Android Community |
- Motorola Xoom update rolling out now
- Cisco prepares AT&T and Verizon versions of its Cius tablet
- Verizon rolls out DROID CHARGE Gingerbread OTA update
- Foxit Mobile PDF Reader available in the Android Market
- Carrier IQ busted on video: records keystrokes, web traffic
- December 8 is Transformer Prime launch date says Asus
- Volume fix for Galaxy Nexus rolling out now OTA
- Samsung Exynos 5250 running at 2GHz coming by Q2 next year
- Samsung and its Galaxy Tab triumph over Apple’s temporary ban
- Google claims volume fix will be pushed within the week
- Lenovo LePhone S760 unveiled for China
- Sony XPERIA owners get 50GB of free Box.net storage [UPDATE]
- Transformer Prime 1080p camera gets a look at Segways and fashion models
- ESRB content ratings wont be coming to Android or Mobile apps
- Dragon Shout Android app is Google Maps for Skyrim
- Time Warner Cable tablet app now available for Android, doesn’t stream live TV
- Galaxy Nexus his NTT DoCoMo in Japan on December 2nd
- Nielsen: Android extends its lead in the US
- Futuremark 3DMark App coming soon to Android, brings benchmarks to a new level
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N still under attack by Apple
| Motorola Xoom update rolling out now Posted: 30 Nov 2011 10:45 AM PST The original Honeycomb tablet the Motorola Xoom isn’t going anywhere just yet. It was updated with 4G LTE, It’ll see Ice Cream Sandwich eventually and today Verizon is supplying users with another update. Don’t run home on your lunch break or anything because this is not some super secret Android 4.0 update, instead we have a measly 8.9 MB teeny tiny software change. At least it’s seeing steady updates though right?
That Xoom update project we told you about earlier this week apparently didn’t need much testing at all because it has already hit the Verizon Wireless support page with full download details and instructions. Your Xoom 4G will be updated to build HLK75F and it’s only about 8.9 MB in size so should be over relatively quick, especially on those 4G speeds. While the update isn’t a big one or bringing any huge changes or features it is important. This will now allow users to have full access to Verizon Wireless 4G LTE on their Motorola Xoom with a pay-as-you-go plan. The new changes basically provide software updates that will let users set up and sign in to their pay-as-you-go plans. If you didn’t want to be tied to a two year contract agreement but would love the occasional 4G LTE on that Xoom this would be a good update to take. All the details are available at the Verizon support page. Feel free to chime in with details on how the update process goes for you and your Motorola Xoom.   Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
 Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
|
| Cisco prepares AT&T and Verizon versions of its Cius tablet Posted: 30 Nov 2011 09:55 AM PST What’s a Cius? That’s a question that Cisco probably wants to hear more often. The company’s only tablet has been overshadowed by more mainstream offerings, due in no small part to the fact that it’s only available through business channels. That said, Cnet reports that they’re seeing the adoption that they wanted, and they’ll be expanding the 7-inch Cius line with mobile broadband options.
AT&T HSPA+ will be first on the schedule, followed by a Verizon LTE version. Unfortunately Cisco didn’t mention a time frame for either of the new Cius tablets. The current off-contract HSPA+ version of the Cius costs $800, but given Cisco’s deep relationships with your friendly neighborhood megacorp, IT managers will probably be able to buy them in bulk for a significant discount. And that’s definetely the target market here: the Cius includes some extremely effective remote security and wipe options. Even the third-party Android app store, AppHQ, is vetted for corporate use. Can the Cius catch on for corporations? Who knows. Even though the hardware and software is targeted towards enterprise, there’s already a bevvy of Android and iOS tools that work with cheaper and more familiar hardware. Competition in the small “corporate tablet” market is increasing all the time, too: Blackberry is expanding its offerings beyond the PlayBook with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. The market for a more button-down tablet is still evolving – we’ll see if Cisco can leverage its brand to carve out its own space. )
|
| Verizon rolls out DROID CHARGE Gingerbread OTA update Posted: 30 Nov 2011 08:56 AM PST If you bought a Samsung DROID CHARGE when it launched back in May, you’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time. After numerous leaks, Verizon is finally sending out its Gingerbread update to eager DROID CHARGE owners. As always, you can wait for the over-the-air rollout to come to your area or initiate it manually in the Settings menu.
