Android

Back in May, we reported on many of the customization options that would be coming with the Moto X Phone. Our sources claimed the device would be offered with 25+ color options in the form of skins/protections, and now ABC News is reporting something very similar, but with a few more details.

According to the report, users will be able to buy the device in a variety of colors, just as we said earlier. One of the colors will be used for the back case and the other for the trim. Much like with iPhones, iPads, and iPods, users will be able to have a custom message engraved in the back cover, which is something we’ve yet to see with Android devices. Finally, users will supposedly be able to upload a custom photo and have their device arrive with that photo set as the wallpaper.

So the big thing with the Moto X will be the 'awareness' features. Keep an eye on @9to5Google for more on this soon.

— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) July 3, 2013

More details were also offered regarding the sensors that the X Phone will feature.

The biggest tricks of the phone come with what Motorola has been doing with the hardware sensors, sources say. Instead of having to fumble to find the camera icon or button, users will be able to flick the phone to launch the camera. There are also added voice capabilities, which leverage Google’s advanced voice recognition technology. The phone is said to be smart enough to know when you are driving and will automatically launch the speakerphone function.

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Update: The acquisition has now been confirmed by Samsung. In a statement to the New York Times, the company had the following to say:

“Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee. This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices.”

According to a new report from Israeli business site The Marker (via The Jewish Press), Samsung has purchased Boxee, the company behind the home theater PC software and set-top box that lets users stream content on their TV and computer. The report claims that Samsung paid around $30 million for the company and will continue to employ Boxee’s 40 workers.

Boxee on sale to Samsung: "No comment."

— Jay Yarow (@jyarow) July 3, 2013

Boxee has been looking for a buyer or more funding for the past few months. It was reported last month that the company had found a buyer, but this is the first specific information we have heard about a possible acquisition.

Samsung is an interesting buyer for sure. More than likely, the company would use the team’s talent to improve its Smart TV software, but it’s also possible that the two companies could work on some sort of video streaming service, as well, possibly based off of Google TV. 
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After unveiling a new ad for the unreleased device yesterday, Motorola has now launched a sign up page for the Moto X Phone. The page is titled “Motorola 2013 Summer Announcement Registration,” and simply invites us to sign up to find out what the company is “up to.”

Motorola keeps the same “Designed by you. Assembled in the USA” tagline from yesterday and reaffirms the fact that it will create over 2,000 new jobs in Ft. Worth, Texas to make all of this possible.
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Graphic: theverge.com

Several Korean news sites are reporting that the Samsung S4 has now passed 20 million shipments. Samsung’s flagship handset, launched in April, hit 10m shipments by the end of May and it appears that the pace has scarcely slowed since – almost matching that of the iPhone 5.

As ever, we have to caution that Samsung cites shipments rather than sales, meaning that unsold handsets stored in warehouses get counted, but in general carriers and retailers don’t like to sit on large inventories, so sales shouldn’t lag shipments by too big a gap … 
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Click to view the full ad

Motorola’s latest flagship device, the Moto X Phone, is set to be released sometime this fall, but despite not having released any images of it, the company is getting ready to run its first ad for the phone. The ad, as shown by Ad Age, shows some definite Google influence, as well as the logo we reported on last month.

The ad is centered around the Fourth of July festivities and focuses on the fact that it is made in the United States.

“What we are doing which is very different is assembling [Moto X smartphones] here in the U.S. in our assembly plant in Ft. Worth, Texas,” Motorola’s VP-global brand and product marketing Brian Wallace said in an interview. “What better time than July 4th to come with a message like that?”

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HTC has announced some very bad new for both both its customers and its reputation. The One S will not see an update to Android 4.2.2. Even though the device was a flagship just a year ago, it will remain on Android 4.1 and Sense 4. In a statement, HTC had the following to say (via: The Unwired)

“We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.”

