TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for May 6 – May 12, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 12th 2013, 5:19pm
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. Google I/O is next week and we have the full scoop on the new and improved Nexus 7. Rumors say the Motorola X phone is scrapped for the time being, but a recent FCC filing seems to indicate it might actually be sooner rather than later. We weren’t expecting to see it announced next week, but could we get a surprise? Google Babel is expected to be unveiled under the “Hangouts” name, and recent developments support that Google will unveil an updated Nexus 4 with LTE. Lastly, Google will unveil cloud sync gaming with Play Games. There were a lot of new apps, including a couple of reviews as well. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

How to remove apps from the Google Play Store ‘My Apps’ list

How to make a Drama Shot or Sequence Shot on the HTC One

Reviews

Boulder Dash XL [Brain & Puzzle]

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 9, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 9th 2013, 10:18pm
tagged Daily Doses

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

New Google Translate update allows users to take Phrasebook on the go and brings camera-to-translate function to 16 new languages

Flipboard updates app to enable user created magazines, interaction with desktop web version

Apex Launcher v2.0 available, new features for both free and pro versions, integrates Apex Notifier

ITV Player updated, now exclusive for Samsung users through August 31st

Carmageddon shows up in the Play Store with a free promo version for 24 hours

Carriers

AT&T launches a new bring-your-own-phone pre-paid service called AIO Wireless

Google

Portland tech startup Instrument teams up with Google to create Map Diving, a realistic skydiving simulator

» Read the rest

Ouya gets $15 million in new funding and delays launch by 3 weeks

by Robert Nazarian on May 9th 2013, 10:53am
tagged Ouya

We have good news and bad news regarding the Ouya gaming console. The good is that they secured an additional $15 million in new funding to help meet increased demand. Now with the bad: Remember that June 4th launch that we reported about? Unfortunately that has been delayed, but thankfully not too much. They are now looking at launching June 25, which ironically is just after the E3 Gaming show. I guess there is one other piece of good news in that they were able to fix an issue they had with the controller’s buttons getting stuck under the faceplate. All units will have the updated controller.

At this point there doesn’t seem to be a delay for those that were Kickstarter backers, which should be fulfilled by the end of May. Full press release after the break.

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 8, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 8th 2013, 11:04pm
tagged Daily Doses

Reviews

Boulder Dash XL [Brain & Puzzle]

Apps

Rovio updates Bad Piggies with 15 new levels, 2 new items

WeatherBug gets a new update that brings redesigned user interface, hourly forecasts, and more

Google Earth for Android receives update, adds Street View

Google I/O Android app updated with new features for 2013

Carriers

AT&T adds more LTE markets, on pace to reach 250 million Americans by end of year

T-Mobile revenues dip, but customer base growing

Verizon offering “Red Hot Deal Days” until May 12 on select devices for Mother’s Day

Google Glass

Google Glass sensors revealed, expect a lot of augmented reality apps soon

Phones

AT&T offers the HTC First smartphone for under a buck

ImaGination Begins on May 30 at LG event

New color of the DROID RAZR M and DROID RAZR HD on the way to Verizon stores

Release dates for Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S 4 Mini, Galaxy S 4 Zoom, and Galaxy S 4 Activ Leaked

Sharp unveils AQUOS Phone Xx SoftBank 206SH with 5-inch 1080p CG-Silicon display and two-days of battery life

5-inch Sony Xperia A drops by the FCC with a removable battery

Vivo announces high-end, pricey phablet coming in late May

ROMs

Release candidates for CyanogenMod 10.1.0 start making their way to select devices

Updates

New build of Sense 5.1 surfaces for HTC Butterfly smartphone, tries to give a little taste of Android 4.2.2 in the process

Miscellaneous

Ouya console gets high ratings from iFixit, easily disassembled and repaired

Apple wants source code records in Samsung trial and looks in Google’s direction in the process