Verizon has a boilerplate for their software updates, and in addition to Gingerbread the CHARGE will get a download manager, the new UI color scheme that was seen in the leaked version, and options for encrypting both the phone and storage card. The calendar app has been updated with some user interface enhancements, and selecting, copying and pasting text should be considerably easier. Perhaps most importantly, Verizon’s WiFi Hotspot app now uses an encrypted password. Other speed and stability tweaks have been added here and there. As usual with these updates, we like to provide a little perspective. It’s been more than eleven months since Android 2.3 Gingerbread became available to carriers, manufacturers and everyone else, and six months since the CHARGE launched with outdated software. On the plus side, the phone is only $199 on contract now. Don’t expect an Ice Cream Sandwich update any time soon, if at all. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
|
| Foxit Mobile PDF Reader available in the Android Market Posted: 30 Nov 2011 08:20 AM PST If you’ve been using the Internet for any amount of time at all, you probably know one of its founding principles: Adobe Reader sucks. Many savvy desktop users choose a lightweight alternative for displaying simple PDFs, and Foxit PDF Reader has long been a favorite among them. Now Foxit Software has released an Android port of its popular reader, and you can download it now in the Android Market.
Unlike the desktop version, only a $2.99 paid app is available, but that’s comparable to the other 3rd-party PDF viewers on the Market. The standard zoom and reflow features are present, as well as bookmarks. Foxit seems to be focusing on its reader experience with a set of noted additions: the app will automatically load the last document and page you used, and it can adjust the brightness for its own use, like the Kindle and Nook apps. There’s also a set of annotation tools, including comments, highlights, and a pencil tool. Can Foxit carve out a space for itself on Android? It’s tough to compete with free, but they’ve got a recognizable brand name, at least in geekier circles. $2.99 is still kind of pricy for a reader that can’t edit documents beyond its own annotations. THat said, early response in the Android Market is positive. Both smartphones and tablets are supported. )
|
| Carrier IQ busted on video: records keystrokes, web traffic Posted: 30 Nov 2011 07:14 AM PST Carrier IQ’s support software has been monitored closely by Android security watchdogs for the last few weeks. After an embarrassing public relations snafu, the company stated that their software does not record personal information, despite the findings of an independent security analyst. But The Register reports that same analyst has now shown the Carrier IQ software logging keystrokes in real time, and transmitting them over an unsecure wireless connection. Carrier IQ is, in a word, busted.
When XDA member Trevor Eckhart published a scathing expose on everything that the software does, including the possible recording and transmitting of location, call data, web history, contacts, used apps and even keystrokes, the Android community was justifiably upset. When Carrier IQ threatened to sue him for exposing theses security and privacy violations, they were, not to put too fine a point on it, pissed. Carrier IQ withdrew their threats almost immediately and placated the public by saying that the software doesn’t record keystrokes or other personal information. That appears to have been a bald-faced lie, or at the very least, an uninformed PR response. Mr. Eckhart has now proven his findings ob video. You can see an extensive breakdown of the logging process in the YouTube video: The software is installed on a number of HTC, Samsung, Nokia and RIM (BlackBerry) phones. I’ll point out that the logging and data collection being done certainly doesn’t have any ill intent – it’s designed to let carriers identify and fix problems with their networks. But that doesn’t excuse the massive amount of private information that’s being collected and stored who knows where. Android Community is attempting to contact the four major carriers in the U.S. to who is using Carrier IQ and on which phones. So far only Verizon Wireless has responded, saying emphatically that they do not use Carrier IQ’s software in any way. we’ll update you with the other responses as soon as they come in. )
|
| December 8 is Transformer Prime launch date says Asus Posted: 30 Nov 2011 06:10 AM PST One of the tablets that has us really excited is the Asus Transformer Prime. There had been rumors that the tablet would be launching on December 8 with that date surfacing for shipping on Newegg this week. Asus has now reportedly confirmed to the geeks at NetbookNews that December 8 is the US launch date. That date is a week after the tablet launches in Taiwan.
