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Saturday 13 July 2013

ANDROID NEWS



Smartphones

Run Sense 5, AOSP on HTC One with MoDaCo.SWITCH

A lot of HTC owners now face a difficult choice between Sense 5 and an AOSP ROM. Now that the Google Play edition device is out, the stock ROM has been ported to the retail HTC One, enabling users to flash either ROM at their leisure. But what if we told you that you can have both? MoDaCo.SWITCH was created to give you just that.
While a simple dual boot would be cool, MoDaCo.SWITCH is so much cooler. Not only can you switch between an AOSP ROM and the European 4.2.2 Sense 5 ROM with a reboot, your data is shared between the ROMs. So, if you install an app in one ROM it will show up, data and all, in the other. You’ll no longer have to back up and restore incessantly to keep your data consistent.
The video is simply a demo; SWITCH is not released yet. However, once it completes the testing phase, it’ll be released as a public beta. Then you’ll be able to try it out for yourself! Of course, modding your phone always poses a bit of danger, so it should be done at your own risk. Are you HTC One owners excited?
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Moto X to have custom backs of plastic, wood, ceramic and more


More Moto X news is flowing in this morning. Many of you fondly know Taylor Wimberly as the founder of Android and Me, and lately he’s been on a roll with Moto X leaks. Today he posted another morsel of information to Google+ regarding the customization options of the Moto X. He reports that the curved design of the phone is “engineered from ground up for personalization.” And while we’ve heard for a long time now that the backplate will be customizable, he shared a couple of new options about what materials it could be made of.
Taylor is reporting that, while plastic is the standard material for the Moto X, a wood backplate option will also be available at launch. He says that after the initial launch date (August 23) options for metal, ceramics and fabrics should also become available. We’ve heard about plastic, metal and wood, but both the ceramic and fabric options are new. He also mentioned that AT&T has something exclusive regarding the launch of the Moto X. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know what kind exactly that might be.
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Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, dials on the yet to be released Google produced Moto X phone at the annual Allen and Co. conference in Sun Valley

Top 10 Android app updates this week: Tumblr, Google Maps, Fitbit


Top 10 Android app updates this week: Tumblr, Google Maps, Fitbit

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Welcome back to our weekly Top 10 Android App Updates column, where we take a look at the most upgraded apps for the week. I’ve found that one of the best ways to discover useful apps is to look at what people are actually updating, not focus on which apps have the most installs. As in the past, we’re going to filter out minor updates for the super popular apps that have over 10 million installs, but I’m going to make an exception for apps that had significant updates. I hope you enjoy this weekly feature and discover some apps that you might find useful.
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    Most Tweeted This Week

Eric Schmidt spotted using Moto X

While we all wait anxiously for Motorola to simply get down to business and release the Moto X, today we have some new pictures of the device in the hands of none other than Eric Schmidt, executive chairman at Google. While his hand is covering up a bit of the phone in pretty much every picture, they’re still very sharp and clear and give us a good view of what the production model of the Moto X might look like.
In the photos, Schmidt is using a Moto X with a white back, which is obviously a good choice for one of the customizable backs of the phone. The device looks to have a rounded back with the headphone jack placed on the top of the phone. The camera placement is like that of the Galaxy S4 with the lens above the flash. What appears to be a speaker is next to the camera lens, and the whole back seems to have some sort of textured pattern that actually looks very nice. I’m not sure if I’m the only one who thinks this, but the phone appears to follow a few of the same design cues as the HTC One. The curvature of the back, the round camera lens placed in the center and the simple manufacturer logo placed on the middle of the backplate all exude a bit of the same look the One has.
Ceck out the gallery below to see different angles of the phone. You can also follow the link to Insider Images for a few more shots of the device. What these pictures pretty much confirm is that the Moto X is indeed nearing launch and is a good enough phone for the executive chairman of Google to use. That’s certainly saying something, and it builds the hype for the phone even further.
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Business Leaders Meet In Sun Valley, Idaho For Allen And Co. Annual Conference

Sprint unveils new plans with “Unlimited Guarantee”

All the other carriers have announced plan changes, and Sprint didn’t want to be left out. Today, Sprint announced two new plans, both of which, you’ll be happy to hear, include unlimited data. Both plans include what Sprint is calling their Unlimited Guarantee, meaning Sprint can’t take away your unlimited talk, text and data for the entire life of your account. Even if your two-year contract has run out and Sprint decides to make radical changes to its plans, you won’t lose your unlimited plan.
The first plan is called Unlimited My Way and offers an experience that’s comparable to AT&T’s and Verizon’s shared data/family plans. You can put up to ten lines on one plan with unlimited talk to any number, mobile or otherwise, as well as unlimited texting. From there you can choose your data options. For $30 per month, you can get unlimited data for smartphones, and if you’re still rocking a feature phone, then the price is only $10 per month for unlimited data. If you don’t want unlimited data, you can choose 1GB of data for $20 per month. You can also forgo data altogether, but we don’t know why you’d want to do that.
The second plan is called My All-In, and it’s designed for individual lines. For $110 per month, you get unlimited talk, text and data and a full 5GB of mobile hotspot usage. That’s a pretty sick deal for what you’re getting. Sprint also threw together some comparisons regarding this plan. The My All-In plan will save you $240 per year over Verizon and $120 a year over both AT&T and T-Mobile.
The only thing about this announces is that it suggests Sprint is looking to drop unlimited data in the future. If it wasn’t, then there would be absolutely no reason to guarantee the company won’t take it away later. On the flip side, these new plans are really good deals. If you live in an area that’s covered by Sprint’s 4G LTE network, you should take a long, hard look at these plans.
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Pebble announces 275,000 smartwatches preordered

