Now that Android 4.2 Jelly Bean is safely released to the public, it’s time to focus our attention on the next big version, expected to be called Key Lime Pie and likely to be unveiled in February or March of next year. Key Lime Pie, has appeared online in benchmarking results on a yet-to-be-releasedSony LT30i.
The hardware it is being tested, Sony LT30i, is a variation of the Sony Xperia T clocked at 1.6Ghz. Because Sony is a close partner of Google, and may be readying its own Nexus phone, it’s entirely possible that the hardware manufacturer has been granted early access to Android 5.0 as part of the Android PDK.
The LT30i features a 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 chip with modest Adreno 220 graphics. It also has a display of unknown size, but with a 720p resolution.
All this has to be taken with the usual large pinch of salt as the benchmark figures could easily be faked, as you would have thought we are many months away from seeing Android 5.0 revealed. It is doubtful the company will announce the software before Google I/O next summer, but with Google anything may be possible.
In case you were browsing the Google Play Store and found supposedly Apple-made mobile apps inside, apps that would be usually found in its own App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch use, then you should probably stay away from them.
A said “Apple Inc” developer has uploaded a series of popular iLife and iWork applications in our beloved Google Play Store. These include Garage Band, iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers and Pages. The “apps” were just released in the Play Store with no announcement from Apple, making it seem like a very well-elaborated scam.
Not only does the developer’s name take Apple’s identity, but the developer’s website directs you to Apple’s homepage, the email is [email protected] and the descriptions seem rather convincing. To the unexperienced Android user, this may very well seem legit. But do you really think Apple would release such apps in their largest competitor’s app store? No way.
It seems some users have already paid for and downloaded these apps, so please beware.
Somebody at Google must have been tipped off because all of the fake apps have been removed. But the real question is, how did they get into the Google Play Store in the first place?
This is where Apple strict monitoring of the Apps they put up in the App Store is appreciated.
It was only a month ago that Google updated its Google Play Store app to version 3.9.16, which brought along new features like improved notifications and a wish list function. Now, a new version of the app, 3.10.9, is being pushed out to select users.
There is a new screen that pops up after you start installing a new app. The screen is different than the one we are all used to seeing during app installation and it also displays a “Users Also Installed” list of apps that is handy for discovery. When the installation is complete a “Keep shopping” button pops up.
Also, there is now a “Remove” icon displayed in the Wish list that came in the 3.9.16 update of the Google Play. That is certainly a welcome update.
Finally, there is now a “Translate” button next to apps that include a description that isn’t in your native language. This is much the same as the translate option that appears under the menu bar when using Chrome to visit a foreign site.
APKs are available online which are signed by Google and install right on top of any other Google Play Store version. It is safe to install it if you don’t wish to wait for an automatic update to be pushed to your device on a schedule you don’t control.
A federal judge on Friday approved a legal settlement in which Google agreed to pay a record fine of $22.5 million to resolve federal allegations of privacy violations, despite objections from a consumer group that argues the penalty is too weak.
Hours after holding a brief hearing in San Francisco’s federal court, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled that the negotiated agreement is “fair, adequate and reasonable.”
The Federal Trade Commission had touted the penalty, negotiated last summer, as the largest fine it has ever assessed in a case of this kind. The settlement stems from an FTC investigation which found that Google’s advertising service used software “cookies” to track the Web pages visited by people who used Apple’s Safari Web browser, after promising that it would not do so.
Google, which has maintained that the tracking was inadvertent, did not admit to any legal violation but agreed to disable the cookies. Attorneys for both Google and the FTC spoke in favor of the settlement in court, while an attorney for the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog group opposed the agreement as ineffective.
The fine, although large by the federal government’s standards, is a drop in the bucket for Google, which made nearly $38 billion in revenue last year.
“We were disappointed, but think we made important points that will have an impact on how similar cases are dealt with in the future,” said John Simpson, director of the Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project.
Google Maps for iOS is almost ready for release to Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The WSJ report uses information from someone knowledgeable about Google Maps software development. The source reveals that Google handed out a test version of a new Google Maps for iOS app to put final changes before submitting it to the Apple App Store.