If you are in Europe and are lusting after the Transformer Prime you will have to wait longer than geeks in Taiwan and the US, the European launch is set for January. We already know all there is to know about the tablet and it sounds to be a very nice one indeed. It will rock the Tegra 3 quad-core chipset for instance and will have an optional keyboard dock that turns it into a notebook and adds extra battery life. In the US, the 32GB version of the tablet will sell for $499 and the 64GB offering will go for $599. If you want that cool keyboard dock, it will run you an extra $149. The machine comes in gray or champagne colors and both run Android 3.2 honeycomb when it hits store shelves with an Ice Cream Sandwich update coming later. [via SlashGear] )
|
| Volume fix for Galaxy Nexus rolling out now OTA Posted: 30 Nov 2011 04:32 AM PST If you are a proud owner of a Galaxy Nexus smartphone and have been waiting with baited breath for the volume fix to land today is your day. Word is that the volume fix is being pushed out OTA today by Samsung. The roll out will be staggered according to Clove in the UK. Staggered would mean that not all users of the smartphone will get the update at the same time.
Oddly enough, the handsets that were expected to arrive with the volume issue fixed turned out to not have the fix applied after all. Buyers of the new devices that still have the issue will be prompted to download the update shortly after turning their new Galaxy Nexus on. Our own Chris Davies has a Nexus in his possession and has reported that the update isn't available for him at this point. The volume bug plagues Nexus devices that are running on a 2G network at 900MHz. Carriers in the UK commonly use this. This would explain why some users that are in areas with good 3G connections haven’t had issues with the bug. You can check out the review of the Galaxy Nexus to get a better idea of what the smartphone is capable of. [via SlashGear] )
|
| Samsung Exynos 5250 running at 2GHz coming by Q2 next year Posted: 29 Nov 2011 09:49 PM PST We’ve been dreaming about it, but not quite sure when we would see the first Android device clocked at 2GHz (officially of course). The Samsung Exynos chips running at 1.0GHz, 1.2GHz, and 1.5GHz have functioned amazingly well in their Galaxy S II line, and knowing we should see the 2.0GHz SoC in a future tablet is definitely good news. Samsung was very clear this SoC would be geared towards high-end tablets, but maybe we’ll find it in a few smartphones too.
At the rate Android and the overall technological world is progressing, it wouldn’t be so surprising to see 2.0GHz as the new “norm”. Either way, the chip is said to double the performance of the current Exynos 4212 and even offer 4X speedier graphical rendering. The new chip will also support displays up to a 2560×1600 pixel resolution, talk about a crystal clear picture. How that may effect the battery life I haven’t a clue. Hopefully, we will see it in some devices during CES 2012, but I’m even more interested in benchmarks of NVIDIA’s Kal-el quad-core processors. Last year’s CES introduced the world’s first dual-core smartphone, so it would be quite fitting that this year’s center around a quad-core. [via AusDroid] )
|
| Samsung and its Galaxy Tab triumph over Apple’s temporary ban Posted: 29 Nov 2011 08:33 PM PST What a great feat for Samsung today! As you may have heard, Samsung has been in quite the legal battle with Apple Inc. in recent months over whether their Galaxy Tab 10.1 could rest on Australian shelves. Court rulings had prohibited sale of the device with a temporary ban until now.
