It's the start of the month, and you know what that means: Google spills the (jelly) beans on how its Android operating system breaks down. And Jelly Bean has jumped a few per cent.
It now accounts for 45.1 per cent of all Android devices. That's up 5 per cent on last month. Google counts Android 4.1 and 4.2, but strangely omits 4.3, which is the latest build. Maybe it's too minimal to register...
Read the full story here... Source: CNET
The Moto X launched on AT&T today, even though the MotoMaker can’t be used online just yet, but Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint don’t have the device available yet, which raises an important question: when will they have it available?
Well, according to Motorola’s Punit Soni, it shouldn’t be very long from now. In fact, it could be as early as next week. In his Google+ post, he mentioned that “other carrier versions rolling out..."
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
By 2017, more than two billion phones will be sold every 365 days. A vast majority of those will be smartphones. With this in mind, we have the world’s biggest technology companies engaging in technological, marketing, and patent warfare. But which manufacturer deserves our acclaim, our respect, and the hard earned dollars of consumers worldwide...
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
The Galaxy Note 3 will be officially unveiled on September 4 during a special Samsung media event scheduled to take place in Berlin, Germany, a few days ahead of the IFA 2013 show.
As you expect, the web is filled with Galaxy Note 3 rumors and leaks, with more reports appearing day after day – even Samsung has mentioned the product’s name a few times on certain pages of its website. With less than three weeks to go, we’re going to tell you what we think we know about the device based on these unconfirmed reports mixed with educated guesses on the matter...
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
Motorola announced a few days ago the highly anticipated Moto X handset, and revealed that a Google Play edition of the device will be available in due time, directly from its Google Play Store. But is that really a good thing?
At first, one could think that it makes perfect sense for Google to have a Nexus-like Moto X in the Play Store, but that may not necessarily be the case...
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
A member of the Deutsche Telekom support team has confirmed on the company’s forum that the Galaxy S3 will jump directly to Android 4.3.
The Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 have been rumored to skip the Android 4.2.2 and get Google’s latest Android update instead, although Samsung is yet to confirm it. An Australian carrier (Telstra), answering to questions about the Galaxy Note 2 updates, has also hinted that the device will go straight to Android 4.3...
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
Along with support for Bluetooth Smart and Restricted Profiles Google has added some stronger security features to the latest release of the Android mobile operating system. Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which Google is calling “a sweeter Jelly Bean”, adds support for Wi-Fi configuration on WPA2-Enterprise networks as well as a variety of internal changes that make it more difficult for hackers (and the NSA) to exploit security vulnerabilities...
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
The Moto X is finally here. We knew quite a bit ahead of time, but now that it’s official, we can talk about it… officially.
The hardware is definitely not top of the line, but the workaround for that is software. If you have a phone in which the software takes great advantage of the hardware, it forgives the shortcomings quite a bit. So, how will the Moto X take asdvantage of the hardware? Waht software feature(s) will set it apart? The answer is one you probably already know.
Android 4.2.2 backs everything up, and it’s a strong base layer for everything that’s going on here. Most importantly, the contextual awareness is there. Our initial reactions to that feature were wonderful. Now that we know the phone will learn your voice exclusively, the contextual application appeals to us much more. People won’t be able to accidentally activating your device, and kids in the car won’t have another way to bug you from the back seat.
The Moto X is always listening, too. That’s really good for a hands-free environment, like driving a car or riding a bike, but some find that a bit creepy. Fortunately, it seems to be activated by those key words of “Okay, Google Now”. So, you can curse drivers on your bike, and the Moto X won’t necessarily know you’re blaspheming all over the city.
Many reports on the camera software note it’s terribly stripped down, and that settings are somewhat hidden. This is because the device is meant to capture all of your moments, and quickly. A simplified UI for a camera would allow for quick shots, and the “shake to take” feature is also helpful for that. We haven’t seen much from the camera yet, but we’ll be sure to give it a thorough overhaul in our review.
