Galaxy S4 And HTC One Google Play Edition Receive Android 4.4.2 Update:

Google rolled out the Android 4.4.2 update recently shortly after it had rolled out Android 4.4.1 for Nexus devices. Updates such as these are first rolled out for Nexus devices before they gradually make their way to devices manufactured by other OEMs. The benefit of owning a Google Play Edition device is that you’re much higher up the list, meaning that updates are rolled out for these variants soon after the Nexus devices have received their fix. The first two GPE smartphones released earlier this year, the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, have both received the latest release of KitKat, Android 4.4.2. These incremental updates don’t bring any major features, however they do fix various bugs, including device specific bugs. Furthermore, a SMS related security exploit that was discovered recently has also been patched in Android 4.4.2. The updates have started rolling out over-the-air for both Google Play Edition smartphones, alternatively, users can download the firmware files from Google and flash their devices manually. Just recently a couple of new GPE devices were released, including the first ever GPE LG G Pad 8.3 tablet and a similar edition of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. Both of these devices, the smartphone and the tablet, come with Android 4.4 KitKat preinstalled.

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Sprint Wants To Buy T-Mobile [Rumor]

Right now there are four major mobile carriers in the U.S., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. When AT&T’s bid to acquire T-Mobile ultimately fell through, nobody thought that another major carrier would immediately move to pick up the fourth largest U.S. carrier. Given that considerable time has passed since that failed attempt, a new report by The Wall Street Journal claims that Sprint is gearing up to bid for T-Mobile U.S. If it goes through, rather if regulators let it go through, the U.S. market will effectively be left with three major carriers. It is reported that Sprint is likely to make an offer in the first half of 2014, the offer is likely to be to the tune of $20 billion. Sprint’s bid is almost half of what AT&T offered back in 2011, around $39 billion. There’s an obvious advantage here for Sprint to consider this bid. Bringing T-Mobile’s subscriber base and infrastructure on board will enable Sprint to launch much more effective competition against behemoths like Verizon and AT&T. Both Sprint and T-Mobile’s subscriber bases account for less than what AT&T holds, roughly 109 million. The question remains though, is Sprint going to face regulatory hurdles that might make it impossible to pursue this any further? That remains to be seen. There has been no official comment from either Sprint or T-Mobile confirming if talks are under way. So before a bid is officially made, we must hold on to those grains of salt


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iPhone Air And iPhone 6C Concept Videos Spotted

Let’s see – there is a MacBook Air, the iPad Air, so why not have the iPhone follow in the very same footsteps some time down the road? Who knows, Apple might just do that, but right now, we do have a couple of videos to share with you – one above as well as another right after, that will depict the possibility of what the iPhone Air as well as iPhone 6C would look like if they happened to be in existence. The iPhone Air video hails from Set Solution, where it boasts of some rather pretty renderings that might just leave some folks pinching themselves so that they know what they are seeing is not real, and it might never even come out in the first place. After all, who can argue with a smartphone that measures all of 1.5mm thin at the top, with a 3mm thickness located at the bottom, tipping the scales at 70 grams, while boasting an edge-to-edge glass display? As for the conceptual iPhone 6C, it will share the theme of having many different colors just like the iPhone 5c, except that there is a pronounced curve located on the display that is not too different from that of the LG G Flex, although the back would remain flat.

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Google Could Venture Into Designing Own Server Chips

What happens when you have a whole lot of money and influence? Well, it is a whole lot easier to make things happen, of course, and that seems to be the case with Google. Bloomberg has reported that Google could be looking into designing their very own server chips as part of an effort in order to build a better way for its hardware and software to interact with one another. Does this mean that Intel should watch out for this potential development? I would suppose so, especially when you consider how Google is not any two bit company, and the latter is touted to rely on technology from ARM Holdings Plc. Right now, Google is said to be the fifth largest customer of Intel, and should Google actually make its move into the world of server chips, it would definitely affect Intel’s bottomline at the end of the day – by up to 4.3%, if you were to take the percentage of Intel’s revenue contributed by the folks over at Google. Having said that, designing their own server chips also makes sense for Google in the long run, when you consider how they have already begun to design their own data centers with servers worldwide. With ARM’s chips being the top dog in the world of smartphones and tablets, it ain’t such a bad idea after all to team up with them. This is still a rumor, though, as Google has yet to step forward to confirm or deny such claims

