10:14 AM
Simranpal SIngh
Friday, February 4, 2011
Android’s Impact on HTC Visualized
[Exclusive] Android Ice Cream Details – Bits of Honey, But Not the Full Comb [Build GRI17]
We’ve just gotten word from a trusted source that Google has begun building a new branch of code – being called GRI17 (Gingerbread post-Honeycomb, aka “Ice Cream”) – that aims to bring some of the new elements found in Honeycomb over to phones.
What features they’d be bringing over and to what extent isn’t known yet, but I can’t imagine optional hardware buttons and the new notification system would be left out. I’d also count on hardware acceleration and RenderScript making it in, but all of this is just speculation and guesstimation on my part.
Earlier today, we heard the Google team had just begun thinking about bringing the phone and tablet version of Android closer together, which gives legs to this rumor.
We probably won’t see the fruits of their labor until later in the year – especially considering their aim is to widen the gap between Android versions to make it easier on developers, OEMs, and users alike. All we can do is wait and try to dig for more details for the time being, but one thing’s for sure: Android on phones is only going to get better from here on out, full Honeycomb or not.
Motorola Atrix 4G will be AT&T’s flagship phone, laptop dock carries premium price
AT&T has finally unveiled the launch date and pricing options for the much-hyped Atrix 4G. Motorola’s new superphone will launch by March 3rd (or earlier) for $199 with 2-year agreement.
Those wishing to pre-order the Atrix 4G can do so with AT&T on February 13th.
“Today consumers use their smartphones to stay constantly connected to the information that matters to them most. The Motorola ATRIX 4G along with our webtop application and innovative docks enable a truly mobile computing experience never before possible on a smartphone,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president, portfolio and product device management, Motorola Mobility.
We originally thought the Atrix 4G might debut for $149 and that could still be the case, but not from AT&T. The leaked pricing of $149 appeared at Amazon and Costco, two retailers known for their discount pricing.
Those wishing to pick up the innovative laptop dock will have two options. They can opt for a $499.99 bundle (after a $100 mail-in rebate) that includes a 2-year contract, phone, laptop dock, and Data Pro data plan and tethering add-on ($20 per month) or they can buy the laptop dock at full price for $499.99.
The price of the phone is somewhat expected since most high-end phones these days ring in at $199, but the cost of the laptop dock seems a little shocking since it’s just a display, keyboard, and battery . Leaked prices for the dock were around $150, but it does offer a unique experience that appeals to a certain type of user so I guess Motorola thought the price was justified.
AT&T will also offer another bundle called the Entertainment Access Kit. This one will set you back $189.99. and it includes the HD Multimedia Dock, a remote control, and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
I previously said I was switching to AT&T and buying the Atrix and that’s still the case. The laptop dock feels a little over-priced, but it’s the only solution of its kind on the market and it’s exactly what I’m looking for.
How do the new prices affect your decision to buy the Atrix? Is the high cost of the laptop dock a turn off? Or will you just buy the phone and use it alone?
Show Press Release
DALLAS, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –
Key Facts
AT&T is the leader in smartphones, and expects to widen that lead in 2011. In January, AT&T committed to an industry-leading Android portfolio in the U.S. in 2011 and said it plans to offer two 4G smartphones in the first quarter. An industry first, the Motorola ATRIX 4G is the leading edge of more than 20 advanced, 4G devices AT&T plans to deliver in 2011. AT&T has completed the deployment of HSPA+ to virtually 100 percent of its mobile broadband network, which enables 4G speeds when combined with enhanced backhaul.
Motorola ATRIX 4G
The Motorola ATRIX 4G Android 2.2 smartphone will be offered exclusively by AT&T and is the world’s most powerful smartphone. Featuring a 2×1 GHz dual-core processor for a total of 2 GHz of processing power, a unique webtop application, the world’s first qHD display, and Adobe flash player, the, ATRIX 4G delivers a remarkable combination of application processing power with 4G speed capability and a high-resolution qHD display, a first for the industry.
It will be complemented by breakthrough accessories that include a revolutionary, super-thin Motorola Laptop Dock — for which ATRIX 4G is the “engine” — and the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock that uses ATRIX 4G’s HDMI video output capabilities and processing power to enable a revolutionary browsing, application and media experience.
AT&T will offer two special packages for customers who choose to purchase ATRIX 4G in addition to these unique accessories. The first combines ATRIX 4G and the Motorola Laptop Dock for a promotional price of $499.99 after a two-year service contract and $100 mail-in-rebate after subscription to Data Pro smartphone data plan and tethering add on. Customers who choose to purchase the Motorola Laptop Dock separately pay $499.99. AT&T is also offering an Entertainment Access Kit for ATRIX customers which includes the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a remote control for $189.99.
Motorola ATRIX 4G will also include AT&T Mobile Hotspot service built into the smartphone, allowing users to connect additional Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
AT&T U-verse® TV customers will be able to manage their DVR recordings – and U-verse customers with a qualifying TV plan can download and watch hit TV shows – right from their ATRIX 4G handset using the U-verse Mobile application. In addition, any ATRIX 4G user, whether or not they have U-verse TV at home, can still enjoy a variety of video options – including live TV – with the new U-verse Live TV application, preloaded and available for $9.99 a month.
Those wishing to pre-order the Atrix 4G can do so with AT&T on February 13th.
“Today consumers use their smartphones to stay constantly connected to the information that matters to them most. The Motorola ATRIX 4G along with our webtop application and innovative docks enable a truly mobile computing experience never before possible on a smartphone,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president, portfolio and product device management, Motorola Mobility.
We originally thought the Atrix 4G might debut for $149 and that could still be the case, but not from AT&T. The leaked pricing of $149 appeared at Amazon and Costco, two retailers known for their discount pricing.
Those wishing to pick up the innovative laptop dock will have two options. They can opt for a $499.99 bundle (after a $100 mail-in rebate) that includes a 2-year contract, phone, laptop dock, and Data Pro data plan and tethering add-on ($20 per month) or they can buy the laptop dock at full price for $499.99.
The price of the phone is somewhat expected since most high-end phones these days ring in at $199, but the cost of the laptop dock seems a little shocking since it’s just a display, keyboard, and battery . Leaked prices for the dock were around $150, but it does offer a unique experience that appeals to a certain type of user so I guess Motorola thought the price was justified.
AT&T will also offer another bundle called the Entertainment Access Kit. This one will set you back $189.99. and it includes the HD Multimedia Dock, a remote control, and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
I previously said I was switching to AT&T and buying the Atrix and that’s still the case. The laptop dock feels a little over-priced, but it’s the only solution of its kind on the market and it’s exactly what I’m looking for.
How do the new prices affect your decision to buy the Atrix? Is the high cost of the laptop dock a turn off? Or will you just buy the phone and use it alone?
Show Press Release
DALLAS, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –
Key Facts
- AT&T begins pre-sales for Motorola ATRIX 4G on Feb. 13
- Motorola ATRIX 4G, powered by the Android 2.2 platform, available exclusively for AT&T customers for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement.
- Motorola ATRIX 4G is expected to be available from AT&T and select retail channels for customers by March 6 or earlier.
- AT&T will offer bundled pricing for the Motorola ATRIX 4G and the Motorola Laptop Dock.
AT&T is the leader in smartphones, and expects to widen that lead in 2011. In January, AT&T committed to an industry-leading Android portfolio in the U.S. in 2011 and said it plans to offer two 4G smartphones in the first quarter. An industry first, the Motorola ATRIX 4G is the leading edge of more than 20 advanced, 4G devices AT&T plans to deliver in 2011. AT&T has completed the deployment of HSPA+ to virtually 100 percent of its mobile broadband network, which enables 4G speeds when combined with enhanced backhaul.
Motorola ATRIX 4G
The Motorola ATRIX 4G Android 2.2 smartphone will be offered exclusively by AT&T and is the world’s most powerful smartphone. Featuring a 2×1 GHz dual-core processor for a total of 2 GHz of processing power, a unique webtop application, the world’s first qHD display, and Adobe flash player, the, ATRIX 4G delivers a remarkable combination of application processing power with 4G speed capability and a high-resolution qHD display, a first for the industry.
It will be complemented by breakthrough accessories that include a revolutionary, super-thin Motorola Laptop Dock — for which ATRIX 4G is the “engine” — and the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock that uses ATRIX 4G’s HDMI video output capabilities and processing power to enable a revolutionary browsing, application and media experience.
AT&T will offer two special packages for customers who choose to purchase ATRIX 4G in addition to these unique accessories. The first combines ATRIX 4G and the Motorola Laptop Dock for a promotional price of $499.99 after a two-year service contract and $100 mail-in-rebate after subscription to Data Pro smartphone data plan and tethering add on. Customers who choose to purchase the Motorola Laptop Dock separately pay $499.99. AT&T is also offering an Entertainment Access Kit for ATRIX customers which includes the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a remote control for $189.99.
Motorola ATRIX 4G will also include AT&T Mobile Hotspot service built into the smartphone, allowing users to connect additional Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
AT&T U-verse® TV customers will be able to manage their DVR recordings – and U-verse customers with a qualifying TV plan can download and watch hit TV shows – right from their ATRIX 4G handset using the U-verse Mobile application. In addition, any ATRIX 4G user, whether or not they have U-verse TV at home, can still enjoy a variety of video options – including live TV – with the new U-verse Live TV application, preloaded and available for $9.99 a month.
Pre-Order HTC Thunderbolt at Best Buy Soon?
Steelers Fans – Get Your Terrible Towel Android App Today
Rogers Samsung Galaxy S Captivate gets Froyo source code released.
VLC Media Player For Android Gets An Update
VLC, a popular media player which allows you to play video in almost any format or codec known to man, has recently received an update for the Android application. The developers are still working on this folks, so be patient, as they are currently working on this in their free time. According to the developers, the app is progressing well and maturing more and more on a daily basis for Android. Ivoire, a VLC Media Player developer had this to say on his blog:
After two months of work, VLC media player is working quite well on Android based systems. The project still requires a lot of work before any release but we now know that running VLC media player on Android is achievable.Some of the things they have been working on as stated on the developers blog include:
Video output
The video output developed by Adrien Maglo (alias Magsoft) is now able to output video directly into an OpenGL surface. This is the second video output module created by Adrien for VLC on Android. This second version is able to run on any version of Android and not only Gingerbread (2.3) but is a bit less efficient. This trade of is very important because few phones and tablets are running Android Gingerbread at the moment.Audio output
A first audio output module was developed by Dominique Martinet (alias Asmadeus). This module was based on OpenSL ES which is quit convenient and efficient but OPENSL ES is only available on Android 2.3. This is the reason why we decided to write a new audio output module that might work on any Android devices regardless of the version.For this reason, I (Rémi Duraffort, alias ivoire) am developing a second audio output module for every Android versions. The work is barely started so we cannot show you any video at the moment.
Here are a few things that “still need to be done”:
Improving the Video output
The video output must be improved to handle some specials cases like the rotation of the device or the power saving mode (and many more).Some work must also be done to improve handling of the aspect ratio and rendering performance.
Audio output
As said before, the next goal is to finish the audio output module to handle audio correctly. This module requires some work to be able to output audio for any Android version.Graphical User Interface
As you saw in the screenshots, the GUI was only made to help us testing both the audio and video output modules. Before any beta version, we must create a nice GUI that allows users to select the right media or stream to play. We will work on this task as soon as the audio and video output work well.Porting libraries
VLC media player is relying on a set of libraries for a lot of functions like decoding, encoding, getting meta-datas (id3 tags), …To enable these functionalities we must port the underlying libraries to Android based devices. This work is not began yet but as for now we already have a lot of libraries (like FFmpeg) that allows us to decode many formats like: mpeg, h264, mp4 or ogg. So this task does not have priority.
Optimizations
The last task is to improve VLC media player performance by optimizing it for the devices it will run on. Every Android devices uses ARM processors which imply some specific optimizations that are currently not activated. Some devices also provide ARM NEON instructions that VLC can use to speedup decoding.The developer summarizes with the following:
As a conclusion, you can notice that VLC media player on Android is working quite well. Anyway we are not ready to release a version until some months because we want something stable and nice to use. Be patient, we are working on it, even if this job is only done on our free time.
I will write another article when some interesting news about VLC and Android come out.
Dual-Core 4.3″ HTC “Pyramid” Heading To T-Mobile In Q2?
Alright folks, as surely as I would love, to right off the bat, tell you that this isn’t a rumor, I wold be committing one big huge mobile sin. So, as much as I don’t want to do it, it needs to be done. This is a rumor and as of now, only a rumor. And since Im a T-Mobile customer, I will take great pleasure indulging in this cup of hot speculation. Alright, now that that is out of the way, here we go.
Over the past couple of days several major mobile blogs have received news from well trusted sources who have come through accurately in the past, corroborating that HTC is working on a dual core device that could be headed to Magenta as early as Q2 If these tipsters are correct, then it’s possible that HTC and T-Mobile are getting ready to release the device T-Mo customers have been waiting for, for quite some time. It looks like my age old question is about to be answered, hopefully, and that is, where the heck is my “T-Mobile Evo-like device?”
That’s right, the HTC Pyramid touts a 4.3-inch qHD display (960 x 540 – source of the display unknown), and Qualcomm’s dual-core MSM8260 Snapdragon processor which holds the Adreno 220 GPU. Clearly, Nvidia has some competition. The device will most likely support HSPA+ (4G) and could arrive as soon as second quarter. A device like this will surely enhance and compliment T-Mobile’s line up along side the MyTouch 4G, the G2 and the Samsung Vibrant.So, even though this is being chalked up to the rumor dept, there is a lot to take seriously. Both Android & Me and Phandroid have separate sources corroborating the same thing. Stay tuned to Talk Android for more info, because we’ll definitely be keeping our eye on this one gang. Let us know what you think in the comments below. And take your guess as to how many comments on the post are going to state…”it’s about time!”
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Download This Honeycomb Theme For Google Chrome [HONEYCHROME]
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