PayPal for Android updates with NFC, tablet support

Finally, an alternative to Google Wallet – now if only I could find somewhere that actually accepts NFC payment. PayPal completely remade their Android app today, adding near-field communication support, though support for actual retail payments seems to be a little lacking. A completely new layout, a more minimal interface, and a new widget round out the additions. You can download the latest version in the Android Market now.

Tablet support has been added, even if it’s really just a scaled-up version of the smartphone UI. And it’s hard to imagine someone lugging a 10-inch XOOM into a 7-11 just to avoid pulling out their wallet. Unfortunately, It looks like you can only request money via the homescreen widget, not pay, and that necessitates another Android user nearby with an NFC-enabled phone. Who owes you money.
Other than some widened support and those new features, it’s the same PayPal app that users have grown to rely on. A split bill calculator makes divvying up a dinner check or gas receipt easy. After a quick install on my Samsung Skyrocket review unit, the app seems stable, but unfortunately it isn’t recognizing the phone’s NFC chip. We’ll see if the support improves in a future update. Now if only Google would add PayPal support to Android Market purchases…

Related articles

• PayPal may finally be coming to the Android Market (goandroid.co.in)

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HTC device codename list revealed, seems pretty accurate

Whoa, check out this list of codenames that was just leaked regarding that all popular smartphone brand HTC. Apparently this is a list of their upcoming device codenames and from my first initial glance this is highly accurate. Plenty of those have already hit the market and we’ve been hearing a few others lately too, like the just revealed HTC Edge.

It seems our friends at pocketnow received this huge list of upcoming devices from HTC and have been sitting on it, but after watching every recently launched device appear on the list, like the Rezound (Vigor), Sensation XL and more they’ve decided to share it for all so check it out below.
Act
Alpha
Bliss
Blue
Cybertron
Edge
Elite
Eternity
Fighter
Fit
Flick
Glider
Grande
Holiday
Jet
Key
Layer
Omega
Pico
Pop
Prime
Quattro
Radiant
RTP
Ruby
Runnymede
Splendor
Square
Tag
Tahiti
Tube
Veloce
Vigor
Villa
Vitesse
Their super secret HTC ninja source mentioned that not all will be used, but so far we’ve seen what — 11 or so of those hit the market in the past few months. Just to name a few we have the Vigor as the Rezound, Runnymede as the Sensation XL, Holiday, Prime, Pico, Omega, Jet, Ruby, Bliss, and Edge are among a few that have came out into the wild already. Click those links to see our coverage and more details on each, if you dare.
I don’t know about you guys but that is a pretty accurate list so far, and with a few months left in 2011 we may end up seeing plenty more get checked off the list here shortly. From looking over things it appears this might only be smartphones because I don’t see the HTC Puccini tablet listed in there, but we could be wrong. Either way it looks like HTC has some extra special devices coming soon. With codenames such as “Fighter” or “Villa” we can expect some awesome devices coming soon. Let us know if any of these sound familiar, or if you have one and would like to share some details.
[via PocketNow]

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Samsung Repp heads to US Cellular, will be free

Who’s excited to hear about another extremely entry level smartphone? Powerhouse quad-core phones aren’t for everyone, and Samsung knows that. Today US Cellular has announced a brand new entry level Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone to the line-up called the Samsung Repp. I’m a little confused on the name, but either way this will be a great deal because it’s being offered for free.

So what do you get for the low low price of free? The Samsung Repp is an Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone with a 3.2″ display, 3 megapixel camera, 2GB internal storage and will be chugging along with an 800 Mhz processor under the hood. This might not be a powerhouse but it should text, email, and play Angry Birds with ease.
For more details check out the product page at USCellular.com as it will share the full details and help persuade you into this neat little entry level handset. At least we have a large 1500 mAh battery that should last forever with that small screen and energy efficient processor (aka slow). The Samsung Repp will be a great alternative to the HTC Wildfire S, also available on US Cellular so if HTC Sense isn’t your thing then try the Samsung Repp instead. The Repp is listed as coming soon and for the awesomely low price of free, so hopefully we’ll hear more soon so those interested can go pick one up.
[via US Cellular]

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Acer Iconia A200 10″ Tablet stops by the FCC

Last week we spotted some information and a photo regarding this mystery tablet from Acer being called the A200. Today we’ve learned a few more details as its nicely made a quick pit stop at the FCC. We can confirm that this will be a 10″ tablet and from the images it appears to be quite thin too.

