Android

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8CHyOTOnSS4

Verizon has just released a new video teasing its new Droid MAXX, Droid Ultra, and Droid Mini devices announced this morning. The video, in typical Verizon/Motorola fashion, is very robot-like. The video teases that “WHEN IT MATTERS, DROID DOES.”

The moments that matter offer no time to pause or stop, no room for bulk or bloat, and no chance to refuel. In those moments, the new lineup of DROID phones delivers.

The DROID Ultra and MAXX will be available on August 20 and the Droid Mini on August 29, with pre-orders starting today. 
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You knew it was heading our way: Google Glass porn is now here and boy will Google be happy. For the details head over to Motherload.Vice.com.

[ooyala code=”90aWlpZDqumgU7y5TOUNjEPfcOUMXTqP” player_id=”null”]

NSFW NSFW NSFW Below the fold.

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Something we didn’t see coming! Google subsidy Motorola announced at today’s Droid event that the new Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and Droid Mini smartphones would be powered by an in-house System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The new “X8” 8-core processor has a dual core CPU, a quad core GPU and a separate processor for “natural language processing” and it rounds out with computing core to control them all.

Motorola Droid 8 core thing, confirmed 8960 Snapdragon S4 Pro (8960Pro), NLP and Contextual thing could be off die or on Hexagon, digging.

— Brian Klug (@nerdtalker) July 23, 2013

Brian Klug from Anandtech says that the CPU is a Qualcomm Snapdragon.

Motorola says this processor will double graphics speed and boost CPU by about 25%.

More importantly, it will allow these new phones to “always be listening” without draining the battery. Speaking of battery, did you hear that the new Droid Maxx has 48-hour battery life? Head over to the event roundup for all of the details.  Image via Verge
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Following a what feels like non-stop leaks for the upcoming Moto X phone from Motorola, today Tinhte.vn (via AndroidPolice) point us to the 4 minute video above showing what is likely a prototype of the device. There’s no way of telling how far along development this build of the Moto X is, but it certainly looks legit based on the previous rumors floating around. Yesterday, another leak claimed to show off a new minimalistic camera interface, while Motorola already confirmed its upcoming August 1st event in New York will officially introduce the Moto X.
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In a continued barrage of Moto X news and rumors, Android Police has just published an extensive gallery of images showing what it believes is the camera interface and app that the device will feature. The interface is noticeably different from what we saw on the Google Play Edition devices, as well as all Android 4.2 devices.

Along the left hand side of the interface is a control wheel that allows you to adjust certain settings, such as the exposure, flash, focus, camera setting (HDR, video, etc) and more. It appears that you will be able to scroll the wheel around to see even more options. I’m not exactly a fan of this interface, as it’s not always clear what settings the icons are representing. It also looks like the device will be capable of slow motion video.
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Samsung has just unveiled a new Exynos 5 Octa system-on-a-chip (via Engadget) that promises 20 percent faster CPU performance and twice the graphics processing power of its predecessors. It’s unclear when we’ll start seeing this chip in Android devices, but theoretically we could see it in phones this fall, with the Galaxy Note III seeming like a likely candidate.

The Exynos 5 Octa packs four ARM Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 1.8GHz and four Cortex-A7s in the big.LITTLE configuration. Samsung is claiming that the new 5420 variant of its Exynos chips also offers improved memory bandwidth, coming in at 13.9GBps thanks to dual-channel LPDDR3 at 933MHz.

The new Exynos 5 Octa processor also features a memory bandwidth of 14.9 gigabytes per second paired with a dual-channel LPDDR3 at 933MHz, enabling an industry-leading fast data processing and support for full HD Wifi display. This new processor also incorporates a variety of full HD 60 frames per second video hardware codec engines for 1080p video recording and playback.

The Exynos 5420 is currently being sampled by Samsung’s partners and will enter mass production in August.

You’re probably aware of the SETI@Home project, enabling the spare processing power of home computers to help process chunks of radio telescope data in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Since that initiative, other distributed computing projects for good causes have sprung up. What you may not know is that your Android smartphone or tablet can also participate … 
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For the past few months, LG has been teasing the Optimus G successor like crazy. It announced in back in June that it would feature a Snapdragon 800 processor, and later scheduled an event for August 7th in New York. Since then, the company has officially announced that it will be called the LG G2, dropping the Optimus branding, and today, another invite for the same event has been sent out that teases rear facing buttons on the device.

