been a major concern in mobile. It’s only recently we’re finally seeing small strides being taken with how chip vendors and smartphone manufacturers are approaching the issue. This typically involves either creating additional low-power CPU cores, or throwing higher mAhs into our smartphones and tablets. But what about charge times? As our phones become more powerful (and bigger), and we begin to demand more out of our devices, we really need to start thinking about other avenues to explore if we hope to break free from constantly being tethered to a wall socket. It was early last year we saw Qualcomm’s attempt at speeding up our device’s charging times with their Quick Charge 1.0 technology that can be found in most current smartphones (the recently released HTC One M8 even features Quick Charge 2.0, though compatible chargers wont be available until later in the year). And while being able to charge a phone in under an hour and half is all good and dandy, how cool would it be if you could charge your smartphone in under 30 seconds? Suddenly, that 15 hour battery life doesn’t sound so bad. StoreDot is an Israeli startup introducing their prototype charger and battery technology that does just that, taking a near depleted smartphone to a full charge in 30 seconds or less. The charger, which is about the size of your everyday laptop charger, was shown doing just that on a Samsung Galaxy S3 (support for additional smartphone models is also in the works). The battery itself features biological semiconductors made from “naturally occurring organic compounds” (peptides) and short chains of amino acids. While quite large right now, StoreDot says it should roughly be the size of current smartphone batteries by the time its ready for release. The best part is you might not even need to wait until you’re old and grey before we see this in the real world. StoreDot says that when the product becomes commercially available in 2016, pricing should be about twice that of the average phone charger. Right now, they also have another project aimed at making the charger smaller for more practical use. The biggest question we have is how long these batteries will be able to hold a charge, and how well they handle our power hungry mobile devices. You can find a video of the prototype charger in action below. [WSJ] |
| Posted: 08 Apr 2014 02:15 PM PDT
Okay, these smartphone “stress test” videos on YouTube have got to stop. Why? Aside from breaking my heart every time I watch a $700 smartphone getting destroyed on camera, they can also be downright dangerous. Don’t believe us? Then check out this recent video by TechRax who, upon slamming his Samsung Galaxy S5 with a mallet, ends up puncturing the battery, spraying out noxious fumes into the air and causing the reviewer actual physical harm. Grab the Febreeze, boys and girls. Video below. #Dead. |
| Telltale’s The Walking Dead game now finally available for Android Posted: 08 Apr 2014 01:29 PM PDT
After winning 90 “Game of the Year” awards, Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead Season 1 is now officially available for Android devices. The game, which plays more like a choose your own adventure, is set in the same world as the TV show, just with a new cast of character playing out the apocalypse on your smartphone or tablet. Season 1 takes place in 5 parts, with Telltale throwing in the first episode for free, with 2-5 and the 400 Days episode available via in-app purchase for $5 each. If you’re on the fence, keep in mind this game is intense, and it most certainly will mess with your emotions. We’ll leave it at that (no spoilers). All that’s left now is the recently released Season 2. Download link and trailer provided below.
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| 6 high-priced Android apps worth your hard-earned money Posted: 08 Apr 2014 12:26 PM PDT
Let’s be honest, when it comes to buying apps we can all be a bit stingy with our cash. Most of us have no problem shelling out $200 for the latest Samsung device, but dropping a couple of bucks on some app seems so much more difficult. It’s a very strange situation. Through the years most people have decided that any app that costs over $1.99 is “expensive.” We really need to get over this mentality. Most people have no problem spending a few bucks on a Big Mac that will keep them satisfied for a couple of hours. Why is it so hard to buy $5 app that you will use every day of your life? Not to mention the money you spend on apps is supporting hard-working developers. We think there are plenty of apps out there that are worthy of your hard-earned cash. Here are 5 “high” priced apps and 1 cheapy for your consideration. Link Bubble – $4.99
Link Bubble is a completely new way to browse the web on your Android device. When you click on a link the webpage begins to load in the background, allowing you to continue using the app you are in. Once the page is loaded it pops up on top of the current app. You never have to leave the app you are using or wait for pages to load. $5 may seem a bit steep, but when you consider how many times you open links it’s well worth it. Plex – $4.99
If you know anyone that uses Plex they have probably already told you how great it is. This service can be easily described by their tagline: “One window into all your personal media. No matter where you are.” Upload all of your media to the Plex server and it can be accessed anywhere you can download the app. Photos can be automatically uploaded, and videos are displayed with beautiful movie posters. Plex even works with Chromecast. The $5 will give you access to all of this on your phone or tablet. Safe In Cloud – $4.99
