Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Samsung Galaxy Note

We take a look at two of Samsung's smartest devices – the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy NoteSamsung's Galaxy Nexus was unveiled last week to much fanfare, and when you take a look at the device it's easy to be impressed. With its vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich (pun not intended) OS and slim futuristic looks it's a smartphone that begs to please.But beneath all of its good looks and groundbreaking software how does it function? What does it offer that other devices do not? In order to find out we've put the new Galaxy Nexus up against the newly launched Galaxy Note – a 5.3-inch display smartphone/tablet hybrid.DisplaySamsung's Galaxy Nexus features a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen that operates at a resolution 720x1280 and offers an incredible...

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Original Galaxy Tab Getting Android 2.3.5 Upgrade through Verizon

The Samsung Galaxy Tab attempted to do what no other tablet would: take on the iPad head-to-head. That first 7-inch offering didn’t topple Apple’s place atop the Tablet heap, but its release marked the beginning of the onslaught of Android tablets from all manufacturers that we see today. Samsung has since followed up that noble effort with a series of Galaxy Tabs, and most recently announced a new 7-inch slate to replace the original. But there is no love lost, at least for Verizon subscribers. The carrier has just posted the release notes of an Android 2.3.5 update headed towards the Galaxy Tab. It’s not Ice Cream Sandwich, nor is it even Honeycomb, but it is a bit more than what many might have expected. Improvements abound, check the source...

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Google Wallet teams up with Sprint and Samsung to showcase service in-store

The GoAndroid first got a peek at Google Wallet back in May, and the NFC-driven wallet went live in September. And in a blog post earlier today, Keren Michelson, Product Marketing at Google Wallet, announced it was teaming up with Sprint and Samsung to embark on a roadshow to help consumers get to grips with Google Wallet ‘in situ’. From now until January, Google will be visiting stores in the five key cities where Google Wallet is live – New York, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It will set-up half-day events to demo Google Wallet and actually help customers pay for goods with the service. Participants will be motivated to take part too, as they’ll receive $10 towards their purchase when they pay using one of...

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Google TV 2.0 (Android 3.1) Reaching Sony Hardware Today

Somedays I feel like I am the only person in this world who loves Google TV. But not today. Today I can pretend everyone loves Google TV, and indeed everyone gets a second chance to fall in love. And second chances at falling in love don’t come frequently. So take advantage. If only one thing could spoil news that the Google TV 2.0 update (otherwise known as Android 3.1 for Google TV) is already arriving for some lucky owners of GTV hardware, it would be that Logitech Revue owners like me will still have to wait a few more days. Lucky dogs owning Sony’s hardware (including internet-connected TV sets and the GTV Blu-Ray player) should start seeing the update any time now, and some already have. God bless. [via AndroidCentral]Related...

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Asus roadmap leaked: Transformer Prime Nov. 9, more tablets in Q1 2012

An internal document shedding some light on Asus’ upcoming Android plans tells us a little more about the quad-core Eee Pad Transformer Prime, and that two “hero products” will be launching next spring. In between revenue results and media coverage, the presentation mentions a November 9th launch for the Transformer Prime – already confirmed by an Asus executive – and notes that Asus has shipped 1.6 million units of the original Transformer and the Eee Pad Slider. The document (PDF link) tells us a lot of what we already know about the Transformer Prime. Like its predecessor it will have an optional keyboard attachment, essentially making it an Android netbook when equipped. The Prime is following in the design footsteps of Asus’...

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Barnes & Noble event set for November 7th – Nook Color 2 likely

We’ve been hearing rumblings of a sequel to Barnes & Nobles Nook Color reader/tablet for months, and it looks like predictions for a November 7th launch were right on the money. Invitations for a “very special announcement” bearing the distinctive Nook logo are arriving in the inboxes of major media now. The Nook Color 2, or whatever it will be named, seems almost certain at this point. Barnes & Noble is playing catch-up, at least in the publicity race: Amazon’s similar full-color, 7-inch tablet the Kindle Fire also runs a modified version of Android, and wil lbegin shipping out to customers on November the 15th. Most impressively, it’s just $199, putting it into impulse buy territory when compared to $400-$500 full-sized...

