Android Community |
- Motorola Photon 4G only $99 at Radioshack [Deal]
- NFL Fantasy Football 2011 App Now Available
- Sony Ericsson LT18i Ayame benchmark leak also suggests 1.4 Ghz CPU
- Sony Ericsson Nozomi Leaked, 1.4 Ghz CPU and 4.3″ 720p display
- Samsung Roadmap Leaked, Tips 720p I9250 Android ICS phone and more
- ASUS Transformer 16GB and Keyboard Dock Combo for $499 [Deal]
- Motorola Kore isn’t a tablet after all :(
- Samsung Galaxy S Plus hands-on and benchmarks
- HTC Investing $300 Million into Beats Audio, Could this be the big News?
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE Review [Verizon]
- Google’s Android and Web Services being investigated by the FTC
- Meizu MX to Release Next Month with Quad-Core Version?
- HTC will be making a “Major Announcement” Tomorrow Morning
- Facebook Messenger App Contains Hints of Video Chat
- Logitech Offering Two New Bluetooth Android Tablet Keyboards
- Acer Iconia Smart 4.8″ Phone Hybrid Coming This September
- Archos Arnova 7 still $99, Passes the FCC with a Redesign
| Motorola Photon 4G only $99 at Radioshack [Deal] Posted: 11 Aug 2011 10:46 AM PDT The Motorola PHOTON 4G, the latest dual-core device to hit the Now Network with those fast WiMax speeds is already seeing a price drop at a few local retailers like RadioShack. It has only been out for less than 2 weeks but RadioShack is offering it for half off at just $99.99 with a new contract, nice deal huh?
Although as usual great deals like this are only for new subscribers so upgrades don’t apply to the promotion sadly. For tons of photos and a video you can see plenty more about this sweet device in our PHOTON 4G Review by Chris Burns. He even has the HD dock and car dock shown so don’t forget to click that link.
For a quick reminder the PHOTON 4G is a pretty powerful device. It has a NVIDIA tegra 2 dual-core CPU at 1 Ghz, a 4.3″ qHD high-res display, 1GB RAM, 16GB built in storage and a pretty great 8MP camera on the rear. You can’t forget that 4G WiMax and Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread are both on board too. Overall this is a great phone and at this price it’s pretty hard to beat. It’s either this or the HTC EVO 3D — you decide. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
 Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
 [via Radioshack] )
|
| NFL Fantasy Football 2011 App Now Available Posted: 11 Aug 2011 10:25 AM PDT I know plenty of you readers are just like me and have been sitting home wishing and hoping the NFL would just start already. The time has finally come, the lockout ended and things are starting to get back to normal. Today in the Android Market the official NFL Fantasy Football App was released and you can get it right here. Although I play plenty of Madden during the season, I find myself playing it even more during the off-season since there isn’t any football to watch. I’ve been going big the last few weeks with excitement.
FINALLY! They can get over all that other junk and get down to real business — and that is Football. For those that love fanstasy football the official NFL app is one of the best ways to keep track of everything. Managing your team doesn’t get any easier than with the NFL app especially while on the go or if you need to make a quick change at work (Who does that? I don’t).
The official NFL Fantasy app features include: -Join or create a league If you used the NFL app last year you’ll quickly notice the 2011 version has some new user interface changes, plenty of custom icons and more. Being able to quickly join leagues and get everything set up sure is nice. I’ve already got two of my own, not counting the big league with my old work buddies where most likely I’ll be winning the cash prize this year. Trust me I’m going to win just like the Packers will — Go Green Bay! [via Android Market] )
|
| Sony Ericsson LT18i Ayame benchmark leak also suggests 1.4 Ghz CPU Posted: 11 Aug 2011 10:09 AM PDT Earlier today we mentioned the recently leaked SE Nozomi with a 720p display and now we are seeing another leak hit the inbox. Just like the Nozomi the “Ayame” leak suggests the device will indeed be powered by a Qualcomm S2 Snapdragon processor speeding along at 1.4 Ghz. Sadly this device is listed with a standard 480×854 resolution and no 720p here.
