Android Phone Fans |
- Moto X+1 headed to all 4 major US carriers, codenamed ‘Victara’ [RUMOR]
- Galaxy S5 vs Moto E speed test shows the benefit of a stock Android experience [VIDEO]
- HTC One 2013 Google Play edition is no longer for sale in the Play Store
- Has Google’s reputation turned sour?
- Moto E now supported by Motorola’s Bootloader Unlock program
- LG G3 Quick Window lockscreen widgets leaked
- New Google Glass patent shows the hardware baked into a more traditional set of frames
- Don’t miss out on this chance to win an invite to buy the OnePlus One
- Rumor: HTC One M8 Prime to use unique build material, waterproof casing and LTE Cat-6
- Verizon XLTE to bring double the bandwidth — here’s the initial (and huge) list of cities
- AllCast Receiver just made Android-to-Android streaming a whole lot better
- Is this the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime?
- Official: AT&T wants to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion
| Moto X+1 headed to all 4 major US carriers, codenamed ‘Victara’ [RUMOR] Posted: 19 May 2014 04:29 PM PDT
We’ve watched as over the past few weeks, more and more details about the alleged Motorola Moto X+1 have leaked online. It was earlier this month we saw the phone leak on Motorola’s site carrying a -$400 price tag, then later as the FLEXR2 revealing Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint variants of the device — but no mention of T-Mobile. We weren’t too worried, given last year’s Motorola Moto X was made available to all 4 carriers. Turns out, @evleaks is back and dropping more truth bombs after seemingly confirming the Moto X+1 will launch on all 4 major US carriers. We know, not much of a surprise. But it should help give those looking to make this device their next smartphone purchase a little added peace of mind. What’s more is @evleaks mentions the phone is now going by the codename Victara, something we’ll make sure to keep an eye out for in future. [evleaks] |
| Galaxy S5 vs Moto E speed test shows the benefit of a stock Android experience [VIDEO] Posted: 19 May 2014 03:15 PM PDT
There’s no denying the Samsung Galaxy S5 has the makings of an Android powerhouse. Featuring a beefed up Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM — all running on the lightest version of Android yet, (4.4.2 KitKat), the phone should breeze through everyday tasks with ease. The Motorola Moto E on the other hand, was designed to be the most bare-bones smartphone money can buy. Dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor and barely 1GB of RAM, it’d be easy to assume that one of the sacrifices a user would have to make would be in performance. But there is one area where the Moto E truly shines, and in some cases, actually gives the E the upper hand from most other Androids on the market today — the fact that it offers a nearly stock Android experience. If you didn’t think this would affect the phone’s performance which, in most cases should be found wanting, YouTuber Tom Rich decided to pit the 2 Android devices against each other in a performance speed test. Sounds pretty unevenly matched, but you may be surprised to find the Moto E holding its own. Check out the video below. Now we’re not going to say this is definitive proof that the Moto E is faster than the Galaxy S5, there’s far too many variables involved. We will say this is pretty good evidence that perhaps Samsung has some work to do in optimizing their TouchWiz software for the Galaxy S5. It’s one of the major issues I had with the phone and the reason why I’ll most likely be opting for the Google Play edition of the Galaxy S5. You know, whenever Samsung stops dragging their feet and makes it available for sale. [YouTube] |
| HTC One 2013 Google Play edition is no longer for sale in the Play Store Posted: 19 May 2014 02:22 PM PDT
After dropping to $499 back in March, it looks as if the HTC One 2013 Google Play edition has been taken off the market. Jumping onto the Google Play store’s device page, you’ll notice the phone has been completely removed. The listing itself can still be found by visiting a direct link, but the phone is now showing a “This device is not for sale at this time” message for its availability.
No worries, those intent on buying a Google Play edition Android phone with healthy serving of aluminum can still find the HTC One M8 GPe for sale on GPlay. For old time’s sake, you can check out our review on the HTC One 2013 Google Play edition here. We have a feeling not too many of our readers ever jumped on these Google Play edition devices, which could be a reason why Google is turning to the rumored “Android Silver” devices that could be offered at subsidized rates by carriers. Anyone really bummed that they missed the chance to pick up an HTC One 2013 Google Play Edition? |
| Has Google’s reputation turned sour? Posted: 19 May 2014 01:13 PM PDT
Don’t be evil. That is the (unofficial) slogan that first helped Google become such a beloved company. They exploded onto the scene with a search engine that was simple to use and blew our minds with results. Then they started giving away great products like Gmail, Docs, and of course Android, for free. There was a time when Google could do no wrong, but fast forward to today and a growing amount of consumers don’t believe that famous slogan to be true anymore. What changed? This sentiment was perfectly demonstrated over the weekend when the rumor that YouTube (Google) is interested in buying Twitch.tv surfaced. The news was met with negative reactions by a large portion of the internet, especially the gaming community. #RIPTwitch was trending on Twitter quickly after the news broke. Threads on Reddit were filled with complaints, disappointment, and this gif. The most remarkable thing about all of these reactions is how different they would have been just a couple of years ago.