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QuickClick apps make finding nightlife in a new town easier

A company called MarketImpact has announced the pending launch of some new apps that are designed to help people in an unfamiliar city discover things to do. The apps fall into the QuickClick Locale Series and there are bunches of different apps in the series that are designed specifically for one sort of task. For instance, there will be different apps for eating and for night clubs. The apps will have versions that focus on Nightlife, Restaurants, fast food, casinos, coffee, desserts, gas stations, parking, and ATMs. The reason for apps with specific uses is to allow the user to get all the details they need on only one screen rather than having to click to different screens. Any extra detail needed like food type or bank name will...

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Microsoft’s lawyer says “Android stands on our shoulders”

Microsoft has a keen interested in Android despite selling its own mobile operating system – an interest that’s vetted to the tune of more than $400 million a year in kickbacks from 53% of Android devices sold. Now Microsoft’s deputy patent troll intellectual property counsel says that Google has built its OS on the back of technology developed (and owned) by the Redmond software giant. Microsoft is only one of many companies gunning for Android manufacturers, but tellingly, not targeting Google itself. Horacio Gutiérrez, deputy general counsel for Microsoft’s intellectual property group, told the San Francisco Chronicle the following in an interview: These devices have moved from having a rudimentary phone system to being a full-fledged...

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AT&T Announces the 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Nov. 6 for $249.99

Many were wondering if the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE would make it to the states, and we now have the answer in the form of an early Monday press release from AT&T. The handset with a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display and 1.5GHz dual-core processor will come to the carrier as the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. Other specs include an 8MP camera with 1080p video captures and 16GB of on-board storage.The Skyrocket will go on sale November 6th and will be one of AT&T’s pricier models, $249.99 on a two-year contract. It’s no Samsung Galaxy Nexus in terms of software, but it does best that device in some areas. Screen technology is an upgrade (though lower resolution) and the clock speed of the processor is increased. See the announcement...

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HTC Vivid Official for AT&T, Nov. 6th for $199.99

AT&T has announced its first 4G LTE smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC Vivid. The Vivid is the phone we have up until now known as the HTC Raider (and is still known under that name in some regions). The Vivid features a 4.5-inch qHD display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and 8MP camera capable of 1080p video capture.AT&T is pushing its 4G LTE network to new regions and launching the handset (along with the Skyrocket) on November 6th. The Vivid will be the lower-priced option at $199.99 on a new two-year agreemen...

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Apkudo helps devs test apps to be sure they work on multiple devices

One of the biggest challenges for app developers on platforms like Android where there are multiple smartphones and all those smartphones tend to have different hardware is fragmentation. Just because the app the develop runs on one Android smartphone doesn’t mean it will run on all of them. Some devs have found that out the hard way, as have Android users when they try and use the app. Apkudo is a new testing platform that devs might find interesting. Apkudo is set to launch a new free testing service that will help devs to see how the application will run on nearly 300 different Android devices. The product will be launched at AnDevCom in San Francisco on November 6. Apkudo has 289 devices specifically including tablets and smartphones...

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HTC Desire S Gets Android 2.3.5, Sense 3.0

Heads up, citizens of the UK. The HTC Desire S is receiving its update to Android 2.3.5. The biggest change with the update involves HTC’s custom user interface, where it has been updated to Sense 3.0. This brings about new lockscreen elements, a refreshed notifications pull-down, and other goodies. The update has been arriving for owners of the unbranded Desire S as well as those with the phone on-contract through Vodafone, Orange, and O2. [via EuroDroid]Related articlesHTC begins OTA rollout for Sense security flaw fixes (goandroid.co.in)Sprint OTA update for all current HTC Android phones now available, fixes data storage privacy issue (tech-gadget.co.i...

