Acer has no interest in rewriting Android

by Roy Alugbue on
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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

Mystery ASUS K009 unit shows up at the FCC doorstep, tries its best to hide its Nexus 7 colors in the process

by Roy Alugbue on
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You know what they say gang: when there’s smoke, there’s probably a fire. So it’s only fitting that we get more details about another version of the Nexus 7 refresh that we’ve been hearing so much about lately. A mystery ASUS K009 unit recently passed through the FCC testing labs and highlights a bunch of really interesting features of the device including a sweet quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ-8064) processor, a 4,000mAh Li-ion battery and some welcomed 4G LTE radio frequencies on-board. So all in all, this device looks to be another version of the refreshed tablet that’s on the way. Of course the same unit is listed for “marketing purposes”, but the hope is that we are getting our first glimpse of what should be another variant of the new Nexus 7 models.

source: FCC
via: Engadget

 

 

Sony now allowing 3rd party firmware for their SmartWatch platform

by Macky Evangelista on
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Lately Sony has been very “developer friendly” with their Android devices such as the Xperia Z, and that trend won’t stop as Sony recently fully opened up their SmartWatch platform to all developers. Per Sony:

We are now taking the next step to open up SmartWatch. Previously, you’ve been able to create apps for SmartWatch with the Sony Add-on SDK, but now we hope to see even more innovation as we’re making it possible for advanced developers to create and flash alternative firmware, by sharing technical details and instructions.

Doing so does come with some limitations as you will no longer be able to use SmartConnect or any compatible SmartWatch app that’s available in the Google Play Store. So keep that in mind. For more info, hit the source link!

source: Sony

Leaked images of Samsung’s Galaxy NX Android Camera surface

by Macky Evangelista on
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Yesterday we posted that Samsung’s own CEO confirmed the existence of a mirrorless Galaxy Camera 2 that will be unveiled on June 20th. Much to my surprise, it looks like Samsung isn’t done  as several leaked photos of another camera has surfaced. This one is called the Samsung Galaxy NX and is rumored to have a APS-C 20.3 Megapixel sensor, 1080p HD recording, a 4.8” HD display with Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad-Core processor, 2GB of RAM and options of 8 or 16 GB’s of internal storage. Definitely high end specs for a camera.

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More screenshots of HTC’s Butterfly S; Will feature front speakers with “BoomSound”

by Macky Evangelista on
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More screenshots of HTC’s upcoming Butterfly S device have surfaced and confirms that the all popular “BoomSound” feature will be on the device. While nothing else is rumored about the phone, we should expect it to have at least a 5-inch screen considering the first Butterfly was just that. We can also expect the Butterfly S to have the same features as it’s HTC One brother with the likes of BlinkFeed, an Ultra pixel camera, and Sense 5.0. As for hardware, this device will most likely don the Snapdragon 600 processor along with 2GB’s of RAM.

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Sony sends out July 4th Save The Date invites, all but confirms the arrival of Sony Xperia Z Ultra phablet

by Roy Alugbue on
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Yup, it finally looks like Sony is finally about to reveal its next great device for the masses, the Xperia Z Ultra— which is a larger-scale smartphone set to compete with the likes of the Optimus G Pro and Galaxy Note smartphones. How certain are we, you ask? Well— a nice press invite has gone out from the fine folks from Sony Mobile France highlighting “Sony Mobile reserves a big surprise for you” on July 4th. Moreover, the same invite encourages folks to “not forget to mark your calendars! “, all the while using a nice stylus-type pen to handwrite the note. So yes friends, all that’s left to do is wait for Sony to finally confirm the arrival of the device featuring a 6.44-inch 1080p display, quad-core processor, potential waterproof capabilities and Android 4.2.

source: Xperia Blog

Samsung releases short video showing off Galaxy S 4 Zoom features

by Jared Peters on
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Samsung has released a three minute clip demoing their newly announced Galaxy S 4 Zoom, and in traditional Samsung marketing fashion, the video highlights how an average person would use all the gimmicky features on a day to day basis. The video follows a smiling woman around who makes a phone call on her digital camera, uses the optical zoom on the camera, shares photos, etc. It’s nothing really new compared to what we already know, but this is Samsung’s way of wrapping up all of the Zoom’s features in a small package.

Hit the break below to check out the video, and let us know in the comments what you think. Niche product or next big thing? » Read the rest

Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone “selling well”, despite lowered expectations by analysts

by Roy Alugbue on
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Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 is no doubt a smash hit despite those lowered expectations, but its leader took some time recently to tout just how much of a hit the new smartphone has been since its release last month. While not giving raw numbers, Sammy head J.K. Shin told Korean reporters that the smartphone has been “selling well”, pretty much refuting J.P. Morgan’s analysis. With Shin’s comments, the hope is that the Galaxy S 4 will hopefully sustain, if not gain positive momentum so that Sammy can continue to pull in the cheddar and all that good stuff.

source: Korea Times

AT&T announces the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active, available June 21 for $199

by Robert Nazarian on
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Samsung already announced the Galaxy S 4 Active last week and AT&T just announced plans to carry it. Those of you that want all the features that the Galaxy S 4 offers, but need something that can handle the many hazards in life, will want to check this one out. It’s IP67 certified to be water-resistant and dust-resistant. It has a 5-inch Full HD TFT LCD display, a 1.9GHz quad-core processor, 8MP rear camera, and Android 4.2.2. It will be available June 21 for $199. Hit the break for the full presser and demo video.

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Samsung shows us how much stress the Galaxy S 4 can handle

by Robert Nazarian on
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As the blogosphere complains about Samsung’s quality of materials, Samsung always fights back with the argument that their phones are not only light, but durable. Samsung set out to prove this theory with a little video showing you just how much the Galaxy S 4 can handle. This isn’t just a simple drop text folks. They not only drop it, but they also conduct a tumble test, impact test, sink test, temperature/humidity torture test,  and they even show us what’s called a cover glass strength test. This video was produced by Samsung so it’s safe to assume that the GS4 performs very well. Hit the break to check it out.

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