Here's Why You Shouldn't Bother About Android 4.2.2 Update!
The non-Nexus users may feel ditched about not getting the flavour of Android 4.2.2., but the real question is whether you really need it? According to an Android Police report, the Android 4.2.2 version offers nothing new or unique, that would entice users to quickly go ahead with the installation.
Features that come bundled with the update are longer notification vibrations, a new app download notification progress bar, revision in quick settings for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth configuration, and new sound notifications for wireless charging initiation and low battery alerts, the report added.
Also, given the fact that most of the Android
devices across the globe are running on either Gingerbread or Ice Cream
Sandwich, and not Jelly Bean, it is a rather strange decision from
Google to release Android 4.2.2 update. If one considers that Android
4.2 is available on handful of devices, this update is not of much use
to a majority of Android users.
If we look at the data, Android
2.3 Gingerbread leads the chart of smartphone running Android OS,
followed by Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 4.1 aka Jelly
bean, the shares are 50 per cent, 29 per cent and 14 per cent
respectively. This would give you a clear idea about the whole update
confusion.
From an India-centric perspective, the logic of
Android 4.2.2 doesn't make much sense. Devices like Nexus 7 are not yet
available in the country. By the time the update arrives to devices
beyond the Nexus range, we are assuming that Google may release next
version Android 5.0 aka Key Lime Pie.
Transparent phone prototype is getting closer
It's been the dream for years and years: transparent computer displays, and transparent phones. We've seen them over and over in sci-fi, and we've seen plenty of device render concepts, but this is the first real prototype that we've seen in real life. The key to it is the transparent display that has been developed by Taiwan-based Polytron Technologies. We first saw the display tech from Polytron a couple weeks ago, but we're getting more info on it, and more importantly video.
As
you can see in the video below, all they have so far is a very very
early prototype, almost just a proof-of-concept, but the team expects to
have a more fully functioning prototype with working software by the
end of the year. You'll also notice that the device isn't 100%
transparent, because some components - the battery, SD card, and
microphones - simply can't be made transparent right now. Still, it's a
pretty cool start.
The display is what
Polytron calls Switchable Glass technology, which is a conductive OLED.
When the phone is powered off, the liquid crystal molecules in the
display are a cloudy white, but when you turn on the juice (electricity
running through transparent wires), the liquid crystal molecules realign
to form text, icons, etc.
There is no word on
when the displays will go into production, but Polytron general manager
Sam Yu says it will be "near the end of 2013". Yu also said
that Polytron is in serious discussions with "major smartphone makers"
across the US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea to bring the display to
market.
Xperia Z confirmed to hit European markets on February 21
Word from Sony about the official launch of the Xperia Z in Germany popped up on the company's Facebook page. The smartphone will go on sale at the Sony Store in Berlin on the 21st.While there is no word from the Facebook announcement on whether availability will also go for the rest of Europe from that date, we've also received an invite for an event outside of Germany, so likely February 21 will be a pan-European launch date for the Xperia Z.
Sony jumped on the 5-inch 1080p bandwagon quickly with its new Z flagship, and have delivered a quite impressive device complete with quad-core Krait processor, 13MP camera, 16 GB of internal storage, 2 GB of RAM, and a very slick glass panel design that's also waterproof to boot.
Lava launches XOLO A1000 in India
Lava Mobile has launched a new Android
phone in India called the XOLO A1000. Unlike the previous XOLO X900 and
the X500, however, the A1000 is not based on an Intel x86 processor.The XOLO A1000 has a 5.0-inch, 1280 x 720 resolution IPS display with what Lava calls the One Glass Solution (OGS) that incorporates the display, the touch sensor and the glass in one layer, making the phone thinner and improving the image quality. The A1000 runs on a MediaTek MT6577 chipset with a dual-core 1GHz CPU and PowerVR SGX531 GPU.
The Lava XOLO A1000 is priced at ₹13,999 in India ($259) unlocked and will be sold in black and white colors.
