Android

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sONcojECWXs&list=PLWz5rJ2EKKc-2quE-o0enpILZF3nBZg_K&index=1]

Update: Google has released a full list of what’s new in Android 4.4 KitKat. We’re digging in and we’ll bring you more details as we discover them.

Alongside the official release of its new flagship Nexus 5 on Google Play today, Google is also of course officially taking the wraps of 4.4 KitKat, the latest version of Android that will ship on the new Nexus 5. When will you be able to get your hands on the new OS? Google said KitKat 4.4 updates will arrive for the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and the Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play Editions in the coming weeks.

Google confirmed that the update will not be coming to the Galaxy Nexus. Since it’s two years old, it now “falls outside of the 18-month update window when Google and others traditionally update devices.”

In the YouTub playlist above, Google walks through some of the new features of KitKat for developers and also highlights a number of user-facing features such as a new “immersive mode” that allows users to automatically hide onscreen controls for a truly full-screen experience. In a blog post, Google took sometime to explain the performance improvements it’s made in KitKat, noting that Android can now “run comfortably on the 512MB of RAM devices”:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ0XTJqFLIE

As expected, the rumors indicated Google would be making a silent Nexus 5 announcement today and now the device is officially available on Google Play in the US. Lining up with previous rumors, the device will sell for $349 for the 16GB model and $399 for a 32GB model. Google is currently quoting an estimated shipping time of 1-2 business days.

Google says the Nexus 5 will officially go up for sale unlocked and without a contract in the following countries starting today through Google Play: U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea. It also notes that the Sprint, T-Mobile, Amazon, Best Buy and RadioShack will get carry the device soon alongside retailers in India.

Official specs for the device right from Google Play: 4.95″ 1920×1080 display (445 ppi), Full HD IPS and Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3, a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800 processor, an 8MP rear facing camera, and a 1.3MP front facing camera. There’s also a 2,300 mAH battery, Adreno 330, 450MHz GPU, and Wireless Charging.

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Update: JD Power’s math seems a little off, when you delve into the scores … 

Samsung got 18 stars, Apple 18, with Samsung only ahead on price, yet took the overall lead.

J.D. Power has released its 2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study–Volume 2 today with Samsung edging out Apple’s iPad for the top spot. Apple has in the past ranked number one in the company’s customer stratification surveys for tablets, but this time Samsung has jumped up from number 3 in April to take the first position from the iPad.

Samsung ranks highest with a score of 835 and is the only manufacturer to improve across all five factors since the previous reporting period in April 2013. Samsung showed particularly strong improvement in the cost factor (25-point increase). Apple ranks second scoring 833 and performs particularly well in performance and ease of operation.

While Samsung only slightly beat out Apple with 835 points vs 833 points on a 1000 point scale, the outcome is quite notable for Samsung who in April ranked even lower than Amazon. The study measures customer satisfaction based on five metrics for 3,375 tablet owners: performance (26%); ease of operation (22%); styling and design (19%); features (17%); and cost (16%).
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Photo: digitaltrends.com

Strong smartphone sales were about the only good news for Sony investors in today’s earnings release, mobile sales in the last quarter up 39.3 percent year-on-year, led by its flagship Xperia Z.

Cameras, TVs, gaming and movie divisions all lost money, leading the company to slash its annual profit forecast by 40 percent to $300M … 
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The images are rather blurry and lacking in detail, but a regulatory filing spotted by Chinese site Tenaa of a handset described by Samsung as the GT-I8580 looks rather like a smaller version of the S4 Active, reports Engadget.

Visually, it looks like the chunky Galaxy S4 Active, what with its return to physical buttons and a fairly robust (and cheaper looking) case. Aside from that there’s little to go on, although that model number has previously been associated with a benchmarked phone featuring a 4.65-inch display with a low-end 480 x 800 resolution … 
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In IDC’s report released today covering worldwide tablet market for the third quarter, the research firm notes that the market as a whole continues to grow thanks to strong growth from Android tablets. Apple shipments remained steady during the quarter compared to last year at 14 million units in Q3, but its share of the market drops from 40.2% last year to just 29.6% this year as Samsung, Asus, Lenovo, and Acer all post significant growth for the quarter compared to the same quarter last year.

