NASA offers free sounds you can download for your Android ringtone

This is pretty cool if you are a Space fan and want a cool new ringtone. NASA has announced that it is making some of the iconic sounds from the space program available for people to download and use for whatever they want from ringtones to sounds for their computer. The sounds are now listed on a single page and are broken up into four categories.

The categories include Shuttle and Station, Apollo and Mercury, Current Missions, and Beeps and Bytes. The coolest are from the Apollo and Mercury missions. In that category, you can get clips from famous JFK speeches about the moon mission. You can also get audio of astronauts like Neil Armstrong saying his famous “One Small Step” quote and a lot more.
You can also get clips of the famous “Houston, we have a problem” quote and lot more. The files are offered in generic MP3 format you can use for your ringtone. A few files are offered in iPhone MR4 format as well. These woudl make great ringtones for you to use while tracking that UARS descent with the Satellite AR app.

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Android SoundHound app gets LiveLyrics with latest update

If you are a fan of the SoundHound app for Android smartphones and devices, you will want to grab the update to the app that has been released this week. The update ads a very cool new feature called LiveLyrics. The update also brings enhanced sharing as well that allows you to share music with Facebook and Twitter users faster.

The LiveLyrics is the best of the new features though and will identify any part of a song playing on the device for you and automatically show the lyrics below. The lyrics move along with the song so you can sing along or finally figure out what exactly the singer is saying in that particular part of the tune. The new features come in version 2.7.4 of the app.
The sharing feature allowed the user to share a message about a song and then post it to both Facebook and Twitter at one time. There is also an auto-share feature that will share all the tunes you find automatically. The update is available now.
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Samsung planning to make Bada open source

According to recent reports, the South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics​ has planned to make its self-developed mobile platform Bada open to outside developers and device manufacturers from the next year. This is an attempt by Samsung at kickstart the development and growth of its operating system as it tries to reduce its dependence on the Android platform from Google on concerns that the smartphone and tablet market is getting increasingly more litigious.
According to a person who is familiar with the issue, Samsung has plans to make its Bada platform an open source software from next year onwards, adding that the company doesn’t seem to be moving towards the acquisition of any software company. This move has come in the wake of Google’s announcement in August which stated the company’s plans to acquire the smartphone manufacturer Motorola Mobility for a reported $12.5 billion.
It has long been speculated by analysts that this takeover of Motorola by Google could lead to the users of Google’s Android OS​ getting less priority than Motorola in securing technology related support form Google in the long term. There has also been a speculation in the market that Samsung was looking to buy an OS from one of its competitors, possibly WebOS.
This move also seeks to turn the Bada software into an OS which is widely used in the newer generation of smart TVs, which offer advanced functionalities including direct video streaming. A similar platform called Google TV​ was launched by Google last year. The opening up of Bada is meant to maintain the strong momentum of Samsung’s growth in the worldwide market for high end mobile devices.
In terms of shipments, Samsung was the second largest vendor of smartphones after Apple in the second quarter, after it passed Nokia Corp. which had been the market leader for a long time. The company’s mobile business skyrocketed right after the launch of its Galaxy line of smartphones during the month of June last year.
The momentum has, however, been threatened by Apple recently as the California based company has taken legal action against Samsung’s tablets and smartphones throughout the world, seeking to ban the sales of Galaxy devices on allegations that they were copied form the iPhone and the iPad. Samsung, too, has launched a number of counter-lawsuits in return, accusing Apple of stealing its patents related to wireless technology.

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LG Optimus EX Press Renders and Specs Leak

Just the other day we've seen the LG Optimus EX for Korea's SK Telecom being leaked with some specs and today we've got some press renders with a full breakdown of the phone's internals. The Optimus EX weighs only 127 grams and measures 118.0 x 63.4 x 9.65 millimeters.

Running Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the device is powered by a 1.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor aided by the ULP GeForce (AP25) GPU. It packs a four-inch WVGA IPS 700-nit NOVA display, five-megapixel auto-focus camera sans flash, but with 1080p video recording capability, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM, microSD card slot with support for additional 32GB, all the usual sensors and a 1,500mAh battery. It will come to SK Telecom in Korea in two color flavors: Black & Sliver plus White & Champagne Gold. We hope a variant will be released in the U.S. and internationally as well.

