Devices By Manufacturer

May

[Weekend Poll] Voice Control Apps: Future Or Fad?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Galaxy S III, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Follow Up: Is Gaming On Android Lackluster?

Though voice control apps have been around for quite some time, it took Apple's release of Siri to bring the functionality to the mainstream. Now, competing manufacturers are trying to push out similar services. Samsung's first to the punch with a Vlingo-based "S Voice" service, though it remains to be seen how well it works. Google, too, is rumored to be working on improved Google Voice Actions, reportedly named Assistant.

Debates over the usefulness of voice control have cropped up around the Android Police offices before, with the team fairly split on the topic.

May

Full Hands-On With Samsung's S Voice From The Galaxy S III

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Galaxy S III, Leaks, News, Samsung

S Voice is Samsung's entry into the fledgling "virtual assistant" market currently occupied by Siri, Evi, Speaktoit Assistant, Vlingo, and a handful of others. The Galaxy S III rom leaked earlier today, and while most of the stuff in it is broken and completely useless without the version of Touchwiz it's meant to run on, S Voice is a perfect combination of being interesting AND working. So we're going to take a look at it on my Galaxy Nexus, which is currently running vanilla (well, AOKP) 4.0.4.

S Voice is only meant to run on the GSIII's Touchwiz build, so I expect lots of force closes.

May

Orders For T-Mobile's HTC Amaze 4G Delayed, Possibly Due to Apple Patent Dispute

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Amaze 4G (Ruby), Legal, News, T-Mobile

In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, it seems that at least one customer ordering an HTC Amaze 4G from T-Mobile.com has been alerted that shipments of the device have been delayed "due to an unforeseen issue with receiving the product from the manufacturer." It looks like T-Mobile is sending out emails to customers informing them that they have no "estimate as to when the product will be available," and suggesting that customers explore other options in the meantime.

Of course, with the recent shipment halt of AT&T's One X and Sprint's Evo 4G LTE, one is tempted to speculate that this delay may be due to HTC's current patent spat with Apple, but no one (outside T-Mobile or HTC) knows if that's the case just yet.

May

Full Galaxy S III Android 4.0.4 ROM Leaked, S-Voice And All The Other Goodies Up For Grabs

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Galaxy S III, Leaks, News, Samsung

Hey kids! Looking for an early taste of the new Touchwiz? Well you're in luck! A leaked Galaxy S III ROM is out in all it's bandwidth crushing glory! A whopping 800MB download awaits those eager to get their hands on Samsung's latest.

The Galaxy S III and its new version of Touchwiz will make about a million additions to Android. Somewhere in this download are things like S-Voice (a Siri-style virtual assistant), Pop-up Play (a floating video window), and Smart Stay (which uses the front facing camera to refresh the screen timeout), just to name a few. Developers (and eager bloggers) should start ripping into it immediately.

May

China Approves Google's Acquisition Of Motorola, Deal Expected To Be Finalized Next Week

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

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.

The biggest asset of the deal is, of course, Motorola's 17,000+ patents. Google has already promised that it will not interfere with Motorola's dealings and continue to operate the company entirely independently. The approach would make sense in the context of rumors that Google would be expanding it Nexus line.

May

[Deal Alert] Unlocked Black GSM HTC One X Available On eBay Daily Deals For $557

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Deals, News, One X (Endeavor)

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 $557, 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.

The device is available just for today and is only available in black. Keep in mind, since this is the international version, the device is packing the quad-core Tegra 3 that overseas readers are accustomed to, not the dual-core, but still impressive S4 Krait processor AT&T's One X (known as the One XL overseas) is carrying.

May

Microsoft Wins Order To Ban Import Of (Some) Undisclosed Motorola Android Smartphones Into US

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Legal, Motorola, News

According to an exclusion order issued by the ITC, some of Motorola Mobility's smartphone devices are in violation of four claims in a Microsoft patent related to scheduling meetings in a calendar. The specifics really aren't important - basically, the ITC found that Motorola infringed a Microsoft patent related to mobile software for creating and sending meeting invitations.

Motorola and Google had argued that an exclusionary order banning the import of offending Motorola devices wasn't in the public interest, but the judge didn't buy it. More importantly, it's unclear exactly which Motorola devices fall under the scope of the exclusionary order, which should go into effect roughly 60 days from now.

May

Samsung Galaxy S III Rooted By Chainfire, Shows Samsung Is Still Cool With Unlockability

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Dev, Galaxy S III, News

Even though the device hasn't even hit the street, noted Android developer Chainfire has obtained root on the Samsung Galaxy S III. Chainfire doesn't actually have the device in hand, so don't start berating him with questions on that matter. Rather, he got root on a firmware build that was leaked to him, and has a few juicy tidbits to share with everyone.

It appears that the Galaxy S III isn't going to be locked down in any significant way. All Chainfire had to do was repackage the kernel with a modified adb binary and install SuperUser manually. Samsung chose to use the standard boot.img kernel format as well.

May

Motorola Updates ICS Timeline, Droid RAZR/MAXX And VZW XOOM Should Get It Before The End Of June

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Motorola, News

Motorola has been pretty transparent about the update process to Ice Cream Sandwich, keeping users in the loop regarding when updates for newer devices should be available. In that light, It just posted an updated to its Upgrade News page with a whole slew of new information, including which devices should see ICS before the end of Q2:

Considering it's the only one in the "testing" phase, I wouldn't be surprised if we see the Verizon XOOM get its update first, with the Droid RAZR/MAXX twins following after that. It also looks like Moto has a handful of other devices slated for a Q2 release (which ends in a month and a half), including the international RAZR and XOOM WiFi, as well as the Chinese MT917 and XT928 handsets.

May

[Deal Alert] Unlocked International GSM Galaxy Note Available On eBay Daily Deals For $459

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Deals, Galaxy Note, News

It's only been a few months since the Galaxy Note started making waves, but we're seeing prices steadily drop on unlocked models. Not that long ago, we spotted the device for $519. Now we've spotted it even lower, available on eBay Daily Deals or $459 off-contract. This device is the international variant, so sorry ~~AT&T~~ T-Mobile users, you'll have to sit this one out if you want 3G.

As the price drops lower and lower, it reaches downright affordable territory. With the Galaxy Nexus available on the Play Store for a mere $400, and the Note here for $459 off-contract just a few months after its initial launch, one can almost start to feel something resembling hope for cheap, contract free phones.