Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Meizu M1 Note Is Now Available For Pre-Order From Oppomart

Meizu has announced their newest handset, the M1 Note, about a week ago. This device is a perfect budget device, I believe that’s the best way to put it. This handset brings forth a really well built device along with some commendable specifications for an incredibly low price tag, the 16GB version of this handset costs only 999 Yuan in China, while the 32GB version is somewhat more expensive, it is priced at 1,199 Yuan. The device really does remind me of the iPhone 5C, not only because Meizu’s invitations for the M1 Note event contained the back covers of the iPhone 5C, but because the back cover of the M1 Note looks almost exactly like the 5C’s back cover. That’s it though, there are no other similarities between the two devices, the M1 Note is certainly unique in its own way.

The phone launched in China yesterday, but was sold out almost immediately, no matter where you look. Many people have been wondering when will this device be available outside of China, well, those of you who are interested, can pre-order it now. Truth be told the device is available from Oppomart, a reseller, so it’s not exactly a direct offering from Meizu, but if you’re interested, this will do. Oppomart ships almost everywhere, though the device will cost you significantly more than it would if you were in China, the only offered versions are 16GB ones in Blue and White color options. The device will set you back $249, which is still not too expensive for this handset, which says a lot about its pricing in China. Anyhow, if you’re interested, follow the source link down below.

Meizu M1 Note features a 5.5-inch 1080p full HD display along with 2GB of RAM for all your multitasking operations and 16 or 32GB of non-expandable internal storage (though only the 16GB version is available from Oppomart at the moment). This handset is powered by MediaTek’s MT6752 SoC, a 64-bit octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz along with Mali-T760 GPU for graphics processing. 13 and 5-megapixel cameras are available on this device on the back and front side of the phone, respectively. Google’s Android 4.4 KitKat OS ships with this device with Meizu’s very own Flyme 4 UI on top of it. 3,410mAh battery comes with the device and this handset offers dual-SIM, dual standby option for those of you who need to use two SIM cards in your devices. 4G LTE and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity are also available here.

The post Meizu M1 Note Is Now Available For Pre-Order From Oppomart appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/meizu-m1-note-now-available-pre-order-oppomart.html

Lenovo Preparing An Inexpensive 4G LTE Smartphone For India

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Lenovo are entering the market for smartphones with their recent purchase of Motorola from Google if you’re from one of the comfortably insulated and developed (over saturated) markets of the world. Lenovo have been manufacturing Android smartphones and tablets for some time now and today I’m bringing you news that they’re working on an inexpensive 4G LTE device to be announced at the CES, Consumer Electronics Show, at Las Vegas. The rumors are suggesting that the new device will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor and it’ll be destined for the Indian market, to be priced less than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G, which went on sale today at in Rs. 9,999, just under $160 or a little over £100. We don’t have any other information to go on at the moment.

Lenovo opting for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 is interesting because it’s another win for the American chip maker in what remains a competitive market. The Snapdragon 410 is the follow up act to the very successful Snapdragon 400 processor, which has been used in a large number of devices as diverse as the Motorola Moto G and a few off the Lenovo tablets. The 410 is similarly clocked at 1.2GHz but features revised, 64-bit compatible architecture that promises 25% higher performance plus reduced power consumption compared with the older generation (and 32-bit only) chipset. Perhaps the new, unannounced device is similar to the Lenovo K3 smartphone that was recently revealed, which also uses the Snapdragon 410 processor. It too comes with 4G LTE support but the rest of the specification has been filled out: a 5-inch HD screen, an 8MP rear camera, 1 GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 2,300mAh battery and dual-SIM functionality. The K3 runs Android 4.4 KitKat with no word of when it might be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Why the sudden interest in 4G LTE handsets for India? It’s because Indian LTE coverage is currently underdeveloped but several operators are planning on enabling LTE coverage next year. We’ve already seen the Microsoft (Nokia) Lumia 638, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G and Micromax YUREKA devices announced or launched, which support the Indian 2.3GHz and 1.8GHz LTE Bands 40 and 3 respectively. So if you’re in India and you want an inexpensive LTE-capable device, you will shortly have the choice of at least four devices. We’re expecting more to follow in the coming weeks and months.

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/lenovo-preparing-inexpensive-4g-lte-smartphone-india.html

Careful, the Sony Xperia Z3 can also bend in your jeans like an iPhone 6

The iPhone 6’s notorious bending issue — also known as #bendgate — easily made the list of our top 3 biggest fails of the year. With only a few days left in 2014, we figured we’d add one more device to the list of smartphones that could potentially bend in your skinny jeans before we officially retire #bendgate once and for all (we hope).

