Motorola launches the Moto E, a durable and affordable Android smartphone
It’s hard not to love the Moto G, it being an incredible handset for the asking price and the benchmark against which other affordable smartphones should be judged. A lot’s happened since that phone’s release, though, namely Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola from Google. Motorola may be under new leadership now, but recognizes it’s on to a good thing with low-cost, high-value Android hardware, today announcing another smartphone of that nature, the Moto E. As a retailer leak suggested, the Moto E has slightly weaker specs than that of the G, with a 4.3-inch, 960 x 540 display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 1,980mAh battery, a 5-megapixel main camera and the dual-SIM capability that’s particularly popular in developing countries.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo
First! Gmail is the first Android app with over 1 billion Downloads
And who wins the award for logging 1 billion downloads on the Google Play Store? *drumroll* Of course, you already read the title of this post so you will know it is Gmail. According to AppBrain, the feat was actually achieved on May 6th, making it the first app to be displayed has having between 1 billion and 5 billion app downloads.
Of course, the feat is made slightly less impressive by the fact that most Android devices come with the app preinstalled. As you might expect, the next apps in line to cross the 1 billion downloads line include other Google apps like Google Search and YouTube, but interestingly also includes Facebook and WhatsApp, which are not necessarily required to be preinstalled. Probably a better measure of actual popularity would logically be actual users, of which Facebook logs almost 609 million monthly users (over all its platforms).
Are you surprised that Gmail has been first to reach the milestone? And who would you expect to reach the 1 billion downloads milestone next? Let us know your pick in the comments below.
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Galaxy S5 Sees New Update! HTC One Max Gets Sense 6! – Device Updates
Monday is over friends. Time to see if your device has an update. Not many this week, but maybe your device is on the list. The international Galaxy S5 gets an update that sees some nice improvements. HTC One Max gets Sense 6, so you guys will be able to get a taste of what is one the HTC One M8.
Device Updates
Galaxy S5 update
Sprint HTC One Max Update
T-Mobile and Sprint HTC One S update
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Samsung and Seagate teaming up to make the Samsung Wireless, 1.5TB Wi-Fi storage and Battery
The one wireless storage solution to rule them all. That’s what Samsung and Seagate are hoping to get out of teaming up to produce the Samsung Wireless. The basis for the device is a $179 portable hard drive that works as a USB and Wi-Fi hard drive, a portable battery and has 1.5 terabytes of storage. Interested? We are too.
The device is said to be able to maintain 5 mobile connections via its Wi-Fi storage, and will also be able to be used as a standard USB 3.0 hard drive. Plus, if you are able to plug your Samsung Wireless into your router, you will be able to utilize it this way also. Detailed specifications are yet to be formally released, but the device is said to be able to useable as a portable storage unit for up to 7 hours when powered on.
Besides the battery life, there aren’t many release date or availability details about the Samsung Wireless, but it looks like it should be soon as the Samsung Wireless companion app is already live on the Google Play Store (You can download it here if you want, but it’s not going to do you much good without a Samsung Wireless).
Would you be interested in picking up a Samsung Wireless when it’s released? Let us know what your opinion is in the comments below.
Source: Samsung HDD via TalkAndroid
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Smart cushion reads your vitals, nags you not to slouch or stress
There are fitness trackers that help monitor your pulse and assess your health, but most all of them require you to move around with an awkward thing strapped to your wrist or chest. The Darma smart cushion, however, only requires that you sit on it. Utilizing thin 1mm sensors that can detect even the tiniest body movements, the Darma will communicate your heart rate, respiratory patterns and even your sitting posture to an accompanying iOS app via Bluetooth 4.0. One of Darma’s creators, Dr. Junhao Hu, tells us at a recent HAXLR8R event that the idea behind the Darma is that sitting for long periods of time is bad for your health, especially when it comes to poor posture and back problems. Additionally, working in an office environment can lead to high stress levels. Using the Darma cushion with the app, however, will hopefully resolve some of that.
After collecting your vital signs, the app will determine your overall stress levels and will recommend certain activities based on what it detects. For example, if it discovers you’ve been sitting for too long, it’ll alert you to stand up and stretch. If it notices that you’re slouching, it’ll prompt you to sit up straight. And if it sees your stress levels are through the roof, it’ll advise you to take a break and sit through a guided meditation minute where you’re encouraged to relax until your heart rate slows down. It’ll also let you view your stress levels and activity patterns over a period of time to see how you can stand to improve yourself.