While it’s expected that Google’s iOS Maps will include walking and transit directions, the WSJ’s source claims that Google will also bundle its turn-by-turn navigation feature, available free on all Android devices, in the app. This would bring the functionality to par with Apple Maps, which is why some pundits still think Apple will not approve the app when it is submitted.
Google Maps for iOS could see the company derive a huge amount of revenue from sponsored business listings and other product tie-ins. But while it’s possible to change default apps in Android, Apple Maps will continue to be the default service used within third-party apps.
Google apps such as YouTube, Google+ and Search are available on iOS, and are very popular despite not being integrated directly into the operating system. Apple would not comment on the matter, but it would seem likely that they view Google’s services as a thorn in its proverbial side.
November 13th saw the official release of the Samsung Nexus 10, at least for those lucky enough to actually order one before stock dried up. Within hours, almost every market was sold out of the Nexus 10, but the United States still managed to keep enough 16GB models in stock it seems. Until today, that is. The 16GB and the 32GB version of the Samsung Nexus 10 are now “sold out” in the Play Store.
The last things you can buy now are the 16 and 32GB Nexus 7, and the new $199 Acer Chromebook. Everything else in the Google hardware department is sold out. Hopefully Google can get things back in order and get devices shipping again soon.
Earlier this week, the Nexus 4 smartphone was sol out and some of those who ordered the smartphone received an email on Thursday, telling them that the device is on backorder and could ship sometime in the next 3 weeks.
Acer has launched the latest version of Chromebook laptops- Acer C7 at USD 199.
The newest Chromebook features a 320GB hard-drive, an 11.6-inch display, Intel processor with 2GB of RAM, USB 3 and HDMI ports, 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage, and it weighs in at about 1kg. But what needs to be pointed out primarily is the price. The Acer C7 Chromebook priced at just $199, is $50 cheaper than the Samsung Chromebook launched less than a month ago.
It comes with dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Ethernet connectivity, HDMI and VGA ports, HD camera and 3 USB 2.0 ports. It will give 3.5 hours of battery backup with normal usage.
The laptop is being promoted by Google and there is no mention of the Chromebook on Acer’s website. This is the sixth laptop to be launched in the market with a Google Chrome OS.
The Acer C7 Chromebook will be available from November 14 on the Google Play store, Amazon and Best Buy in the US and from selected retailers in the UK. And as with all previous Chromebook releases, this model shows Google’s focus on making technology and internet access easily available to everyone and once again directs its users toward the cloud.
Google’s newest smartphone, the Nexus 4 from LG, sold out within its first hour in the U.S. The unlocked phone was only available through Google’s online Play store.
The Nexus 4 costs $299 for the 8 GB model and $349 for the 16 GB model. Google now prompts you to input your email address in order to get updates on when the phone will be available again.
The price is right too. At $299, the Nexus 4 costs about half as much as an unlocked iPhone.
It’s unclear how many phones Google had to sell, but it surely didn’t expect this kind of demand.
[quote]”There’s been so much interest for the Nexus lineup that we’ve sold out of some of our initial stock in a few countries,” the Nexus team said in a post at Google+ social network.[/quote]
“We are working hard to add more Nexus devices to Google Play in the coming weeks to keep up with the high demand.” At a starting price of $299 for smartphones not bound to particular carriers, and therefore unsubsidized by telecom companies, Nexus 4 models were deemed a bargain at half the price of similarly “unlocked” iPhones from Apple.
“Nexus 4 is the new smartphone from Google,” the Play store page said. “With cutting edge hardware, the latest version of Android, and the best Google apps – Nexus 4 puts the world’s information at your fingertips.”
Good news for all custom rom developers, hoping to play around with the new Android 4.2. Google has added the binaries of the newest OS to AOSP(Android Open-Source Project). Uptill now only the Nexus 10 and the Nexus 4 were enjoying the sweetness of Android 4.2 now that Google has opened the gates, expect all custom devices, to start making the jump to Android 4.2 in the coming weeks if not days.
The Binaries for the Nexus 4 have been kept under wraps, but Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are out there in the open along with the 4.2 for Galaxy Nexus.