While benchmarks can always be cheated or altered this shows another device coming from Sony Ericsson soon. If the benchmark is to be believed this phone sounds similar to the Xperia Arc but with a faster processor boosted up to 1.4 Ghz. The Ayame will also be running on Android and it shows 2.3.4 in the benchmark with a pretty impressive NenaMark score of 46.80 which is pretty high for a single-core device. We recently saw the HTC Vigor dual-core leak on the same benchmark with much lower scores but then it has a 1280x720p display so it has a lot more work to dish out. Whether these leaked benchmarks are to be trusted or believed are up to you, the readers. According to our source the LT18i Ayame will see a global release but nothing has been confirmed. [via xperia blog] )
|
| Sony Ericsson Nozomi Leaked, 1.4 Ghz CPU and 4.3″ 720p display Posted: 11 Aug 2011 09:58 AM PDT Some new leaked information from some anonymous tipsters is suggesting that Sony is prepping a few nice handsets to be released soon. The main leaked device is codenamed “Nozomi” and should be available sometime in November. The details and specs are the important part as this leak suggests Sony Ericsson will be getting a pretty nice handset. The model number listed was SO-02D and the specs leaked are after the break.
The leaked screenshot shows it running Android with a pretty UI overlay. The device should feature a 1.4GHz single-core Snapdragon S2 processor (MSM8655T) with Adreno 205 GPU and 4.3-inch display with 1280 × 720 pixel resolution. We have started seeing this 720p HD resolution more and more but nothing actually official from any of the leaks has been seen. The Nozomi leak also mentions a micro-SIM like the iPhone 4 currently uses.
A few more pictured were quickly leaked over at the xperiablog but for now that is about all the details we have. From the picture above you can clearly make out the model number, screen resolution, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread as well as a few other things but the rest of the details are missing. Hopefully some actual device pictures are leaked soon and we will find out more on whether this will be released globally or just in Japan. We will be digging for more details shortly. [via se-nse blog] )
|
| Samsung Roadmap Leaked, Tips 720p I9250 Android ICS phone and more Posted: 11 Aug 2011 09:32 AM PDT Details are now emerging from what is a Samsung roadmap that has been leaked, while we love reading and reporting on these I always get a little worried about the details but this go around they sure are juicy so lets get to it. With retailer Mobili linija spilling plenty of beans and all the details from phones to tablets.
We have some super-sized phones and tablets coming soon if the leaks are correct. First off Samsung's 7-inch slate, the P6200, (Galaxy Tab 7 replacement) is tipped to run Android 3.x Honeycomb on a 1024 x 600 display, with HSPA+ and twin cameras, a 3-megapixel shooter on the back and 2-megapixels up front. They also mention a Wi-Fi only variant of the same device. Next, speaking of phones, GT-I9250 is what sounds the most impressive to me. This beast should rock a 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 resolution display and a 5-megapixel camera, and run Ice Cream Sandwich, most likely with a dual-core processor but that was unspecified. Then it had a bigger brother listed as the GT-I9220. It’s even bigger, with a phone/tablet sized 5.29-inch 1280 x 820 Super AMOLED Plus panel, a dual-core 1.4GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera and Android 2.3 Gingerbread — while that phone sounds pretty amazing it doesn’t appear to be launching with ICS but if it hits the streets you can bet it will get updated. The last on the list you would have to call mid-range after seeing the last few listed devices specs and that is the GT-I8150. Rumored to be sporting a 3.7-inch WVGA LCD Display running on an unconfirmed build of Android, with 4GB of internal storage, HSPA+ connectivity and a 5-megapixel camera and the rest of the usual specs like wi-fi and a front facing camera. They also had a few entry level and feature phones listed so we wont get into all those details. You only want to hear the good stuff right? For full details as well as the rest of the entry level offerings leaked head on over to the source link below. I’m thinking that beastly ICS phone I first mentioned might be something I can see myself buying in the near future. [via SlashGear] )
|
| ASUS Transformer 16GB and Keyboard Dock Combo for $499 [Deal] Posted: 11 Aug 2011 08:53 AM PDT It is getting to be that time where everyone has probably already started some form of back to school shopping. Today over on that fun site Newegg.com they are offering a few back to school deals and one happens to be the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer tablet that everyone loves and the keyboard dock both in a combo for only $499.
