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Samsung Galaxy S 4 with stock Android to launch only in US

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by Aditya Thawardas on
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google_edition_galaxy_s4Google has confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with stock Android that was announced at last week’s I/O will launch only in the United States. Again, the phone that will run for $650 will come with a stock version of Android 4.2 with the bootloader unlocked, making it a perfect device for developers.

Google did not say that the phone will never be available overseas, just that it will initially be launched only in the US, so there is still hope for the “Google edition” fans around the world.

Source: CNET UK

 

Three flaws Google needs to fix to make stock Android even better

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by Alexon Enfiedjian on
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Our favorite little green robot has made a lot of progress over the last four years. From humble (and ugly) beginnings with Android 1.0 to the smooth and sleek styles of Jelly Bean 4.2, we have seen some tremendous growth and progress of our favorite mobile operating system. Google has worked hard at ironing out the kinks and improving the user interface with some exciting new features. The result has been a much smoother, better, faster, prettier operating system, but it has surprisingly left some simple yet important features out in the cold. Here are three features (or lack thereof) that I believe are major oversights in Google’s current OS.

» Read the rest

Motorola says stock Android is ‘the right thing,’ however balks on pure Android experience

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by Sean Stewart on
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One of the positives that many may have been looking forward to with Google’s acquisition of Motorola was the possibility of one of the newer Motorola devices running on stock Android software. However, the irony is that Google’s acquisition of Motorola shows no signs of releasing a stock Android experience. It seems like a no-brainer, right? A company that Google acquired – that happens to manufacture phones – will surely release a pure Android phone, right? Not so much. » Read the rest

Google Developer Team Releases Android 4.1.2 Factory Images For The Nexus 7 Tablet & Galaxy Nexus Smartphone

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by Roy Alugbue on
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Excellent news for unlocked Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 owners like myself who enjoy the pleasures of fiddling with those respective devices. The Google Development team has officially released the official Android 4.1.2 build JZO54K factory images for the unlocked Galaxy Nexus (“takju”) and the Nexus 7, respectively. This means that should you happen to take your general tomfoolery too far and create an “oopsies”, you’ll be able to restore the device back to normal as if nothing ever happened. And who wouldn’t want the ability to bring their device back to its original state?

Full details and links to the factory images are available once you hit the source link below.

source: Google Developers

Galaxy Nexus May Have A Notification Light And Ice Cream Sandwich Is Seeing Daily Updates

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by Harold Williams on
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The Galaxy Nexus is still hanging out in Rumorville until next Tuesday, but the rumors will keep flying in until then. DroidLife seems to have a tipster of their own, and while the specs from earlier seem to have been debunked, we’ll take a look anyway. Their source says that the Galaxy Nexus will have a multi-colored notification light and it will be right smack in the middle of the lip on the bottom of the phone (this is OK since there will be no hard buttons down there). It’s also being reported that, while ICS is close to being unveiled, daily updates are still going out continuing to help ICS to run faster and faster every day which is going to lead to an awesome pure Android experience. I don’t believe the video leaked showing off ICS last week was fake, so if you missed it you can catch it right here. More awesome leaks to chew on until Tuesday are sure to keep coming so stay tuned!

[via droidlife]

Earlier Samsung Galaxy Nexus Specs Debunked?

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by Harold Williams on
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Rumors on the Galaxy Nexus are sure to keep pumping along, and we’ve got some more for you. It seems GSMArena is reporting the specs leaked earlier today are incorrect. According to the tipster from inside Google, the new Nexus will in fact be shipping with Samsung’s own processor clocking in at 1.5GHz, which is probably an Exynos. There will also be a dual-core GPU from Imagination that may be the PowerVR SGX543MP2 which is the same GPU that’s in the iPad 2. Instead of the 5-MP camera that was reported earlier, the new report says it will have an 8-MP, full 1080p video recording with an improved sensor that wasn’t elaborated on. The battery should also be a 2050mAh instead of an 1,750mAh. This continues to keep sounding more and more amazing! Next Tuesday can’t come quick enough and Talk Android will be there live at the event so stay tuned! What do you all think of these rumors so far?

[via gsmarena]

Full specs for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus revealed, Verizon exclusive and more

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by Robert Nazarian on
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Now that the Apple announcement is out of the way, we can concentrate on a really innovative device.  We’ve heard a lot about the specs of the Nexus Prime, but BRG just scooped the “real” specs before next Tuesday’s annoucement. It will be called the Galaxy Nexus as Nexus Prime is the codename.

  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • 9mm thin
  • 4.65-inch 1280 x 720-pixel Super AMOLED HD with curved glass
  • TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1.2GHz
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 32GB of built-in storage
  • 5-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel in the front
  • 1080p HD video capture support
  • LTE/HSPA depending on carrier
  • Wi-Fi a/b/g/n
  • NFC
  • 1,750 mAh battery

» Read the rest

Will Ice Cream Sandwich Make Stock Android Great?

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by Harold Williams on
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Next Tuesday can’t come fast enough to hopefully answer all our questions about Ice Cream Sandwich and the Nexus Prime (or whatever it’s going to be called). My biggest worry, and I’m sure there are others with me, is that ICS will be nothing more than a small step up as Gingerbread was to Froyo. Sure, Gingerbread was faster and brought some features to the table, but there certainly wasn’t a “wow” factor involved. After seeing the two minute walkthrough of ICS, which I believe was real, I was reminded that I don’t like stock Android at all in its current state. Sure, stock Android is much faster and gives you that pure Android feeling, but there is simply less in comparison to ROMs like Blur and Sense. In Gingerbread’s current stock state, I view it more as a starting point to be built on top of, not the daily driver that it could be.

» Read the rest

Motorola will not be guaranteed to make Nexus phones, but expect more stock Android regardless

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by Robert Nazarian on
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Earlier today when I announced the Google acquisition of Motorola, I speculated that Motorola would probably be making the Nexus phones from now on. It seems only natural since Google and Motorola will now be partners which will “supercharge the Android echosystem.”

Android chief Andy Rubin does not expect any changes with the Nexus program. He said:

We have this strategy where we have this Nexus program, and we have this lead device strategy. That strategy has worked quite well to help focus the team.

What we do is that we select each — around Christmastime of each year — we select a manufacturer that we work very closely with to release a device in that time frame. That includes, also, semiconductor companies and all of the components that go in the device.

» Read the rest

It is time for one manufacturer to commit to stock Android

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by Robert Nazarian on
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The explosion of Android occurred because many manufacturers adopted the platform. These manufacturers have been fighting to differentiate themselves by creating custom user interfaces (UI) on top of the Android software. Examples of this is HTC’s Sense, Motorola’s Blur, and Samsung’s Touchwiz.

I understand why these companies are doing this, but lets be honest, the average consumer has no clue about any of these UI’s. The average consumer is buying a device based on brand, recommendations, and more importantly, what their chosen carrier offers. Since just about everyone has abandoned the concept of stock Android, it seems like a perfect time for one manufacturer to commit to producing only (or mostly) stock Android devices. There are some advantages that are worthwhile to both the manufacturer and consumer.

» Read the rest

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