Luxury phone maker Vertu ditches Windows Phone 8 plans, will focus on Android
Nokia sold their former subsidiary Vertu for 200 million euro (around $250 million) in June of last year. Since then, the company has taken a 180 turn and chosen the Android path, unlike Nokia.
Not using Windows Phone could also be a scale and size issue as Vertu is not one to afford spending huge resources on various projects.
Good news for sheikhs and all the usual Vertu clientele is Symbian is finally out of the picture, and replaced with the much more modern Android.
Samsung announces REX series of features phones in India
Samsung has launched a new range of budget feature phones in India. Called the REX, the series includes four models: REX 60, REX 70, REX 80 and REX 90.
The REX 70 has a 3.0-inch, QVGA resolution display, 2 megapixel camera, 10MB memory with microSD card slot, dual-SIM support and 1,000mAh battery. Other features are similar to REX 60.
The REX 80 has similar features as the REX 70 but a higher resolution 3 megapixel camera, 20MB memory with microSD card slot, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and 1,000mAh battery.
The top-of-the-line REX 90 has a 3.5-inch, HVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera, 10MB memory with microSD card slot, dual-SIM support, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and 1,000mAh battery.
The prices for these devices start at INR4,280 ($79) for the REX 60 and go up to INR6,490 for the REX 90 ($120).
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean makes a landing on the Nexus 4
Shortly after its tablet siblings got the treatment, the Nexus 4 also received its fix of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The update is currently seeding to Nexus 4 smartphones over the air.
Along with the changes which the update brought to the Nexus family of tablets, Android 4.2.2 has added a unique wireless charging and low battery sound to the latest Google smartphone. The unofficial LTE support has also been taken away by Google.
Analyst: Samsung to manufacture 100 million Galaxy S IV phones
Peter Misek from Jefferies & Company wrote a note to clients of the analytics firm saying that Samsung plans to build 100 million Galaxy S IV phones. That would require monstrous amounts of resources, which would eat into manufacturing capacity for the upcoming iPhone update.
“The enormous 100 million S4 build plan (we estimate the S3 sold 60M) is leading some suppliers to say that they will reallocate resources away from Apple.”The last official numbers are from mid-January and state that 40 million Galaxy S III’s were shipped.
On the topic of the next iPhone, Misek had previously written that Apple is already facing manufacturing issues as suppliers struggle to provide enough units of the bigger screen for the new Apple phone. This might even lead to delaying the launch until next year.
We’re a little skeptical of another screen increase so soon after the iPhone 5 (which brought a 21% bump in surface area). With iOS’ limited resolution options, a bigger screen will lead to a decrease in screen sharpness, possibly sliding below the Retina mark. Plus, Tim Cook probably doesn’t want see the iPhone upgrade timeframe slip back like it did with the 4S.
Still, 100 million Galaxy S IV’s will ensure Samsung’s dominance in the Android market (if Misek’s numbers are correct, of course). But with Apple decreasing its dependence on Samsung components, how much can iPhone 5S/6 manufacturing suffer from limited supply from Samsung and other component makers?
Samsung Galaxy S IV to keep the home button, touchless gesture navigation mentioned again
The S Pen-laden Galaxy S IV rumor,
however, won't be materializing, say the Korean publication's sources,
which makes sense, considering there's the Note family with larger
screen sizes to take care of the stylus functionality, and an eventual S
IV with an S Pen would take away from their target market.
The insiders mentioned that the speculated touchless gesture functionality
will indeed be coming with Samsung's flagship in April, and that's what
might have gotten folks assuming that an alternative input method means
S Pen stylus, rather than the sensitive screen tech rumored to allow UI
navigation without touching the display that is expected.
All the rest in the source reiterates what we've heard so far, like a 4.99" AMOLED Full HD screen, and there might be different chipsets for different versions, judging from some leaked benchmarks.
The processor in the video below uses triple Cortex A7 cores and two Cortex A15 cores in the big.LITTLE configuration. The MP scheduler is able to figure out the task load and intelligently assign it to the right domain.
