For the moment, your arsenal of touchscreen gestures is effectively limited by the number of fingers you can use. a ten-finger gesture isn’t going to be particularly helpful for most of us. New tech that can tell the difference between fingertips, knuckles, and fingernails however, could throw some more variables into the mix. More »
Something that has no doubt blindsided developers, GREE has announced that OpenFeint will be shutdown on December 14, less than one month from now. This comes a little over a year after the platform was purchased by the Japanese company in April of 2011 for $104 million. The platform was originally created for iOS, with the company later adding Android support after announcing that it would do so in later 2010.
The deadline is exceptionally harsh, giving developers precious little time to migrate to a different platform before the system goes down. How severely a game will be impacted by the sudden change depends on the degree to which the platform has been integrated into an app. Once December 14 rolls around, all unsecured player data on the OpenFeint servers will disappear forever, and network calls will become nonfunctional.
According to the announcement, developers who migrate to GREE will retain game descriptions, screenshots, and achievement definitions, with the option to migrate leaderboards as well. Login info will also be transferred. Those who elect to switch to GREE can implement the basic platform in about a week. Like OpenFeint, GREE’s SDK and such is free to developers.
Unfortunately, for the time being, developers of iPad apps won’t be able to switch from OpenFeint to GREE. As of right now, an iPad/tablet SDK is on the company’s “roadmap,” but not available. Says GREE, “Game Channel will be deprecated and all new App promotions will go through the new GREE App Portal.” User login info will be migrated as well, assuming they choose to open a GREE account.
[via Touch Arcade]
OpenFeint to shutdown in less than a month is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
AT&T has the One X. Sprint has the EVO 4G LTE. But it’s been a long while since Verizon customers had an HTC flagship to call their own. More »
Gadgets are an unfortunate mix of expensive and fragile, with the wrong jostle, bump, or drop potentially sending your smartphone or tablet into an early grave. OtterBox creates a variety of cases designed to prevent these unfortunate incidents including the Defender Series. As of today, you can now pick up DS case for your Galaxy Tab 2 and Droid RAZR HD.
The OtterBox Defender Series cases feature triple-layer defenses against the many perils that can threaten your gadgets. Each case has a built-in display protector, as well as a mid-layer made from polycarbonate and an outer layer made from silicone. These layers are designed to protect smartphones and tablets from shocks and drops, and to keep dirt and debris out of the devices’ various ports.
Also released is the Commuter Series case for the RAZR HD and the RAZR MAXX HD. The Communter Series case is similar to the Defender Series, offering a screen protector, mid-layer composed of silicone, and an outer-layer made of “strong polycarbonate.” Neither the Defender Series, nor the Commuter Series are waterproof, however.
The Droid RAZR HD features a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720, and has 12GB of internal storage space. You can check out our review of the handset here. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 features a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600, as well as a dual-core 1GHz processor. Check out our review of the tablet here.
OtterBox announces Defender Series cases for RAZR HD and Galaxy Tab 2 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It isn’t exactly a secret that Texas Instruments has been struggling in the mobile space a bit lately, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that today the company announced it will soon be broadening its focus when it comes to its OMAP processors. We’ve heard about such a change before, but today Texas Instruments is giving us a better idea of what pros and cons this broader focus will have. While the company will be able to save a healthy amount of money by focusing less on the smartphone space, this unfortunately means that TI will be letting around 1,700 employees go.
In a statement today, the company reiterated plans to “focus its OMAP processors and wireless connectivity solutions on a broader set of embedded applications with long life cycles, instead of its historical focus on the mobile market where large customers are increasingly developing their own custom chips.” This is all in an attempt to save money moving forward, and Texas Instruments expects this move to result in annualized savings for $450 million by the end of 2013.
Texas Instruments elected to go this route because making these changes will be less expensive than other options, but the company will still be paying a hefty sum to implement this shift in focus. TI expects the changes to cost a total of $325 million, most of which will be covered in the current quarter’s financials. Even though Texas Instruments will have to plop down a lot of cash to make the shift it needs to, it sounds like the company will still come out on top.
