Rumors - 11/24 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

This Might be The T-Mobile Galaxy S III, But We're Not Convinced

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Galaxy S III, News, Rumors, T-Mobile

The internet is positively buzzing with news of a supposed leak of the T-Mobile Galaxy S III in both white and the still elusive pebble blue variety. Many sites seem convinced these are the real deal, and as much as I'd like to believe that, there are some issues that leave me feeling skeptical.

For all the past Samsung Galaxy phones, the US variants have moved to the more common row of four capacitive buttons. These leaked images show the devices with the European-style arrangement of capacitive menu and back buttons, along with a physical home button. Even the shape of the device is totally unchanged.

May

[Updated] An ASUS Nexus Tegra 3 Tablet Called Nexus 7 Has Potentially Been Outed - Shows Android Jelly Bean Is Version 4.1

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, ASUS, Google, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Rumors

According to Rightware's Power Board benchmark result site (see #11; the benchmark in question is Basemark ES2.0 Taiji), a long-rumored device has popped up in a result database: the much-awaited Nexus tablet. Here's the additional raw info you don't see in the benchmark that we were able to acquire from Rightware:

"os": {

"android": {

   "model": "Nexus 7",

   "hardware": "grouper",

   "manufacturer": "asus",

   "device": "grouper",

   "brand": "google",

   "display": "XXXXXX-userdebug 4.1 JRN51B 3XXXXX dev-keys",

   "version_sdk": "4.1",

   "board": "grouper",

   "version_code": "1"

}

}

Note: strings replaced with XXXXX were redacted by Android Police for privacy.

May

The Ultimate Google I/O 2012 Preview

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Rumors

Last Updated: June 27th, 2012

Google I/O is coming and it's time to get excited! It's like Christmas in June! It will be here in just a few ~~short~~ agonizing weeks - and we need to prepare. There is background information you need to know, rumors you should have in mind, and past announcements and acquisitions that need to be remembered. Google always leaves little news breadcrumbs for those that pay attention, and I pay attention. Fanatically.

This post will be part news recap, part rumor roundup, and part speculation. The last time I did this went pretty well, and now it's time for another look at what the little elves at Google HQ are working on.

May

Rumor: The LS860 Is A Sprint LG Viper With A Slider QWERTY Keyboard

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, LG, Rumors, Sprint

Hot on the heels of blurry-cam shots of the upcoming LS970, a rumored upcoming Sprint LG device, today we've heard that the carrier has yet another phone from the other Korean electronics giant waiting in the wings - though this one's a little less exciting.

If you recall, the LG Viper is essentially Sprint's take on the LG Lucid, found at Verizon - a mid-range device with highly capable, if slightly dated, specifications. Packing a dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor and LTE, along with a pretty good IPS LCD panel, it definitely has raised the bar in the budget handset scene.

May

BGR Says Microsoft Is Working On Office For Android Tablets Due Out In November, We Hope It's True

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Rumors

You know that guy "sources"? BGR does. The tech blog has heard from Sources that Microsoft is working on a tablet-optimized version of the Office suite, which is expected to land in November of this year. According to BGR, their source actually saw the app working on an iPad, and insisted it looked nearly identical to a leaked shot that Microsoft has since disavowed.

To be clear, Microsoft has said that the above image is fake. Of course, while more often than not, companies simply decline to comment on rumors, it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that Microsoft has denied the authenticity of the image solely to throw the media off the scent.

May

Google Is Reportedly Planning A Renewed And Expanded Nexus Device Assault This Fall, And This Is Why I Love It

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Carriers, Editorials, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Rumors

This is the sort of quasi-rumor (it's fairly detailed and comes from the Wall Street Journal, so we're inclined to trust it) that makes me happy to be an Android fan.

According to the WSJ, Google is in cahoots with up to five device manufacturers to provide early access to the next iteration of the Android OS (Jelly Bean, we assume) so it can have an entire "portfolio" of Nexus devices ready by Thanksgiving - that's late November for those without turkey day. It will then sell said devices, phones and tablets, unlocked through (again, presumably) the Play Store, much as it has done with the unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus.

May

[Rumor] LG LS970 Headed To Sprint With Quad-Core Snapdragon S4, 2GB Of RAM, And LTE

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in LG, News, Rumors

If you were to come up with your ideal phone, the specs would probably look like those rumored for the mysterious LG LS970 on Sprint. This phone will reportedly have the Qualcomm APQ8064 (Snapdragon S4) at its heart. This is a quad-core 28nm Krait chip with the next-generation Adreno 320 GPU. Since this is an "APQ" chip, that means a separate LTE data modem will be used, currently listed in the leaked profile as the MSM9615.

Also included in the leaked data is a listing for 2GB of RAM, which is twice as much as high-end devices are currently shipping with (and probably more than Android needs).

May

Yep, It's Pretty Likely The Galaxy S III Won't Have A Quad-Core Processor In The US

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S III, News, Rumors, Samsung

If you've been following the Galaxy S III news today, you know it has a banging new Exynos 4 quad-core processor that absolutely obliterates benchmarks. The problem is that the Exynos 4 platform is quite old at this point (for a mobile chipset), and was never designed to support LTE. That's why devices like the Galaxy S II Skyrocket don't use an Exynos chip. Devices with Exynos 4 chips that do, like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE, use an external one - adding thickness and increasing power consumption.

While Samsung has hinted at times that the Exynos 4412 chip could, in theory, support LTE with an external (read: adding thickness, weight, decreasing battery life) modem, nothing concrete has come of those rumblings.

May

Yes, This Is Another "Leaked" Galaxy S III Photo, And We've Seen It Before

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S III, News, Rumors

I want to start this post by saying, in no uncertain terms, I am just as sick and tired of the Galaxy S III rumors as everyone else - it really is getting out of hand. So, you can rest assured that I wouldn't be bringing this newest "leak" to your attention if I didn't think it had some merit. Here are the photos:

Now, we're pretty sure that the Galaxy S III is going to be model i9300. Given that Samsung's Kies software shows that model number, it's a fairly safe bet. If we take that as true, we're probably looking at a prototype / dummy shell for the international version of the Galaxy S III.

Apr

Google Docs Free Storage Limit Gets Bumped From 1GB To 5GB Ahead Of Imminent Google Drive Announcement

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, News, Rumors

~~The mythical unicorn~~ Google Drive is so close, we can practically taste it. Earlier today, Reuters broke the news of a possible Tuesday launch (that would be today), confirming earlier rumors of an initial free 5GB quota and throwing a new number, 100GB of upgradeable storage, into the mix.

It's quite possible that Reuters' sources were on the money this time, as around the same time, Google started bumping the usual free 1GB Docs storage limit all the way up to... you guessed it - 5GB. Check it out: