Sunday, November 20, 2011

Google Android News Android Forums

Google Android News Android Forums

Initial Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich Benchmarks are in

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 01:42 PM PST

With the UK launch of the Galaxy Nexus being just a few days ago, it wouldn’t be long before it was taken through the paces and the device’s performance was benchmarked. From a hardware perspective there really isn’t anything that the Nexus has that outshines other devices. It boasts a TI-OMAP 4460 chipset, and a ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore SMP, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor paired with LPDDR2 RAM. The GPU that’s used is the Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX 540.

The software side of things is where the Galaxy Nexus really shines. Ice Cream Sandwich brings Honeycomb’s optimization work and takes it even further with some extra ICS optimization work. This really shows in the browser benchmarks. If you follow the numbers, it shows that pages are rendered much faster than that of the Apple iPhone 4s.

The graphics tests showed that the Galaxy Nexus didn’t perform as well to that of the iPhone or iPad but didn’t do horrible. Even with being limited by the SGx540, the device still placed in the top 4.

So while the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t outperform the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 or the SII in terms of graphics, the device doesn’t slouch by any means. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. version of the phone stacks up to these numbers when it’s released. My guess is the numbers will be somewhere along the same lines as its sister phone in the UK.

 

Acer, Asus, and Dell to Stop Making Android Tablets?

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 01:09 PM PST

Well it appears the PC Hardware vendors may drop out of the Android tablet market altogether. According to reports, Acer, Asustek and Dell may drop out due to fierce competition by Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This is surprising news considering Asus is releasing the first Tegra 3 tablet in December and Acer has suggested their own release of tablets with Tegra 3 inside.  While this is purely speculative, an upstream hardware supply chain suggests that they should be seeing orders by now from these companies if they were planning to push tablet sales in the next year. This however, is not because PC vendors lack compelling hardware.

Given, that the three main competitors offer compelling content to compliment their hardware, PC vendors were hard pressed by offering stock OS flavors to theirs. Couple this with cheaper tablet prices by both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, PC vendors didn’t have a leg to stand on price wise. According to the report:

“With Amazon offering its Kindle Fire at US$199 and Barnes & Noble to provide its upcoming Nook Simple Touch at a price of US$99, the pure hardware players are unlikely to profit from the market through price competition.”

Like it was said before, this right now is speculative. However, we have seen PC vendors start to pull their tablets that may suggest that this move could happen. Some also suggest that these companies are holding off on their orders until Windows 8 is out. Although these vendors may see the same issues in that market as well. One thing is for sure, companies and vendors are now starting to see that in order to offer a compelling product they must do more than just offer compelling hardware.

 

Looking for a tablet on Black Friday? Here’s the complete list of deals

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 01:01 PM PST

Are you in the market for a brand new Android tablet this Black Friday? Well look no further because we’ve put together all the known deals. All of these deals are official since they’re from actual ad scans, except for the Amazon deal on the Transformer as it’s rumored at the moment. You will see tablets ranging from junk to high end models, and the better deals are in bold. If you know of any other deals besides these, please let everyone know in the comments.

Amazon – ASUS Transformer 10.1 32GB with Keyboard Dock $399.99 –  Rumored

Army & Air Force Exchange Service – Sylvania 8.4” Android 2.3 (w/ screen protector, stylus pen, and neoprene cover) $179.00

Best-Buy – Acer Iconia A100 with 8GB Memory $189.99
Best-Buy – Dell Streak 7″ Online only deal starting Thanksgiving TBA
Best-Buy – Toshiba Thrive 16GB $279.99
Best-Buy – ASUS Transformer 16GB $249.99

CVS Pharmacy – Sylvania 7″ Android 2.2 + $10 Gift Card $94.88

Dick’s Sporting Goods – Coby 8″ Android Tablet FREE with Any Sole Treadmill or Elliptical Purchase – FREE

Freds – Coby Kyros Touchscreen Tablet $99.95

Hastings – Sylvania 7″ Android 2.2 $99.99

hhgregg – Archos Arnova 10″ 8GB Android 2.1 $149.99
hhgregg – Asus Transformer 16GB $299.99
hhgregg – Coby 7″ Kyros MID7012 Android 2.3 $99.99
hhgregg – Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 16GB w/ Free Keyboard Dock & Case $499.99
hhgregg – Toshiba Thrive 16GB  with Free Portfolio Case & Screen Protector $379.99