The ASUS Transformer with the keyboard dock makes a perfect companion for students as you have both a portable tablet and a full laptop keyboard with additional battery life for when it’s needed. Feel free to read our full review with pictures and all. While this deal via Newegg is only the 16GB Transformer that retails for $399 the keyboard dock is $149 so this is a pretty sweet deal to end the summer. The Transformer recently was upgraded to Android 3.2 Honeycomb so it has the latest and greatest from Google’s lovely OS. The update to 3.2 brought some great new features like zoom to fullscreen for older apps and many other improvements, read about those in our 3.2 guide. Again get the Transformer and keyboard dock both for only $499 over at Newegg.com and while their deals don’t last long and usually sell out I’d recommend you hurry if you’d like to get in on the action. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
[via Newegg] )
|
| Motorola Kore isn’t a tablet after all :( Posted: 11 Aug 2011 07:27 AM PDT We were excited at the thought of the Kore that was tipped in a bunch of domain registrations a few days back. We hoped the Kore was going to be a new tablet. The cat is out of the bag now and we know for sure what the Kore is, and it is not a tablet. The Kore is a fitness gadget that sits on a watchband and monitors things about you and your workout.
The Kore is called an all-in-one fitness gadget and music personal fitness device. It’s basically a wearable media player featuring GPS with some specific apps for tracking things about your run like speed, heart rate, and more. The device will track all sorts of activities including cycling and more. The device might lose the Kore name when it launches though with some scuttlebutt that it will be called the MotoActive. Along with the trademark filing for the Kore is also a listing for something called Energia. We don’t really know what Energia is at this point. [via SlashGear] )
|
| Samsung Galaxy S Plus hands-on and benchmarks Posted: 11 Aug 2011 04:39 AM PDT All eyes may be on the Samsung Galaxy S II right now, but the Korean company believes there’s some life left in its best-selling predecessor. The Samsung Galaxy S Plus GT-I9001 was officially announced at the end of March, a 1.4GHz upgrade to the original Hummingbird phone, and Android Community caught up with Vodafone UK today to grab some playtime and run some early benchmarks.
Outwardly, there’s little to differentiate the 119g Galaxy S Plus from the Galaxy S before it: the same plastic casing, 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, reasonably slimline chassis and 5-megapixel camera on the back. You also get the same front-facing camera, 8GB of internal storage – with a microSD card slot to boost that by up to 32GB – and Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. What’s different is processor speed and battery life. Samsung has overclocked the original 1GHz chip to 1.4GHz so as to bring it more in line with the performance we’ve seen from dual-core devices, but it’s also managed to extend battery life at the same time. In fact, the company reckons the Galaxy S Plus will last 24-percent longer than the regular S.
We took the opportunity to run a couple of benchmarks on the phone, starting with Quadrant Standard. The Galaxy S Plus scored 1241, a neat bump on top of the Galaxy S. Then we turned to Vellamo, Qualcomm’s mobile browser benchmarking tool, which combines various web-centric tests into one. Here, the Galaxy S Plus scored 829, slotting in-between the HTC EVO 3D and the HTC Sensation, an impressive boost over original phone.
In short, while you’re not getting the very best specs of the day, you’re getting a phone that needs no third-party ROMs to achieve a turn of speed. Vodafone will be offering the Galaxy S Plus imminently in the UK, priced from free with a new, 24-month agreement at £31 per month ($50) including 600 voice minutes, unlimited messaging, 500MB of data and 2GB of inclusive BT OpenZone WiFi hotspot use. Update: The Galaxy S Plus is available now, on pay monthly plans from £25. Meanwhile, we’re giving away a pair of Vodafone Galaxy S II handsets to UK readers over at SlashGear, so head over to see how you can win!             )
|
| HTC Investing $300 Million into Beats Audio, Could this be the big News? Posted: 10 Aug 2011 06:42 PM PDT All sorts of suggestions and rumors have been floating around since we first heard HTC was planning a major announcement tomorrow. We quickly heard they had something big they would reveal tomorrow morning to the masses but instead of a press release or something of that nature they are having a conference call live with HTC CEO Peter Chou. We have just heard the news might not be a special new tablet, or the next big smartphone — instead it could be that they are partnering with Beats Audio.