As discovered by a now ex-Sony fan on Google+, the Sony Xperia Z3 isn’t immune to the “design flaw” that claimed the lives of so many iPhones (and made one YouTuber filthy rich). According to owner, the phone mysteriously and unexpectedly bent in his pant pocket. After bad experiences with previous Sony devices, he’s now ready to call it quits on all Sony smartphones for good.

“This is what happens when you put a Xperia Z3 in your pocket. I previously owned a Z1 and that blew up on me. This is my friends Z3, another friend has a Z3 compact and the back cracked from normal usage. Conclusion: Xperia Z Phones are subpar and not worth the money, too many failures to ignore.“

As a current (very happy) owner of the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, I’d say the glass backing does make me a bit nervous, but after a few minor drops I can say it’s definitely much more durable than that old Nexus 4 I used to own.

As our smartphones become larger with every iteration, it’s kind of funny how manufacturers still feel the need to keep that slim profile (sometimes even sacrificing battery capacity as a result). Seems like it’s only normal to expect that a firm amount of pressure could cause just about any smartphone to bend, but I think you have to be extra careful when they’re made of metal like the Xperia Z3.

What say ye? Anyone have a Sony or any other make smartphone that bent in your jeans? Should OEMs be concerned about their smartphones bending in their customers’ skinny jeans?

from Phandroid http://phandroid.com/2014/12/30/sony-xperia-z3-bendgate/

Palm might make a return thanks to Alcatel Onetouch

Alcatel Onetouch Purchases The Palm Inc. Trademarks From HP

AH Palm-1

Some of you may remember Palm, the company that was once regarded as one of the go-to tools for anyone seeking the capabilities of a handheld PDA(yes, we said PDA aka personal data assistant)as they offered up a way for users to get email, browse the web and keep schedulers for all those oh so important dates and events. Palm started as a business tool for professionals, but they quickly became adopted by the mass market and anyone looking for what it offered. Over the years they transformed from a PDA into a smartphone running the WebOS platform, although they nearly went out of business before devices like the Palm Pre and other similar smartphones hit the market due to competitors coming out with Android devices and of course the all mighty iPhone.

Eventually, Palm ended up selling and dying off anyway, despite their best efforts. They were purchased by HP who tried to offer consumers the beauty of WebOS(which was actually a pretty cool platform if you never got the chance to use it)but again, HP’s efforts to bring Palm back from the dead in the form of the WebOS running tablets they sold for a time had failed. We would think that Palm is gone, but that may not be the case as it appears they may yet again be reborn under the guise of a new brand. Alcatel Onetouch seems to have purchased the Palm trademarks from HP, which at this point technically means nothing because Alcatel may not have any plans to resurrect Palm at all. At least, not in the way that we remember Palm devices.

For now, Alcatel hasn’t made any official statements as to the reasons why they acquired the Palm brand, and it might be a bit hopeful on my part to think that they could be bringing a newly refreshed and revamped Palm family of devices to the masses in the future, but it isn’t an impossible notion for them to consider. It’s also a bit presumptuous to think that they could completely drop the Alcatel Onetouch name and decide to swap it out for Palm, but then again Palm is sort of a household brand that many people are familiar with and remember, we’d wager to say much more so than Alcatel. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Alcatel’s plans are for the Palm name, if anything.

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/alcatel-onetouch-purchases-palm-inc-trademarks-hp.html

‘The Interview’ Officially The Top Selling Movie On Google Play And YouTube For 2014

This Christmas has been an eventful one. In fact, so far, 2014 has been a rather eventful year with a lot of strange devices (here’s looking at you Samsung Galaxy Note Edge) as well as a couple of bust-ups (here’s looking at you OnePlus and Cyanogen). However, one of the stranger and more recent stories, has been the ongoing saga of North Korea/Sony Hack/The Interview. This has been a real-life movie script revolving around a fictional movie script. The Interview was due to be released on Christmas Day in the US although after the Sony hack, movie theatres began to get a little edgy and all subsequently withdrew their interest in showing the movie through fears of similar attacks. However that all led to Sony and Google teaming up to release the movie.

It was reported last week that the movie would be shown on Google Play starting Christmas Eve. It was also available via Xbox Video and on YouTube. The movie was set at a standard rate of $15.99 to buy and $5.99 to rent. Since then the news emerged that the movie had managed to generate $15 million dollars between Christmas Eve and Saturday solely by its online revenues. This was quite a massive figure for just online sales. To compare, the movie did get a limited theater release although this was largely through independent and indie theaters with the larger chain theaters still abstaining. That said, the movie only managed to generate $2.47 million via the theater avenue.

