Android

HTC, who this morning said that brand image is more important than volume, has announced a new partnership with supermodel Jourdan Dunn. As part of the partnership, HTC and Dunn will team up to offer limited edition variants of the HTC One M9 with custom-designed, body art-inspired engravings. An example of one of the engravings can be seen above.

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With Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google added support for multiple users sharing a single device. In its own infinite wisdom, however, Samsung decided not to include this feature on its Android 5.0 devices. According to a report from SamMobile, Samsung plans to add Guest Mode to its device with Android 5.1.

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Google has reportedly flipped the switch on a new Google Now card that alerts users of discounts online based on products they’ve searched for in the past.
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Google has updated its default Messenger app (not to be confused with the Facebook-made app by the same name) with a feature Android users have been awaiting for a very long time. Now, with version 1.3 of its Messenger app, Google has now introduced an official means of quick replying to text messages…
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Microsoft announced today during its Build conference that it will release a tool for developers to port their Android apps directly to Windows 10 as “universal apps” that run on both phones and desktop computers. Developers will be able to feed their existing Java and C++ code into a new software package and have it converted to work on the upcoming PC operating system.

At least, that’s how Microsoft is pitching it, though the whole process is a bit more complex. Essentially Windows 10 will ship with APIs that mirror the expected behavior of many Android APIs, and this new conversion tool will help developers swap out Android code for matching Windows code.

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Google’s official Project Fi app has now landed in the Play Store, following the announcement of the Mountain View company’s MVNO earlier this month. The app lets you activate service, tweak your account settings, check how much data you’re using, see your monthly bill, and more…
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Today Google released a new Chrome Dev app, a way for developers to access the latest Chrome builds and experimental features before they’re ready for beta and public releases.

Google has always had a developer release channel for Chrome, allowing devs to get access to the latest builds and features even before regular users are encouraged to start testing through its beta and public release channels. Previously the dev channel was only for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS, but today the company is bringing it to Android.

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According to a report this morning from Bloomberg, Tag Heuer has settled on a price tag for its upcoming Android Wear-powered Apple Watch competitor. The device is expected to ship for around $1,400, and will launch sometime this fall, specifically “October or November.”
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Strategy Analytics has a new report out claiming that Samsung has once again become the number one smartphone manufacturer by units shipped worldwide. Although Samsung doesn’t officially report unit numbers in its earnings call, the analytics firm is estimating 83 million smartphones sold worldwide for the company. IDC is also reporting similar numbers.

Apple, which does report the number of iPhones it shipped, sold 61 million iPhones in the last quarter. Whilst this is a new quarterly record for Apple, it is easily outstripped by Samsung’s estimated numbers by about 20 million units. Apple became the number one vendor last quarter due to the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and mild sales of Samsung’s Galaxy lineup. However, these numbers show Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S6, is off to a good start.

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A poll last weekend on the Android Wear Google+ community asked the following question: “How many apps do you have installed on your watch?” Nearly 700 members responded, and the results took me a bit by surprise.

The headline result was that 77% of respondents—more than 3 out of every 4—have fewer than ten apps installed on their watches. Additionally, the next tier—between ten and twenty apps—contained another 14% of the total, meaning that over 90% of respondents have fewer than 20 apps installed.

In reality, app usage in the Android Wear ecosystem as a whole is probably even lower. This poll was taken among members of an Android Wear community, remember: these are folks who have self-selected as Wear enthusiasts, at least to some degree…
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HTC has warned of a projected decline in sales of up to 29% in the current quarter after deciding to focus on mid-tier and high-end smartphones rather than going for volume sales at the lower end. Defending the strategy in an interview in the WSJ, the company’s CFO Chang Chia-lin said that brand image is, in the longer term, more important than sales volumes.

We think that’s the right strategy because we started as a high-end player, and there is still room to go in terms of being a sizable market-share player. The flagship product would create a halo effect, drawing mid-tier and entry-level models along with it. Hopefully, the pie will grow and the mix will be healthy. It’s natural that revenue contribution is associated with brand perception, and that’s something we care about.

Chang argued that while low-cost brands may pick up the volume sales from the bottom end of the market, they risk not being seen as a cool tech brand by more upmarket customers … 
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LG is back at it again and today we’re taking a quick look at the G4 with a brief comparison to its predecessor the G3. LG’s G4 takes on a similar look and feel as the G3, but everything feels a bit more refined. I’m a big fan of how it feels in the hand and even though it’s technically a bit taller than the G3, it doesn’t seem to affect the overall experience.

As far as specifications, the G4 features a 5.5-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1440) IPS Quantum display, which is the same in size and resolution as its predecessor. The display has a very slight curve, but nothing near the G Flex series. Along with that, we have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor (dual-core 1.8Ghz and a quad-core 1.44), the Adreno 418 GPU, and 3GB of RAM…

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After releasing its earnings guidance earlier this month, Samsung has just posed its official Q1 2015 earnings. The company reports an operating profit of $5.63 billion off of revenues of $44 billion. These numbers represent a drop in operating profits year-over-year, down from $7.8 billion in Q1 2014.

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Google’s head of design, Matias Duarte, recently gave an interview at the Bloomberg Businessweek Design 2015 conference during which he discussed the future of wearables. Duarte, who was wearing an Android Wear device during the interview, compared smartwatches to a variety of other inventions throughout history that have been welcomed by many, but not required.

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The Android-based OUYA gaming system never panned out quite like everyone expected. After receiving $8.5 million in funding via Kickstater, the device received mixed reviews and never caught on with the average consumer. Now, Forbes reports that OUYA is in desperate need of a buyer. According to the report, investment bank Mesa Global, which also handled Songza’s sale to Google, has been brought in to manage the sale of OUYA.

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