Source: Cetizen
Via: Blog of Mobile

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Android devices have nearly 2x the market share of iOS says Millennial Media

Millennial Media has released its monthly MobileMix report on ad impressions on its network, and, for the ninth month in a row, Android has been the top when it comes to operating system dominance. For August's report, Millennial has combined smartphones and connected devices (read: tablets) to see how all of iOS stacks up against all of what Android has to offer.
In the month of August, devices running the Android operating system comprised 54 percent of the ad impressions on Millennial's network. This was nearly double what Apple's iOS held, with its 28 percent. Prior months showed Android with 61 percent of the market and iOS with 21 percent. Due to the inclusion of connected devices, drawing conclusions from historical data would be inaccurate, but it is safe to say that Android has a firm lead in the smartphone market, at least.
On the manufacturer side of things, Apple was still number one, with 23.10 percent of total ad impressions, while HTC took over its number 2 slot from Samsung with 16.33 percent. Samsung held on to 14.55 percent of the market, while Motorola and RIM claimed 11.37 percent and 11.06 percent, respectively.

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HTC Evo 3D Total Tech Specs Breakdown, Price Reduction

The HTC Evo 3D 4G handset is probably familiar to you as the first mobile phone to ever offer 3-D viewing without requiring the user to wear those funny looking, sometimes heavy, sometimes expensive 3-D glasses or headsets. There is also no other accessory needed to provide 3-D viewing with the HTC Evo 3-D, and the Android smartphone can also record 3-D content in 720P high definition resolution. Let’s rip the cover off the HTC Evo 3-D 4G Android smartphone and see exactly what’s inside.
Display
HTC employs S-LCD capacitive touchscreen technology in the Evo 3-D which supports multitouch gestures in its 4.3 inch display which delivers 540 x 960 pixel resolution, and protects that display with a layer of anti-scratch Corning Gorilla Glass over light and proximity sensors and 3-D processor.
Processor and Software
Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system is available out-of-the-box with the HTC Evo 3D, and the processor handling all of your requests is a dual core Snapdragon 1.2 GHz chip. 1.0 GB of RAM memory is on board, and the 3-D graphics hardware accelerator employed to handle 3-D operations is an Adreno 220 Graphics Processing Unit. Adobe’s Flash media player is supported, and Facebook, Twitter and other Google apps are preloaded, with HTML web browsing software is on board as well. Both Bluetooth stereo and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity are also offered.
Cameras
Two dual 5 megapixel cameras are employed in the HTC Evo 3-D 4G handset to record both two-dimensional and 3-D video and images. 3-D is recorded at up to 30 frames per second in 720P HD, and two-dimensional video recordings take place in 1080P HD. Photo customizing features include Auto focus, Geo tagging, White balance, Special Effects and dual LED flashes. A third forward facing 1.3 megapixel camera provides video chat and video call capabilities.  Buy the HTC Evo 3D starting at $49.99.
Hardware and design
The HTC Evo 3-D smartphone comes in standard black, rectangular, slab form. The Evo 3-D is 5.00 x 2.60 x 0.47 inches (127 x 66 x 12 mm) in size, and 6 ounces (170 g) in weight. MicroUSB and microSD slots, as well as HDMI out port and 3.5 mm headphone connection are on board. The power button and volume rocker round out the hardware specifications.
The HTC Evo 3-D 4G Android handset is available exclusively on the Sprint WiMAX 4G mobile broadband network, and currently received a retail price drop to $49.99 with a two-year activation at specific Sprint authorized retailers.  The phone is still priced at $199.99 at the Sprint store and website.  Get more information about this 3D smartphone, including where you can snag one starting at only $49.99, in our comprehensive HTC Evo 3D 4G Review.   Sprint also just welcomed the Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs Sony Tablet S

We see how Samsung’s big Galaxy Tab 10.1 compares to Sony’s new Tablet S

We see how Samsung’s big Galaxy Tab 10.1 compares to Sony’s new Tablet S.