Well, the latest news is that based on the high selling figures online and that massive $15 million generated it seems The Interview has officially become the top selling movie on both Google Play and YouTube for 2014. This is probably not too surprising as the hype and drama behind the release of The Interview did set the groundwork and the wheels in motion for the movie to instantly take off like it did. That said though, you can be sure, generating $15 million via online sales only (and in a matter of days) will start the bigwigs thinking about the future of movie releases via channels like YouTube and Google Play. Were you one of those who contributed to the $15 million tally? Did you like the movie? Let us know.

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/interview-officially-top-selling-movie-google-play-youtube-2014.html

Rumor: Samsung Allegedly Confirms The Release Of Android Lollipop To Devices In January

If you’re a Samsung device owner and are ready and waiting for the update to the latest version of Android software, it appears you won’t be waiting much longer. A post on reddit from a person that claims to be an employee of Samsung has outed that Samsung is gearing up(pun intended, I know.. bad puns are bad)for a release of Android Lollipop on multiple devices in January. That’s literally just in the next few days, of course that doesn’t mean we should expect updates to start flowing on January 1st. The alleged employee states that he received this news from Samsung internally by email asking that employees begin preparing store devices for the lollipop update(image below of the email screenshot that was uploaded)and further states which devices Samsung plans to attack first with the software upgrade.

Perhaps unsurprisingly and according to this post, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be the first device that Samsung focuses on for the launch of this software, followed by the Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy Note Edge, succeeded by the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S4 which are last year’s models. Following that set of devices Samsung will reportedly move to upgrading tablets, although the post on reddit makes no mention of which tablets specifically those might be.

There wasn’t much else in terms of details like exact timeframe, although the redditer did state that they have been instructed to tell people that Lollipop is “coming soon” as a response for answering questions about the update. Whether or not this pans out to be true remains to be seen but January is only a few days away, and it’s entirely possible that we could see the updates hit devices as soon as the end of this week, although don’t quote me on that as I’m merely speculating. This if anything other than alerting us to the Lollipop upgrade being this coming month, gives Samsung users a reason to keep a watchful eye on their status bars to see of the OTA comes through. The poster also made a point to acknowledge people’s questions on reddit in response to his post, and that they will answer anything they can as more information comes in. You can find the link to the reddit post below if you want to join the conversation.

Samsung Lollipop Update email

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/rumor-samsung-allegedly-confirms-the-release-of-android-lollipop-to-devices-in-january.html

OnePlus One Looks Set For Russia Next After Passing Certification

Anyone interested in OnePlus or their flagship killer the OnePlus One will have been following the recent news about their rather unorthodox entry into the Indian smartphone market. In fairness, OnePlus seem to be a rather unorthodox company anyway and as such the news of their troubles in India are only a little surprising. That said, the Indian launch of the One has been greatly marred by what now seems to be a massively impactful fall-out with their software developers, Cyanogen. This in reality has been quite unfortunate for the Indian smartphone market as beyond all the hype and buzz of the supposed lovers-tiff between the two companies, India was one of the regions which was extremely interested in getting the One. When the device originally launched, the One hit sixteen countries and it seemed at the time, India was not really in the company’s forward vision. However, after months of seeing demand from India significantly grow (and in some cases more than the actual launch counties) OnePlus decided they had to satisfy the Indian demand. Hence the release. So with such an unfortunate and highly publicized squabble between the two, it seems it was the consumers who (as always) ended up losing out.

That said, the latest news about the global journey of the One is that the device looks set to launch in Russia next. This latest news comes from the fact that the One has reportedly been certified by Rostest Moscow. This is the agency who tests products and equipment in Russia. Similar to the FCC in the US or TENNA in China. As with both the FCC and TENNA, once a product hits Rostest Moscow and passes certification, it should be expected that it will soon land. This won’t come as too much of a surprise to those in Russia who have been waiting on the One or following its journey as OnePlus has started a Russia specific thread on the OnePlus forums under the banner ‘Hello Russia’. So, this next regional market had been expected since the summer.

At the moment, there are no further details beyond the certification of the device and things like when or the price have yet to be made public. That said, again, it is unlikely to differ vastly from other areas, as OnePlus do seem to be trying to maintain consistency of price across regions. It is also (at the moment) unclear if this will be the so-called “Global” edition of the One or a more regional related offering. It is presumed that the global version will be the one offered, but you never know. Are you based in Russia? Looking forward for the One? Let us know

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/oneplus-one-looks-set-russia-next-passing-certification.html

Mizuu Media Center App Goes Free In Version 3.0 Update With Material Design Elements

AH Mizuu-1

Media Management tool Mizuu has gotten a wonderful little update today which now makes it free (down from a price of $2.99) and gives it a somewhat Material Design makeover. If you have never used Mizuu before, this is simply an app that compiles all of your video files, Movies, and TV shows into one easy to use application to manage them from one spot, but it does not include a video player for you to start, stop, and pause playback. It does however allow you to access any installed video player on your device through the app so you don’t have to exit Mizuu and navigate to your video player of choice. Because, what good would a media management app be if it didn’t at least do that?