Australians rejoice, for you’ll be able to buy as many Samsung products as you want – and just in time for the holidays too. Hopefully, Samsung lawyers can cook up some more magic in the case against blocked tablet sales in Germany. Either way, hard-core Android followers will surely get there hands on one – even if they’re required to hop a train towards nearby France to pick it up. It’s hard to even think of the iPad and Galaxy Tab lines as similar. With so many divergent characteristics in the actual OS, you would have thought to even consider banning one would require never turning on the device. The iPad has a completely icon-dependant homescreen where the Galaxy Tab 10.1 layout is showered with many different widgets. Both sport completely different lockscreens – the differences are practically endless. It seems Apple wants to make sure its competitors refrain from designing anything that comes close to their tablet’s dimensions – well that’s just not going to happen. I’ve got a nice block of wood about the size of an iPad, maybe they’ll come for me too. [via Phandroid] )
|
| Google claims volume fix will be pushed within the week Posted: 29 Nov 2011 07:11 PM PST In case you haven’t heard, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has had a few volume bugs; very unfortunate for such an anticipated device. On the bright side, updates for the Galaxy Nexus come straight from the team at Google. They’ve always been punctual at releasing proper fixes soon after an obvious issue arises. It turns out that Google themselves now claim that “We’re currently rolling out a fix for the volume issue which will reach everyone in the coming week”.
We’ve know for about a week now that a fix was indeed coming, but now that a general timeframe has been set we can rest assured that it will be early December by the time it reaches everyone. It will be pushed via an OTA (Over-The-Air) update, so be patient and wait for it to show up in your notifications. And if you fairly new to the Android game, then you can always force your system to perform an update check by tapping Menu > Settings > About Phone > System Updates. Overall, I’m quite impressed on how Google handles bug fixes and updates to their Nexus line. However, there have definitely been some stalls here and there. Such includes the obvious signal issues the Nexus S 4G had effective immediately after launch. I had personally owned one and couldn’t get full signal bars to save my life, unlike the HTC Hero sitting right beside it with an amazing connection. It took ages to fix, and could have very well been the carrier’s malpractice and not Google at all. And check out the Samsung Galaxy Nexus review too – even if you’ve already seen it. A device this decked out undoubtedly deserves multiple views. [via The Verge] )
|
| Lenovo LePhone S760 unveiled for China Posted: 29 Nov 2011 05:49 PM PST China’s getting a lot of Android attention these days, and among its home-grown manufacturers no one’s treating them better than Lenovo. Engadget spotted the latest entry in latest entry in le smartphone line, the LePhone S760, a mid-range Gingerbread device with at least one distinguishing feature. The 3.7-inch screen uses an AMOLED panel, still relatively novel in the Chinese market.
As far as hardware goes, the phone has a 1Ghz processor and 512MB of RAM, making it roughly the equal of the original Nexus One or DROID Incredible. That’s still plenty of power to handle Android 2.3.5, and should keep the off-contract price nice and low. You can spot front and rear cameras in the trade show photos. Since it’s running a pretty heavily modified version of Android and Lenovo’s shown no hesitance to stray from the safe and happy pastures of Google in the past, we’re pretty sure this one won’t have the Android Market or its associate Google apps. Like all of Lenovo’s smartphone offerings thus far, don’t expect this one to show up in the US, though Chinese buyers can get one before the end of the year. The company’s 5, 7 and 10-inch LePad tablets from earlier today have a much better chance of crossing the Pacific, and the Tegra 3-powered 1080p monster the IdeaPad K2 tablet is almost certain to show up in the US eventually. So why not smartphone love for Americans, Lenovo? We’re good enough for your laptops, after all. )
|
| Sony XPERIA owners get 50GB of free Box.net storage [UPDATE] Posted: 29 Nov 2011 05:26 PM PST 20,000 songs on Google Music? Paltry. 5GB of DropBox storage for HTC phones? Child’s play. Sony Ericsson is pumping up the value proposition with 50 gigabytes of free online storage for all users of its XPERIA Android phones. That’s an undeniably useful feature as more and more consumers move into the cloud. Activation is easy, and it lasts for the life of your Box.net account.
