TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 21, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on
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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!!

Reviews

Bowling Paradise [Sports]

Apps

Flickr launches new Android app and hands out 1-terabyte of free storage

Webkit-powered Opera browser now available in the Play Store

Ingress game gets update with new features

Carriers

Three tri-band LTE devices announced by Sprint for this summer

Verizon and Samsung hosting Galaxy S 4 promotional event Thursday in New York City

» Read the rest

NVIDIA shows off world’s most efficient CAT 4 LTE modem

by Jared Peters on
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NVIDIA_Tegra_3_CES_2013

NVIDIA has really stepped up and made some great innovations for Android as a whole, and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down. The latest from the graphics chip maker is a demo of their Tegra 4i, which is the version of the Tegra 4 designed to be run in smartphones, complete with LTE modem. When the chip was first debuted, it was capable of reaching 100 mbps download speeds, which is considered CAT 3 speeds. (Most ethernet cables you probably use in your homes are CAT 5 cables, for reference)

Well, fast forward a few months, and NVIDIA has introduced a software update for the 4i that bumps up the down speeds of the modem to reach 150 mbps, which is considered CAT 4. The impressive thing here is that no new hardware was introduced; NVIDIA software-defined radio tech is running the show here. So not only can this processor’s modem reach speeds higher than what’s even available in the world today, but it can be made faster through software tweaks instead of adding hardware and is only 40% of the size of other LTE modems in use today. Watch out, Qualcomm.

source: NVIDIA Blogs

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for May 13 – May 19, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on
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TalkAndroid_Weekly_Recap

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. Google I/O was this week, so it’s no surprise that it dominated the headlines. Google officially unveiled their new unified messaging service called Hangouts and their new gaming service called Play Games Services. They also unveiled their new streaming music serviced called Play Music All Access. The only hardware announcement was the Galaxy S 4 Google Edition. All in all, it was an exciting event that featured a lot of new stuff for development, which is what Google I/O is all about. Even though I/O was the focal point for the week, there was still a lot of other news, so it’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

Best Android music playing applications [May 2013]

Reviews

Quiz of Seers [Brain & Puzzle]

WeVideo – Video Editor [Media]

Google I/O

Re-experience all three exciting hours of the Google I/O 2013 keynote right here

Google I/O 2013 Keynote: Android activations account for nearly 1/7th of the world’s population with 900 million total activations

Google I/O 2013 Keynote: Play Store will bring more personalized recommendation, apps that will be “Designed for Tablets” and new All Access music subscription service

Google announces unlocked Samsung Galaxy S 4 with stock Android coming June 26 for $649

Google Play Developer Console gets a major injection of new features

Google announces Google Play for Education at Google I/O 2013

New Google Maps makes the Map the UI just a little better and easier for all

Google Search gets expanded functionality for users, brings new cards and improved Voice Search abilities

Google Hangouts officially announced at Google I/O, now live in the Google Play Store

Google Hangouts requires permissions to receive, read, and send SMS messages, could support be added soon?

Google Hangouts “easter eggs” revealed, include ponies and dinosaurs

Gmail and Google Wallet can now help you get money to people in your life

Google TV gets bumped to Android 4.2.2 and the latest version of Chrome

Hands on with the Map Diving simulator

Hands on with NVIDIA Shield

Quick look at the Google Street View Trekker

Hands on with WeVideo’s video editing solution for Chromebooks

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 17, 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!!

Guides

Best Android music playing applications [May 2013]

Accessories

Samsung TecTiles 2 Now available to purchase

Apps

Fitbit adds Bluetooth 4.0 sync support for Samsung Galaxy S 4 in new update

Classic Sonic the Hedgehog by Sega launched to Google Play for $2.99

» Read the rest

NVIDIA to begin accepting SHIELD handheld gaming device pre-orders from today

by Roy Alugbue on
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project-shield-overview

 

Those of you who were giddy and/or impatient at waiting for the original May 20th pre-order date are probably going to start salivating at this tidbit of news: NVIDIA formally announced it will start taking SHIELD pre-orders from today. The reasoning for pushing up the pre-order is quite simple really as there has been an insane amount of buzz and hype not just from potential customers, but developers as well. That means some of you fanatics out there won’t need to wait any longer to shell out $349 for the Tegra 4-based beast from Newegg, Gamestop and Canada Computers.

Now enough with the chit chatter— prospective customers can hit the source links below to pre-order the device today.

source: NVIDIA | New Egg | Gamestop | Canada Computers

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 15, 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!!