If you’re going to have limited hardware, you’re going to need good software to make it appealing. Motorola has done that much, with a very slight skin over Android and a really nice contextual twinge. There is enough about this one to question, and camera UIs are subjective, but the software seems to fall in line with the real aim of the device: simple, and simply useful.
Source: Android Authority
The iPhone 5 may have found its polar opposite in Moto X.
For better or worse, Moto X -- which was unveiled Thursday -- is everything the iPhone is not. Rather than a tightly controlled look and feel for the device, Motorola will let customers tweak the colors and materials. Instead of the latest specifications, Moto X employs a solid -- but not cutting-edge -- set of hardware features. Instead of a proprietary operating system built for one device, it runs on an open platform available to hundreds of other phones.
"This is the blueprint for where Motorola and Google are going to go from here," said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC.
While Moto X can be considered the anti-iPhone, it is not is an "iPhone killer." Despite the gratuitous use of that title over the last few years, the iPhone has not been felled by any device, and Motorola's latest won't be that lucky phone...
Read the full story here. Source: CNET
After launching an official but limited iOS Office application a short while ago, Microsoft has finally released a similar app for Android.
The Office Mobile app can be downloaded now free of charge from the Google Play Store, but don’t get too excited about it, as there are several limitations in place.
For starters, you will need an active Office 365 subscription to use the application. Furthermore, the app is compatible with devices running Android 4.0 and higher, and does not have tablet support.
But most importantly, we’re not looking at a full-fledged Office mobile client here, as users won’t be able to do everything they’re used to doing with Office apps on their desktops.
Here’s what the application will let you do once you get it:
However, we can only hope Microsoft will further update the app to add more functionality to it. Also worth mentioning are cloud- and email-related features for the app. Office Mobile will let you open documents from the cloud (SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, SharePoint), access recent cloud documents and even email attachments.
While there are other app alternatives for Android users to Office Mobile, including Google’s own Drive, the app will surely be appreciated by those users that spend a lot of time in Microsoft’s Office environment.
Source: Android Authority
A new Galaxy Note 3 report seems to suggest that Samsung is testing different sizes for its upcoming flagship smartphone, although it’s unclear at this point whether the company is actually thinking of launching the handset in different screen sizes.
While this is an unconfirmed rumor, it looks like there’s a document in the wild that lists shipments of several Galaxy Note 3 models with screen sizes of 5.5, 5.7 and 5.99 inches. This would match Samsung’s policy of launching a phone for almost every taste – just check out this year’s Galaxy S4 family.
Initially spotted by TechKiddy, the screenshot below comes from Indian logistics website Zauba, which shows the Galaxy Note 3 coming in three different sizes.
Considering the variety of Galaxy Note 3 rumors out there that are rather conflicting when it comes to display size – some older ones say 5.99-inch while newer ones say 5.7-inch – such a document makes some sense, and seems to indicate that Samsung may have not chosen the final design of the handset.
Similar reports concerning the nature of the display – flexible or not flexible – as well as fingerprint-reading technology have also circulated recently, suggesting that the design of the handset is far from final...
Read the full story here. Source: Android Authority
The new Nexus 7 was announced today and the Internet has been ablaze with the information all day. It’s a pretty impressive device and one that all Android fans have the potential to enjoy. It has amazing specs, a cheap price point, and best of all, it’ll be available on July 30. While it’s pretty much the common sentiment that the new Nexus 7 will be the best 7-inch tablet on the market when it gets released, we have to ask ourselves if it really is that much better.
With that in mind, here is a direct comparison with some of the more popular 7-inch tablets in the industry. For a full list of the new Nexus 7 specs, check out Andrew Grush’s earlier post detailing the official specs. For this comparison, we’ll take a look at the 5 major specs that people care about. Those are the screen, the CPU, the battery, the RAM, the storage, and the connectivity...
Read the full story here. Source: Android Authority