Alex Allegro

Samsung’s Mobile Chief has some harsh words directed towards Microsoft. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, J.K. Shin said that Android devices such as phones and tablets are outselling Windows Phone devices and there is a clear demand for Android over Windows. 

The exact Q&A goes as follows:

WSJ: What about your relationship with Microsoft? Has it changed after Nokia began to work more closely with Microsoft on Windows devices?

Mr. Shin: Smartphones and tablets based on Microsoft’s Windows operating system aren’t selling very well. There is a preference in the market for Android. In Europe, we’re also seeing lackluster demand for Windows-based products.

While it’s clearly no surprise that Android devices are outselling Windows devices, the harsh words come just months after lackluster sales of the Microsoft Surface RT and Pro. According to a report this morning from Bloomberg, “people with knowledge about the companies sales” are saying that Microsoft has sold about 1.5 million Surface devices total. Also keep in mind that Samsung just announced the Galaxy S IV, the successor to the best-selling Android phone on the planet, which’ll be sure to gather up some massive sales for Samsung.

The curtain was just pulled off the Galaxy S IV at Samsung’s Unpacked event in New York City tonight. Confirming the leaks and teasers we’ve seen over the last week, the Galaxy S IV’s design is similar to the Galaxy S III aside from a few minor aesthetic tweaks.

The Galaxy S IV weighs just 130 grams and it’s only 7.9MM thick. In terms of specs, it will come in two colors at launch—Black Mist and White Frost. It’ll also include 4G LTE and HSPA+ 42MB, like the S III. It will also feature a 5-inch inch super AMOLED HD display at 441PPI, and, at launch, it’ll ship with Android 4.2.2 Jellybean and be available in 155 countries on 327 mobile carriers by the end of April.

Other specs include a 2,600mAh battery, as well as a 13MP back camera, 2MP front, an IR blaster, and 8 sensors including a temperature and humidity sensor.

The Galaxy S IV will ship in three available models—16GB, 32GB, and 64GB —each with 2GB of RAM, and it boasts a 1.6GHz Exynos Octa-core chip or a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm depending on the market.

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HTC’s newest flagship phone, the HTC One, is being hit with positive reviews all around the web, but that’s not the only thing. According to a statement received by SlashGear, the HTC One is facing some shipping delays and the device’s original rumored March 15 release is no longer a target. The statement from HTC reads:

“We will start fulfilling pre-orders by end March in certain markets and will roll out to more markets as we approach April.” – HTC

At the moment, it’s unconfirmed whether the United States will be affected by this delay. An original rumor started this morning stated the delay would only affect orders in the United Kingdom and other markets. As we get more information on the details of the delay, we’ll be sure to update you.

If the Pixel sparked your interest in investing in a Chromebook, but its absurd price turned you off, then the Acer C7 Chromebook may be what you’re looking for. Announced via press release this afternoon, the new-and-improved Chromebook C7 from Acer boasts a number of useful performance boosts.

First and foremost comes a much-needed battery update. The original C7 Chromebook’s battery capped out at 3.5 hours, today’s C7 update pushes that up to 6 hours. The update today also doubled the RAM from the original model to a more reasonable 4GB. The processor remains the same at 1.1GHz.

The Acer Chromebook C7 is available and will ship today from Amazon and other retailers for $279.99.

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The cat’s out of the bag, or in this case, the Galaxy S IV is out of Jeremy’s box. A YouTube video, posted on the account “iStevencom“, reveals what seems to be a Galaxy S IV booting up (along with the phone and settings apps).

The device, if it proves to be real, looks almost identical to the Galaxy S III, with the exception of a thinner bezel and the camera flash is placed below the camera. In the video, we also get a glimpse of the future of TouchWiz. No longer will TouchWiz’s general theme be black and blue but rather a more modern white and blue. We also see the device’s home screen that looks almost identical to the TouchWiz home screen now found on the Galaxy S III.

The full video is available above with a photo gallery below.

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If you weren’t a fan of the Galaxy S III’s design, then the Galaxy S IV may not be to much of your liking. Provided that a teaser picture that Samsung just posted on its Facebook (and Twitter) page is to be believed, then the Galaxy S IV will sport a very similar design.

The Galaxy S IV is scheduled to be released in New York City on March 14.

[tweet URL]

The countdown for #TheNextBigThing has begun. Who’s ready for the Global Unpacked Event on March 14? pic.twitter.com/yi8VSDFxUe

— Samsung Mobile US (@SamsungMobileUS) March 12, 2013

More details about the rumored next Nexus device, à la Motorola, have leaked. The device is said to début the next version of Android: Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Features of the next version of Android are scarce, but it’ll be revealed at I/O in May, according to Androidworld.nl.

