Devices By Manufacturer - 41/534 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Google To Lay Reader To Rest This Summer As Part Of A 'Second Spring Of Cleaning'

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

"We're living in a new kind of computing environment," says Urs Hölzle, SVP Technical Infrastructure and Google Fellow in a new post to Google's official blog. The search giant has resolved to make a second sweep at spring cleaning that began two years ago. After this round of cleaning is complete, the total number of features and services Google will have closed will number 70.

In the post, Google announces the closure or deprecation of eight features and services, but buried four items deep is the one that will probably affect the most users: Google Reader.

Mar

More Galaxy S IV Case Designs Surface, Match Up With Shape Of Leaked Chinese Handset, Samsung Teaser

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S4, Leaks, News, Rumors

With the Galaxy S IV launching tomorrow, it seems like Samsung is unable to stunt the flow of the internet leak machine (unlike last year): more Galaxy S IV case designs have shown up on the web today, and these ones seem to match up with some of the more convincing leaks we've seen thus far.

The new cases bear a striking resemblance in shape and camera / speaker / port layout to the leaked Chinese photos of what is allegedly a Galaxy S IV. Samsung's own teaser image also has the same basic silhouette.

While there's no way to be certain until tomorrow, the leaked Chinese photos are looking more and more to be the real deal - sounds like the S IV won't be getting a major stylistic refresh this time around.

Mar

LG Just Announced A Clone Of Samsung's Smart Pause Eye-Tracking Feature Before Samsung Could Even Unveil It

Posted by David Ruddock in Device Updates, LG, News, Optimus G Pro

Oh, LG. Sometimes I really do wonder if you come up with the good ideas first, or if it really is like everyone else sort of thinks it is. Korea's #2 smartphone producer just sent out a press release announcing LG Smart Video, a new feature in the Optimus G Pro. So, if you've heard about the Smart Pause feature that was recently discovered in some screenshots from a Galaxy S III Android 4.2 ROM, it's that. Literally, exactly that.

The feature is pretty simple in concept - if you're playing a video on your phone (unknown if it supports 3rd party video players), the front-facing camera tracks your eyes.

Mar

Amazon Slashes Prices On Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Across The Board ($30 Off Wi-Fi, $100 Off LTE), Now On Sale In Europe And Japan

Posted by David Ruddock in Kindle Fire HD, News

Whether to combat flagging sales or reflect lower component prices, Amazon dropped the price of its Wi-Fi 8.9" Kindle Fire HD today by roughly 10% - down to $270 for the 16GB model. The price of the 32GB model dropped by $30 as well, to $300. The LTE model received a much more substantial 20% cut, and now costs $400 - $100 less than the price it debuted for.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 isn't exactly old news - it began shipping only 5 months ago in the US, and $300 for the entry-level model was scarcely believable even at that time.

Mar

ASUS Releases Full Android 4.2.1 ROM (Build 10.6.1.8) For The Transformer Pad 300

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Transformer Pad 300

Those of you who decided to unlock the bootloader of your ASUS Transformer Pad 300 were likely pretty bummed when the 4.2.1 update started rolling out earlier this month (I know I was) since ASUS decided that unlocked devices shouldn't get OTAs. Thankfully, the company just uploaded the full ROM to its site for your flashing pleasure.

The TF300 marks the first non-Nexus tablet to get the bump to 4.2.x, which brings features like multi-user, quick settings, lockscreen widgets, and much more.

The updated ROM is available for the WW, US, and TW versions of the device, so make sure you grab the correct one.

Mar

HTC Announces One Developer Edition For The US

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

In a post to its official blog today, HTC asked developers "what could better than the HTC One," quickly following up with the answer: the same phone. Okay, not quite the same phone – this one is shipped with SIM and bootloader unlocked.

Positioning the device as "a modern platform to build and test your apps," HTC reminds potential buyers of the One's Snapdragon 600 processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB on-board storage, HTC's open APIs for low-energy Bluetooth, Infrared, and "more," along with its dual speakers and microphones.

For those wondering, the developer edition will support the following frequencies:

HSPA/WCDMA 850/1900/2100 MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
LTE 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz

^{Unfortunately, the real Developer Edition won't come with a see-through back}

HTC says the Developer Edition of the new flagship will be available in limited quantities to US customers "when the HTC One is released in the United States," costing interested parties $649 a pop.

Mar

Looks About Right: St. Patrick's Day Through Google Glass [Video]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, Off-Topic, Videos

You don't really need my commentary for this one. Just kick back for 2 minutes, watch, and see if this humorous take on Google Glass by stuntbear cracks a smile on your face. These will never get old.

Warning: As you've already probably guessed, some interesting language some might call French indeed found its way into the video. Consider using your headphones if watching at work.

Source: Youtube

Mar

Nexus 4 Bumper Case Back In Stock On US Play Store After Being Unavailable For Over A Month

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, News, Nexus 4

Nexus 4 bumper cases have been out of stock on the US Play Store for at least a month now, but today they've finally returned - same price, same place.

The official Nexus 4 bumper will run you $20 plus tax and shipping, which is indeed quite pricey for such a simple little item. While Google does seem to have stabilized Nexus 4 stock in the last month, it's more than a bit befuddling to me that they can't keep a cheap piece of plastic in stock to match the demand of the phone for which it is exclusively built.

Mar

HTC One's Launch Delayed 2 Weeks In The UK According To Clove - Other Markets To Follow?

Posted by David Ruddock in News, One, Rumors

According to major UK retailer Clove, HTC has officially given word that its One phone's launch will be delayed in Britain by 2 weeks, and that the phone will go on sale March 29th, as opposed to the original launch date of March 15th. No reasons were provided to account for the change, but we're assuming supply issues have something to do with it - an assumption that, it turns out, is not without merit.

Last week, Android Authority reported via Taiwanese news site FocusTaiwan that HTC was facing 'severe' availability issues with the One phone because of major problems with the manufacturing process of key components in the phone's Ultrapixel camera.

Mar

[Update: Now Rolling OTA] Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) Now Available For AT&T's Sony Xperia TL

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, News, Xperia T

Last Updated: April 22nd, 2013

Ice Cream Sandwich may have been good enough for James Bond, but the Android die-hards who nabbed Sony's Xperia TL on AT&T want more. And by "more," we mean "an update to a newer version of Android." Fortunately, that's finally available.

Update: Looks like AT&T just started pushing the update over-the-air if you don't want to deal with flashing it manually. Head into Settings > About Phone > Software update to grab it.

The newest build available for the handset is v9.1.F.1.120, and brings Android 4.1.2 to the mix. The full changelog includes better Sony apps, an improved launcher and camera, and a more organized app tray.