Samsung is up from 12.4% last year to 20.4% of the tablet market in Q3 2013 (a 123% increase), while Asus is up 53.9% to 3.5 million units, Lenovo sold 2.3m (up 420.7%), and Acer 1.2M (up 346.3%):

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Actor Ashton Kutcher has joined Lenovo as a product engineer. Kutcher’s experience in engineering includes… basically nothing, although he did play Steve Jobs in the 2013 biopic Jobs, so that has to count for something, right? Right?

Kutcher’s first job at Lenovo will be using his celebrity status to market the company’s new Android-powered “Yoga” tablet—an obvious first step for any aspiring product engineer (or, you know, celebrity endorser). The tablet, which Kutcher presumably had some “engineering” input on, is a flat aluminum enclosure with a rounded base that houses the power button. The Yoga is an attempt at an original body design, and it certainly wins points in that category as long as you only compare it to other tablets. When compared to other electronics, however, the originality quickly fades. The thing basically looks like an upside-down Apple Wireless Keyboard.

The rounded base acts as a built-in stand of sorts and provides 3 viewing modes and the tablets feature Quad Core processors, 16 or 32GB of built-in storage, front-facing speakers, 5MP rear cameras, microSD slot, and 1280 x 800 displays. Lenovo will sell 8 and 10-inch models in WiFi and 3G variants of the Yoga for $249 and $299 starting Oct. 30 with the 8-inch model coming exclusively to Best Buy stores.

Clearly Kutcher’s time as Steve Jobs informed his sense of product design and influenced the hard work he did “engineering” the Yoga.  We look forward to seeing what other innovative and original ideas Kutcher “engineers” during his time at Lenovo.

Today during its “A Morning with Google+” event, Google announced some updates for its Google+ service on top of sharing some improvements to Hangouts. Perhaps the biggest new feature that was announced during the event this morning is the integration of SMS into the Hangouts app, something that many user have speculated would arrive in Android 4.4 KitKat, the next version of Android expected in the near future.

Another new feature that Google announced today was location sharing, which allows users to click a small icon before posting to Google+ to add their location. Finally, Google’s Vic Gundotra announced that Google+ will now support animated GIFs.

Google also announced some new features for Hangouts on Air today, including the ability to plan a future Hangout. That will give users a dedicated landing page for the upcoming Hangout in order easier promote it, and Google has new tools that allow users to manage users in an active Hangout. It also announced that it is flipping the switch on HD full screen video calls across all devices and new auto-awesome tools. Those tools will provide auto-correction features, but also creative features that allow users to flip on different filters during a live video chat.

In addition, Google noted today that it has added 1000 new terms into its deep learning algorithms that allow users to search for visual content on Google+ even when the photos or videos aren’t tagged with your specific search query. Google has a roundup of all today’s announcements on its blog here.

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Back in August Google announced a new closed beta service called Helpouts that would allow users to offer free and paid tutoring and learning services over Google+ Hangout video chats. Google would allow users to sign up as experts, and others could use the service to get help from experts in real-time over video chat. Google had been inviting experts slowing to prepare for when the service goes live, and today we’ve received a tip that the service will officially be launching on Nov. 5.

Android Police says a trusted source tipped them – we got the same tip – see anon screenshot below. As you can see in the email, Google has been preparing experts by giving them private access to the service and plans on officially launching the service next week on Nov. 5. Google is already accepting signs ups through its Helpouts page and allowing users to access the still close beta through invitation codes. 
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In line with my report from earlier this month, Facebook has announced that it will be revamping its Android and iOS Messenger apps. As we previously noted, the new apps have an entirely new design that is flatter and distinct from the standard Facebook application on Android and iOS. The Verge was given a preview of the Android version has some new features besides the new design:

In terms of functionality, there are a host of under-the-hood improvements to make sending and receiving messages faster, says product manager Peter Martinazzi. There are also some front-end tweaks that makes the app faster — especially on Android, where the SMS texting feature, which let you text friends who don’t have Facebook, has been removed.

