Firefox 16 final launches with Reader on Android, VoiceOver on Macs and web app support

Mozilla Marketplace in Firefox

Mozilla knows how to keep on the fast track. Just weeks after the Firefox 16 beta first showed, the finished version is ready and waiting. Surprises are few if you were an early adopter, although the update still has some welcome changes for the right audiences. Mozilla is most keen to talk about preliminary web app support for the Mozilla Marketplace, but you’ll also find device-specific additions like a Reader Mode for the Android flock and VoiceOver support automatically switched on for Macs. More responsive JavaScript and on-by-default Opus audio playback give existing surfers extra reasons to upgrade. Firefox 16 is immediately available through all the usual channels, so hit the relevant source link if you’re ready to live on the not-quite-bleeding edge.

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Firefox 16 final launches with Reader on Android, VoiceOver on Macs and web app support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMozilla, Google Play  | Email this | Comments

Lookout Security & Antivirus for Android gets a makeover, lets missing phones have one last gasp

Lookout Security & Antivirus for Android gets big makeover, lets lost phones have one last gasp

Missing phone apps such as Find My iPhone often have a glaring weakness: as they depend on pings at regular intervals, they’re not much use at tracking down a lost device if the battery dies first. Enter a major revamp of Lookout’s Security & Antivirus app for Android. The updated title’s new Signal Flare component takes advantage of a phone’s tendency to go out in a blaze of wireless glory that marks its last location. By remembering where a phone was unintentionally laid to rest, Signal Flare helps track down a phone that might have died in the parking lot — or just underneath the couch. Should your phone remain safely in your pocket, you’ll likely still appreciate the reworked interface that blends in with Android 4.0 and beyond, the protection against click-to-call exploits and an activity feed that shows just what Lookout has been doing behind the scenes. Android users can get that extra reassurance today, and iOS users have been promised a parallel app in the future.

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Lookout Security & Antivirus for Android gets a makeover, lets missing phones have one last gasp originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink VentureBeat  |  sourceGoogle Play  | Email this | Comments

LG E960 Mako surfaces in photos, may be the future Nexus phone (update)

LG E960 Mako surfaces in photos, may be the future Nexus phone update

Rumors have been swirling that LG will get its first crack at a Nexus phone this year. If there’s any merit to that claim, we might have just received an early peek. An XDA-Developers forum goer has posted a collection of photos for the E960, which appears to be a variant of the Optimus G — until you realize that it’s using software navigation keys, doesn’t quite resemble the international or AT&T Optimus G models and is oddly badged as the “Full JellyBean on Mako.” Given that Google likes to name its reference Android phones after fish, it doesn’t take much to suspect that a device codenamed Mako is more likely to become a Nexus than an Optimus. The completely stock but unreleased Android 4.1.2 build of Jelly Bean certainly helps fuel the rumor mill. If the E960 does carry Google’s honorific, though, some may be in for a disappointment knowing that the model that reached the FCC last week doesn’t have LTE. We won’t rule out that this is one of multiple Nexus variants, if it’s a Nexus at all, but the 3G edition’s filing hints that Google may not rock the boat for its 2012 flagship.

Update: More images have surfaced, this time with the anti-spy casing removed from the back of the phone. Click past the break for more.

Gallery: LG E960 leak

Continue reading LG E960 Mako surfaces in photos, may be the future Nexus phone (update)

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LG E960 Mako surfaces in photos, may be the future Nexus phone (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge, Droid-Life, AndroidandME  |  sourceXDA-Developers, FCC, Google Pad, Baraholka  | Email this | Comments

HTC DLX specs purportedly slip, stuff Snapdragon S4 Pro and 12MP camera into a 5-inch frame

HTC DLX specs purportedly slip, stuff Snapdragon S4 Pro and 12MP camera into a 5inch frame

Talk of HTC’s rumored, giant DLX has veered between the plausible and not-so-plausible. We might just toss the newest tip into that former category. Football4PDA, who’s developing a reputation for uncanny accuracy in leaks, has posted what’s claimed to be the core specifications of HTC’s first phablet. The DLX would mirror earlier expectations of a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro and a 5-inch, 1080p display, but push past the OneX+ in more ways than just physical heft: the extra space might just help it afford 1.5GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front shooter and a larger-still (but non-removable) 2,500mAh battery. We’re not as much of a fan of the threadbare 16GB of storage that’s supposedly in the cards, though, even with a new Android 4.1.2 build in store. Provided that there’s more to the story than just 136 characters, the real point of contention is the ship date — having mostly cleared the decks between its September event and its One X+ introduction, HTC hasn’t left much time for the possibly Verizon-bound flagship to show its face.

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HTC DLX specs purportedly slip, stuff Snapdragon S4 Pro and 12MP camera into a 5-inch frame originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gadgety.co.il (translated)  |  sourceFootball4PDA (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Google drafts checklist for making top-notch Android tablet apps

Google drafts checklist for making Android tablet apps

Google’s Senior Mobile VP Andy Rubin has been cool towards tablet apps, arguing that mobile titles shouldn’t be tuned to a specific form factor. Whether you agree with that assessment or not, his company has produced an (arguably overdue) tablet app checklist to help developers with big screen ambitions. The step-by-step walkthrough tells developers how to make the most of all that free space and optimize for the larger hardware, touch input targets and widgets. There’s a difference between having guidelines and getting app writers to follow them, but the checklist is an important step towards keeping that Galaxy Note 10.1 or Nexus 7 well-fed.

