HTC One available today in the US, Verizon gets it in-store first
By now you probably know if you need HTC’s shiny new One in your life — now it all comes down to where and when you can nab it. Thanks to some wheeling and dealing, Verizon Wireless has a head start in the US: online and in-store sales start today at 1pm Eastern. AT&T and Sprint will kick off their online sales at that time too, but you can’t waltz into one of their brick-and-mortar stores to find one until April 11. As you might expect, the 16GB model will cost you $199 while the 32GB model comes in at $249… and if the thought of contracts makes you ill, you can buy one sans agreement for $649. The lone standout is T-Mobile, which won’t sell the device until some time next month (we’ve reached out for clarification and will update this story as we learn more). Of course, everything above assumes you want your carrier’s blessing. Don’t forget: HTC will sell unlocked and developer versions for $649 on its website, and a $699 Play Edition version should hit the Google Play Store soon too.
HTC pushing Sense 6.0 to the OG One, One Mini and One Max soon
Well, we don’t have a specific date, but HTC’s latest Sense skin — which the company insists on calling Sixth Sense — will be coming to it’s older models this spring. Last year’s One, the One Mini and One Max will all be getting updates in the coming months with Sense 6.0. While it’s not a complete surprise, it’s nice to know that HTC isn’t leaving its customers out in the cold. It’s all part of its HTC Advantage program which guarantees two year of software updates and support. That’s longer than even Google suports its Nexus phone. Hopefully we’ll get specific launch dates sooner, rather than later.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, HTC
Fleksy keyboard for Android now has achievement badges and cloud syncing
Even though Fleksy’s predictive touch typing is fairly easy to learn, not everyone is familiar with all that this alternative keyboard has to offer. That’s one of the reasons the company has incorporated a new Badge system in Fleksy’s latest 2.0 update for Android, to hopefully have users spread its gospel and get a bit of fun out of it as well. For example, if you’re able to type on Fleksy’s invisible keyboard, you’ll get an “Invisible Master” badge, or a “Gesture Guru” stamp if you have those special swipes down pat. You can show off your badges to your buddies of course, but their main value is in introducing new color themes or prolonging Fleksy’s free trial period. Another addition to Fleksy 2.0 is a new cloud feature that lets you sync personalization features across your various Android devices. Things are moving ahead on the iOS side as well, as Fleksy has updated its SDK with eight new languages and improved typing precision. Around 50 iOS developers have already incorporated the Fleksy keyboard into their apps, many of which are featured here. For those on Android who have yet to try the full version of Fleksy, you would be wise to get it soon — the app will be 50 percent off ($1.99) for the next 72 hours only.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Google Play, Fleksy
Select older HTC devices to receive Sense 6.0 update confirmed by leak
Ahead of the launch of the next generation HTC One later today, a recent leak for the roadmap of the HTC Sense 6.0 deployment for older devices confirms that a select few will get the updated software.
The new HTC One is set to come with an all-new Sense 6.0 skin bundled over Android 4.4 KitKat, but the update will extend to the first generation HTC One, followed by the HTC One Max, and HTC One Mini, which is scheduled to be deployed in the next few months.
Interestingly, the HTC Butterfly S will also get the update in June or July, but no other devices are scheduled for the update according to the recent leak.
[Via LlabTooFer]
The post Select older HTC devices to receive Sense 6.0 update confirmed by leak appeared first on AndroidGuys.
OnePlus confirms April 23rd launch date for its first smartphone
One One may occupy all of today’s headlines, but there’s another One that wants some of your attention. OnePlus, the outfit founded by former Oppo VP Pete Lau, has announced that it’ll whip the covers from its “perfect” Android smartphone on April 23rd. Even at this late stage, however, the company is tweaking the spec list for the device — swapping in a Snapdragon 801 for just a little bit extra power. Naturally, we’ll be at the shindig, and will share our impressions as soon as we get our hands on one.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Engadget Chinese
Source: OnePlus (Google+), OnePlus forum
HTC’s new One will also come as a minimalist Google Play Edition
With HTC’s big launch looming later today, some apps for the new One handset have started dropping prematurely on the Google Play Store. One of those apps, HTC Gallery, is especially interesting because its accompanying text confirms that, aside from the regular phone, there’ll also be the option of a clutter-free Google Play Edition. It looks like this edition will be available soon, perhaps coinciding with the main launch, without the lag we saw with the Google-fied version of the old One. Whenever it arrives, those who opt for this edition will be able to pick and choose from HTC’s software offerings, including Blinkfeed (the company’s news-focused homepage), Sense TV (the TV remote app) and presumably at least one camera-related app that can take advantage of the new model’s rumored selling point: a depth-sensing camera. Stay tuned at around 11am ET (8am PT, 5pm UK) for all the official news and pricing.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC
Via: Android Central
Source: HTC Gallery
Daily Roundup: NSA spies on Huawei, Google Now for Chrome and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
NSA spied on Huawei founder’s emails to implicate him as a Communist Party insider
The New York Times managed to get a glimpse of documents suggesting that the NSA was hacking into the email account of Huawei founder, Ren Zhengfei. Apparently the government has been creating “back doors” in the company’s systems since 2009.
Google’s Photowall for Chromecast lets you doodle on photos, beam them to your TV
Google’s new app, called Photowall, lets Chromecast owners beam images and doodles straight to their TV. The iOS and Android apps are available now, so download away. And don’t worry WP8 users, there’s a web app too.
Google Now officially lands in Chrome
The power of Now has finally landed in Google’s Chrome. Basically, it works the same way that it does on your smartphone, though cards pop up from your OSes notification area.
iTunes Radio now streams the news, thanks to NPR
Earlier today, NPR announced that it joined iTunes Radio as the music streaming service’s first news channel. It may be the exclusive station for iDevice users at the moment, but we expect that won’t last for long.
You also might like:
Google Search on Android now warns you when traffic grinds to a halt
Your Android phone can now warn you when traffic is likely to crawl to a standstill on the drive home. Google has updated the platform’s search app to send Google Now notifications if road work, accidents and other incidents might create major delays. The alert system won’t be as slick as having your very own traffic drone, but it should help you find an alternate route before you’re caught up in gridlock.
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Mobile, Google
Source: Google (Google+), Google Play
You can now download the Samsung Galaxy S5 firmware
With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S5 only a few weeks away, you can now download an official firmware for the device.
The firmware is actually from the Chinese SM-G9009D Android 4.4.2 KitKat model and the build date shows March 12th, so it’s a recent build.
Having early access to the Samsung Galaxy S5 firmware means that developers can get to grips with the code for the new features found on the device and also begin porting apps to the older devices.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 firmware can be downloaded from here.
The post You can now download the Samsung Galaxy S5 firmware appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Skitch for Android gets new, finger-friendly toolbars to make mobile annotation easier
Are you a digital doodler? Odds are, then, that you’re familiar with Skitch, an annotation app from the folks at Evernote that lets users mark up PDFs, screenshots and pictures on phones and tablets. Today, the Android version of Skitch got a bit better with a revamped set of toolbars that make it easier to indulge your doodling ways. The new layout provides access to two menus at the bottom of your screen: an icon in the bottom left corner lets you choose the color and size of your scribbles, while the icon in the lower right is tapped for access to cropping, text and other tools. Tapping either expands the options along the edges of the screen, and they disappear once you’ve made a selection. It’s a pretty slick implementation, if we do say so ourselves, but you don’t have to take our word for it, first hand knowledge is just a download away.
Source: Evernote blog
AIVAnet 