When Google set out to make its first Nexus handset, the company decided to tap HTC, but over four years and several purebred Android devices later the two tech titans have yet to rekindle their partnership. However, things could possibly be changing, according to a report from DigiTimes. At some point during the third quarter of the year, Google will reportedly announce an 8-inch HTC-made Nexus tablet.
Supposed specs for LG’s upcoming flagship smartphone were spotted on Sprint’s internal device database by MyLGPhones (via PhoneArena). The upcoming G3, internally known as the LG LS990, will have a 1440×2560 display — that’s four times 720p, which is considered HD, and twice the resolution of current flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One (M8). All of those pixels will be in a panel that is rumored to be 5.3 inches, making for roughly 530 pixels-per-inch — almost double the dots-per-inch of photos and text in magazines.
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Since its release, Google Now has added a plethora of features, such as improved traffic capabilities, voice commands, and much more. According to a new report from Android Police, the service will be receiving yet another new capability in the near-future that will help you remember to pay your bills.
According a person familiar with the matter, Google Now will soon add an interface that will remind you of upcoming bills, including how much they will be for. The feature, which will be integrated into the classic Google Now card interface, will also include a link to easily pay the bill online.
The screenshot below is a mockup of the interface based on the available information. The latest update to the Search app also includes hints at this feature, some of which were used to help make the mockup. As you can see, the card shows the amount due, the minimum payment, and any other information.
Android Police says the source for this feature is very reliable and that their “confidence level” with this report is a 9/10. It’s unclear when this feature will launch, but given that there is already code appearing the Search app, we shouldn’t have to wait too long.
It will come as little surprise that Samsung is working on a successor to the Galaxy Gear and that a Galaxy S 5 on the horizon. However, a new rumor courtesy of etnews via SamMobile indicates the Korean giant is looking to launch both the next-generation Gear and S 5 at the same time. Realistically, that seems logical so while this is a pure rumor for now, it’s certainly a rumor that makes sense.
After teasing the device in nearly every way possible, LG is finally set to introduce its new G2 flagship in New York City tomorrow. @evleaks has once again, however, taken the anticipation out of the event and leaked a clear press image of the device. The image confirms the large, 5.2-inch display, as well as rear-placed volume and power buttons.
As far as specs go, the device will have a 5.2-inch full-HD display, a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, a microSD card slot, a removable battery, on-screen navigation keys, and Android 4.2.2 with LG’s custom skin.
We’ll be sure to bring you all the official news out of LG’s event tomorrow, but at this point, the only we don’t know is availability and pricing.
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Hot on the heels of the Chromecast being announced yesterday, the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Google is planning yet another entry into the living room market. The publication says that Google has been secretly working on an Android-powered set-top box, similar to the Roku and Apple TV. Googler Andy Rubin allegedly showed the device off at CES 2013 earlier this year, highlighting the Android operating system and video-chatting via Hangouts feature. In addition to the camera, the device also had a motion sensor similar to Microsoft’s Kinect.
We reported earlier this year that Google was in talks with cable companies for a new service for internet TV streaming, so it’s possible that the two rumors are related.
While similar to the Chromecast, this set-top box is supposedly much more independent and does not require another device to power it. The device will be able to run a plethora of Android apps, including Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and the Play Store.
The people briefed on Google’s plans said the set-top box Google showed off in January had a broader set of features. One of these people said the device allowed people to stream YouTube videos, watch TV shows or movies from the Google Play digital-programming store, and access Android apps such as videogames or, potentially, digital media services such as Netflix and Pandora.
Even though other carriers have been offering the HTC One for months now, Verizon has yet to announce availability for the flagship device, simply stringing customers along as far as possible. According to a new document obtained by PhoneArena, however, we’re still a little less than a month away from a launch.
The leaked roadmap claims that we will see the HTC One on Verizon’s LTE network August 1st. This falls in line with what Verizon announced earlier last month when it promised a launch this summer. The document also claims that Verizon will release the highly anticipated Moto X Phone on August 23. We’re thinking that may be a pre-order date, however, as Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside said himself at the AllThingsD conference that the device is coming this October.
We all know that Verizon is almost always the last carrier to launch a phone when it’s released universally on carriers, such was the case with the Galaxy S4, but the carrier does have a good relationship with Motorola. The two have had a strong relationship because of the DROID line of devices, which could mean that they have advanced knowledge of one another’s plans and that Verizon could launch the X Phone ahead of other carriers.
Keep in mind that this is a rumor and something like this could be faked pretty easily, but we’ll definitely keep you updated on further developments regarding these two devices.
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.
