Alex Allegro

Leaker @evleaks this morning posted a tweet featuring some interesting APKs from the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 that reveals information about its hardware and software.

The list includes the usual suspects, such as S Health, S Music, and Samsung Link software, but two of the APKs might pique your interest. “SStudio_WQHD_K.apk” implies the new phablet will sport a highly rumored WQHD display, giving the display a resolution of 2560×1440. Also on the list is an APK titled “FingerprintService.apk”, strongly implying the fingerprint reader currently found on the Galaxy S5 will be expanding over to the Note line as well.

Other features such as “PhotoTable.apk” and “SmartSelfShot.apk” were also leaked, but it’s no surprise Samsung is going to be adding even more photo modes to the already saturated list. 
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In a study conducted by security research firm Zscaler, 28% of Android apps request permission to read old SMS logs, while a whopping 68% request permission to send SMS messages from your phone. They also found that 36% of apps request GPS permissions, while over 46% request access to the “phone’s state”, allowing the app to gather information related to the SIM card, IMEI number, serial number and more. For the study, Zscaler analyzed over 75,000 apps from the Google Play store and logged the requested permissions from each app. Being a security firm, Zscaler considers SMS and GPS related permissions to be the two most “high risk” permissions to grant access to, with “device information related permissions” landing sixth on the list.

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Google today announced the release of LiquidFun 1.1, an update to the open-sourced 2D physics engine originally released last December. New in today’s release is browser support and this allows games using the engine only found on Android devices to be ported over as Chrome extensions. Also new in the update is iOS support. Google says previous versions of the engine could be modified to work on iOS, but today’s update brings native support to the platform. The release notes are below:

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A successor to the Nexus 7 was a no-show at Google I/O this year, but that doesn’t mean a V2.0 of the tablet isn’t coming soon. Back in May, we reported that according to a KGI analyst, Google was planning on announcing the Nexus 7 2 at I/O with a full 1900×1200 HD display, a lighter and thinner body, with a Snapdragon 600 processor, 4Ah battery and both front and rear (5MP) facing cameras. The second version of the Asus tablet was also slated to be the first device with Android 4.3 on it.

Although this is all a rumor, a curious buyer decided to ask an Asus live chat representative if they had any idea what the specs were. Despite the fact that chat representatives don’t normally have access to upcoming products, one offered up the exact same specs as above:

Interestingly enough, the spec sheet they repeated matches the same exact spec sheet that KGI reported on in May. The chat rep. also said that we should expect to see version 2 of the tablet sometime in Q2 of the year, specifically late July.

Chat representatives don’t typically know future product roadmaps, especially specs, so it’s more than possible that this chat rep. simply Googled KGI’s report and reported it back to the person they were chatting with. On the other hand, they could both line up because they are both right. We’ve contacted Asus and we’ll be sure to report back any news.

Image via <em><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/26/4466600/samsung-galaxy-s4-htc-one-google-play-edition-stock-android-review">The Verge</a></em>

As Google begins to accept orders of the recently announced ‘Google Editions’ of both the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, it’s natural for the first reviews to already have hit the web. The two devices are arguably the best Android phones on the market right now, and once Google announced these stock Android versions, everyone expected for them to get even better. The verdicts are in, and if you don’t want to check every site individually for a review,  we’ve got a roundup for you below.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vetiQ9JFRws#!

Last week, we reported that the Explorer’s Edition of Google Glass would begin to ship out next month. However, today, units became available for pick up. Google Glass users Matt Abdou, Brandon Allgood and Cecilla Abadie have posted some photos on Google+.

The Google Glass packages include one power cord, two visors, one carrying bag and the actual Google Glass hardware.

Interestingly, Matt Abdou uploaded to footage of himself GoKarting while wearing Google Glass. While he does seem to adjust Glass near the beginning in the video while driving, the glasses seem to stay on well and the video quality is up to par with what you would find on a common smartphone. Yesterday, we reported that the camera is capable of shooting 720P footage. The sensor comes in at 5 megapixels.

Another unboxing video follows:
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Possibly in an effort to better compete with the new pricing-strategy from T-Mobile, Sprint announced today they’ll be offering the HTC One for $99 if you’re a new customer and sign a 2-year contract. If you’re interested on getting in the deal, click here to go straight to Sprint’s pre-order page.

Last week, Facebook announced two new products to expand their reach in the mobile market: Facebook Home, a downloadable Facebook-intergrated skin for Android phones and the HTC Facebook First, the first official hardware by the company. The First is scheduled to be released April 12th for $99 exclusively through AT&T. Naturally, the First comes pre-loaded with Facebook Home.

Facebook Home is a downloadable launcher for Android phones only, and a few of its key features such as Chat Heads are getting much praise by reviewers. On the other hand, the First is being criticized for its lack-luster hardware such as the mediocre 5MP camera and lack of a dedicated shutter button.

If you want to read all about Facebook’s new duo of software and hardware, below is a round-up of some of the reviews from around the web…

Engadget:

The HTC First is compelling for two reasons. For Facebook fans, it’s now easier to maintain social connections with friends and family. For the tech-savvy crowd who has little interest in the service, the phone is a stock Android 4.1 device that comes with AT&T LTE, which is still something of a rarity. Including this opt-out was a smart move on Facebook’s part, because it’s difficult to recommend that consumers sign two-year contracts on an unproven product that depends so heavily on their engagement with Facebook. Worst case, it’s a decent mid-range phone for $99 on contract (or $450 without any commitment).
Facebook Home isn’t perfect, nor will it convince many non-Facebookers to start Liking and commenting with reckless abandon. But it’s aesthetically pleasing, and surprisingly polished for a 1.0 product.

