Daily Roundup: New Nexus 5 hardware, Amazon Pantry, next-gen console sales 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.
Nexus 5 production tweaks
New Nexus 5 owners are noticing a few design improvements over the original launch day model. Follow the link for all the deets.
November’s next-gen console sales
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 went head to head last month, and according to NPD, Sony’s sales came out on top. Click on through for the numbers.
Samsung promises ‘differentiated’ smartphones
By merging its digital imaging and mobile divisions, Samsung is taking a PureView-like approach to improve its smartphone camera technology. Click the link for details.
Amazon Pantry tipped for 2014
According to USA Today’s anonymous sources, Amazon may be expanding into the grocery business. Click through for more details on this intriguing online service. Watch out, Costco!
Nexus 5 now shipping with slightly altered physical appearance
Over at XDA Developers forum, some new owners of the Nexus 5, and those that returned theirs for defects, are reporting that their devices are slightly different from those that originally shipped at launch.
According to XDA member shinral, some devices had noisy buttons, a protruding SIM card tray and a “cutting edge” or sharp display frame.
With the recent long shipping times for the Nexus 5 to come back in stock, Google and LG must have been busy making slight tweaks to the production line.
All of these imperfections are reported to have been fixed and one of the other differences noted between the original and new Nexus 5 are larger microphone and speaker holes.
Have you had any issues with your Nexus 5 or noticed any of these changes?
via XDA Developers
The post Nexus 5 now shipping with slightly altered physical appearance appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Cover exits closed beta for Google Play Store
In the last year, there have been many launcher and lockscreen replacements for Android popping up and one of the most recent and popular is Cover.
Cover, which for the last few months has an invite-only beta, is now out of closed beta and available for free in the Play Store.
It’s an interesting app since it lets you set different locations whether you’re at home, work, in the car or out on the town and different apps shortcuts will be displayed on your lockscreen. For each setting, you have a different wallpaper as well. Cover learns what apps you use most and displays them on your lockscreen so you can access them quickly.
All that being said, the only downside to using this replacement is that if you use lockscreen widgets, you can’t use them anymore and you technically can’t set the apps yourself that appear on the lockscreen.
WIth Cover now in the Play Store, the company announced some changes to the app. Apparently over the last six weeks, they’ve “made 100+ improvements” that include optimized battery usage, improved car detection, compatibility with Android 4.4 KitKat, the Nexus 5 and new ART runtime for Android, when peeking and switching between apps, Cover now maintains the state within each app, tutorials on fast app-switching, how to set custom wallpapers/ring volume and how to use it with either a PIN/Pattern security code, more customization options such as those to configure the size and location of app tray target and the ability to share your Cover setup on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
via Cover
The post Cover exits closed beta for Google Play Store appeared first on AndroidGuys.
LG and Google tweak Nexus 5 production to fix speaker and loose buttons
Owners of brand new Nexus 5 handsets are starting to notice a few subtle differences compared to the version that sold at launch. The mono speaker grille holes are slightly larger, for a start, which could potentially offer a decibel or so of extra volume and prevent buyers from having to go all crazy with a hot needle. The volume and power buttons seem to have been made stiffer too, suggesting that complaints about excessive rattling noises reached receptive ears at LG and Google. None of this will help those of us who bought launch day models, of course, unless there’s the option of seeking a replacement, but we reckon the Nexus 5 remains the best $350 option on the market even with all its original foibles.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, LG
Via: TalkAndroid, PocketDroid
Source: XDA
Android 4.4.2 Binaries and Factory Images Get Posted by Google
Google has been on top of things lately, with releasing Android 4.4.1 to the Nexus family last week, then releasing Android 4.4.2 this week. They have also been updating their apps, and announced two additions to the Google Play Edition family. No one is complaining that is for sure, and today, they just posted the Android 4.4.2 binaries and factory images for anyone that wants them.
Google actually didn’t post the binaries or factory images for Android 4.4.1, probably because they knew they were going to release Android 4.4.2 to the public a week later. I know a lot of you might not even consider downloading any of these files, but this does help developers get new ROMs out quickly, and if you do end up flashing your device into certain oblivion, you can flash the factory image to get it back to stock. So if you feel like you need to download the files, head over to the Google page provided below.
Android 4.4.2 for Nexus! Samsung Ready for Android 4.4 KitKat! – Device Updates
Time to see if that device of yours is getting an update. Android 4.4.2 just got released to the Nexus family, and I do not think anyone saw that coming. If you have a Nexus, and want to give Android 4.4.2 a try, we have the downloads for you. Let us know how it is. […]
Download Android 4.4.2 to Your Nexus Devices Now!
It didn’t take long for Google to update the Nexus family yet again. We got the Android 4.4.1 update last week, and this week we get Android 4.4.2. We have the downloads below for both the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 4, but we do know that some have reported seeing the update on the […]
The ManDroid Show: Android 4.4.1 is Here! Nexus 6 Already Being Talked About!
Happy Friday my friends. Time to get your end of the week dosage of ManDroid madness. Hiopefully you Nexus 5 users out there started receiving your Android 4.4.1 updates. Make sure you check out the Nexus 6 concepts. Pretty creative stuff. Enjoy the show! News Topics Android 4.4.1 for Nexus 5…
Google reportedly gifting employees choice of Nexus 5 or Nexus 7
Google is gifting its employees a choice of either the Nexus 5 smartphone or the Nexus 7 (2013) tablet, according to new reports. Google has historically provided a bit of year-end benevolence to employees and sometimes lets them choose the gift. Whereas last year saw supply constraints…
[Download] Android 4.4.1 For Nexus 5 Available For Download Here
Just days after Android 4.4.1 was spotted doing the rounds in Google’s home town of Santa Clara, a build of Android 4.4.1 for Nexus 5 has been released into the wild, bringing the version from the original KRT16M build to version KOT49E. If you own the Nexus 5 and you’re interested…
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