With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!
Guides
How to get the Android L look on your phone without rooting or installing ROMs
Reviews
[App Review] Take control of your mobile data with the redesigned My Data Manager 4.0
Apps
Google adds ‘Occasionally’ reminder option to Google Now
Gmail adds support for 13 new languages, covering 94% of the internet’s languages
Carriers
AT&T LG G3 and G Watch will go on sale July 11th, pre-orders open tomorrow
Sprint update for Samsung Galaxy S 5 adds Wi-Fi calling feature
evleaks confirms Verizon offering of prepaid 4G LTE starting on July 17
Larry Page, Sergey Brin talk Google’s product approach compared to Apple’s and more
Google reportedly working on major plans to take on Amazon
Android distribution for July shows KitKat coming up on 20%
Google and MAKE launch 3rd annual virtual summer camp for fun DIY projects
Phones
AT&T LG G3 and G Watch will go on sale July 11th, pre-orders open tomorrow
Lumia branded device running Android is on the way, carries new ‘Nokia by Microsoft’ name
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 colors to mirror Galaxy S 5
Sprint update for Samsung Galaxy S 5 adds Wi-Fi calling feature
This could be Sony’s selfie phone
ROMs
Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 2012 get Android L Developer Preview thanks to ported ROMs
Smartwatches
AT&T LG G3 and G Watch will go on sale July 11th, pre-orders open tomorrow
LG G Watch now available worldwide through Play Store and retailers
Tablets
LG releases and details G Pad 10.1, including specs and new software features
What do consumers think about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S display?
Updates
Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 2012 get Android L Developer Preview thanks to ported ROMs
Miscellaneous
TSA will require mobile devices to be charged when boarding select flights overseas
Isis — no, not ISIS — Mobile Wallet to rebrand amid confusion with terrorist group
Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for July 7, 2014
Google has released their most recent Android distribution numbers for the seven day span ending July 7th. With no surprises in the stats, we are happy to see KitKat growth up to almost 18 percent.
A quick look at the numbers reveals KitKat up 4.3 points to 17.9 percent. Despite 4.2.x seeing a half point jump, Jelly Bean overall lost a couple points, down to a combined 56.5 percent. Same story for Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich, both seeing a couple points drop to 13.5 and 11.4 percent, respectively. Finally, our old buddy Froyo lost a tenth of a point, but gets to stick around for another month, rocking 0.7 percent. Head on over to the Android Developers page for all the number.
You were probably thinking it, so I’ll talk about it. Truth is, we are most likely not to see Android L stats until it gets a proper name and number this fall. Either that, or it simply accounts for less than the required 0.1 percent ante to play this game.
During the Android distribution numbers last month, we called it a serious long shot that Google would give up the next version of Android at the I/O conference in June. Much to our surprise, Android L all but stole the show. Certainly, Google did not launch the full OS for install, but the developer preview was released, and has since seen its way to Nexus and GPE devices, even seeing “L”-ove going back to the Nexus 4. Alas, still no “L” stats this month.
Looking back to older Android versions, the race is on to see which will disappear first, Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich. Neither seems particularly eager to pass on, but, considering hardware limitations, economic viability of continued support, custom ROMs and more, it really is anyone’s guess.
I think Gingerbread will outlive Ice Cream Sandwich – what do you say? Any other insights from the stats worth noting?
We knew Android TV would be making an appearance at Google I/O in some way, shape, or form this past week, but a full unveiling was still a little bit of a surprise. Now that Android TV is out in the open and we have a good idea of what it has to offer, will it be able to attempt a takeover in the living room and succeed where Google TV failed? There were good and bad things about Google TV, but for all that it was and was supposed to be, there wasn’t enough to make it flourish. Android TV promises to be a completely different beast and bring what consumers want from such a setup. It’s simpler, lighter and all around more feature rich even though it technically does less. Let’s breakdown real quick what we’re looking at with Android TV. It’s a small set top box very similar to what we have from Amazon with their Fire TV that was released not too long ago, offering up to users the capability to access their movies, TV, and games in an easy to use, no frills setup with an interface that is not only easy to navigate because of the giant “Google Now” style cards we’ll be seeing on screen, but everything is also voice activated so no matter what it is you want to do, using Google’s voice recognition through the mic will allow you to complete voice commands for virtually anything.