We had a chance to see the Darma in person, and while the prototype version struggled a little in detecting our vitals (due to a Bluetooth problem, said Hu), it worked enough for us to see it in action. It’s surprising how sensitive it is, so much so that just a tiny shift in our seats caused a reaction — indeed, we had to keep absolutely still for it to read our initial heart rate. As a demonstration, Darma COO Jie Fu showed us a model where the cushion was hooked up to a computer, and it recorded his heart rate and respiratory patterns in real-time.
While Darma is still in the early stages, Dr. Hu tells us that it should be ready to launch on Kickstarter some time in June, with the final product shipping later this year. Though Darma only has an iOS app for now, the team does plan on releasing an Android version in the future. As for battery life, Dr. Hu tells us that since the battery is hidden inside the cushion, it should last a month when fully charged. The final retail price of the cushion will be $249, but Kickstarter early birds can snag it for only $149 — you can register your email address on the company’s website to get in on the deal. In the meantime, check out our gallery for a few photos of the cushion and the app, plus take a peek at the video below to get an idea for how it works.
Source: Darma
Original Samsung Galaxy Gear up on Daily Steals for $149
While you might be eyeballing the new Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 or Gear 2 Fit, the original Galaxy Gear is still floating around for purchase. At Best Buy they have them listed for $199.99, but for the next 24 hours you can get one through Daily Steals for $149. Saves ya a good $50 you could use towards something else.
The downside, they only have the Rose Gold and the Lime Green color options to choose from. The condition is new and not refurbished and does come with a 1-year warranty. Not a bad deal if you have a compatible Samsung phone. Pop on over to Daily Steals and pick one up if you are inclined.
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Universal LTE Moto G makes an appearance on Amazon ahead of tomorrows press event, ships June 30th for $219.99
Looks like leaks don’t always have to be from internal tipsters. Seems Amazon is jumping the gun on listing a device that doesn’t even officially exist yet. We all know Motorola is scheduled for an event tomorrow, or later today depending on where you live, in London. We all fully expect them to announce the Moto E, the Moto X+1 and apparently a universal LTE Moto G. At least a new set of links on Amazon would lead everyone to believe it.
The listing clearly shows a white and and a black Universal LTE Moto G. We know the original Moto G was limited to 3G speeds and that was quite a let down for many. Now it would seem that Motorola will be kicking the Moto G up a notch, at least int he data connection department, and will be offering up an LTE variant of the lower cost device. We assume the ‘Universal LTE” means it will ping off nearly every carrier out there that offers LTE data.
Clicking either of the links delivers you to a 404 page. However, if you click on the “ALL” box and scroll down, you can see the price tags and shipping details. Both will be Prime offered at a price tag of $219.99. It also shows the it is up for pre-order, we assume it will be officially live near the announcement, and will ship June 30th.
Interestingly enough, if you click on the Pre-Order option, it lets you get it ordered now. Not that I would do it with out a spec rundown to see if anything else, besides LTE, was added.
Anywho, feel free to keep an eye out tomorrow for when the specs and the rest of the pages actually go live. For your reference the black Universal LTE Moto G’s Amazon code is B00K0NRZSW and the white version is B00K0NS0P4. Here is to hoping the ULTE Moto G is a hit and has a few other tricks up its sleeves to warrant the $40 price jump.
Source: 9to5Google
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Multiple Verizon Motorola DROID devices seeing KitKat OTA’s, others getting bug Fixes
It isn’t much of a secret that the Motorola DROID line of devices was the first line of Android powered devices that brought Motorola back into the spotlight. A curious amount of variants sprung up after the first DROID RAZR hit the scene and many of us were pretty excited to Motorola back in the game. It slowed a bit for them until the more recent Moto X and Moto G hit the scene. While the DROID line is aging, it isn’t entirely dead. Heck, I still know a few people locally that use their DROID RAZR MAXX daily and have no plans to trade it in anytime soon. If you happen to be one of those die hard DROID fans with Verizon then we have some great news for you. It looks like you probably have an update waiting for you.
That is correct, a rather large list of devices has hit the Verizon support pages and almost all of them are scheduled to be gaining Android 4.4.2 KitKat. That list includes the RAZR M, RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD. You guys will be looking at, not only an OS update, but also an updated version of the DROID zap app, security patches, Wi-Fi fixes and roaming issues resolved. The RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD will also be picking up some HDMI implementations, but the specifics aren’t clear yet.
