Android

Jan

Microsoft Inks Patent-Licensing Agreement With LG - Continues Making Money From Android

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Legal, LG, News

Reports from CES 2012 indicate that Windows Phone 7 may be a competitive mobile platform, however Microsoft has decided to hedge its bets and continue making money from Android by signing a patent-licensing agreement with LG. The terms of the agreement will likely require LG to pay Microsoft royalties for all LG tablets, phones, and other consumer devices running the Android or Chrome OS platform. This deal likely mirrors Microsoft's ten previous patent-licensing agreements with Android and Chrome OS manufacturers, including Samsung, HTC, Acer, and ViewSonic.

By signing the recent agreement Microsoft is "pleased to have built upon [its] longstanding relationship with LG", a relationship which began in 2007, when LG sold its soul to Microsoft by signing a "broad patent-licensing agreement" covering "Linux-based embedded devices".

Jan

[CES 2012] Philips Announces GoGear Connect 3.5 Media Player And New Line Of 'Made For Android' Headsets

Posted by Brandon Lancaster in News

Last Updated: January 17th, 2012

First off, let's talk about the GoGear Connect 3.5 media player. We don't have much information on this device yet, but we do know that it's the latest Wi-Fi-enabled touch screen MP4 player from Philips. It runs on Gingerbread and will likely see a custom interface overlay from Philips. The device will offer access to hundreds of thousands of apps from the Android Market, as well as Skype communication with a front-facing camera, 720p HD video playback on a 3.5" screen, and sound enhancing technology.

It'll be available in April of this year, and go for $169.99 for an 8GB model or $199.99 for a 16GB model.

Jan

[CES 2012] Motorola And Intel Enter Into Strategic Mobile Device Partnership, First Devices Shipping This Summer Or Fall

Posted by David Ruddock in Motorola, News

Wow - Motorola's Sanjay Jha and Intel just announced that the two companies have entered into a strategic partnership to combine forces to deliver new Medfield-based mobile devices to the US market, with actual devices finalized by this summer, and availability shortly thereafter (subject to carrier approval). This is probably the most exciting thing we've heard all day.

Motorola has had a fairly long-standing relationship with Texas Instruments (along with a couple brief collaborations with NVIDIA). The deal with Intel was said to be a multi-year agreement, suggesting that Motorola may be changing its go-to chipset and processor provider. Sanjay Jha stated we could expect specific device announcements in the coming months, and we can't wait to see what the two are going to come up with, especially now that Google will probably play a significant role in the whole process, as well.

Jan

[Poll] Some Users Are Reporting Frequent Lock Ups And Reboots After Ice Cream Sandwich Update For Asus Transformer Prime

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Yesterday, Nvidia's CEO announced that the Ice Cream Sandwich (that's Android 4.0 for those of you new to the game) update for the quad-core Asus Transformer Prime would begin rolling out immediately. Sure enough, users started receiving the update, and we managed to snag and host the OTA ourselves (as well as help you prevent it from breaking root). For most, the update brought everything you'd expect from the hot new version of Android: even smoother, snappier performance, sleeker transitions, and various other perks. But for some, it appears that the update has seriously screwed up their device.

According to a six-page thread over at XDA, there are a number of users (though likely a very, very small percentage) who are having some pretty serious issues after updating, regardless of whether or not they were rooted beforehand.

Jan

[Update: Manual Download Added] Nuance Launches Dragon Go! - A Stellar Voice Recognition App For Android

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Applications, News

Update: For anyone who can't install this because of geographical limitations, here is the apk for manual installation -- make sure to drop your results in the comments. Enjoy! Thanks, Nick!

Earlier today, popular voice recognition software corporation Nuance launched Dragon Go! by Nuance on the Android Market, bringing voice recognition that "just works" to the Android platform. Dragon Go! answers the users' queries by pulling data from a variety of sources, including Spotify, Wolfram|Alpha, Yelp, YouTube, AccuWeather, Ask.com, Dictionary.com, ESPN, Facebook, Fandango, Last.fm, LiveNation, Milo.com, OpenTable, Pandora, Rotten Tomatoes, Twitter, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, Bing, and hundreds of others. Additionally, Dragon Go's "Dragon Carousel" software provides users with complementary results to compare information across the most relevant sites for their query.

Jan

Vimeo Releases Android App, Users Complain Of Timestamp Errors

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, News

Popular video sharing service Vimeo has finally launched its official Android app today. The new app has included all the important features found in the web version, including the ability to browse, watch, download, and upload videos onto Vimeo.