Google I/O

Re-experience all three exciting hours of the Google I/O 2013 keynote right here

Google I/O 2013 Keynote: Android activations account for nearly 1/7th of the world’s population with 900 million total activations

Google I/O 2013 Keynote: Play Store will bring more personalized recommendation, apps that will be “Designed for Tablets” and new All Access music subscription service

Google announces unlocked Samsung Galaxy S 4 with stock Android coming June 26 for $649

Google Play Developer Console gets a major injection of new features

Google announces Google Play for Education at Google I/O 2013

New Google Maps makes the Map the UI just a little better and easier for all

Google Search gets expanded functionality for users, brings new cards and improved Voice Search abilities

Google Hangouts officially announced at Google I/O, now live in the Google Play Store

Google Hangouts requires permissions to receive, read, and send SMS messages, could support be added soon?

Gmail and Google Wallet can now help you get money to people in your life

Google TV gets bumped to Android 4.2.2 and the latest version of Chrome

Hands on with the Map Diving simulator

Hands on with NVIDIA Shield

Quick look at the Google Street View Trekker

Hands on with WeVideo’s video editing solution for Chromebooks

» Read the rest

Hands on with NVIDIA Shield at Google I/O

by Robert Nazarian on
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project-shield-overview

The last time I was able to see Shield, it was at CES, but it was behind plexiglass. This time around, at Google I/O, we got a closer look. This is going to really satisfy the hunger for gamers with the ability to play Android games and PC games streamed from your desktop. Android fanatics will love that it comes with stock Android Jelly Bean, but it also packs a Tegra 4 CPU, a NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 5-inch 720p display. It’s priced at $349 and you can pre-order starting May 20th. Hit the break to see it action.

» Read the rest

HP Announces Slatebook 10 x2, a convertible tablet with Tegra 4

by Jared Peters on
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HP Slatebook x2

HP probably didn’t time this product announcement very well, as it’s about to get completely overshadowed by Google I/O, but their new Slatebook 10 x2 is a solid tablet regardless. It sports a 10-inch 1080p screen with detachable keyboard dock, pretty similar to ASUS’s Transformer line, and is one of the first devices to use NVIDIA’s Tegra 4, aside from Project Shield. Aside from that, it’s running almost pure stock Android 4.2.2, so that’s always a plus.

The keyboard dock is the defining feature of the tab, and pretty similarly to the Transformer dock, it adds an extra battery in the dock, two USB ports, and a standard SD card reader in addition to the actual tablet’s microSD slot. Pricing is said to start at $479 in August, but no word on if that includes the dock or not. It shouldn’t be too much longer before we get more details from HP. Hit the break below for the press release. » Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 14, 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!!

Apps

Blackberry Messenger officially coming to Android devices this summer!

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.1 launches with full Android support

Pinterest app for Android receives update

Time Warner Cable’s TWC TV app updated to allow streaming away from home

Google

Google announces Gladstone, Missouri will be receiving Google Fiber

Google Glass

MedRef aims to help the medical field better, oh and it brings facial recognition to Google Glass in the process

Google I/O

[Rumor] Galaxy S 4 “Google Edition” to be debuted tomorrow at I/O 2013

» Read the rest

NVIDIA announces SHIELD pre-orders will begin May 20th and will have a cost of $349

by Roy Alugbue on
tagged , ,

project-shield-overview

 

It’s been a while since NVIDIA announced its game-changing Project SHIELD handheld gaming system, but the wait is finally over gang as NVIDIA is finally taking pre-orders will begin as early as next week, May 20th. In case you’ve forgotten about this puppy— the Jelly Bean-powered handheld gaming system features a boatload of sweet features including the killer Tegra 4 chip + 2 gigs of RAM, a 5-inch 720p retinal multi-touch display, custom bass reflex tuned port audio system and a full-fledged control pad.

Oh and for those of you that want to stream the sweet gaming content to a larger display, SHIELD will also give you the power to wirelessly access your NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU-powered computer from the comfort of your couch with GeForce game streaming– while NVIDIA promises to bring PC streaming to SHIELD devices at a later date. Speaking of games, it’s looking like there will certainly be a nice lineup of titles for gamers to choose from once SHIELD is finally available. Among the games that will be headed to TegraZone are Broken Age, Costume Quest, Flyhunter: Origins, Skiing Fred and Chuck’s Challenge. Naturally, there will be more titles released as time moves forward and all that good stuff.

And now for the important deets— pricing and availability. As mentioned earlier, the device will be available for pre-order from Newegg, Gamestop, Micro Center and Canada Computers on May 20th, while devices will ship around sometime in June. Additionally, SHIELD will cost $349, so it won’t break the bank too much.