On the other side of the coin, the DROID Mini, DROID Ultra and DROID MAXX also have a set of updates starting as well. Sadly, it isn’t Android 4.4.2 , yet. You guys will be getting some bug fixes and roaming enhancements along with the swap for the KitKat white notification icons in your status bar. We can only hope that these devices will see kKitKat 4.4.2 some time shortly after this obviously smaller maintenance update.
As always, these updates will be rolling out in stages. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see it immediately. You can always head into settings and ping for the update if you really want too. If you do see the update pop up, make sure you have well over 50% battery life, a solid Wi-Fi connection and some time to kill to download and install the file.
Source: AndroidPolice
Update info pages:
Motorola DROID RAZR HD / RAZR MAXX HD
Motorola DROID Ultra / DROID MAXX
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Lenovo’s ThinkPad 10 tablet brings a sharper screen, loads of accessories
Some companies throw gadget spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Others… keep the same tablets around for nearly two years. We’ve seen Lenovo be both those companies, frankly, but when it comes to its business line, at least, it tends to move at a more glacial pace. Case in point: Nearly two years after announcing the ThinkPad Tablet 2, Lenovo has finally unveiled its successor, the previously leaked ThinkPad 10. Even then, it feels like more of the same: a 10-inch tablet with an Intel Atom processor, dual 2MP/8MP cameras and a 10-hour battery. This time, though, it brings a sharper, 1,920 x 1,200 display, effectively matching rival tablets in this price range. Like its predecessor, it’ll be offered with options for pen support, TPM, 4G and fingerprint/Smart Card readers, though we’re told most of those features, save for pen support, won’t be available at launch. Under the hood, it runs Windows 8 Pro, with a quad-core Bay Trail CPU and 64GB-128GB of storage (expandable via microSD). Prices start at $499, with shipments starting sometime in June.
Got it? Good. Even more than the tablet, we think you’ll be interested in the accessories — and there are lots of them. First up is a $129 keyboard case, with chiclet-style keys, a multitouch trackpad and a slot for the pen (you know, should you get one of the pen-enabled models). Then there’s the lighter-weight folio case, which has a flatter, Surface-style keyboard — one with concave, space-saving buttons. That, too, has a pen holster, and will retail for $119 when it arrives this summer.
Moving on, there’s yet another case — a ruggedized model with an adjustable hand strap on the back, gaskets around the ports and, yes, a place to stow your pen. And, because it’s difficult to remove and put on (we can vouch for that), it’s designed so that you can dock it with the case still on. That will arrive sometime this summer for $69. Speaking of docking, by the way, there will also be a $119 base station (the one you see in the photo above), which adds three USB 3.0 ports, with one always on so that you can charge something else, like your phone. In addition, it features an HDMI socket along with an Ethernet jack.
Wrapping up, Lenovo is making a bigger version of its Quickshot case — the same one it already sells alongside its ThinkPad 8 tablet. As ever, the hook there is that when you pull back the dog-eared corner, the camera app automatically opens so that you can — wait for it — quickly take a shot. That will retail for $59. Finally, if you want to buy the pen on its own, that’ll be $50. So, uh, don’t lose the pen that comes with your tablet, OK?
Unannounced Moto G with LTE pops up on Amazon
As good a deal as the Moto G might be for frugal smartphone shoppers, it doesn’t have speedy LTE data; for some, that’s practically a deal-breaker. However, it might get that often-sought upgrade relatively soon. Amazon has posted listings for two unannounced Moto G variants with “universal LTE,” including one in a previously unavailable white hue. Detailed store pages are sadly missing, but both entries mention a $220 price (slightly above the $200 you’d pay for a 16GB 3G model) and a June 30th ship date. We’d also expect these to work only with GSM-based networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, so don’t count on there being a Verizon equivalent.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine how much Amazon really knows. The picture of the Moto G LTE clearly isn’t for the current edition, but the launch details could easily be little more than placeholder info. A June release would line up with earlier rumors from Xataka, though, and it’s not far-fetched to see this model carrying a slight price premium. We may get the full scoop before long, at any rate. Motorola is holding a big event on the 13th — many expect it to focus on the Moto E, but there’s nothing precluding an update to the company’s existing budget handset at the same time.
[Thanks, anonymous]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Lenovo
Source: Amazon, Juan Garzon (Google+)
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