Android

After teasing the device for several weeks, Huawei finally unveiled its first true flagship in the Ascend P6 this morning in London. Just like the company teased, the device is ultra thin, coming in at just 6.18mm thin. Its size doesn’t compromise its specs, however, as the Ascend P6 is packing a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.5GHz and 2GB of RAM. It features a 4.7-inch display with a 720p resolution. The screen has “MagicTouch” technology, which essentially just means you can have on gloves and still use the display.

As far as the camera goes, the device is packing an 8MP shooter with an f/2.0 aperture and 4cm macro mode. Huawei is also touting its “IMAGEsmart” technology, which will find the best shooting mode automatically based on your surroundings. The front-facing camera is a whopping 5MP and has a setting that will automatically smooth out skin texture, adjust the clarity of your eyes, and as the company’s CEO says, essentially makes you look younger. 
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Engadget spotted that HTC’s new low-end handset, the 3.5-inch Desire 200, has gone live on HTC’s website. Likely intended as the successor to the Desire C, it’s a pretty basic device.

320 x 480 LCD display; an aging Snapdragon S1 1GHz processor running an unidentified version of Android (likely 4.0) and HTC’s Sense skin; 4GB of expandable storage and 512MB RAM; 5-megapixel camera … 
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After a few months of speculation and rumors, T-Mobile has finally announced that it will carry Sony’s Xperia Z flagship. While no specific pricing or availability was announced, the carrier said it will launch in the “coming weeks.” It will be available in black, as well as purple for a limited time.

Specs are the same as the international version, which include a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, a 5-inch 1080p display with Sony’s Mobile Bravia engine, a 13MP rear-facing camera, and a water and dust resistant design. It will also carry support for T-Mobile up and coming LTE network. 
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Engadget notes that the latest version of Dragon Mobile Assistant now detects when you’re in a moving car and automatically switches to hands-free mode, where all interaction is by voice alone.

Driver Mode relies solely on voice recognition and feedback, keeping your focus on the road. Accordingly, the upgrade builds in spoken notifications for inbound calls, messages, upcoming meetings and Facebook updates. There’s also voice-aware email and customizable wake up commands … 
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Google announced today on Google+ that a new partnership with Starbucks will provide free WiFi and the ability for customers at Starbucks locations to stream unlimited songs, radio and more from Google’s recently launched AllAccess music service. Apple has of course offered similar promotions and continues to offer free iTunes content and more through Starbucks locations. Back in 2007 it announced a partnership with Starbucks in the US to offer a free iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, and it continues to offer its free app and song of the week picks through physical cards in store and through mobile apps.

Google’s new streaming music service is still limited to the US, so we’re assuming the new promotion is also limited to Starbucks locations within the country. Last we heard an iOS app for the service would be arriving sometime this month.  
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Earlier this month, we told you about government officials calling on major tech companies to improve anti-theft features of their devices. At WWDC this year, Apple did just that and announced its new Activation Lock feature. Now, all eyes have shifted to the other large smartphone manufacturer, Samsung. According to a report out of Korean site MK, Samsung is set to launch its anti-theft features for smartphones as early as July.

The feature will essentially be a kill switch that will allow carriers, manufacturers, and even the government to remotely wipe, lock, and disable any smartphone that has been stolen. Once this is done, the device would be rendered useless, even when a new SIM card is installed.

A kill switch is exactly what government officials called for earlier this month, and what it and manufacturers likely discussed when they met last week at a “smartphone summit” to talk about mobile security. 
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Last week AT&T confirmed that it would carry the Galaxy Note 8.0 in the “coming weeks,” but now we finally have detailed pricing and release information. The carrier has announced that it will begin to offer the device on June 21st for $399.99 with a new two-year contract. For those wondering, that’s the same price as the WiFi only model, which obviously does not carry a contract with it. If you are looking to go all out, however, you can pick the device up for $200 on contract when purchased at the same time as a Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Active, or Galaxy Note II.

As far as specs go, the device is packing a 1.6GHz Exynos 4110 quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM. It will ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay. Other features include WiFi, LTE, GPS, BlueTooth 4.0, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a compass, and a hefty 4,600mAh battery.
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Any early adopter has experienced the pain of buying the latest & greatest tech only to have it superseded within weeks. You could soon be experiencing just that if you recently bought the Samsung S4 as the company launches an LTE-Advanced version of the phone later this month offering more than twice the data speeds of standard 4G LTE – albeit initially only in South Korea (Reuters via Techmeme).

Samsung Electronics Co plans to sell a variation of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone that will transmit data at nearly twice the normal speed, the head of its mobile business said on Monday.

