Android Phone Fans |
- Flappy Bird developer rakes in $50,000 a day off in-app ads (WOW)
- Boost Mobile offering $35 a month unlimited plan with the purchase of their 4G LTE devices
- Leaked HTC M8 screenshot shows rumored on-screen buttons
- LG wants to patent a smartwatch that acts like a 90′s slap bracelet [Slapwatch]
- HP shows off new Chromebox, Google announces Chromebox for meetings bundle
- DayFrame 2.0 update adds Chromecast support
- If Apple made an Android-based iPhone, would you buy it? [POLL]
- KitKat update for Verizon HTC One rolling out now, here’s the changelog [UPDATE]
- Samsung bringing Android 4.4 KitKat to Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3 and a lot more [RUMOR]
- Mozilla’s FireFox Launcher is a rebranded EverythingMe
- Amazon buys Killer Instinct 2013 developers; Android gaming console due soon?
- What is Motorola announcing at their February 25th Mobile World Congress event?
| Flappy Bird developer rakes in $50,000 a day off in-app ads (WOW) Posted: 06 Feb 2014 05:39 PM PST Flappy Bird is arguably one of the worst games ever created. Not because it isn’t good mind you, but because it’s so frustratingly hard, its millions of players wonder why they keep coming back for another round of punishment. Available on both Android and iOS, Flappy Bird became an overnight success, soaring to the top of the charts from little more than word of mouth, and becoming an inspiration to indie devs everywhere. Apparently, its creator — Dong Nguyen — didn’t welcome the new found fame, taking to his Twitter asking for some time to reflect: Something he never wanted? An interesting statement considering the developer currently has 2 other titles hovering the App Store’s top 10, with Flappy Bird’s in-app ads raking in close to $50,000 a day. Yes, folks. That’s more than most of us make in a year. So, what was Dong Nguyen’s formula for success? Simply spending a few hours a night, building a game we’ve played before, 8-bit graphics we’ve seen before, and Mario Bros-inspired visuals that are anything but original. It’s so crazy to think that Flappy Bird actually launched more than 8 months ago, but only recently gained over 50 million downloads. So where does Flappy Bird go from here? Well, in his interview with The Verge, Nguyen mentions he wont be attempting to further monetize the game with in-app purchases, or even an ad-free version. He feels like messing with it now could cause the game to lose some of its magic. Instead, he’s toying around with the idea of a sequel. Some people just want to see the world burn…
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| Boost Mobile offering $35 a month unlimited plan with the purchase of their 4G LTE devices Posted: 06 Feb 2014 04:10 PM PST Android fans on a budget who are looking for cheap cellphone service might want to check out Boost Mobile again. For a limited time, the MVNO is offering $35 monthly service for 6 months, when any one of their 4G LTE devices are purchased (a $120 value). What will $35 a month get you? Unlimited talk, text, and 2.5GB of “high-speed” data on Sprint’s 4G LTE network. We should note, Boost mentions video streaming is throttled down to 3G, which honestly isn’t much on Sprint’s network. Also, once the 6 months are up, you’ll have to pay $50 a month, with a $5 reduction arriving every 6 months (all the way down to $40 a month). The good news? Boost Mobile offers a pretty fair selection of 4G LTE Androids like the Samsung Galaxy S3, ZTE Boost Max, LG Optimus F7, or if you’re really nuts… you can even get an iPhone (although we don’t recommend it). You have until March 31st to take advantage of this deal, in the meantime you might want to compare with other cheap, prepaid offerings from T-Mobile, Straight Talk, or Aio Wireless. |
| Leaked HTC M8 screenshot shows rumored on-screen buttons Posted: 06 Feb 2014 03:20 PM PST @Evleaks is at it again, this time providing us with our first real look at the upcoming HTC M8′s homescreen. Also known as the HTC One Plus or HTC One 2, I supposed we wont really know if this is legit until launch day, in which HTC has yet to reveal any plans to unveil this undoubtedly beastly device. Our hype meter is going through the roof. |