According to a new report out of the Financial Times, Huawei is considering buying Finnish smartphone manufacturer Nokia. Richard Yu, Huawei’s consumer business group chairman explained at the company’s Ascend P6 launch event that Huawei is looking into the acquisition, but how far negotiations go would depend on the willingness of Nokia. “We are considering these sorts of acquisitions; maybe the combination has some synergies but depends on the willingness of Nokia. We are open-minded,” Yu stated.
Huawei is not a household name here in the United States when it comes to smartphones, most likely due to the company’s shaky relationship with the U.S. government, but Yu says the company is certainly looking to take on the likes of Samsung and Apple, and having Nokia behind it would definitely be helpful.
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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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We have been seeing more leaks surrounding Google’s much rumored unified chat service that most are calling “Babel”. On Monday we got a look at some pretty legit looking screenshots of Babel inside of Gmail that apparently came straight from a Google engineer testing the service, and today we get even more details about Babel.
A new report from Droid-life claims to have additional details about the service including a feature list from sources close to the project.
Google Babel as a product is a collaboration of work by the Google+, Android, Chrome and Apps teams. Through their combined efforts, as was previously reported by us, we’ll see this unified service launch in Gmail and as Android, iOS, and Chrome apps. What’s particularly interesting, is that Google is talking about the iOS app as being the first time they have built a “first class iOS experience” when it comes to a messaging service.
On top of a “first class iOS experience,” the report also says that Google Voice will eventually be integrated alongside Talk, Hangouts, and Messenger, but not initially at launch. Other features apparently coming to the yet to launch service include: notification syncing across devices, an updated messaging UI, group conversations, 800+ emoji, and some other expected features. Head below for the full list:
Since we first heard rumors that Microsoft was working on Office for iOS and Android as far back as 2011 and got a look at alleged leaked images of an iPad app that Microsoft later denied were real, every couple of months we’ve seen reports that say the app is coming soon. First it was November 2012, then early 2013, and others claimed “sometime after” March 2013. Along the way The latest rumor: Microsoft has Office for iPhone and Android is scheduled for fall 2014.
Zdnet claims to have got its hands on Microsoft roadmap for next year and says on it is “iOS/Android support for Office”:
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This past weekend, a rumor had claimed that Google is holding talks with WhatsApp to acquire the messaging service for around $1 billion. Tonight, WhatsApp has told AllThingsD that it is not holding sales talks with Google. Meanwhile, Google is rumored to soon be launching its own “Babel” messaging service.
Rumors of an upcoming messaging service from Google dubbed “Babel” have been steadily popping up in recent months. We first heard back in March that the service would unify Google’s chat services such as Google Talk, Chat for Drive, Google+ Hangouts, etc, and since got a look at two different sets of screenshots showing variations of what tipsters both alleged were an Android app for the rumored service.
After a small hint at Gmail integration for Babel this morning, we now get yet another set of photos, this time reportedly showing what the service will look like inside of Gmail. TechRadar posted the images above that apparently come from an anonymous Google employee currently testing Babel.
From the screenshots we see a slightly tweaked text layout, new emoticons and the expected Google+ integration, but not much else.
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Over the last few days, HTC has sent out ‘teaser tweets’ pertaining to its upcoming announcement tomorrow. In its latest tweet from this morning, HTC showed a table with what looks to be new devices under black cloths. While it looks like there are over 12 devices under the cloths, one of them is substantially bigger than the rest. Moreover, it lines up approximately as the same size of a 10-inch tablet. While rumors of a tablet being announced tomorrow are scarce, judging by the photo, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if one does happen to be announced tomorrow. Take a look at the unedited picture yourself, but we’ll be there live tomorrow to blog the event!
PhanDroid wrote an interesting report this evening, claiming the roll out of the Sprint Galaxy Nexus might be a reality and that it could be coming soon. The information comes from several Sprint customer representatives (seen after the break) who confirm that the Galaxy Nexus can be activated on the Sprint network and that it was given the green light.
When it comes to the radio bands that the Galaxy Nexus supports (CDMA 800/1900, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO), PhanDroid pointed out how both Verizon and Sprint are supported under the current hardware. Sadly, Sprint would not be able to use the 4G side of things with its WiMAX network, but things could always change for the company. (See: Samsung’s Epic line.)
We gave the Galaxy Nexus a good score during our testing, and reviewed it as the best Android phone on the market. Let us hope the phone will see a few other United States carriers in its day. Current rumors point to a 60-day exclusivity for Verizon, though, if today’s news is true, you can theoretically buy a Verizon GN and take it over to Sprint to be Flashed. Moreover, you can buy an international GSM version that works on both T-Mobile and AT&T’s network.