At first I thought we might get the HTC Puccini tablet announcement, or something similar and we still don’t completely know what is coming tomorrow. A report just released by AllthingsD takes things a different direction and they are claiming the announcement could be that HTC has partnered with Beats Audio (yea like Dr. Dre) and will be bringing better audio to smartphones. This same technology is also in HP Laptops and the new HP Touchpad and now it seems that HTC wants some of the action. They are investing around $300 million into the audio company to help bring a better experience to their smartphones. Whether this is just for smartphones we dont know. Or is HTC planning a HTC aPlayer or something running on Android to compete with the iPod is another possibility. With the help of Beats Audio they might just be headed in a good direction. We don’t know if this is the huge announcement that is taking place or just another partnership that we will be hearing about in the coming days. Either way make sure you stay tuned as we will be reporting anything we see come from tomorrows announcement by HTC. I’m hoping for something bigger than Beats Audio, but that’s just me. [via allthingsd] )
|
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE Review [Verizon] Posted: 10 Aug 2011 05:28 PM PDT When we all first saw the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 back at MWC2011 I’m sure everyone was just as excited as we all were. Since then it has been redesigned and is much thinner, lighter, and faster. I’ve had a chance to play with the new Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE model over the past week or so and so far I absolutely love it. Our first look at the Tab 10.1 in depth was when we reviewed the Google I/O Limited Edition and it sure was a beauty but now we have the same awesome design with Verizon Wireless 4G LTE imbedded inside. Great combination right?
Now before we begin I’ll start with two things — first being the Hands-on and unboxing video below, second being the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review [click here] We have all seen the Tab 10.1 plenty already so this should be nothing new, for a full rundown on the device the review just linked to should provide all the juicy details. I’ll be showing some beautiful pictures as well as focusing on the 4G LTE performance since that is the only difference here. Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE Hands-on & Unbox video Hardware
Just like I mentioned the volume rocker is around to the side along with the power/wake button and the speaker grills. The design is extremely nice and overall I just love it. I hate to say this but the Galaxy Tab 10.1 makes the Xoom seem, feel, and look just old and pales in comparison.
The speaker grills on the top of both sides are nicely placed and don’t get in the way while you hold or handle the device so sound is not blocked, or muffled. The speakers are nice and loud and having them on the sides really helps while laying flat vs being around back and getting covered.
We all know the hardware, this thing boasts a powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1 Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM, a 10.1″ beautiful and vibrant IPS display and rocks 1GB of RAM to boot. Pair that with a rear 3MP camera and a front VGA for voice chat and 16GB internal storage (32GB available) you have a great overall package. While we wish a micro SD slot was provided for additional storage things like that are what make devices thicker so I feel the trade off is worth it to have an amazingly thin and simple design like Samsung has made here.
When you think of a tablet a design such as this is what comes to mind even though recently Apple has been trying to sue the pants off of Samsung for copying the design of the iPad. They even got the Tab 10.1 sales halted in all of Europe this week. While I don’t want to get into that gibberish because I might rant a while I will mention the ONLY similarity I see is the rounded 16GB symbol on the rear of the device below the 4G stamp just like all iProducts have (See Photo). That is something I recognize from Apple, but other than that I don’t see many true similarities — moving on!
Software & Performance
We haven’t heard anything regarding the 3.2 upgrade for the Galaxy Tab nor when the 4G LTE version will receive Touch Wiz but for now things seem great with Android 3.1 on board. I don’t feel a Honeycomb rundown is needed so I’ll skip most of that although the few areas I’ve had a little bit of an issue was with typing. Occasionally the on screen keyboard will start to lag just a tiny bit but not really enough to complain, it usually doesn’t last long and is back to normal in no time. Browser performance is top notch and my only complaint would be the occasional delay in 4G/3G being toggled but I’ll get into that later and it has nothing to do with Honeycomb. Now for Performance, we have seen plenty of Tegra 2 tablets in the benchmark labs so this is nothing new. Most Tegra 2 tablets score around 2300-2600 stock in quadrant and more when overclocked. I know my Xoom at 1.7 Ghz gets over 4500 but not everyone wants to take that route. I’ve gone ahead and ran a few standard benchmarks on the Tab 10.1 LTE and here are the results:
Here the Galaxy Tab scored 2500 in quadrant. Having no loading time or lag while opening multiple browser tabs and multi-tasking it’s safe to say performance is not an issue whatsoever. Other than the occasional Honeycomb hiccup but those are few and far between. Next up we ran the Vellamo Web Benchmark and it performed right at the top of the list just as expected.