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LG Optimus G Android 4.4 KitKat Begins Rolling Out For Some Users

Just a few months ago, LG France accidentally confirmed its LG Optimus G would be receiving Android 4.4 KitKat some time in October, although if you’re an owner of the 1-year-old Android smartphone, you’re probably well aware KitKat has yet to come your way. In fact, November came and went and still no Android 4.4 KitKat, but December looks like it’s the sweet month as the latest version of Android has started to roll out for the LG Optimus G. As usual, there’s a catch. You see – Android 4.4 KitKat has been rolling out to the Optimus G in the lovely country of Estonia. In fact, the news comes from LG Estonia’s Facebook page, which at the time of this writing, has yet to retract their message, which when translated, reads: “Good news for LG Optimus G smartphone users – the Android 4.4 KitKat update is now available.” We’re sure this leaves many of you LG Optimus G owners in other parts of the world wondering when you’ll be getting in on the Android 4.4 KitKat fun. Well – hopefully its rollout in Estonia is an indication that the software is ready to go primetime on the Optimus G, so let’s all hope it doesn’t take too long. [Update: We received an email from LG Estonia that confirm the Optimus G received an update this week that allows users to access 4G connections for local carrier Elisa. At this time, LG Estonia doesn't know when Android 4.4 KitKat will be released on the Optimus G.]


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Motorola Touchless Control App Update Unlocks Your Phone With But A Spoken Word

They say that a spoken word can be extremely powerful, although it is also understood that a curse which has no place will not fall on anyone. Some people follow the school of thought of speaking things into reality, but why not let technology ensure that this happens every time, all the time? Motorola has recently introduced a new update to its Touchless Control app over on Google Play, which would ensure that your smartphone will be more versatile even when it is in a locked state, as extra Google Now commands should now be able to jive with your smartphone when it is idle and locked. You will be able to unlock your PIN simply by speaking it out, and Touchless Control will do all the rest. A new tone is also introduced when you say “OK Google Now.” Apparently, this particular update does seem to be made available only to devices that have Android 4.4 KitKat as the operating system of choice, which pretty much rules out the recent DROID family, at least until Motorola and Verizon do something to remedy that situation soon. Speaking out your PIN is fine and dandy by me, but it seems to be a function that is worth using only in private, coming in most handy when you drive and need to concentrate on the road.


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Skype For Android 4.5 Rolls Out

Just the other day, we read about how Microsoft rolled out a Skype for Windows Phone 8 update to the masses, and this time around, we have a little bit of something for Android device owners who cannot help but sneak in some Skype goodness into their everyday routine. We are looking at Skype for Android version 4.5 now, where there will be a couple of totally new features which will cater for Android tablet owners, in addition to general improvements across the board. Skype happens to be the first Android application that will be able to deliver a picture in picture window, letting you check out your video call never mind the fact that you have already switched away to other applications. I guess some might say that this is an experience which would not be too different from Windows 8′s Snap View, albeit it comes with a touch of Android this time around, letting you multitask even when you are attending to a Skype video call. While this feature is available only on tablets, those using Skype 4.5 on your Android smartphone will still be able to catch out a message that performs a permission request to draw on top of other apps. Other bug fixes and quality improvements in Skype 4.5 would include better Video Instant Messaging functionality, compatibility for the Hudl tablet, crash issues on the Nexus 5 would be no more, as well as persistent drop down filter selections on the people tab.


source-ubergizmo.com

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Windows 8.2 Concept Sees Modern UI On The Desktop

Earlier in the week, we did report that Windows 8 Threshold might see the return of the proper Start menu experience, but that remains a rumor even until now. Of course, until something official comes out, we are stuck with the pseudo-Start button in Windows 8.1, but this has not stopped other more enterprising and imaginative folks from working on what could possibly be down the road. 20 year old designer Jay Machalani has thought up of what Windows 8.2 could look like, where it comes with the well loved Start menu, not to mention a seeming success in the integration of both Desktop and Start screen interfaces. Machalani, a self-proclaimed “UX/UI & Branding Architect”, has spent a few months working on a future Windows design, touting that he loves Windows 8 personally, thinking that it is “the best OS for productivity and awesomeness” despite being “filled with massive flaws.” The conceptual Windows 8.2 interface comes with a Modern look and feel, where Machalani shared, “You can make it bigger or smaller, pin your apps and live tiles, resize them, get a quick access to the Classic apps Jumplist (loved that feature from Windows 7), access the notification center, settings, power options and search. It makes sense.” Do you hope that Microsoft would go in this direction?

