Showing posts with label android. Show all posts
Showing posts with label android. Show all posts

Wednesday 4 September 2013

One Touch Hero Unveiled

Alcatel's One Touch Scribe HD has been replaced with a newer sibling. The One Touch Hero.

The Android 4.2 smartphone upgrades to a 6-inch 1080p LCD screen, and gives a choice of optional cover accessories that enhance the pretty big display.

An E-Ink cover for example, lets owners read books without using the power-hungry main screen. There's also a wireless charging cover available and a MagicFlip cover for LED notifications. Even without those extra bits, the Hero is a hell of a lot more powerful than its Scribe HD predecessor. It carries a faster 1.5GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM, a sharper 13-megapixel rear camera, an improved 2-megapixel front shooter and either 8GB or 16GB of expandable storage.

For those interested, the One Touch Hero will be available in October in the "high-end" price band. According to stats, this wont be the best on the market as the galaxy S4 has a whopping 1.9Ghz processor but to get a truthful comparison we will have to wait till it comes out. However, it does look much nicer than the S4 and will probably gain sales because of that.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Pressy, "The Almighty Android Button"

Most famous Kickstarter campaigns all share some crazy high of raising outlandish sums of money to create some next gen android consoley shit and it takes months or years to get to the target. Well, Pressy still had a pretty high goal of $40,000 (£25,682) managed to get an outstanding $60,000 (£38,523) in one day alone.

Yes. They destroyed their goal by over £10,000 in one, single day.

So, why all the hype?  Pressy is an accessory that plugs into the 3.5mm headphone jack on your phone, giving you the ability to “perform your favourite and most common actions with a simple, intuitive physical button.” The free Pressy application that comes with it allows you to configure custom actions based on a variety of button press sequences. Using Pressy, you could launch your camera and take a picture with two short presses of the button, or call your mates with one short press and two long presses. If like me, you use headphones with your headphone port, fear not. The Pressy app can also be used with the in-line button on your headphones. So it also works as an app for use with headphones, wonderful.
      
All of the “early bird” Kickstarter deals for Pressy have already sold out, but you can still grab one for as little as a tenner. With so much funding, the Nimrod Back team should have no issues getting the product manufactured in the 4 month time-frame they have set for themselves.

The currently have 16,135 backers, £245,969 raised and 41 days to go! If you would like to back the project click here to get to the Kickstarter page

Saturday 31 August 2013

BlackBerry Prematurely Announce Multidevice BBM Release

Yes. BlackBerry have made the ultimate noob move. They successfully managed to state the release of the Android and iOS BBM apps before they become available.

There are 2 things to gain from this. First of all, this gives the impression they have successfully made either one or both of the apps and they will be released soon and a friendly reminder that BlackBerry are very bad at everything. Unless they are purposely building up hype but I don't think that's the case.

So yeah, just thought id let you know this happened. BYE!

JUST SO YOU KNOW: This was first discovered by CrackBerry

Thursday 29 August 2013

New Z1 Trailer Released by Xperia to Give us a Nice Peek

The Xperia Z1 hasn't really caught my eye but it seems that completely leaking your new device before you even launch it is the way firsts. In this treat from Sony, we get a teaser video for the device that shows off almost the entire phone.

The all revealing video shows off the crazy ass 20MP camera with a Sony G lens and circular power button on the side. Another nice touch is the dedicated camera button. So any instagram hipsters and photo happy people should be pleased as these buttons have disappeared throughout the evolution of phones.

Looking at the design of the phone, it seems it has a glass back (this is often used to make your phone look and feel more expensive). Seeing as the phone is submerged in water at one point, it appears the Xperia Z1 will be just as waterproof as the Z model.

So you can see why I have turned a blind eye to this but the post felt necessary so there you go. The video is somewhere in this post if you want it.

Monday 20 May 2013

BBM For Android and Apple??

Hey Guys,

What are your thoughts on BlackBerry? Boring? Not innovative? Only good for BBM?

Well that will change soon..
Last week at BlackBerry Live, CEO Thorsten Heins announced that they will be making BBM available to download for Android and iOS devices. This basically means that BlackBerry is just turning BBM into a WhatsApp or Kik messenger service.

Heins tries to rectify his decision in saying that it is a "state of confidence" and “The BB10 platform is so strong and the response has been so good that the time is right for BBM to become an independent mobile messaging platform.”

The app will be free on both Android and iOS. Much like other messaging apps, it will be a standalone application. iOS 6 or Ice Cream Sandwich will be required.

To begin with, the app will only offer basic messaging and group features. But Heins promises that the rest of BBM will eventually make its way to the Android and iOS versions including screen sharing, BBM voice and the just-announced BBM channels.

Heins proudly stated "We are making the BBM platform more powerful than ever!" but he is obviously an idiot because people only buy BlackBerry's because of it's quick messaging and the BBM service. 

I will obviously downloading this app because it will support my argument in saying BlackBerry phones are pointless and only have the ability to browse and chat, making them an average instead of Smartphone. 

There is still no sign of BBM on Windows Phone but no doubt, they just forgot about it. It is likely that the Windows OS will soon have an app.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts and your opinions by commenting below. 

Thursday 25 April 2013

Larry Page Confirms that Android Run's Google Glass



Hey Guys,

I have more beautiful Google Glass news!

So, recent interview, Google’s very own Larry Page has confirmed that Google Glass definitely runs the Android operating system. While it was widely assumed so, an almost obvious to me, no official confirmation has been made until now. While it is a modified version of Android, it is nice to showcase the immense flexibility of Google’s operating system and it’s diversity in cross-platform.
You might be thinking, what is the relevance of this? Well, integration with Glass and your Android powered smartphone or any other device would be incredibly easy and most likely recommended.

So everyone, does this confirmation make you guys any more excited for Google’s Glass’ impending release? If so share you point of view in the comments below!!

Friday 5 April 2013

Galaxy S4 Up For Preorder

Hey Guys,

The Samsung Galaxy S4 doesn’t hit the shelves until the 26th April, but if you just can’t wait to get hold of the full HD, turbo-charged Android smartphone, there's some good news for you; it’s now up for pre-order with your network of choice.

Vodafone, EE and Three have all now made the Samsung Galaxy S4 available for pre-order, as have stores Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U, and you can predict that O2 won’t be far behind.

Each network are trying to give their own offers with it: EE is providing accessory packs worth £55 thrown in for pre-orderers, while Phones4U is offering up to £100 in Google Play vouchers for those who opt for a Samsung Galaxy S4 on EE 4G through the store. I would go for the Phones4U deal.

If you can cope without 4G super speeds (or you don’t yet live in an area with LTE coverage), the best deal so far is with Three, which is offering a free Samsung Galaxy S4 on a two year contract for £35 per month, with unlimited data, 500 minutes and 5,000 text messages. That offer is crazy!!

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is shaping up to be a true iPhone slayer, with a massive 1080p screen, quad-core processor and 13 megapixel camera, plus the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on board!

What is your opinion on the best deal? Share your opinions in the comments below!

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Alternatives to Google Reader



Google has announced the closure of Google Reader and we need to find an alternative to read RSS feeds. After my research, I have narrowed down the top 3!!

Feedly!

Feedly is an RSS Reader for the Google Chrome browser, as well as, iOS and Android platforms. 
Much like Google Reader, Feedly allows you to sort your feeds, use keyboard shortcuts and share stories to friends via Facebook and Twitter. This also has an auto "mark as read" feature. Below will be a first look at Feedly in the form as a video. Carry on reading for more alternatives.


Pulse is a picture based reader where the first thing you see is a picture from the post and a title. When reviewing it didnt work and you were unable to change the layout and I couldnt import my Google Reader data. Carry on reading to see the last alternative.







The Old Reader is designed to look like the old Google Reader, this is perfect if you prefer the retro over the modern look. The only problem is, it doesn't yet have a mobile app, but they are working on it. Another major flaw is that since the announcement of Google Reader shutting down it no longer works properly, so my review of The Old Reader is actually a tutorial of how to export subscriptions on Google Reader found here.


Wednesday 6 March 2013

YouTube for Android Updated!!



Hey Guys,

The YouTube app for Android was updated recently and along with it came some long awaited features. One of these features includes Google+ integration that allow users to +1 videos from within the app itself. You can now pause and skip videos in your playlist via through the notification bar. This is most useful for the Smart TV app for YouTube. I would am also very happy to reveal that the full screen button bug has been fixed!!

So, If you haven’t already, click the link here and update your YouTube app now. OR if preferred use the QR code below


QRCode

Google Play Celebrates It's First Birthday! Free and Discounted Downloads For Everyone!!