If you use the same password on every site, or let browsers remember your login info, you are at risk of getting hacked. Having a unique login and password for every site can be incredibly difficult to remember. Safe In Cloud is a password management system. that helps you keep track of it all. You can sync your passwords to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The $5 will get you the Android app, plus the Chrome and Firefox extension for free. Privacy is nothing to skimp out on. Pushover – $4.99
We all gets tons of notifications, but rarely about the things that should really be notifying us. Pushover can make notifications work for you. Want to know when your Fitbit battery is low? When a completely-legal-in-every-way torrent finishes downloading? An eBay item changes price? With Pushover you can get notifications for all of these things, and many more. Dozens of apps, services, and things can be configured to work with Pushover. For $5 you will be notified of anything and everything you can imagine. ROM Manager – $5.99
If you are a frequent user of custom ROMs you have probably used the free version of ROM Manager at some time. This incredibly useful app comes pre-installed with some ROMs. The premium version adds a few features that are very important for hardcore ROM users. You can download incremental update zips to save on data, get access to premium ROMs, and receive notifications for when your ROM is updated. If you’ve ever hassled with ROMs this is an easy $6 to spend. MarkAsRead – $1.21
Our cheapy pick is a new app that solves a small but annoying problem. Gmail’s current notifications let you archive and reply to emails directly from the notification. Unfortunately there is no way to mark an email as “read” from there. MarkAsRead replaces the stock Gmail notification with an almost identical one, except now there is a “read” button. No more seeing new emails twice. For just $1.21 this will make your life easier. Those are some of the apps we think are worth the price tag, but what about you? What apps do you consider to be good enough to buy? Let us know in the comments below! |
| HTC finds Robert Downey Jr. on set, casually talks about the new HTC One M8 [VIDEO] Posted: 08 Apr 2014 12:21 PM PDT
It’s been a minute since we last saw Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. fulfill his $12 million dollar contractual obligation in an HTC ad. Some were confused to find HTC going with a different Hollywood star in their latest HTC One M8 ad spots, in which Gary Oldman waxes poetic about HTC’s latest flagship. Well, it looks as if HTC was able to track down the Marvel star, apparently backstage on his latest movie set. The rather strange commercial merely has RDJ telling you to buy the HTC One M8… and that’s about it. He does mention all the awards the original HTC One received last year, even momentarily speaking in an old English accent. In our minds eye, we can see someone holding up a few cue cards behind the camera, telling RDJ to read them off and finish with something funny. The result? Well, we’ll let you decide for yourself. Video below. |
| LG G Watch leaks in the wild, pricing and availability allegedly revealed as well Posted: 08 Apr 2014 11:44 AM PDT
It was last month we watch as — with the introduction of Android Wear — the LG G Watch was made official. It was hard not to get excited at the prospect of having the power of Google Now always displayed on our wrists, but it seemed LG was still keeping their cards close to their chest, providing next to zero actual details on the device’s specs, pricing, or even availability.
If LG’s recent press images weren’t quite enough for you, the folks at Pocket-Lint are now giving us another look at the watch as it appears in the wild. You’ll notice the absence of any physical buttons on the device, and and overall slim profile. Described as minimal, but “premium” feeling, LG was able to confirm that the G Watch will feature interchangeable straps, and possibly even come in a circular variant ala the Motorola Moto 360.
Unfortunately, none of the leaked shots showed the device actually powered on, leaving us to wonder about it’s performance in handling the Android Wear OS. What LG was able to reveal, was pricing and availability — said to cost around £180 and a release sometime in July for the UK. Expect lots more to be revealed at Google I/O 2014, officially kicking off in June. |
| Samsung Gear Fit update brings portrait orientation Posted: 08 Apr 2014 11:38 AM PDT
The Samsung Gear Fit’s wide landscape aspect ratio doesn’t work well with the natural orientation of your wrist when you’re looking at the watch. The watch appears in portrait mode with the “traditional” way, but the software doesn’t adjust accordingly… until today. A new software upgrade will soon be delivered that will allow you to enable a portrait mode to get a look at your time, weather, fitness and life without having to twist your neck or wrist in weird ways. Each app will be tweaked to have appropriate user interface layouts for both modes, so nothing should be weird about it once it finally lands. We’re not sure if Samsung is planning on delivering this as a day one update once the Gear Fit launches with the rest of the family April 11th, but if it doesn’t then we imagine it wouldn’t be long. Just be sure to keep in mind the fact that it may or may not be ready by the time it ships this Friday whenever you’re deciding whether or not to buy it. [via SamMobile] |
| Samsung Galaxy S5: What they’re talking about Posted: 08 Apr 2014 10:25 AM PDT