The Cortex A7 cluster and A15 cluster work discretely and depending upon the workload, the OS would either use the A7 cluster (for less demanding tasks) or the A15 cluster (for high demand tasks). This is similar to the way the NVIDIA Tegra 3 and 4 perform, with their 4+1 configuration.
First Tegra 4 smartphones and tablets will launch in August at the earliest
Samsung provides an overview of the big.LITTLE ARM architecture of Exynos 5 Octa
Last month, Samsung announced the Exynos 5 Octa, an eight-core behemoth of a mobile processor that uses four Cortex A7 and four Cortex A15 cores on a single chip. Samsung has now uploaded a video that provides an overview of how this multi-core processor works.The processor in the video below uses triple Cortex A7 cores and two Cortex A15 cores in the big.LITTLE configuration. The MP scheduler is able to figure out the task load and intelligently assign it to the right domain.
The Cortex A7 cluster and A15 cluster work discretely and depending upon the workload, the OS would either use the A7 cluster (for less demanding tasks) or the A15 cluster (for high demand tasks). This is similar to the way the NVIDIA Tegra 3 and 4 perform, with their 4+1 configuration.
First Tegra 4 smartphones and tablets will launch in August at the earliest
NVIDIA's latest generation mobile SoC, the Tegra 4, was unveiled about a month ago at CES 2013. We even saw several devices powered by it, including a 10-inch tablet by Vizio and NVIDIA's very own Project Shield gaming console.
That doesn't mean, however, that we'll see any Tegra 4-equipped
smartphones or tablets on the market anytime soon. In fact, it will take
months for NVIDIA to start shipping the chip to interested
manufacturers, which isn't good news.
During a conference call, NVIDIA's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang stated that the Tegra 4 SoC is expected to start shipping in July.
Therefore, commercial products, such as smartphones or tablets powered
by the new quad-core chip, won't be on the market earlier than August of
2013. The company's portable Shield console should be out even later –
in September of this year.
By that time, the next generation of mobile SoCs by Qualcomm, which are supposedly faster than the Tegra 4,
may already be on the market. The Snapdragon 600 is scheduled to be
commercially available in Q2 of 2013, while the top-of-the-line
Snapdragon 800, with its quad-core Krait 400 CPU running at up to 2.3GHz
and Adreno 330 graphics will follow soon after. Samsung's newest Exynos
chips should be out as well. The rumored Samsung Galaxy S IV, for
example, which is expected to be powered by the next-gen silicon, may be
unveiled as early as next month.
All of this
does not bode well for the future of NVIDIA as a player on the mobile
SoC arena. Being late to the market with a next-gen quad-core offering
will surely have an impact on its sales figures, especially when its
competitor – Qualcomm, has already partnered up with a huge chunk of the
major manufacturers. NVIDIA, on the other hand, is said to be having a hard time finding companies willing to embrace the Tegra 4, and further delays to launch the chip in a timely manner might lead to catastrophic results.
As expected, the internal configuration consists on Snapdragon S4 Plus and three other Qualcomm modules. Astonishingly, the device also uses Samsung made RAM and storage and packs many of the components featured earlier in the Galaxy devices.
In fact, most of the components found in the internal assembly resemble to that of the hardware found on US Galaxy S III.
Qualcomm brags about its Quick Charge 1.0 Snapdragon tech that tops up your phone 40% faster
Qualcomm just issued a press
release reminding us why a lot of modern smartphones seem to be
charging much faster than before. Turns out the culprit is none other
but the Quick Charge 1.0 tech that Qualcomm acquired when it bought
Summit Microelectronics last year, and immediately put it to good use in
its newer Snapdragon processors.
BlackBerry Z10 torn apart, internal hardware found to resemble that of US Galaxy S III
The recently launched BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, which runs on the latest BB 10 OS has been taken apart by the folks at UBM TechInsights, who have exposed all of its secrets.As expected, the internal configuration consists on Snapdragon S4 Plus and three other Qualcomm modules. Astonishingly, the device also uses Samsung made RAM and storage and packs many of the components featured earlier in the Galaxy devices.
