Android Community |
- HTC DLX 5-inch phablet reportedly leaks for Verizon
- LG Optimus L9 hits T-Mobile October 31 for $79.99
- Isis arrives in Salt Lake City and Austin
- LG confirms existence of LG Nexus 4
- Apps used by millions of users susceptible to email and password theft
- Samsung to say bye bye to LCD relationship with Apple
- Samsung’s flexible AMOLED delayed until 2013
- Can’t wait until October 29th? Details leak on Google’s event: LG Nexus 4, Jelly Bean 4.2 and more
- Android Community Weekly: October 21st, 2012
| HTC DLX 5-inch phablet reportedly leaks for Verizon Posted: 22 Oct 2012 10:42 AM PDT If you’ve been watching the news lately and hoping to see more of HTC’s recently announced 5-inch 1080p smartphone powerhouse you’ll want to stay tuned. This weekend the HTC 5-inch phablet reportedly leaked into the wild complete with Verizon branding and 4G LTE logos. Lets take a quick look below.
Now we know many of you were hoping this 5-inch smartphone would arrive for another carrier and not Verizon, and chances are it still could hit other carriers here in the US. Personally, we were hoping for an HTC Nexus 5 — which could potentially still be a possibility. The term HTC “DLX” or dlx has been floating around for a few weeks, and we might finally be seeing it in the flesh today. The folks from Android Central supposedly have some leaked pictures showing off the HTC J Butterfly for Verizon as the HTC DLX — pronounced Deluxe — but that could still be lowercase and stand for DROID Incredible X. The device pictured looks almost exactly the same as the Butterfly in Taiwan other than a few tweaks, and the odd square by the camera and a few changes to the rear have the images in question. Whether the photos are real or not isn’t known, but it’s pretty safe to say the DLX or Incredible X is indeed coming soon to Verizon. The specs have leaked out a few times and almost mirror the device announced by HTC late last week. That being a 5-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD SLCD 3 display. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Qualcomm’s 1.5 GHz S4 Pro quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and an 8 or 13 megapixel camera on the rear. The important thing here is according to the leak Verizon’s model will have a 2,500 mAh battery. We still aren’t sure on micro-SD support or not, but hopefully HTC will reveal the details soon. Rumors are still slating this for a mid November release date. Who’s interested?
|
| LG Optimus L9 hits T-Mobile October 31 for $79.99 Posted: 22 Oct 2012 09:44 AM PDT Today T-Mobile has confirmed when customers will be able to pickup the new budget-friendly LG Optimus L9 smartphone from the carrier. After a few leaks it was announced earlier this month by both parties. The folks from T-Mobile have just confirmed October 31st the smartphone will be in stores and online.
It looks like T-Mobile is aiming for the budget crowd with this new LG smartphone, both in specs and pricing. The Optimus L9 comes complete with a 4.5-inch qHD 540×960 resolution IPS display, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. With the L9 user will get the high end looks of LG’s recent smartphones, with specs to offer it at a competitive price. Other specs include a 1.0 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, 1GB of RAM to keep things smooth and speedy, 8GB of internal storage and micro-SD support. Then as far as cameras you’ll be working with a 5 megapixel shooter on the rear, and 1.3 front for self portraits and video chat. Battery life should be great with a 2,150 mAh battery under the hood. Starting October 31st the Optimus L9 on T-Mobile can be yours for just $79.99 after a $50 mail in rebate and a new 2-year contract. Alternatively T-Mobile is also offering their equipment installment plan where customers can pay $49 up front then $15 monthly for the device over the next 20 months — but that is on top of your regular monthly phone bill. Head to a T-Mobile store near you come October 31st to check out this new budget option. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
 Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
|
| Isis arrives in Salt Lake City and Austin Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:32 AM PDT If you’ve been closely watching the development of Isis Mobile Wallet, you’ll be pleased to know that the service launched in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas today. Even better is the news that nine handsets are supporting Isis from the start, so you’ve got some options when it comes to picking an Isis-ready phone. Since Isis is a team up between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, all you need to do is stop in at one of their stores and pick up your Isis-supported handset (provided you live in Salt Lake City or Austin, of course).