The Google Nexus 7 Tablet will go on sale today in India. Tablet maker Asus confirmed that sale of the tablet would begin today, with an entry level Nexus 7 with 16GB storage priced at Rs 19,990. The Nexus 7 available in India is not the new Android 4.2 variant recently announced but the original Jelly Bean version launched early this year.
The Nexus 7 has a 7-inch screen with IPS (in-plane switching) screen with a resolution of 1,280×800 pixels. The Nexus 7 has a 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, which includes a 12-core GPU. It also has a Micro-USB port, 1GB of RAM, and a 1.2-megapixel front camera . The Nexus 7 has been touted as one of the best 7 inch tablets and only stand in competition to Kindle Fire HD and the likes.
The Nexus 7 also has a more enhanced display according to display tech expert display mate. The Rs 19,999 price is for the Nexus 7 with 16GB storage. The same model sells in the US for $199. Until a few weeks ago, this model used to cost $249 while the one with 8GB storage was sold for $199. But on October 29, Google discontinued the 8GB version of Nexus 7. It reduced the price on 16GB model and introduced a new model with 32GB storage. It also launched the 3G version of Nexus 7 with 32GB storage.
Those hoping to see Google Maps return to the iPhone might not want to hold their breath.
Sources at Google familiar with its mapping plans say they are “not optimistic” that Apple will ever approve a dedicated Google Maps iOS app. Though the app is reportedly in development and should be ready to ship by the end of the year, the sources say their plans are only proceeding in “the unlikely event” that Apple will choose to approve the app.
Although any user can bookmark a page on the Safari browser linking to maps.google.com, many have been hoping that Apple will allow Google Maps back on the iPhone as a dedicated third-party app via the App Store. But there are doubts among some circles inside Google that such an app, when completed, would be approved by Apple.
While one source indicated increased hopes that the dedicated Google Maps iOS app will eventually be approved now that Apple’s maps leader, Scott Forstall, has departed the company, another was less than enthusiastic about any increased prospects, citing industry politics and Apple’s need to save face as much as possible and “keep moving forward in an effort to make its obviously inferior product better”. The source also cites the present organisation of the App Store, which, to them, suggests Apple has little interested in approving an official Google Maps app.
The release in mid-September of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, which runs on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and is pre-installed on the iPhone 5, saw Apple replace Google Maps as the phone’s mapping software of choice with Apple’s own in-house mapping solution. Apple’s Maps app was widely panned by both the technology press and consumers. The software saw train stations disappear, an airport relocated miles from where it should be, and local points-of-interest, like cafes and shops, completely erased from streets. Public transport information and some locations were lost. The addition of turn-by-turn navigation and vector graphics – which Google had refused to provide to Apple on the iPhone – did not satisfy a significant number of users.
Although chief executive Tim Cook said in October that 200 million devices had been upgraded to iOS 6, the new maps are seen as Apple’s most significant recent failure, and led Cook to issue a rare public apology on behalf of the company. Internal strife over the new maps was so great it reportedly became a key part of what led Cook last week tofire Forstall, the chief architect of Apple’s iOS and the one finally responsible for choosing to replace Google’s maps with Apple’s own.
Google’s sources though do not think their own Maps app would be approved quickly. Specifically, they point to the lack of any mapping app in the “Find maps for your iPhone” section of the App Store – accessible only via iPhones or iPads – that use the Google Maps APIs to call wirelessly for location, routing or point-of-interest (POI) data.
Further, a source at Google told me the feeling is that those apps were purposely left out of the new section because they promote Google and its “superior product” – at a time when there is so much bad blood between the companies over the continuing smartphone patent litigation (following allegations from the late Steve Jobs that Google’s Android OS ripped off iOS). In other words, no matter how bad Apple’s Maps are, the company still wants its users to move on from Google – and forget about them. This doesn’t bode well for the approval of an official Google Maps app, the source says.
Google has once again released their numbers of where each Android OS version is sitting at. This month it’s OS 4.1 Jelly Bean that has seen a modest boost, now powering 2.7% of all Android devices and up 0.9% in the last month. Ice Cream Sandwich also rose a respectable 5.1% to 25.8%. Still making up the largest share is OS 2.3 Gingerbread with 54.2%, but a good sign is that it decreased in the last four weeks by 1.6%. In addition, Cupcake, Donut Eclair and Froyo have all falled in percentages and continue to make their way into the history books.