YouTube is the best example. In the beginning people seemed to love everything Google did with YouTube. However, in the past few years many people have started getting upset with the changes Google has implemented. Things like the Google+ comment system are still being complained about today. Which is exactly why some people are so worried about Twitch. Google’s once shining reputation has turned sour as consumers fear they will ruin their favorite services.
Google+ alone is a major point of contention among many consumers. When the social network was brand new and invite-only there was a lot of excitement. But the more Google has pushed it the more consumers have pushed back. For many internet users the first time they saw Google+ was when they needed to sign up to continue using YouTube. That’s not a good first impression. Unfortunately, this social network has turned into an arch nemesis for a lot of internet users.
Last year Google's VP of Corporate Development said a third of their acquisitions end up failing. This is obviously the worst case scenario in the minds of Twitch users. A few notable Google products that have been shut down include Picnik, Aardvark, Dodgeball, Google Reader, Wave, and Buzz. Not all of these services were acquisitions, but it goes to show how unafraid Google is to shut down a service. Obviously users of Twitch don’t want that to happen. Another reason that many consumers are wary of Google is how much of the internet they own. A user on Reddit had this to say:
They didn’t even mention the fact that most people use Google Search to find information, Google Maps to navigate, they access the internet with Google Chrome, Google Glass can see everything they see, and their car may soon be controlled with Google technology. When one company owns so many popular services it makes people nervous. Just look at what happened to Microsoft in the 90′s. They were accused of creating a monopoly in web browsers by bundling IE with every version of Windows. Anyone that owns a Nexus device or Chromebook will see the similarities. Microsoft is still fighting the negative reputation it earned during that era. Could Google be on a similar path?
Something else that has changed their reputation is just the sheer size of the company. It’s easy to love an upstart that tries a bunch of crazy things and disrupts industries. They are seen as the anti-corporation. Eventually every successful company becomes a giant. Now that Google has become such a worldwide powerhouse they are no different from the likes of Microsoft, IBM, and Apple in the eyes of many people. Google will continue to battle this as they get bigger and bigger. The question will be how do they respond? It’s hard to be cool forever. *** What do you think? Has Google’s reputation turned sour? Do you find that more people are afraid of Google than ever before? What do you think has caused this? Is Google+ to blame? Do you feel the same way? |
| Moto E now supported by Motorola’s Bootloader Unlock program Posted: 19 May 2014 01:08 PM PDT
There’s no question the Motorola Moto E is one of the best values in mobile. Because of its rock-bottom low price tag, we’re certain a large development community will begin to gather around the affordable smartphone. Today, Motorola is kick starting this development by officially adding the Moto E — US, Canada, Europe, and Latin American variants — to their Bootloader Unlock program. Really, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise and we’re excited to see where 3rd party development will take the phone. CM11, Paranoid Android and more coming soon to the Moto E in the future? You can bet on it. [Motorola] |
| LG G3 Quick Window lockscreen widgets leaked Posted: 19 May 2014 12:33 PM PDT
We’ve been seeing a steady stream of LG G3 leaks these past few weeks, and @evleaks is back with a few more. Today, we’re now getting a good look at plethora of lockscreen widgets (a feature dubbed Quick Window) said to the accompany the device when paired with the appropriate Quick Window cover case. We can see LG’s new UI in a few of the widgets and, once again, shows the move to much more minimal stylings. It’s obvious that LG’s new Quick Window case will have a circular cutout vs the square shape on the LG G Pro 2, because different is good. We approve. [Evleaks] |
| New Google Glass patent shows the hardware baked into a more traditional set of frames Posted: 19 May 2014 11:44 AM PDT