It's Galaxy S5 week, and, naturally, the phone is the toast of the town. Are you eagerly awaiting the arrival of your preorder? On the fence about purchasing the latest Samsung flagship? We're sorting through the hype to see what has everyone talking as we approach the international release of one of the biggest devices in Android's history. Preorders give way to device availabilityWith the majority of US carriers offering a Galaxy S5 preorder, many customers already have their handset locked down. Those choosing to go with AT&T might even already have a tracking number to go along with it. For some the device could arrive as soon as today, ahead of the official April 11th carrier-wide availability. Other carriers haven't been as on the ball. Verizon waited a bit longer before beginning their preorder, but buyers should still expect to see their new Galaxy S5s ship by the end of the week (they can also snag a second GS5 free). The same goes for those ordering the phone through T-Mobile or Sprint. Buyers hoping to purchase the handset direct from a carrier come Friday should expect to deal with a bit more in-store congestion than usual, but we have no reason to anticipate that anyone looking to pick up the GS5 on launch day will not leave with one in hand. Reviews are rolling inAs the Galaxy S5 finds its way into the hands of tech experts and enthusiasts the reviews have started to roll in. The consensus so far seems to mirror the arguably tepid reaction to last year's Galaxy S4: a solid Android device that ranks among the top in terms of hardware performance, if not slightly underwhelming. Reviewers point to the iterative nature of the device, knocking off points for what amounts to a more or less incremental upgrade to the GS4. The build quality and design continue to be a sticking point for some. All, however, are quick to call the GS5 one of the best Android phones around. Is it really waterproof?Before you go taking that new Galaxy S5 into the shower, you might be interested in exploring whether the device is truly waterproof or merely water resistant. And how resistant is it? The IP67 rating specifically states that a device with the rating should be able to withstand water damage for 30 minutes when submerged in up to 3 meters of water. Several brave souls have sought to test the nature of this standard, providing ample video evidence of the GS5's durability in the face of splashes, submersion, and more. Accessories, accessories, accessoriesWith the phone hitting shelves, Galaxy S5 accessories are soon to follow. Cases seem to be on the mind of many, and quite a few are wondering if Spigen will produce a version of their Slim Armor series for the latest Samsung handset. Given its similar design and capabilities, there is a question as to whether some Galaxy S4 accessories will be backwards compatible with the GS5. While this obviously will not include cases, is there a chance other peripherals will carry over? On the same note, will Samsung offer any accessory discounts for Galaxy S5 buyers as they did with the GS4? There has been no mention so far, but it would not be surprising to see Samsung kick in some bonuses after the handset has been on the market for a few weeks. Who is buying?The big question: who is buying one? Maybe you, maybe some first time Android users, maybe some folks upgrading from the Galaxy S3 or Galaxy S4. Despite the anticipating surrounding the Galaxy S5, it seems quite a few, especially those with the GS4 or another newer Android handset, have no plans to trade up at the moment. Reasons range from the low resale price of used phones to the relatively small gap in performance and features between the GS5 and the phone it succeeds. Take that for what it's worth. Let us know if you plan to pick up the phone, if you already preorder, or perhaps if you already have one in hand. Follow the discussion further at the Samsung Galaxy S5 section of our very own Android Forums. |
| Get the original Galaxy Gear for $160 on Woot.com today only Posted: 08 Apr 2014 09:49 AM PDT
Fancy a smart watch but don’t want to pay $300 for one? You can grab the original Samsung Galaxy Gear for just $160 on Woot.com today, so long as you’re OK with the fact that you’ll have to get your purchase order in by the end of the day (or until supplies last). On the brighter side, this isn’t your typical refurbished unwanted electronic Woot tends to shovel off. These are brand new, and can be had in any color you want should you decide to jump in. Those colors are Lime Green, Oatmeal Beige, Wild Orange, Mocha Gray, and Rose Gold. These things have been upended by the new Android-less options set to launch this Friday, but if you aren’t cool with Tizen and want a piece of Samsung’s first foray into wearables, there’s no better time to buy one than right now. Head here to order one. [Thanks, Readers!] |
| Sprint to begin decommissioning WiMax towers by the end of 2015 Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:45 AM PDT