Hey Guys,

It has been a whole year since the Google Play Store first got it's new name from Android Market exactly 1 year ago.

Back when it was called the Android Market, it only offered Games and Apps with a not so amazing UI. Google Play now has a great new UI and has allowed us to purchase films, books, music and even devices. It has definitely caught up with Apple's iTunes and will go beyond

To celebrate, Google are offering an assortion of party favors throughout the week, basically more cheap stuff. Unfortunately, unlike in the US, there are only 12 discounts available in the UK, but that may be only for today.

To join the party get most discounted apps, books, films and games Click Here. Or for exclusive free games, Click Here

There is also a celebration video below! (Which was only released one hour ago)




Monday 18 February 2013

Samsung Officially Sends Out Jelly Bean Update to Jelly Bean via Kies or OTA

Hello Everyone!

I was unable to post last week as I had been too busy, but here is a positive post for you to enjoy!

It's been a long time but Android 4.1.2 has finally arrived for the phone that began the whole ''half phone, half tablet'' malarky. The original  Samsung Galaxy Note. The Jelly Bean update brings a number of improvements to the first phablet, with a brand new Nature UX UI that will help it look and feel more like the sequel phone. It'll also get features such as Multi-Window, Page Buddy, Smart Rotation and the awesome Google Now.

The update will roll out in phases depending on your country or carrier and is available via Kies or OTA.

Any opinions on this article? Do you have any news suggestions? Please comment or contact me via the Facebook page, my Twitter page or the Google+ page

Don't worry, I will post about Blackberry 10 and PS4 rumours when I have time to do an in-depth post!

Saturday 9 February 2013

ASUS Released 7-inch MeMO Pad Last Month.

Hey Guys,

7-Inch tablets seem to be coming out all the time. After the Nexus, all of the tablet manufacturers have been jumping on the small, more convenient tablet trend.

Asus released a 7-Inch Tablet called the MeMO Pad last month. It's quite a reasonable little device for only £149. Anything special here? No. Apart from the very nice price.

It will feature a 7-inch (1024 x 600) display, 1GHz CPU, Mali-400 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 8 or 16GB of storage, microSD slot, 1MP front camera, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The only really bad thing, apart from the display, is that the battery only lasts for 7 hours.

Below is a trailer for the device and some specs if you are interested. Click here to visit the Official page.


  • Operating System
    AndroidTM 4.1
  • Display
    7" LED Backlight WSVGA (1024x600) Screen
  • CPU
    VIA WM8950
  • Memory
    1G
  • Storage
    8GB/16GB *1
    5GB Life Time ASUS Webstorage Space *2
  • Wireless Data Network
    WLAN 802.11 b/g/n@2.4GHz
  • Camera
    1 MP Front Camera
  • Audio
    Hi-Definition Audio CODEC
    High Quality Speaker
  • Interface
    1 x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic-in)
    1 x micro USB
    1 x Micro SD Card Reader(SDHC)
  • Sensor
    G-sensor
  • Application
    ASUS launcher
    MyLibrary
    MyCloud
    asus webstorage
    File manager
    ASUS sync
    SuperNote Lite
    App Locker
    App Backup
  • Battery
    7 hours; 16Wh Li-polymer Battery *3
  • Color
    Sugar White/Titanium Gray/Cherry Pink
  • Dimensions
    196.2 x 119.2 x 11.2 mm
  • Weight
    358 g
  • Note
    *1: May vary by SKU and country.
    *2: Please visit www.asuswebstorage.com for more details.
    *3: Battery life tested under power saving mode, playing 720p video playback, Brightness:100nits, default volume with headphones.

Friday 21 December 2012

Ouya! to Arrive on Time

Hey Guys,

I'm in IT and I've got no work to do so I have time on here.

If you can remember, I wrote an article about the andorid based video games console, Ouya. The firm behind it have announced that it will be released on time! It should be out for the 28th! after Christmas but still awesome!!

The project started in July this year and has had a kickstarter page since then. The have successfully managed to raise $8,596,474 with 63,416 backers! Since the console is powered by Android, it will also run all the programs and applications a tablet or smartphone can, but even better. It already has its own line up of games!! The have also revealed it will run on JellyBean!!
The special thing about Ouya! is that it comes with a development kit to create your own games, also known as the ODK. They will also have a game hub set up where everyone who wants to share their games can do so on a massive comimunity.