What’s really awesome is that now with Mizuu being free you can check it out and see how you like it, and it doesn’t offer in-app-purchases either, and from the screenshots it doesn’t look like there are ads, so this should be a nice user experience. Notable changes here besides the Material Design inspired UI style, are the movie and tv show library overview as pointed out by the app developer. Things should now be easier to see thanks to the tabbed interface, separating your videos in different categories like favorites, all movies, watched and unwatched etc. This should allow you to find exactly what you’re looking for more easily and quite a bit quicker if you have a ton of videos in your library.

In addition to the inclusion of tabs, the developer states that tabs are sandboxed, so you can initiate a search in the unwatched tab and it will only search for movies within that tab and not the others. File name recognition has also been improved so the app is capable of handling plenty of new naming conventions, and in the future the dev states that he is working to bring Mizuu to the Android TV platform. So, if you already use the app on Android and would love to get the app on your Nexus Player, the app is coming it’s just a matter of time. If you want to check out Mizuu for yourself, you can grab it from the Play Store link.

The post Mizuu Media Center App Goes Free In Version 3.0 Update With Material Design Elements appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/mizuu-media-center-app-goes-free-version-3-0-update-material-design-elements.html

Chrome OS Users Can Now Run Linux In A Window Using The Crouton Chrome Extension

Lenovo-N20p-chromebook-AH-3

Chromebooks are consistently coming up with new ways to be ever useful to anybody that uses them, and now they’re adding support for running your favorite Linux distro in a window by running Crouton in Chrome OS. If you use a Chromebook all you have to do is start by downloading the Crouton extension in Chrome which will allow you to open up a separate virtual window to run seemingly any distribution of Linux, no moving back and forth between Linux and Chrome OS. The one caveat is that your Chromebook has to be set in developer mode to access the capability, if you’ve got that covered, you’re in.

After you’re in developer mode, the next couple of steps involve as we stated above, installing the Crouton Chrome extension and then downloading Crouton. From there you can open a shell using the following command, “<Ctrl>+<Alt>+T” (without the quotes of course) and then typing shell and hitting <enter>. Finally, run “sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton”(again without quotes)and you’re done. Whatever your needs are for running Linux on a Chromebook or Chromebox device, this should make it much easier and cut down any time it might take to switch back and forth between Linux and Chrome OS, because essentially you’re still running on Chrome OS with Linux more or less running on top in the window which could simply be closed at any time whenever you’re done.

Since Chrome OS is based on Linux, running Linux on a Chromebook was possible prior to the ability to run it from a window, but arguably this is much faster as you can minimize the window any time you need to do things in Chrome OS and then expand the window when you need to continue your exploits in Linux. As pointed out by GIGAOM, the use of Linux on a Chromebook could be beneficial if you have the need for some third party apps that you may be able to find within the Linux platform, that you can’t find with the library of web apps on Chrome. Although I don’t personally use Linux much myself ( I have in the past) this is something that should excite anyone who is a general tech geek and has had some experience with using Linux before. Do you use a Chromebook and/or Linux machine? If so, will you be attempting to try this out?

Screenshot 2014-12-29 at 11.09.09 AM

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/chrome-os-users-can-now-run-linux-window-using-crouton-chrome-extension.html

Google AOSP Issue Tracker Has Been Inundated With Spam Messages

Email has been one of the real game changers of technology and virtually everyone you know has and uses email now and on a daily basis. In fact, you would probably be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t have email these days. The fact that we all have this somewhere-in-the-ether mailbox which can collect and store our mail has really made life online an easy thing. That said, like all mailboxes, you do tend to occasionally get overrun with generic mail, aka spam. However, unlike the spam which turns up in your physical mailbox like the Trader Joes newsletter or that Victoria Secrets catalogue which periodically turns up (oh right, just me then), online spam is far more frequent. The more services you sign up for or more products you buy, the greater the level of spam you will receive. The worst of these spam mail is those which you did not sign up for but instead some company has managed to get hold of (or buy) your email address and insists on reminding you of the wonders of Viagra or the latest ‘seven ways to get rich in the next six minutes’. These are the worst types of spam and ones we are all getting, more and more often.

