LG said to be working on a phone with always on voice commands that will arrive in 2014

by Jack Holt on
tagged ,

LG_Logo_Large

Voice commands are becoming a staple when it comes to phones and tablets these days. Apple pushed it into the lime light with Siri and Google refined it with Google Now. While some of the features seem to be for novelty sake companies like Samsung and LG are taking a look at using it for navigational purposes. With that being said it appears that LG is working on a phone that will debut some time in 2014 that will feature voice commands at the core of its system.

This functionality will be used to navigate through various system functions. This will help, for example, in the car where handsfree voice navigation is crucial. One function may include zooming in and out of maps, but from what it sounds like voice navigation will work throughout Android itself. That’s about it on the software front. On the hardware side of things the device may sport a Snapdragon 800 processor which should help the software run smoothly.

Other than that there isn’t much to go on. LG hasn’t said anything regarding such a device. Voice navigation seems to be a logical step in a hands free world. How about you folks out there? Does the idea of voice navigation on a system wide level intrigue you?

source: GottaBe Mobile

Shazam – former HTC execs startup Kazam to produce smartphones

by Jeff Causey on
tagged ,

kazam_logo

Last month HTC was purged of many top executives, including Michael Coombes, the former head of U.K. sales for HTC and James Atkins, a U.K. marketing head for HTC. Those two have resurfaced only weeks later with the announcement that they are launching Kazam, a new smartphone manufacturer. Coombes will be CEO for the new company and Atkins will serve as chief marketing officer. According to the two, Kazam will be about “stunning design, robust hardware, and intuitive technology, underpinned with improved customer service.”

The move is certainly a bold one at a time when we see companies like HTC, Sony and LG struggling against the twin behemoths Apple and Samsung. Considering the trouble established companies are having, it is hard to imagine a startup becoming successful. Kazam will have the challenge of both sourcing parts for the devices it plans to produce and striking deals to get connected with carriers willing to offer their devices. One glimmer of hope is the fact that the company plans to focus on the European market where unlocked devices are more popular. Kazam also promises to differentiate itself by offering support after a sale is made, although it is unclear what that means. Perhaps there will be more of a focus on keeping devices up to the most recent version of Android, assuming that is the operating system chosen for their smartphones.

source: CNET

More, more, more! Insiders predict upcoming 6-inch phones will feature 2,560 x 1,600 pixels for 2014

by Roy Alugbue on
tagged , ,

Samsung Galaxy Note III

 

Just as consumers are now starting to enjoy 1080p displays on current high-end smartphones out there, it appears that phones with even better displays are on the way for 2014. According to various insider sources, the general public will see more premium phablet devices utilizing 6-inch displays with a WQXGA resolution. In other words, it will be common to see devices utilizing a 6-inch screen sizes will feature a resolution of 2,560 x 1600. Moreover, the displays will feature a pixel density of an unheard of 500ppi (or greater), placing the displays head and shoulders above what is currently out at this time, including Apple’s Retina Display technology. What this means is that consumers can expect to see even clearer texts, deeper colors and richer content overall on select phablet devices.

Of course it is already fairly difficult for the human eye to discern most 720p displays to the average 1080p display now, so it is unsure whether consumers will be able to tell the difference between a 1080p display to a 1600p display. Still– who wouldn’t want a 2,560 x 1,600 display that’s found on say, a Nexus 10 tablet on upcoming flagship smartphones, right?

source: ET News
via: Phone Arena

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for June 10 – June 16, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on
tagged

TalkAndroid_Weekly_Recap

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. E3 and WWDC took place this week. E3 showed us some new upcoming games and WWDC was just about Apple trying to play catch up, but what else is new? Samsung has announced all their rumored devices, which pretty much just leaves the Galaxy Camera 2 for their June 20th event in London. We are getting very close to the HTC Butterfly S, HTC One Mini and the Xperia ZU. BTW, is it too soon to start talking about the Galaxy S 5? It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

How to use any song you want with HTC Video Highlights

30 seconds not long enough? How to create a longer HTC Video Highlight

Best Android apps for monitoring data usage [June 2013]

Reviews

Featured Android Game Review: Dawn of the Dragons [Arcade & Action]

Accessories

Power By Gen running Father’s Day promotion on Andru chargers, $19.99 with free shipping

Dead Zebra announces 10-piece set of rainbow Android figurines, on sale today for $69

Nyko announces product accessories for NVIDIA Shield

» Read the rest

Acer has no interest in rewriting Android

by Roy Alugbue on
tagged

 

Acer Iconia A1 photo forward

 

It’s no secret that while many of us out there REALLY don’t like custom Android skins, most (if not all) of the major prominent Android manufacturers continue to churn out devices with skins featuring pretty colors and flashy features— that is, unless you’re Acer of course. The manufacturer recently took some time to highlight why it takes the Android platform and decides to add few sprinkles, rather than go all out with a “unique” experience for its various devices. As highlighted in an interview with TechRadar, Acer’s global smartphone division president S T Liew asserts that:

“Android actually does a great job at serving up the right user experience and it allows people to migrate from one Android phone to another with relative ease. With each phone we assess its main features and we enhance those experiences with small UIs, such as the camera app or the note taking capabilities and multi-tasking tools on the Acer Liquid S1.”

