Android Community |
- Kate Upton helps Samsung launch the Galaxy Note 10.1
- HTC ‘Proto’ budget smartphone leaks
- Motorola DROID M could hit Verizon for $149 next month
- Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 4G LTE hands-on
- Sony Mobile to layoff 1,000 employees over next two years
- Verizon 4G LTE spectrum purchase approved by the FCC
- Amazon press event set for September 6th – Prepare for Fires
- Google Wallet person to person payments and more could be coming soon
- Google Play Music updated with expandable notifications – Magazines updated too
| Kate Upton helps Samsung launch the Galaxy Note 10.1 Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:12 AM PDT I never thought I’d be writing about the always gorgeous Kate Upton or Irina Shayk when it came to Android news, but thanks to Samsung I get to do exactly that. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Covergirls, and widely known Supermodel were grabbed by Samsung to help them launch and promote their new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet — and we have pictures.
I thought about mentioning this without posting the images, but that would just be rude. Thanks to Zimbio.com we have not one, but a full gallery for your viewing pleasure. Now lets talk about the tablet, because well, we should. Samsung recently released their all new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet with the included stylus S-Pen. I’m sure you know plenty about it already but if not, take a peek below.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 is their new flagship tablet. Consisting of a quad-core 1.4 GHz Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, and a brilliant 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 resolution display. The big deal here is the S-Pen stylus for serious content creation. Draw artwork, take notes, play Draw Something, and many other uses. It’s readily available right this minute but if you’re not sold take a glance at our Galaxy Note 10.1 Review. Now for more pictures of Kate Upton hanging out with the Galaxy Note! This was actually back on August 15th when Samsung held their event in NYC for the new tablet, and now I’m wishing I had gone. While browsing a few other photos of the sexy Kate Upton, we couldn’t help but notice she was rocking not a Galaxy S III, but the iPhone instead thanks to a picture by KnottyCelebs. You think Samsung would equip these stars with their latest smartphone — but I guess not. It’s okay though, I won’t hold it against her. While this alone probably won’t persuade you to purchase the new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet it is an awesome device worth taking a second look at. Especially for those business professionals. I hope Samsung keeps up the trend because it sure makes writing a lot easier when it’s a Supermodel. Now I can’t stop thinking about that Kate Upton Carl’s Jr Commercial. Who’s interested in the Galaxy Note 10? Or did you just come here for Kate Upton?          Device Info
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| HTC ‘Proto’ budget smartphone leaks Posted: 23 Aug 2012 04:23 PM PDT What you see below is another smartphone from the folks at HTC. We’ve heard the name HTC Proto before but today are getting our first glance at this upcoming budget smartphone. Since launching their popular One series we haven’t heard much from HTC, but it appears they are getting ready to hopefully dominate the market for the holiday season.
Yup, summer is nearly over and everyone is already focusing on the holiday season. What we’re hearing from the guys at The Verge is that this phone will be HTC’s new bread and butter for the mid-range market. This isn’t a flagship phone, and instead will be set to crash the budget friendly crowd and replace the HTC One V. Rumor has it the HTC Proto will come with a 4-inch WVGA SLCD 2 display, a quality 5 megapixel camera on the rear — with flash, and be powered by a 1.0 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor although we aren’t sure if that is their new S4 or not. All of that will be wrapped in a 9.62mm ceramic frame like the HTC One S. So far we aren’t hearing HTC’s new term “One” in the name, so this possibly won’t be a part of their high end offerings. Clearly the Beats Audio branding is shown as on board, but recent rumors suggest HTC will be ditching Beats Audio moving forward. There isn’t a lot else to go off of here, but we’re expecting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and most likely Sense UI 4.1 too. Stay tuned for more details and hopefully HTC will show this off at IFA next week in Berlin, Germany,.
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| Motorola DROID M could hit Verizon for $149 next month Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:54 PM PDT Verizon and Motorola are possibly preparing to announce not one new device next month, but two. Some new details have turned up showing what we’ve previously been calling the RAZR Mini, now being listed as the Motorola DROID M for Verizon. This mid-range smartphone is still rather impressive though, and could accompany their new DROID RAZR HD.