In fact, most of the components found in the internal assembly resemble to that of the hardware found on US Galaxy S III.
Qualcomm brags about its Quick Charge 1.0 Snapdragon tech that tops up your phone 40% faster
The rapid juicing technology is being already used on phones like the Droid DNA, Lumia 920 or the Nexus 4, and without it those phones would have charged for more than four hours, while now the total time is less than three.
Qualcomm
says that Quick Charge 1.0 allowed for up to 40% faster charging of
these devices, and it is with existing USB cables and wall chargers,
rather than proprietary ones that Sony uses for fast-charging some
members of its Xperia line.
There's
no shortage of attempts to build a better battery, usually with a few
caveats. USC may have ticked all the right checkboxes with its latest
discovery, however. Its use of porous, flexible silicon nanowires
for the anodes in a lithium-ion battery delivers the high capacity,
fast recharging and low costs that come with silicon, but without the
fragility of earlier attempts relying on simpler silicon plates. In
practice, the battery could deliver the best of all worlds. Triple the
capacity of today's batteries? Full recharges in 10 minutes? More than
2,000 charging cycles? Check. It all sounds a bit fantastical, but USC
does see real-world use on the horizon. Researchers estimate that there
should be products with silicon-equipped lithium-ion packs inside of
two to three years, which isn't long to wait if the invention saves us
from constantly hunting for the nearest wall outlet.
Broadcom shows off the smallest LTE-Advanced modem yet
Just yesterday, there was
some concern that LTE-Advanced modems, while adding a whole lot of speed
to your mobile device (assuming a capable network), would also be adding some bulk.
This will surely happen, but luckily, technology always finds a way to
get smaller and smaller, and today Broadcom proved that trend by showing
off the world's smallest LTE-Advanced modem yet.
USC battery wields silicon nanowires to hold triple the energy, charge in 10 minutes
Broadcom shows off the smallest LTE-Advanced modem yet
The
new modem is the Broadcom BCM21892, which is aiming to really put some
pressure on the competition, especially Qualcomm. The BCM21892 is
planned for use in top-of-the-line smartphones and tablets, combining a
full cellular baseband with a world-band radio, and all at a size 35% smaller than the competition.
In
addition to the smaller size, the modem will offer LTE speeds up to
150Mbps (on networks that can handle it), as well as Voice over LTE
(VoLTE). The big news there is that Broadcom claims the modem will be
able to offer VoLTE services that use 40% less power than a WCDMA call. That's big news for those of us looking to ditch the old standard for voice calls and move to full VoIP networks (like the fabled Google Wireless carrier).
The
bad news is that we shouldn't expect to see this modem in devices until
2014, when it hits full production. So, Qualcomm and other mobile modem
makers have some time to catch up.
The One Touch Star sports a 4" display, 1GHz dual-core processor along with 512 MB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, a front-facing VGA camera, 4 GB of internal memory with microSD support and a 1,500 mAh battery.
Surprisingly, the device will run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is still pretty rare to be found in the mid-range.
Alcatel One Touch Star will retail for around 2,000 SEK (about $315) in Sweden and is expected to be available in European markets very soon.
LG’s PMC-510 portable charger is pretty compact and boosts a 5,200mAH lithium-ion battery. The on-the-go charging solution weighs about 152g and fits easily in your pockets.
LG has provided a switch in the charger, which helps you to select the priority charge. The PMC-510 will soon be made available in Korea. Let’s all hope that the product will be released globally.
Steam Gaming Client For Ubuntu Linux Is Here, Finally!
Gaming enthusiasts who also happen to be Linux lovers were so far feeling in a spot. So when Steam for Linux was announced by Valve last summer, they all saw a ray of hope. Well, the day has finally arrived. The steam gaming client for Ubuntu Linux has arrived.