Androidworld.nl claimed it has two conflicting sources and to take the leaked specs with a grain of salt. The (conflicting) leaked specs of the Motorola X phone include either 4.7-inch full HD (1080p) display or a 5-inch bezel-less display, a NVIDIA Tegra 4i processor, as well as a 16MP back-camera with a 5MP front camera and eye-tracking technology for scrolling and “email reading”. If the leaked specs are to be believed, the X phone is going to very thin— coming in at only 7.9MM thick.

These aren’t the first-time rumors of a Motorola-Google phone. In January, a job listing for project manager for the “X-Phone” was found on Motorola’s website. The listing was removed a few minutes after it was posted, but it all confirmed the existence of a Moto-Google collaboration phone in the works.

We’d caution that this is a particularly sketchy/unlikely scenario, especially considering Google CEO Larry Page told us some of the goals for the new phone on a conference call (including withstanding drops and a long battery life). This doesn’t mesh well with the bezel-less display and 7.9mm thickness.

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A Facebook phone is in the works according to Unwiredview and @Evleaks. Citing a “reliable source”, the HTC Myst is expected to launch sometime this year with a 4.3″ inch 720p display.

Other specs include a 1.5GHz dual-core from Snapdragon, 1GB of RAM, 5MP camera and Android 4.1.2 Jellybean. Although the Myst is rumored to include LTE and Blutooth 4.0, if this phone does come to fruition, it’ll probably be marketed as a mid-range device just like its predecessors the HTC Status which was a flop on AT&T. In fact the phone was probably one reason why relations soured between Google and HTC which coincided with HTCs fall from grace among consumers as well.

The full specs are available in a chart below.

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@Evleaks, a Twitter-only tech-news outlet, tweeted out a picture today of what seems to detail some more Galaxy S IV specs and revealed its design. The photo shows what’s claimed to be the Galaxy S IV, in a more square shape, similar to how the Samsung Galaxy Note II is designed. In terms of specs, they seem to line up with what we reported earlier today: A 5-inch Super AMOLED full HD display, 13-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage configurations. It’s also rumored to launch with Android 4.2 Jellybean.

No matter what gets announced on March 14, we’ll be covering the event live. Be sure to tune-in for that.
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Posted via Tweet, Samsung announced this morning that it’ll be live streaming the Galaxy S IV unveiling at Times Square in New York City.  Samsung plans on starting the event at 7AM in the Big Apple on March 14th. If you can’t make the trip there though, you can live stream the event on Samsung’s Youtube channel the day of the event.

Galaxy S IV Render via SamMobile

Samsung has confirmed that it will début its next Galaxy smartphone at an event in New York on March 14. Notably, the U.S.-based launch comes after Samsung has revealed its previous Galaxy phones internationally year-after-year.

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At Mobile World Congress this morning, HP announced its first tablet since the Touchpad: the HP Slate 7. The Slate 7 is a 7-inch inch tablet with a somewhat disappointing 1,024-by-600 pixel display. You’ll be able to see those big pixels from a variety of angles and lighting conditions with HP’s so-called High-aperture-ratio Field Fringe Switching (HFFS) panel. The panel purports to offer “wide viewing angles that provide easy viewing of documents, games, photos and videos—even in outdoor lighting conditions”.

Last’s year’s tablet-type spec sheet also includes 1GB of RAM, a 1.6GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor and 8GB of onboard storage. It also boasts a microSD slot and BeatsAudio which are welcome editions to the closed storage options of both Amazon’s Kindle and the Nexus 7.

With a $169 price tag, it seems fairly obvious that this will be playing in the lower end market. With HP’s huge global footprint and long list of enterprise contracts, the Slate7 will open the door to many more potential Android customers. In a separate blog post, HP teased,

I’ve also heard that there’s a raft of exclusive productivity software and games that will be available for the Slate7. I just don’t know what that exactly entails. Yet.

HP hopes that dual-cameras and expandable storage can sway potential consumer customers.

According to The Verge, the Slate 7 is running an OS nearly identical to stock Android. And, while The Verge claimed the tablet’s build-quality feels sub-par, a low price-point may just be what HP needs to get entry-level tablet buyers. 
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Chrome version 25 was released with a new Web Speech API that allows web developers to integrate speech-to-text dictation into their web applications.

The other feature of importance on the new version is the removal of “silent extensions.” Silent extensions are web-browser extensions that install without your knowledge. From now on, every web extension installation must be manually approved.

The updated version is available here, but Chrome’s auto-update feature may have already installed it for you.

With so much mobile competition, companies are always trying to get you to buy their phone, today, Motorola has decided to join in on the fun. In an announcement made online, Motorola is offering a $50 dollar Google Play gift card to use on anything available in the app store. You’ll only get the gift card though if you purchase one of the eligible phones Motorola is promoting such as the Droid Razr Maxx or HD. The sale ends on March 4th, so if you want in on the deal you’ll have to act fast. The full list of phones is available below.

