Motorola DROID Turbo benchmark boasts 5.2-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 805, 3GB RAM, and more

If the state of Verizon’s now active “DroidLanding” Twitter account is any indication (that, and a variety of recent leaks), we’d be willing to bet Motorola and Big Red are gearing up to announce a shiny new DROID phone in the coming weeks.

Rumored to launch as the “DROID Turbo,” we’ve already gotten a look at what the device may look like and although not the prettiest of Androids, the phone could carry some pretty impressive hardware under the hood. After rumors suggested as much, we’re seeing the device pop up again, this time in a GFXBench benchmark quoting specs like a 5.2-inch 2,560 x 1,440 display, Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB RAM, and a high resolution 20MP camera.

Unfortunately, there was no mention of battery capacity, although a recent FCC filing may have outed something along the lines of a 3,500mAh battery. Yeah, despite its looks, this sounds like it could be the one Android device to rule them all (at least as far as horsepower and longevity are concerned).

It’s not uncommon for prototype or pre-production devices to make an appearance on the site, so this alleged Motorola Droid Turbo making an appearance really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Still, there’s always the chance something like this could be faked, so take it with a grain of salt for now.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and 808 devices expected by June

In 2015, the latest round of flagship devices will feature Snapdragon 810 and 808 processors. The two Snapdragon processors, developed by Qualcomm, have 32- and 64-bit support. The company has sent them out to hardware manufacturers with the first half of next year being the scheduled arrival for consumer devices.

The Snapdragon 810 and 808 are Qualcomm’s first to be built with the 20nm process like the current round of processors from Samsung and Apple. Samsung has the Exynos 5433 and Apple has its A8. The two aforementioned processors are already found in devices currently on the market.

This fall, Android will see 64-bit support for the first time ever when Android L is released. From there going forward, hardware manufacturers have the choice of allowing a device to work with 64-bit architecture even if the processor has the necessary technology.

Source: Fudzilla

Via: GSMArena

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Project Ara will run modified Android L, allows hot-swapping of most components

It’s been a little while since we last talked about Project Ara, Motorola’s-turned-Google’s ambitious project to create a phone that can be upgraded modularly in a fashion somewhat similar to today’s desktop computer. While our attention might not have been on Ara lately, Google continues to work quietly in the background and is apparently still on track for its early 2015 market launch.

Paul Eremenko recently announced some interesting details about the Project Ara project, including word that the first fully functional prototype will be seen at December’s Ara developer conference. Furthermore, Ara now has quite a few big-name partners such as Rockchip, Foxcoon, Quanta and Toshiba.

As for the OS that will power Project Ara phones? The obvious answer would be Android, but keep in mind that the OS will have to be modified to work with the modular Ara. Eremenko says the modified Android L build for Ara supports hot swapping of components, with the exception of the CPU and display. That means you can upgrade or change out components without even turning off the phone. Eremenko also briefly mentioned that Ara will have its own store front for modules, something that he and his team have touched on in the past.

It’s still unclear whether or not Ara is actually a practical ambition or not, but it’s pretty clear that Google isn’t giving up on the concept just yet. What do you think of Ara? Excited at the prospect of diving into a new and unproven tech, or not interested until the project is at least a few generations in and more refined?

Via: Android Police;

Source: Phonebloks;



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Google Seems To Be Testing Icon Identifiers For Mobile Optimized Sites In Search Results

Google tends to do incremental tested rollouts with many of their features, and they appear to be testing a feature which might help users identify websites that have a mobile optimized version when browsing through Google search results from a smartphone or tablet. Although this seems like something that may have or should have been around years ago, sometimes things like this just take a backseat to other things. After reading about this ourselves we checked it on a few of our own handsets and weren’t met with the same results as what’s being talked about(meaning that we didn’t see the icon pop up next to the webpage URL)which is essentially the identification of mobile optimized websites using a little mobile phone icon in the list of search results.

Google is apparently testing this feature which means that it probably isn’t rolled out for most people, it also means that it may never see an actual launch, however we certainly hope they make this a permanent thing and roll it out in full to everyone somewhere down the line. If you feel like checking to see if this is there on your own mobile browsing experience, open up Chrome and do a quick Google search for something. Although we imagine that you might have noticed something like this pop up already as the icon isn’t too small and is easily noticeable.

We know this isn’t hard evidence regarding the new Nexus phone, but something like this, even as small as it is, is useful in its own right and could make it easier for people to browse the web on their smartphones if they want to avoid site that have a mobile optimized version of the website. As Android Police has pointed out, Google told them the feature was only in testing, so like we stated above we might never see this feature come to fruition. This wouldn’t be the first time we saw a tested feature either disappear or take a while to reach the majority, and it probably won’t be the last. What are your thoughts on this potential new feature? Would it be more useful to have this icon pop up next to the URL in your search results?

The post Google Seems To Be Testing Icon Identifiers For Mobile Optimized Sites In Search Results appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

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New Chromecast Buyers Will Get 2 Free Months Of Hulu Plus From October 1st Until The End Of December

When the Chromecast first launched, it came with three free months of Netflix. That was a great deal, because at $7.99 a month, this meant that buyers were getting back the majority of the money they paid for the device. Well, Google's next Chromecast offer utilizes similar appeal. From October 1st until the end of this year, the company will offer two free months of Hulu Plus with the purchase of every new Chromecast.

New Chromecast Buyers Will Get 2 Free Months Of Hulu Plus From October 1st Until The End Of December was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Google provides new details on Android Auto – talks about design, architecture, and development process

I think it’s safe to say we’re all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Android L, Google’s latest desert arriving later this year. But aside from a redesigned smartphone user interface with flashy new animations, it’s what Android L will introduce with Android Auto that really has our interest piqued.