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Samsung Galaxy S Glide and Motorola RAZR Headed to Rogers this Week

While Motorola’s new take on the RAZR franchise will be exclusive to Verizon in the US, those in other parts of the world should have no problem getting ahold of the new device. A new leak out of Rogers indicates the handset will be available beginning November 4th. The same leak shows that the Motorola RAZR will be preceded by the Samsung Galaxy S Glide with its combination of high-end specs and slide-out keyboard on November 3rd. Both devices will be available for $149.99 on three-year contracts. [via mobilesyrup]Related articlesMotorola DROID RAZR available for pre-order from Verizon tomorrow for $299.99 (tech-gadget.co.in)Motorola DROID RAZR costs $649 off-contract (goandroid.co.in)DROID RAZR pre-orders start tomorrow, ship out November...

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Add the Samsung Galaxy S to the List of Devices with an Unofficial Ice Cream Sandwich Port

The Samsung Galaxy S is joining a growing group of current devices receiving pre-release builds of Android Ice Cream Sandwich. As was the case with previous instances on the Nexus S and HTC Thunderbolt the alpha build is worth mentioning but hardly useful as daily driver ROM. Android 4.0 has not seen an “official” release, so developers have been using the SDK (rather than the source code) to patch together makeshift builds of the new OS version. This results in software that isn’t fully baked. The Samsung Galaxy S version of this tasty treat is not even available to the general public yet, though work is progressing thanks in large part to the same team that brought us MIUI.[via XDA]Related articlesHTC ThunderBolt gets an Ice Cream...

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Press Shot Labeled as Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Carrier Branding Nowhere to Be Found

The above image doesn’t look much different than any other official Samsung Galaxy Nexus image we have seen before, but this one isn’t just any Galaxy Nexus. According to the astute men of DroidLife, this image has the distinction of originally having the file name "Verizon_SCH-i515.jpg.″ The image was located on Samsung’s website, and despite its name the device pictured lacks any recognizable Verizon marks. Two possibilities here: (1) the file is a placeholder image with Verizon included in its name for identification purposes for the people working on the Samsung website, or (2) like the Nexus devices before it, the Galaxy Nexus will be absent of the expected carrier branding, lending to it’s clean Google Experience roots. Sure,...

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HTC ships 13.2 million devices in Q3, confirms two launches for November

Another day, another quarterly earnings report. Taiwanese smartphone specialist HTC is doing very well, with 13.2 million total device sales (not all Android, of course), $4.54 billion in total revenue, $625 million of which is profit. Riding the continuing surge in worldwide smartphone sales, HTC is up year-over-year in every major statistic, with shipped devices rising an impressive 93%.The company also confirmed plans for two new product launches in November. One is expected to be the HTC Rezound, AKA the Vigor, probably coming in an announcement on November the 3rd. It’ll compete with the latest from Samsung and Motorola, with a 720p screen and Beats audio, and a Verizon (at least initially) launch. The second device is currently...

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Buffer releases Android app, iPhone version will be next

Twitter sharing service Buffer has announced the launch of its Android app which will soon be followed by an iOS app for iPhone users. We last covered Buffer, whose innovative service lets Twitter users schedule updates in pre-timed batches to ensure they never “flood” followers, when it announced that it had registered one million tweets ‘buffered’ and the team has since been busy developing its first mobile app. The Android application, which is available to download for free, comes with all the usual features including tweet editing, scheduling and switching between multiple accounts. Additional on-app analytics allows users to see the number of clicks, retweets and reach for each tweet. A dedicated iPhone solution will be...

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Is HP just making up excuses now to keep webOS in the dark?

HP’s gone a little bit up and down over the last few months. Actually, many would say that there has been a lot more downthan up, and I would tend to agree. I am a fan of any company out there that stands behind their products to the end, and shows that they are pushing ahead despite the hardships. I’ll support those companies along with them, even if I know there’s an obvious dead end ahead. It’s one of the reasons I bought a TouchPad in that crazy fire sale that was happening. Even when I was seeing HP’s dismissal of the hardware front, I was holding out hope for the software. And now that HP is supposed to make a decision on webOS itself, I find myself holding my breath here and there, waiting to hear something.While we’ve been reporting...