[Thanks, Christopher]

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Google drafts checklist for making top-notch Android tablet apps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Developers Blog  |  sourceAndroid Developers  | Email this | Comments

Verizon teases black and brown Galaxy S III models for the subtle crowd

Verizon teases black and brown Galaxy S III models for the subtle crowd

AT&T might have nabbed Verizon’s color for the Galaxy S III, but that doesn’t mean Big Red subscribers will be left out. The CDMA carrier has just posted a rotating teaser on its home page promising the low-key black and brown versions of Samsung’s flagship sometime “soon,” with availability sign-ups on hand for the impatient. That’s all we know for now, although history suggests there won’t be a premium over the $200 contract price of the existing blue and white models. We’re hoping the new shades of Galaxy come soon — Verizon’s offering will be the first chance most Americans have to get the Android phone in muted colors and relive the glory days of brown electronics.

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Verizon teases black and brown Galaxy S III models for the subtle crowd originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Droid-Life  |  sourceVerizon  | Email this | Comments

Google Play Music and Movies purchasing reaches Google TV, patches a media strategy hole

Google Play Music and Movies reach Google TV in full, patch a hole in Google's media strategy

It’s been one of the more conspicuous omissions in the media hub space: despite Google Play being the cornerstone of Google’s content strategy, you couldn’t truly use the company’s music or movie services through Google TV without depending on content you’d already paid for elsewhere. As of a new upgrade, the ecosystem has come full circle. Viewers with Google TV boxes can at last buy or rent directly from Google Play Movies and Google Play Music, and the content will be indexed in the TV & Movies section alongside third-party video services and traditional TV. The upgrade also helps Google’s TV front end play catch-up with its mobile counterpart by adding automatic app updates and subscriptions. While device owners may have to wait a few weeks as the upgrade rolls out, the addition signals a big step forward for a platform that has normally leaned heavily on others for help.

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Google Play Music and Movies purchasing reaches Google TV, patches a media strategy hole originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceOfficial Google TV Blog  | Email this | Comments

Purported Nexus 7 with 32GB of storage gets accidentally delivered in Japan

Purported Nexus 7 with 32GB of storage gets accidentally delivered in Japan

Back when Google ecstatically unveiled its 7-inch Nexus tablet a few months ago, the company decided to keep things simple by only introducing 8GB and 16GB models — much to the dismay of folks who prefer a device with a bit more storage space. One lucky customer in Japan, however, claims to have unexpectedly received a Nexus 7 loaded with more built-in storage than Mountain View currently advertises, having been delivered Google’s Jelly Bean-packing slate with 32GB instead of the 16GB unit that was ordered. Interestingly enough, the surprise delivery comes at a time when Google is rumored to launch a new, more spacious 32GB model as soon as October 24th — though only time will tell if that’s actually going to be the case.

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Purported Nexus 7 with 32GB of storage gets accidentally delivered in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Notebook Italia  |  sourceTwitter (Oppese)  | Email this | Comments

T-Mobile makes LG Optimus L9 official, carries big-yet-budget Android this fall

TMobile makes LG Optimus L9 official, carries supersized, lowcost Android this fall

We knew it was coming — we just didn’t expect official news quite so soon. T-Mobile has confirmed that its edition of the LG Optimus L9 will be available this fall. The magenta network’s supersized yet entry level Android 4.0 phone won’t be significantly different than its international cousin in hardware outside of the necessary 3G frequency switch, but the American GSM variant will support WiFi Calling, allow five-device hotspots and ship with a preloaded copy of Slacker Radio. Any pricing and an in-store date will have to wait; even with that 4.5-inch screen and 2,150mAh battery, though, it’s easy to picture the L9 costing less than many of T-Mobile’s smaller smart devices.

Continue reading T-Mobile makes LG Optimus L9 official, carries big-yet-budget Android this fall

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T-Mobile makes LG Optimus L9 official, carries big-yet-budget Android this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung creates F2FS file system for NAND flash storage, submits it to the Linux kernel

Samsung creates F2FS file system for NAND flash storage, submits it to the Linux kernel

Has the lack of NAND flash storage-optimized file systems been bugging you? Then you’ve got something in common with Samsung, which has developed F2FS (or “Flash-Friendly File-System”) for the memory of choice for mobile devices and its specific “internal geometry.” It’s based on a log-structured method, but tackles problems associated with older file systems intended mainly for retro, spinning-disk storage. The company isn’t keeping its hard work behind lock-and-patent either — it’s gone open-source and submitted the file system to the Linux kernel, meaning you could see it implemented in Android hardware of the future. It’s nice to see Sammy contributing code for the greater good, and if you’ve got the skills to understand it, a low-down of F2FS is available at the source below.

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Samsung creates F2FS file system for NAND flash storage, submits it to the Linux kernel originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phoronix  |  sourceThe Linux-Kernel Archive  | Email this | Comments