Samsung sitting on over $28 billion in cash at the end of March

Ouya console gets high ratings from iFixit, easily disassembled and repaired

by Jared Peters on May 8th 2013, 10:47am
tagged iFixit, Ouya

For some buyers, the ability to repair a device can make or break a sale. Being able to make simple repairs on your stuff is always nice, but many manufacturers are going with new hardware that’s extremely difficult to fix in order to cut costs and keep devices small. Fortunately, the Ouya console doesn’t have that problem. According to iFixit, the Android powered game console is a very straightforward, cleanly assembled device. All the components are easily removed and easily tucked back into the device. This is also good news for people who like to take apart their electronics for thorough cleaning. All of this nets the Ouya a 9 out of 10 on the repairability scale.

One thing that stood out is that the Ouya is actually weighed down with small metal balls. There’s five weights to keep the device balanced against cables from pulling it off a table or desk. In an age of light, portable electronics, seeing a device intentionally add weight is definitely out of the ordinary.

source: iFixit

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for April 15 – April 21, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on Apr 20th 2013, 11:29pm
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. The Galaxy S 4 release dates for U.S. carriers were finally revealed and the Motorola X continues to keep us intrigued. Speaking of intriguing, Google Glass Explorer Editions are starting to roll. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

How to securely lock your phone while using Facebook Home as your launcher

How to get your status bar back full time with Facebook Home

How to turn off Facebook Home and go back to your stock launcher

How to set up and use BlinkFeed on Sense 5 with the HTC One

Sense 5: All the changes you need to know

Hands on Tutorial: Sense 5 camera, HTC Zoe, and Video Highlights

Reviews

Mr. Eyes [Sports & Puzzles]

MyPermissions [Tools]

Nexus 10 Book Cover Review

» Read the rest

10,000 game developers now on board with OUYA

by Jared Peters on Apr 19th 2013, 9:49pm
tagged gaming, Ouya

If you’re on the fence about picking up a OUYA console when they become available in the next few months, you should know that OUYA has reached 10,000 developers officially on board for their console. That’s an extraordinarily large number of developers working to bring their games to the little Android-powered box. If game selection has been one of your worries for the console, I think you can safely put that fear to rest.

The OUYA box has received quite a bit of interest from partners, developers, and consumers alike, and the anticipation for that June 4th release just keeps growing with news like this. Are any of you picking up one of these? Let us know in the comments.

source: Games Industry

via: Phandroid

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for April 8 – April 14, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on Apr 14th 2013, 10:15am
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. The big news of the week had to be the launch of Facebook Home. Initially it’s only available on select devices, but unofficially it’s available to everyone thanks to patched APKs. Samsung officially announced the mid-level Galaxy Mega that puts big displays into budget-conscious pockets. We reviewed some cool apps too, and is that the DROID Bionic getting Jelly Bean? It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Reviews

MMGuardian Parental Control [Tools]

Advanced Mobile Care [Tools]

Ice Rage [Sports]

Accessories

Nexus 10 flip covers now available in the Google Play Store

Apps – New

Facebook Home Now Live in Google Play

Facebook Home now available for everyone with patched APK

New redesigned Google Play Store (version 4.0.25) now available to download

» Read the rest

OUYA confirms all Kickstarter Backers will receive their devices by the end of May

by Spencer McClendon on Apr 13th 2013, 5:15pm
tagged gaming, Ouya

OUYA ‘s founder and CEO Julie Uhrman has posted a blog on Kickstarter detailing the road map for consoles heading to early backers. I don’t know about anyone else but I am really excited to see that OUYA has their ducks in a row like this. In this roadmap she explains that they have changed one of their partners to speed up production by a few days, as well as put more OUYA reps on the ground to speed things up.

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for April 1 – April 7, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on Apr 7th 2013, 1:39pm
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. The week started off with some of the best April Fools jokes Google has ever done. Then later in the week, Facebook and HTC made a splash with the HTC First and the Facebook Home launcher app that will be available for select Android phones. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.