So in essence, Acer believes that the core platform is fine as it is. Naturally there’s always room for improvement, especially with Android’s openness— so Acer decides to put touch on some of the lesser-tier items like the camera apps or implementing cool and unique widgets to differentiate itself from the likes of say, Samsung (which often is in Apple’s doghouse and all). And naturally, this is win-win for both the manufacturing giant and consumers at the same time. The end effects are not only prompt updates for its devices— which results in happy device owners, but also allows Acer to save a buck or two by not having to spend extraordinary resources trying to rewrite the Android code and all. Sounds like some pretty fair and welcome thinking to us.

source: TechRadar

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for June 11, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on
tagged

TalkAndroid_Daily_Dose

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!

Accessories

Power By Gen running Father’s Day promotion on Andru chargers, $19.99 with free shipping

Dead Zebra announces 10-piece set of rainbow Android figurines, on sale today for $69

Nyko announces product accessories for NVIDIA Shield

Apps

Floating Notifications recieves big update in the Play Store

Verizon’s FiOS Mobile TV and VOD comes to Android

» Read the rest

Dead Zebra announces 10-piece set of rainbow Android figurines, on sale today for $69

by Jared Peters on
tagged ,

dead zebra android figure

Dead Zebra frequently makes small sets of Android figurines, and the next project in their lineup is this rainbow set of 10. The figures are slated to go on sale for at 11AM eastern time later today for $69. Needless to say, this set probably won’t last long, so if you’re interested, you’re going to want to try to place an order as quickly as possible.

The figures cover all the basic rainbow colors and have a nice translucent body. It’s definitely one of the cooler sets Dead Zebra has done in recent memory, and with each figure only running about $7 apiece, it’s reasonably priced to boot. The box they come in doubles as a protective case to display them if you’re the type of collector that likes to keep everything pristine, or you can set these little guys up on your desk chasing some apples around. There’s plenty of ideas.

So if you’ve got $70 to spare and this set has caught your eye, hit the link below later today to try to snag an order.

source: Dead Zebra

Apple officially dumps Google in Siri… wants Bing and Siri to be cozy instead

by Roy Alugbue on
tagged , , , ,

Siri_Bing

 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you’re probably well-aware that Apple currently has its always-exciting WWDC event underway. While most folks out there walked away largely impressed (or for some of you, thankful that Apple has finally decided to catch up to the Android platform in some regards), there is something noteworthy that no doubt an eye-opener: Apple’s decision to roll with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine, instead of Google for the forthcoming iOS 7 update. Despite the public’s overwhelming preference for Google as a search engine (it holds a stunning 66.5% share in the U.S. according to comScore), Bing will be integrated into Siri searches instead… despite its ho-hum 17.3% share web search share. There is a minor workaround to this as Siri users also can still utilize Google for search results by asking Siri to “search Google” for a unique request. But yes friends, Apple is just about finished with Anything that can be perceived as a threat to its brand (Samsung, Apple, etc.)…

… Yet despite Bing being the default search engine when used with Siri, Apple hasn’t quite lost its senses just yet as Google will remain the default web search engine in the Safari Web browser for iOS devices. So at least all is not quite lost for the minority of Apple + Android users out there.

source: Wall Street Journal Blog

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for June 3 – June 9, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on
tagged

TalkAndroid_Weekly_Recap

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. The biggest news of the week had to be the allegations that the National Security Association has access to carriers and internet companies. It all started with news that they have carte blanche with Verizon’s call logs, but later reports have a secret agency called PRISM that has direct access into companies like Facebook and Google. Google CEO Larry Page denounced being part of or ever hearing of PRISM. Verizon came clean and admitted they will offer the HTC One, but not until “later this summer”. ASUS and Toshiba announced a slew of tablets as part of computex, and HTC’s 5.9-inch phablet will be called the One Max. The new Gmail design finally hit Android devices, and we reviewed some really cool new apps. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Editorials

The reason behind Google’s purchase of Motorola is finally coming to fruition

Guides

Best Android apps for transferring files over WiFi [June 2013]

Reviews

Space Eon 3D [Arcade & Action]

Buzz Launcher [Personalization]

TypeSmart Keyboard [Productivity]

Zombie Derby [Racing]

» Read the rest

FBI and NSA have access to private user data with PRISM data collection

by Jared Peters on
tagged , ,

NSA_Verizon

Remember when we told you that Verizon was handing out call logs of customers to the US Government? Well, surely you didn’t think Verizon was the only one who was handing over data, right? According to the latest report from the Washington Post, Verizon isn’t the only company that’s been leaking information to the FBI and NSA, thanks to a data collection initiative called PRISM, made by the US government.

PRISM supposedly allows access to servers from popular sites, namely Google, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Skype, YouTube, PalTalk, and AOL, with Dropbox access in the pipeline. That pretty much covers most of the top companies that have access to mountains of user data, so that’s a pretty scary thought. This is a great time to remind everyone that no matter how much security you think you have online, any information you put on the internet can always potentially be seen by a third party. If you don’t want that information to ever be seen by anyone else under any circumstances, don’t put it on the internet.

source: Washington Post