Now there is a chance the entire September 5th media event hosted by Verizon and Motorola in NYC could be only about this phone, but it’s a rather mediocre device to have a huge event for. Many were predicting the DROID RAZR HD (that we’ve heard so much about) as the headline. Now the chances that Moto announces two smartphones is looking quite possible. What we know so far about the DROID M (XT907) is that it’s rather close to the RAZR in terms of specs, except it has seen a decent upgrade in the CPU department. Rumors have it detailed as sporting a 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 540 display (not HD) and running on the 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor like the Galaxy S III and DROID RAZR HD. Obviously it will have 4G LTE and the usual Kevlar coating on the rear for protection and splash guard. Not a whole lot else is known about this mysterious handset but we have a feeling Motorola will be sharing all the details come September 5th. If the rumors and leaks are accurate this handset should hit Verizon soon at the entry level price of $149. Stay tuned as we’ll be live in NYC for the actual event. [via Droid-Life]
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| Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 4G LTE hands-on Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:36 PM PDT Earlier this month Verizon announced that they’d be adding another 4G LTE tablet to their ever growing lineup, and today we have it in for a quick peek. Say hello to the recently released Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with Verizon 4G LTE. This is Samsung’s latest budget 7-inch tablet complete with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and now Verizon LTE.
Samsung recently refreshed their tablet lineup with the Galaxy Tab 2 series. Consisting of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, their Touch Wiz UX, and a few tweaks from previous models. Essentially you’ll be getting the exact same Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch tablet we reviewed a few months ago — only with a different processor. For now take a peek at our hands-on video that should detail it all for you. Samsung and Verizon have equipped this 7-inch tablet with a mediocre 1024 x 600 resolution display (no 720o here) Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, Touch Wiz UX, and here’s where things differ. The processor has been changed from a 1.2 GHz OMAP 4 to the popular Qualcomm Snapdraon 1.2 GHz dual-core chip. This is the older S3, and not an S4 mind you. Then you’ll get 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and as usual a micro-SD slot for expanded storage up to 32GB. Lastly is that Infra-red blaster to use the tablet as a TV remote.    Then obviously there’s one other major difference. That being the inclusion of Verizon 4G LTE which now covers around 75% of the US population and readily available in over 375 US markets nationwide. Other specs include the usual 3.2 megapixel rear camera without flash, and the VGA front for video chatting and those lovely self portraits. Since we’ve already reviewed this tablet, and are just giving you an early peek at what we have while you wait for a review we’ll toss up a few 4G LTE speedtests to give you an idea of what you’ll potentially be working with. As usual Verizon’s LTE is fast and stable with us averaging around 10-12 Mbps download and 2-5 up.
This Tab 2 7.0 is Samsung Approved for Enterprise with 256-bit AES encryption and support for Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync, as well as support for VPNs and MDM solutions. So far our initial impressions are favorable just as they were with the original Tab 2 7-inch tablet. We are really digging the new textured back cover though. It makes it very easy to grip and hold. The Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch might not be the best, fastest, or have the best display but it’s portable and low priced. Verizon is asking $349 for the new 4G LTE tablet and you can easily add it right to that Share Everything plan for an extra $10 a month. Head down to your nearest Verizon store and snatch one up today!          Device Info
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| Sony Mobile to layoff 1,000 employees over next two years Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:30 PM PDT Dark days are ahead for some folks working at Sony Mobile, as today the Japanese company announced plans to layoff a total of 1,000 workers. Sony Mobile, as many of you will remember, was once the struggling Sony Ericsson, until Sony bought the company out earlier this year $1.3 billion. It sounds like Sony is having a difficult time getting the mobile division back on its feet, as it will have let 1,000 employees go by the time March 2014 rolls around.
Around 650 of these 1,000 layoffs will happen at its mobile plant in Lund, Sweden, with the remainder of the layoffs affecting the company’s Swedish consultants. There is a bit of good news in that the Lund plant won’t be shutting down, but that will be little consolation to those losing their jobs. Along with this round of layoffs comes some restructuring as well. Sony Mobile is getting ready to move its corporate headquarters from Lund to Tokyo, and will be doing so in October. The announcement of these layoffs comes after Sony cut its operating profit forecast for 2012/2013, which is just the latest in a long line of financial hits the company has taken recently. Sony Mobile isn’t the only division within Sony that’s struggling to make a buck. Sony president Kazuo Hirai – who was promoted to the position earlier this year after serving as Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment – has a lot of work ahead of him, and unfortunately it seems that the company wasn’t able to avoid cutbacks in some areas. Keep it tuned to Android Community for more information, as we’ll update you if any new details about Sony Mobile surface. [via SlashGear]
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| Verizon 4G LTE spectrum purchase approved by the FCC Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:19 PM PDT It’s no secret that Verizon Wireless and their 4G LTE network is the biggest and best around. Covering nearly 75% of the US population already, and available in over 375 markets across the US. They’ve continued to expand and grow their network and today the FCC just issued an approval for them to snatch up even more LTE spectrum. This deal is also good news for T-Mobile.