Along with the nine Isis-supported handsets that are available today, 11 more should be launching in next couple of months, meaning that there will be 20 Isis-ready phones by the end of the year. That certainly isn’t bad, and it shows that the people behind Isis are serious about getting the service supported. They’re going to need that support too, as Isis will be going head-to-head with Google Wallet. Of course, the fact that your phone supports Isis doesn’t much matter if there aren’t any retailers that actually let you pay with the service. Luckily, the announcement today claims that there are “hundreds” of locations around Austin and Salt Lake City that are ready to accept your Isis payment – a full list of retailers can be found at the official Isis site. Isis will work with your American Express, Capital One, or Chase credit cards, and you’ll even get a $10 Isis card when you activate your wallet. You’ll get another $15 on the house when you make the Isis card reloadable (presumably by putting more money on it). The Isis launch will definitely be exciting for some, but so far, mobile payments are having a hard time winning over consumers. Perhaps with this Isis push and the “rise” of Google Wallet, more consumers will begin adopting mobile as a way to pay for their purchases? We personally love the idea, but we’ll have to wait and see if it takes off with mainstream consumers. Stay tuned.
|
| LG confirms existence of LG Nexus 4 Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:24 AM PDT Earlier today, we reported that the details from Google’s event have come out, and among that news was the LG Nexus 4. Well, to go along with that LG has confirmed the existence of the device. They also confirmed that Google will be announcing the device, and most of the details that go along with it, at the press event on October 29.
“Google will unveil the LG Nexus on October 29 and the phone will be available in the Indian markets by the end of November,” LG Mobile Product Planning head Amit Gujral said. His quote did not confim release timing for regions outside India, but we are quite sure Google will announce that information at the upcoming event. The LG executive also talked about some of the specifications of the device, and they definitely match up with the reports we’ve been hearing over the last couple of weeks. It will have a 4.7-inch screen, as we expected. He also confirmed that the device will run Android 4.2 and have a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. There are plenty of other rumors on the specs for this device. We’ve heard 2GB of RAM, a 1280×768 resolution, an 8-megapixel camera, and a non-removable battery. The rest of these rumors will come to an end on the 29th, and of course, we will keep you posted on everything that happens at the event as it happens. [via IBN Live]
|
| Apps used by millions of users susceptible to email and password theft Posted: 22 Oct 2012 07:34 AM PDT A new security breach has been found in many Android apps that could compromise users’ email accounts, bank information, and social networking credentials. The cause of this is inadequate encryption protections, according to a new research study. This could cause some serious security concerns for users of these apps.
The researchers said that Google could take steps to prevent this from happening, but they did not say whether any of the apps in question were developed by Google directly. They did say that in their testing they were able to get “bank account information, payment credentials for PayPal, American Express and others.” They were also able to get access to “Facebook, email and cloud storage credentials and messages . . . access to IP cameras was gained and control channels for apps and remote servers.” The researches downloaded 13,500 free apps from Google Play to perform its testing. Unfortunately, without specific apps listed, it’s hard for Android users to know which apps they should worry about. There’s no guarantee that your information will be compromised even if you use these apps, but it certainly something to keep your eye on when using an app that requires access to your private information. [via ArsTechnica]
|
| Samsung to say bye bye to LCD relationship with Apple Posted: 22 Oct 2012 07:01 AM PDT Samsung and Apple have what could be described as a rocky relationship. One of them is suing the other for one reason or another once a week, or so it seems. Well now, it seems that Samsung is cutting the one friendly relationship with Apple they had left. They have decided to discontinue the LCD supplier relationship they had with Apple starting next year.
Samsung is making up for the loss with its consumer electronics division and from selling LCDs to Amazon. The sales from these should keep Samsung plenty busy, and easily fill the void from the relationship with Apple, who has been getting many of its screens from LG and Sharp recently anyway. Of course, Samsung also has plenty of its own devices to make screens for, such as the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. With the last friendly part of Samsung and Apple’s relationship coming to a close, let’s just hope the patent lawsuits don’t go to another level. It should be interesting to see where the Samsung and Apple relationship goes over the coming months, especially into next year when they are no longer working together for LCDs. We will keep you posted on all things Samsung and Apple as it happens. [via TechCrunch]
|
| Samsung’s flexible AMOLED delayed until 2013 Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:30 AM PDT Samsung has decided to push back its new flexible AMOLED displays. Samsung is seeing so much success with its traditional glass AMOLED displays, they don’t seem too concerned with getting the flexible screens to market quickley. During production, Samsung ran into some mass production problems, which made it impossible for them to hit the previously hinted at Q3 2012 release originally hinted at.