Activating the offer is simple: just download the Box.net Android app on your Sony Android phone and log in. According to Sony’s post, that’s all you need to do, though apparently some users are experiencing early issues. The offer is valid until December 31st 2012, so a lot of Sony customers will be able to take advantage of it. The 50GB offer will follow your account for life, even if you don’t keep your XPERIA phone. The move mirror’s HP’s decision to partner with Box.net, giving TouchPad owners 50GB of free storage back in August. Between free could storage and the promise of upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich updates, the XPERIA line is starting to look even more attractive. Box.net is becoming a serious competitor in its own right, thanks in no small part to the word-of-mouth that the company is generating from these partnerships. UPDATE: It looks like Sony jumped the gun a little bit. In another blog post, the company told customers that the Box.net addition isn’t quite ready yet. It looks like they still intend to go forward with the promotion at some point in the future, but XPERIA owners won’t see the additional storage at the moment. [via Phone Arena] )
|
| Transformer Prime 1080p camera gets a look at Segways and fashion models Posted: 29 Nov 2011 04:47 PM PST Asus’ Eee Pad Transformer Prime is definitely at the top of the heap as far as Android tablets go right now, and not just because of its quad-core Tegra 3 processor. The 8MP 1080p camera is will also meet or beat just about any tablet out there, and the manufacturer aims to prove it with their latest YouTube video. Compare this with the impressive still images already released. They chose a fashion show in Sweden as their venue for the demonstration – I can’t imagine why.
An Asus demonstrator walks around the trade floor showing off the 1080p recording, as well as the standard color filters. Though the Transformer Prime isn’t launching with Ice Cream Sandwich, it will include its own video tools, including an interesting time lapse mode that takes one photo every ten seconds. This is also known as the “I just walked around a convention hall floor holding a tablet up at shoulder height, and boy are my arms tired” mode. To see the video in all its full HD glory you’ll need to enable the 1080p mode on the video below. Currently the earliest rumored date for the Transformer Prime is December the 8th, the same as the unconfirmed dates for the Verizon’s DROID 4 and Galaxy Nexus. We’ll have to see if that comes to pass, but in the meantime you can check out a pair of Prime demonstrations courtesy of Nvidia. The graphics hardware company showed off an early build of Ice Cream Sandwich running on the tablet, as well as a gaming demo that tests the Tegra 3′s polygon-crunching abilities. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network Device Connectivity
|
| ESRB content ratings wont be coming to Android or Mobile apps Posted: 29 Nov 2011 04:42 PM PST The Entertainment Software Rating Board is something plenty of parents are familiar with. As kids I’m sure many remember or still deal with these same rating being plastered on everything we buy for Xbox, PC’s, Mac, and more. They are the group that helps moms save their children from bloody or bad age-appropriate games and things on the interwebs.
The ESRB has recently had their sights on the mobile market with leading Android and iOS apps but today we’ve learned their fate. The ESRB recently reached out and invited both Android and Apple’s iOS to join the rating system and were apparently shut down. It seems that Google and Apple doesn’t want anything to do with it, especially because they already have their own rating systems in place for mobile apps. Currently both major mobile platforms already have a rating system in place and developers must under go a certain process to launch on either market. The ESRB simply would have developers go through and complete a questionnaire before being allow on the market and wouldn’t receive the same level of detail as the current system. For now parents looking to keep their kids devices free of inappropriate content will have to seek alternative options or just use what is currently in place on the devices. In the future we may see an E for “Everyone” on Angry Birds, or an M for “Mature” on Shadowgun but at least for now that doesn’t seem to be the case. We’ll be sure and pay attention to this story as more details emerge. [via Engadget] )
|
| Dragon Shout Android app is Google Maps for Skyrim Posted: 29 Nov 2011 04:16 PM PST The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a big, big game. You can spend days just wandering around its mountains and tundra, finding villages and dungeons. But crafty gamers soon won’t have to: the Dragon Shout app is an interactive game world map for Android and iOS. It will let players navigate and take notes while they explore Bethesda’s magnum opus.