Well, don’t feel alone as it now seems that Google has signed up to some dodgy service recently which sells your email address (hmm, wonder what’s in your recent search history, Mr Google). That is, what you would think if you visited the AOSP issue tracker today. Yep, it seems Google today is being quite highly inundated with spam. It seems, even the mighty Google can’t get away from the unfortunate spam phenomenon, with what seems to be a vast number of messages being auto-posted and generated to the issue tracker. All of the messages (or at least the majority) seem to be from the same spammer (or group of spammers) under the guise of Vashikaran Specialist (or ‘VaShiKaRaN SpEciAliSt’ to be exact). The spamming has only been live for a few hours, but in that time the number of spam is seriously increasing at a rapid rate. Most of them seem to be India orientated with India appearing in the title consistently. Not to mention that they are more the usual type of spam content. So for instance, if you are interested in “bring your love back through Indian hypnotism” or an “online black magic specialist in Madhya Pradesh” then you might want to head over to the issue tracker today.

At present, it is not clear how the spammers have managed to breach Google’s safety protocols for the issue tracker. One would assume, Google have this sort of thing down tight. That said though, they are there and hitting the issue tracker quite hard. It also seems convenient that it happens to be on the night before New Year’s Eve when this has all kicked off. Most of those at Google who are there to sort these things out, are probably gearing up for their New Year break so it is unclear how quickly this will get sorted. Of course, it will get sorted and if you are seriously tracking an issue then you should expect it to be cleared up either in the next few hours or few days. So, need to know how to get your girlfriend back in five easy steps? Then click here.

The post Google AOSP Issue Tracker Has Been Inundated With Spam Messages appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/google-aosp-issue-tracker-inundated-spam-messages.html

Amazon Offering Up to 70% off of Sandisk Flash Drives, SD Cards and More!

sandisk-microsd-ah

As part of today’s Gold Box Deal of the Day today, they are offering up to 70% off of select Sandisk memory cards and Flash Drives. Some of the better ones are the 128GB microSD card that is typically around $129.99, it’s going for $80 right now. Which is a big deal, actually. There’s also a 64GB SD card for $27.99 and many others available. Check out the link below for all the deals.

Sandisk Memory Card Sale

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/amazon-offering-70-off-sandisk-flash-drives-sd-cards.html

Deal: Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 – $369.99

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 cam AH

If you’ve been looking for a great sale on the Galaxy Tab S 10.5, well here’s one for you. eBay has the Galaxy Tab S 10.5, brand new for just $369.99. Which is actually cheaper than what a brand new 8.4-inch version of the Galaxy Tab S sells for. So it’s not a bad price at all. It includes a 2560×1600 resolution AMOLED display, Snapdragon 800 processor and 3GB of RAM. You can grab yours from the link down below.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 - $369.99

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/deal-samsung-galaxy-tab-s-10-5-369-99.html

Taiwanese Regulators Clear Twelve Smartphone Manufacturers From Breaking Data Protection Policies

The Taiwanese regulators have cleared twelve smartphone manufacturers from breaking local (Taiwan) data protection laws. These manufacturers included Apple, Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC, Asus, Huawei, Xiaomi and ZTE. The last three, the largest Chinese smartphone manufacturers, are no strangers to being accused of data security breaches. However as part of the investigation, the National Communications Commission are to request that mobile ‘phone makers make information transmission more secure from smartphones. The probe was started following media reports that some Xiaomi smartphones automatically send user data back to Xiaomi’s servers situated in mainland China, but was quickly widened in scope to cover the other eleven manufacturers. Xiaomi were also in hot water back in August 2014 when a Finnish security company claimed that the manufacturer collected address book data without user permission. Following this story, Xiaomi apologized and said that it would change one of the features on the device.

What does this news mean? This story comes at a time when other countries and corporates are increasingly studying both Chinese businesses and authorities thanks to the mistrust that exists around the world. In essence, the perception is that there are many potential cyber security threats from China. The recent debacle involving North Korea, Sony and “The Interview” highlight that cyber security should be taken seriously. Taiwan is also especially sensitive to potential Chinese cyber security issues as many Chinese still consider Taiwan to be a renegade province (and China has never renounced the use of force to take it back). From a Westerner’s perspective, it’s easy to think that other nations are always the ones involved in espionage and cyber stalking, but this ignores the bigger picture. I’m sure that there are many parties that might be interested in snooping on user data as well as those wanting to sell advertising, such as Google.

At this juncture, I don’t believe the news will make any impact but we may see other government departments around the world query and independently investigate the smartphone manufacturers in the coming months. Whether we’ll get to see the depth of these investigations remains to be seen. Meanwhile, does this stamp of approval give you, our users, any more confidence in either these individual brands or the industry as a whole? Let us know in the comments below.