Backers who threw in a pledge of more than $699 (£437) get access to the first-round of Ouya shipments so they can be first to have a play with the ODK. They also get an extra help advertising their games for a year, and a founder emblem to mark their game!

I am looking forward to this is it will only cost about £60! To read my original post click here!

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Friday 7 December 2012

Archos GamePad: the Handheld Android Game Console

Hey Guys,

The Archos Gamepad, an the second android based console. And  ideal Christmas present for only £129.98

Unlike the Xperia Play, the Archos Gamepad is a tablet and has only just been released. So it would be unfair to compare the two.

The GamePad aims to bring classic control systems to modern mobile gaming rather than a touch screen. This bad boy has a 7-inch 1024 x 600 (169.55 PPI") five-point capacitive screen to work with its 16 physical buttons and dual analogue sticks. You can also get up to 9 hours of battery life, about average for a 7-inch tablet.

The Archos GamePad is as much a tablet as a gaming device. It runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) for tablets, it therefore includes all the improvements that came with the Jelly Bean update, including even smoother interface animations, voice assistant and Google Now that shows you the right information at the right time.

Since there will be a requirement for 3D games, a powerful graphics card and processor is necessary, the Archos GamePad uses a super-powerful quad-core Mali-400 MP4 GPU and a 1.6GHz Dual Core CPU. More than enough power for even the most graphically stunning 3D games and casual browsing.

Coming with 8GB of internal memory, the Archos GamePad can accept micro-SD cards of up to 64 GB. The ARCHOS GamePad also has a mini-HDMI port so you can plug it into your TV and enjoy your games up on the big screen. Sounds a bit like Wii U.

Strangely, the UK is the only place to be getting it at the moment. The United States will have to wait a year.

This is a much better alternative to the crappy iPad Mini, with the Android OS, the graphics, the gaming standards. Great! If you still want to find out more visit the Archos website or read the Tech Specs Below!

Tech Specs

Display• 7’’: 1024x600 capacitive 5 points multitouch screen
Application Framework• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Processor• ARM CORTEXTM dual-core A9 @ 1.6GHz
• GPU quad-core Mali 400 MP
• 3D OpenGL (ES 2.0)
Capacity• Flash Memory: 8GB* + microSD Slot (SDHC compatible up to 32GB)
RAM• 1GB RAM
Video playback1• H.264 HD (up to 1080p@30 fps)
• MPEG-42 HD (up to 1080p@30 fps)
• With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, MKV, FLV
Audio Playback1• MP3
• WAV (PCM/ADPCM)
• AAC3, AAC+ 5.13
• OGG Vorbis
• FLAC
Photo viewer4• JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
Webcam• Front camera
Interfaces• USB 2.0: Mobile Transfer Protocol (MTP)
• microSD (SDHC compatible)
• mini HDMI output6(Mini HDMI / HDMI cable sold separately)
Wireless technologies• Wi-Fi
Miscellaneous• Built-in speaker
• G-sensor
• Built-in Microphone
Power source• Internal: Lithium Polymer battery
• External: Power adapter/charger
Dimensions & weight• 229.8 x 118.7mm x 15.4mm (9’’x 4.6’’x 0.6’’)
• 330g (11.6 oz)
Software update• Updates can be downloaded at www.archos.com
Minimum system requirements• Microsoft® Windows® 7, Vista, XP, or higher and Windows Media Player 11
• Mac OS. X with Transfer Files application (not included)
• Linux with android MTP tool (not included)
• USB 2.0 interface


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Friday 2 November 2012

Google Reveals the Nexus 4 Avaliable for the 13th

Hey Guys!

Google has officially revealed the highly anticipated LG Nexus 4 over on the Play Store, boasting wireless charging capabilities and the latest version of Android Jelly Bean (version 4.2). Before you get confused, I would like to point out that it is a phone and not a tablet!

It will be sold as an 8GB version for £239 and a 16GB version for £279 on November 13 from the offical Play Store. It will be unlocked and without a contract, with first availability for customers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada.

The Nexus 4, along with the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, will all run Android version 4.2. It includes a new “Photo Sphere” feature, which allows users to capture images that the company says “are literally larger than life”. It essentially means that users can stitch photographs not only from left to right for panoramic images, but up and down too to create stunning 360-degree images. Google says any “Photo Sphere” can then be uploaded to Google+ or added to Google Maps. (Sounds a bit Appleish). It will also have Google Now!