CNET:
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An updated Google Play with an image-centric design will be rolling out to all Android devices running Froyo (2.2) and up over the next few weeks, the Official Android blog confirmed. The redesign focuses on connecting ‘similarly themed’ content so apps, songs, and movies of the same genre are grouped rather than scattered everywhere.

Perhaps it’s too soon to  state this with any certainty — surely this update has been in the works for some time now — but we may already be seeing the influence of Facebook Home on app design, at least as it pertains to the use of larger imagery and simplified interface. Something to keep an eye on at the very least.

YouTube has recently added a new 144p video resolution option for select videos, according to users who noticed the change.

Up until this option was added, YouTube made playback quality from 240p to 4K resolution available. While these higher resolutions offer pristine quality, they do require significant bandwidth and fast internet connections.

We speculate that this new 144P option is a move to address these issues. This new base choice will open up YouTube video viewing in countries and regions where people are limited to basic internet connections.

In a surprise announcement made at the Chromium Blog today, Google announced that Chrome OS, Chrome, and Opera will use a new rendering engine titled ‘Blink’. Blink is based of the current rendering engine WebKit. Google states the change is “not an easy decision,” but the change is necessary due to a ‘slow down of innovation.”

Google seems quite apologetic in the blog post, noting it understands the change may have significant implications for the web, but hopefully, in the long run, it will improve the health of the open web ecosystem.

It noted that the change will have little impact in the short-term to developers and Internet users, but Google hopes that the removal of the “multi-process architecture” will simplify the engine’s code and ease the difficulty required to develop for Chrome and Chrome OS. Ultimately, Google also hopes the new engine will speed up Internet load times.

The full press release via the Chromium Blog is available below.

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PhanDroid has received a promotional flyer from RadioShack that shows the price of the upcoming HTC One for $199.99. The interesting part about the flyer is that RadioShack offers a $50 Google Play gift card with the purchase of an HTC One on a 2-year contract. The flyer doesn’t give any word on a release date, but the HTC One is expected to launch sometime in April.

T-Mobile on the other hand offers a deal of its own: Order the HTC One online and receive a free car kit. The kit allows you put your phone on your car’s windshield or dashboard to use as a GPS. T-Mobile offers the HTC One for $99 down plus an extra $20 a month.

Google has begun its yearly unveiling of April Fool’s Day jokes with some clever new ideas that probably come up in strategy meetings throughout the year.

Google Nose. Searching a query on Google and clicking the ‘Nose Beta’ button can only find this ‘service’. The service isn’t real of course, but you can read about its features on Nose’s homepage. Funniest bit?

Don’t ask, don’t smell: For when you’re wary of your query – SafeSearch included.

More Google jokes are on the way…
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It’s been nearly four months since Evernote was updated to version 5.0 on iOS, and today Android will reap in the benefits of the update. Evernote 5.0 for Android brings a bunch of new productivity and utility features to the popular note-taking app.

One of the niftiest features of the update includes something new from Evernote called ‘Page Camera’. Page Camera allows the user to take a picture of a written (or typed) paper document and save the photo to Evernote. The camera automatically detects the text and enhances it to make reading it on a device easier. Another feature, which was released on OS X in January, titled ‘Shortcuts’, allows the user to access notes faster and easier than before. Finally, if you use Evernote to save pictures that you take, then ‘Multi-Shot Camera’ may be your new favorite feature. The camera update allows users to take multiple photos and save them in bulk, rather than the old method of taking shots individually.

The update is available today via the Play Store, or you can download Evernote right here.

Samsung is not very good at keeping secrets it seems, as a new leak of yet another device has slipped into the wild. The Samsung Galaxy S IV hasn’t even launched yet, but its Mini counterpart is already prepared and presumably ready for an imminent launch.

The pictures, found by SamMobile, show the device to look just like a shrunken down version of its bigger brother, with the exception of some lower quality components. You will not find an 8-core Exynos processor inside the Mini but rather a dual-core 1.6GHz. Of course, the main difference between the S IV and the Mini is the screen size. You’ll find a 4.3-inch inch display at 256PPI on the Mini—much smaller than the 5-inch inch 1080P at 443PPI found on the S4.

The Mini is expected to launch sometime in June at an unspecified price point. It’s also unknown what carriers it’ll be available on or if it’ll launch in the United States at all.

A full picture gallery courtesy SanMobile is available below.

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Even though he is the Chairman of Google (the company behind Android in case you are from Neptune), Eric Schmidt told The Guardian that he still uses a BlackBerry phone. Schmidt pointed to the physical keyboard of many BlackBerry phones as the reason for his continued usage of the platform. In comparison, most Android smartphones include touch-screen keyboards. The Android phones with keyboards are also stuck on dated generations of the Android operating system.

Below is a slideshow of Schmidt and his BlackBerry throughout the last few years:

A DroidLife staff member has received an update to the Play Store on a Nexus 4. The current Play Store is at version 3.10.14, but the new update is bumping that up to 4.0. While it’s obvious from the video posted by DroidLife that the update isn’t finalized, meaning that not everything about the new store is available to the public, the most notable change is a cleaner, smoother UI. In fact, when you first open the new Play Store, you’ll see a white blank screen, indicating that the ‘Featured’ section of the store hasn’t been pushed out to the public yet.

At first glance, you’ll notice text on list view and icons are bigger in the store than they were previously. When you select an app, the general layout remains the same—with the exception of more italicized font and repositioned buttons. DroidLife also reported a more ‘Halo’-themed tone to the store.

No word on whom else has received the update or when the widespread rollout will begin, but expect to see the update on your phone soon.