I’m an admitted Skyrim addict, and since the game’s made an impressive $450 million in worldwide sales across PC and console platforms, odds are pretty good that a few of you are as well. The upcoming app will allow multi-touch navigation a la Google Maps across the parchment-style game world. You can make notews at particular locations – very handy for remembering where you left your
The app is slated to release in 2-3 weeks, but considering that the developer’s website is basically a Cupertino take on Skyrim, it might be a while before they get around to porting it to Android. Whether you’re sneaking around Riften for the thieves’ guild, fighting valiantly for the Stormcloaks or just killing as many of those flying jerks as you possibly can, an accurate and annotated map will be a welcome companion. Here’s hoping it comes soon. According to the website, it will be free. [via Game Rant] )
|
| Time Warner Cable tablet app now available for Android, doesn’t stream live TV Posted: 29 Nov 2011 04:00 PM PST We saw a few leaks regarding this application early this year and have been patiently awaiting its arrival. Today the Time Warner Cable app for Android Tablets is finally available over in the Android Market. Before all you TWC TV users get too excited — no it doesn’t stream live TV (like the iPad can), and it only works for a select few tablets. It’s a start though right?
Being called TWC TV in the market and for paying TWC customers this free app will give you all sorts of options and features to enjoy. It’s a TV guide, a full on remote control and you can even set your DVR right from the device, even when your not home. Sadly since we don’t have live TV streaming like that other platform this is basically just a massive remote control for now. I was hoping for a bit more to be honest. According to the official market listing it’s currently only supported on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Motorola Xoom but I’m finding a few others are supported but not all. Most likely it will scale to a few different sizes was my initial thought but all my 7″ devices aren’t compatible. I’m seeing it work with the Transformer, Tab 10.1 and 8.9 but not the Galaxy Tab 7. All the Lenovo tablets also appear to have full access at the moment. They claim 1280 x 800 resolution Honeycomb tablets will all work but the T-Mobile Springboard I have right here isn’t supported either. Most likely it will work with all 10″ Android Honeycomb tablets so give it a try and let us know how you like it via the comment section below. We are hearing live TV streaming may be coming once Ice Cream Sandwich lands on more devices, but that is not confirmed.    [via Engadget] )
|
| Galaxy Nexus his NTT DoCoMo in Japan on December 2nd Posted: 29 Nov 2011 03:28 PM PST Yes, America, everyone gets the Galaxy Nexus before you. The latest is the Japanese market, where Samsung will release the phone into the open arms of carrier NTT DoCoMo. The Galaxy Nexus lands in the land of the rising sun gets it on December 2nd, this Friday. DoCoMo gets the GSM version that’s currently on sale in Europe, but there’s no mention of a price just yet.
Those of you not-so-patiently waiting for the U.S. release will note that Verizon’s rumored pre-order has resolutely failed to appear, after reports that it would begin today supposedly came from a customer support representative. You may send your complaints to Computer World, care of Richi Jennings, who claimed a second-hand conversation with customer support as a “confirmation”. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that. So when will the Galaxy Nexus actually release in the United States? Your guess is as good as ours at this point. The latest rumored date is December the 8th, next Thursday, but since every previous date has come and gone, I wouldn’t necessarily give that one any more credence than the others. Verizon’s continual silence prompted us to label it an early Grinch in our Thanksgiving post, and since there has not been one peep of official word on the Nexus from the carrier in over a month, we see no reason to retract the statement.  "What is this, Verizon? A phone for everyone but us?"
Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
[via SammyHub] )
|
| Nielsen: Android extends its lead in the US Posted: 29 Nov 2011 02:49 PM PST No points for guessing who’s on top in the smartphone race. For the time period of July, August and September, Android’s U.S. market share grew from 39% to 42.8%, extending its lead once again. The Nielsen numbers match up pretty well with other statistical reports. The market is growing enough that Apple also increased its share, up to 28.3%. 44% of US mobile users now own a smartphone of one kind or another.