Smartphones running Google’s Android software have leapt to 75% share of worldwide smartphone shipments, according to market tracker IDC.
Google’s OS was present on 136 million devices shipped in Q3, up from 71 million a year ago, a boost of 91.5% year-over-year. Apart from RIM and Apple, most smartphone manufactures have produced a wide variety of handsets that run on Android.
Coming in a distant second was Apple’s iOS with 14.9% of the smartphone market. That is also impressive as Apple has only three phones in production, the iPhone 4, 4S and 5.
Top-end Androids like Samsung’s Galaxy S III (which is expected to sell 30 million this year) are holding their own against Apple’s iPhone.
Coming in 3rd place is RIM – who hasn’t come out with a new smartphone in over a year – and they captured 4.3% of the market, significantly dropping of 34.7% over last year. Hopefully RIM’s tune will change when they launch their new BB10 devices in early 2013.
Nokia’s Symbian squeaked in with 2.3% market share, meanwhile Microsoft’s Windows Mobile/Windows Phone rose 140% over the year to take hold of 2% of the market, but have failed to grab the buyers attention. This might shift with all their new WP8 handset coming out in a couple weeks.
Sales of Google and Asustek’s Nexus 7 tablet have steadily increased since its launch, and are now near 1 million units per month.
Asustek Chief Financial Officer David Chang told The Wall Street Journal that Nexus 7 sales have grown from a start of about 500,000 units in the first month. In the latest month of sales, the number was “close to 1 million.”
[quote]David Chang said , “At the beginning, it was, for instance, 500K units a month, then maybe 600, 700K. This latest month, it was close to 1 million.”[/quote]
Even though Apple sold some 14 million iPad for this quarter, 3 million devices for the quarter is a pretty big number for Google’s tiny tablet. Asus also showed a 43 percent jump in net profits — $230 million compared to $160 million last year, says the report.
The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire face stiff competition from Apple’s new 7.9-inch iPad mini, which will go on sale this Friday. The iPad mini has a starting price of $329, which places it at a premium over the $199 entry price of the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7.
Late Monday, Google also released an upgraded version of the Nexus 7. The $199 version now has 16GB space while there’s another 32GB version with 3G for $299. Wi-Fi only 32GB Nexus 7 will cost $249.
The original 8GB Nexus 7 has been discontinued. The new version runs pure Google Android OS version 4.2 aka Jelly Bean.
Google today announced the Google Nexus 4 Smartphone, the Google Nexus 10 Tablet and the 32 GB version of the Google Nexus 7 tablet.
The Google Nexus 4, the newest smartphone in the Nexus line-up from Google, was announced today for availability starting next month in select markets.
[quote]“LG is proud and excited to play this role in helping build the latest Nexus smart-phone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Com-munications Company. “Users will be delighted by the perfectly balanced combination of form and function with the latest generation of Android.”[/quote]
The specs of the Google Nexus 4 include a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display (1,280 x 768), an 8 megapixel rear camera, Gorilla Glass 2, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM and the latest rendition of Google Now. Turn-by-turn navigation via Google Maps is included, as are 3D Maps, Street View and Indoor Maps. The Nexus 4 will be sold unlocked, supporting some 200 carriers that play by the GSM / HSPA+ rules. It’ll be made available in both 8GB and 16GB versions starting November 13 in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia, with pricing set for $299 (8GB) / $349 (16GB).
[quote]“This is the first time we collaborated with LG to build a Nexus device,” said Andy Ru-bin, Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content at Google. “They brought an extraordinary amount of talent to the project, and the result is a feature-packed device that feels great in your hand, and blazingly fast under the hood.”[/quote]
[toggle_box title=”Press Release” width=”Width of toggle box”]
LG AND GOOGLE ANNOUNCE NEXUS 4
Sleek, New Smartphone Combines LG’s Best-in-Class Hardware with the Best of Google
SEOUL, Oct. 30, 2012 – Designed collaboratively by LG and Google, Nexus 4, the newest smartphone in the Nexus line-up from Google, was announced today for avail-ability starting next month in select markets. With a sophisticated hardware design from LG, your favorite Google Apps, and the latest version of Android™, Nexus 4 puts the best of Google in the palm of your hand.