Kmart – Leader i7 Android 2.2 Tablet $99.99
Kmart – Archos 101 Internet Tablet Android 2.2 $219.99

Kohls – Pandigital Android 7-in. Multimedia Tablet and eReader $139.99
Kohls – Polaroid 7″ Touch Screen Android Tablet (w/ free accessory kit) $99.99

Menards – Polaroid 7” Internet Tablet $79.99

Office-Depot – HP 32GB Touchpad Tablet with Purchase of any HP PC $149.99
Office-Depot – BlackBerry PlayBook 7” Tablet 16GB $199.99
Office-Depot – Levovo IdeaPad Tablet K1, 32GB White $299.99

Radio Shack – Velocity micro Cruz T301 7″ 2GB Android 2.0 $99.99

Shopko – Archos 101 Internet Tablet Android 2.2 8 GB $199.99
Shopko – Toshiba Thrive 16GB $399.99
Shopko - Coby 7″ Kyros MID7012 Android 2.3 $99.99
Shopko – Sylvania 10″ Android 2.2 $129.99
Shopko – Sylvania 7″ Android 2.2 $79.99

Staples - Toshiba Thrive 16GB $349.98
Staples – Acer Iconia A500 $299.00
Staples – Kindle Fire (Plus $20 Staples Gift Card After Rebate) $199.00

Toys-R-Us – Sylvania 7″ Android 2.2 Tablet $74.99

Early Adopters of the Galaxy Nexus Reporting Volume Rocker Issues

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 12:03 PM PST

Uh oh, despite its popularity and overall great reviews, it looks like early adopters of the Galaxy Nexus are experiencing a wide spread problem with the phones volume and volume rocker. There are a couple of threads over in the XDA forums filling up as we speak regarding the issue. It’s not a problem with just a few GN’s, it appears to be more wide spread.

When trying to adjust the phones volume, people are experiencing erratic behavior of the volume dialog window going up and down, and in and out of vibrate. Based on general reports, this is mostly happening when in a 2G coverage area rather than 3G. I know it sounds weird to blame said issue on the phone’s radio but enough coroberating stories have led users to to think this is the cause. Check out the video below to see the problem in action. If you too are experiencing the same issue, hit one of the XDA source links below to get in on the discussion thread.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a real bummer for those experiencing the problem and here’s hoping Google finds an easy and timely fix. Maybe this is the time that we here in the states should actually be thankful for Verizon’s delayed launch. Who want’s a brand new buggy Galaxy Nexus?

 

T-Mobile UK Reveals the Vivacity, Presumably ZTE Branded

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 10:06 AM PST

T-Mobile just revealed on it’s UK website that they are bringing a new handset into the mix. The Vivacity, presumably made by ZTE, appears to be a device that will not cost an arm and a leg. Not much is know yet as far as specs go but we have heard that the device will adorn a 3.5-inch display (either HVGA or WVGA), a 5MP rear camera, front facing camera, and Android 2.3.

Because the device is said to be made by ZTE (and the fact that the specs are mild), we can only assume that it will sell for a reasonable price. In the past, ZTE has opted to use carrier branding as opposed their own, that’s why there is no visible ZTE markings. Unfortunately, the Vivacity probably wont make it stateside because T-Mobile does business in Europe much differently than in the US.

If you are interested, you can register through the source link below and T-Mobile UK will email you with product updates. The website outs its availability sometime in December so you can expect more news shortly. We will let you know as soon as we have more solid info about the Vivacity’s specs.

Ice Cream Sandwich AOSP Builds Arrive For Many Devices [Courtesy of XDA]

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 09:24 AM PST

Many of you felt let down when Google’s Mobile Product Manager, Hugo Barra, announced that the big G had no plans to update the Nexus One to ICS because the device was cited as being “too old”. This news didn’t sit well with XDA members either, and because the released ICS SDK-port for the Nexus One was entirely too slow for any real use, members decided it was time to get crafty.

It was only last week when news broke about the release of the ICS Source Code and we knew it would only be a short time until AOSP builds would arrive on the scene. Here we are 5 days later and we are pleased to see that XDA member, dr1337, has created a functional AOSP build for the Nexus One and is ready to share with the world. What’s even better is the fact that this is just one of the devices to receive ICS AOSP builds, and even more XDA members have been busy as well.