Form:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - 256.7x175.3x8.6mm, 565g
Sony Tablet S - 241.2x174.3x10.1-20.6mm (tapers), 598g
Samsung’s device is the larger of the two but it is more than a touch lighter thanks to being a mere 8.6mm thin. It sports quite a straightforward and plain design but we think that this works in its favour, we also like how there’s not too much bodywork surrounding the screen, lending the tablet a sleek look. Generally it’s nicely proportioned and very clean, your attention isn’t drawn away by an over-abundance of ports and buttons and even the back panel is reassuringly minimalist.
The Sony Tablet S is a little more in-your-face. It looks inconspicuous enough from the front, again the proportions are nice and the screen to bodywork ratio is good.
However, a little bit of textured panelling at the top of the device drops hints at some of the zanier elements of its design. Essentially, the tablet form is as if someone wrapped a flexible TFT screen around a wedge-shaped piece of billet aluminium, and then nailed it in place. Except the end result is much more elegant than that sounds. It looks pretty snazzy and we like it.
We’d have to say the Sony looks more interesting, however, the lighter and thinner Galaxy Tab has its advantages. We’re calling a draw.
Winner - Draw

Display:
Sony’s Tablet S features a 9.4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, the resolution is a hefty 1280x800 pixels giving this display a pixel density of 161 pixels-per-inch (ppi). The usual trio of multi-touch, accelerometer and gyro sensor are all included too.
Against this Samsung brings the titular 10.1-inch touchscreen, it’s a PLS TFT capacitive at the same resolution as its competitor, resulting in a lower pixel density of 149ppi. Gorilla Glass has been used, so it should be a tough nut to crack, the Galaxy Tab also comes equipped with a set of capacitive buttons under the display and Samsung’s TouchWiz UX interface overlaid onto the Android operating system,
Just like the Sony it’s got multi-touch input, an accelerometer and a gyro sensor to help with screen orientation.
We have to side with Sony’s crispier pixel density on this one.
Winner – Sony Tablet S

Storage:
Both tablets have options for 16GB or 32GB of internal storage capacity and come with 1GB of RAM to back up the processor. However, the Samsung has an ace up it’s sleeve, with an additional third option for a much higher 64GB of onboard space.
Sadly, the Galaxy Tab loses out when it comes to external, having none whatsoever. Sony’s Tablet S supports regular SD cards up to 32GB, and while we’d prefer microSD which we can share with most phone handsets it’s certainly a much better option than the Samsung in this regard.
We’d have to call this one a draw because it’s very much a trade off – on the one hand we prefer a larger internal capacity because the read speed is generally quicker than external memory, thus making it preferable for normal use.
However, it’s nice to have external memory as it’s useful for a different purpose entirely, namely the movement of data between devices, and not having it on the Samsung does sting a bit.
Ultimately, neither is perfect, we recognise they both offer a lot but it’s because of this they each leave you a little wanting on memory by not going the extra mile. Much wants more.
Winner - Draw

Processor:
Being Android based tablets both have sensibly seen fit to power through things with some chunky dual core processors, but not only that they’ve actually fitted an identical setup in each. Both devices sport a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 on the NVidia Tegra 2 T20 chipset and as part of that particular package you get NVidia’s ULP Geforce graphics processing unit (GPU) too.
Powerful stuff all round then, ARM’s Cortex -9 will take pretty much whatever you can dish out at it and then run a mile. Back that up with 1GB of RAM in each case along with NVidia’s boundary-pushing micro chips and you’ve got something pretty special to say the very least.
There’s nothing to compare the two here though. Moving on.
Winner - Draw

