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Intel has been conspicuously absent from the mobile arms race in recent years but 2012 is the year the company changes all that. After a significant showing at CES this year, Intel has now teamed up with Orange to deliver San Diego. No, not the city, and get used to making the distinction. The San Diego is Europe's first Intel-powered Android phone.
Canadian Galaxy S III Will Launch On June 20th Packing LTE, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, And A Monstrous 2GB Of RAM
Canadian Galaxy S III Will Launch On June 20th
While Samsung pushes its newest flagship, the Galaxy S III, out all over the world, a few markets have been rumored to get a version with modified guts. Rumors previously circulated that the Japanese variant of the device would include twice the RAM of its global counterpart, and now we're hearing straight from Samsung that the Canadian variant will, in fact, come with 2GB of RAM. Additional internal changes include a 1.5GHz S4 processor (sorry, no quad-core Exynos in the Great White North), and LTE.
Some people are simply amazing with remembering faces. I'm not one of them. Evernote, creator of the widely-renowned note-taking app of the same name, has set out to help me with Evernote Hello. I guess you guys can use the app too. The app is a visual contact list that puts your contacts' faces front and center. It even allows you to take down notes of how you met someone, and tie notes in your Evernote account to your contacts' encounters.
SwiftKey is a fan favorite keyboard replacement for Android. Enthusiasts, though, know there's always a better SwiftKey out there. The current beta, named SwiftKey 3, is currently being put through its paces by the community, and yet another iteration has rolled out that brings some marked improvements to the input alternative.
Alright, control freaks (otherwise known as "my people"), this one's for you. FolderSync is a fantastic little app we've just discovered that lets users sync folders between local storage and a number of online storage services. The app supports one- or two-way sync and provides a host of settings to tweak the app to all your sync needs.
It's amazing what a new look can do for a platform, isn't it? Back in January, we reported that CyanogenMod, the most popular third-party Android ROM, reached one million unique installs. Now, a little more than four months later, that number has doubled, according to CM's stat tracker. This is huge.
The last few years have been really exciting. Heck, the whole last decade. The explosive proliferation of broadband brought about a whole new world of possibilities for mankind, and the mobile revolution, even moreso. From about 2007 to the present, we watched as Apple and Google, as well as a host of phone manufacturers, turned the world upside down by putting powerful, location-aware, internet-connected, touchscreen mini-computers in the hands of everyday consumers for a price that is relatively affordable.
Today, we move yet another teeny tiny step forward to the truly digital future of television. Xfinity has launched the XFINITY TV Player which, aside from a name that's needlessly yelling, gives Comcast/Xfinity subscribers access to a host of television and movies on their Android 2.3+ devices. Both phones and tablets are supported.
The Zeemote is a plucky little device that keeps popping up around these parts. Normally $30, the Bluetooth controller pairs with any Android device to give physical controls to games that would otherwise be touchscreen-only. We gave away a thousand of them, and when I reviewed the little guy, I said it would be great, if it were just a bit cheaper. Well, for this weekend, it is. Use coupon code "JS1MDE12" (no quotes), and the company will knock 50% off the controller, bringing it down to a much more palatable $15.The code works for one or more controllers, so if you want to grab a couple, your coupon code should stack. We were told when we did the review that some games require two controllers, though when I never encountered one that did. And I sure played my fair share of Zeemote-supported games.
We're still hoping that more developers pick up Zeemote support. Last we checked, the likes of Rovio and Imangi still haven't made a space for third-party controls, but there are still plenty of games out there to make this purchase worthwhile. Which is something that we wouldn't (and didn't) say at the previous price point. So, if you were on the fence, it's time to jump on over.The promo is live now. Grab the Zeemote here, then enter promo code "JS1MDE12" (again, no quotes) at checkout. So make sure you're not using 1-click purchasing. The promo code will be valid all weekend. Promotion ends Monday the 28th at 11:59PM.Source: Amazon
If we told you that Android was the number one mobile OS worldwide, you shouldn't really be surprised by this point. By most metrics, the little green guy has overtaken the competition in just about every area, including sales, actual userbase, and ad impressions, as demonstrated here by Millenial Media's report. There are a couple surprises in the report, though.
While it may have taken a long time and a lengthy delay to get here, Sprint's variant of the HTC One X, the EVO 4G LTE, is finally landing in consumers' hands. XDA users in this thread are sharing photos to prove that they've received their EVO LTE units. So far, reports have come in confirming units in Ohio, Virginia, and New York. Folks on the West coast may find themselves waiting a little longer. On the other hand, when have shipping routes ever made sense to the layman?
Google and Oracle have been going at it for weeks now over both patent and copyright infringement claims made by the latter company. At least one issue is settled, though, as the jury on the case has decided that Google did not infringe any of Oracle's patents with Android. This is only a small part of Oracle's assault on Google. The larger issue is on the matter of copyright infringement, but at least on the patent issue, Google seems to be in the clear.
You know that guy "sources"? BGR does. The tech blog has heard from Sources that Microsoft is working on a tablet-optimized version of the Office suite, which is expected to land in November of this year. According to BGR, their source actually saw the app working on an iPad, and insisted it looked nearly identical to a leaked shot that Microsoft has since disavowed.
GameFly To Start Publishing Android Games, Setting Up Investment Funds For Independent Game Developers
GameFly To Start Publishing Android Games
Well, this might be one of the most (potentially) awesome stories we cover this week. GameFly, the company best known for setting up a Netflix-style gaming rental service, has announced that it plans to open up a third-party gaming store on iOS and Android (think TegraZone, but with less hardware tie-ins). This would, presumably, be in addition to the already-existing GameFly app. Additionally, the company has "set aside a game development fund" that it will use to fund game developers with great ideas, but less cash flow. This is fantastic news.
Summer movie season is already underway, which means that you can expect product placement and tie-ins all over the place. Today's synergistic entry: Men In Black 3 For Android, produced by Gameloft. The game puts you in the role of an MiB agent, protecting the world from rogue alien presences.
Mere hours ago, we got confirmation that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) approved a Verizon-bound version of the SGSIII. Now, we're seeing a similar listing for what is likely a Sprint variant of the Galaxy S III. The device appears in SIG's listing with the model number SPH-L710, which has been rumored to be the designation of the Sprint-branded variant.
Apex Launcher For ICS Gets Bumped To Version 1.2, Supports Themes, Adds CM9 Settings Integration
Apex Launcher For ICS Gets Bumped To Version 1.2
When we first took a look at Apex launcher, we loved it. One of the better ICS launchers is about to get even better, as the app gets bumped to version 1.2. The update brings, among other things, support for themes and a ludicrously high 10x10 grid of icons on phones. For those of you that like have touch screen phones, but hate how easy it is to tap on things without machine-like precision.
When we last heard about Google's deal to buy Motorola, the EU and the US had approved the deal. The one major market we were left waiting on is China and now, according to the Associated Press (known around here as "the other AP"), the country's regulators have given Google the green light. The deal is now expected to close next week.
Until the Galaxy S III comes out, the One X is the phone that's stealing all the spotlights. eBay Daily Deals is offering an unlocked One X for 7, the lowest price we've seen yet. This device is a GSM quadband model that supports AT&T 3G stateside (no LTE, though). Once again, no T-Mobile 3G.
VLC is one of those tools that's in every geek's toolbox. The video player that supports every video format known to man still doesn't have an official, finished Android version, though. In the meantime, however, developer cvpcs, has done us all the courtesy of setting up an hourly build server for the alpha of VLC for Android.