We first saw the rear buttons in a set of leaked presentation slides, and have since seen them in very clear image and video. The device also features a glass back, much like the Nexus 4 and Optimus G.
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Just got word from our Motoleaker with the latest in X Fon news. As of now, only Sprint, Verizon and AT&T are major carriers confirmed to carry the device in the US. T-Mobile (perhaps because it already subsidized the similar-specced Nexus 4?) hasn’t yet finalized any deals with Motorola for the device.

The X phones will begin shipping to carriers in August and should be ready for back to school.  The price is cheap enough for the carriers to subsidize the complete upfront cost, though it isn’t certain if they will or not. $300 is the current number being thrown around as the unsubsidized price (Again, like the Nexus 4).
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Image: joyenjoys.com

Update: CNN reported on 1st August that five major carriers have pushed out a patch to block the vulnerability.

A two-minute SIM card hack could enable a hacker to listen to your phone calls, send text messages from your phone number and make mobile payments from your account. The vulnerability, discovered by a German security researcher, is present in an estimated 750 million SIM cards – around one in four of all SIM cards.

Give me any phone number and there is some chance I will, a few minutes later, be able to remotely control this SIM card and even make a copy of it … 
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[protected-iframe id=”368c21b46f615b0801a0d12a0034ba7a-22427743-13611283″ info=”http://live.wsj.com/public/page/embed-1D7A9C3D_5FC6_40EF_B27C_AD1B20A06973.html” width=”704″ height=”350″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

So HTC isn’t doing too well in the lucrative high end US smartphone market (or anywhere really). What to do? Reorganize!

If I were running the show, I’d move everyone in the Sense division into a new division called “Keeping the latest stock Android updates on all of our phones” and start up a new division called, “Make sure all of the carriers subsidize our Google Play devices so that customers can afford them”

Sadly, I’m not in charge and HTC CEO Peter Chou has appointed Jason Mackenzie to head US operations

“Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in supporting me with global corporate strategy, [President of Global Sales] Jason Mackenzie will lead HTC America,” HTC’s chief executive, Peter Chou, told employees in an internal email Sunday. “[President of North America] Mike Woodward will lead Emerging Devices, a newly established business unit that will focus on innovative new HTC products and global distribution strategies.”

Mackenzie seems like a fine fellow, but it’s clear that it’s HTC’s strategy, not its org chart, that’s in need of a rework. Whoever is in the “Let’s make Facebook Phones” mindset needs to be shown the door.

What has to be incredibly frustrating to HTC is that while they were off making stupid gimmick Facebook phones and pissing off Google (after pioneering the G1 and Nexus One), Samsung swooped in and stole HTC’s early lead in Android devices by simply making things that people want and marketing them aggressively.

Giving people different bosses isn’t going to change that and its hard to imagine HTC’s fortunes getting any better (even though they make the best Android handset on the market).
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+Fabio Santos is ahead of the game when it comes to weekly circulars. According to the G+ user, Best Buy’s weekly circular features this week’s big hardware announcement from Google, the new Nexus 7 tablet. The specs (1920×1200 display) and price seem right in line with what we’re hearing, but available Tuesday before Google has a chance to announce it on Wednesday? That seems a bit premature. As pointed out by  Android Central, this could be next week’s circular, putting the Best Buy release date at  June 30th.

Related articles

• Press image for next-generation Nexus 7 leaks, shows rear facing camera (9to5google.com)
• Next-gen Nexus 7 specs leak: 1.5GHz quad-core, wireless charging, SlimPort 1080p support, Android 4.3 (9to5google.com)
• Right on cue, here’s your new Nexus 7 in images and video (9to5google.com)
• Updated Nexus 7 pegged for July 24th event as stores prepare for new models (9to5google.com)
• Asus rep reads exact same specs (except late July release) for next Nexus 7 as previous KGI report…coincidence? (9to5google.com)
• Deal: Google Nexus 7 Android tablet 16GB: $149, 32GB $169 (9to5google.com)

Notorious Twitter leaker @evleaks has just posted a press image of the next generation Nexus 7. The past week has been filled with leaks and information regarding the device, with the first clear shots of the device coming on the heels of Google announcing an event for July 24th.

The press image shows the rear facing camera, which reportedly is 5MP, as well as what appears to be stereo speakers. While it looks very similar to the original model, the device’s back has a different, non-texturized design to it.

As far as specs go, we currently expect the Nexus 7 2 to feature a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and a 7-inch display with a 1980 x 1200 resolution, as originally reported by KGI analyst Mingchi Kuo. 
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There’s no denying it – the HTC One is one of the nicest pieces of Android hardware on the market. When we reviewed it back in April, we called it “a standout, breathtaking Android phone” and boasted about its above-average build quality and crystal clear display. For me, however, there has always been one thing keeping the HTC One from being my go-to recommendation for the best Android smartphone out there – HTC Sense. This is why I couldn’t be any more pleased that Google has decided to release a “Google Play Edition” of the HTC One running stock Android, giving us more hardware options for pure Android devices on top of its Nexus line that ships alongside major new releases.