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https://vimeo.com/69352543

Yesterday we noted that Best Buy retail sources indicated the popular ‘Pebble’ Bluetooth smart watch would be landing on at least some of the retailer’s store shelves this weekend. Today Pebble and Best Buy have finally made things official by announcing the partnership that will bring the most successful Kickstarter-backed device of all time to both Best Buy online and across all its U.S. brick and mortar locations.

It’s definitely big news for the company ahead of Apple’s rumored smart watch, as well as Sony and others getting deeper into the space. The exclusive retail partnership with Best Buy also marks Pebble’s first retail launch of the device after raising over $10.2 million from around 68,000 backers on Kickstarter.
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We already know that Motorola is planning for the X Phone to be its flagship device for later this year, but it looks like the company has at least one other device or variant planned. Motorola has created a page on its website dedicated to the Droid Ultra, an unreleased device. Motorola teases that it is thin, but tough as steel, yet no offers no other information.

Droid Ultra
Think thin
Available in a bunch of glossy colors, this high-grade DuPont Kevlar body proves you can be even thinner and still be tough as steel.

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A successor to the Nexus 7 was a no-show at Google I/O this year, but that doesn’t mean a V2.0 of the tablet isn’t coming soon. Back in May, we reported that according to a KGI analyst, Google was planning on announcing the Nexus 7 2 at I/O with a full 1900×1200 HD display, a lighter and thinner body, with a Snapdragon 600 processor, 4Ah battery and both front and rear (5MP) facing cameras. The second version of the Asus tablet was also slated to be the first device with Android 4.3 on it.

Although this is all a rumor, a curious buyer decided to ask an Asus live chat representative if they had any idea what the specs were. Despite the fact that chat representatives don’t normally have access to upcoming products, one offered up the exact same specs as above:

Interestingly enough, the spec sheet they repeated matches the same exact spec sheet that KGI reported on in May. The chat rep. also said that we should expect to see version 2 of the tablet sometime in Q2 of the year, specifically late July.

Chat representatives don’t typically know future product roadmaps, especially specs, so it’s more than possible that this chat rep. simply Googled KGI’s report and reported it back to the person they were chatting with. On the other hand, they could both line up because they are both right. We’ve contacted Asus and we’ll be sure to report back any news.

Last week we told you about the HTC One variants receiving stock Android ROMs based off of the Google Play Edition model, and now it’s the Galaxy S4’s turn. A developer over at XDA has successfully ported the ROM found on the Google Edition Galaxy S4 to the Galaxy S4 on Verizon. It’s a tad unclear as to whether it is based off of the Android 4.3 build that leaked last week or the Android 4.2.2 build that it shipped with, but we’re inclined to go with the latter.

The developer has a variety of ROMs available, some with themes and rooted, and some totally bare like you’d get on a Nexus device.

Keep in mind that this is a port and there may be some bugs here and there. Whether or not it’s stable enough to run as a daily driver is purely up to you. 
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Skype on Monday announced that its Android app has been installed more than 100 million times, and to celebrate, it is pushing out a major update. The 4.0 update for Skype adds a totally new and redesigned interface that is focused on putting conversations first. In addition to the visual changes, the app has been “rebuilt from the ground up” to be faster and more reliable.

We’ve completely redesigned Skype for Android to be faster and easier – especially when you’re trying to fire off a quick message. Everything is at your fingertips. As soon as you open the app, you’ll notice the clean new look listing your recent conversations – just tap on one to catch up and reply. When you tap or swipe over to the Contacts or Favorites tabs, tapping on a person brings you right into a messaging window so you can start a conversation. And from there video calls, voice calls and everything else are just one tap away.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vZviDTuaVlA

Mircosoft has just announced a major update to its OneNote app on Android. In a post on the official Office blog, the company announced version two of the app that includes a host of new features.