Now let’s look at what technically sets it apart from the competition. Much like the Fire TV, it’ll(hopefully)be an affordable and widely accessible product to bring users their favorite media content. You can get access to not only new movies and TV shows through the appropriate section, but also games and music. There’s a compatible game controller to help the user more naturally navigate through the system’s user interface and voice to help you search for stuff when you just don’t feel like hunting down and pecking at characters with the buttons on the gamepad, and it’s for the most part small and it’ll be easy to find a home for it somewhere amidst the other electronics on your entertainment center. Where it differs from things like the Fire TV is that it runs native Android. It’s connected to your Google Play account, so things like games or movies that you’ve already purchased through the Play Store will be accessible right away. Already have the entire series of Lost purchased through Google Play and planning a marathon? Not a problem, everything should be right where it needs to be if you log in using the same Gmail account.
The Fire TV is an awesome product, and from what our very own Alex Maxham has had to say about it during his review and afterwards, it’s something that is definitely worth looking into. That isn’t to say it’s not without its downsides. Since it’s an Amazon product, it runs on the same basic setup as their “Fire” devices and therefore everything is from the Amazon App store. That means none of the content already attached to your Google account will be usable with it, which could be potentially hundreds of items. With Android TV, everything is there, and it looks and feels wonderful and fluid. The interface is beautiful and elaborate yet simple enough for a first time user to pick up the controller and find their way to things that they want to see. Android TV will be somewhat minimal yet arguably one of the most beautiful looking UIs of any product in the same category, and the best part is that changing the look through OEM skins is said to be off limits. Throw in the possibility of a competitive $99 price tag to take on the Fire TV and the possibility of higher end and more expensive units, giving the users more choice, and Google could have a winner on their hands. Android TV certainly sounds ready and poised to take over the living room, but will it be possible to blow away the competition?
The post Android Headliner: Is Android TV Capable Of Taking Over The Living Room For Google? appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
Sony definitely makes a great smartphone. They usually have superior displays and their cameras are top notch. The latest, Sony’s Xperia Z2 flagship unveiled at this year’s CES back in January is a grand display of what Sony has to offer in the smartphone department and it could be a fantastic showing of their prowess, if it could only make it to other regions that have a reputation for spending quite a bit on their devices. Like on a U.S. carrier for example. The Sony Xperia Z2 has been rumored to be coming to the U.S. market via major wireless carriers a couple of times this year so far, with Verizon Wireless exclusivity even being talked about, yet here we are with the first week of July already past us and there has still been no official word.
Thanks to this screenshot acquired by Phone Arena today, it looks like the Xperia Z2 could be heading to Verizon Wireless sometime in the near future after all. The image displays the screen of a Verizon computer that someone is using to go through training on the Xperia Z2 device which would only serve a purpose if the carrier was going to be picking up and selling the device on their network. If we’re to believe this is the case then a VZW launch of the phone can’t be too far off as these types of training sessions usually happen closer to a phone’s launch date.
Even if it is true however, is it too little too late for Verizon and Sony to give this phone a chance through official carrier channels? The phone has already been available in other locations for months, and on top of that the device costs a pretty hefty sum. That could likely change of course with an official launch on a major U.S. carrier like Verizon but time will have to tell in this case. If you’re currently a Verizon Wireless subscriber would you consider buying the Sony Xperia Z2 as your next flagship or would just as soon wait to see what Sony has to offer as its successor?
The post Tipster Leaks Screenshot Of Verizon Training On The Sony Xperia Z2 appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Today's roundup is brought to you by Sygic's premium GPS Navigation & Maps app.
27 Best (And 5 WTF) New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (6/24/14 - 7/7/14) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
The latest Android Distribution numbers are in and according to the standings and charts it looks like Kit Kat has taken an even bigger foothold in the hearts of Android users. Android 4.4 Kit Kat which is so far the latest version to have been pushed out to consumers and carriers(although we know that Android L is coming and should be here this fall)now accounts for 17.9% of all Android devices, a percentage that will surely rise once again when Google releases the distribution numbers next month. Jelly Bean as you can see is of course still on the largest portion of devices that run the Android operating system. Jelly Bean still makes up about 56.5% of all Android users which is more than half, but Kit Kat has finally become the second largest group being used when it comes to Android versions, and we couldn’t be happier to see it continuing to grow.
With each new release, Google seems to be ever so slightly closing the gap between users with older and newer devices, bridging the divide in what version they’re running which will end up helping the fragmentation issue eventually. Google tracks these numbers as we all should know by this point, by analyzing the number of unique visitors to the Play Store application within a seven day period that ended on July 7th, which is how they reached the stats that they have posted, and were able to base some pretty charts off of.
The very first device to run Kit Kat, the Nexus 5, will also be one of the first devices to run the new Android L when it officially releases, which is hopefully just a few months away. We’ll also see the Nexus 4, and presumably all the variants of the Nexus 7 tablet, as well as the Nexus 10 get official updates from Google as well, and we can’t forget that the GPe HTC M8 will most likely end up getting it not too long after. With some of last year’s and the year prior devices moving to whatever the new Android version will end up being called upon launch, distribution numbers the month after will be interesting to view.
