Android Community |
- Verizon Video App Now Available, Watch TV and NFL on your Android
- Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Rolling to more cities coming September 15th
- Sony Ericsson Live Walkman Announced, Runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread
- Motorola Mobility has 17,000 Patents, 18 Are Important to Android
- South Korean Government Developing New Mobile OS
- Top 10 Android Apps Account for 43 Percent of All Activity
- Samsung Admire Available on MetroPCS Today
- Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Smartphone Officially Announced
- HTC Sense 3.0 Style Unlock Ring App Perfected in Agile Lock
- Samsung Unpacked Event at IFA 2011 Trailer 2 Revealed [Video]
| Verizon Video App Now Available, Watch TV and NFL on your Android Posted: 22 Aug 2011 11:28 AM PDT Today Verizon Wireless has unveiled their new Verizon Video App and it’s available now in the Android Market. Don’t get too excited though because all they’ve done is renamed V Cast Video to Verizon Video and gave it a pretty user interface update. Although there is good news here, the amount of content has also been substantially updated.
What this offers is on-demand streaming of video and TV from “RealNetworks” and some of those include: NBC, CBS, ABC, MTV, Comedy Central, Animal Planet, CNBC, Disney Channel, ESPN, and even the NFL Network (just in time for NFL season). While the service isn’t new the amount of content has been improved and should make the service closer to being worth your dollar. As usual the service is $10 dollars a month and will be added to the users bill. Verizon does also offer a 24 hour $3 dollar option for those that don’t use the service regularly but would like the option for the odd vacation or while traveling and what not. Verizon Video is only available on select smartphones and having 4G LTE would help out with streaming if you have it. Head to the market by clicking here for the app. )
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| Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Rolling to more cities coming September 15th Posted: 22 Aug 2011 11:06 AM PDT While Verizon just got done flipping the switch and adding 15 more cities to 4G LTE on the 18th of August, it appears they aren’t looking to slow down any time soon. Today they’ve already announced another slew of cities that will be getting the same upgrade and improvements. Verizon has been steadily updating their LTE network since it launched and it continues to grow at a very fast pace. At this rate AT&T will be very behind come October or November like we’ve been hearing rumors on regarding the launch.
Come September 15th Verizon is adding another 15 or so markets to their LTE line-up. It appears they might be rolling it out in stages of 15 or so cities at a time, although we’ve seen much larger groups at once before. New cities this go around include Canton and Cleveland, Ohio and even Fargo, ND. Who remembers the awesome movie Fargo? I sure do. Next in line for 4G LTE include: -Fargo, ND With competitors slowly launching or even updating existing networks, Verizon adding a solid 15 or more every few weeks seems to be a great system so far. They are leaving the competition in the dust and at this rate things wont be changing any time soon either. We can expect to see another announcement with a similar list sometime shortly in September outlining the next cities for the upgrade. Keep em coming Verizon! )
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| Sony Ericsson Live Walkman Announced, Runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread Posted: 22 Aug 2011 10:25 AM PDT The Walkman brand I’m sure many of you used back in the days isn’t dying out anytime soon. The folks at Sony plan to keep it chugging along and today they have announced a new Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman handset running the best OS around, Android of course. Thinking back on the huge Walkman disk player I carried around in my younger days before the iPod was fun, but the 128 CD carry case I also tugged around wasn’t. Now we can just throw all that music on a micro SD card and throw it in the new Live Walkman smartphone.
Today the ageless Walkman brand continues with this Android offering. We have a decent little mid-range phone here and this Walkman will sport a 3.2-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display powered by a single-core 1GHz processor with 380MB of RAM. You even get a front facing camera so you can video chat and listen to music at the same time. 5 megapixel rear camera and all those other goodies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DLNA and even Sony's xLOUD system for enhanced audio output. The Sony Ericsson Live Walkman is set to arrive sometime around October and will have Android 2.3 Gingerbread on board. Sony mentions it will come featuring a built-in Track ID app as well as there usual Qriocity music and video streaming service. The press image does also show the widget for the Spotify music streaming service making us believe it might come pre-installed too, but we cant know for sure. Why they’d show that and their own Qriocity at the same time beats me. More details at the press release below. [via Sony Ericsson] )
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| Motorola Mobility has 17,000 Patents, 18 Are Important to Android Posted: 22 Aug 2011 10:02 AM PDT When the news broke that Google had acquired Motorola everyone was surprised to say the least. The patent wars of late have been getting very old and it seems most of the OEM’s welcome the deal and see it as protection to the Android ecosystem. A new report has came out after a few have dug through the patent portfolio from Motorola and they are now mentioning what will be the key patents for Google and Android thanks to Motorola.