There is a promotional vid below for all new three tablet sizes, the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. With the specs below that



The Specs are below...

Tech Specs

SCREEN
4.7" diagonal
1280 x 768 pixel resolution (320 ppi)
WXGA IPS
Corning(R) Gorilla(R) Glass 2
CPU
Qualcomm Snapdragon(TM) S4 Pro
SIZE
133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm
WEIGHT
139g
CAMERAS
8 MP (main)
1.3 MP (front)
NETWORK
Unlocked GSM/UMTS/HSPA+
GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz)
HSPA+ 42
MEMORY
8 GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)
2 GB RAM
CONNECTIVITY
Micro USB
SlimPort HDMI
3.5mm headphone jack
WIRELESS
Wireless charging
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
NFC (Android Beam)
Bluetooth
BATTERY
2,100 mAh Lithium polymer
OS
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
SENSORS
Microphone
Accelerometer
Compass
Ambient light
Gyroscope
Barometer
GPS

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Wednesday 31 October 2012

Lots of Droid News Today

Hey Guys,

Earlier this week there was quite a bit of Apple news, now there's a lot of Android news (haven't got to Microsoft yet)

But yeah, I thought I'd let you know. (There is no coincidence that one day I focused on Apple and the today I'm focusing on Android

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Tuesday 30 October 2012

Control Your Xbox With Your Phone

Hey Guys,

Xbox Smartglass is a genius app/program, made by Microsoft, avaliable for controlling your Xbox which can be used on your computer, phone or tablet, has arrived on Android. This means you can easily control your Xbox even when you're away.

Head on over to the Google Play store and you’ll see the app for Android available as a free download (Nothing known yet on the iPhone equivalent, I don't think it should be much further away). It works in much the same way as it does on Windows 8 and Windows 8 tablets: you can launch any of your apps and control them as long as you’re connected to the same network as the Xbox. You can also see second screen information about videos on supported apps, like actors on screen and more. 

Unfortunately, it will only work on Android phones running Android 4.0 with a screen resolution of 800×480 or higher. If you're lucky you may get a special review...


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Thursday 25 October 2012

Google Now! (This isn't something new)

Hey Guys,

This isn't really news since this is quite old but I only noticed it's existence today. Google Now is something included with Android Jelly Bean, it is a quick way of finding out necessary information from the weather to sport or finding a restaurant. These different uses are called "cards". There are only 10 cards avaliable at the moment but they will add more soon enough.

Here is a video made be Google which is a simple explanation:

It's a bit like Siri

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Samsung Confirms Jelly Bean Update for Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1 Before End of Year

Hey Guys,

Samsung Sweden has announced a bunch of Jelly Bean updates, for a range of devices: the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Note (original) and Galaxy Note 10.1. According to the official statement, all three devices are due to receive the upgrade to Android 4.1 before the end of the year.

The S2 will see the update in November, while the Note and Note 10.1 are both slated to get the firmware upgrade at some point in Winter, (the website said Q4, but im not sure what that means.) All updates will be available OTA via the Samsung’s  Kies app. Of course, this announcement applies only to Sweden-specific devices but it is almost certain that after this it will be released in the UK or the US.

Just incase you are unsure what the update will bring, Jelly Bean with give you:
- Better performance, thanks to Project Butter it’s even smoother and faster
- Reorganized settings menu
- 2 Home screen modes
- New Notifications bar
- Google Now
- Sizable Pop-up play screen

Source: SamMobile

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Who Needs a DS When You Have Meep!



Hey Guys!

Most people during the time of Christmas would spend a £150 of their money on the latest model of the DS for their 10 year old child.

Well you can throw that silly idea away because Oregon Scientific has designed a new tablet designed just for kids. Which has an estimated retail price of £92.00 (Converted from dollars).

The tablet has been named Meep! It consists of a 7-inch screen, 4GB internal storage, a 1.0GHz Cortex A8 processor with 512MB RAM, WiFi connectivity, a 0.3mpx camera and it also runs on android 4.0! And as you'd expect, it is very rugged and has a silicon case on the outside for extra grip.

If as a parent you are worried about your kids going wild with internet and supper happy fun time, there are easy to use parental controls. You can observe websites visited, games played set time limits and much more all from your phone or internet device without even touching it! There is also an allowance setting on the Meep app store to make sure your child doesnt overspend.

There are also tons of accessories! For more information CLICK HERE or watch the following video

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