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/taiwanese-regulators-clear-twelve-smartphone-manufacturers-breaking-data-protection-policies.html

Last Chance To Pick up the Waterproof MIGHTY Speaker for $35

Screenshot 2014-12-30 09.55.36

A waterproof, and sandproof speaker will always come in handy. As people do love to take their speakers to the beach, or to the poolside, and even in the shower. And this one won’t get damaged. However, most speakers that are waterproof are also closer to the $100 price range and not $35. Which makes the MIGHTY speaker amazing. It’s on sale right now for just $35 through the Android Headlines Deals Store, it’s normal price is $80. It’s waterproof for up to 30 minutes in up to 1 meter of water. It also uses Bluetooth 4.0 to stay connected to your devices.

You can pick up the MIGHTY Speaker today from the Android Headlines Deal Store for $35. But hurry, the offer ends Tomorrow at midnight!

The post Last Chance To Pick up the Waterproof MIGHTY Speaker for $35 appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/last-chance-pick-waterproof-mighty-speaker-35.html

Android Deals – Dec. 30th, 2014: Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Alpha, Xperia Z3 and More!

Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-S-Review-AH-2

It’s time for those awesome after Christmas deals. So let’s see what’s available.

from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/android-deals-dec-30th-2014-galaxy-tab-s-galaxy-alpha-xperia-z3.html

AH Awards 2014: Best Android Adventure Game Of The Year

We all love adventure. The thrills of seeking out the unknown and finding epic rewards, beautiful landscapes, and solving mysteries are all things that can make an adventure game great. Adventure games can also provide you with a little bit of action, and they also are usually weaved together with wonderful stories and charming characters that are easy to engage with. Some of the most fun games you’ll ever play are adventure titles, and here’s our picks for best Adventure games of the year.

Winner: Leo’s Fortune

For me this was a toss up, as there were other titles I considered for this pick, but in the end it was the hilarious commentary and goofy looks from the game’s main character, Leopold, along with the lush graphics and the tried and true platformer style gameplay that won me over. Leo’s Fortune tasks you with helping Leo find his lost(rather stolen)fortune of gold. Leo paints an elaborate story of how he came to be looking for his fortune and who he suspects might have taken it, and while you help him travel through beautiful and wonderous landscapes there will loads of puzzles to solve if you want to progress, as well as traps, pits and other things that stand in your way that you can usually find in a platformer game. If you haven’t played Leo’s Fortune yet, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Runner Up: Mage Gauntlet

Mage Gauntlet was one of my absolute favorites this year. It’s an adventure game that takes on some RPG like elements, with leveling up and equippable items/gear that can help you on your adventure as you fight your way through loads of enemies and cross paths with some pretty hilarious characters like an eccentric wizard and a crazy guy that really hates boars. There are 84 levels to beat, half of which are in normal mode and the other half in monster mode, with fairly responsive touch based controls for attacking, dashing, and casting spells to get rid of your foes. As with many games from Noodlecake Studios, the dialogue is hysterical and will tend to make you laugh throughout the game, making it that much more enjoyable.

Honorable Mention

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/ah-awards-2014-best-adventure-game-year.html

Rumor: Xiaomi Mi5 To Ship With A Snapdragon 810 SoC And 4GB Of RAM

This was a great year for Xiaomi, and they expect 2015 to be even better. Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, announced yesterday that the company will unveil their new flagship in January, along with announcing that they raised $1.1 billion in funding, which should help their expansion plans most of all. We’re not used to seeing company’s CEO announcing the launch of a flagship handset like that, but hey, we’re not complaining. Lei Jun didn’t reveal the launch date of the device though, while rumors are saying the company will unveil this thing on January 15.

Krypton 36, a news site from China, shared some additional info when it comes to this handset. They confirmed that the phone will be named Xiaomi Mi5, not the Mi4S, though that was to be expected. The portal also says that the device will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 SoC, a 64-bit octa-core processor, as earlier rumors suggested. They say that the Mi5’s display will be over 5-inches big and will sport QuadHD resolution, while 4GB of RAM will also be included in this device. 1.75um large pixel camera sensor will also be a part of the package according to the source, as well as a 2.5D sapphire glass covering the display. Fingerprint scanner and NFC will come with this device as well.

Okay, let’s try to make some sense out of this. We’ve seen a lot of spec rumors thus far, and they tend to agree on most accounts, but there are slight differences here. Earlier reports stated that the phone will ship with 3GB of RAM, and quite frankly that seems more probable, but who knows, perhaps Xiaomi really intends to include 4GB of RAM in their new flagship, it would certainly be a good selling point, though completely unnecessary if you ask me. Sapphire screen was also mentioned before, but previous reports claimed that Xiaomi will release a separate version of the Mi5 sporting sapphire screen protection, so… I doubt we’ll see this on the regular Mi5. The phone would be way too expensive with all these components inside of it, I could be wrong though, we’ll find out soon.