Up until now, information about Android Auto was a bit scarce. Sure, Google had a landing page with signup information about what it will do, but additional information about actual development was absent. Today, Google is now providing Android developers with a brief overview about Android Auto, detailing areas such as design, architecture, user interface, and the development process.

Similar to Android Wear, Google is looking to keep things simple. Notifications will display in a very specific manner (just like Android Wear) and developers wont have too much leeway in how their apps can look when in media mode, Android Auto’s interface when handling music, podcasts, and other audio centric apps. For the most part, this means apps like Pandora will look nearly identical to apps like Google Play Music. While the general layout is off limits, developers can still choose their own icons, colors, or background images — but not much else. Android Auto provides a darker night mode, presumably switching on the fly once the sun sets (a feature we’ve seen in apps like Waze).

This will not only ensure a much more uniform experience, but ensure drivers will be familiar with all Android Auto apps out if the box and keeps everything safe and kosher with local driving laws as well as automotive OEMs. Google also assures developers that the tight restrictions make their coding life much easier in that they wont have to maintain a separate app specifically for Android Auto since it’s using the same functionality from their existing app.

If you’re a developer curious about learning more about Android Auto, or testing your app with the media client in the Android Auto SDK, hit up the source link below.

[Android Developers]

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Project Ara Will Run A Modified Version Of Android L That Supports Hot-Swapping All Modules Except For CPU And Screen

Project Ara seems like the sort of thing that could never in a zillion years work, but Google is committed to giving it a shot. After bringing Motorola's ATAP in-house, the company has forged ahead on Project Ara. Now project head Paul Eremenko has offered up a few new details of how Ara will work. Basically, the phone can be taken apart while it's on.

The idea behind Ara is that you'll add the modules you want to the device based on your needs.

Project Ara Will Run A Modified Version Of Android L That Supports Hot-Swapping All Modules Except For CPU And Screen was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Google May Be Rolling Out Icons In Search Results To Indicate Mobile-Optimized Sites

A few users have been reporting a new Google quirk today, but it might not be all that new. An icon has started showing up in search results next to links for mobile-optimized pages. Something like this was in testing as far back as 2012, but this seems to be part of a separate occurrence.

The icon in question is off to the left of the URL in the image above—the little green phone.

Google May Be Rolling Out Icons In Search Results To Indicate Mobile-Optimized Sites was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Verizon HTC One M7 Owners Get Official TWRP Custom Recovery Support

Verizon HTC One M7 owners appear to be getting their first official taste of support from Team Win, as TWRP custom recovery is now officially supporting the original HTC One for VZW. We realize that it’s now around a year and a half after the device has released that it’s just now getting support, but it’s better late than never right? If you root and flash custom ROMs to your devices, then you already know that a custom recovery is something that you’ll want to have flashed on your device, and TWRP just so happens to be one of two extremely popular options for this, with ClockworkMod being the other.

If you favor TWRP over anything else, the download page to flash the custom recovery to your Verizon M7 is now available at their official download page which you can find at the source link below. You can install the custom recovery in one of two separate ways, one of them being recommended for the more experienced flashers who will be looking to get this on their devices as soon as they possibly can, and that’s the Fastboot method. If you aren’t quite brave enough to try the Fastboot method, you can always install via Android with Team Win’s application called TWRP manager, which they mention is the preferred method but it also requires root, where as the Fastboot method does not so it’s a give and take situation. If you don’t have your device rooted, then it seems you’re left with the Fastboot method to get this recovery onto your M7, however we would simply recommend going the easier of the two routes, whether that be Fastboot without root, or rooting and then installing via the Android app.

Since the HTC One M7 has been out for quite some time, you can expect to find some level of development for customizing the device to make it more your own, and of course we’re talking about ROMs. TWRP’s user interface is just one of the things that makes it such a popular option for going into recovery mode, as everything is able to be interacted with from use of the touch screen instead of hardware buttons. Are you excited to see TWRP support for the Verizon M7? Do you still use this device and if so will you be flashing?

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Meizu MX4 Got Dismantled, Take A Look Inside Meizu’s Flagship

We’ve been covering Meizu a lot lately, the company has been all over the news ever since they launched Meizu MX4. This device has been selling like hotcakes ever since it was launched earlier this month. In the end, this device helped the company promote itself. Meizu has managed to create a flagship device sporting premium build and sell it for an extremely affordable price in China and outside of it as well. The device was priced at 1799 Yuan ($292) in China and $449 outside of it. Meizu even let consumers order the device straight from company’s official webpage from all over the world for $449 (tax and shipping included), which is a great deal considering the specifications of this device.

In case you’re wondering how this device looks on the inside, you might want to take a look at the gallery below. Chinese portal, BigerTech, dismantled the white Meizu MX4 in order to show us the internals of this smartphone. You can basically see every piece of this smartphone on these images, from the chips inside, its housing to camera unit and buttons. Meizu MX4 features a 5.36-inch 1080p (1920 x 1152) display along with 2GB of RAM for all your multitasking needs and 16, 32 or 64GB of in-built storage (16 and 32GB versions are available globally). MediaTek’s MT6595 octa-core processor is powering on this device along with PowerVR Series 6 GPU. 20.7-megapixel shooter is located at the back of the device along with a dual LED, dual tone flash. On the front of the device you can find a 5-megapixel snapped which should come in handy if you like to take a selfie here and there or you use the video call feature of your device. MX4 comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat pre-installed with Meizu’s Flyme 4.0 OS on top of it.

There are lots of competitive brands in China which are trying to find their way to other markets. Meizu managed to sell tons of MX4 devices in China and abroad via its webpage and resellers (so many that the company is having problems meeting the demand), imagine how many they could sell if they manage to find a way to offer devices like that in stores all over the world and keep the price down.

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