Currently Acer offers the Iconia A500 10″ tablet and the smaller A100 7″ variant so we were expecting this to many fall in the middle, but after digging through the FCC filing this clearly will be a 10″ Android tablet and possibly around 7-8mm thin. That could make this one of the thinnest tablets around, and that would be a big improvement over the first series from Acer.

No other details are known at this point, and the FCC has been tight lipped. Obviously this will pack some sort of dual-core processor or possibly even a quad-core. We are expecting Android 3.2 Honeycomb on this device but if it ships later this year there is a good chance we’ll see 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich instead. I’d be happy with either but would love some ICS. Acer has used the NVIDIA Tegra 2 in the past so there is a decent chance we’ll see the quad-core Tegra 3 in this once it ships. We should be hearing more soon now it has cleared the FCC.
[via Wireless Goodness]

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• ACER Iconia A100 now available in Red (goandroid.co.in)

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Schmidt commits to “open Android”, says iPhone started late

In a visit to South Korea, Reuters reports that Google boss Eric Schmidt wanted to reassure the native home of Samsung that the company’s upcoming acquisition of Motorola wouldn’t impact its relationship with other Android manufacturers. “The Motorola deal will close and we will run it sufficiently and independently,” he said,”it will not violate the openness of Android.” Schmidt also took a moment to comment on the late Steve Jobs, whose official biography is causing much speculation on the early days of Android and the iPhone.

This isn’t the first time Google has reassured its OEM partners of its continuing neutrality in the Motorola Mobility purchase, but considering Schmidt’s audience, the repetition is understandable. Google has also committed to protecting its partners from Android-based litigation, though Motorola is the only manufacturer that has yet to sign a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft. Apple doesn’t want to deal with anyone: they’re suing Samsung, HTC and others over design patents all over the world.
Speaking on Steve Jobs’ biography, Schmidt had nothing but good things to say about the late Apple CEO. He did take a moment to get in a quick dig at the iPhone, though, noting that development on the original Android system (before Google bought the start-up company) pre-dates all known development on the iPhone. “I would also point out that the Android effort started before the iPhone effort,” said Schmidt. Technically this is true: even though the first commercial Android device wasn’t available until 2008, Andy Rubin founded the original Android, Inc. company way back in 2003. Schmidt refused to comment on the biography itself, and it’s worth noting that Schmidt served on the Board of Directors for Apple from 2006-2009, and had considerable personal interaction with Steve Jobs.
[via SlashGear]

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Amazon’s UK Galaxy Nexus launch slips to December 2nd

For those waiting on the Galaxy Nexus since its announcement three weeks ago, waiting has become a downright chore. The latest bit of bad news comes out of Amazon’s UK division, where Phandroid spotted that the Galaxy Nexus’ ship date has been pushed back to December 2nd, fifteen days after the official UK launch date of November 17th. Samsung hasn’t changed their official date yet, but the Amazon shift doesn’t look good.

In the event that Amazon’s date change doesn’t extend to the entire country, the shift is a pretty big loss for the online retailer. With the UK and the rest of Europe currently scheduled to get some pure Nexus goodness of the 17th, early adopters aren’t likely to wait around for Amazon to sort out some apparent supply chain issues. Of course, if the official date is soon to change, that would be a major let-down for Android fans across the UK and EU – a six-week gap between announcement and launch isn’t exactly stellar.
If UK customers are frustrated, US Android fans are starting to get downright irate. There still is no official word on a price or date for the Galaxy Nexus from Verizon, which has an exclusive on the Google phone for at least some time after its release. Current leaks point to November 17th, or November 21st, or November 28th, or later – your guess is as good as ours. At least the $299 on-contract price seems pretty stable. Google has historically kept a pretty tight grip on the Nexus line of phones, and it would be a good move for them to start telling their retail and carrier partners to stop messing around, before hungry developers start invading the Google campus in search of Nexii.