source-ubergizmo.com

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Nexus 10 Gets Manual Android 4.4.1 KitKat Update

We have seen how just a few days ago, the Android 4.4.1 KitKat manual update for both the Nexus 4 as well as Nexus 7 were made available to the masses. Well, since all good things always come to those who wait, those who happen to own the Nexus 10 will be pleased to hear that the Android 4.4.1 KitKat manual update is finally available for download and subsequently, installation. It does seem as though majority of the fixes and features introduced with this latest Android update would cater for the Nexus 5, so it can be pretty difficult to guess the exact nature of how the Nexus 10 will change this time around. One thing that can be confirmed, at the very least, would be the fact that the default app for managing your images from the camera app would be the Google+ Photos app, being used in favor of the stock Android Gallery app. Needless to say, for those who want to download and install this manual update, just make sure that your Nexus 10 happens to be running on stock Android 4.4 build KRT16S before you proceed. It would also be an amazing – nay, common sense move to perform a backup of all your data beforehand since you can never quite tell just when will Murphy strike.


source-ubergizmo.com/

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Get 50GB Free Amazon Cloud Drive Storage With Purchase Of Select Android Phones

There are a lot of ways to purchase a smartphone. Third-party retailers are well stocked, carrier retail stores have them, in most cases the manufacturers have their own stores and then there’s always the easy option of purchasing online. Amazon wants you to purchase your next Android smartphone through it, which is why it is offering 50GB of free Amazon Cloud Drive storage with purchase of select Android smartphones. These “select” smartphones include over 100 carrier branded devices. The list of devices easily includes almost all of the popular recent Android smartphones that have been released over the past few months. It is very easy to avail this offer. Simply purchase the smartphone of your choice from Amazon, and wait for the free storage to appear, Amazon says it should appear within ten days of purchase. The free 50GB of cloud storage will be added on top of the 5GB that’s already provided for free with purchase of every smartphone. That’s a catch though. The free 50GB storage is only valid for one year. Amazon won’t delete your data immediately once the 12 months are over, however if you want to retain the storage, you will have to pay up or else you will have to make alternate arrangements for your data



source-ubergizmo

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Google Glass Wearer Evicted From Seattle Eatery

With a device like Google Glass, you can be sure that it would not stray too far away from controversy. After all, privacy issues would surely be raised from time to time, and the latest person to have been evicted from a public area because he or she is wearing a pair of Google Glass would be Nick Starr. Starr was wearing a pair of Google Glass at the Lost Lake Café & Lounge, when the request was made by the establishment to remove the Google Glass – a request that Starr denied to follow, which promptly saw him being asked to leave the premises. Starr no doubt wasn’t too happy with the management’s policy of banning Google Glass which could not be presented at that point in time, although right now, customers to Lost Lake Café & Lounge have already been asked to ‘refrain from wearing and operating’ Google Glass whenever they are inside. According to staff at the eatery, this creed had its point, since other customers’ privacy could be invaded by a Google Glass wearer. This is not the first time that an establishment has outlawed the use of Google Glass within, and I am quite sure that it will not be the last, either


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Windows 8.1 Is Now Available

                It was earlier this summer when Microsoft officially unveiled what it would be improving in Windows 8.1, which included the often rumored Boot to Desktop option, the return of the Start button as well as a number of other improvements. Shortly after the unveiling, Microsoft announced it planned to release Windows 8.1 as a free upgrade for current Windows 8 users starting October 17. As you could probably assume by today’s date and the title of this story, Windows 8.1 has indeed been released and is now available for your downloading pleasure.
                Those of you who have a Windows 8 PC, you can head over to the Windows Store to proceed downloading the Windows 8.1 update, which weighs in at over 3GB, so don’t expect the update to take place any time soon. Thankfully, Microsoft allows the update to be downloadable in the background, leaving you to carry on with your day. Once the update is ready to be installed, Windows 8 will prompt you the update is ready.                                                                                                                                                                Those of you who don’t have Windows 8 but still want to get in on the Windows 8.1 fun can upgrade for just $119.99 for the standard version of Windows 8.1 and $199.99 for Windows 8.1 Pro. On the other hand, considering Windows 8.1 was just released, those of you who haven’t jumped on the Windows 8 bandwagon will probably hold off a little bit longer with your current Windows version of choice



source-ubergizmo.com

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Facebook Launches Official App For Windows 8.1

