David Ruddock
Contributing since June, 2010
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3358articles
Page 69
About David Ruddock
David is the former Editor-in-Chief of Android Police and now the EIC of Esper.io. He's been an Android user since the early days - his first smartphone was a Google Nexus One! David graduated from the University of California, Davis where he received his bachelor's degree, and also attended the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Latest Articles
Yesterday, I had an opportunity to meet with Oculus VR at one of the company's numerous offices in Irvine, CA to discuss the company's partnership with Samsung on a piece of hardware you're likely aware of by now: Gear VR Innovator Edition.
I received my G Watch R on Friday, and after a couple of days, I'm ready to share some of my early impressions.
We have a reliable source (two, in fact) telling us that the first over-the-air updates to Android Lollipop will come not to the Nexus 4 or 5, but to the Nexus 7 (2012), Nexus 7 (2013 Wi-Fi), and Nexus 10. Why? Because they're all Wi-Fi devices - supposedly hardware with cellular data will have to wait a bit longer to get the OTA, meaning the Nexus 4, 5, and 2013 Nexus 7 with LTE will be stuck a bit longer waiting for the L update. The updates for the Wi-Fi devices will arrive on November 3rd.
Alright, we had a triple-Nexus drop this morning (or afternoon/evening depending on your geographic location), and undoubtedly some of you are planning on buying some of these Nexus things. I know I am absolutely buying a Nexus 6. I am not sure I'll love it, but it does have most of the things I want in a phone. A Nexus 9, or Nexus Player? Not so much, for me.
We've just received official word from the Googlers on high that the 2012 Nexus 7, albeit burdened with crappy, crappy NAND storage and an aging Tegra 3 processor, will receive Android 5.0 Lollipop as an OTA update. Rejoice.
Wondering what the Nexus 6's box looks like? Wonder a little less - a T-Mobile employee just posted an unboxing of his test unit phone on Vine (given that he's a social media evangelist, I'm guessing he got the OK).
There's a new Nexus in town (another one) today, and this one's headed straight for the big screen: as in, your TV. The Nexus Player runs Android TV with a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor and talks to the web via a 2x2 AC Wi-Fi connection (there is no ethernet port). It's built in "collaboration" with ASUS.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Review: It's Like A Note 3 And A Galaxy Alpha Had A Really Predictable Baby
A review for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
When the Galaxy Note 3 was released one year ago, it marked a substantial step forward not just because it was new, but was arguably the big generational "tock" in Samsung's handset lifecycle. It had a brand-new bright, vivid (even accurate, in the right mode) 1080p Super AMOLED display, more modern design language that later influenced the Galaxy S5, excellent LTE support, a Snapdragon 800 (remember, the S4 had the lowly 600), an up-to-date 13MP camera, and launched with Android 4.3, which had been announced just around two months prior (even if KitKat did launch four weeks later on the Nexus 5). Most, if not all, Note 3 devices now have the Android 4.4 update, too.
Skins are divisive subject. Do they really matter? Are they literally evil incarnate? Is TouchWiz actually that bad? Well, now we're going to vote on it: will your next phone rock the stock, or will it be SenseWizwhateverLG'sthingis-ified?
At this point, it's all but a certainty: the Nexus 6 is coming, and it's going to have a 5.9" display. This size is hugely controversial - no pun intended. 5.9" puts the Nexus 6 in territory only previously tread upon by the likes of the Galaxy Mega 6.3, LG G Flex (6.0"), Ascend Mate 2 (6.1"), One Max (5.9"), and Xperia Z Ultra (6.4"). All of these phones have one thing in common: they're widely recognized as being on the extreme end of the display size spectrum for a handset.
LG Tone Infinim HBS900 Bluetooth Earbuds Review: Good Wireless Audio With Questionable Fashion Sense
While LG isn't exactly a household name in the headphone business, the company's Tone line of Bluetooth headsets are extremely popular - like, 7,500+ reviews on Amazon popular. The company's newest model - the most premium it's released yet - is the Tone Infinim, model HBS900. With tuning by Harman Kardon, they get a bit of audio brand recognition, but I honestly would just say these are a good set of headphones altogether.
In a story that makes flabbergastingly (yes, I'm making that a word now) little sense to me, Google is allegedly building a competitor to WhatsApp for emerging markets. That is, a mobile messaging application that combines SMS and internet-based communication in a unified, merged, and seamless platform. This does not sound like any kind of Google product I am aware of... said somebody who has literally never heard of Hangouts.
In the seemingly never-ending saga of companies believing that, despite generating no real revenue, they're worth some multiple of an Instagram, Cyanogen Inc. is reportedly seeking additional funding on the basis of a $1 billion valuation. This apparently comes on the heels of talks with Google's Sundar Pichai, who expressed interest in acquiring Cyanogen, presumably to become part of Google's Android group.
Android Wear is Google's first attempt at a smartwatch (or other wearable) OS, and as such, the company is keeping a very tight grip on the user experience and list of hardware partners for the time being. An IndieGoGo project called Com1 didn't get the memo, though, and decided "hey, if we raise enough money, they have to let us use Wear, right?" Wrong, it would seem.
With a new Sony smartphone comes a new Sony ad campaign, and the Z3's has just been released in the form of (so far) eight videos published on the company's Xperia YouTube channel. While seven of the spots are actually one and the same product storyline edited differently to showcase various features, one of the ads really did strike me as genuinely good, which is pasted below.