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May

LG Announcing New Device May 30 – Could This Be The Optimus G2?

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in LG, Optimus G, Optimus G Pro

As is the custom these days, another Android OEM has teased a phone with an event invitation. A year ago it wouldn't have been very interesting to speculate on what LG was up to, but the OEM has been returned to prominence after building the last Nexus device and delivering a competent flagship phone of its own in the Optimus G. This invitation summons press to an event in Macau, China at the end of the month, and it might be the Optimus G2.

The tagline on the invitation is “ImaGination Begins,” so we're definitely looking at an announcement in the G family of devices.

Apr

Archos Announces A New Line Of Ultra-Affordable Smartphones, Prices Start At Just $99 (No Contract)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in ARCHOS, News

When it comes to buying a new smartphone, Archos generally isn't the first company that crosses ones mind. The company is looking to change that with a new line of highly affordable "3G+" smartphones, which were just unveiled today. Say hello to the 35 Carbon, 50 Platinum, and 53 Platinum.

This trio keeps the somewhat familiar Archos branding – the number indicates the display size, while the suffix alludes to the "quality" of the product (i.e. Carbon is lower-end, while the Platinum name is reserved for higher-end products).

ARCHOS 35 Carbon

The 35 Carbon is the smallest and packs the least impressive specs of the trio, but for $99 without contract, you shouldn't expect much in the first place.

Mar

[App Roundup] Our Five Picks For Best New App From February 2013

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Roundups

Last Updated: May 13th, 2013

The Play Store has been off to a great start in 2013 – January saw the introduction of some brilliant apps like Carbon Backup and Pushbullet, and February followed up with some great entries of its own. From widgets to root apps to content creation tools, February had something for just about everyone. As always, we'll take a quick look at five of the very best apps we saw in the past month.

DashClock Widget

When it came time to decide which apps made the cut for the best of February, DashClock was a no-brainer. The widget, developed by Googler Roman Nurik, is – simply put – awesome.

Mar

Now We're Getting Somewhere: U.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Allow Carrier Unlocking Phones For Interoperability Purposes

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Two days ago, the White House announced its support for carrier unlocking handsets. The administration promised an FCC/NTIA investigation as well as a willingness to "work with Congress" on legislation to fix the problem. So, we can probably count on the President's support of the new Wireless Device Independence Act, introduced last night by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). The bill, which is only three pages long, has a simple goal: amend the DMCA such that it explicitly allows the unlocking of cell phones, obviating the need for a tri-yearly exemption.

The following language would be added to the DMCA's section on anti-circumvention policies:

SEC.

Feb

CloudOn Updated With Support For A Handful Of Android Phones, Puts MS Office In Your Pocket

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

CloudOn, the service which previously brought the full Microsoft Office experience to Android tablets, is now available on some phones. Yes, that means you have Office on your phone, in your pocket, and everywhere you are. That could be quite useful.

For the moment, however, the company is only supporting a handful of handsets:

Samsung Galaxy S III
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

Notice something about that list? Yeah, they're all Samsung phones. That's really not much of a surprise, as Samsung is undoubtedly the largest and most popular manufacturer of Android phones, but you'd think CloudOn may have at least considered a couple of other brands, as well.

Jan

Developer Economics 2013 Report: Devs Want A Third Platform, Tablets Nearly As Important As Phones

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

The Developer Economics 2013 report—a sort of State of the Union on app development—is out and it's packed with helpful tidbits, both for armchair analysts and programmers trying to make some sense out of this crazy software world. One of the most interesting observations the survey showed is there is still demand for a third platform. And right now they're getting it in a surprising place: on Blackberries.

Above is the graph of OSes that developers list as their "main" platform. That is not to say that any of them code exclusively for them, just that it is the primary target for attention.

Jan

[CES 2013] The Rest Of Alcatel's CES Lineup – One Touch Evo 7/HD, Tab 7/HD, Tab 8 HD, And One Touch S'Pop, T'Pop, X'Pop

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

After revealing the "world's thinnest" smartphone earlier today with the One Touch Idol Ultra (at a svelte 6.45mm), Alcatel has let fly news about the rest of their planned CES 2013 lineup.

Alcatel's got more devices in line than you've got pockets, from a pair of 7" tablets (in standard and HD variants) to a bevy of "Pop" smartphones, all of them apparently aiming squarely for the budget market. Grab a snack, because we're going to take a peek at the full array.

One Touch Tablets

Evo 7 / HD

First up is the Evo 7 and its HD counterpart (despite how it sounds, neither tablet has anything to do with HTC). Both variants are described as Wi-Fi tablets that can be "easily upgraded" to 3G (or, in the Evo 7 HD's case, 4G) through their removable 3G/4G modules.

Dec

ARCHOS Releases Its Custom Video Player App To The Play Store, Charges $5 For The Privilege

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

You know, if I'm honest, I feel a little sympathy for Archos. While they don't usually stand out as a manufacturer of the best tablets, they've gotten a decent reputation as being good for the low-end. Then the Nexus 7 came out and redefined what "budget tablet" means. Still, the company has to make money somehow, and putting its custom video player on the Play Store is as good a way as any, right?

The player is decent enough as a video player. Cover art and meta data is aggregated to create a pretty nifty-looking library with slick animations.

Oct

Could Android Overtake Windows By 2016? Analysts Might Be Hyperbolic, But This Is The Race To Watch

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Android OS, Editorials

Let's start with a disclaimer, shall we? Analysts are generally full of it. When we hear a claim that says, with undeserving certainty, that come 2016 there will be 2.3 billion Android and 2.28 billion Windows devices, we're a little skeptical. The likelihood that anyone knows exactly how many units of a particular platform will sell to that level of accuracy is almost none.

However, as we approach what might just be the single biggest week for Microsoft in decades, it's worth asking the question: are Android and Windows gearing up for a battle over the next few years? The question of smartphone dominance between iOS and Android is settled (Android won).

Sep

Eric Schmidt Reveals New Activation Numbers – 1.3 Million Android Devices Activated Each Day

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News

Eric Schmidt has just left the stage at Motorola's "On Display" event in New York. Before leaving, though, he divulged some interesting new Android-related numbers.

First among them was the latest figure for "activations per day," which tracks the total number of new Android devices activated each and every day. You may remember Andy Rubin revealing that number to be around 900,000 while quashing rumors back in June, but according to Schmidt, the total number of daily activations has now topped 1.3 million. That's 1,300,000 – an undoubtedly impressive number.

Out of that 1.3 million devices per day, Schmidt noted that 70,000 were tablets.