I quickly found myself wondering what all Motorola had patents on, and how much of them would actually be useful to Google and Android. Google did offer up $12.5 Billion dollars to Motorola so they must have seen something they liked. If the Google Motorola deal goes ahead as planned, they will take on 17,000 existing patents while another 7,500 are pending approval. Out of that massive portfolio, only about 18 will be key to Google defending the Android platform, according to patent lawyer David Mixon, who spoke with Bloomberg.
Mixon goes on during the interview to mention specifically around 18 patents that will be key for Google and Android. They include antenna designs, email transmissions, location and GPS services, software-application management, 3G wireless technology, and touchscreen motions. Included in “touchscreen motions” is also a proximity and touch sensor patent for when the device is near a head or in a pocket to prevent accidental hang-ups or dialing. If the deal goes on as planned it’s safe to say Google may end up with a nice combo for counter-attack should the situation present itself. Defending off the lions at Apple, Microsoft, and RIM wont be an easy task, but this might make it a heck of a lot easier. Motorola has been in the Mobile industry for a very long time, they have an impressive portfolio and I’m sure there is plenty more to find once Google gets their feet wet. Hopefully this helps calm down all these crazy lawsuits we’ve been seeing as of late. [via SlashGear] )
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| South Korean Government Developing New Mobile OS Posted: 22 Aug 2011 10:00 AM PDT We’re to understand that the next step in mobile evolution will be coming soon from no stranger a place than the South Korean government. Officials in South Korea’s ministry have announced today that they’ll be developing their own open-source smartphone operating system to give local smartphone markers “competitiveness”. Competitiveness against what, you may ask? Against foreign smartphone OS makers, apparently, like the evil Android, apparently!
Can we home for something nice like Bada OS? Maybe something completely new? It’s no small task creating a complete mobile operating system and ecosystem surrounding it, though with the support of Samsung AND LG, you never know. The details on how the government and these manufacturers will make this collaboration and what the manner in which the operating system will work is not yet known. With the webOS operating system in question and the HP TouchPad selling out of stores at word of a $400 discount, we’ve got to wonder how Seoul will possibly have a chance at creating an operating system that has any chance at success. Then again there’s always home-grown love, maybe the citizens of South Korea will embrace the new OS – especially if they’re given it for free? Also, what about importing it to our devices over here in the USA? XDA, I’m sure you’re already investigating. [via Yonhap News Agency] )
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| Top 10 Android Apps Account for 43 Percent of All Activity Posted: 22 Aug 2011 09:36 AM PDT The fine folks at Nielsen over at Nielsen Wire have done some calculating and have found a couple of interesting statistics. First, and perhaps most obviously, from what Nielsen Smartphone Analytics have come up with after metering thousands of Android smartphones, the average Android smartphone user spends 67% of their on-device time, or 56 minutes per day, on apps, while 33% of their smartphone time is spent on the mobile web. This is of course an average person who only spends about an hour and a half on their device a day, a figure I’m sure all of you trump before breakfast is over.
Then comes the information on the apps. What’s interesting here is that the top 10 apps in the Android Market do really appear to hold sway over the device market with a steel grip. While there are thousands of apps on the market (hundreds and hundreds of which are duds, of course, but regardless,) the top TEN apps take up 43% of all the time spent by Android consumers on mobile apps. The top 50 apps then account for 61% of all time spent.
At this moment there are 250,000+ apps on the Android Market – the major bulk of these must compete for 39% of the tasty, tasty pie. And what are these top ten apps, you may be asking yourself? Certainly you’ve already got them all on your device this very moment: Google Maps Notable mentions: Sound reasonable to you? [via Nielsen] )
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| Samsung Admire Available on MetroPCS Today Posted: 22 Aug 2011 08:56 AM PDT There’s a cute little reddish device (or whatever color you end up wanting to get it in, of course,) available on MetroPCS today, one made by Samsung and running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. This device is a perfect mid-range device for all your back-to-school student needs, the newest Android experience on a middle of the road screen, size, and processor, and carried by everybody’s favorite Wireless for All carrier MetroPCS.
The Samsung Admire is a piece of hardware rolling out with a 3.5-inch display, an 800 Mhz processor, and a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back. You’ll be able to get this device in a lovely red or a laid back gray, both of these options apparently available both online and at physical locations across the country. I recommend going for the flashy red – it’s not every day where you get the option of having your device start your pocket on fire right out of the box. You can grab this device online or at any MetroPCS location for $129.00. This device is carried by MetroPCS who have the fabulous $50 a month unlimited data plan — plus they’ve got the most diverse set of data plans you’ll ever want or need. This may well be the least expensive Android device running Gingerbread at the moment, so drop it while it’s hot! )
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| Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Smartphone Officially Announced Posted: 22 Aug 2011 08:44 AM PDT The last time we were speaking about a Walkman Android device, it was the Sony Ericsson W8, a rather boxy looking device with three Android buttons on the bottom, a Sony Ericsson skin over an unbelievably outdated Android 2.1 Eclair, and the ability to be dubbed with the legendary tag Walkman. What we’ve got here today is a much more viable release in the “Live with Walkman”, a device launching with the newest Android 2.3.x Gingerbread and working like a magical music machine, complete with Spotify gracing its first press release image – will this be the first device to launch with Spotify built in?