HTC Sense, the company’s Android UX overlay it uses to help make its phones unique, unfortunately adds an extra layer that affects the overall performance of the hardware considerably. HTC isn’t the only one. We noticed major performance improvements in our full review of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition running stock Android instead of Samsung’s clunky TouchWiz UX.

For these reasons, I’ve been toting LG’s Nexus 4, which up until recently was the only out-of-the-box, stock Android smartphone available on top of above-average hardware. While there’s no mistaking the HTC One’s superior hardware, because of Sense, it continued to take a back seat to my Nexus 4. With Google’s recent introduction of new stock Android devices under the “Google Play Edition” moniker, the HTC One finally has the opportunity to win me over.
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The X leaks keep coming in. Evleaks/Unlockr appear to have the first press shots (besides the ones on the invite and all of the ones Eric Schmidt showed off).

AndroidPolice also tweeted out a AnTuTu benchmark (below) which verifies our “Ghost” codename scoop earlier this year.
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Rumors surrounding the Moto X Phone have been coming in at a crazy rate over the past few months, with information regarding design, customization, and more leaking. We’ve known for a while that the device is not meant to be high-end in terms of specs, and new information obtained by The Verge confirms that.

According to a “tipster who has used a CDMA variant of the phone,” it will feature a 1.7GHz Snapdragon MSM8960T processor, which is basically the same as a Snapdragon 600, but dual-core instead of quad-core. The device will also feature 2GB of RAM and a screen “in the vicinity” of 4.5-inches. Things get a tad questionable when it comes to the battery life, however, with The Verge’s source originally claiming that it had a measly 1500mAh battery, but later saying that figure might not be accurate, as it was reported by a software tool.
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Motorola has just sent out invites to an August 1st press event in New York (via Business Insider). The invite simply reads “Moto X,” so it seems pretty clear what the star of the show will be. You can even see the back of the device in the lower right corner of the image. It’s also worth noting that the X in “Moto X” is very similar to past Nexus devices, which shows some Google influence.

The X Phone hasn’t exactly been the best kept secret by Motorola. We’ve seen numerous leaked images and specs for it, with Google chairman Eric Schmidt even caught using the device in public. The X Phone is expected to be highly customizable and affordable. At the AllThingsD conference in May, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside teased that it would be available on all major U.S. carriers and be manufactured in Texas. Yesterday, Motorola tweeted a picture teasing the USA manufacturing process.

As far as release dates go, we’ve seen documents suggesting an August 23rd launch for Verizon and an August 26th launch for U.S. Cellular, and now that we know when the event is being held, those dates seem pretty plausible.
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A new report claims Sony plans to launch an attachment for smartphones that will include a camera lens with built-in sensor, battery, and memory, and connect to a smartphone over NFC or WiFi. The report comes from SonyAlphaRumors, which claims this rumor comes from its top sources (opposed to some of the other stories it often posts from anonymous tipsters and less reliable sources).

There aren’t a ton of details about exactly how the lens would work in terms of integrating with a smartphone, but we’d imagine it would come with a companion app to drive the experience. The report claims it will pack in the same 20.2 MP sensor and Carl Zeiss lens as its $750 DSC-RX100M II digital camera, indicating its price tag might be on the high-end compared to similar camera lens attachments. Another version with a “smaller sensor and larger zoom” is also reportedly in the works.

The site notes that “You can mount it on the smartphone but also use it separately,” which we assume means it will act as a wireless viewfinder of sorts.
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Previous leaks already provided a look at some of the specs coming in Google’s next generation Nexus 7 tablet that will likely make an appearance at the company’s upcoming July 24th event. We already heard it would come with 1.2MP and 5MP cameras, 4GB of DDR3L RAM, Android 4.3, and start at $229 when it finally hits stores. Today’s leak, via Engadget, provides more specifics:

According to the pic, there’s a quad-core 1.5GHz CPU with the still-unannounced Android 4.3 as the OS. The 7-inch screen size remains, though it’s unclear if there’s a resolution bump to accompany it. Also on board are a pair of cameras: 1.2MP up front and 5MP around back. The two more unexpected tidbits are the addition of Slim Port support for playing 1080p video on your TV, as well as wireless charging.

It’s all but confirmed that we’ll be seeing the new device during Breakfast with Sundar Pichai next week, as the latest retail leak shows that stores will start receiving the device on the 20th. 
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