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Samsung Galaxy Nexus review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds, Product Reviews,
How much does Android 4.0 mean to you? How much do you need to have it right now? Because that's the dilemma with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone ($299-$649). Overall it's not quite as good a phone as the Motorola Droid RAZR ($299). But right now, it's the only phone running Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), and that's the future.
In many ways, this is the ultimate early adopter phone. The phone itself isn't perfect; typically, Nexus phones aren't the best hardware on the market. But the software takes a major leap forward, with everything from a better Gmail experience to a faster browser and the ability to put folders on your home screens. Do you need that right now? Then yes, you need the Nexus. Why else might you want to jump on board the latest flagship Google device? Hit the link and follow us through our full Galaxy Nexus review for the answers.
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Google says over 700,000 Android devices are activated each day
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Google,
Google's Android platform is steadily climbing toward 1 million daily activations. There are currently more than 700,000 Android activations every day, Google's Android chief, Andy Rubin, announced Tuesday night.
"For those wondering, we count each device only once (ie, we don't count re-sold devices), and 'activations' means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service," Rubin said in a followup post on Google+.
The news comes just one month after Google announced at its November music event that there were 550,000 Android activations each day. Back in June, Rubin said that number was at 500,000, up from 350,000 in April.
With numbers like that, it's not surprisingly that Android is one of the most popular smartphone operating systems around the globe. About 44.2 percent of those in the U.S. have Android-based devices, split largely between handsets from HTC (15.8 percent), Samsung (10.4 percent), and Motorola (10.7 percent), according to recent data from Nielsen.
Click to continue reading Google says over 700,000 Android devices are activated each day
Amazon Kindle Fire 6.2.1 update review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Product Reviews, Software,
Amazon has released its newest update for the Kindle Fire and it has some tweaks many users will find welcome, and one tweak power users will hate.
I've been using my Kindle Fire since it came out, and while I'm still waiting for CyanogenMod9 to come out and let me actually put Ice Cream Sandwich on my Kindle Fire, I've been relatively happy with the performance.
The main interface tweak added to the Kindle Fire is the ability to remove items from the carousel on the home page. This is a small but useful way to keep your most commonly used apps organized and, if necessary, make sure other users don't see whatever naughty things you might have been perusing.
That's the only change to the main screen; you still can't organize your apps into categories or customize your menu beyond adding and removing items from favorites and the carousel. I use my Kindle Fire for several different things, and it would be great to organize my apps by categories like Online Content, Books, Network Tools, and Games. The Fire still has Amazon's default seven tabs and single app list organized alphabetically or by date.
Click to continue reading Amazon Kindle Fire 6.2.1 update review
Samsung Galaxy Nexus unboxing gallery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Features, Galleries, Handhelds,
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the newest and hottest Android smartphone in town, and we've got one in-house to review. We're still putting our finishing touches on our thoughts about the first phone to run Android 4.0 (otherwise known as Ice Cream Sandwich,) but what we do have ready is a Galaxy Nexus unboxing gallery where you can get up close and personal with the device in a series through our series of images. Go ahead and check it out, and we'll have our full review up shortly!
Gallery:
Google releases Android 4.0.3 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ partner update
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Software,
Google formally announced Android 4.0.3 on Friday, the base version of its "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system that will be provided to partners.
Although Google described the new version as a mix of optimizations and bug fixes, the real significance is that the new OS will be the baseline version that will be rolled out to partners interested in developing phones and tablets around the new OS. It also appears to possibly include Facebook Ticker-like functionality.
"Going forward, we'll be focusing our partners on Android 4.0.3 as the base version of Ice Cream Sandwich," Xavier Ducrohet, the Android SDK Tech Lead, said in announcing the new version. "The new platform will be rolling out to production phones and tablets in the weeks ahead, so we strongly encourage you to test your applications on Android 4.0.3 as soon as possible."
In addition to incremental improvements in graphics, databases, spell-checking, Bluetooth, and other features, the new OS includes a new social stream API.
Click to continue reading Google releases Android 4.0.3 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ partner update
Adobe Flash Player 11.1 released, Ice Cream Sandwich now supported
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Software,
Adobe on Friday released Flash Player 11.1 for Android devices. The update includes support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but is the last major version of Adobe's mobile browser plugin.
An Adobe AIR 3.1 update will ship next week.
In late November, Adobe announced that it would no longer develop Flash Player for the mobile Web after its next release. "Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores," the company said at the time.
In a Friday blog post, Adobe reiterated that stance, arguing that apps are the wave of the future.