Pebble has set itself up as the smart device to beat this year. Just announced today, preorders for the Pebble smartwatch have topped 275,000, and watch app downloads have topped one million; An amazing feat for a small company started on Kickstarter.
Rumors that everyone from Google to Apple will be releasing their own smartwatch this year are old news, but Pebble has a huge head start. Despite production and distribution problems, Pebble has managed to snag 275,000 preorders for their e-ink smartwatch. 85,000 of those preorders are from Kickstarter, all of which should be fulfilled this week, and 190,000 come from after the Kickstarter campaign closed. Online orders combined with a growing retail presence has put Pebble in a dominating position in the market, one they’re not going to squander.
Along with detailing just how successful their smartwatch has been, Pebble also announced today that it is fully committed to providing a robust ecosystem of apps, doing what is takes to foster development for their platform. This includes giving developers “deeper” access to all of the Pebble smartwatch’s features, making apps more functional and unique.
For major companies coming looking to enter the smartwatch this race this year, finding the winning recipe that lead to the overwhelming success of Pebble is going to be hard to pin-point, but there are plenty of reasons to love the watch. Low maintenance with infrequent charging intervals, a relatively inexpensive price, cross-platform compatibility and a wide variety of apps are just a few reasons why people love Pebble. Now that the Pebble smartwatch has gathered steam, it’s going to be hard to slow it down.
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Google One Today charity app for Android now available in US

Quite a while ago, Google released an app called One Today. it was an app that had a new charitable cause every day and allowed you to donate a dollar or more to those causes. The app describes the charity of the day and tells you where your money will be going. Out of all the money donated, Google takes a 1.9% fee. However, the app could only be accessed by those who requested an invite. That changes today.
All residents of the US can freely download the app without any sort of invite and get their charity on. You can post your donations on Google+ and make it social, encouraging others to donate to a good cause. Plus, the app will let you track your donations. It’s for the betterment of the world, so we suggest you check it out and donate a bit of money once in a while. And if you’re a charity, signing up for consideration for One Today is free.
Go get downloading, and spread the word! We hope to see an international expansion  Read More »
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Google’s Maps commercial highlights new app, Detroit


Google’s Maps commercial highlights new app, Detroit

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The new Google Maps Android app shown off at Google I/O 2013 has finally been released. With a brand new user interface, it’s a pretty sweet looking app. Unfortunately, it’s plagued by the one issue that plagues all of Google’s recent large updates: it’s on a staged roll-out, so many people are simply not getting the update yet. You can find the APK and install it over your existing application, but if you don’t want to bother, Google is giving you a taste of the app through a new commercial.
The ad stars a guy exploring Detroit with the help of Google Maps on his Nexus device. I don’t know how they did it, but this ad is simply amazing. For lack of a better word, it rocks. Seriously, give it a watch:
We loved the ad, and Google should definitely keep making them. Not only are they awesome, but they show off the product perfectly. And lucky for us, the product is free! Tell us what you thought of this commercial in the comments.
 Read More »

Jul 11 AT 11:25 AM Nick Gray 12 Comments

HTC One, Moto X launch dates revealed in leaked Verizon roadmap

Thanks to a leaked Verizon roadmap document, we may finally have some concrete launch dates for the HTC One and Motorola Moto X on Verizon. If the document is genuine, Verizon will start selling the HTC One on August 1, while the Motorola Moto X is listed with an August 23 launch date. The launch dates for the two phones don’t come as much of a surprise, but it’s certainly nice to finally have dates to circle on our calendar. Now all we need is for Motorola to officially unveil the Moto X and Verizon to confirm that the HTC One will be showing up in retail stores in exactly three weeks from today.
If you’re a Verizon customer waiting to upgrade to the next great Android phone, will you be opting for the HTC One or the Motorola Moto X?
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LG introduces world’s thinnest full HD smartphone display

LG DisplayWith the influx of rumors about the LG G2, we were bound to hear something from LG soon. While we know that the G2 will use a Snapdragon 800 processor, we now have information on the display straight from the LG itself. Late last night, LG sent out a press release detailing their newest piece of display tech, which happens to be the world’s thinnest and narrowest full HD LCD display. At just 2.2mm thin and requiring a mere 2.3mm bezel, the display is certainly svelte and explains the uber-thin bezel that we saw in the leaked photos and videos of the G2. It’s also nice and large at 5.2-inches diagonally.. Read More »
LG Display (2)
In terms of how it looks, this display should produce images that are second-to-none. It’s incredibly sharp at a 1920 x 1080 resolution and should feature impeccable contrast and color reproduction. Moreover, it’s one of the brightest displays on the market with 535 nits of maximum brightness, which should help to get a clear look at the display even when in bright sunlight. There are other technical details that I won’t go into, but if you’re interested, you can read about them in the press release below.
Of course, this will inevitably be the display used on the G2. It matches up with the rumored 5.2-inch size, and we all knew LG would throw everything that it’s got into building a great display for the G2. That makes us even more excited to get our grubby, little hands on the device and see that incredible display in person.
Are you guys excited for the G2 now that you know that it will have a Snapdragon 800 processor and this amazing display?
 

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