What are your thoughts on all this, do you think Xiaomi Mi5 will sport 4GB of RAM and be powered by a Snapdragon 810, or do you think that’s unrealistic?

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from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/rumor-xiaomi-mi5-ship-snapdragon-810-soc-4gb-ram.html

It Took Xiaomi 6 Seconds To Sell 40,000 Redmi Note 4G Units In India

Xiaomi and Meizu are the two China-based OEMs which have manufactured some great handsets this year. 2014 was basically a breakthrough year for Meizu who announced two flagships and one really great and incredibly affordable mid-high end device. Xiaomi, on the other hand, managed to sell three times as much devices compared to 2013, so it was a great year for them as well. This OEM did encounter a couple of problems towards the end of the year though, after Ericsson sued them and they were banned from selling their devices in India, temporarily. There’s a lot more to that story than I can cover in this article, we already wrote about it, but Xiaomi is now allowed to sell Snapdragon-powered devices in India for another couple of days and then it will have to stop sales altogether until this issue with Ericsson is resolved, the hearing is set for the beginning of February.

The company did take advantage of this sales window and decided to sell their Redmi Note 4G handsets while they still can. Xiaomi has sold 40,000 units of their Redmi Note 4G handset in just 6 seconds In India today. This is also the first time Xiaomi was selling their Redmi Note 4G handset, a ton of people registered for this sale and it obviously didn’t take long for Xiaomi to sell out everything they had via Flipkart. People who purchased the Redmi Note 4G can redeem some freebies the company offered to them, like a micro SIM card tray and a screen protector. In case you’re one of those 40,000 people who bought the Redmi Note 4G in India today, you can redeem the listed freebies by registering here.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G features a 4.7-inch 720p (1280 x 720) IPS LCD display along with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage (expandable via MicroSD card up to 64GB). This handset is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 quad-core CPU clocked at 1.6GHz (unlike the MediaTek-powered 3G variant of this device) which ships with an Adreno 305 GPU for graphics rendering. 13 and 5-megapixel cameras are available on this device, on its back and front side, respectively. 3,200mAh battery ships with this device and as its name says, this is a 4G LTE capable device, it supports TD-LTE 2300MHz (Band 40) and FDD-LTE 1800MHz (Band 3) network bands.

The post It Took Xiaomi 6 Seconds To Sell 40,000 Redmi Note 4G Units In India appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

from AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/12/took-xiaomi-6-seconds-sell-40000-redmi-note-4g-units-india.html

21 Best New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (12/16/14 - 12/30/14)

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.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Expense IQ - Expense Manager

This week's roundup is brought to you by Expense IQ - Expense Manager from Handy Apps.

21 Best New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (12/16/14 - 12/30/14) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

from Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AndroidPolice/~3/FwXnDPjE-kw/story01.htm

Is Palm about to be resurrected as an Android smartphone?

It’s been awhile since we last heard from Palm. Feels like it was only a few years ago the company launched the WebOS-powered Palm Pre handset, a smartphone that ultimately failed to make headway in a mobile market dominated by Android and iOS.

Not too long after that, the company eventually called it quits, finding itself acquired by HP who later made a failed attempt at launching its own branded tablet line featuring WebOS called the TouchPad (later the subject of some pretty sweet fire sales).

That’s not to say WebOS didn’t have some really good things going for it. Google would later pick up WebOS designer Matias Duarte to help pretty up Android for their Honeycomb release as well as subsequent versions of the OS. In 2010, ownership of WebOS would change from Palm to HP, then later to LG where it now remains. This wasn’t intended for their smartphones, mind you. But rather to help bolster functionality of their smart TV line.

For those that haven’t been keeping up, the Palm name — once synonymous with PDAs and early smartphones — actually fell into the hands of TCL Communications back in October, responsible for building televisions and low-cost Android handsets for various carriers around the world under their Alcatel brand.

Exactly what TCL plans on doing with the Palm brand is anyone’s guess, but if you head on over MyNewPalm.com, you’ll find a redirect to Palm.com, a teaser site with a looping video that appears to be hyping the release of a new Palm device/s. It really wouldn’t be too far fetched to believe they’re planning on relaunching a Palm smartphone, possibly making everything official at CES 2015 kicking off next week.