Thanks to the hard work from, dizgustipated, MongooseHelix, stritfajt, jaybob413, onecosmic, Chaosz-X, and zFr3eak; the Nexus S, Droid Eris, Hero, Hero CDMA, Galaxy S I9000, Desire, and Desire HD now get to feast on a little Ice Cream Sandwich treat. I know this has got to be great news for many of you and you are just dying to get to work on your own device. We have included the following XDA links to help you in your task:

Most of these are going to have a few hiccups here and there but that can be expected with any early AOSP build. Please read all the directions carefully and pay attention to the XDA comments for your respective device, you may find out that there are certain bugs that you may not be able to deal with. Reported user feedback has been overwhelmingly good but, TalkAndroid is not responsible for anything you do to your device and this is purely for your reference. If you are a Nexus S owner and want to see what is in store for you, jump past the cut to check out a Youtube video of the phone in action. Lets all be sure to give thanks where it is due, these guys must have been working really hard to bring these builds to the public. Thanks guys!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Update For The Android Market.

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 09:17 AM PST

 

It seems as though the Android Market is getting another update. This one takes us to version 3.3.12. We just recently received 3.3.11, so we are not sure as to what this update actually does. All our searches have not yielded any noticeable changes. Could this have something to do with the Music Store? We’re not sure yet. Hit up the links for the downloads and let us know in the comments if you notice anything different.

[Multiupload]

[Minus]

[Source Android Police]

Location Stealing on Samsung Devices [Courtesy of XDA]

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 08:52 AM PST

 

Listen up people, our friends over at XDA have found a security issue with Samsung smartphones. Apparently your location can be accessed by some apps without needing permission to do so. This applies to all phones rooted or out-of-the box.

Now I’m not too worried about people knowing where I am, but I know some of you out there might be. The reason for the hole is through accuweather’s widget that comes loaded on the phone. I am not going to go into detail on how, and instead I will encourage you to read the source for all of XDA’s walk through. I have also included the Market link for the app that helps with the issue, and the QR code to go with it.

Do you have a Samsung device? Let us know what you think in our comments section.

[Source XDA]

[Market]

Amazon May Be Entering The Smartphone Market

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 08:14 AM PST

Our buddies over at eWEEK have been talking to Citigroup’s analyst Mark Mahaney. He believes that Amazon is in pursuit to make a Kindle Phone by the end of next year. This would be a big step for Amazon, as they have already entered the tablet market with the Kindle Fire, now it looks as if they wish to enter the smartphone market. Lets face it Android fans, we don’t care who builds the phone that slays the iPhone, we just care if it’s running Android or not. I would assume that Amazon would use Android in their phone and so does Mr. Mahaney as well. They do have an App Store dedicated to Android Apps so it would make sense to make a phone running Android. I really doubt Apple will let them use their iOS. So it stands to good reason that they would use Android. (They wouldn’t dare use Windows, would they? Lets hope not.)

Can Amazon pull off a smartphone? I believe they can. There are some seriously talented people within Amazon, and I’m sure they are seeing the bigger picture for the future of mobile phones. If anyone has the money to give Apple a fight, I believe Amazon is that company, and would love to see what they bring to the smartphone world. Now all of this is just speculation from one analyst. Until Amazon themselves announce  a Kindle phone, these are all just rumors.( Oh but how we love rumors!) Check out the source to see what Mr. Mahaney had to say.

Tell us if you would pick up an Amazon phone in the comments section.

[Source eWEEK]

Samsung Galaxy S Finally Receives Official Android 2.3.5 Update In UK

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 06:21 AM PST

Samsung continues to show some love to the original Galaxy S owners, this time for those in the UK. They just released a major update which includes the long-awaited Gingerbread 2.3.5 OS for the i9000 model. That means those of you who haven’t flashed your ROM or rooted your phones will finally be in the Promised Land of Gingerbread. In addition to Gingerbread 2.3, users can expect a host of improvements including improved battery life, messaging app and some system performance tweaks in this latest update.

As a word of caution, back up your data prior to updating the phone. There is word that your data and information will be wiped clean, so make sure you take the necessary precaution to preserve your data.
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