Chance currently writes for both 9to5Google and 9to5Mac, in addition to 9to5Toys. He has previously written for several other online publications. He uses a Nexus 5, iPhone 5s, iPad Air, Hackintosh, and Macbook Air.
Just as it announced last week, the HTC One is now finally available from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 with a new two-year agreement. The device is being sold only in a 32GB capacity and in a silver color option. It ships with Android 4.2.2, and as you would expect, comes with Sense 5 loaded on top. Unique to the Verizon model, however, are the 4G LTE and Verizon logos plastered on the back.
The specs are the same as the AT&T variant, which launched a staggering four months ago. The HTC One is powered by a Snapdragon 600 processor paired with 2GB of RAM, which even four months later, are pretty solid specifications. Expand Expanding Close
Google has just began rolling out version 5.0.21 of its YouTube app to Android devices (via Android Police). The update is arguably the biggest the app has ever seen and includes a brand new interface, as well as much more. The interface is now entirely based on cards, much like the Google+ app. The slide-out navigation has also been changed, though only slightly. Finally, you can now give videos a thumbs up or thumbs down, or flag it, without having to expand the video description.
Also new is in-app multi-tasking. Now, you can minimize any video to a tiny window in the corner and continue to let it play, even when navigating through other portions of the app. You can bring it back to the forefront by tapping or dragging the window back to the center and dismiss it by swiping away the card. Expand Expanding Close
Even though the device is not yet availability to the public, Motorola has just put a new X Phone accessory up for sale on its website. The “Motorola Skip” is described as a wearable accessory that you can use to “unlock [your] phone with a single tap.” Details are still a bit scarce, but it looks as if the device is attached to a clip and simply gives you the ability to tap it to unlock your phone. According to the support document, the device will work via NFC. The Skip starts at $19.99, which seems a tad pricey for something that saves you all of a few seconds.
The sub-$250 Chromebooks were a huge hit for both Samsung and Acer last year, and according to a new report out of DigiTimes, ASUS is also planning to enter the growing Chrome OS market. The site claims that ASUS is planning to make a foray into the Chromebook market as soon as the fourth quarter of this year. After experiencing low-demand for the back-to-school season, the company is looking to boost its shipment numbers, notably to education customers. ASUS recently reduced its notebook shipment predictions for 2013 from 22-24 million units to 17-19 million units.
With its entry in the Chromebook business, Asustek is hoping to gain orders from the education industry. Although order volumes are likely to be limited, they will still help the company.
According to a new report from fansite SamMobile, Samsung will introduce its Galaxy Gear smartwatch during the Unpacked Episode 2 event on September 4th. The Galaxy Gear will reportedly carry the SM-V700 model number and act as a companion device for Samsung’s other Galaxy smartphones. Other details are sparse at this point, though several patent filings have given us a hint as to what we may see in terms of design. Samsung is also excepted to announce its Galaxy Note III flagship during the Unpacked event next month.
After several months of speculation, Verizon has just launched a sign-up page for its HTC One variant. The carrier has been promising to offer the device since June, but the launch has been pushed back by every possible delay. The sign-up page doesn’t offer any additional details as to what we can expect from Verizon’s HTC One variant, though we do now know where the 4G LTE and Verizon logos will be located.
According to a new Google+ post from Taylor Wimberly, who was spot on with his Moto X Phone leaks, Motorola and Google are planning to team up on the next Nexus device. Wimberly says the device will be released in Q4 of this year and will not be a Google-ified version of the Moto X, but rather a new device altogether. No other details are offered, unfortunately.
With the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, Google started a trend of Nexus devices being affordable and sold unlocked via the Play Store. Many people expected this to be the case with the X Phone, but that turned out to be false. Is it possible that the more affordable X Phone model rumored for so long was actually a Motorola Nexus device?
Last week, Google finally announced something many people have been waiting for in its new Android Device Manager feature. Similar to Apple’s Find My iPhone, the service allows you remotely track a device, play a sound on it, and even lock and delete all the data. The service is now live on many Android devices, as well as the web. In order to use the service, your device has to have received the backend update that gives the site permission to access your device. To check for this update, head into Settings > Security > Device Administrators and look for a new “Android Device Manager” field.