There’s no question that, in its current form, many see Glass as a bit of an eyesore. More of a working prototype, Google has officially gone on the record as saying that the Google Glass Explorer Edition we see today is far from a final design. It was recently Google announced that they’d be teaming up with Luxottica — the world’s largest eyewear company and owner of brands such as Oakley, Ray-Ban, Persol, and more — to design frames with Glass compatibility in mind. Today, our friends at GGlassDay have uncovered a new Google Glass patent (U.S. 8,705,177), and it shows the Glass hardware baked into a more traditional set of frames, sans the usual prism arm seen in the Explorer Edition. In the light of Google’s new partnership with Luxottica, we can’t help but wonder (and cross our fingers) if this is what we could find with the eventual release of Ray-Ban-branded Google Glass in the near future.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Google experiment with a more traditional “glasses look.” Back in September, a patent showed the familiar Google Glass arm, only with the camera module integrated on the opposite end and/or middle of normal set of glasses. It was somewhat odd and like most patents, we’re sure they eventually paved the way for Google Glass’ titanium frames we see today. Seeing Glass banked into more traditional eyewear and without the huge Glass arm/camera combo, would any of you be more interested in picking up Google Glass in the future if it looked something like this? Or do you need more evidence of Glass’ usefulness in the real world? |
| Don’t miss out on this chance to win an invite to buy the OnePlus One Posted: 19 May 2014 11:18 AM PDT
Heads up, potential OnePlus One buyers: another round of invites are up for grabs. After the initial invitations went to Smash the Past winners, OnePlus said more would be available through various opportunities such as contests and raffles. The first one is up, giving you a chance to win one of 150 invites to buy the 64GB Sandstone Black model. All you have to do to enter is sign up with your email address or Facebook account, and earn up to 8 entries by doing the following:
The odds are sure to be low with 247,000 entries as of the time of this writing, but with such little effort required to get a few entries you might as well see if you can’t snag one of these for yourself. You have until Friday, May 23rd at 8am central to enter, so get on that before it’s too late, and good luck to those who are wishing to be a lucky OnePlus One owner within the very near future. Head to the source link to get started. [via OnePlus] |
| Rumor: HTC One M8 Prime to use unique build material, waterproof casing and LTE Cat-6 Posted: 19 May 2014 10:32 AM PDT
What do you get when an HTC marketing executive calls out an unknown leakster regarding misinformation? More “maybe true, maybe not” information! After HTC’s Jeff Gordon tweeted out a subliminal shot to an unnamed leakster who he claims has been wrong in recent weeks, @evleaks (who may or may not be the leakster Gordon was referring to) thought it right to spill loads of new information about the HTC One M8 Prime. So what do we get from this latest vomit of classified info? For starters, we’re told to expect the M8 Prime to be made with a new material that is made out of aluminum and liquid silicone, something you don’t really see in a phone. We’re not sure how well this will work in practice, though it’s though to be able to give that premium metal feel without having to make the device as slippery as ice. We also learn that the device will be waterproof (something HTC has yet to do on any of their previous phones), and that it will house category-6 LTE radios. All of this adds to what we already knew about the device: that it could have a 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 display, Snapdragon 805 chipset and 3GB of RAM. What we don’t know, unfortunately, is when HTC is expected to bring this out into the light (though we imagine they already have their hands full with the HTC One M8 and the forthcoming launch of the HTC One Mini 2). Will you be springing for the M8 Prime once it finally arrives? |
| Verizon XLTE to bring double the bandwidth — here’s the initial (and huge) list of cities Posted: 19 May 2014 08:43 AM PDT Verizon has just announced that they’ve started rolling out XLTE, which is what they’ll brand their latest network improvements that should deliver double the data bandwidth for those with compatible LTE devices. XLTE uses AWS spectrum to deliver faster and more reliable throughput — it’s what HSPA+ was to 3G, basically. You will need an AWS-capable device, though Verizon professes “nearly all” their devices are. The confirmed devices are the newest DROID devices, Samsung Galaxy S4, S5 and Note 3, and the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. We imagine most new devices launching from now on should also be compatible. We’ll have to probe Big Red for a full list. In the meantime, you’re probably wondering where you’ll be able to take advantage. The list is huge to start, so be sure to check it out within this PDF document to see if your city made the initial cut.
That said, even if you don’t have an AWS device you should still be able to reap the benefits of these improvements. Since folks with AWS devices in AWS markets will automatically hop onto the AWS spectrum when available, that’ll free up Verizon’s standard 700MHz spectrum and could improve bandwidth.