Sony Ericsson lets us know that not all services mentioned in its first press release will necessarily be available in every region this device will be released in, but take note! There’s Facebook integration – probably not unlike what we’ve seen in the Facebook Inside XPERIA on the XPERIA Neo, for example. Next there’s an unnamed “Media Discovery Application” that’ll use Facebook recommendations, for example, to show you new bits of media you may be interested in. There’ll be an “Infinite” button able to be tapped inside your basic media player that’ll give you info on the artist, lyrics, and will give you access to music videos somehow or another. Qriocity will be built in with this device, more than likely giving you a free service with a pay service available as well – this is the only reason why we think the Spotify track on the homescreen might not indicate an actual app on the out of the box device. Sony’s xLOUD technology will, as they say “enhance audio output of the inbuilt speakers at high levels.” TrackID will ID the music you’re listening to inside FM radio and music player – tracks can then “instantly be shared or downloaded” in a manner we’re not sure of yet – integrated with Spotify? Sony Ericsson has also given us a massive list of abilities this device will have that are hereby listed below – and note that not all of these features are new to smartphones by any means, but as Sony Ericsson hath listed them, so too must we show you:
Sound like the device for you? This device will be released inside the fourth quarter of 2011 in “select markets.” )
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| HTC Sense 3.0 Style Unlock Ring App Perfected in Agile Lock Posted: 22 Aug 2011 07:57 AM PDT So you’re all about that unlock screen you saw on the HTC Sensation 4G, right? You saw how awesome it was to bounce around a ring that’s able to open either the whole of the phone or a single app at your command, and you’re pumped up about having access to such a lockscreen asap! Your wait is over, unofficially, with Agile Lock, an app made by the developers at SunPengfei, as they’ve created an app version of the lockscreen so similar to the original, you’ll want it on all your devices.
What you’re actually looking at above and below is the app installed on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 – this is done because the tablet has instant screenshot capabilities which made taking such photos quite easy, but also to demonstrate how capable this app is of working on any Android platform. Agile lock is available on the market [as a free download on the Android Market] or you can get the paid version as well. What you’ll get with the paid version is a trade of one dollar and fifty cents for all the options under the sun. There’s even a bug fix for those using CyanogenMod 7 – that means these developers are in the know, if you know what I mean. This lockscreen allows for four app shortcuts to be set above the unlock ring, each of them dragged into the ring resulting in them instantly launching. This is the same as the HTC version – where it differs is in the multiple options you’ve got for the screen above the shortcuts. You can add widgets galore – widgets that can be placed anywhere WITHOUT a grid restriction like the rest of Honeycomb, mind you.     You’ve gotta go grab this app right now. It works right out of the box to replace whatever lockscreen you’ve got, or you can easily shut it off, and it works on every Android version under the sun from what we can see at the moment: [Agile Lock on the Android Market] – go forth and unlock! )
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| Samsung Unpacked Event at IFA 2011 Trailer 2 Revealed [Video] Posted: 21 Aug 2011 03:11 PM PDT The big event in Berlin is soon approaching, IFA 2011 for all your tech desires – and Samsung is gonna be there with something big! What we’ve seen so far is one leaked trailer for this “Unpacked II” event, it inspiring quite a few guesses surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S II and what new version this Unpacked might reveal. Of course there’s no guarantee that we know what they’ll be revealing at all at the moment, especially since this Unpacked doesn’t have quite as obvious a tagline as the one we attended at CTIA 2011 which was “What’s your Tab Life?”
This video, the second one revealed but very possibly the first Samsung WANTED to have revealed, as the first was certainly leaked, we see a summer sky, shiny trees, sunlight all around, waves washing in from a lovely ocean, two people: one a lady moving in slow motion with wind blowing her hair, another a fellow with hair blowing as well, then the line “Sketches of Your Desire.” This line comes before “Something Big is Coming”, both of these sets of words appearing in the other video we’ve seen as well. Have a look at both here: Here’s the second video first: Then the first video next: The first time we saw an Unpacked event this year it was at CTIA 2011 and we were given a look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Tab 8.9 which we’d seen up close and personal the night before. What we’re still thinking might be thinking is going on here is a Samsung Galaxy S II upgrade of some sort, maybe a 4.5-inch screen like the Infuse 4G, maybe some sort of mega-announcement we can’t even guess! What do you think? )
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