| LG wants to patent a smartwatch that acts like a 90′s slap bracelet [Slapwatch] Posted: 06 Feb 2014 03:06 PM PST Over the next few months, we fully expect every major hardware manufacturer to enter into the wearable market at some point or another. Maybe that’s why we weren’t a bit surprised to find an LG patent for a hypothetical smartwatch. While yet another smartwatch might not sound too intriguing, it’s LG’s design that really grabbed our attention. Remember those old slap bracelets of yore? The ones that were all the rage in the early 90′s? Well, it appears LG could be trying to bring them back with their latest smartwatch concept. The patent application shows an everyday smartwatch that attaches to the user by wrapping around the wrist. We’ll assume for now it’s using their flexible OLED tech in the display, but that hasn’t been confirmed. When not being worn, the watch can be fully extended to act as a capacitive stylus, or rather a smartstylus, possibly the world’s first (but don’t quote us on that). An interesting mix of nostalgia and modern day wearables. Filed back in February of last year, there’s no telling if LG’s smartstylus will ever see the light of day. It’s possible LG felt it too silly, and adopted a more traditional model, one we’ve seen in the upcoming LG Lifeband Touch. Only LG knows for sure. [USPTO | via Unwired View] |
| HP shows off new Chromebox, Google announces Chromebox for meetings bundle Posted: 06 Feb 2014 01:27 PM PST Seems manufacturers are really beginning to give the Chrome OS thing a shot. Look no further than the latest Chromebox announced by HP. Coming in a variety of colors — Smoke Silver, Ocean Turquoise, Snow White and Twinkle Black (yes, Twinkle) — the HP Chromebox is meant to be as inviting as it is easy to use. The HP Chromebox comes with an Intel Haswell processor, 4 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI out/DisplayPort, as well as Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. HP’s Chromebox is so small, they even recommended mounting the tiny box behind a monitor, so that it’s tucked away neatly out of view. For those that are looking for something with a little more oomph, HP also announced a version for meetings featuring a 4th generation Intel Core i7 although price this or the other model weren’t provided. HP’s Chromebox is scheduled for a Spring 2014 release. “Chromebox for meetings” is Google’s shot at video conferencing for businesses, offering a Chromebox inside of a bundle consisting of webcam, microphone/speaker, and remote. Right now only the ASUS Chromebox is available in that bundle, but it’s clear HP (and soon Dell) will offer their own as well. Total price? $1,000 which gets you the bundle and 1 year of management and support (a $250 value). [HP | Google | via ChromeSpot] |
| DayFrame 2.0 update adds Chromecast support Posted: 06 Feb 2014 12:39 PM PST DayFrame has been one of our favorite apps since hitting the Google Play Store sometime ago, and now it’s getting even better. We’re up to version 2.0 now, and you can expect to see some big changes in a major version increase. The biggest by far is new Chromecast support, which will allow you to beam the beautiful DayDream interface from your phone to your TV with ease. While the TV is showing great photos, you can use your device to swipe photos around, zoom in and out, and shuffle the order in which they show. You can also pull in photos from Dropbox, Facebook, Google+, Flickr Twitter and 500px, so you should have no shortage of great pics to show off. All these Chromecast-specific features are only available in the low-cost Prime upgrade, so think about dropping some coin down if this interests you. You’ll also need to have the latest Google Play Services upgrade (4.2) in order for this to work with Chromecast, as detailed earlier this week. The cherry atop all this is a newly refreshed user interface. There’s a video sitting above in case you’re interested in seeing this in action, while the download is sitting in the Google Play Store for free. DayFrame now uses in-app purchases, so be sure to find the option to upgrade to Prime inside if you’re interested. |
| If Apple made an Android-based iPhone, would you buy it? [POLL] Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:56 AM PST We often aren’t surprised when something crazy comes out of The Woz’s (Steve Wozniak, former Apple chief) mouth, but his latest suggestion for his old friends back in Cupertino takes the cake. According to an interview with Wired, Wozniak went on record suggesting that Apple should diversify their options and look into creating a phone that runs… Android.
