Hasta La Gadget!

HTC had broadcast its intentions to bring the One V to the US this summer, and that’s exactly what it’s doing, even if it’s keeping the formalities to a minimum. Virgin Mobile has started selling the entry Android 4.0 phone without fanfare at a very tempting $200 contract-free — certainly the lowest American price we’ve seen so far for joining the Sense 4.0 party. The hardware still won’t floor anyone, but Virgin Mobile Live is tossed in to perk up the experience. Should Google’s platform just not be your bag, you’ll also be glad to know that Virgin has recently started taking online orders for its prepaid iPhones, which officially hit the shops on Friday. With their $550 and $650 no-contract prices, though, some may question just how Retina their displays really need to be.

[Thanks, Marcus]

HTC One V quietly pops up at Virgin Mobile USA for $200, iPhone tags along for online orders originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google unveiled the Nexus Q streaming device yesterday alongside the Nexus 7. Taking a look at the specs, you might see an all too familiar processor, with the device featuring a dual-core OMAP4460 CPU – the same chip that’s inside the Galaxy Nexus – along with PowerVR SGX540 graphics and 1GB of RAM. Google also hinted at the Q’s hackability thanks to the inclusion of a microUSB port, and it looks like developers are starting to see what the device can really do.

Christina Kelly, an Android app developer, has managed to get Swords and Soldiers to start on the device, although that’s apparently where the fun ends. The game won’t actually run, and even if it did, the lack of touch controls would put a damper on things pretty quickly. It does mean, however, that the Nexus Q is a flexible platform that developers can have some fun with.

The fact that the orb is running Android and has an architecture comparable to the Galaxy Nexus gives developers a lot of freedom, as well as the opportunity to explore the possibilities of the device. Kelly notes that while Google TV devices also run a version of Android, porting an app over to the platform is a difficult affair.

Google has dubbed the Nexus Q a social streaming media player. The orb can only be controlled using Android devices, with content streamed from Google’s content services via the cloud instead of across a local network. Users can also create social playlists, adding songs or videos to be queued up and played up the device. The Nexus Q doubles as a 25 watt amplifier that you can plug your speakers into, and plugs into your TV via HDMI.

Google Nexus Q hacked to run games is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update has leaked, with the file being discovered waiting on Google’s servers ahead of the official release next month. The Jelly Bean installer is seemingly the same file that is being pushed out to the free Galaxy Nexus handsets Google handed out to developers after the Google IO keynote yesterday.

Jelly Bean includes a new notifications system as well as Project Butter, Google’s efforts on reducing lag in the interface. There’s also a new Google Voice Search system to take on Apple’s Siri, together with app encryption.

Meanwhile, Google Maps gets offline navigation, and there’s offline voice dictation for US English. There’s more on Jelly Bean in our IO wrap-up here.

You can download the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update here [zip file] though be warned, it’s unclear if all the bugs have been ironed out of this version. If you want the most stable release for your Galaxy Nexus it’s probably safer to hold off until Google pushes it out OTA officially in mid-July.

[via Xmoo]

Jelly Bean for Galaxy Nexus leaks is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you own a modern Android smartphone, there’s a reasonable chance you’re familiar with MHL for video out to a TV. The format saves the trouble of adding an extra port, but it’s really only intended for HDMI-based destinations and occasionally runs into compatibility issues. VESA is hoping to settle all that with its newly available Mobility DisplayPort standard, or MyDP. Existing micro-USB ports will still serve as the output, but you’ll have the option of plugging into DVI or VGA displays with the right adapter, in addition to HDMI and full-size DisplayPort. Picture connecting to an older projector and you’ll see why that might make sense. The new spec will charge up your device like with MHL, but it also has about 1Mbps of bandwidth for input, such as keyboards and trackpads in some future lapdock. Video still tops out at 1080p and 60Hz, so there’s no hooking into a 4K display here. The real advantage, for many, is simply in having a broadly-adopted standard in the first place: VESA backing sees 180 companies tacitly endorsing the idea, producing a big improvement over the patchwork results that we’ve seen from MHL’s much smaller alliance. The chief obstacle is the wait for the first smartphones, Ultrabooks and tablets with MyDP, which could be months or more away.

Continue reading VESA’s Mobility DisplayPort standard links smartphones to PC displays, jabs MHL

VESA’s Mobility DisplayPort standard links smartphones to PC displays, jabs MHL originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Traditional console makers have often sworn up and down that mobile doesn’t make money for game development. That might still be true for some developers, but you’ll get a very different answer if you ask Epic Games. Co-founders Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein have collectively described the currently iOS-only, Chair-developed Infinity Blade as the “most profitable game we’ve ever made” when considering the amount of money and time invested relative to the money coming back. Yes, that includes even the Gears of War series, which most consider Epic’s primary cash cow. Sweeney, like his long-time competitor Johh Carmack at id Software, is also taken aback by the power stuffed inside the latest generation of mobile devices — a 2012 iPad is nearer the performance of a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, he tells Gamasutra, and the pace is only picking up. Even more insights await in the interview with Sweeney; click below if you want a hint of what one of gaming’s pioneers has to say about where your tablets, phones and (yes) PCs are going.

Epic Games: Infinity Blade on iOS more profitable by the pound than any other game we’ve made originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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