It’s just a shame to hear that nearly 2,000 employees will have to lose their jobs in order for Texas Instruments to save some money. Hopefully the company’s plan works out, because if it doesn’t, even more people may be out of a job in the future. Stay tuned.
Texas Instruments announces plans to lay off 1,700 workers is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We just got our hands on the HTC Droid DNA this morning, and our first impressions were very promising. The screen is really, really gorgeous. But, how gorgeous is it when you put it next to the other best smartphones? More »
The HTC One X, the EVO 4G LTE, and the One X+ are among our favorite phones. But the company hasn’t had a flagship device for Verizon in a long time. Now, with the Droid DNA, HTC decided to go all out and make the most impressively spec-filled smartphone the world has yet known. More »
Verizon has announced that Samsung‘s latest physical keyboard-faring device will be hitting their 4G LTE network “in the coming weeks.” The Galaxy Stratosphere II is the successor to Samsung’s Galaxy Stratosphere that was released a little over a year ago, and it brings with it some welcome improvements.
The Galaxy Stratosphere II will come with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4G LTE connectivity, NFC capability, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running the show. This looks like it will be a pretty average mid-range device, seeing that Samsung doesn’t think power users want physical keyboards from the looks of it.
Of course, the Stratosphere II will make for a great business phone as well. It’s Global Ready and has built-in Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity capabilities. It also has numerous security features such as Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and on-device AES 256-bit encryption, which obviously aims to protect your personal information, as well as company info.
The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II will cost $130 after signing a new two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate, which seems like a decent price for a decent phone. We’re positive that users still committed to physical keyboards will be eyeing this new device when it eventually hits Verizon stores in the next few weeks.
Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II announced for Verizon is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) just announced that passengers on some of its commuter rail “T” lines can now purchase digital tickets straight from their smartphones (on either Android or iOS). The MBTA says this is a new initiative that should speed up the ticket-buying and ticket-checking process.
Commuter rail passengers on all North Station lines will be able to purchase and display tickets on their Android or iOS smartphones starting today, with South Station lines expected to arrive sometime after Thanksgiving. Amtrak has had a digital ticket platform for a while now and similar systems have been put in place across the pond in Europe, but this marks the first major US commuter rail to offer passengers an alternative to physical tickets.
Richard A. Davey, Massachusetts’ transportation secretary, says that around 75% of the commuter rail’s passengers have smartphones, so the biggest benefit for them is they will no longer need to wait in lines at ticket windows or vending machines, or even scrounge for cash while on the train, which saves time for both the passengers and conductors. Plus, the MBTA claims that over half of its 140 commuter rail stations don’t have ticketing booths or machines.
Those who store credit card and travel information for re-use can purchase tickets in about five seconds, and the app has the option of purchasing one-way, round-trip, and 10-ride passes, with monthly passes likely coming sometime this winter. The MBTA spent numerous years and invested more than $150 million to create and deploy the CharlieCard payment system for subway, trolley, and bus systems across the Boston area, but officials abandoned their plans to bring it to the commuter rail since it would cost around $70 million more to outfit all stations with CharlieCard vending machines and giving conductors hand-held readers. Hopefully the new digital platform will catch on quick.
[via The Boston Globe]
Massachusetts commuter rail begins smartphone ticketing system is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Good news, AT&T subscribers: starting today, you can get your hands on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 at the carrier’s stores. The Galaxy Note 2, the giant stylus-toting smartphone, is massively popular, having sold 3 million units so far. The device was launched in the end of September.
The Galaxy Note 2 features a giant 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720. Inside you’ll find a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor and 2GB of RAM. Depending on which version you get, you’ll have either 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage space. Around back there’s an 8-megapixel camera with auto focus, while the front houses a 1.9-megapixel unit for video chats. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, meanwhile, is a tablet with a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Depending on which version you grab, you’ll get either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage space. The unit has an accelerometer, as well as a rear 3-megapixel camera and a VGA front camera for video chats. The unit runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich.
If you’re an AT&T customer and want to snag the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phablet, you’ll need to shell out $299 with a two-year contract. The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is a bit pricier at $399, also with a two-year contract. Overall, the price is pretty good considering the quality of the hardware you’ll be getting.
[via Android Community]
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 land at AT&T is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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