My only concern is that green bar at the end of the graph is network performance. You must have internet access while running the Vellamo test so obviously certain Wi-Fi results are going to be higher than 3G/4G connectivity but mine didn’t seem to be behind. My score was basically even with the standard Galaxy Tab 10.1 in all areas but network performance even though I’m rocking 4G LTE — just a thought. Network Speeds
So far my highest 4G LTE results have been around 11,000 kbps Down and 2,300 or so Up so things are blazing fast with the help of this dual-core NVIDIA CPU that is for sure. I also saw similar results on Xtreme Labs speed tests even though I only had 2 bars of 4G in some areas.
I must admit the 4G LTE sure makes things nice. I’ve been to the park walking the dogs and out for coffee and my 4G service in Vegas is outstanding and keeps this tablet cruising right along. I bet you iPad users wish you had 4G LTE…. The only downside I can see to using network connectivity is the swapping of 4G/3G caused a few issues for me. While trying to stream a movie I’d occasionally lose my 4G signal and the device would switch to 3G and quickly the movie would start back up again. The only issue is you’d get a delay while it switches to 3G, then after a short period you get another 30 second or more interruption when it returns back to 4G LTE. This may be nit-picking but I’d love a way for this to be more stable. Pictured below Samsung and Verizon have included a setting to toggle 4G LTE recommended or just CDMA only so if users are coming in and out of 4G service often and would like to stop being interrupted while the device switches they can toggle it just to 3G. I found this to really help the overall experience while streaming Netflix but then I was stuck using 3G when I could have 4G LTE speeding things along.
Battery Life
The above photo is with nothing but 4G usage and I got almost 3 days. I have found that the 4G LTE network (even if it switches back and forth a lot) doesn’t hinder battery life and using Wi-Fi I noticed very similar results. A few days it even didn’t last as long on Wi-Fi but I might have streamed more YouTube and movies those days as it’s quite fun.
Wrap-Up Some may feel the design is too simple and losing things like HDMI-out and a micro SD slot for extra storage would have made this a great tablet. While I completely agree with you on that aspect I feel the thin and lightweight design were crucial to make a great product. Samsung has a wide array of accessories and the 30 pin port on the bottom can be used via an adapter for HDMI-out to stream movies and games on your TV.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a lot going for it, and it just got even faster with the 4G LTE addition. I think it is safe to say the Tab is the closest any OEM has got to the iPad and while the Tab continues to sell like crazy Apple is getting a bit worried. I myself can’t wait to see what Samsung delivers next and I’m also patiently awaiting the Galaxy Tab 8.9 as I feel that is absolutely the perfect size for a tablet. I hope you enjoyed my quick rundown of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE with Verizon Wireless and feel free to click all the photos below for their full size awesomeness. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
                                )
|
| Google’s Android and Web Services being investigated by the FTC Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:58 PM PDT Federal Trade Commission officials appear to be focusing some antitrust investigations on a few key areas of Google’s business, including not only their web services but also in Android. The FTC recently served Google with broad subpoenas to collect information about how the company conducts business with its Android licensees as well as the entire Oracle situation.