The post Google Releases Latest Android Distribution Numbers With Kit Kat Now At 17.9% Of Users appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
Seems like after the reveal of any major Android release, users start getting restless, wondering if the devices they recently paid a small fortune for (or plan on purchasing) will see an update to the latest firmware. As one of the biggest Android updates since Ice Cream Sandwich, Android L is no different. And while the next version of Android is still in an early preview state, manufacturers like HTC didn’t waste any time in letting their customers know an update to Android L for their flagship line would indeed be coming.
In an attempt at nipping customer questions/complaints/concerns surrounding Android L in the bud, newcomer OnePlus is now letting members of their forum know that, they too would be updating their flagship OnePlus One to Android L, committing to a release within 3 months of a final build (none of this preview stuff). With full time software development being handled by the folks at Cyanogen Inc., this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Still no word from the Cyanogen Inc regarding the news, which is a little odd considering they’re the ones technically responsible for getting out new versions of Android to the OnePlus One via their own modified version of the stock Android experience. We also couldn’t help but notice how very un-CyanogenMod-like the announcement was considering during Cyanogen’s pre-inc status, the team was well known around the dev community for avoid requests for ETAs. Guess things change.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A was recently announced in South Korea as a higher-end smartphone to succeed the Galaxy S5. Aside from the faster LTE speeds, the device comes with a series of improvements, including a Snapdragon 805 processor, 3 GB of RAM and a WQHD (2560x1440p) Super AMOLED display.
Now, we know the processor and 3 GB of RAM will help with the device’s stunning performance, but how much better is that praised WQHD Super AMOLED panel? Samsung is trying to make its new display’s advantages very clear with its latest blog post.
Of course, one of the advantages of the improved display is definition. WQHD resolution is nothing to scoff at, especially when viewed in a 5.1-inch display. This amounts to 577 PPI (pixels per inch), which is a substantial improvement over the Full HD Galaxy S5′s 432 PPI.
The 2560x1440p resolution amounts to a total of 3,686,400 pixels, which was unheard of in any smartphone not so long ago. This makes for crisper text and much more details in image and video (given that they offer the same resolution or higher). Below you will find a comparison given to us by Samsung.
The difference in image detail is quite substantial when you look deeper into the image, like the feathers in the bird. While 1080p is already stunning, there seems to be a significant difference in that WQHD resolution, after all.
Is this all that we were hoping for, though? This is, after all, information we already knew. The trick is really all on the fact this is a Super AMOLED display.
The first thing you will notice about Super AMOLED displays are those amazingly vibrant colors and stunning deep blacks. Also, AMOLED displays are, by nature, much more power-efficient, but that 2560x1440p resolution is still not easy on battery life. This is why Samsung is using some ingenious techniques to keep the device alive for longer.
For starters, Samsung created a new type of OLED technology with more power-efficient organic material. This means the display is naturally better than regular AMOLED panels. In addition, Samsung has added RAM to the Display Driver IC, which is one of the elements that allows for images to be displayed. This forces the display to only use power when the screen is activated.
Lastly, Samsung changed the color composition in the user interface. Colors were re-adjusted to create a more energy-efficient experience without giving up the vibrant and saturated AMOLED colors we all know and love.
We have yet to see how well these improvements work. We must wonder if this is better than what LG is doing with the G3. We are still not sure if the Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A will ever make it outside of Korea, though.
Based on evidence from two tipsters, it seems all but inevitable that Google Now will be receiving media and music playback controls at some point in the future. Some users are already seeing these actions in proto-form on their devices, which can be activated simply by saying "next song." What appears, if your account is enabled for the feature, is shown in the left screenshot. If the function doesn't work, you'll see the one on the right.
Google Now Probably Getting Voice Media Controls (Next Track, Stop, Etc.), Unfinished Version Already Live For Some was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
We’ll just file this one under “probably a good idea.”
Isis Mobile Wallet, a digital wallet app, will be changing its name to avoid any confusion or controversy it may have sparked because of the similarity of its name with the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) militant group.
ISIS has been making international headlines as of late, so this definitely isn’t a bad time for a change.
While the company is still working on a new brand, CEO Michael Abbott released a statement reassuring its customers of the company’s intentions.
“We have no interest in sharing a name with a group whose name has become synonymous with violence and our hearts go out to those who are suffering,” Abbott said. “Changing a brand is never easy, but we know this is the right decision – for our company, our partners and our customers.”
Source: The Verge
Come comment on this article: Isis — no, not ISIS — Mobile Wallet to rebrand amid confusion with terrorist group