All of it sounds very promising, and should help toward keeping Verizon’s network in the very tip-top shape that they’re known for. [via Verizon] |
| AllCast Receiver just made Android-to-Android streaming a whole lot better Posted: 19 May 2014 08:06 AM PDT
AllCast has been a great app for beaming photos and videos to devices like Chromecast and other DLNA-compliant media machines, but it hasn’t exactly gotten along with many other (namely Android-based) solutions. That’s why AllCast Receiver is an absolute necessity for anyone with a device like Amazon’s Fire TV, OUYA or a Google TV unit. As its name implies, AllCast Receiver can receive casts from the base AllCast app, making Android-to-Android streaming much more easy and feasible than it used to be. Perhaps all your content is on your phone, but you want to watch it on the big screen and don’t have an HDMI connection — beam it to a tablet that does have video out and enjoy! Same goes with any Android device that you can install AllCast Receiver on. Give it a free download right here if this is something that would help you out, and don’t forget to grab the base AllCast app right here if you don’t already have it. |
| Is this the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime? Posted: 19 May 2014 06:49 AM PDT
We’ve talked about the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime to no end lately, but throughout all that talk we haven’t actually seen anything. That might have changed this morning, though, with newly leaked photos reportedly giving us a glimpse at the premium device. The shots show a very Galaxy S5-esque phone, dimpled back and all. There are a couple subtle differences (namely the odd lack of a speaker grill on the back, as well as slightly different assembly of the heart rate monitor), so it’s certainly possible that this could be the phone we all think (and hope) it is. The Galaxy S5 Prime is expected to up the ante to a level that the Galaxy S5 was originally thought to be introduced at. The rumors peg display resolution at 2560 x 1440, and says we can also expect an upgraded processor (either an octa-core Exynos or a Snapdragon 805), as well as 3GB of RAM.
It’s unfortunate that Samsung will look to introduce a more premium model of the device instead of making this their flagship, but the decision has been made and this is what we’re faced with. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth ditching your current smartphone (be it the Galaxy S5 or some other device) for this bad boy. Here’s hoping we hear something more soon enough. [via PhoneArena] |
| Official: AT&T wants to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion Posted: 19 May 2014 05:50 AM PDT AT&T has announced that they and DirecTV have entered into an agreement that would see the former swallowing up the latter for an insane $48.5 billion. The deal has already been unanimously approved by shareholders and board members on both sides of the table, so all that’s left is to convince the justice department that this won’t hamper competition in the United States.
The writing has long been on the wall for DirecTV being swept off its feet by a conglomerate like AT&T, so it’s hardly surprising that the deal has finally been put onto the table. So what are both sides hoping to get out of the deal? More business, really. For AT&T, they’d be able to deliver broadband internet access to 15 million more consumers, mainly those who live in more rural areas. AT&T will also obviously get access to DirecTV’s satellite programming business, which includes lucrative exclusive content from the NFL through their Sunday Ticket package. For DirecTV (and, well, AT&T), they’ll be able to package TV services with a more robust selection of home and mobile phone packages, as well as internet packages that they haven’t quite had access to. They’ve already been partnering with the likes of Verizon, AT&T, MediaCom and more to offer phone and internet bundles to their consumers, but the savings for taking advantage of those bundles don’t usually amount to more than $10. Here is the full list (as told by AT&T) of what they’re looking to achieve with this deal:
Of course, their desire to snap up DirecTV likely stems from more than just wanting to bundle all these TV, phone and internet packages up and deliver them to more consumers. This is likely their response to Comcast and Time Warner Cable looking to tie the knot (a deal that would otherwise put AT&T at a serious disadvantage). AT&T will no doubt leverage that rival acquisition to bolster their own argument whenever this deal hits the desks of judges and antitrust regulators. There’s no early indication on what will happen with either of these deals just yet, so both are on pretty even footing in regards to what will eventually be decided. Between all these acquisitions and the unsettling advancement of the death of net neutrality, the state of television, phone and internet in the United States is definitely under the microscope of every industry pundit, expert and enthusiast out there. The next year and change has the potential to define telecommunications in the country for the next decade or more, so this is all a very big deal, folks. AT&T will be holding a phone press conference this morning to discuss the acquisition, so keep an eye out for any more information that might stem from those proceedings. [via AT&T] |
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