Upon starting the app, the user is shown a 3x3 grid of options for creating, uploading, watching, and sharing videos. While not a requirement, creating a Vimeo account and logging into the service also allows the user to comment on, "like", and subscribe to videos, as well as save them to the "Watch Later" list.

Some of the other features of the app include:

Upload raw footage or previously edited creations in HD or SD
Pause/resume uploads and get reminded when a video is paused
Replace existing videos
Edit titles, descriptions, tags, privacy settings, and credits
Share videos via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress, Email, and SMS
Watch and manage all Vimeo videos and download them to camera roll
Watch videos from your Vimeo Inbox, Watch Later queue, and videos you like"
Easily like videos, comment on videos, and add videos to your Watch Later queue
Discover new and interesting videos curated by Vimeo Staff
Add videos to Groups, Channels, and Albums
Access stats on daily plays, likes, and comments

Although the app has received some favourable reviews, the overwhelming majority are 1-star.

Jan

[CES 2012] Sony Introduces Google TV Set-Top Box, Blu-Ray Player

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google TV, News, Sony

Seems Sony’s making good on its promise to keep churning out Google TV devices – in fact, the company just introduced not one, but two such gadgets.

As of now, we don’t have tech specs for either of the duo, but what we do know is what you see above: both the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player (on the left) and the NSZ-GS7 set-top box (on the right) look splendid, and both have seriously overcomplicated names. Additionally, from the looks of it, they’ll support 3D TVs, so if you’re ~~rich~~ lucky enough to have one, I suppose that’s good news. Finally, they’ll both feature gesture and voice control, in addition to the usual Google apps and the following keyboard:

^{Hey, it’s an improvement over Sony’s last attempt at a Google TV keyboard…}

Update: According to The Verge, the keyboard is backlit and features – get this – a three-axis motion sensor that should be perfect for gaming.

Jan

[Updated] CES 2012: ASUS Announces Transformer Prime TF700T With 1920x1200 Display, 2MP Camera, And GPS Fix; Also Introduces 7" MeMO ME171

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in ASUS, Eee Pad MeMO ME171, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News, Tablets

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF700T

Today, ASUS is introducing the Transformer Prime TF700T, its new flagship tablet and upgrade to the Transformer Prime TF201. The TF700T, which according to ASUS does not replace the TF201, remains practically the same as the original Prime, save for a higher resolution (1920x1200) display, a better front facing camera (2MP), and featuring a new back panel design.

When ASUS released the original Prime (TF201), early last month, we described it as one hell of a device, packing more power and newer features in an even smaller package than the original Transformer (TF101). Unfortunately, the all-aluminum construction of the Prime caused some serious GPS issues, which ASUS acknowledged as a hardware problem.

Jan

[CES 2012] Garmin Smartphone Link Connects Your Nüvi To Your Android Device To Provide Live Traffic Info, Help Find Your Parking Space

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Garmin International, the world leader in satellite navigation, has announced Smartphone Link for Android, an app which allows your Android-powered device to communicate seamlessly with your nüvi via Bluetooth, enabling live traffic information, traffic cam images, weather info and fuel prices to be displayed quickly and easily.

Smartphone Link also allows your Garmin GPS to share "favorite" locations with your device, and can help forgetful users find their car in a crowded parking lot.

Unfortunately, many of the services (read all features besides live weather) provided by Smartphone Link come at a price. Live traffic will run users $19.99/year, traffic cams and fuel prices will cost a cool $9.99/yr each, and Advanced Weather (which provides 5-day forecasts, severe weather alerts, and radar images) runs at $4.99/yr.

Jan

[CES 2012] Lenovo's X1 Hybrid Laptop Crams Customized Gingerbread Next To Windows, Calls It "Instant Media Mode"

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, Lenovo, News

Lenovo has just unveiled its new X1 Hybrid laptop, which runs Windows with a twist – namely, it can boot into "Instant Media Mode," which allows the laptop to run off of a Snapdragon processor, utilizing custom software based on the Android 2.3 kernel. Ostensibly, this mode is meant for users who want to get through a long flight, or simply zone out with a variety of media, with double the battery life they'd have running Windows.

Interestingly, Lenovo won't explicitly state that the hybrid is running Android, likely because, as Gizmodo astutely points out, it isn't running actual Android.