Breaking down the share of Android sales, HTC remains top dog in America with a 15% market share overall, with 35% of Android sales. Next is Motorola with 24.3%, followed closely by Samsung at 23.6%. That’s an interesting metric, considering that Samsung is far and away the top manufacturer of total phones worldwide. Other Android manufacturers made up nearly 17% of Android’s total, with just over 7% of total market share. BlackBerry, Windows Phone/Mobile and Symbian continue their downward slide, despite the best efforts of their parent companies. So does WebOS, but calling HP’s bumbling any sort of “best effort” would be a disservice to little league baseball teams everywhere. Between the two of them, Android and iOS control 71% of the US smartphone market, and an eye-popping 83% of all mobile app downloads. Keep in mind that Q4 results are likely to skew a bit with the launch of the [via SlashGear] )
|
| Futuremark 3DMark App coming soon to Android, brings benchmarks to a new level Posted: 29 Nov 2011 02:24 PM PST Oh man, this is awesome news for enthusiast and gamers alike in the world of Android. We have many benchmark applications such as Quadrant or CF Bench and what not for Android that tests overall performance but today I’ve now learned the best of the best in the benchmark business, FutureMark, will be coming soon to Android phones and tablets early 2012. I’ve used FutureMark 3DMark 06, Vantage and even 11 on my PC for years to test gaming and overall performance and I’m happy to announce this is coming soon for Android.
The Finnish company FutureMark has been making some of the best and most trusted and highly rated benchmark suites for PC enthusiasts since early 1998 and are now moving to add Android to the list. They’ve begun development on what they are calling 3DMark for Android (working title) and aim to have it ready for mass usage come early 2012. With the wide array of smartphones available, and Android tablets taking off while getting powerful quad-core processors the need for a reliable and scalable benchmark service will be needed. They plan to deliver just that. 3DMark for Android features may include: - Measures gaming performance using rendering, CPU and physics tests. Jukka Mäkinen, CEO of Futuremark had this to say,
Results will be comparable across devices and platforms like Windows 8 and will be viewable right from your smartphone or tablet as well as saved online for viewing later and comparing with others. Just like their current line of benchmarks for PC’s. Another important note here is this will be a private application unlike Vellamo that was designed by Qualcomm that some claim is favorable to their processors. Not only will FutureMark and 3DMark most likely become the absolute standard for benchmarking in Android, but it will probably make us all forget about Quadrant and the others very quickly if done right. I remember the days of overclocking my NVIDIA eVGA GTX 260 SLI graphics cards as far as humanly possible and running 3DMark to compare with my friends. I can’t wait to do the same on my quad-core Android devices soon. Futuremark will push the graphic limits of our smartphones just as they do on PC. Check out this 3DMark 11 Direct X 11 sample video for an example on their work. I can’t wait to try this level of benchmarking on Android. [via Benchmark Reviews] )
|
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N still under attack by Apple Posted: 29 Nov 2011 01:39 PM PST Uh oh folks, it looks like Apple isn’t ready to stop just yet and apparently the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N that Samsung released in Germany specifically to avoid Apple’s lawsuits didn’t manage to escape. Samsung has been under some heavy attack in Germany, Australia and other parts of the world for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 because Apple claims it infringes on their patents and design. Today Apple seeks another injunction on the new Tab 10.1N and a court date has been set.
The new Tab 10.1 was released in Germany earlier this month and we even received some hands-on video here. Clearly Samsung made a few changes in hopes to avoid the fruit company by tweaking the design and making the bezel actually wrap around front of the device rather than lay flat. The video linked to above goes through the changes for those interested. Today FOSSPatents has updated with new details claiming Apple has again asked the German courts to ban the Galaxy Tab in Germany and they are now claiming the design changes were not big enough, that it still infringes on their patents and design. We’ve been told the 10.1N was designed by Samsung with close help by their team of German lawyers so this would not happen. For now we don’t have any additional details and the Galaxy Tab 10.1N is currently still for sale in Germany. They have set an official court date for December 22nd where I’m sure Apple will request another ban and temporary injunction on the Samsung slate. I’ve been trying to avoid these irritating lawsuit and patent cases but this one was worth a mention specifically because the device was designed to avoid this exact situation. We’ll be sure to update with any additional information as it becomes available. [via FOSS Patents] — Thanks Dy4me )
|
| 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