In fact, production of glass displays is actually one of the reasons for the delay in the flexible screens. Samsung is hoping to increase production from around 56,000 units per month to 64,000 units. Obviously, Samsung will have to redirect much of its resources to plastic, which is the material used to make the flexible AMOLED displays. Obviously, Samsung could do some creative things with a flexible display. It does not seem as though they are planning to make phones that bend in half. One possible use for the bending screens is having the display wrap around the top, so users could look at the time and other information while the phone is still sitting in their pocket. Hopefully, Samsung gets these screens in production soon, because they could open up some awesome doors for smartphones that we have not seen before. [via SlashGear]
|
| Can’t wait until October 29th? Details leak on Google’s event: LG Nexus 4, Jelly Bean 4.2 and more Posted: 22 Oct 2012 05:36 AM PDT October 29 is right around the corner, and all will be revealed from Google. Actually, it looks like all has been revealed a little sooner, at least according to TheNextWeb. It looks like many of the rumors we’ve been reporting over the last couple weeks are actually true, which always makes us happy.
It also appears that Google will be announcing a new 10-inch Samsung tablet. This tablet, which has been code named “Manta,” is expected to use a 2560 x 1600 display. We assume the name will be changed to Nexus, to keep with the naming conventions users are accustomed to. The leaked plans include the 32GB Nexus 7, which may well be the worst kept secret in the history of technology. It seems like everyone and their mother knew this device existed, but Google will make it official on the 29th. What we did not hear nearly as much about is the 3G version of the Nexus 7, but it appears as though Google will announce that as well. We will have to wait until the event to find out what Google will offer in terms of data plans for this 3G version of its tablet. [via SlashGear]
|
| Android Community Weekly: October 21st, 2012 Posted: 21 Oct 2012 02:46 PM PDT Welcome to another Android Community weekly wrap-up of everything that mattered to us in the world of Android news. Where do we start? It was another hectic and exciting week in Android news, and next week will be even crazier. We’ll start with Google, since they had two major bits of news. The first being Google’s officially scheduled an Android event for October 29th, so be ready for some Android 4.2 and Nexus news next Monday. Read on below for the rest from Google, HTC, Motorola and more.
Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has been in the news all week. We expect it to be one of the many bits Google will release to all us Android fans come the 29th. We’ve basically confirmed a 32GB Nexus 7 is $249, replacing the 16GB model, which will hopefully drop to $199 and knock off that 8GB model that is too short on storage. Then there’s a major possibility of a 3G HSPA+ Nexus 7 for $299 or $349 — but you’ll just have to wait and see. As we said on Friday, Google’s Nexus 7 is poised to take on the iPad Mini. Oh and while we’re talking about the Nexus tablet lineup. Google’s getting ready to drop a Samsung made ultra-HD 2560×1600 resolution Nexus 10 — and it’s even out in the wild being tested.
In other Android news Motorola and HTC both had exciting weeks. The Motorola RAZR HD finally hit Verizon shelves, and you’ll want to check out our RAZR HD Review. If you’re debating the RAZR HD, the MAXX HD, or even the budget RAZR M you certainly should take a peek at our full comparison. Speaking of Motorola, all their recently launched devices have root access. Good stuff right? Then for the bad stuff — Motorola announced what devices won’t see Jelly Bean right here. While we’re on the Jelly Bean topic, Sony also announced their Jelly Bean update timeline. At the same time even more international Galaxy S III’s are getting the Jelly Bean update too. Now lets talk about the next juicy bit of hardware we are all patiently waiting to arrive — and that is HTC’s new phablet. HTC officially announced the J Butterfly 5-inch 1920x1080p full HD smartphone. It is a 5-inch powerhouse with a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and basically top of the line everything. Immediately the HTC Nexus 5 rumors appeared — and eclipsed the LG Nexus 4. Now before we end there’s a few little tidbits that were also worth a quick mention. ISIS Mobile Wallet is officially coming October 22nd (tomorrow) and we reviewed the Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL and that’s worth a quick look too, even though it isn’t available stateside. Google released a Samsung made and Exynos 5 dual Cortex-A15 powered Google Chromebook for $249 — which is making a splash for the price — and SlashGear has a full review. Last but certainly not least, Angry Birds Star Wars is coming early November. Just for fun check out this StormTrooper teaser video. Next week we have tons of events coming up that may impact Android. While we try to focus on Android news here at Android Community, it’s worth noting that we keep an eye on the competition. The iPad Mini, Windows Phone 8, and multiple Win 8 tablets are all having big days this coming week. Don’t worry though, Google’s 29th event will take care of business. Stay tuned and get excited guys!
|
| 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