According to the official Canonical blog, "Users can now install the Steam Client with a few simple clicks in our Software Center, the fastest and safest way to install thousands of paid and free applications on Ubuntu. Canonical and Valve have worked closely together to make Ubuntu the best performing open platform for gaming and now the ultimate entertainment platform is fully supported." The more interesting news here is that Steam also plans to put every Ubuntu-enabled title on sale at a 50-75 per cent discount till 21 February. The first set of 60 games will be released initially, which include titles such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike. And for hardcore Linux fans, the blog reads, "as a launch giveaway and for the hardcore gamers who need every item in Team Fortress, for a limited time when you play Team Fortress 2 on Ubuntu you will get a Tux penguin item to keep or trade."
It is expected that Steam will release its own Ubuntu-Linux powered gaming console, which will compete with the likes of Xbox, PS3, and Wii.
The posting also states the reason why Valve decided to bring Steam to the Ubuntu Linux distribution first. “It was because working with a single distribution is critical when you are experimenting, as we are. It reduces the variability of the testing space and makes early iteration easier and faster. Secondly, Ubuntu is a popular distribution and has recognition with the general gaming and developer communities. This doesn’t mean that Ubuntu will be the only distribution we support. Based on the success of our efforts around Ubuntu, we will look at supporting other distributions in the future.”
Mid-range Alcatel One Touch Star unveiled
TCL has just unveiled its latest smartphone. The Alcatel One Touch Star is a mid-range handset with a stylish design and extremely attractive price tag that we are hoping to see showcased at the MWC in two weeks.The One Touch Star sports a 4" display, 1GHz dual-core processor along with 512 MB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, a front-facing VGA camera, 4 GB of internal memory with microSD support and a 1,500 mAh battery.
Surprisingly, the device will run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is still pretty rare to be found in the mid-range.
Alcatel One Touch Star will retail for around 2,000 SEK (about $315) in Sweden and is expected to be available in European markets very soon.
LG launches a portable charger PMC-510 for smartphones
As smartphones start to pay more and more important part of our lives it gets more important than ever that their batteries don’t give up on us in critical moment. That’s why the portable chargers have been selling pretty well lately and understandably major manufacturers want to be a part of that business. LG has unveiled a portable charged named PMC-510 that should give you that extra autonomy when you are on the go.LG’s PMC-510 portable charger is pretty compact and boosts a 5,200mAH lithium-ion battery. The on-the-go charging solution weighs about 152g and fits easily in your pockets.
LG has provided a switch in the charger, which helps you to select the priority charge. The PMC-510 will soon be made available in Korea. Let’s all hope that the product will be released globally.
Steam Gaming Client For Ubuntu Linux Is Here, Finally!
Gaming enthusiasts who also happen to be Linux lovers were so far feeling in a spot. So when Steam for Linux was announced by Valve last summer, they all saw a ray of hope. Well, the day has finally arrived. The steam gaming client for Ubuntu Linux has arrived.
According to the official Canonical blog, "Users can now install the Steam Client with a few simple clicks in our Software Center, the fastest and safest way to install thousands of paid and free applications on Ubuntu. Canonical and Valve have worked closely together to make Ubuntu the best performing open platform for gaming and now the ultimate entertainment platform is fully supported." The more interesting news here is that Steam also plans to put every Ubuntu-enabled title on sale at a 50-75 per cent discount till 21 February. The first set of 60 games will be released initially, which include titles such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike. And for hardcore Linux fans, the blog reads, "as a launch giveaway and for the hardcore gamers who need every item in Team Fortress, for a limited time when you play Team Fortress 2 on Ubuntu you will get a Tux penguin item to keep or trade."
It is expected that Steam will release its own Ubuntu-Linux powered gaming console, which will compete with the likes of Xbox, PS3, and Wii.
The posting also states the reason why Valve decided to bring Steam to the Ubuntu Linux distribution first. “It was because working with a single distribution is critical when you are experimenting, as we are. It reduces the variability of the testing space and makes early iteration easier and faster. Secondly, Ubuntu is a popular distribution and has recognition with the general gaming and developer communities. This doesn’t mean that Ubuntu will be the only distribution we support. Based on the success of our efforts around Ubuntu, we will look at supporting other distributions in the future.”
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