Our sources state that the FTC is working with “several state attorneys general,” looking into “whether Google prevents smartphone manufacturers that use its Android operating system from using competitors’ services. There is also claims that Google grants their own products better placement in search results for things like Google Places and Shopping or even collecting data from competitors like Yelp and using that data on their own applications. This FTC probe was official back in June, but it appears they are now focusing on these few key areas of Google’s business like we have outlined above. The European Commission also started similar probes late last year but it’s still ongoing. Obviously Google has denied all such claims and mentions that with success you will always have competitors that want to complain. “We understand that with success comes scrutiny,” said a Google spokeswoman. “We’re happy to answer any questions they have about our business.” Between all this, the Oracle suits linked to above, and all the recent Patent and IP lawsuits from other various companies like Apple it appears Google’s team of lawyers is plenty busy and might soon be hiring. All of this is still ongoing and no officials from the FTC were able to comment regarding the latest probes into Google. For now we will just have to sit back and watch as everything unfolds. Just this week Apple got the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from being sold in Europe temporarily so this could be a big problem as things and products all move forward. [via WSJ] )
|
| Meizu MX to Release Next Month with Quad-Core Version? Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:35 PM PDT Well this is interesting indeed. Meizu, the company responsible for the iPhone-esque M9 has had its next phone, the MX outed by its CEO on Meizu’s forums. What’s really surprising is that along with the end of September release date, came news that the phone would be available in 16 GB dual-core and 32 GB quad-core varieties.
Meizu’s last phone, the FroYo running, iPhone mirroring, M9, was released in China to massive lines in January this year. The phone, and Meizu’s other devices have all shared a bit of resemblance with Apple’s smartphones (a strategy they may want to reconsider). With no iPhone 5 out yet though, this latest devices sounds like it plans on being copied itself. A quad-core device sounds pretty insane. The MacBook I’m writing this on only has two cores, and so do plenty of computers newer than it. That’s no reason we shouldn’t cram that much power into a phone though is it! The real question is where Meizu will be getting this supposed quad-core beast of a chip from. Kal-el, NVIDIA’s quad-core successor to its Tegra 2 dual-core SoC is still at least a couple months away for tablets, let alone smartphones, and we’ve heard little to make us think Samsung, Qualcomm, or TI will be ready any sooner with their quad-core offerings. With this in mind, I’m a bit skeptical that a quad-core device will meet such a close deadline. Of course I would love to be pleasantly surprised. [via Engadget] )
|
| HTC will be making a “Major Announcement” Tomorrow Morning Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:32 PM PDT HTC just sent over a little tip warning us that they have a major announcement they plan to reveal early tomorrow morning, That is August 11th. CEO Peter Chou will be conducting a teleconference in Los Angeles, and that’s about all we know. This comes as a surprise because we haven’t heard anything as of late or seen anything large leaked that may be announced tomorrow but we have a few ideas running around up stairs.
Will this be another quietly brilliant moment from HTC like the photo says above, or will this have to do with unlocking of bootloaders? We have heard a lot on bootloaders in the past few weeks not to mention the more than a few leaks for the upcoming HTC Puccini Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet. We’ve been seeing screenshots of HTC’s tablet with a little Sense UI taking over so this could be the big announcement tomorrow as they’ve been lacking in the tablet game.
So what does everyone think is coming? Are they going to announce a new phone, a new tablet, or something better? We would love to hear what all of our readers think might be coming so feel free to drop a few replies in the comment section below. I’m hoping to hear about the Puccini tablet but that’s just me. One last tease is this could be the announcement for the Thunderbolt replacement called the HTC Vigor but I’m going to just stop right there. We will see how it goes tomorrow and have all the juicy details right here on Android Community. )
|
| Facebook Messenger App Contains Hints of Video Chat Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:05 PM PDT Facebook’s new Messenger app launched yesterday enabling you to set up group chats with your Facebook friends from a dedicated app. A little digging, has revealed several icons in the application which are for video calling. The discovery was made on an iPhone, but has been confirmed to be present in the Android version as well. Do we need another video chat app, or will Facebook’s wide userbase help the late comer be the one we’ve been waiting for?