I’m guessing Apple’s top brass are happy that he no longer has a functional role in the company. Wozniak makes a good point, though: as much as folks clown Apple for their stagnant innovation and the over-simplicity of iOS, it’s no secret that they craft some of the best credits from a pure design and build quality standpoint. Take HTC, for instance — the Taiwanese company turned heads with the HTC One’s build quality alone. It’s a fantastic device on other merits, but it was the beauty and durability of that metal chassis that had a ton of consumers falling in love. We imagine anything Apple would do wouldn’t resemble Android at all. They’d likely fork Android from the publicly available source trunk and modify it to their liking, not unlike what Amazon does for their Kindle Fire tablets.    Apple wouldn’t be the first to do something quite that bizarre. Microsoft-owned Nokia is reportedly planning to announce an Android-based phone either later this month or early March. The situations aren’t totally similar considering Nokia has a history of being platform-agnostic, but their new parent company (and previous statements about never wanting to dabble in the Android arena) makes it all the more noteworthy. So that brings us to the big question — if Apple were to announce an iPhone that, for whatever reason, ran Android, would you buy it? It doesn’t even have to resemble an iPhone 5S. Let’s break the rules of quantum physics, the pythagorean theorum, and everything in between for a second and dream. Imagine if Apple brought out a 4.7-inch device (which they’re rumored to be doing with the iPhone 6) that ran a very customized version of Android. Whether that phone is a true Android experience or something so deformed that you couldn’t even recognize it, would you give Apple a shot? There’s a nice big poll waiting for you below, and we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section beyond that! [via iSource] |
| KitKat update for Verizon HTC One rolling out now, here’s the changelog [UPDATE] Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:20 AM PST Well, that didn’t take long now, did it? Less than a week after Sprint was the first carrier to release Android 4.4 KitKat for the HTC One, it appears Verizon could be coming in a close second. HTC’s @moversi tweeted the good news not more than a few moments ago, letting One owners know that KitKat has been officially approved by Verizon, and that the OTA would be rolling out shortly. Click image for larger view HTC released the update to carriers back in January, and it’s been undergoing certification before hitting handsets. It’s possible another carrier could swoop in from now until the rollout begins on Verizon, but we think it’s safe to call it in: Verizon is the 2nd carrier in the US to update the HTC One to KitKat. Surprised?
Thanks, Mike! |
| Samsung bringing Android 4.4 KitKat to Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3 and a lot more [RUMOR] Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:38 AM PST Despite being the biggest and most successful, Samsung isn’t always the most vocal player in the game when it comes to discussing upgrades to new versions of Android. The company has yet to formally detail a list of devices that will be receiving Android 4.4 KitKat. While anyone might have guessed that the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 might have been in line, a source close to the matter has confirmed to Phandroid that the following list of devices will be receiving the illustrious upgrade (devices in bold have already started to receive official rollouts):
As you can see, the Note 3′s rollout started late last month over in Poland, and should be heading to other regions as Samsung works out logistics and testing. As for the Samsung Galaxy S4, it was only this morning that Samsung began pushing out KitKat for users of the LTE-A variant over in South Korea. Early reports of firmware from both the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 suggest Samsung didn’t change much in KitKat, though that’s because most of their significant upgrades came with the upgrade to Android 4.3 (which mainly enabled new camera features and Galaxy Gear compatibility). Users are treated to improved performance, though, as well as slight changes to Samsung’s UI which amount to little more than a couple of new icons. Unfortunately, that’s about the length of our knowledge thus far. There’s no telling when, exactly, Samsung will look to push the upgrades out, nor do we know if they’re even close to being ready for public consumption. More than anything, though, we’re just happy to know that devices dating back to 2012 are getting some love (especially considering a lot of other OEMs have already abandoned phones that only released just last year). We’ll be looking to dig up any information we can on the impending updates in the weeks (or months) to come. |
| Mozilla’s FireFox Launcher is a rebranded EverythingMe Posted: 06 Feb 2014 07:31 AM PST There is no shortage of home screen replacements in the Google Play Store, ranging from community favorites such as Apex and Nova, to offerings from big companies such as Facebook Home. Mozilla wants to be the next big name to enter the launcher replacement arena, though, as they have announced Firefox Launcher.