Given Alcatel’s expertise with Android (and LG still owning WebOS), we wouldn’t be surprised to find a new Palm smartphone, this time powered by Android on the showroom floor. Of course, we’ll be on hand at the event, bringing you guys the latest, so stay tuned.

from Phandroid http://phandroid.com/2014/12/30/alcatel-palm-android-smartphone/

Deal: HTC is once again offering 50% off all accessories

30 best Android games of 2014

Samsung edges Apple in customer satisfaction measure

In general, 2014 is probably not going to go down as a year that Samsung wants to remember. Although the company is still the proverbial 800-lb. gorilla in the room amongst Android mobile device manufacturers, the hold on the top has loosened some with accompanying negative impacts. Probably most disturbing for Samsung have been the missed sales and financial targets for their mobile device lines of business and products. As the year comes to a close though, new customer satisfaction data shows the company has managed to jump past their biggest rival in the larger smartphone market, besting Apple by a couple points on the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The data shows Samsung’s reception by consumers has been an up and down affair since 2004, although recent years have seen consistent improvement year to year. For 2014 Samsung achieved a score of 81 on the index, a 6.6% increase compared to the prior year. Meanwhile, Apple, which only started getting measured in 2012, has been on a slow downward trend, falling to a score of 79 this year, a 2.5% decrease compared to 2013.

Most of the other manufacturers in the survey of satisfaction with cellular telephones are only trailing by a few points with Nokia and Motorola/Google sitting at a score of 77, HTC at 75, BlackBerry at 74 and LG at 73. However, only Samsung and Apple managed to perform better than the industry as a whole where customers scored satisfaction at 78 on the ACSI.

Do you think this is a major victory for Samsung?

source: ACSI

via: PocketNow

Come comment on this article: Samsung edges Apple in customer satisfaction measure

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from Android News, Rumours, and Updates http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AndroidNewsGoogleAndroidForums/~3/uXIUPtU1WD0/

Samsung preps retail stores for Lollipop update arriving in January

We know owners of Samsung devices (or any other manufacturer for that matter) are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Android 5.0 Lollipop. After initially rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop for the Samsung Galaxy S5 in Poland as sort of a test run, it was more recently we saw the update begin spreading through Europe.

Of course, the next logical question is when users here in the states can expect it to arrive, especially considering carriers can often times delay these updates at their discretion, testing compatibility with their networks and pre-installed applications.

If you’ve ever visited a Best Buy, you’re probably familiar with those Samsung booths with countless Galaxy devices on display for shoppers to play with. Well, it seems Samsung has begun briefing their retail associates (reps) with some info on the impending Lollipop update.

According to an email obtained by one verified associate, the update is set to begin rolling out as early as January, with the main focus being on the Galaxy S5 (unsurprisingly), followed by the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Samsung Galaxy Note Edge after that. Once those are out of the way, expect the rollout to hit the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy S4, followed closely by Samsung’s tablet line.

Now, the jury is still out on which carrier could be the first to push out Lollipop for the Galaxy S5, Note 4, or Edge, but it seems Samsung is definitely doing their part to make sure the update is released in a timely fashion. Who da thunk it?

from Phandroid http://phandroid.com/2014/12/30/samsung-galaxy-s5-lollipop-update-january-us/

Update to media organizing app Mizuu brings Material Design and a free price tag

Alleged images of Galaxy S6 surface, poses next to the S4 and S5

Samsung releases Milk VR in hopes to bring more content to the Gear VR

Android 2014: A year in review

Samsung Milk VR app delivers virtual reality videos to your Gear VR on a daily basis

It’s no secret that there is a bit of a shortage when it comes to Samsung Gear VR content at the moment — and developers are surely working on changing that each and every day — but Samsung’s looking to give their headgear some tender love and care with a new app.

It’s another Milk app! Dubbed “Milk VR,” the app’s purpose is to deliver interesting 360-degree videos for you to check out every so often. The library of goods is expected to refreshed on a constant basis, which Samsung definitely needs to happen if they want to keep early adopters from getting bored of stuffing their Samsung Galaxy Note 4s inside head-mounted contraptions.

Even that isn’t enough to get us to recommend the headset for all but the most enthusiastic fans and developers of the Gear VR, though everything else about this thing has us pretty excited for its future (as our dear Kevin would tell you in his Samsung Gear VR review). Be sure to look for the app in the Oculus store if you’re interested.

[via CNet]

from Phandroid http://phandroid.com/2014/12/30/samsung-milk-vr-app/

Let's All Mock This Energizer-Branded Rugged Phone, Because It's Asking For It

Energizer is making a phone. Or more accurately, a small manufacturer called DDM, which sells various low-end devices in Europe via a handful of sub-brands, is making a series of phones and then slapping the Energizer name onto them. Oh, and they're going to be "ruggedized," like models from CAT and Casio. For some reason. Because "Energizer" is a byword for "Tough," I suppose. The company is trying to drum up some interest before a big reveal at CES in January, and since this is the tech blogger's equivalent of a bye week, let's take a look.