This week the folks at Bump have announced that they’ll be moving to Google, the latter coming having acquired the former in a deal that’ll bring new technology to Android and Chrome (more than likely). The app Bump currently works with Android and iOS devices to provide data transfer from one device o another with […]
Remember Bump, that nifty little app that let you transfer data from phone to phone—or phone to computer
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Data sharing / smartphone colliding app Bump is now a part of Google’s happy family, according to a post written earlier today by CEO David Lieb. Not a ton of info on the acquisition is available at the moment, including just how much money changed hands and what devices needed to come in contact for such a transfer to take place. Lieb did add, however, that, “Bump and [Bump-owned photo app] Flock will continue to work as they always have for now.” What, precisely, “for now” means, and how the deal will affect Bump usage on non-Android platforms, however, is hard to say.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Bump
Both the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Gear have begun hitting pre-order status with carriers in the United States, T-Mobile jumping aboard for a run this Wednesday. While the folks at AT&T have made clear their intention on offering up early adopters a chance at tossing cash in at midnight tonight for […]
This morning the folks at AT&T have announced that they’ll be first on the block with Samsung Galaxy Gear pre-orders, this being the latest in Samsung’s efforts to bring a smartwatch to the masses. Samsung begins its wearables journey (again) here with the Galaxy Gear in the United States on AT&T exclusively – though release […]
Motorola’s Droid phones tend to arrive in packs. The original Droid RAZR was released just a couple months before the Droid RAZR Maxx — essentially, the RAZR with a larger battery. The next year, the company followed up with the Droid RAZR HD, the RAZR M and the RAZR Maxx HD, the latter of which promised longer battery life. Then, after a long silence, the OEM finally broke its silence this past July. At a press event co-headlined by Verizon, Motorola announced its first products since being acquired by Google, once again choosing to launch three devices. We’ve already taken a look at the Droid Ultra, and in this review we’ll focus on the largest of the trio, appropriately called the Droid Maxx.
Despite the fact that all three offer roughly the same mid-range specs, the Maxx stands out from the rest of its siblings thanks to its build, wireless-charging capability and — surprise! — its larger battery. But are these three factors important enough to justify paying $300 on-contract, when the Moto X, Droid Ultra and other flagships all cost $100 less? Let’s find out.%Gallery-slideshow83998%
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google, Verizon
When Google unveiled the Android 4.4 KitKat statue, the highlight was not the giant chocolate statue, but rather the fact that a mysterious device was caught on video. The device featured the Nexus branding on the back and many speculated that this could be the upcoming Nexus 5 handset, and thanks to various leaks and FCC filings, the device is becoming all too real, and now according to reports, word on the street has it that the Nexus 5 could be announced on the 14th of October and would be running (obviously) on Android 4.4 KitKat.
Given that the Google Nexus 4 handset was launched last year in October, it wouldn’t be out of the question that the Nexus 5 could see an October launch date as well. The fact that the FCC filings seem to point at the fact that the handset is good to go, an October launch seems pretty likely. Unfortunately at this point in time there is no evidence to corroborate the 14th of October launch date besides a rumor, so take it with a grain of salt for now, but at the same time for Nexus fans, the 14th of October is probably a date you’ll want to mark on your calendars, but do check back with us at a later date for additional details.
Nexus 5 With Android 4.4 KitKat Rumored For 15th October Launch original content from Ubergizmo. 
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An Explorer Edition of Glass is already a pricey piece of tech, and smartphone tethering plans required to give it a mobile internet connection have only made ownership that much more expensive. However, there’s good news for Google’s guinea pigs: the latest update to the headgear quietly implemented a way around the additional monthly fees. With XE9 loaded onto headsets, the companion Android app pipes data to and from the hardware, bypassing both the smartphone’s Bluetooth tethering settings and extra plan previously needed from some carriers. To match the change, the application’s notification icon sports two arrows to signify the flow of info. We doubt telcos will be fazed by this development for now, but we don’t know if that’ll hold once Glass arrives on shelves and hits the streets en masse. We’ve contacted Google to find out if the feature will make it to retail units.
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Motorola’s return to the smartphone market after a year ensconced in Googliness raised many questions about how the handset pioneer would introduce a competitive smartphone without appearing to have most-favored manufacturer status from Google. The company responded in two ways. First, instead of trying to smother the look and feel of Android, it embraced it nearly to the extent of a Nexus phone. Second, it added a few thoughtful differentiators. These include a pulsing time display that adds notifications even when the screen is off and camera activation via a twist of the wrist. More notably, it enhanced access to Google Now by enabling hands-free activation with the prefix, “OK, Google Now…”
LG, another Android handset company that had fallen from feature phone grace, came next with its G2. Like the Moto X, the G2 implements some clever sensor-driven and gestural features, including a “knock” (double-tap) to activate the screen and an automatic call-answering feature activated by putting the phone up to your face. But unlike Motorola, LG muscled up its device with a nearly bezel-free 5-inch display, a battery that more efficiently fills the case, a 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, which sees its US debut in the G2. (LG also highlighted much of its rear-mounted power and volume control placement, which is different, but not necessarily better (at least for the right-handed).
Filed under: Cellphones, Apple, Samsung, Google
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