First off, the update adds a much more rich editing experience. Now, files and formatting look the same across all devices. This includes things such as text, graphs, tables, borders, and more. If you draw on a note with a Windows tablet, the markings are then visible on your other devices, as well. All devices now support the ability to sync notebooks with Office 365 and SharePoint, as well as the ability to share files with other Office users. OneNote also now lets multiple people edit a note at the same time, much like Google Drive.

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HP’s ill-fated Veer WebOS smartphone

HP, the world’s largest PC manufacturer, has confirmed to The Indian Express (via TNW) that it is working on a new smartphone after its ill-fated venture into WebOS devices, promising it will offer something new and different.

When asked if a smartphone is in the offing, HP Senior Director Consumer PC and Media Tablets Asia Pacific Yam Su Yin said: “The answer is yes but I cannot give a timetable. It would be silly if we say no. HP has to be in the game.” […]

“Being late you have to create a different set of proposition. There are still things that can be done. Its not late. When HP has a smartphone, it will give a differentiated experience.” … 
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Research firm comScore is out today with its usual report covering U.S. smartphone subscriber market share for the three month period ending in May. Over the last three months Apple has gained in both categories including ‘top smartphone OEMs’ and ‘OS usage’, continuing its lead as the top smartphone manufacturer and growing its share of the market by platform.

The previous three month period had Apple at 38.9% of the market, making it the number #1 smartphone vendor in the US over second place Samsung. In May, Apple continues that lead by increasing its share 0.3 percentage points to 39.2% of the market. That’s significantly higher than the 23% Samsung grabbed despite growing 1.7 percentage points during the quarter. In a close race for third place is HTC with 8.7%, Motorola with 7.8%, and LG with 6.7%, all of which dropped less than a percentage point since last quarter.

When it comes to the market by OS usage, Android is still on top, growing 0.7 percentage points to 52.4% this quarter. Apple experienced slightly less growth at 0.3 percentage points to capture 39.2% of the market up from its 38.9% share last quarter. That means the majority of the growth, once again, comes at the expense of BlackBerry and Microsoft.
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Earlier this month, our sister site 9to5Mac reported on a new technology from BlueStacks called “Looking Glass” that brought iOS games to your big screen via a subscription-based console. On Friday, however, the company announced another new console with that technology, but the big selling point here is that it is free and incredibly small. In fact, the company says it is about the size of a pack of gum. Just like with the company’s other Cube console (which isn’t yet released), the BlueStacks Mini does require a subscription commitment, which will run you $7 a month for a year.

It’s worth noting that the BlueStacks Cube is also free with a subscription, but that offer expires on July 1st. The company says that its goal is to always offer a gaming console for free.

“We have always planned on having a free console option,” said BlueStacks CEO, Rosen Sharma. “The biggest value of the GamePop service is its content – not the box. Hardware costs have come down so fast that we’re able to undercut the rest of the market. With the free promotion we’ve been doing in June we’re already seeing a ton of adoption. That volume then attracts more developers and therefore more and better content. It’s building momentum.”

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Just a couple of days after the stock Android version of the HTC One went on sale, xdaDevelopers has put a ROM dump online, allowing anyone with an existing HTC One handset to install the native Google version … 
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Which?, a highly-regarded UK consumer research organization, found the Samsung S4 to be both the fastest smartphone on the market, and the one offering the best battery-life – a pretty impressive combination.

Using the industry-standard Geekbench 2 software, the S4 comfortably came out on top with a score of 3,188 against the 2,798 of the second-placed HTC One. Graphics for both speed and battery-life after the break … 
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In wake of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google editions going on sale this week, Huawei now says it is working on a stock Android device. According to Kevin Ho, Huawei’s handset product division president, speaking to Pocket-Lint, the company is working with Google to create a Google Edition variant of the Ascend P6. Just like the other variants, this device would run stock Android Jelly Bean.

“We are working with Google to analyse the possibility of bringing out a Huawei Ascend P6 with Google Edition,” Ho told the blog.

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