If you ended up dropping your phone between those couch cushions, Android Device Manager lets you quickly ring your phone at maximum volume so you can find it, even it’s been silenced. And in the event that your phone or tablet is out of earshot (say, at that restaurant you left it at last night), you can locate it on a map in real time
As far as specs go, the device will have a 5.2-inch full-HD display, a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, a microSD card slot, a removable battery, on-screen navigation keys, and Android 4.2.2 with LG’s custom skin.
We’ll be sure to bring you all the official news out of LG’s event tomorrow, but at this point, the only we don’t know is availability and pricing. Expand Expanding Close
Notorious leakster @evleaks has just shared an image of the HTC One in a new shade of blue. There’s not much to go off of, but the device will supposedly be released sometime in 2013. There is no carrier branding on the phone, which leads us to believe that it will be sold internationally only, though PhoneArena is reporting that the device has appeared in Verizon’s internal system. Aside from the different color shade, the device is identical to the other HTC One models in every way. The front-facing BoomSound speakers are clearly visible, as is the Beats Audio logo on the back. Expand Expanding Close
Just like it did with its iOS app, Twitter has just released an update to its Android app that adds several new features and enhancements. First off, the login verification process has been improved and made a lot simpler. While SMS verification use to be required, the app now supports login verification from directly within the app. Also new is an improved photo gallery for when you search. You now have the ability to view all photos that relate to a specific search, while before you could only swipe through thumbnails and select images to view full screen.
Google’s All Access music service just launched earlier this summer, and according to a new report from Billboard, the company is looking to get it into the hands of even more consumers. The site is reporting that Google is in talks with Verizon to bundle All Access subscriptions with smartphone plans by allowing them to add the $9.99 bill on to their existing monthly fee. While it doesn’t look like Verizon customers would get any sort of advantage over other customers, it would give Google another outlet to promote the service and make the process more seamless.
A deal with Google Play Music All Access would allow Verizon to offer an on-demand music service to its 100 million wireless subscribers. Google would gain a powerful distribution partner that could seamlessly fold the monthly $9.99 fee for its service into subscribers’ cellphone deal.
It’s unclear what sort of advantages Verizon would get, though Google is allegedly pitching that it would make customers happy. Expand Expanding Close
We’ve heard rumors of a larger HTC One variant for a long time now, but thanks to ePrice we now have our first clear images of the device. The pictures don’t show all that much, though. Essentially, the One Max is a larger version of the One with the same design and build quality. The screen will supposedly be a whopping 5.9-inches and come in with a 1080p resolution. The specs of the One Max will be much improved, however, with the device being powered by a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and 3,300mAh battery. It’s also worth pointing out that the bezel is nearly nonexistent, which means that while the screen is large, the overall form factor might be a tad more reasonable.
Hot on the heels of Samsung sending out its Unpacked 2013 event for the Galaxy Note III, HTC also released a teaser video for an upcoming ad campaign. The company says that there are “big things ahead”, which given recent events, seems like a tease for the One Max. The video clip also shows a new “Happy Telephone Company” tagline for the company. HTC recently ditched its “Quietly Brilliant” branding that it used for so long.
The HTC One Max is definitely pushing the boarders of being too big, but hopefully the bezels are small enough to truly make a difference. Expand Expanding Close
Before Google I/O 2012, Android tablets hadn’t been all that successful, due in large part to their high price and lack of serious support from Google. Then, however, Google introduced the $199 Nexus 7 tablet and started a battle of who could make the best, most affordable tablet. More than a year later, it’s quite clear that Google was the winner of that battle. Other manufacturers could not release an affordable tablet that was worth buying– and its biggest 7-inch competitor, the iPad mini, remains a full $100 above the Nexus 7’s asking price.
When the first rumors hit claiming that the device would cost $229, $30 more than the original model, I was a tad worried, but once Google officially announced the specifications, all that worry went away. The new Nexus 7 improves on its predecessor in just about every way imaginable. It has a faster processor, higher resolution screen, a new rear camera, the latest version of Android, and more. All that doesn’t necessarily mean the device is better, however. Is the Nexus 7 still king of the Android tablet market? Can it compete with the iPad mini?
In an effort to improve its local reviews and compete with services like Yelp, Google has just launched a new service dubbed City Experts (via Engadget). The network is open to users on Google+ who have reviewed at least 50 places already and are located in select cities in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Japan. In order to remain in good standing, City Experts must provide at least five new reviews each month that meet Google’s guidelines of being well written, are three or four sentences long, and include an image.