Operating System:
More similarities here, we mentioned both were Android devices and being tablets both are on the tablet-specific Honeycomb build which has been designed to take full advantage of larger screen sizes.
Part of that tailor-made appeal is the very swish tablet interface, it’s designed to compliment the way you typically hold a scaled-up tablet device with tabs, menus and quick buttons placed where your fingers or thumbs would logically be hovering.
The touch keyboard is also much improved from previous Android builds and works really well on larger screens such as these, you can pretty much set it down and use it as a conventional computer keyboard with no issues.
Added OpenGL acceleration and a Renderscript 3D graphics engine, along with in-built multi-core processor support means demanding games absolutely fly on Honeycomb, another plus for devices with larger displays more naturally suited to entertainment.
Another natural tablet task is browsing the web and in Honeycomb it’s the best browser experience Android has had so far. Fully tabbed browsing is now on the cards, along with double tap zoom, pinch zoom and swipe scrolling, all of which work really well.
Android’s notifications bar has been updated and moved down to the bottom-right corner as part of the ‘System Bar’, again it’s next to your thumb, and not only does it display system alerts from your apps but it also streamlines multitasking with a ‘Recent Apps’ button. Tapping this pops up a small menu allowing you to fast-switch between running applications.
Overall it’s a neat system and frankly we can’t wait until Ice Cream Sandwich brings a similar experience to smartphones.
Winner – Draw

Camera:
Samsung’s tablet brings a 3.15-megapixel camera as its primary shooter, with a resolution of 2048x1536 pixels. The Galaxy Tab can capture video in both 1080p HD and 720p HD and supports video calling. Features-wise it’s got an LED flash, autofocus and geo-tagging. There’s also a secondary 2-megapixel camera.
The Sony Tablet S is better catered for thanks to its 5-megapixel primary camera at a higher resolution of 2560х1920 pixels, along with a VGA secondary. Video capture isn’t quite as good as its rival with only a 720p capability, though it still has video calling support. However, the Sony’s camera feature list is a bit more comprehensive with autofocus, touch focus, geo-tagging, image stabilisation and face and smile detection, it is missing one key component though and that’s an LED flash.
Sony’s camera isn’t perfect, but that much higher megapixel count and resolution alone is enough to beat the Samsung’s relatively meagre offering.
Winner – Sony Tablet S

Final Thoughts:
We like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it’s one of the better Galaxy tablets and one of the better Android tablets all round. However, other company’s are starting to really get into their stride on what constitutes a competitive tablet right now and Sony is one such company. Not only that, but Sony has approached things with typical flair which really lends a great deal of character to the Tablet S.
There are a few areas where Samsung seems to have struggled slightly with the up-scaling of areas where, on phones, the company typically excels.
A prime example is the screen, Samsung normally produce fantastic smartphone screens, but in going for a 10-inch screen size the Galaxy Tab lost out a bit on pixel density, and because of the larger expanse Samsung couldn’t leverage its usual Amoled trump card.
Conversely, Sony has really scored well here by going for a more optimal and slightly smaller screen.
For the most part, there are more similarities than differences here, both tablets equally have quite a lot to offer. The Sony just has a slight advantage with a better display and camera, plus some external storage if that’s a priority for you.

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Netflix for Android app gets updated, now plays on LG Thrill 4G and G2x

A couple of weeks ago, the Netflix Android application got updated to support most of the current handsets running on Android 2.2 and 2.3. While that sounded good to everyone, some devices such as the LG Thrill 4G and the T-Mobile’s G2x had an issue with the app which consisted of it not starting. Netflix just released a new minor update to address “minor bugs.” We can finally watch Netflix on the LG thrill and we also have reports that the G2x owners are also able to do the same. Use the links below or head to the market to take care of business.


(How to use QR codes)
Android Market Link

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Google goes MVNO in Spain with SIM cards for workers

Google has announced that it is in operation in Spain as a MVNO or mobile virtual network operator. Google bought up a bunch of bulk network capacity from existing carriers and then handed the SIMs out to employees for testing. That testing was down with the Nexus S handset and apparently each of the cards accesses one of three various carriers including Orange, Movistar, and Vodafone.

It appears that the move on Google’s part isn’t to set up some sort of mobile network in Spain, but to get the workers it has within the country on a mobile network for voice and data at lower rates. The rumors claim that Google will also be going MVNO in other parts of Europe as well. We have to wonder if the tests are solely to save Google some loot on employee smartphones use or if this is a test of some scheme that it has in mind to become a carrier on its own.
Considering that the Nexus One that launched as the first Android device was sold directly to customers rather than through a carrier, it would be no surprise that the Google might have eyes on being a carrier in some places. With the purchase of Motorola Mobility Google now owns its own operating system, the company to make the hardware, and the wireless network would be the final piece of the puzzle.
[via SlashGear]

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