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May

HTC M4 Details Leak – It's Basically Just A Smaller, Less-Powerful One

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Leaks, M4, News

If we showed you a picture of the rumored HTC M4 right now, you would just think it's the One. Since HTC's newest flagship has such a fantastic design, it only makes sense (I really love that pun when talking about HTC) that the company would apply the same design elements to other handsets, as well – but the M4 is essentially a direct copy, only smaller. So it should be perfect for those who don't like huge phones. There's a downside, however: the M4 also takes a hit in the spec department, leaving this device in the mid-range department.

Rumor has it the M4 features a 4.3-inch 720p display, an unnamed dual-core processor, 16GB of storage, and the trademark UltraPixel camera.

Apr

Cracking Glass – Saurik Posts Account Of Google Glass Root, Controversy, Exploits, And How To Crack Your Own Glass

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, Glass, Google, News

Several days ago, something happened that sent a not insignificant ripple through coverage of Google Glass: someone "jailbroke" the device.

Saurik, who posted the above photo to Twitter, had modified Glass' software "while in the Bay Area after picking it up from Google's headquarters in Mountain View."

Understandably, this idea was a bit bedeviling to the press – ostensibly, Glass is a relatively limited platform for developers, who can only write apps using a web-based API, allowing software to be integrated with the device over the internet. Eric Schmidt's words regarding the relative closed-ness (or at least, less-than-total openness) of Glass' platform to start were still wet on the page.

Apr

Paranoid Android Says Hello To Halo – 'This Is How You Do Multi Windowing On Android'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, News

After some teasing, Paranoid Android has unveiled (in a lovely promo image) their plan for multi-window functionality on Android, which they promise to "get right," – Halo.

The premise is simple, yet extremely ambitious in scope – allow apps to give you notifications right on top of your screen, which allow you to pop into that app without leaving the one you're in (no matter what it is), take care of business, and resume your experience uninterrupted. The general concept, which rejects the notion of a distracting notification shade, and shuns implementations like "whacky s-multiwindow," is no doubt inspired by Facebook's admittedly awesome Chat Heads functionality, perhaps the most compelling feature of its new Home app.

Apr

Microsoft Just Released An Android App That Prepares You For Switching To Windows Phone By Lying To You

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Changing ecosystems is hard. You have to download your apps all over again and if you're going to a platform that's not made by Google or Apple, you have to wonder whether or not you'll even have your apps available to you. Well, thankfully, Microsoft has stepped in to provide a tool for users to find out whether or not you'll be covered if you switch. I tried it out and guess what it found? 92% of the applications I use are available on Windows Phone! Except...

Yes, Microsoft insists that a full 92% of my apps are available on Windows Phone.

Apr

Full Google I/O 2013 Agenda Goes Live - 120+ Sessions And Labs, But Only A Single Keynote This Time Around

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Google, News

Google just updated the sold out I/O 2013 conference website with the full schedule developers have been dying to see for months, ever since the initial announcement back in February. During the three days in mid-May (May 15-17), the company's engineers will host over 120 talks on such topics as:

Android
Chrome & Apps
Google+
Google Cloud Platform
Maps
YouTube
Glass
Ads
Wallet
Knowledge & Structured Data
and other tech subjects

On day 3, developers will also be able to participate in Code Labs on the topics of Android, Google+, Chrome & Apps, Google Cloud Platform, and YouTube.

The full agenda of everything (not just code labs and tech talks) that's going to be happening is live as well.

Apr

Mophie's New 2500mAh Juice Pack For The HTC One Can Be Yours For $99.95

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Accessories, HTC, News, One

Mophie, purveyor of popular Juice Pack cases, today announced its offering for the acclaimed HTC One. The case maker is offering the One-specific 2500mAh case for $99.95 in Black at first, with a Silver version to come in "mid-May."

For those who aren't familiar, Mophie manufactures cases that are just a little more special than your average shell – besides protecting your device, they also charge its battery. The cases do this using a special "pass through" port that can be used for data transfer, or charging the case and the device inside (simultaneously, if you're into that).

Though Mophie's claims of the case being "lightweight and low-profile" may be a bit of a stretch, the shell does look quite elegant, if a little puffy surrounding the svelte physique of HTC's all-metal One.

Apr

Google Shows Us 'The Basics' Of Using Glass In New Video

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Glass, Google, News, Videos

Google's official Glass YouTube channel released its first video today – a minute long introduction to Glass' most basic controls. The video is titled Glass How-to: Getting Started, which leads this writer to believe there may be more How-to's in the works.

Impressively well-produced and perfectly simple, the video discusses Glass' gestures – tapping, swiping forward, backward, and down, and gives a very digestible explanation of the device's time-based card interface. The video shows off a few possible Glass cards, but nothing we've not seen before – Google Now notifications for a flight and nearby places, a message, the clock home screen, and calendar items are all represented.

Apr

[Updated] Tuesday App/Game Sales: Repulze, Anomaly Korea/Wazone Earth, Real Boxing, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Apps/Games, Deals, News

In this edition of "apps that you probably don't need by will likely buy anyway because they're cheaper than normal," we have some good picks. A music player, a realistic boxing title, a music-maker, and a couple of reverse-tower defense titles are all on sale at the moment.

Update: A lot more stuff has been added since the original post went up this morning. Newer stuff is at the bottom of the list.

Apr

AT&T Offering $100 (Or More) Trade-In Credit For Any Smartphone Less Than 3 Years Old In Good, Working Condition

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Deals, News

Last Updated: May 4th, 2013

If you've been eying that 64GB HTC One on AT&T, but don't exactly relish in the thought of dropping 300 big ones to get your hands on it, there may be another option - AT&T just announced that it's running a smartphone trade-in promotion that starts tomorrow.

Here's the fine print: you need to trade in a working smartphone less than three years old in "good condition." And yes, the last part is pretty subjective. $100 is the minimum value if you meet those requirements, so you might actually get a little more if your smartphone is particularly new. Though, if it's new enough to be worth more than $100 to AT&T, you're probably a lot better off selling it yourself.

Apr

[New App] Spin Alarm Clock Begins Every Day On The Wrong Side Of The Bed

Posted by Bertel King, Jr. in App Reviews, Applications, News

Last Updated: May 5th, 2013

For many people, a piercing alarm is the worst way imaginable to wake up in the morning. One moment you're in deep sleep, moments away from taking a battle axe to Bowser and rescuing Princess Peach in a lime green Lamborghini, the next you're covering your ears as a neglected smartphone wails from the side table nearby. It's bad, but it could be worse. Much worse. Spin Alarm Clock won't settle for mere acknowledgment to cease its unpleasant alarm, it demands you to spin around several times before accepting that you are, in fact, awake.