The highlight feature, however, of the new apps is phone number integration. The repot summarizes the functionality as a WhatsApp competitor:

While Facebook won’t let you text a phone number from Messenger, the company plans to use phone numbers in a new way: to identify its users, just like in WhatsApp. Upon opening Messenger for the first time, it will ask you to provide your phone number. Then, the app can match you with people whose numbers you have, but whom you aren’t Facebook friends with. Facebook guarantees your messages will reach somebody’s inbox if you have their phone number.

The Android version is available as a test with a limited number of users beginning today and on iOS in the future. Also incoming, we previously reported, are updates to the main Facebook app that integrate Graph Search, but Facebook has not confirmed this as of yet.

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Canadian carrier WIND Mobile has just posted a pre-registration form on its Facebook page for the still unannounced Nexus 5 (via MobileSyrup). The carrier touts the device as the “smart, new phone made to capture the moments that matter.” The registration page is lacking any concrete availability information, though it does list detailed specifications.

The carrier says that the Nexus 5 will feature a 4.95-inch 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It will pack a 1.3MP front-facing camera, as well as an 8MP rear-shooter. The device will be powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor paired with 2GB of RAM. As you would expect, it will also run the latest 4.4 KitKat version of Android and be available in 8GB and 16GB variants.

• Screen: 4.95-inch 1920×1080 display (445 ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Cameras: 1.3MP front facing 8MP rear facing OIS
• Weight: 130 grams
• Dimensions: 69.17 x 137.84 x 8.59 mm
• Operating System: OS Android 4.4, KitKat
• Processor: 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
• Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n/ncNFC (Android Beam) / Bluetooth 4.0
• Storage / Memory / Ram: 16GB or 32GB internal storage 2GB RAM
• Ports & Connectors: microUSB, SlimPort enabled, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, Dual microphones, Ceramic power and volume buttons

Yesterday, an image of the Nexus 5 in white was leaked, along with a supposed launch date of November 1st. Earlier this month, the device even appeared on Google Play in a 16GB variant, priced at $349.
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Samsung today announced that it’s beginning to roll out its Premium Suite–which includes compatibility with Galaxy Gear, Android 4.3 and a few other new features– to a number of its most popular devices. Receiving the update starting today and in the coming days/weeks depending on your carrier is the Samsung Galaxy S 4, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III.

On top of Android 4.3 and Gear support, the update brings a few new software features unveiled on the S4 and Note 3:

The update brings the flagship experiences introduced on the Galaxy S 4 to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III including updated Easy Mode, Multi Window™, advanced camera options, and additional features with new functionality.

Also of note, from 9to5Toys: The Galaxy Gear is currently $20 off through eBay.

Samsung also noted that the Galaxy S 4 Active, Galaxy S 4 mini and Galaxy Mega will receive the Premium Suite update in the coming months. If you’re curious when you’ll receive the update, expected launch dates for the Premium Suite for U.S. carriers leaked out a few days via AndroidPolice:
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After leaking a clear image of the black model yesterday, prolific leaker @evleaks has posted a render of the upcoming Nexus 5 in a white color option. As can be seen in the image above, the white model is actually a two-tone device: a black front, a white back, and black accents around the sides and rear-camera system…

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The Moto X has already received price drops down from $199 to $99 or less through Amazon, BestBuy, and elsewhere, but today the AT&T version of the device gets its first price drop for purchases through MotoMaker. Now available for $99 from MotoMaker.com (or $149 for the 32GB model), this is the first time you can get the device for this cheap and still take advantage of the over 2000 customization features available through the MotoMaker ordering tool. MotoMaker is still for the time being exclusive to AT&T, so this is the only way to pick up the Moto X on contract and customize the colors of the device. The other guys still only carry the white and black models of Moto X. 
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Billed as ‘the lockscreen that learns,’ Cover is an Andoid app that notes which apps you use in which locations, and then puts the apps you’re most likely to need onto your lockscreen.

At home you might get weather, news, traffic and Twitter; at work, calendar, Google drive and LinkedIn; in the car, maps and music … 
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Photo: ibtimes.com

Samsung has beaten its earlier forecasts for both revenue and profit in Q3, reporting new records for both at $9.56B profit on revenues of $55.59B.

Samsung had earlier reported that it had sold more than 40 million Galaxy S4 handsets in the first six months, but advised today that most of its mobile growth was in lower-end models, while high-end growth is slowing … 
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