Google Catalogs now available for Android Tablets

Today Google has introduced Google Catalogs for Android. All of your favorite stores, brands, and catalogs all in one place neatly accessed right from your Android tablet. For some unknown reason it’s been available on the iPad for a while, but is just finally landing for Android — seems backwards if you ask me. Either way it’s finally here and available in the Android Market.

Time to gather up all of those catalogs from the living room coffee table and throw them in the trash — after adding all the brands to your tablet of course. I think I’d be set on checking out some REI camping and fishing apparel or gear but all the other fashion stuff I’ll leave to the ladies of Android.
The new Catalogs app allows users to select all their favorite items and see pictures of said items. You can even add all your favorites to a collage of images for viewing later and sharing with your friends and more. A few pictures below will give you a better idea of what to expect, not to mention the neat little video Google’s thrown together as well. If any of this sounds fun or enjoyable to you be sure and download the new app in the Android market starting today. Enjoy the video even though it’s shown on an iPad:



[via Android Market]

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Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket in white coming soon, press images revealed

Just in time for the holidays and white Christmas season Samsung appears to be suiting up a few of their Galaxy S II smartphones in white. We haven’t seen a formal announcement but according to Samsung the AT&T 4G LTE Galaxy S II Skyrocket will get the same treatment.

The pictures, details, and video should help make the decision easy. This is an amazing phone and Samsung has already confirmed Android 4.0 ICS will be coming to all the Galaxy S II smartphones, but we expected that.
Most should already know plenty about this 4G LTE 4.5″ packing dual-core smartphone but the full specs are detailed below from our wonderful Android Community device.ac database. We haven’t heard anything official from Samsung or AT&T regarding the white version but this should be plenty official appearing right on the Samsung product page. We’ll most likely be hearing from AT&T sometime shortly with full details on when we can expect the white Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket for AT&T.
Stay tuned for details and availability.

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Google I/O now 3 days long, moved to June 27-29

It’s time to get the calenders out and add Google I/O 2012′s updated dates to the list. Google I/O has been an extremely hot event for Google for a few years now, not to mention they always give away a few awesome goodies for free. Last year it was the Galaxy Tab 10.1 among other things. Today Google’s extended I/O 2012 from two days to now giving us 3 days of fun, but they’ve also pushed back the event a few months.

Google I/O 2012 was officially announced back in October and set for April 24th and 25th but today over on the Google Blog we’ve learned that has been changed, but for the better. Google I/O will now kick off on Wednesday, June 27th and run until Friday the 29th. Offering three whole days of excitement, Android Ice Cream Sandwich (and hopefully some Android 4.1 Jelly Bean) and more.
I’m sure you all know plenty about Google I/O but this is one of those must attend events for any Google fans — particularly those that love Android (this guy). We’ll be there live and hopefully a few of our loyal friends and readers will also partake in the fun next year. The registration will open in February and if it’s like the previous years will most likely sell out in a matter of hours, or minutes. Hopefully sometime soon Google will move to a much larger facility. Google I/O 2012 will be at Moscone West in San Fran. and I can’t wait. See you there!

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Sony Ericsson Italy Pegs March for Ice Cream Sandwich Updates

Sony Ericsson has already made the bold claim that all of their 2011 handsets will receive Android 4.0, but now they are among the first to assign a potential timeframe for the arrival of Ice Cream Sandwich. According to Maurizio de Palma, marketing manager for Sony Ericsson Italy, the Xperia line of phones will begin to see their ICS updates in March of next year. That is still a good four months away, and it would not come as a surprise for the date to be pushed back. Still, the news offers a hopeful outlook.
After catching much heat for the poor handling of earlier updates to their Android devices, Sony Ericsson has pledged to improve the process in nearly every way, from the timeliness of release to better communication with handset owners. Here is hoping that SE can deliver on time.
[via PocketNow]

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Sony Ericsson Says Goodbye to Sync Service, Suggests Google Sync as Alternative

As smartphone technology advances rapidly, many tools that worked well at one point have simply fallen to the wayside. Sony Ericsson’s Sync service is one such utility that seemed like a good idea when first launched, but has quickly fallen out of favor as better services have come along. With that in mind, SE has announced that it will shut down Sync as of December 29th, recommending instead that users transition to Google Sync. Also mentioned as possibly alternatives are Plaxo and UNYK. Sony Ericsson has some instructions on transitioning from one service to another over at their website, which should be a rather painless process. Any Sync users out there sad to see Sony Ericsson pull the plug?
[Sony Ericsson via Engadget]

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LG Optimus series to be first LG devices with Android 4.0

If you are the owner of an LG smartphone that wants to know when your device will get the upgrade to Android 4.0, LG has a bit of information today. An official Facebook post has fingered the devices that will be getting the Android 4.0 update first. All of the initial smartphones to get Ice Cream Sandwich will be in the Optimus family.


The first smartphones will be the Optimus 2X, Optimus Black, Optimus 3D, and the Optimus LTE. LG has not offered the exact date that the update to Android 4.0 will be landing. It has simply said these will be the first devices to get the update. LG does plan to post the upgrade schedule in December according to the post.
LG also notes for users that aren’t on one of these Optimus smartphones there is still hope you will get the ICS update. LG says that it is continuing to evaluate Android 4.0 to see what other smartphones will be able to handle the update.
[via SlashGear, via Pocketnow]

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Galaxy Nexus boot image with volume fix lands

If you are tired of the volume bug on your Galaxy Nexus and waiting for the fix to the bug to hit from Samsung, you can grab the official boot image with the fix now. Modaco has a link to the official file up for you to download. The catch is that the file is still in testing so you have to be willing to try it at your own risk.

The boot image requires that you unlock the bootloader using “./fastboot-windows oem unlock” your device may use a different command. You need to be aware that all the data on your device will be wiped so back up before unlocking. The download link to the file is on the forum post linked below.
The geeks at Modaco say that the new boot image worked perfectly for them, but you still might run into issues since Samsung hasn’t offered the device directly. If you download and apply the boot image to your Galaxy Nexus, be sure and let us know how it works for you. We went hands on with the Galaxy Nexus on November 17.
[via Modaco]

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Amazon: Kindle Sales Are Boofed Up But Not Sharing Figures

Amazon this morning pounded itself on the chest once more for selling Kinde devices as if they were hotcakes, particularly during last (Black) Friday. According to the company, it was the “best Black Friday ever” for the Kindle family, with Kindle sales “increasing 4x over last year”. As usual, don’t expect Amazon to share hard sales numbers, because they never do.
We’ll have to do with analyst estimates, which I’m sure will be rolling in during the course of this week (today is Cyber Monday and will likely result in another sales spike for Kindle devices). The number does run in the millions, of course, and Dave Limp, VP for Amazon Kindle, is quoted as follows:

“Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we’d already sold millions of the new Kindle family.”

Amazon also reiterated, again, that its tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, is its bestselling product on Amazon.com. In fact, they say this has been the case for the past 8 weeks now, since the device was introduced on September 28.

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Samsung GT-S7500 caught in the wild

While Samsung is known for its hard hitting devices like the Galaxy S2, the company also pushes out devices for the mid-range market, and it looks like it has a new one in the works. Mr. Blurrycam managed to snap some photographs of a new Samsung device with the model number GT-S7500 (as evident by the photograph).
Not many details about the phone were released, but it does look like a smaller version of the Galaxy S with a smaller and lower res screen, and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. No word on whether the GT-S7500 will be the phone’s final name or if it will be given the Galaxy branding as well. Stay tuned for more information.

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