So what is EverythingMe? It’s a contextual home screen that’s supposed to be able to figure out who you need, what you need, and when you need it. The app learns your habits over time, and will bring up the information, contacts and apps you’re most likely to use. It’ll display weather and news in the morning, show you interesting restaurants near your location around lunch time, and deliver the train schedule on your way home from work. It doesn’t sound all that different from what Google attempts to bring us with Google Now. EverythingMe also touts a powerful search engine that will search your contacts, apps and more using the same address bar. Again, nothing revolutionary on its own merit, but pretty neat regardless. It’s a very clean launcher that doesn’t try to do too much, and that is exactly what between 1 million and 5 million people who downloaded it in the Google Play Store were looking for. Firefox Launcher still seems to be in the early stages, as they have mentioned that they have yet to hit beta and won’t be sharing any more information until then. All we have to go on is this one lone screenshot, but considering it’s based on EverythingMe you can get a more direct taste of what’s to come by giving that launcher a go for free in the Google Play Store. [via Mozilla] |
| Amazon buys Killer Instinct 2013 developers; Android gaming console due soon? Posted: 06 Feb 2014 06:36 AM PST Amazon has announced the purchase of a very high profile studio that was recently responsible for one of Xbox One’s exclusive launch titles — Killer Instinct. The studio is Double Helix, and Amazon has confirmed that they’ve added the company to their portfolio to continue to deliver innovative gaming experiences to their customers in the years to come. Amazon has done light work in the gaming realm thus far, but nothing far past a few mobile titles for Kindle Fire owners. The addition of Double Helix adds some serious girth, though, and the company is looking to get even better with a recruiting event going down February 13th. So what is it all leading up to? We can’t be too sure, but recent rumors of an alleged Android-based gaming console made by Amazon are starting to make more sense. Said rumors have persisted since mid-2013, though there’s no indication as to when Amazon would look to introduce it. For what it’s worth, we’ve been hearing rumors about an Amazon phone for years and have yet to see anything take form. But this move seems to be solid indication that Amazon is looking to take a serious stab at gaming in some way, shape or form. We just hope it doesn’t take an eternity to see what exactly they’ve supposedly been working on. [via TechCrunch] |
| What is Motorola announcing at their February 25th Mobile World Congress event? Posted: 06 Feb 2014 05:41 AM PST Word on the street is that Motorola will be coming to Barcelona to put on an event. What for? We can’t say. We have no clue what Motorola could be working on at this point. The company hasn’t had any handsets rumored to be in the works since the Moto G, and that device is already making the rounds on various carriers. It’s quite exciting, really, to know that it could be almost anything, and for a change we finally don’t have a clue what it is. CEO Dennis Woodside has hinted at Motorola working to bring us a tablet on multiple occasions. We have no clue if they’ve gotten anywhere with that, but that’s just one of many possibilities. Woodside originally suggested that any tablet they introduce could be customized through Moto Maker like the Moto X, so that would certainly be an exciting announcement. Beyond that, we’re left making empty guesses. Perhaps Motorola isn’t looking to bring us a device at all. According to invitations received, Dennis Woodside is expected to attend the event with an “update on the business.” Updates are definitely necessary, as the future of Motorola is unclear now that they’re owned by Lenovo. The Chinese company bought Motorola from Google for $2.91 billion, though Google likely held onto the core team behind Project Ara as well as all of the mobile patents Motorola owned. The main question will be whether or not Motorola will continue making products under their own brand. Lenovo likely bought Motorola to gain a stronger mobile presence in North America and Europe, but they could carry on using Moto’s already-strong name. Lenovo is no stranger to these types of issues with the company adopting IBM’s ThinkPad business back in 2005. Lenovo went on to become one of the biggest players in personal computing across the globe. This particular situation is a bit different as Lenovo has taken up an entire company, and will be tasked with restoring them to profitability in one of the fiercest and most competitive businesses in the tech world. Whatever happens, though, you can bet we’ll be all ears come February 25th when this event is scheduled to go down. Motorola says they’ll be offering up more details about what this event will bring us in the weeks to come, so stay tuned! [via CNET] |
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