Are you an expert on all the best places to eat, shop and play in your city? If so, then we want you to join the Google City Expert program and start receiving exclusive perks! The Google City Expert program brings together the most active users on Google Maps who write reviews and upload photos of local places. A
Those who meet all of these guidelines will be rewarded with exclusive invites to local events, “special online recognition”, and “custom swag”, which is Google-branded items.
Update: The Verge reports that Samsung has responded with a semi-convincing case for how some of it may be innocent, but no comment on the more damning evidence of code referencing specific benchmark apps:
The Korean manufacturer says certain “full screen apps” (any app in which the status bar isn’t present) such as the camera, browser, video player, and benchmarking tools, are classified as requiring the highest performance available. Many games don’t require the maximum clock speed to run, the company notes. Samsung doesn’t address AnandTech‘s discovery of strings of code that implied specific benchmark apps were being targeted for higher clock speeds, but the site did note that other benchmark apps that are not explicitly mentioned in code were also behaving the same way.
For years now, people have been using benchmarks to analyze how devices compare to each other in terms of raw power. As most people know, however, benchmarks don’t usually mean much in terms of real world performance. According to a new report from AnandTech, Samsung has been performing some trickery to make its devices perform better during benchmarking.
Essentially, Samsung has set the GPU of the Exynos 5 Octa Galaxy S4 variant to run at a higher frequency when being benchmarked than during normal, day-to-day usage. AnandTech tested this and found that Samsung sets the device to run at 533MHz during benchmarking tests, as opposed to the 480MHz during normal usage.
The same trickery also appears to be true when it comes to the CPU speed. While running the GLBenchmark 2.5.1, AnTuTu, Linpack, and Quadrant benchmarking apps, the device was set to use the Cortex A15 cores clocked at 1.2GHz. When using the GFXBench 2 app, which is apparently not subject to Samsung’s benchmark trigger, the device ran at the lower 500MHz speed. Expand Expanding Close
Update: HBO confirmed to GigaOM that its in talks regrading offering support for Chromecast in the near future.
When Google announced the Chromecast last week, it revealed handful of content providers that are available to ‘cast’ to your TV. GigaOm is now reporting, however, that both Vimeo and Redbox Instant will soon be making their way to the new $35 streaming stick.
In a statement to the blog, Vimeo’s VP of mobile, Nick Alt had the following to say about Chromecast:
“We’re excited about the emerging opportunities bridging mobile to Connected TV and we look forward to offering Chromecast support in our products.”
The report also states that Redbox will also be bringing its Instant streaming service to Chromecast. Plex, a service that focuses mainly on brining local files to your big screen, also says that it is “actively investigating and optimistic” for Chromecast support.
Wow, lots of interest in Chromecast and Plex. Yes, we've ordered a few of them :-)
Finally, GTV Hacker has also uncovered some configuration files that hint at tests for HBO Go as well as the services that Chromecast already supports.
While none of these services have specific time frames for release, it looks like Google will be moving a pretty quickly to beef up the streaming services it supports. Expand Expanding Close
The X Phone is expected to be available in at least 25 different color options and sold built-to-order via an online portal. While we know a lot about the device already, Motorola should announce all the secrets this Thursday during its press event. Expand Expanding Close
Just a few days after its announcement, Google’s new Chromecast stick has already been rooted. The rooting process, as detailed by GTV Hacker, is similar to almost every Android phone. During the announcement last week, Google said that the Chromecast was powered by Chrome OS, but GTV Hacker has found something different.
The blog says that after rooting and doing a little digging around within the software, it looks like the Chromecast is running software closer to Android or Google TV, not Chrome OS as Google implied. While this doesn’t mean all that much for the end user, it does leave the door open for an eventual port of the full Google TV operating to the tiny HDMI stick or the ability to install standalone apps at some point.
We had a lot of internal discussion on this, and have concluded that it’s more Android than ChromeOS. To be specific, it’s actually a modified Google TV release, but with all of the Bionic / Dalvik stripped out and replaced with a single binary for Chromecast. Since the Marvell DE3005 SOC running this is a single core variant of the 88DE3100, most of the Google TV code was reused. So, although it’s not going to let you install an APK or anything, its origins: the bootloader, kernel, init scripts, binaries, are all from the Google TV.