Facebook’s new Messenger app, compliments of the Beluga, is competing with Google+’s Huddles and other group chats, like GroupMe. We were fairly impressed by it, but were a little uncomfortable with the location tracking, and found its notifications to be less than ideal. This revelation of hidden images, throws more fuel to my theory that Facebook has realized it has to step its game up to compete with Google+ as they continue to work on adding new features. Worth asking though, is how long it may take this to roll out. Facebook recently integrated video chat into its existing chat system recently with the help of Skype. Looking at Skype’s own app however, video calls have only just started to spread to more devices, with several of the phones featuring front-facing cameras still unsupported. Presumably Facebook’s mobile video calls would rely on Skype’s tech as well, so chances are we won’t see this come to fruit until Skype’s finished getting their own app out. In the meantime, its not like you don’t have 3 or 4 other video chat apps to go try out. [via 9to5Mac] )
|
| Logitech Offering Two New Bluetooth Android Tablet Keyboards Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:56 PM PDT Logitech has two brand new bluetooth keyboards for your Android tablet on the way. The first tablet is simply a Bluetooth keyboard with accompanying stand which will work with any Android tablet with a Bluetooth radio built in. The second is a hybrid keyboard/case specifically for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The Logitech Tablet Keyboard for Android 3.0+ is pictured above. The keyboard will work with any Bluetooth bearing Honeycomb tablet, including the Motorola XOOM, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. To prop your tablet up while you use it, the keyboard comes with a case which opens up and folds into a stand. The keyboard is available now for $69.99. The second keyboard is specifically aimed at Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. This fancy little keyboard also can be used as a case for your Tab. Featuring an aluminum body and padding along the inside to protect it, the keyboard/case is the perfect size to snap around your tablet when on the go. Being a bit fancier, you’ll have to cough up a little more for this keyboard when it becomes available. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 keyboard-case is available for pre-order, for $99.99.
Both keyboards look fairly nice, but I’ll hold off judgement until I get a chance to get my hands on them. It is cool to see more 3rd party accessories being developed specifically for any Android tablet. So is a separate keyboard for your tablet something that will make your tablet more productive, or should tablets stick to their job of media consumption and games for the time being? )
|
| Acer Iconia Smart 4.8″ Phone Hybrid Coming This September Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:51 PM PDT We first got wind of the Acer Iconia Smart 4.8″ phone/tablet hybrid back in February at MWC2011. Our own Chris Davies from SlashGear even received some hands-on video for you all to enjoy. New details have just leaked slating this device to hit the streets coming in September, I’m just hoping its lost some weight and is a little thinner these days.
It was first said to be hitting shelves in April but was delayed due to earthquakes from what we heard. I know that is a long time to wait for those that loved the idea and look of this device with that large 4.8″ display. Don’t worry the time may finally be coming for the Iconia Smart and it should feature the same specs we first saw back at MWC2011.
Those specs include that 4.8″ display with a 1024×480 resolution, a 1 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, rear and front facing cameras as well as Android 2.3 Gingerbread. I will say that I first heard it would come in around $700 dollars or so, no way people are going to pay that when you can get a tablet for much much less so hopefully they’ve rethought the pricing a bit. I like the idea and size of the Acer Iconia Smart but I’m not sure if others do. It may be a little big for a pocket but then users put there Galaxy Tab 7′s in pockets right? What do you guys think? [via Engadget] )
|
| Archos Arnova 7 still $99, Passes the FCC with a Redesign Posted: 10 Aug 2011 12:43 PM PDT Archos is known for building some pretty cheap tablets that are competitively priced and the Arnova 7 is no exception — at all. While we have seen it before, today it hit the FCC for round 2. Between this and the Arnova 8 hitting the FCC earlier this week it’s safe to say Archos will be releasing these tablets sooner than later.
The Arnova 7 is being listed in the FCC as the Arnova 7b G2. The b could be the revision or G2 for the second generation, although I’m not sure the first ever hit the streets. The new model is sporting curved edges and a more rounded design when the original model was flat and squared. Rounded edges always feel better anyways right? The FCC filing didn’t reveal futher details so we don’t have much to say about this low-end tablet. Now I did mention $99 dollars in the title. If you want a cheap 7″ tablet with an old school resistive touch panel, an old version of Android (not even a tablet version) which is Android 2.1 and about 4GB of internal storage than the Arnova 7 is perfect for you. While it may not be great, or even competitive the price sure is hard to beat and would be a great starter tablet or something for the kids. When we see more of this device we’ll be sure to update. [via Wireless Goodness] )
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android Community To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment