Android Community |
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android 3.2 update rolling out (again)
- Online retailer Handtec stops Galaxy Nexus shipments and confirms volume bug
- Navfree squares off with Google Navigation in the Android Market
- Ice Cream Sandwich comes to the venerable HTC HD2
- Samsung gives T-Mobile a white Christmas with the Galaxy S II
- TouchPad firesale gives HP the #2 spot in US tablet sales
- Verizon finally announces a date for the Samsung… Illusion
- Nvidia video shows off Ice Cream Sandwich running on Transformer Prime
- Official Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 Page is Live
- Android gets AirPlay-like streaming via xBounds
- Ice Cream Sandwich gets dedicated search button mod
- Galaxy Nexus could be at Best Buy November 27, 2011
- And then there was the Facebook phone
- Motorola DROID Receives Security Fix
- Ice Cream Sandwich review via SlashGear
- Kyobo eReader launches in South Korea with mirasol and Android 2.3 Gingerbread
- Galaxy Nexus review via SlashGear
- Samsung may be preparing their own quad-core chip for the Galaxy S III
- Samsung DoubleTime Review
- Samsung Galaxy S II [AT&T] Ice Cream Sandwich alpha build hands-on
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android 3.2 update rolling out (again) Posted: 22 Nov 2011 10:48 AM PST We are hearing Samsung is all set and starting to roll out the update to Android 3.2 Honeycomb (again) for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi. They originally pushed the update early last week but apparently a few problems were quickly brought to attention and they pulled the update. Everything is all set for round 2 and users should receive the OTA shortly.
When the initial update went live last week many users started quickly reporting problems. The update wasn’t completing for many and as a result they were experiencing issues. WiFi was breaking for some whether the update completed or not but that was the biggest of the concerns. We also heard reports of Bluetooth problems and auto rotate also not working after the over the air update. Samsung has fixed the problems, smoothed out the update and are confident that round two will go much better and users should be able to update to the latest Honeycomb version with ease. For more information you can see the original update here where we’ve instructed users to manually update on a computer using Samsung Kies. That route was not having issues, and for those that currently don’t have working WiFi from the first update should be able to quickly and easily update using Samsung Kies. Go ahead and start that update and get back to enjoying that tablet. Or as Samsung would say — It’s time to tab! Device Info
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| Online retailer Handtec stops Galaxy Nexus shipments and confirms volume bug Posted: 22 Nov 2011 10:34 AM PST Following the latest Galaxy Nexus news we still have nothing new from Verizon but we did get an update from the popular online retailer Handtec. In a statement on their official blog the British retailer has announced they’ve stopped all shipments of the Galaxy Nexus and have confirmed there is some sort of volume bug. We reported on this earlier this week and it appears they are finally doing something about it.
This “bug” appears to only be happening on the UK 900 MHz frequency when the device is using 2G (Edge) only. 3G and 4G data speeds are not experiencing this issue. For those that are always in a 3G location you’ll most likely never experience any issues although if there is a bigger problem at hand I’m sure we’d all like to know and possibly get a replacement. Here is one of the few updates from Handtec:
For those that wish to receive the phone anyways and would still like Handtec to ship out their order you can email customer support and request the device and they’ll still ship. So for those of you here in the US that ordered one outright and spent the cash, they’ll still send it your way so you can enjoy some Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. One important note, this update from Handtec has absolutely nothing to do with Google or Samsung and neither of them have updated or said anything regarding this possible issue. This is only a move by Handtec as a company and we’ll be sure to follow this for more details as it becomes available. In the meantime, enjoy our hands-on with the Galaxy Nexus, or the full review by SlashGear. Device Info
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[via Handtec] )
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| Navfree squares off with Google Navigation in the Android Market Posted: 22 Nov 2011 10:03 AM PST These days just about every new Android phone comes equipped with Google Maps Navigation, the free turn-by-turn GPS navigation app that helped put Android on the map. Odds are pretty good that if you bought your phone in the last 8-12 months, it also has a paid carrier navigation app as well. Add one more to your list of navigation options, as Navmii’s iPhone app Navfree has made the jump to the Android Market.
So what makes Navfree different from the navigation apps you’re already using? One word: crowdsourscing. One of the biggest hurdles that GPS navigation has to overcome is the rapid changing of highway and road conditions, due to construction, events or other unforeseeable circumstances. Nothing ruins a good roadtrip like a sudden and unavoidable 10-mile detour. Navfrree aims to solve this problem by taking map corrections from its users. So if the traffic circle on your way to work is out of commission for a few weeks, you can let other Navfree users know, and vice versa. The interface looks like your basic navigation app, but it’s free, so I won’t complain. It’s nice to see that is comes with maps for Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Latin America, perfect for the next time youi want to go around the world in 80,000 miles. Navfree is available now in the Android Market. )
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| Ice Cream Sandwich comes to the venerable HTC HD2 Posted: 22 Nov 2011 09:40 AM PST
The HTC HD2 has long been a favorite of high-end hardware enthusiasts and modders. Though it launched with Windows Mobile 6.5 nearly two years ago, its hack-friendly architecture lets it see a release of pretty much every new Android operating system. Count the newest among the list: an intrepid modder has shoehorned Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich onto the aging hardware. The ROM comes from “tytung“, who’s naturally a denizen of XDA-Developers. Note that this build of Ice Cream Sandwich comes straight from the source code, unlike some slightly earlier builds based on the Android SDK.Most of the features are working, albeit somewhat sluggishly, with the exclusion of the camera, USB storage and hardware acceleration. There’s also some user-patchable problems with the Android Market, call quality and root access. You can check out the ROM in action below: It goes without saying t5hat this modification isn’t for the faint of heart. But if you’ve already got Android running on your HD2, it’s probably not that much of a stretch. The HD2 joins the Nexus S, Galaxy S II and Optimus 3D among the proud ranks of Ice Cream Sandwich home-made ROMs, with many more sure to pop up in the upcoming weeks and months. Be sure and check out our hands-on of Ice Cream Sandwich for a more official look. [via The Verge] )
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| Samsung gives T-Mobile a white Christmas with the Galaxy S II Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:31 AM PST
No mention was made of differing price or hardware, so I’d assume that the new color model is otherwise identical to the T-Mobile version of the Samsung Galaxy S II. In case you need a refresher, that’s 1.5 Ghz of dual-core speed, a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED screen, a full gigabyte of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, currently going for $229.99 on a new two-year contract. You can read our full review here. Samsung seems particularly enamored with white lately, as the newer models of the Galaxy Player and AT&T’s new budget-conscious DoubleTime both come with full white cases. HTC’s got a few models on offer as well. There’s quite a few out there who prefer their phones in a fairer color, and we’re glad to see T-Mobile giving them the chance to express themselves with a completely neutral and non-threatening chromatic choice. Shine on you crazy diamond. Device Info
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| TouchPad firesale gives HP the #2 spot in US tablet sales Posted: 22 Nov 2011 07:55 AM PST Well that settles it: clearly the way to compete with Apple is to mark down your only tablet hardware by 80%, then leave the market in huff. According to The NPD Group, the HP TouchPad made up the largest percentage of the non-Apple tablet market at 17%, with Samsung in a close third at 16%.
Total non-Apple tablet hardware sales were approximately 1.2 million from January through October, giving HP a total run of about 200,000 TouchPads through its brief existence. Something seems a bit amiss with NPD’s numbers, though, as Google’s own statistics say that 3.4 million Honeycomb tablets had been sold as of last month. We’ll chock that one up to conflicting metrics, but it’s clear that the TouchPad has sold extremely well, mostly thanks to an insane $99 firesale at the end of its retail life. So, what are people doing with their ultra-cheap tablets? A good bit are probably enjoying WebOS’s browser and Facebook apps, and not much else – a $100 tablet running a very solid operating system is a steal no matter what you do with it. But if you’re anything like the average Android Community commenter, you’ve already unlocked that sucker and thrown an alpha build of CyanogenMod 7 on it. You can check out our hands-on of n early Android build here. The possibility, nay, inevitability of an Android port inspired a lot of geeky sales, and the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich version of CyanogenMod 9 only makes it more exciting. You can expect these numbers to climb significantly over the next year – though not HP’s, natch. Android already commands an impressive 27% of total tablet sales, and with new innovations like quad-core processors and Ice Cream Sandwich dropping soon, the arguments in favor of Android over iPad will continue to grow. )
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| Verizon finally announces a date for the Samsung… Illusion Posted: 22 Nov 2011 07:26 AM PST Stop the presses! Verizon has finally made a formal announcement for the Samsung smartphone you’ve been waiting for! The “environmentally friendly” Samsung Illusion will be available from the carrier starting on November 23rd. Please refrain from throwing wads of cash until then.
In all seriousness, the Illusion looks like a decent low-end phone, especially considering it’s $79.99 on a new contract. As far as the specs go it looks to be on par with the original Galaxy S family of phones, plus an upgrade to Android 2.3. A 1 GHz Hummingbird processor paired to 512MB of RAM means that it’ll be admirably fast, especially considering the rather lackluster 480 x 320 resolution on the 3.5-inch LCD screen. Interestingly, an official spec list shows a “curved design” – could the final phone look something like, well, the Verizon phone that everyone’s really waiting on? Samsung is highlighting the “Platinum”environmental rating the phone received, thanks to its battery cover made from 70% post consumer material. Users are probably more interested in the included Swype keyboard and free 2GB microSD card. Despite the bargain price point, the Illusion offers full WiFi hotspot functionality for up to 8 devices. You can get one starting on November 23rd (that’s tomorrow) online. It’ll start popping up in retail stores in January. See? I didn’t mention the Galaxy Nexus once. )
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| Nvidia video shows off Ice Cream Sandwich running on Transformer Prime Posted: 22 Nov 2011 06:44 AM PST When Asus revealed its quad-core Eee Pad Transformer Prime earlier this month, it was unfortunately saddled with the now-outdated Honeycomb. The company promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich as soon as possible, and it appears that they’re taking that promise very seriously. Nvidia showed an early build of Android 4.0 running on the Transformer Prime on YouTube, definitely indicating that the ICS update will be ready shortly after the tablet’s December release.
There’s nothing particularly mind-blowing about the 90 second video, though the announcer mentions that the build running in the demo may only be only days old. This is notably the very first look we’ve had at the tablet interface of Ice Cream Sandwich running on official manufacturer software. The build clearly isn’t ready yet: there’s some significant slowdown, even on the screaming Tegra 3 SoC, and you can see the trademark “red frame” effect showing that the software still needs some work. See for yourself below: The speed at which Asus is getting new software onto its hardware is to be celebrated. If only other tablet and smartphone makers would take updates as seriously, there’d be a lot less weeping and gnashing of teeth in many a forum and comment section. There’s no word on exactly when Asus will be pushing out the first Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Transformer Prime, but if the video is anything to go on, you can probably expect it before the end of the year or just after. Device Info
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[Thanks, Carl!] )
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| Official Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 Page is Live Posted: 22 Nov 2011 04:27 AM PST The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a cool tablet has we have been following since it was officially unveiled back at the beginning of November. The tablet is expected to land officially in December and one of the steps needed before that official launch happens is for the tablet’s official page to go live. That has now happened with all the details and photos of the Transformer Prime on the Asus website right now.
There is nothing about the tablet price or launch date listed just pics and specs. The price had previously been pegged at $499. We already knew most of this stuff. The tablet will get the Tegra 3 process with four cores inside. The cool part is that it has a power saving more that will turn three of those cores off. That should offer some nice power savings when needed. We know the tablet will come in gray or gold colors. The rear camera is an 8MP unit with LED flash and a back illuminated CMOS sensor. The keyboard dock will add not only the chiclet QWERTY keyboard, but also another 18 hours of battery life in some instances. The sound uses SonicMaster technology and the tablet will come with apps for content installed.     [via SlashGear] )
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| Android gets AirPlay-like streaming via xBounds Posted: 22 Nov 2011 03:37 AM PST One of the things that make it easy for iOS users to shoot music and other content around the home or office with no wires is AirPlay. I would imagine that many Android fans have thought something similar to that would be nice. A new device called xBounds has landed that will let you shoot video from an Android device out to a larger screen. The device even supports multiple player gaming.
The xBounds device is a little HDMI dongle that hooks to the TV and has WiFi tech inside. The Android device connects to it using software and a WiFi network, that WiFi network can be encrypted. Once the Android tablet or smartphone is connected to that xBounds HDMI dongle you can stream any video content you want over to the TV or display. The cool part is that you can stream both video games and streaming video content like Netflix or purchased movies.
The content on the external display reacts in real time along with the actions on screen. You can see in the demo video below the developer of the device playing Angry Birds with no lag between the smartphone screen action and the big screen. This would certainly make for an easier way to stream you movies to the TV than having to use HDMI output. The developer kit for xBounds sells for 998 euro and the consumer kit sells for 99 euro. The price is certainly the biggest downside to the xBounds system. [via SlashGear] )
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| Ice Cream Sandwich gets dedicated search button mod Posted: 22 Nov 2011 01:56 AM PST Google may be a search company first and foremost, but Ice Cream Sandwich shifts Android away from a dedicated search button and replaces it with the app switcher. Using virtual buttons has benefits for modders, however, and MoDaCo’s Paul O’Brien has wasted no time in adding a dedicated search option in the ICS button bar.
As you’d expect, tapping it brings up the search dialog, just as the dedicated search buttons on previous Android phones would do. Google hasn’t exactly excised search from Android 4.0 altogether – in fact the homescreen now has a persistent search box across the top, that’s carried over all five panes – but this dedicated key makes it a little easier. Sometimes it’s the little tweaks that can make the most difference to daily use, and this could well be one of them. No word on when exactly Paul might release the mod at this stage, but he tells us it will be “very shortly.” )
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| Galaxy Nexus could be at Best Buy November 27, 2011 Posted: 21 Nov 2011 09:05 PM PST The Verizon branded Samsung Galaxy Nexus seems to have surfaced in a leak from a Best Buy flier. Best Buy terms the Galaxy Nexus as part of the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone line, and even calls it the “Samsung Nexus Prime”. It seems silly that Best Buy would leave out T-Mobile’s Galaxy S II and even the AT&T Skyrocket in the flier. Whether or not it will still be called the Galaxy Nexus by other carriers is still unknown.
Though we still don’t know when the phone will be available on other carriers, this evidence displays that “prices [are] good for all Best Buy mobile stores from 11/27/11 to 12/25/11″. This may mean that the Galaxy Nexus will be available and priced by the 27th, or just as reddit user ihaveagalaxyprobem (how fitting) said, “they (the fliers) could have been made before Verizon finalized a date”. Either way, we now understand Best Buy and Verizon will be calling the device the Samsung Nexus Prime. The time it has taken for an actual Galaxy Nexus release date has been way too long. We are all together in this prolonged wait and I’m ready to buy mine now, how about you? [via Reddit] )
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| And then there was the Facebook phone Posted: 21 Nov 2011 08:07 PM PST HTC has agreed to manufacture Facebook’s official phone. The device has been codenamed “Buffy” and you can be sure to find it oriented around cutting-edge social capabilities. But what will it run? Could it possibly scoop up WebOS from HP or even start from scratch in a basic Linux environment? The most possible (and even most practical) solution would be to heavily mask a version of Android OS.
With the Android 4.0 source code now available to the public, you can bet Facebook will manipulate in such a way similar to Amazon. After all, the Facebook phone is bound to look unique. As the king of social networking and such a strong following, who’s to say Facebook won’t try pushing out more than one device. I particularly prefer a device free of buttons to give a better multimedia experience. However, I know a good many that still insist on having a QWERTY keyboard; Facebook’s social network serves us all, so why shouldn’t its line of cellphones? Social competitor Google+ won’t get as much love if Facebook has anything to say about it. So if Facebook decides to go with Android, you can bet on a heavily modded interface. After all, it will be competing with Windows Phone 7.5, Apple iOS5, the future of WebOS, and even others versions of Android. I would expect to see a Facebook button included in their phone as well. However, with Ice Cream Sandwich supporting phones with no buttons at all, it could be included inside the OS; much like the naivegation keys on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. A new Facebook phone may even build in their Facebook application into the OS, much like the Google+ app in the Galaxy Nexus. Hey, it may even slay a few vampires too – who knows. [via AllThingsD] )
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| Motorola DROID Receives Security Fix Posted: 21 Nov 2011 07:00 PM PST The original Motorola DROID is finally getting some attention with a quick security fix update. No, this isn’t the official update to 2.3 (Gingerbread) that we had hoped for, but it’s an update none the less. These two security updates will only be available to those OG DROID users out there with a completely stock ROM, kernel, and recovery.
There is still a very strong OG DROID following over on XDA, and we should certainly see these security patches incorporated into some custom ROMs soon. For those still running stock however, click here to download the FRK76 security update. To install this be sure to rename the download to “update.zip” and place it on the root of your SD card. After powering down your DROID, reboot into recovery (by holding down the X and Power buttons). You should then select “Apply update.zip from SD Card”. You should then be good to go! But lets be honest, if you haven’t rooted your device and are not yet running CyanogenMod 7, at least give it a chance! It’s easy and will definitely give your OG DROID the pep in its step that should have been there all along. [via Droid Life] )
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| Ice Cream Sandwich review via SlashGear Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:34 PM PST The Galaxy Nexus is exciting to be sure – exciting enough for us to feature SlashGear’s exhaustive review – but what’s really important to the wider Android platform is Ice Cream Sandwich. Android 4.0 is definitely the jewel in the Galaxy Nexus’ crown. They’ve been kind enough to grace those of us without access to Google’s latest developer phone a comprehensive look at the new software. You should definitely head on over there now if you want the full skinny, but for some bullet points of ICS’s new features, check out our wrap-up below.
The first thing you’ll notice about ICS is thew shiny veneer that the UI has been given. As the first major update to the smartphone version of Android in almost a year it comes as something of a shock to those used to Gingerbread. Less so if you’ve used a Honeycomb tablet – most of the visual flair in ICS comes from, or is at least inspired by, Android 3.0. The homescreen gets the most dramatic make-over, with a new launcher and resizeable widgets, all wrapped up in that ice blue on black color scheme. The new unlock screen has a novel facial recognition feature, but it’s more of a toy than a security feature – you’d still be best to stick with a PIN code or pattern unlock. Much has been made of the Galaxy Nexus’ virtual navigation buttons, a feature that will pop up on all ICS tablets and those smartphones that don’t already have capacitive buttons. It definitely takes some getting used to. Some apps will need to be altered to support the dynamic input area, by either coding in a menu button or placing one elsewhere on the screen. On the other hand, you get a Honeycomb-style multi-task manager. You can swipe apps to the left to instantly kill them – awesome. On top the navigation bar is much as it’s always been, though it’s now much easier to dismiss notifications individually instead on en mass. You also get a handy settings shortcut.
The keyboard has a few style and stability improvements, but the most exciting new feature as far as input goes is active voice dictation. It takes Google’s stellar speech recognition and gives it a live makeover, allowing you to see what you’re “writing” as you speak. The accuracy is impressive, though not perfect, and it makes replying to a quick email a breeze. Watching your words appear as you say them, on a device that fits in your hand, is definitely some scifi caliber stuff. Most of Android’s core apps get a functionality upgrade to the level of Honeycomb, but the People application deserves some special attention. It completely redesigns the old “contacts” paradigm into something that’s a lot more visible and easy to use – provided that you’ve got photos for all your contacts. Quick response messages, essentially a mobile version of Gmail’s canned responses, make quick replies extremely easy.
The internals of Android get a little more useful with ICS. The ability to actively monitor your data usage is a welcome one for anyone on a capped data plan, and battery tracking is even more detailed. The new camera and video options are impressive, bu they’re largely contingent upon hardware, as is the new Android Beam NFC sharing app. If you’re at all interested in these nitty-gritty parts of Android, you owe it to yourself to check out SlashGear’s review. We’ll have our own in-depth look just as soon as the Galaxy Nexus makes the long trek across the Atlantic.             Device Info
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| Kyobo eReader launches in South Korea with mirasol and Android 2.3 Gingerbread Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:00 PM PST Kyobo Book Centre has unveiled the world’s first eReader based on the new mirasol display technology by Qualcomm. This color e-paper display technology will allow for an enhanced reading experience as well as offer bright colors for pictures and video and exceptional battery life. The Kyobo eReader with mirasol is on sale starting today in South Korea and will initially be targeted at education customers.
We’ve mentioned the mirasol display before, Qualcomm’s new technology that aims to change the display markets while offering a technology that promises exceptional color, video-capable e-paper eReaders with amazing battery life. For more information head to mirasoldisplays.com or watch their innovation video here. Essentially using mirrors to reflect light back and control the color at the same time it offers an extremely efficient technology that will work great indoors, and look even better in direct sunlight. Basically a front lit technology rather than conventional backlight displays that are power hungry and become washed out with brightness from the sun or other sources while being used. The Kyobo eReader will be using the newest mirasol 5.7″ panel with a 1024 x 768 resolution, a 1.0 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and running atop Android 2.3 Gingerbread with what we are hearing will be a locked down and custom UI — although I’m sure the Android hacking world will get on that right away. Kyobo, Korea's largest bookseller — will offer 90,000 ebooks for the mirasol eReader, as well as video education content and many other educational options, integration with social networking services and English text-to-speech support. With magazines for the down-time between study classes and possibly 3 weeks of battery life this will be one interesting eReader. The Kyobo eReader is available today starting at $310 USD in South Korea but we have no details on when or if it will see any other markets. Most likely we’ll be seeing more from Qualcomm and their mirasol technology at CES 2012. )
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| Galaxy Nexus review via SlashGear Posted: 21 Nov 2011 05:50 PM PST Here in the U.S. Galaxy Nexus units are hard to come by, but SlashGear got their lucky hands on one sure enough. They’ve put up an exhaustive review of both the Galaxy Nexus hardware and the brand-spankin’ new Ice Cream Sandwich. We’d heartily suggest heading over there for the full review, but if you’re more the Cliff Notes type, a quick summary of their findings is below.
First of all, the hardware lives up to Samsung’s high-end standards. That is to say that the phone is sturdy without feeling especially expensive, but it’s also much lighter than you’d imagine for a phone this large. And it is large: the 4.65-ich, Super AMOLED display is one of the biggest available for Android, and thanks to an amazing 1280 x 720 resolution, it doesn’t disappoint. Note that this is the same resolution as the HTC Rezound, but the Super AMOLED panel makes it even more enjoyable to use.Despite some community outcry, the PenTile display wasn’t a problem – there’s simply so many pixels shoved into a relatively small area that it isn’t noticeable. The phone’s curved design is a holdover from the Nexus S. While it’s certainly eye-catching, it doesn’t really affect usage one way or the other. The Galaxy Nexus keeps the bottom bulge common to the family, but the phone itself is so slim that it’s barely noticeable. Samsung has kept its standard power button on the right and volume rocker on the left configuration, with three electrical contacts (for docks) also resting on the right side. Charge and audio ports line up on the bottom.
Inside you’ll find a fast, if not screaming, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. It’s married to a full gigabyte of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of on-board storage. The lack of a removable SD card is highlighted by the fact that the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t use a standard USB mass storage mode, instead opting for MTP mounting. This is slightly jarring, but in practice it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. The 5MP camera performs well, but doesn’t live up to Google’s lofty promises at the Hong Kong event. Performance just isn’t up to snuff with the latest Android superphones or the iPhone 4/4S. That said, the super-fast shutter is definitely welcome, and live video effects are a fun, if ultimately trivial, addition.
Call performance was above average, thanks to the multiple-microphone system first shown on the good old Nexus One. Unfortunately the battery was rather typical of top-tier Android phones, which is to say that it lingers at just around a full day’s worth of charge on average use. The 1750mAh battery lasted for more than 15 hours on light use, but constantly playing with the device (as the reviewer admits to – and who can blame him) brought it down to the 8-10 hour region. Remember that Google’s review units are the international HSPA+ version, not the Verizon LTE version, which will have an extra 100mAh of juice.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which we’ll cover later, makes the Galaxy Nexus the best Android phone on the market. Even after more manufacturers start releasing ICS hardware, the Galaxy Nexus will remain a competitor, albeit not in the camera or battery departments. But between Samsung’s typically excellent quality, an absolutely gorgeous display and the promise of fast and easy software updates directly from Google, it’s definitely leading the pack for the moment. Now if only we could get a freakin’ bone from Verizon here in the U.S.             Device Info
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| Samsung may be preparing their own quad-core chip for the Galaxy S III Posted: 21 Nov 2011 05:04 PM PST A lot of people don’t think of components when Samsung is mentioned, and with tens of millions of phone sales it’s not hard to see why. But the Korean company is one of the large electronics parts suppliers in the world – it’s big part of why they’re so successful. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that they aren’t resting on their laurels and letting Nvidia’s Tegra 3 have all the fun (and press coverage): Samsung is apparently preparing a quad-core processor of their very own.
The new ARM-based system-on-a-chip is reportedly the latest in their very well-received Exynos line, model number 4412. We only know about it because of some short mentions in Samsung’s open source hub. Speeds would top out at 1.5Ghz, the fastest that Samsung’s dual-core phones are running right now, though obviously they’d get a significant performance boost. You’d think that this benchmark-busting beast would certainly be headed for Samsung’s next flagship device, the Galaxy S III, though the last time we saw mention of it it was rocking the slightly older 4212. If Samsung can prepare the quad-core chip in time, it would help it fight back against similar dream machines rumored out of HTC. 2012 would seem to be the year of the quad-core processor, at least as far as high-end Android phones are concerned. It’ll probably take a while for the technology to trickle down into more affordable devices. If you’ve just got to get your hands on some searingly fast hardware, be sure to check out Asus’ Transformer Prime, the first Tegra 3 quad-core tablet, due for an international release in December.[ [via Phandroid] )
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| Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 PM PST The flexibility of Android and the continuing march of mobile technology progress are making Android available on hardware and price points that would have seemed impossible just a couple of years ago. The latest phone to skirt the line between smartphones and featurephones is the Samsung DoubleTime, a QWERTY phone with a novel hinged and double-screen design. For $50 on a new two-year contract it’s definitely on the low end of AT&T’s smartphone lineup, but can it stand up on its own? Let’s find out.
Hardware In fact the DoubleTime can literally stand up on its own, thanks to its horizontal clamshell design. In the fashion of “messaging” phones that have gone out of fashion as of late, the 3.2-inch screen flips up to reveal a second, identical LCD panel below, opposite the large and comfy QWERTY keyboard. 480 x 320 resolution isn’t anything to write home about, but on this screen size it’s as dense as is practical. Below the exterior screen you get pink-shaded physical nav buttons, which are repeated on the inside above the keyboard. The phone is undeniably chunky for its width and height, but considering the keyboard and both screens that’s understandable. A phone like this can live and die on its hinge mechanism, and in that regard it does very well indeed: it snaps into place at about 130 and 160 degrees with a firm click, making it useful both as a speedy text-entry device and a desktop or nightstand display. The exterior is clad in eggshell white, and feels commendably sturdy.
The DoubleTime’s specs, alas, leave a lot to be desired. It’s one of AT&T’s few new smartphones that only uses 3G, not the HSPA+ “4G” that they’re so keen on advertising. A 600 Mhz processor is pokey, even at this price point, and a mere 260 megabytes of user-accessible storage is downright frustrating, even with the included 2GB MicroSD card. A 3.2 megapixel camera is suitable only for low-quality snapshots in good lighting, and you’d better hope you’ve got good lighting, since an LED flash is painfully omitted. The primary draw for the hardware is the clamshell keyboard form factor – unfortunately, you’ll have to ignore just about everything else to consider the DoubleTime over its AT&T contemporaries at a similar or even lower price. Software The Samsung DoubleTime comes loaded with Android 2.2 Froyo. Let’s go over that again, just to make sure: the Samsung DoubleTime comes loaded with Android 2.2 Froyo. For the record, it’s been just shy of one year since Gingerbread became available, and similarly spec’d phones have had it almost as long. It’s possible that the DoubleTime’s low storage space prevented a later version of Android, but even if that’s true, another gigabyte or two surely wouldn’t have made this little phone too expensive. Given that Samsung and AT&T seem to think that Froyo is good enough for the moment, it’s my opinion that they won’t be interested in updating it. Ever.
That said, the software is pretty solid as Froyo goes. There’s very little in the way of AT&T or Samsung add-ons, besides the now-ubiquitous account manager and AT&T Navigation. (That makes me laugh every time I see it.) IT’s possible that the phone’s low storage actually prevented it from being burdened with bloatware. The slimmed-down version of TouchWiz is snappy in both portrait and landscape modes, and Samsung’s customizations take advantage of the hardware to the fullest extent. Calling and Texting Call quality was in line with other AT&T phone in my area, though it dropped them on two occasions. This isn’t unusual for my home town. 3G speeds were reliable in urban areas. But if you’re interested in a phone at this price with a full keyboard, odds are you want to text, and text a lot. On that score the DoubleTime is hard to beat. Because the keyboard essentially takes up an area of space that’s the same at the entire height and width of the device, it’s nicely spaced with a full number row and D-pad. Firing off long texts or URLs was an easy and pleasurable experience, and thanks to the extra height enabled by the clamshell design, significantly more comfortable on my fingers than slider phones with their narrow keys.
Media and Battery You’ll absolutely want a larger MicroSD card for music or photos. With that caveat, the DoubleTime works well enough as an MP3 player, with a surprisingly loud speaker for its small size. The built-in YouTube app ran well, though Flash video is a choppy and generally frustrating experience. Videos taken with the camera were smooth, but on a screen this small, it’s not much fun to watch them. The battery is a small 1200mAh, but that’s rather typical on a phone this size. Keep in mind that only one screen is active at any given time, so the dual-screen design doesn’t hinder the battery at all. The DoubleTime lasted me all day even in a low-signal area – it’s probably getting some very efficient use out of Froyo, minimal bloatware and Samsung customizations. Users should have no issue getting through a tough workday without recharging.
Wrap-Up As an Android fanboy, the choice to limit the DoubleTime with Froyo really, really gets on my nerves. But from the perspective of a first-time smartphone buyer, who just wants a phone with a great keyboard and decent call quality, with Android and app installation as an after thought, it’s a pretty good choice. Music fans and shutterbugs will want a bigger SD card, but excellent battery life means that this little phone is ready for lots of service in between charges.
The DoubleTime probably isn’t the phone for our most dedicated readers, but it’s worth considering for family members or friends who aren’t interested in Ice Cream Sandwich or massive screens. At $50 on contract it’s a little pricier than some other AT&T phones (most of which have better hardware) but that excellent keyboard makes it worth considering even so.             Device Info
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| Samsung Galaxy S II [AT&T] Ice Cream Sandwich alpha build hands-on Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:02 PM PST Now that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is out in the wild and the source is available to all we are starting to see a few ICS ROM’s appearing for select handsets. This is not a port from the SDK but a ROM built and modified right from the source code. What I have for you today is the highly popular Samsung Galaxy S II running the latest and greatest 4.0 ICS from Google. Remember this is very much an alpha build and not remotely close to being finished — but it’s still fun to use and enjoy as well as show all of you.
Being very much an alpha build many things currently aren’t working, especially those needing a data or internet connection. We have no WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC and the camera has issues. Obviously this will all get worked out and one day soon become a completely smooth and stable ROM for daily use. From what we are seeing so quickly, this will indeed be one blazing fast ROM as it already is and it’s no where near being complete.
Most of what you’re about to see in our video has been covered in-depth already in our ICS 4.0 hands-on, and our Galaxy Nexus hands-on but I’m sure many SGSII users will thoroughly enjoy the video below. What does it show you? Obviously we all knew that ROM’s would be coming soon, and that the Galaxy S II line will be getting updated to ICS eventually from Samsung — but this video shows you just how amazingly fast and smooth most of the things that are currently working actually are. And what we can expect to see in the future. GPU rendering works wonderfully and the scrolling and panning is exceptionally smooth. Once the bugs get ironed out and Samsung officially updates we will all be loving us some Ice Cream Sandwich. Interesting point before the video — we have two menu buttons here. The on-screen ICS and the standard capacitive button, makes things both feel and look a bit odd but that shouldn’t be an issue. As all these ROM’s are built we can expect to see the soft touch buttons be removed to give us more real-estate on screen. We have the buttons already so there is no reason to waste screen space. We can expect this to be an option that users can toggle in most builds and ROM’s in the future. Galaxy S II Android 4.0 ICS hands-on: Alpha build Just like I stated in the title of this article and the video — this is seriously an alpha build and in no way intended for actual use in the current form. Either way it was very fun and entertaining to give it a whirl for a few days and see what Ice Cream Sammy is all about. Once more things get ironed out and daily features get incorporated you can bet we’ll be posting another video. This is just one of many many devices all at XDA that have similar alpha builds available. We urge you to check our your favorite developer portals to see if you can enjoy the same beta software on your own device. For more information on this specific ROM or to try 4.0 ICS on your own Galaxy S II (we used the AT&T version here) feel free to head to this XDA thread. Thanks to @xplodwild we were able to enjoy this for a few days and look forward to more. If you are new to hacking Android we suggest you wait a little while or for an official OTA from Samsung. For more video’s specifically about Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich we have those right here. Enjoy! Update: For those looking for more information you should also follow @aospsgs2 for the newest information and up to date builds               Device Info
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