In case you haven’t been following along with the news. Verizon was looking to purchase additional spectrum from SpectrumCo which is made up of multiple cable companies. Those include Cox Communications, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and more. All this spectrum is wasted airspace at the moment but Verizon is looking to change all that. Verizon and the cable companies aren’t the only ones this is good news for either. Verizon has been looking to sell and/or license their spectrum to multiple smaller companies including: Leap Wireless, Savary Island Wireless and T-Mobile. Yup T-Mobile will be using this purchase approval to buy and license some of Verizon’s LTE. This will help them with their slow rollout of 4G LTE in early 2013. This is a big move for all the parties involved, and that is why the FCC had to stick their nose in and approve the purchase. Verizon will be spending a small sum of around $3.9 billion worth of airwaves, and then recoup some of that with their smaller licensing deals. Hopefully this will quickly turn around into increased 4G LTE options from Verizon.
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| Amazon press event set for September 6th – Prepare for Fires Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:54 PM PDT We’re pretty sure many saw this coming, but today Amazon has issued some press invites for an upcoming media event on September 6th in California. The invite doesn’t appear to give away any hints, but the fact that they’re going out to the Android world can only mean one of a few things. Most likely consisting of Fires.
The online retailer giant launched their Kindle Fire Android tablet last year, although we’d hardly call that user interface Android. The tablet was a smashing hit coming in at just $199, but we have a feeling they are about to dive into the world of Android even further. Amazon will be playing host to the media in Santa Monica, CA, on September 5th early in the afternoon. We really have no honest clue of what to expect, but most likely it will be at least another tablet or two. When the original Fire launched there was talk about two additional sizes, and eventually a Kindle Fire 10-inch tablet too. We’ve heard chatter that Amazon could be launching an Android-powered smartphone called the Kindle Blaze — so that’s another possibility. Either way we can expect to see either a Kindle Fire refresh, a larger version, and of course some Kindle eReaders. Hopefully they bring some budget friendly yet powerful devices to the market otherwise the Nexus 7 will eat their lunch. It looks like Amazon is gearing up early for the holiday season so stay tuned. We’ll be there live!
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| Google Wallet person to person payments and more could be coming soon Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:02 PM PDT Earlier today Google hosted a little Google Wallet Q & A with their head product manager Robin Dua. This quick session was mainly for developers but we learned a few interesting facts about the future of Google Wallet. For one, they mentioned person to person payments could be in our future. More details below.
The live Google Wallet Developer Q & A is over, but you’ll be able to catch it all again on YouTube later today by clicking here. While speaking about the future of Wallet Robin Dua briefly hinted at the fact we could be seeing person to person payments in the future. This could potentially compete directly with Square mobile payments, and even Paypal. They better focus on security and privacy though. While Google Wallet is still not widely available the services it offers are awesome. Once more carriers and retail stores get on board hopefully the technology and idea behind it can gain more traction. Since Google added full support for all major credit/debit cards earlier this month I’ve probably used it 15 times. Speaking of carrier support. According to Android Police a viewer asked a question regarding the lack of penetration and why Wallet was only supported on a small number of carriers (and blocked on Verizon.) Dua responded by saying Google was in “active negotiations with a number of carriers,” and that he “hoped to have new partnerships to announce soon.” While that doesn’t mean negotiations are going well, the fact that he hopes to announce new partnerships soon could be a good sign. Currently only one major Network actually officially supports Google Wallet, and my Verizon Galaxy Nexus only works after a bit of hackery. Hopefully more details are released soon because we’d love to see Google Wallet be more widely available. [via Google Developer Blog]
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| Google Play Music updated with expandable notifications – Magazines updated too Posted: 23 Aug 2012 11:28 AM PDT Google’s been pushing out a few updates today improving some of their popular apps. Inside one of the more important apps, Google Play Music, you’ll now have full support for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean expanded notifications. This is an amazing feature and one I’m glad to see arrive for Google Music.
As you can see above, once you clear a few notifications and open up more room Google Play Music neatly expands into a full out notification with complete music controls. This makes it a breeze to quickly toggle to the next track (and now previous) with ease. I love it! We also get bigger HD album artwork in the notification pulldown tray too, so that’s a thing. That isn’t all either. Google’s updated and brought back full support for Google TV, and fixed multiple issues and bugs that were causing some issues. For those getting the new Vizio Google TV you’ll be able to enjoy your music collection with ease. This is a minor update but the expanded notifications was a biggie on our list. Lastly Google also updated their Magazines app with better home screen performance and better recognition of available space, because somehow that was an issue. Then the app has seen some performance and bug fixes specifically for the Nexus 7 tablet and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean users. Google Play Magazines should be more stable now too. Next hopefully they’ll add more content so I can get some NFL Magazines to read on my tablet. Get the new apps from their respective links below. Google Play Music link   
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