“LG is proud and excited to play this role in helping build the latest Nexus smart-phone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Com-munications Company. “Users will be delighted by the perfectly balanced combination of form and function with the latest generation of Android.”
“This is the first time we collaborated with LG to build a Nexus device,” said Andy Ru-bin, Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content at Google. “They brought an extraordinary amount of talent to the project, and the result is a feature-packed device that feels great in your hand, and blazingly fast under the hood.”
Capture and share your world Nexus 4 comes with a high-performance 8MP camera and takes stunning Photo Sphere images, letting you capture every detail of the world around you. Up, down and all around you, it’s like no camera you’ve ever seen; with Nexus 4, you can snap pictures in every direction that come together into incredible, immersive Photo Spheres that put you right inside the scene. Plus, photos upload themselves with Instant Upload so you’ll never lose a shot.
All of this comes to life with stunning clarity and crisp, natural color on the vibrant 1280-by-768 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display supported by Zerogap Touch technol-ogy. Gently curved glass edges allow your finger to slide smoothly on and off the 320ppi screen, while cutting edge display technology means you feel like you’re touch-ing every pixel, protected by scratch resistant Corning? Gorilla? Glass 2.
Built for speed Nexus 4 comes with a cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor, so you’ve got speed and power to spare. Zip around the web, experience rich 3D graphics and gameplay, and effortlessly switch between multiple apps without ever missing a beat. With 2GB of RAM and the fastest version of Android ever, Nexus 4 is the snappi-est Nexus smartphone yet.
Information at your fingertips Nexus 4 comes with the latest Google apps, putting the best of Google in the palm of your hand. The latest version of Google Now is built-in, which keeps you even more organized – get reminders about upcoming flights, restaurant reservations, hotel confir-mations and even nearby photo opportunities – when and where you need them.
Get to the places you care about quickly and easily with Google Maps™ for Android. With turn-by-turn GPS navigation, live traffic info, and integrated driving, walking and public transit directions, getting from A to B has never been easier. 3D Maps and rich satellite imagery give you a more realistic sense of what’s around you while features like Street View and Indoor Maps make sure you always know what’s in front of you.
Nexus 4 is sold unlocked and is GSM/HSPA+ compatible so it will operate on more than 200 network providers worldwide. Just pop in a supported SIM card and be up and running in no time. It will be available to purchase in both an 8GB version and a 16GB version on Google Play™ starting November 13 in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia. Offline availability in Europe, Central/South Americas, Asia, CIS and the Middle East will begin from the end of November.
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Also, Google released the 32GB version of the Nexus 7 tablet, signalling an end to the 8GB version. The 16GB Google Nexus 7 has now taken center stage in Google’s Play Store, with $199 netting you a slate that’s currently boasting a “now shipping” status. Those willing to fork out $249 can get a 32GB model (also listed as “In Stock”), while $299 provides access to a GSM-enabled 32GB model that’ll hop onto cellular networks — unfortunately, that one’s listed as “coming soon.”
And last but not least, out comes the iPad rival from Google’s stable, the Google Nexus 10. The new tablet, built in collaboration with Samsung, has one big bragging point — the highest resolution display of any tablet on the market — a 2560 x 1600, 300ppi, 10-inch touchscreen. Google promises about 9 hours of continuous video playback and about 500 hours of standby time. Despite being a Nexus device, the new tablet picks up on the design language of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1. It features a pair of front-facing stereo speakers on either side of the display (when it’s held in a landscape orientation) plus an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front camera for video chats. Under the hood, there’s a dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and built-in NFC. It also gets a built-in micro-HDMI port.
Like the Nexus 4, the Google Nexus 10 will ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. One new 4.2 feature Nexus 10 users may enjoy is the ability to have multiple user profiles on a single device. The Nexus 10 will ship on Nov. 13 at a price of $400 for 16GB of storage and $500 for 32GB.
