HTC confirms One X and X+ won’t be upgraded to Android 4.3 or higher
It looks like Android 4.2.2 will be the end of the upgrade roadmap for the HTC One X and X+, two of the company’s primary flagship phones in 2012. The phone maker tweeted out — and later confirmed to the press — that neither handset will be upgraded to Android 4.3 or anything newer. As frustrating as this announcement is, we don’t consider ourselves shocked: the original One X launched nearly two years ago, and we speculate that the 15-month-old X+’s Tegra 3 processor may have been the reason for its fate. Take a look at HTC’s official statement below.
We can confirm that the HTC One X and One X+ will not receive further Android OS updates beyond Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed both devices to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC, Google
Via: The Verge
Source: HTC UK (Twitter)
Google acquires Nest’s line of home automation products for $3.2 billion, pledges continued support for iOS
We’ll be honest: if you told us a big company was going to buy Nest, we wouldn’t have guessed Google. After all, the home automation company was founded by Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, both ex-members of the original iPod team. Heck, the Nest Thermostat is sold at Apple stores, and is referred to in the blogosphere as almost an honorary Apple product. But whaddya know? Google just scooped up the outfit for a cool $3.2 billion. That bit of inside baseball aside, Google is being quick to assure users that Nest will run fairly independently within Google — not unlike Motorola, it would seem. Quoth Mr. Fadell: “Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone. We’ve had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship.”
Also, to answer the obvious question you’re all asking: yes, Nest will continue to offer apps for both iOS and Android. That means Apple fans will still be able to tinker around with their thermostats and Nest Protect smoke detectors even after the acquisition goes through. There’s also a possibility that Google’s other hardware products will eventually integrate more tightly with the Nest lineup, but so far, Google is staying mum. “Nest’s product line obviously caught the attention of Google and I’m betting that there’s a lot of cool stuff we could do together, but nothing to share today,” said Rogers. Until that day comes, then, we’ll leave you to speculate — feel free to leave your best guesses in the comments.
Filed under: Household, Google
Via: Nest (Twitter)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 begins Android 4.4 KitKat rollout in Poland
Sometimes, even the most massive of updates have humble beginnings. This is the case with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, a device that offered Android 4.3 Jelly Bean upon its debut. We all figured it was just a matter of time before an upgrade to 4.4 KitKat became available to users, and it appears Samsung is now ready to offer it — albeit, on a rather small scale starting in Poland. According to SamMobile, Polish Note 3 owners (for the Snapdragon 800 quad-core version, at least) can now sideload the update through the manufacturer’s Kies software. This is a pretty quiet and restrictive launch, so Samsung hasn’t officially made any announcements, but we have a feeling that the company’s limiting the rollout at first to ensure all of the possible bugs have been squashed prior to worldwide availability.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, Google
Via: Ars Technica
Source: SamMobile
Rumored Nokia Normandy prototype surfaces on Twitter, reveals little
That thing up there? Word on the street (that is, Twitter) is that it’s an engineering prototype of the Nokia Normandy, a low-end Android device due sometime in 2014. The name has been floating around for a few months now, often accompanied by images flaunting Nokia’s usual design cues but without the hardware shutter button or LED flash that adorn its Lumia devices. Normally, that would peg the hardware for Nokia’s Asha line, but rumors persist that the Normandy will actually be running a Nokia-tweaked version of Google’s open-source OS.
Screenshots leaked earlier this month also suggested that the device would support dual SIMs and showed of mockups with touch-screen notifications and a customized Skype app. Unfortunately, the leaked device doesn’t do much to add or detract from that rumor, revealing only a generic back button, a Nokia boot screen and a rubberized case that obfuscates the handset’s features. Still, something is clearly afoot; we’ll let you know when we know what, exactly, it is.
Filed under: Cellphones, Nokia
Via: GSM Arena
Source: Twitter
How would you change Motorola’s Droid RAZR M?
Before it became the cuddly face of Google’s handset business, Motorola had a knack of knocking out sweet hardware at low prices. The RAZR M, for instance, combined a svelte body, 4.3-inch display and a nippy Snapdragon S4. When you factor in the $99 price point, you can see that, while it won’t have excited spec-hounds, mainstream users would find much to like in the package — kinda like the Moto X in that regard. When we reviewed it, we showered it with praise for those reasons, but now that you’ve had some time to get to know this handset, were we right? Share your experiences on the forum.
Jelly Bean claims 59.1 percent of Android device share as KitKat inches forward
Google has released its first Android device share data for 2014, and it’s now clear that many users are flocking to a newer OS version… just not the latest version. While the shiny new KitKat release did climb to 1.4 percent of active devices in January, Jelly Bean was the real winner — the older software jumped from 54.5 percent in December to 59.1 percent this month. There’s no real mystery as to what happened, though. KitKat remains limited to mostly Google hardware, whether it’s the Nexus line or Motorola phones; we haven’t quite reached that point where large numbers of third-party devices either get KitKat upgrades or ship with the revision pre-installed. That surge may come soon, however, and the team in Mountain View can at least take comfort in knowing that over 60 percent of Android’s active customer base is reasonably up to speed.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google
Via: Android Central
Source: Android Developers
Google Play Services 4.1 rolls out with some notable improvements
Google Play Services version 4.1 began rolling out yesterday, bringing improvements to Google+, battery life, turn-based multiplayer for developers, and more.