The first bell tolls for WiMax have officially started ringing, as the service is about to be stripped down by Sprint. A filing with the SEC suggests the company is planning to begin decommissioning as much as 6,000 towers by the end of 2015. This move would effectively be the first in getting older WiMax customers over to LTE, though the transition might not be as smooth as folks are expecting. For starters, some of the WiMax towers are likely in areas where LTE currently isn’t deployed. While Sprint could get LTE up and running in those areas by the time the hardware is taken down, there are no guarantees. This means folks might be hopped back over to Sprint’s 3G network, which has gained notoriety for its declining performance over the past few years. Sprint outlined plans to handle customer accounts who aren’t pleased with the changes whenever it comes time to cross that bridge. You could continue service and be upgraded to an LTE-capable smartphone at no cost and no change to your service plan, or you could choose to discontinue service without the penalty of an early termination fee. Either way, you have some options coming up if your two-year contract is still intact and you still happen to have a WiMax-enabled device. All of this should go toward helping Sprint reach 100 million pops on their Sprint Spark network upgrades (faster speeds, better building penetration and all that good stuff) by 2016′s end. [via Fierce Wireless] |
| OnePlus One “unboxing” featuring CyanogenMod’s Steve Kondik hits YouTube Posted: 08 Apr 2014 06:43 AM PDT I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fools day anymore. We’ve been drooling at the opportunity to get a look at the OnePlus One, and we almost thought we had it… until we didn’t. The jokesters and teasers over at OnePlus and CyanogenMod have posted an unboxing video on YouTube. Cleverly enough, this was technically an unboxing, except they didn’t dare show the phone itself. We get a nice look at the slick red and white packaging, as well as some required reading and literature that comes with the device. The device itself? Why, of course they weren’t going to show it! That’d ruin all the fun that’s going to be had on April 23rd, now wouldn’t it? Thankfully we already know a ton about the device, which is going to be a device that costs less than $400 (less than 350 Euro in Europe) with a 13 megapixel camera, Snapdragon 801 processor, 5.5-inch 1080p display and more. On the software side is a custom fork of CyanogenMod with a unique lock screen and always-listening voice commands. Sure, the majority of the world may be getting all googley-eyed over HTC and Samsung’s latest wares, but OnePlus is promising to bring a device that deserves just as much attention. Be sure to circle back when the goods are given to us later this month. [via Google+] |
| HTC One M8 Ace featured in the ugliest press render ever Posted: 08 Apr 2014 05:55 AM PDT
A couple of weeks ago, we were told to expect a couple of mid-range spin-off devices based on the HTC One M8. One of those phones was the HTC One M8 Mini, and the original source was almost certain it existed. The other was the HTC One M8 Ace, which the source seemed a bit less sure about. But it appears we have a bit more solid evidence thanks to a rather ugly looking press render that has leaked. The latest image was delivered by @evleaks, giving us a look at a phone that is unusually concealed and quite blurry for these sorts of things. The artifacting and pixelation on the bezels of the render make it hard to know of the M8 Ace is equipped with BoomSound, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t. We also see a camera and a possible notification light or proximity sensor to the right. Finally, it looks like the M8 Ace has that same black strip of doom that everyone hates so much on the all new HTC One M8. Beyond that, though, we aren’t given much to work with. If Samsung’s own “Ace” line of devices is anything to go by, we probably won’t be expecting this one to set the world on fire (but there’s nothing saying HTC can’t break the mold). |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace Style is official Posted: 08 Apr 2014 05:33 AM PDT
Another Samsung phone has found its way into the spotlight just ahead of the Galaxy S5′s availability. Samsung saw fit to announce the Samsung Galaxy Ace Style, and as we’ve come to expect from any new phone in the Ace series, this one doesn’t do much to stimulate us. Specs read out as follows:
That just about does it. No fancy bells and whistles. No unique additions to TouchWiz (in fact, you can say it’s been a bit stripped down). Samsung this thing features a “fun, unique design,” though we can’t help but to yawn at its presence. It’s not ugly, per se, it’s just not… exciting or new. It’s a typical entry-level phone, and one that likely won’t be breaking your wallet. It should be making its way to retail in Dark Gray and Cream White later this month. [via Samsung] |
| Google I/O 2014 registration window pushed to April 15th-18th Posted: 08 Apr 2014 05:05 AM PDT
Were you thinking of waking up early this morning to get your registration in for Google I/O? Well, you can hit that snooze button and get yourself a few more Zs, as that wont be happening for another week or so. Google has announced that Google I/O registration has been pushed back a week — it’s now April 15th through the 18th. The reasoning was that they simply wanted to take more time to make sure the registration process is easier for you. Hopefully some of that time is dedicated to making sure the servers stand up to the test of tons of eager developers wanting to get their names into the hat. Selection for attendance will still be completely random, so there will be no rush to the finish line. Simply get your registration in during the stated window, and wait to see if you’re eventually selected. If you are, you’ll receive an email with further ticket purchase instructions. If you aren’t, well, better luck next year (because if the past couple of years tell us anything, it’s that you won’t be able to find someone offloading their ticket for outrageous amounts on eBay). Set your calendars and go back to sleep, folks. [via Google+] |
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