Click to continue reading Adobe Flash Player 11.1 released, Ice Cream Sandwich now supported
Google’s Android Update Alliance not living up to expectations
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Software,
At the Google I/O conference in May, many Android phone vendors and U.S. wireless carriers made a long-awaited promise: From then on, any new Android phone would receive timely OS updates for at least 18 months following launch, as part of the then newly christened Google Update Alliance.
The back story: If you own an Android phone, you may have watched with frustration as a new version of the OS hit the market. It's almost never clear if your phone will ever get that upgrade—unlike with iOS or Windows Phones, which always get all upgrades (providing they meet the right hardware requirements). With Android, it seems to depend on the phone vendor, the specific model, the wireless carrier, the Android version itself, and whether Google sent the carrier an inflatable plastic food product as a token of its appreciation that week. Worse—and much to our chagrin—sometimes vendors make promises to customers before the sale that they don't keep once you own the phone.
Many factors contribute to this. But custom versions of Android are the key culprit, either thanks to vendor-specific enhancements (like HTC Sense, Motorola MotoBlur, and Samsung's TouchWiz, though LG, Pantech, Casio, and other vendors do it too), or carrier-specific enhancements of a more dubious nature (such as unnecessary preloaded bloatware and changes to default apps). These changes require many programming hours not just to make in the first place, but to also support and upgrade down the road—resources the carrier would rather throw at making new phones to sell you.
So the Google Update Alliance was a breath of fresh air. It sounded like everyone would finally come together, streamline their OS update timelines, and stop jerking around their customers. The thing is, while the Google Update Alliance ended up being one of the biggest stories to come out of Google I/O, we've heard almost nothing about it since then. You can bet we weren't just going to forget about it and pretend it never happened—especially after the release of Google Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which is a huge leap in UI design and overall performance.
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LG Nitro HD review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds, Product Reviews,
The LG Nitro HD ($249.99 with two-year contract) is the third smartphone to tap into AT&T's emerging 4G LTE network and (after the HTC Rezound) the second phone available in the U.S. to feature a 720p display. That display looks absolutely dazzling in person and the Nitro is a performance speed demon. We're leaving our Editors' Choice with the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket ($249.99) for its better signal strength and data speeds, but make no mistake: Either phone is a great choice.
Design, Screen, Call Quality, and Data Speeds
The Nitro HD looks and feels a a lot like the Skyrocket. It measures 5.27 by 2.67 by .4 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.5 ounces. It's made entirely of matte black plastic and features a textured back panel. While the look is somewhat generic, that all seems irrelevant once you feast your eyes on the Nitro's glorious, 4.5-inch 720-by-1280 AH-IPS (Advanced High-Performance In-Plane Switching) display. It's a real stunner. At 329 ppi, it has even greater pixel density than the Apple iPhone 4S ($199, 4.5 stars), with its 326 ppi Retina Display. For further comparison, a device like the Motorola Droid RAZR ($299.99, 4.5 stars), which features a 4.3-inch qHD display, has 256 ppi.
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Google offering 10-cent apps to celebrate 10 billion Android Market downloads
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Hot Deals, Software,
Google said Tuesday that customers had downloaded more than 10 billion apps in the Android Market. To celebrate, Android users will be able to download 10-cent apps over the next 10 days.
Google, whose name implies a fixation on exponents of 10, didn't say whether 10 10-cent apps will be offered for 10 days. But on Tuesday—yes, Google will sell 10 apps for the 10-cent price: Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Minecraft, Paper Camera, Sketchbook Mobile, Soundhound Infinity, and Swiftkey X.
Android downloads have grown from 1 billion total in July 2010 to 10 billion seventeen months later.
"One billion is a pretty big number by any measurement," Eric Chu, director of the Android Ecosystem, said in a blog post. "However, when it's describing the speed at which something is growing, it's simply amazing. This past weekend, thanks to Android users around the world, Android Market exceeded 10 billion app downloads—with a growth rate of one billion app downloads per month. We can't wait to see where this accelerating growth takes us in 2012."
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Handhelds, Product Reviews,
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime feels like the first laptop-class Android tablet, with its quad-core 1.4GHz processor, clever add-on keyboard dock, and its support for USB storage and console gamepads. This is easily the most impressive Android tablet ever. But with such startling specs, it's outstripping the weak app selection available for Google's Android Honeycomb OS. Although there are a few standout apps for the platform, the lack of a thriving Android tablet app community makes the Transformer Prime a less sure choice than it should be. Read on for our full review of the Transformer Prime to see if it's worth your attention (or money.)
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