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Sony Ericsson Announces Android 2.3.4 Rollout For All Countries – Adds Bonus Features

Back in September, Sony Ericsson announced that they would being rolling out the Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update to their devices, unfortunately for us here in the states (and other parts of the world), it was only for Nordic countries. Thankfully, today, SE announced that the 2.3.4 update has begun rolling out for the rest of the world but with a few added changes. Highlights of the update include: Google Talk with Video Chat for smartphones with front-facing camerasUpdated Facebook inside Xperia™ functionality for enhanced like, share and discover abilities.Xperia™ smartphones introducing world’s first 3D Sweep Panorama functionality powered by Sony.16x video zoomThe software upgrade will enable consumers to turn their Xperia™ smartphone...

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Apple's iTunes vs Microsoft Zune

Which is the best for syncing with a mobile device and for everyday use as a PC-based media player, Apple’s iTunes or Microsoft’s Zune? We investigateApple, largely thanks to the success of the iPod and iPhone, is presently enjoying something of a monopoly in the personal music player markets, be it on its iPod devices, iPhones or iPads. And because Apple likes to keep everything connected (or under its control) iTunes has become, for the vast majority of people, the standard PC media player.And this isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Microsoft’s attempt at an iPod-liked device, known as the Zune player, absolutely bombed upon release. In fact, it wans't even released here in the UK. But one good thing to come out of...

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GameStop begins selling Android tablets with free games

Say what you will about GameStop, as many have and will, but you can accuse them of being anything less than shrewd business. To that end they’re expanding their mostly console and portable video game stock to include Android tablets from Samsung, Asus and Acer, starting in a few select stores today. The tablets will be pre-loaded with seven free games including Dead Space and Madden NFL 2012. The first tablets on sale are the Acer Iconia Tab 100, Asus Eee Pad Transformer and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The tablets won’t cost any less than they do at other retail locations, and if GameStop’s regular pricing structure is anything to go on, they’ll probably be more expensive than at least a few. But gamers hungry for a new mobile experience...

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HTC Releases Thunderbolt Gingerbread kernel source code

Well folks, time to let the good times roll and the custom ROMs flow. HTC has recently released the full kernel source code for the HTC Thunderbolt, although this isn’t for Froyo, no, this is for the recently released Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Now all of the hackers and tinkerers that make our custom ROM’s can get to work on the Gingerbread aspects of things. Good news for Thunderbolt users indeed. Shown in the image below the source has finally been released and is available for download, coming in at just 89MB it shouldn’t take too long and we can expect developers are already knee deep in code. While this isn’t a big deal for the average consumer, all the users that make custom ROM’s or overclocking kernels and all those other...

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HTC EVO 3D dressed in Purple available from Amazon for just $50

I’m sure many of you loyal WiMAX supporters were jealous when you saw Verizon get the Plum colored HTC Rhyme, and immediately you wanted one for yourself just with a more powerful smartphone. Usually I wouldn’t post just because a new color is available but common, purple (plum) is just the best color on a smartphone I think I’ve ever seen. That and Amazon has the awesome dual-core EVO 3D for just $50 in the new beautiful color. Best Buy had a short exclusive on the Plum EVO 3D and RadioShack offers it in white. Now Amazon can also partake in the fun while beating everyone else with their price. You can get the EVO 3D for $50 dollars with a new 2-year contract or for those will a full upgrade option, otherwise the price wont be...

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$35 Aakash tablet gets a hands-on, deemed surprisingly OK

The Indian government got some gadget good will when they began subsidizing the incredibly cheap Aakash Android tablet, bringing its student price down to a mere $35. The question on hardware junkies’ minds is, is the experience on such a low-grade device acceptable at all? VentureBeat smuggled one of the tablets out and put together a hands-on, and surprisingly, the Aakash came away with a pretty solid showing. Naturally the Aakash isn’t going to wow those of us jaded by high-res, high-price Honeycomb tablets. Its Android Froyo operating system and 366 MHz processor are outstripped by the cheapest subsidized smartphones, and a resistive 800 x 400 touchscreen doesn’t hold a candle to more modern devices. But for all that, the tablet...

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