Let’s begin with Google+:
With the recent update to Gmail, users can now send emails easier than ever to their Google+ contacts. This update addresses that, and gives better suggestions and auto-complete for your newly-added contacts Google+ addresses.
Next, we have turn-based multiplayer for developers:
Play Games lets users sync game data across devices. It’s a relatively new app, and developers are just beginning to take part into building this functionality into their games. Now, Play Services allows turn-based multiplayer data syncing. So, if you’re playing a multiplayer game, your turn data is uploaded and you can play as your own player, rather than starting fresh.
Also Google Drive:
This update will allow developers to preview the new Google Drive API. Users will eventually be able to read and write files on and offline, and the changes will sync automatically.
And finally, and probably most importantly, improved battery life:
For those of you who chose to enable location reporting when setting up your phone, you may have been experiencing some battery drain issues. Some users have been experiencing battery issues since the update to v4.0.34, so this update should help address the issue.
The post Google Play Services 4.1 rolls out with some notable improvements appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google update paves the way for more multiplayer games in the Play Store
Google’s latest update to Play Services should keep its mobile OS developers busy for a bit, particularly if they’re making games. Android’s SDK now has asynchronous multiplayer baked in, the kind of turn-based system that makes playing Words With Friends with distant pals possible. The update also features a developer preview of the new Google Drive API, better auto-complete options when sharing to Google+, and fixes the battery-draining bug that affected some Android 4.4 KitKat devices. Thrilling updates? Not quite, but it’s good to see Google investing in its budding games services.
Filed under: Gaming, Mobile, Google
Source: Android Developers Blog
Gmail now lets users email Google+ connections, opt out available
Further integrating its social network into its other services, today Google announced a new feature allowing Gmail users to email a Google+ connection, whether they’ve exchanged email addresses or not.
Gmail and Google+ users should be receiving an email with information about the new feature in the next few days. The feature can then be enabled with a new setting in Gmail, with certain circles, anyone or no one at all from Google+ being able to email you.
Google said that the way it works is when typing an address in the “To” box, you can keep typing or select an email address from someone you already have contacted before, as always, or you can choose to send an email to a Google+ contact, whose email address you don’t have.
Keeping privacy in mind, Google said that your email address is only shared with the people you want to have it, so your email address isn’t visible to a Google+ connection unless you send that person an email, and vice versa, that person’s email address isn’t visible to you unless they send you an email.
Lastly, if a contact in one of your circles emails you, it’ll show up in the Primary tab of your Gmail inbox, while all others will be filtered to the Social tab.
The post Gmail now lets users email Google+ connections, opt out available appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Wearable Google Helpouts streaming camera shares GoPro heritage, we go hands-on (video)
Ambarella isn’t exactly a household name, but the 10-year-old company’s silicon has long found its way into GoPro cams and other hardware thanks to its video-compression chops and low-power tech prowess. Word broke last month that Google commissioned the outfit to produce a reference design for a wearable camera that would stream to its Helpouts service, which lets folks ask experts for help over video. Here at CES, the manufacturer’s brought along a few samples of the device, and we’ve just put our paws all over one.
Inside a plastic housing the size of a chunky matchbox, Ambarella’s placed a custom chip (an A7LW, if you’re curious) that endows the package with the ability to stream 1080p video at 30fps for a minimum of one hour. The housing also comes with a mini-USB port, microphone, 500mAh battery, 8GB of flash storage, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, along with power and “connect” buttons up top.
Not only can the setup stream 1080p footage with just 1 Mbps of bandwidth — albeit with a varying bit rate to adjust quality — but it also pipes the video directly to Google’s servers over WiFi, removing the need to tether to another device. After a user joins a Helpouts session, the camera will become available as a video source. What’s more, the hardware can either be used by one of the pros on Mountain View’s service, or the Average Joe looking for a hand.
The camera held its own when it came to video quality, which looks like what we’ve come to expect from Google Hangouts. Although it piped footage to the cloud and down to the tablet on display, there was only about a second’s worth of lag, likely thanks to Google’s software.
When it comes to the wearable aspect of the cam, some of the models on hand sported a clip on the rear or a metal loop up top for a necklace. Having said that, form factor and features will be up to device manufacturers who buy the innards from Ambarella — that is, if Google goes forward with the idea of shooters that natively support Hangouts.
Ultimately, the draft hardware not only shows that Hangouts may score capable, tailored streaming hardware, but also that those cams might not be too far off. Details regarding pricing, release dates and manufacturers are still too early to pin down, but something tells us we can expect to hear more from Google this year.
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