Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re anything like us, you’ve been wringing your hands jealously at the few thousand Google Glass-enabled humans wandering around commanding “OK Glass” as their bidding is done. We’d like to say that the solution we’ve found is to give everyone a free set of Google’s latest indulgence, Oprah-style, but that’s not the case — instead, Verizon’s new trio of Droid phones enables very similar voice-powered functionality on its Droid Mini, Ultra and Maxx handsets.

Employing Google’s popular (and delightful) Now app, Droid owners can enact a variety of (unnamed) operations, including waking up the Droid by saying “OK Google Now.” It’s also targeted at folks who are prone to losing their mobiles, as the command, “OK Google Now, call my Droid” will do just that. It’s also possible that people nearby will think you’re a crazy person, but perhaps they already did considering you’re prone to losing such an expensive and important device to your life, eh?

The Verizon-created software enhancements don’t stop there, with the trio also getting “Touchless Controls” and “Active Display”; the duo apparently work together to “let users make calls, send texts, get directions, play music, set a reminder and preview notifications hands-free without having to unlock the phone, giving Droid users a whole new way of interacting with their phones.” All three phones are available for pre-order starting today and arrive at Verizon starting on August 20th (the Mini lands August 29th).

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Software, Mobile, Verizon

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Source: Verizon Wireless

Fans of Kevlar and long battery life will be happy to hear that Verizon unveiled its latest Maxx, the Droid Maxx, this morning in New York City, and it sports a massive 48-hour battery life. It’s apparently 9 percent thinner than last year’s counterpart, the RAZR Maxx HD, and it starts at $299 (with the standard two-year contract, naturally) on August 20th. Specifics about which CPU and GPU being used weren’t given, though the latest Maxx is reportedly 24 percent faster in the CPU department and 100 percent faster in terms of graphics processing (all on a single SoC, it sounds like). It also features a 10-megapixel camera out back that’s capable of shooting 1080p HD video.

The new Maxx was unveiled alongside the Droid Mini and Ultra, effectively replacing the RAZR line that debuted last fall. All three new phones come pre-loaded with Google’s VR game Ingress, and seemingly all run on Motorola’s newly announced X8 computing system. We’re still waiting on more detailed specs, but we’ll have a hands-on directly from the NYC event coming up shortly.

Update 1: Reps at the event tell our on-site staff that the Maxx has a 5-inch screen, and a press release from VZW says it has wireless charging and a 3500mAh battery. Additionally, it can apparently be woken on voice command by saying, “Ok Google Now.”

Update 2: And now we’ve got full specs: a 1.7 GHz dual-core CPU with quad-core graphics powers the Maxx, with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory rounding out the list. It’s an LTE-enabled phone (naturally) and weighs just under five ounces. Software-wise, it runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Mobile, Verizon

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Source: Verizon

In a wholly unsurprising move, Finnish game dev studio Rovio Entertainment is creating yet another entry in its prolific Angry Birds series — Angry Birds Star Wars 2. As its name implies, ABSW2 is the sequel to the first Star Wars-themed Angry Birds entry, which launched on various mobile devices last November. Its sequel will arrive on September 19th, and apparently features “over 30 playable characters.” There aren’t set launch platforms just yet, but we’re guessing “iOS and Android devices” is a pretty safe bet; Windows Phone 8 as well, perhaps.

What is surprising is that the newest Angry Birds entry has a physical twist that we’ve yet to see from the brand: something called “telepods.” The Hasbro-created toy is a physical representation of an in-game character, and Rovio Entertainment’s VP of marketing Philip Hickey tells us it works by using a mobile phone or tablet’s built-in camera to read the toy and implement it in-game — an interesting choice in a world where Activision’s NFC-based Skylanders rules the toy-based game landscape. As such, the toys likely won’t function on game consoles, making it likely that any non-mobile version of the game will require some custom work to adapt. Hickey also tells Engadget that the toys will be available at retail alongside the game’s September 19th launch, and that Rovio’s exploring the possibility of making them function with previous series entries.

Interested parties can get a first taste at San Diego Comic Con this week, and we’ve dropped the debut trailer just below for your viewing pleasure.

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile

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Source: Twitter (1), Twitter (2)

After discovering a longstanding exploit in Android firmware dating back to version 1.6 that allowed malicious developers to circumvent software security measures, Bluebox Security released an Android app this week for users to check whether their phone is still vulnerable to the exploit. Since Bluebox’s report last week, Google acknowledged the issue and released a patch that it says is in the hands of OEMs and already being pushed out by certain manufacturers (Samsung, for one). The app is thankfully free, and should provide some much-needed reassurance to most Android users. Head to the source link below to snag it for yourself.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google

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Via: Phone Arena

Source: Google Play

Spotify’s Discover area isn’t quite as ubiquitous as we’d hoped by this point, primarily serving computer-based Spotify users. But today that trend begins to change, with Spotify’s iOS app getting an update (version 0.7.1) which adds the long-awaited Discover functionality alongside a slew of other updates. The “Now Playing” section is changing a bit as well, getting a makeover, and playlists can now be edited directly from your phone. Oh, and Spotify says all this stuff is heading to other mobile devices “soon.” The full list of changes is below, including the always exciting fictitious addition. We won’t spoil it for you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Software, Mobile, Apple

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Source: iTunes App Store