This week the folks behind the web browser Opera have pushed their Android-based mobile edition past Beta into its first full-fledged release. They’ve done so with little fanfare, too – so little that it’s scarcely made waves here in the spring of 2013 – right between Google’s developer conference Google I/O and the technology conference
Earlier this year NVIDIA announced their all-new quad-core Tegra 4 mobile processor, then followed that up with the Tegra 4i with integrated 4G LTE thanks to their Icera i500 LTE modem. And now today in Las Vegas for CTIA they’re showing its potential by doing a live demo testing Cat 4 LTE-Advanced pulling 150 Mbps
Samsung’s Galaxy Mega has been priced and dated for its UK release, with the oversized 6.3-inch hand-filler set to hit shelves in July. The smartphone, announced back in April alongside a 5.8-inch sibling, will be priced from £459.99 ($697) including UK sales tax, and pack a 1.7GHz dualcore processor running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The
Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 Active – the more ruggedized version of the Samsung flagship – has been caught in the wild again, now showing up on video ahead of the company’s official launch. The new handset, which is expected to wrap the same 5-inch 1080p display in a tougher metal chassis, was handled on video, MobileTechReview reports, at an unnamed event recently.
The video is short, but it does at least give us a little more of a view of the new phone. There are also some extra details on specifications, which counter previous indications that the S 4 Active would basically put identical hardware to the Galaxy S 4 into a new body.
Instead, the Active version is said to have a more humble processor and camera than its sibling. The chip is tipped to be a 1.9GHz dualcore Snapdragon S4 Plus, from Qualcomm’s stable, while the camera is believed to be an 8-megapixel model rather than the 13-megapixels of the S 4.
Whether that will make a difference to everyday use is arguable, though it does likely mean that Samsung will position the handset underneath, rather than alongside, the existing flagship.
It’s not the only variant on the Galaxy S 4 we’re expecting in the near future, however. A goof in Samsung’s changelog for the WatchON remote control app revealed support for not only the S4 Active but the S4 Mega and the S4 mini. They’re expected to be larger and smaller versions of the phone, though when they’ll be officially announced is unclear.
VIA: Engadget
Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active video leak tips humbler specs is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
At this years’ Google I/O developers conference, a Fireside Chat with several members of the core Google Glass team proved to reveal much on not just the future of the device, but its origins as well. While earlier in the day a single slide had been shown depicting a set of six original prototypes of what was then called Project Glass, here lead industrial designer Isabelle Olsson had one key prototype on hand to show SlashGear in the plastic, as it were.
As Olsson made clear, this device was created as one of the very first iterations of what’s been reduced to a simple skeleton frame and single, removable computer element. What you’re seeing here is a set of development boards attached to two full-eye glass lenses, white plastic, tape, exposed cords and all.
Isabelle Olsson: When the team started working on this, it was very clear that we’re not taking something that already existed and making incremental improvements to it. The team wanted to create something that’s much more intuitive, immediate, and intimate. But to create a new kind of wearable technology, that’s so ambitious, and very messy at points.
In addition to showing how this pair of glasses worked with folding sides and a real, working set of innards (if you can call them innards, of course), Olsson showed one of the prototype pairs of prescription Glass glasses as well. These are seen in the box below, and their design was seen on Google employees here and there during the week as well, live and active.
Olsson: I will never forget the first day on the team and when I walked into a room wearing these CRAZY things on their heads. I brought the prototype so you could see what I walked in to. It comes in a fancy bag…
Olsson: I think like the colors of the board, maybe, fits my hair color, but I don’t know. It’s kind of heavy, though. I think I’m going to take it off now. So – but – how do you go from something like this to what we’re all wearing today?
Olsson: We took a reductionist approach. We removed everything that wasn’t absolutely essential. And then in addition to that, I formed three principals to guide the team through this ambitious, messy process. Those are:
• Lightness
• Simplicity
• Scalability
You’ll find this particular chat split up across three different features, each surrounding Olsson’s fireside chat contributions. The one you’re in now of course stays within the bounds of the prototype you’re seeing above and below. There are also posts on color choices for Glass, a bit about Modular Fashion, and another expanding on the design of the final product.
Olsson: When I joined the project, we thought we needed 50 different adjustment mechanisms, but that wouldn’t make a good user experience. So we scaled it down to this one adjustment mechanism.
This prototype works with the Glass projection unit nearly the same as what we see in the Explorer Edition of Glass. It’s attached to one of two computer boards, the one on the right temple – here also working with a camera, even in this early state.
This first development board is also connected to the second board, the second presumably reserved for storage space connections and a battery. While tape holds this unit together along with soldered bits and pieces along the board as well as glue, here and there, they do work.
There’s a single button above the camera lens that activates the camera – there’s a similar button (a hidden button) in this area on the Explorer Edition of Glass as well. This original prototype works with essentially every element available in the final release – here it’s just a bit larger, and not really made to look too fashionable for the uninitiated.
Google I/O 2013 also played host to a chat we had with Sergey Brin – co-founder of Google and currently Director of Special Projects for the company. He also gave some insight into the way Glass was first tested, noting that while there were some non-functional bricks used to test form for Glass, it certainly all started with function:
Sergey Brin: We did have some non-functional models, but mostly we had functional, uglier, heavier models. Very early on we realized that comfort was so important, and that [led to] the decision to make them monocular.
We also made the decision not to have it occlude your vision, because we tried. We tried different configurations, because [it’s] something you’re going [need] to be comfortable. Hopefully you’re comfortable wearing it all day? [That’s] something that’s hard to make. You’re going to have to make a lot of other trade-offs.
Have a peek at the photos in a larger sense in the gallery below and let us know if you see anything you recognize – it’s all there, piece by piece.
Google Glass Original Prototype eyes-on with Isabelle Olsson is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While Verizon and HTC have said that the HTC One isn’t hitting Big Red anytime soon, that doesn’t mean that the new device won’t land on Verizon at some point in the future. Recent evidence suggests that the One may be itching closer and closer to Verizon stores, thanks to a discounted DROID DNA, which customers can grab for free for a “limited time.”
It’s worthy to point out that this isn’t just any normal smartphone with a discount. The DROID DNA is HTC’s flagship device on Verizon, and such a discount like this either means that the phone is selling poorly (which we highly doubt) or Verizon is making room for a new HTC flagship — a.k.a. the HTC One.
Then again, the sale isn’t lasting that long. The deal ends tomorrow, meaning that most customers will miss it if they blink, so it’s certainly not a sale that Verizon is counting on to lower inventory, but it’s possible that they could just be raising awareness for the new-ish phone, since the DNA is HTC’s latest phone on Verizon, and it’s already quite old.
The HTC One isn’t an exclusive phone by any means, as it’s already available on AT&T and T-Mobile, and HTC usually puts most of their phones on Verizon’s network, so we’re a little surprised not to see the One in Big Red’s lineup, but it could only be a matter of time before that eventually happens, unless HTC has other plans.
However, Verizon is hosting their own little even this week at CTIA, which could be the moment where Verizon will announce the HTC One. Then again, HTC has said that if Verizon and HTC announce One availability, it’ll be a “big deal,” and an event at a relatively small tech conference like CTIA doesn’t really sound like the “big deal” that the two companies were talking about, but we’ll see what the companies have brewing and report back with our findings.
Verizon HTC One speculation returns as DROID DNA offer arrives is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This past week we noticed a bit of an oddity in how AT&T handled the video chat element in Google’s new “Google+ Hangouts” app on cellular data: in effect, it didn’t work. Asking AT&T about the situation, it was discovered that they had a policy in place for pre-loaded apps working with video chat, making it clear that it’s the OS makers (Google and Apple) and the device makers (Samsung, BlackBerry, LG, HTC, Apple), that were responsible for enabling pre-loaded apps to be able to work with cellular data for video chat. Today, AT&T makes it clear that Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry will be making a big change by June for all their pre-loaded apps.
Though there’s still no word on how any of this affects Google+ Hangouts at all – since it doesn’t come pre-loaded with devices at this very moment – AT&T is making it clear that changes are in the works. Changes for pre-loaded apps only. Specific to three manufacturers: Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry, pre-loaded apps working with Mobile Share or Tiered data plans will have instant access to video chat with mobile data.
“For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and Blackberry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.” – AT&T Representative
So if you’ve got an Apple, Samsung, or BlackBerry device – and one of those data plans – you’ll be able to video chat with pre-loaded apps no matter your connection.
AT&T goes on to say that they’re opening their doors wider later this year, allowing pre-loaded apps to use video chat on any phone no matter the customer’s data plan. You’ll still have to pay for the data you use while chatting, but you’ll be able to do so without a hassle.
“Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by year end.” – AT&T Representative
Strangely enough, AT&T insists that “any mobile video chat app” that’s not pre-loaded with a device they purchase should be able to be “used” without trouble. It would seem that Google+ Hangouts is considered a native app by AT&T due to its replacing of Google Talk, therefor rendering Video chat limited to wifi until each of these announcements take hold.
“Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.” – AT&T Representative
Let us know if you’re able to use Google+ Hangouts with mobile data on your AT&T device later this June. At the moment we’re still seeing the error that brought us to this point last week. Video chat freedom, on the way!
AT&T video chat goes unlimited for all by 2014 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Samsung’s clean-Android version of the Galaxy S 4, announced by Google at I/O last week, will only be available in the US the company has confirmed, leaving international developers with only the Nexus 4 to choose. The stock-Android smartphone will carry a $649 unlocked, SIM-free price tag in the US, and be sold direct from Google’s Play store, but the search giant confirmed to CNET that developers in other countries will be out of luck.
The news is unlikely to go down well with Google’s developer community, already smarting from how the Glass wearable roll-out has been handled. The Explorer Edition of the headset is only available to coders in the US, and so far Google’s only outreach has been within the US.