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Asus tipped to push Transformer Prime to Dec for Android 4.0

We have heard bits and pieces about the coming Asus Transformer Prime tablet already. We have even seen a few benchmarks of the new tablet surface and it looks to be very fast indeed. If you have been holding out for one of these tablets, a new rumor is claiming that the launch of the tablet has been pushed.

According to the rumor, Asus will push the tablet to a December launch specifically so it can be fitted with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This delay for the newer OS is said by some to be an attempt to prevent tablet shoppers from moving to Windows tablets. The same sources that claim the delay is to help prevent Windows tablet defections also say that Google is cozying up to Asian tablet makers that had been ignored to some extent in the past.
The Transformer Prime was initially expected to hit on November 9. It has made its way through the FCC already with the new Tegra 3 chip onboard. According to sources, the tablet will launch in early December and will pack ICS rather than Honeycomb when unwrapped. At least the tablet will be here by Christmas.
[via SlashGear]

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• Asus Transformer Prime's quad-core Tegra 3 processor gets benchmarked (goandroid.co.in)
• ASUS Transformer Prime tablet pictured with new keyboard dock (goandroid.co.in)
• ASUS Transformer Prime heads through the FCC, Tegra 3 revealed in teardown [Update] (goandroid.co.in)

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Panasonic’s new Toughpad A1 and B1 can beat up your tablet

Panasonic’s got a reputation for tough-as-nails laptops with its Toughbook line, and it looks like they’re planning on extending that reputation to the booming tablet sector. The manufacturer has announced a pair of new entries to its Toughpad line, the 10-inch A1 and the 7-inch B1. Specs on the former are encouraging, while specs on the later are, for the moment, absent.

The 10-inch A1 has a 1.2Ghz Marvell dual-core processor, a gig of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an open MicroSD card slot. Those are some fairly typical numbers. What aren’t typical are this tablet’s tolerances: it’ll withstand a 4-foot drop without issue, temperatures between 14 and 122 degrees Fahrenheit without breaking a sweat, and at least some resistance to water and dirt. Business customizations allow for remote access and encryption- an important addition when many interested customers will likely be business-oriented. Panasonic hasn’t mentioned battery capacity or camera quality, but it will be available with LTE or WiMAX connectivity.

All that toughness comes with a predicable heft of 2.13 pounds, buit that’s a small price to pay for a taqblet that qualifies as a blunt instrument in some states. The tablet may not have access to the Android Market since it’s substituting the Business AppPortal, and unfortunately that may mean that it’s also sporting Gingerbread – you’ve got to have Google’s blessing for Honeycomb.
Check out Panasonic’s opinionated Toughpad video:




The 7-inch B1 doesn’t get anything except a name and screen size in the announcement, but it’ll probably have a similar set of specs when it launches – whenever that might be. Pricing and availability were also no-shows, though Panasonic’s probably not too interested in the consumer market for either model.

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Samsung Galaxy S II Receives Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich MIUI ROM

Yes, you are reading that right. Apparently those crafty developers over on XDA have done it again, this time they’ve managed to combine fan-favorite ROM, MIUI with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This MIUI ROM in particular takes the merged ICS framework from GalnetMIUI 1.11.2 and a pinch of CM7 for the AT&T Galaxy S II and presto! An almost fully functional MIUI Android 4.0 ROM for the Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T.



If you’re hoping to see some Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich UI elements keep in mind this is still very much MIUI. While this is technically a ROM with the Android 4.0 firmware, all the UI and core apps are still MIUI. This actually gives you a good idea of what to expect once other OEM’s get their hands on the ICS source and theme it up with their own special UI’s. But for now just bask in the ambience or if you have a rooted AT&T Galaxy S II… get to flashing!

Thanks, Dima!

[Via XDA]

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