Welcome to the Android Police Podcast, Episode 51.
Don't forget - the Android Police Podcast's live broadcast is every Thursday at 5PM PST (www.androidpolice.com/podcast). The unedited video version of the podcast can be found here - and will likely include various verbal expletives, technical snafus, tangents, and probably a good 5-10 minutes of pre-podcast banter as we prepare. Watch at your own risk!
Also, be sure to tune in next week for a very special 1 Year Anniversary show!
https://soundcloud.com/androidpolice/androidpolice-podcast-ep51
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The Cast
- Matthew Smith, Host
- Bob Severns, Editor, A/V
- Cameron Summerson, Co-host
- David Ruddock, Co-host
- Eric Ravenscraft, Co-host
THE OUTLINE
Rumor Roundup
- Google took our advice and started talking with music labels about a subscription option for its music service.
- Samsung also listened to our suggestion about releasing more phones. Most folks thought this smartphone thing was just a fad but we're pretty sure there's more money to be made.
Android At Arms
- Much like the helpless retail employee who starts plotting to overthrow his middle-management boss, the FCC chairman is going to investigate the phone unlocking ban and maybe do something, possibly, if he can.
Code Google
- Google I/O Registration starts March 13th for $900, will end promptly 15 minutes later when tickets sell out.
- Andy Rubin says Google has no plans for a retail store. Everyone wants Andy Rubin to be wrong.
- Matias Duarte suggests lightly stroking your smartphone for maximum pleasure.
- Google's CFO says that Motorola's products don't "wow" by Google standards. You're just teasing us now, Mr. CFO.
The Hotsheet
- Samsung is making an 8" Galaxy Note. It's pretty much exactly what you would expect.
- Samsung also made a Google TV competitor that was nice enough to impress David, so we should love it.
- If Samsung and Apple were rappers, Sammy-S would've straight jacked A-to-the-Pple's beats when it completely copied Passbook.
- Finally, Samsung reveals KNOX, a kind of virtual fort, if you will (eh? eh? ...I'll show myself out) for certain Android phones to make BYOD policies easier.
- Huawei announced a new phone with a 720p description. That's not the p we're looking for, Huawei!
- LG announces the Note II-err, I mean Samsung made the Optimus G Pr-dangit, I mean LG announced a 5.5" Optimus G Pro with TouchW-ugh. Whatever. LG copied the Note II.
- And so did ZTE. Minus the stylus.
- ASUS wat r u doing. ASUS. Stahp.
- ASUS Padfone Infinity and Fonepad are devices that may be lovely, but by the branding you'll ever really know.
- Sony keeps making some tablets that look pretty good, but might be priced a bit too high.
- Cameron has used every tablet known to man and several known to monkeys. Cameron is not impressed with Lenovo's new tablets, which means you probably won't be either.
- Guys, I'm really not trying to be so negative but even HP came out with a sub-par tablet. I need a light at the end of the tunnel already.
- Oh, there it is. Reference designs for the Tegra 4, 4i, and Phoenix. Keep in mind that the reference designs for the T3 were what led to things like the Nexus 7 that were extremely powerful and cheap. This is a very good thing.
- HTC is going to upgrade the One X, One X+, One S, and Butterfly to Sense 5. Presumably by taking all the old icons and flattening them with an iron.
- Meanwhile, leaks of 4.2.1 for the Galaxy S III show up in all their TouchWiz glory, look as Natural and UXey as ever.
- Device Updates: Jelly Bean (4.1.2) for AT&T's Sony Xperia TL, Jelly Bean coming soon for Verizon's Galaxy Stellar.
App Updates
- Falcon Pro hit its token limit, then promptly raised its price to $132 to prevent new customers from buying it, before ultimately resetting the tokens altogether. Meanwhile, Twitter laughs on top of its alleged $10b valuation.
- Google, being Google, turns your phone into a controller for a desktop cartoon sports game, because it can.