OnePlus releasing OnePlus One Lite as well?
OnePlus is holding an event on April 20th, however they didn’t say anything further but it is expected that they will be releasing at least two devices, and we know that one of them is most probably the OnePlus Two but OnePlus never commented on the second smartphone that they are working on. But according to some fresh rumors, we might know what else OnePlus is working on. According to Droid-Pile, OnePlus will be releasing the OnePlus One Lite, which will be an affordable version of the OnePlus Two but an upgraded version of the OnePlus One.
The source also commented that the new smartphones will be available through invites initially, but OnePlus might come up with some other ways as well. Nothing is known about the price and availability date of the smartphone, but it seems we will learn about it soon.
Are you looking forward to OnePlus Two and OnePlus Lite? Let us know below.
Source: Droid Pile
The post OnePlus releasing OnePlus One Lite as well? appeared first on AndroidGuys.
verykool’s Spark II lights world on fire at $169.00
Android devices are in a war of budget phones. While many of the flagship devices have calmed down to having minor annual updates, there seems to be a race at the bottom to see who can jam the most specs in at the lowest price. Many of those devices are mediocre at best. That is where the Spark II stands out from the rest and provides the best bang for your buck.
Last year I reviewed the Spark S505 which was a stellar device at the time it came out with the correct pricing for the device. verykool this time around stepped up the game and jammed more specs into the Spark II for a lower price margin. The device itself has a feel and the look of a premium device, not a phone that is sold for $169 on Amazon. It is thin, sleek, and feels extremely comfortable in the hand. I was wonderfully surprised upon unboxing the device.
Included in the box was a screen protector. I love that about verykool. They include screen protectors in the box so no need to spend additional money to buy something that you need anyways. To my surprise though verykool also includes not only a top notch screen protector but also included a really nice flip cover. This was totally unexpected and again shows how verykool goes the extra mile to provide the best value to their customers.
Spec wise, for $169, this device is off the charts. It comes with a fast 1.3ghz quad core processor. The phone felt very snappy and responsive, even after loading some games one there. Accompanying the quick processor is 1GB of RAM which was more than sufficient in this device and an 8 GB hard drive with microSD support for up to an additional 32GB of space. I did like that on this device the manufacturer included a setting to make it easy to have the microSD card as the default storage location, that is something that I really felt was lacking in the original Spark device.
There are some areas that the phone goes above and beyond what is expected on a device at this price range. It even has some features that I wished my flagship has like dual flash and front facing flash. One major area of improvement on the Spark II compared to the original was the camera. The device comes with an 8MP rear camera and a staggering 5MP front facing camera that will put your selfies in beast mode. The quality of the camera was pretty decent, but as I stated the most intriguing feature was to include dual flash on the rear and a front facing flash for those night time selfies.
Here are some example pics I took while at Disney:
As good as the camera is, the most breathtaking feature that I found on the device was the screen. The screen is amazing with a 5.0″ IPS LCD capacitive touch screen. The screen is beautiful and one that rivals those found on phones for more than twice the price. It displayed Netflix, pictures, or just the home screen brightly and easy to see in different viewing angles and various lighting situations.
The device includes the typical radios like Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Hotspot/USB Tethering, FM Radio, and HSPA+. Unfortunately the device does not include 4G LTE, but really at $169 is that much of an issue? Using T-Mobile in San Diego, I was able to cruise at speeds around 20 mbps and that was more than fast enough for my daily use. Another neat extra that verykool includes is that the Spark II is a dual sim card phone. There are slots for a standard sim card and a micro sim card. Being that my main job is working out of Mexico and I cross the border daily I found this feature to be a dream come true as I was switching services between T-Mobile and Telcel.
Here is a break down of the major specs of the phone:
Technology: 4G HSPA+ (21 Mbps DL, 5.76 Mbps UL)
3G Tri Band (850/1900/AWS 1700-2100)
2G (850/900/1800/1900)
OS: Android 4.4 KitKat
CPU: 1.3 GHz Quad-Core
Size: 143.5x 71.5 x 8.0 mm
Weight: 135 grams
Battery: 2100 mAh Li-ion – Up to 10 hours talk time/Up to 13 days standby time
Screen: 5.0″ IPS LCD – Capacitive touch screen 720×1280 Pixels (294 ppi)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi Hotspot, USB Tethering
Camera: 8.0 MP rear and 5.0 MP front, both with LED Flash
Data: Internet, SMS, MMS, PUSH e-mail, e-mail (POP3, IMAP)
Memory: 8 GB ROM, 1 GB RAM, Up to 32GB via microSD card
Multimedia: MP3, FM Radio, 720P Audio and Video Recording
Feeling light and a nice touch of sophistication, the Spark II is a premium device at a discounted price tag. When I looked up the price, I was quite surprised to see the phone was only $169 because after using it for a few weeks I feel that this device could have easily sold for $350+. If you are in need of a premium feeling, dual sim, unlocked phone that won’t break the bank then the Spark II is the phone that you need to get.
You can find verykool’s Spark II on Amazon right now for $169 with free shipping.
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Take a chill pill: Argument over Android vs iOS sees two roommates stab each other
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Android vs iOS. Google vs Apple. These are arguments that have lasted as long as anyone in the tech community cares to remember, and it’s not a debate that’s going to be solved simply using words. Nor is it going to be solved with sharp objects, as demonstrated by two roommates who have allegedly stabbed each other in an argument over Android vs iOS and which one is better. The altercation happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma after the pair had a few (too many) drinks and proceeded to argue about their personal smartphones. The argument quickly escalated into broken bottles and the use of those broken bottles to stab each other.