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A United States Patent Application filling from today revealed three detailed diagrams of Google Glass. Google announced yesterday that it would open applications, asking people to answer the question “If I had Glass”. A Google-approved, answer along with $1,500, will score you a set of the futuristic glasses this year. The new diagrams, along with many pages, detail the future potential. In the filling, mentions of Wi-Fi, LTE, Bluetooth, and more are all listed as connectivity options, as well as back-up battery slots that accept AA and AAA batteries to help keep that LTE juice flowing all day. Some other features of the device possibly include touch input all along the frame of the glasses and different RAM, battery, and storage configurations.

Other possible mentioned features are:

• Gyroscope and accelerometer
• Retina laser scanner
• Semi-transparent LED display
• Balanced internal distribution for “predetermined weight distribution”

While there are tons of mentioned features in the filling, it’s unsure how many will actually come to life when Glass launches officially next year.

Earlier today, during Sony’s PS4 reveal keynote, one of the game developers Evolution Studios promised its new driving game Drive Club will have a “second screen” option for Android tablets. Users would be able to play games and socialize with other players all from their tablet. It was uncertain whether the feature would expand to other games and mobile platforms or if it was just a Drive Club exclusive. Just a mere four hours after today’s keynote, Sony hopes to mitigate the exclusivity rumors with the announcement of “Playstation App”. Explained in the press release below, the Playstation app will allow iPhones, iPads, Android tablets, and phones to become a “second screen” controller. Users will also be able to download games to their PS4 on the go, so they’ll be ready to play once they arrive home.

It’s currently unknown at the moment whether the app will be similar to Microsofts Xbox app that allows users to view other friends’ stats and manage and edit your profile or if it will solely be used as a second screen to games like the Wii U. There’s no released date pegged for the app, but expect it to launch sometime around this holiday season (the same time the PS4 is expected to launch).

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As the PS4 keynote event unfolds, a new great feature has just been announced: Android tablets as game controllers. The specific reveal came along with the game Drive Club. It’s a first-person team-based racing game exclusive to the new PS4. EvolutionStudios, the brains behind the new game, are allowing users to create a game and challenge their friends with Android tablets while on the go. More information as to whether this feature is exclusive to this game or a new PS4 feature has yet to be announced, but we’ll be sure to update you as we get word.

Update: Well that’s all folks! The PS4 “reveal” event is over now (with no hardware sighting), and Drive Club is the only game with Android tablets as confirmed second controllers. As more games are announced and eventually released, we’ll probably see this feature included. But, for now, Drive Club is the only known game.

For years, technology lovers who lived in a Sci-Fi world have longed for a way to charge devices in seconds. Last year, Qualcomm hoped to be the one to bring that dream to reality with the release of “Quick Charge 1.0”. It certainly helped ease the pain of long wait times for a phone battery to fully charge, but it wasn’t the “Insta-Charge” solution everyone wanted. Today, the same company hopes to bring us one step closer with the announcement of “Quick Charge 2.0”. Qualcomm promised up to 75 percent faster charge times compared to 1.0, with up to a 60W power output in a single ‘Quick Charge’ outlet-plug. The new charging tech is planned to be released sometime in 2014, along with the special outlet-plugs needed to make the tech work to its full potential.

Qualcomm also announced today something completely new: “Snapdragon Voice Activation”. It’s a hands-free way to wake your phone up without the need to press any buttons or have an active Internet connection. Along with Quick Charge 2.0, Snapdragon Voice Activation is expected to launch sometime in 2014.

Source: Android Central 

It’s all but confirmed the HTC One is launching in New York today, but that didn’t stop French website NowhereElse from leaking a press shot of device today. The leak shows both sides of the phone, in both black and white, with a few apps running on the screen. On one phone, a video camera app is running while a photo gallery app seems to be running on the other. The phone in the middle is presumed to be the home screen with what looks to be a new version of Sense. It’s been rumored that Sense 5.0 is going to launch today, and that may in fact be true with this new leak. While the shots don’t seem to be Photoshopped, we’ll be sure of what is announced today, as we will be there live blogging the event at 10 a.m. EST.

Update: DroidLife has two videos of the phone, with one being sourced from Phandroid.

Update 2: Engadget spotted the HTC One. The shot is a close up of the back of the device. A red band that adds a nice accent is also shown on the device, but the red band is not shown in the reported press release photos above.

Over the last few days, HTC has sent out ‘teaser tweets’ pertaining to its upcoming announcement tomorrow. In its latest tweet from this morning, HTC showed a table with what looks to be new devices under black cloths. While it looks like there are over 12 devices under the cloths, one of them is substantially bigger than the rest. Moreover, it lines up approximately as the same size of a 10-inch tablet. While rumors of a tablet being announced tomorrow are scarce, judging by the photo, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if one does happen to be announced tomorrow. Take a look at the unedited picture yourself, but we’ll be there live tomorrow to blog the event!