We are not ruling out the ability for this to become a Google TV “stick”.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google has been working on an Android-powered set-top box, so it’s possible that it the device may be some sort of advanced variation of the Chromecast. Expand Expanding Close
Google’s new $35 Chromecast device has huge potential in a living-room environment, but as PC World notes, the device also could be a major player in the enterprise market as a presentation tool. If you have to give a presentation now, it’s tricky to make sure you have the right converters to connect to the projector at the office, and if you get there and it turns out you needed VGA, not DVI, you’re in big trouble. With the Chromecast, all you would have to do is bring it to your meeting and have your documents stored in Google Drive. From there you can cast all of your Chrome tabs to the big screen with no issues.
The Chromecast would also be the perfect device to take on a family outing, as it would allow you to easily watch Netflix content on any TV with an HDMI connection at your hotel.
While it may take a little work to get all your documents in Google Drive, the process has gotten simpler and simpler over time and with more businesses switching to Google Apps anyway, there’s no reason not to use a Chromecast in the office. Expand Expanding Close
The NSA’s $2b data centre in Bluffdale, Utah (source: businessweek.com)<span style="font-size:13px;line-height:19px;"></span>
Joseph Bonneau, a Google engineer, was the first person to be awarded the NSA’s “Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper” award last week for his “The Science of Guessing” report. Bonneau’s paper analyzed more than 70 million user passwords to see why people are not good at making strong passwords. While winning the award is great and all, Bonneau says he is not a big fan of the NSA in the first place.
In a blog post, he thanked the NSA for the award, but then went on to say that organization’s attempts to collect data from users are not something he agrees with. “I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organization like the NSA in its current form,” he wrote.
In accepting the award I don’t condone the NSA’s surveillance. Simply put, I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organisation like the NSA in its current form. Yet I’m glad I got the rare opportunity to visit with the NSA and I’m grateful for my hosts’ genuine hospitality.
After releasing its earnings estimates earlier this month, Samsung has just posted its full report for Q2 2013. The company reported profits of around $8.5 billion, up $2 billion over Q1′s $6.4 billion profit and about $51 billion in revenue. While both of those numbers are records for Samsung, they fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The mobile department of Samsung increased its profits nine percent in Q2, which the company attributes to sales of the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 8.0. Samsung did note, however, that its mobile department may not be able to keep up that pace forever and a slight drop in growth may occur.
Going forward, Samsung plans to focus on “offering differentiated smartphone displays…including flexible display technology.” Expand Expanding Close
Hot on the heels of the Chromecast being announced yesterday, the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Google is planning yet another entry into the living room market. The publication says that Google has been secretly working on an Android-powered set-top box, similar to the Roku and Apple TV. Googler Andy Rubin allegedly showed the device off at CES 2013 earlier this year, highlighting the Android operating system and video-chatting via Hangouts feature. In addition to the camera, the device also had a motion sensor similar to Microsoft’s Kinect.
We reported earlier this year that Google was in talks with cable companies for a new service for internet TV streaming, so it’s possible that the two rumors are related.
While similar to the Chromecast, this set-top box is supposedly much more independent and does not require another device to power it. The device will be able to run a plethora of Android apps, including Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and the Play Store.
The people briefed on Google’s plans said the set-top box Google showed off in January had a broader set of features. One of these people said the device allowed people to stream YouTube videos, watch TV shows or movies from the Google Play digital-programming store, and access Android apps such as videogames or, potentially, digital media services such as Netflix and Pandora.
Yesterday, Google finally announced Android 4.3, a minor update to 4.2 that included a handful of neat features, including the ability to have more than one user profile. As time has progressed, however, a few other unannounced features have been discovered.
First, Googler Evan Rapoport posted a detailed description on Google+ about the serious enhancements the Photo Sphere team made to the functionality in Android 4.3. Rapoport says that nearly all of stitching and exposure bugs and annoyances present in Android 4.2 have been fixed in the latest update.
First, alignment and stitching are much better, giving you more level horizons and fewer errors throughout the image. While environments with lots of moving things are always challenging, scenes like the one attached here with a long flat horizon are now much better.
Second, we’ve improved exposure compensation for each individual frame, producing a beautifully exposed photo sphere. You can compare this to the previous versions that produced gray areas and inconsistent coloring in areas of high contrast (near the sun, horizons, buildings against blue sky, etc.).