Both combatants are in hospital being treated for their injuries, and no charges have been filed. It’s the kind of thing you’d imagine would happen in a movie, but for it to happen in the real world is a bit extreme, not to mention ridiculous. There’s certainly no reason to be inflicting injuries on others just because of different opinions – and if the past few years have been anything to go by, neither side of the Android vs iOS argument is easily swayed.
What do you think about this violent argument over Android vs iOS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: KTUL via TalkAndroid
The post Take a chill pill: Argument over Android vs iOS sees two roommates stab each other appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Android Design + Dev Bundle, 89% off
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Amazon’s Android appstore loses one of its best features
Free. It’s a price we love. Ironically, free usually comes at a price. Today, that price, is the loss of Amazon’s try-before-you-buy TestDrive service for Android apps. It turns out, with more and more apps being free (at least to download), there was less demand for a service that let you test ‘em out in the browser/virtual machine. Makes sense. Accordingly, Amazon has pulled the TestDrive feature from the appstore — this has no effect on any apps that used it, just the feature is gone. The downside being there’s no longer a way to (easily) check out apps that don’t use the free-to-play/freemium model on Amazon’s store any more. But, coming full circle… that’s the price you pay for having more free apps, right?
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Amazon
Source: Android Police
Google’s Android search now pulls content from apps you haven’t installed
Thanks to Google search on your Android phone, you can not only bring up search results from the web, but also content from apps that are installed on your phone. Soon, however, that capability will be extended to apps you haven’t downloaded at all. Google has announced today that thanks to its app indexing efforts, you may now start to see Play Store suggestions in your search results that’ll lead to relevant content. So, for example, say you’re searching for “Michelin star restaurants” on your phone. You’ll not only get the usual search results for that, but also see suggestions for apps like OpenTable or Yelp if you don’t already have them installed. If you do install them, the first thing you see when you launch them is a list of, yep, Michelin star restaurants in your area.
Rajan Patel, a principal engineer from Google, tells us that the company started to index content within apps almost two years ago. Developers would implement the app indexing API in their apps, which would then deliver the relevant deep link info to Google. “As of today, we’ve indexed over 30 billion deep links in apps,” says Patel. “We’re able now to understand and index the content of those deeplinks, and rank them organically on search results.” As you might imagine, plenty of apps have signed for Google’s app indexing already; they include Airbnb, Twitter, Yelp, OpenTable, Trulia, Pinterest and yes, Engadget as well. The app index is still smaller than Google’s web index, of course, but it should still be decent enough for you to find exactly what you’re searching for… as long as you have an Android phone.
Source: Google
Now Android devices can understand your chickenscratch
Tired of typing on your tablet? Sick of speaking to your phone? Well, if you’ve got Android 4.0.3 or higher, you are in luck because Google Handwriting Input for Android has just hit the Play Store. This utility app supports both printed and cursive writing styles, understands 82 languages and can even decipher hand-drawn emojis. What’s more, it doesn’t require you to use a stylus — though for languages not based on the Roman alphabet (like Japanese, Korean or Hindi), a writing implement definitely helps. I just downloaded this to a Nexus 6 and it understood my scrawlings reasonably well. The only issue of immediate concern is the warning that Google will be saving all of the input text — including any passwords and credit card numbers — so take care with what you write.
Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Internet, Google
Via: The Next Web, The Verge
Source: Google Play, Google Dev Blog
Google Drive for Android shares files as soon as they’re ready
Can’t wait to share a photo as soon as it hits the internet? Google has your back. The company has updated Drive for Android so that you can start sharing files from the notification that your upload is done — you don’t even have to launch the app to get things going. The update also adds support for 23 more languages, including local Chinese and French dialects. Just be ready to wait a while for this no-waiting feature, as Google says the update will be rolling out over the next week.
Filed under: Storage, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Drive (G+), Google Play
Microsoft apps will be bundled on Cyanogen Android devices
Cyanogen has revealed that it will pre-install Microsoft apps on its modded Android OS later this year, including Bing, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook and Microsoft Office. The news doesn’t come as a huge surprise, since it was rumored that Redmond had purchased a minority stake in Cyanogen with the express intention of bundling its software. As part of the deal, Microsoft will also create “native integrations” on Cyanogen OS, presumably to make all its apps play well together. Microsoft has avoided porting its productivity software over to Android and iOS for quite awhile, but finally made the jump earlier this year.
On top of appearing on Android tablets, Office, Skype et. al. also arrived on Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge Android smartphones. Cyanogen’s announcement today is good news for users of the popular mod, which has extended the life of numerous aging smartphones from the first Samsung Galaxy S to the original Nexus. It’s also famously used on OnePlus’s popular One, though it’s not clear whether that smartphone will get access to the new goodies. Nor can we tell exactly which CyanogenMod distros will get the apps, if any. We imagine more news will be coming soon, but in the meantime we’ve reached out for more details.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile
Via: The Verge
Source: Cyanogen
Meerkat looks to Android for a chance at beating Periscope
Can an Android launch save Meerkat? SXSW must seem like a long time ago for the folks behind the livestreaming app that took Austin by storm back in March. It was just a few weeks later that Twitter launched Periscope, which, thanks to the social network’s clout and a better user experience, has quickly become the streaming app of choice. Right now both services are iOS only, though, and Meerkat is hoping to hook the hundreds of millions of Android users on its app with a public beta launch.
You can sign up for the beta here, but there’s no date for when the app will actually be available. Getting to Android before Twitter has a chance to launch Periscope is definitely a good tactic for Meerkat, although doing the same on iOS hasn’t stopped the app from fading into insignificance. According to analytics firm Topsy, Periscope streams were roughly three times more prevalent than Meerkat as of last week. Twitter has also confirmed that Periscope is on its way to Android “soon,” so there’s a good chance that it’ll launch on Android first anyway.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Via: 9to5 Google
Source: Meerkat (Twitter)
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