J.K. Shin, also co-chief executive of the world’s biggest technology firm by revenue, said the phone would be sold in South Korea as early as this month …

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After months of leaks and rumors, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside finally confirmed the Moto X phone at the AllThingsD conference, but was cagey with details and didn’t share all that much. Thanks to the often reliable @evleaks on Twitter, however, we now have a pretty good idea of what to expect when the X phone hits the market.

According to the report, the device will feature a 1.7GHz dual-core MSM8960 Pro processor, 720p display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 10MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing shooter, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. For those wondering, that’s the Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, which we saw in devices like the LG Optimus G last year.

At the AllThingsD conference earlier this year, Woodside said the Motorola Moto X phone would be manufactured in Texas and be coming to all major US carriers sometime in October.
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Earlier this month, a report emerged claiming that Samsung and Jay-Z were on the verge of signing a marketing deal worth upwards of $20 million, and now Samsung has confirmed the deal. The company has just sent out a mysterious email to the press inviting us all to tune into game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. It looks like the deal has to do with music, which you’d expect from a Jay-Z partnership, as the promo image tells us to “turn up the volume.”

Game 5 kicks off at 8PM EST on ABC, but Samsung teases it will take over at 9:15PM EST. We’ll be sure to let you know what they have in store.

According to a new report out of the Financial Times, Google is being investigated by European officials due to allegations that it has anti-competitive deals set up with select smartphone manufacturers. This isn’t the first time Google has run into trouble with the EU, as the company has been investigated for antitrust issues in the past.

Microsoft and Nokia made these allegations and claim that Google is forcing Android manufacturers to delay the launch of devices running their two operating systems. The European Union is also looking into claims that Google requires manufacturers to preload its services on their devices.
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Huawei, a Chinese brand known mostly for budget Android handsets, seems to be aiming to push itself upmarket with the Ascend P6, due to be unveiled on Tuesday (via Android Community).

The rumored specs are pretty decent – a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, 4.7-inch 720p screen, 8GB of internal storage, 5MP 720p front-facing camera and 8MP 1080p rear one – but Huawei is mostly focusing attention on the aesthetics, promising that the phone will be both beautiful and ultra-thin … 
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From 9to5Toys.com:

Today only, Amazon is offering the lowest price ever for what many consider the best Android smartphone you can buy.  New AT&T and Sprint customers can get a HTC One for just $80, old customers renewing a previous contract can get one for just $100.  This is the first major, advertised sale we have seen on the AT&T version of this popular smart phone.

The HTC One is hailed for its gorgeous all aluminum design which is carved out from a solid block.  A process that apparently takes more than 3 hours.  The display is big and beautiful at 4.7 inches and a resolution of  1080p.  Further specs include a 1.7GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and storage options of 32GB or 64GB.  We weren’t shy in our recommendation of the HTC One:

should you buy it?

Yes. This handset definitely stands out among all the Android devices on the market. The One is beautifully crafted, and it offers a stunning screen with snappy horsepower, although its camera and battery life might not be the best in the world. It’s a perfect device for iOS lovers looking to test the Android waters.

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There’s no doubting that we are going to see a new Nexus tablet at some point this year, but the main question surrounds when we will see it. Now that Google I/O has come and gone, it’s even more up in the air. If a recent FCC filing discovered by Engadget is anything to go by, however, then we aren’t too far away from a launch at this point.
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Google announced today that it is rolling out some big enhancements for Google+ notifications on the web and mobile devices. The biggest of which is notification sync, meaning when you clear a Google+ notification on one device it will automatically be marked as read on all your other devices:

– When you read a notification on one device, we’ll mark it as read on your other devices
– Likewise: dismissing a notification (with a swipe or a click) does so everywhere, so you can say goodbye to annoying repeats

Other enhancements to notifications on both desktop and mobile include a new bell icon to see unread notifications and “An updated notifications tray that separates unread from previously-read items.”

Google is also updating its Google+ Android app today with the above improvements to notifications and a few other new features:
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Samsung seems to be pretty interested in the Android-powered camera market for some reason. Yesterday, the company announced the Galaxy S4 Zoom, a variant of the latest Galaxy S flagship with a 16MP sensor and 10x optical zoom. It looks like Samsung is looking to take it even further, however, and announce an Android-powered camera with interchangeable lenses.

Vietnamese technology website Tinhte has published a series of what appear to press shots of the Samsung Galaxy NX. According to the report, the device will feature a APS-C 20.3 MP sensor, as well as support for ISO up to 25,600, and video recording capabilities up to 1080p. It will have a 4.3-inch rear facing touchscreen and run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay on top. The Galaxy NK will also have a pop-up flash and accessory connecting pins. It will rely heavily on a touch user-interface, as the only buttons appear to be a power switch, camera button, shutter release and multifunction swivel wheel. 
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