Google’s argument for the limits on where it can ship Glass has been that the headset is only currently certified for use within the US. Similar hardware reasons could be at the root of the pure-Android Galaxy S 4′s availability, too; the phone has an LTE radio, but there are so many LTE bands being operated worldwide, it may well be that Samsung’s device simply won’t work to its fullest outside of the country.
US availability of the stock Galaxy S 4 is set to kick off on June 26, and it may be that Google and Samsung will look at US demand before deciding whether to green-light international availability. Although the price tag of the phone isn’t particularly outlandish compared to the average SIM-free, off-contract device, it nonetheless manages to look expensive alongside the Nexus 4, which kicks off at $299 ($349 for the 16GB version, matching the Galaxy S 4′s onboard storage).
Exactly how the stock-Android Galaxy S 4 – which we managed to grab a little more time with at I/O – fits into the overall Android/Nexus ecosystem is not entirely certain. Samsung was of course Google’s partner on the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus, but was replaced by LG for the Nexus 4 (and, so the rumors go, the “Nexus 5“).
Neither Samsung nor Google is calling the stock Galaxy S 4 a “Nexus” device, however. Whether other companies follow Samsung in offering pure-Android versions remains to be seen; despite many requests, for instance, HTC has said it has no plans to release a version of the HTC One with Sense removed.
Google’s pure-Android Samsung Galaxy S 4 to be US-only is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A new variation on Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 has leaked, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active, with the quadcore 1.9GHz smartphone cropping up in Croatia ahead of an official release. The slightly aesthetically-redesigned phone, which apparently has physical menu and back buttons as well as what looks to be a more rugged rear casing, has turned up at GSMArena, having been previewed on a Samsung WhatON app update first, complete with some other new twists on the Samsung flagship.
That update – to the remote control software Samsung uses to turn its phones and tablets into universal remotes – name-checked not only the Galaxy S 4 Active but two other handsets. Version 5.0.4 of the software now has support for the S4 Mega and S4 mini, according to this screenshot from SamMobile; Samsung since updated the changelog to remove any mention of the unannounced phones.
Judging by the AnTuTu benchmarking results run on the Galaxy S 4 Active (GT-I9295) handset in the wild, the phone sticks closely to the pattern already set by the Galaxy S 4. There’s a 1920 x 1080 Full HD display running at 480 dpi along with Adreno 320 graphics; according to the person who shot the photos, it’s a 5-inch device, too.
In fact, the big change is expected to be in how the phone is put together. Rather than the much-criticized plastic casing of the existing Galaxy S 4, the Active version is believed to use metal. There’s also talk of a special waterproof coating to protect against splashes, with Samsung tipped to be relying on the P2i nano-coating which makes even the circuitboards water-resilient.
As for the S4 mini, a good guess would be a smaller version – likely with pared back specifications – of the regular S4. Samsung has already tried this once before, with the Galaxy S III Mini, though the underwhelming specifications made it more of a name cash-in rather than a true shrunken version of the flagship.
Finally, the S4 Mega presumably sees the regular S4 head in the other direction, getting even bigger. That could mean a bigger display – though that would be getting close to the size of the Galaxy Note II, which itself may be getting larger in its third generation expected to launch later in the year – or it might mean a larger battery. Alternatively, Samsung might step up to 5.5-inches and, since it would presumably lack a stylus, more closely compete with the LG Optimus G Pro.
Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active caught in wild as S4 Mini and S4 Mega lurk is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Samsung’s Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy S III has leaked, bringing Galaxy S 4 functionality to the older smartphone, though the official release isn’t expected until sometime in June. Firmware version I9300XXUFME3 for the GSIII is still a work-in-progress internally, according to SamMobile, with the Jelly Bean based OS still apparently undergoing testing. However, this leak does give an indication of which features Samsung will be retroactively bringing to its old flagship.
For instance, the Galaxy S 4′s enhanced voice controls are apparently being brought back to the Galaxy S III, building on the S Voice functionality Samsung first revealed on that handset. In fact, the whole new S Voice app is carried across, as are the two new screen modes: Adapt Display and Professional Photo.
The S 4′s lockscreen is included, with support for multiple widgets, a size-adjustable clock, and two new unlock effects. There’s also a new settings UI, which matches that of the S 4.
Some of the changes are more aesthetic than anything else. There’s a new driving mode and the gallery now gets a white background; Samsung’s own apps now run full-screen, and there’s a new Smart Switch widget.
Meanwhile, the other changes are of Google’s own doing, given this is the new version of Jelly Bean. So, the Galaxy S III will get the Daydream screensaver mode, along with tweaks to the notifications drop-down, including actionable alerts.
Still on the table are the Galaxy S 4′s camera tweaks – which we covered in our review – with no news on whether Samsung will keep features like picture-in-picture photos and videos to the latest handset, or roll them back into the older device. Those decisions could well change before the official release date, which is expected to be sometime next month.
Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean 4.2.2 update leaks with Galaxy S 4 features is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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