We heard a dedicated Facebook app for Windows 8 was currently in the works just a few months ago, although we haven’t heard much of the application since its confirmation. Wonder now more about the Windows 8 dedicated Facebook application as its currently available on the Windows Store. Today’s launch of the Facebook app coincides with the release of Windows 8.1, which the app apparently needs to run on the new update, even though its description says it’s available for “Windows 8 users.” Once you’ve updated to Windows 8.1 and install Facebook’s dedicated app, you’ll probably feel right at home if you’ve used the service on mobile devices in the past. You’ll be able to update your status, view photos and check into wherever you currently are straight from the app, while its chat interface sits to the right side of the app. The Facebook app also has the well-known friend request, inbox and notification counters at the top-right portion of the screen, which are also touchscreen-friendly. The app also has a side panel that can be accessed at the left side that can allow you to access your news feed, messages, events, friends, pages, and more. So if you’ve been dying to have a more dedicated Facebook experience, get to updating to Windows 8.1 so you can download the new app.


source-ubergizmo.com

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Artificial Intelligence startup may have cracked CAPTCHA

You know those annoying, hard-to-read CAPTCHA text images that Web sites make you type to prove that you're not a machine?Vicarious, a California-based artificial intelligence startup, claims to have written software that can successfully interpret and reproduce the text inside the CAPTCHA image with 90% accuracy.

If it's true, that's better than what a lot of people can do with those skewed letters.

CAPTCHA--the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart--was designed to keep hackers from flooding Web sites with automated responses. By reading and then typing a distorted image of text designed to confuse OCR software, you prove that you're a real human being.

Vicarious claims a 95-percent success rate on reading and decoding individual letters in a CAPTCHA, and a 90-percent success rate on the full, two-word code.

The company is cracking CAPTCHA to show off its Recursive Cortical Network (RCN) technology, intended to mimic the human brain's neocortex (the part of the brain that manages language and complex thought).

According to a company announcement and Vicarious co-founder Dr. Dileep George, Vicarious is taking a whole new approach to artificial intelligence, with "a long term strategy for developing human level artificial intelligence" The process begins "with building a brain-like vision system."

Fortunately, Vicarious isn't planning to hack websites with their AI program. Potential commercial applications include medical analysis, image search, and robotics, but the company warns that any practical application is "still many years away."

So why the big announcement about CAPTCHA? According to George, "Modern CAPTCHAs provide a snapshot of the challenges of visual perception, and solving those in a general way required us to understand how the brain does it." Vicarious sees cracking CAPTCHA as a public demonstration of the software's capabilities.  And a great opportunity to get some exposure.

But with this exciting (alleged) breakthrough comes some potentially serious risks.  A reliable way to break CAPTCHAs could be devastating to Web security. In fact, Vicarious is so concerned about the negative potential in its technology that it's keeping its physical location a secret.

At some level, cracking CAPTCHA seems inevitable. In a world where ATMs can read the dollar amounts on hand-written checks, we're clearly heading towards a time where computers can read anything humans can.

Luis von Ahn, one of the inventors of CAPTCHA, remains skeptical that Vicarious has actually figured out the secret sauce. “It’s hard for me to be impressed since I see these every few months," Ahn says. He figures he's seen about 50 claims of CAPTCHA-cracking technology. Each time, if the threat is legitimate, the CAPTCHA developers tweak their code and eliminate the problem. He suspects the same thing will happen with Vicarious' RCN.

At this point, the software is far from the hands of criminals anyway.  In fact, it has yet to be seen in the hands of qualified, objective testers who can confirm the company’s claims. Vicarious has released a video demonstrating the technology's capabilities, but that sort of thing is always suspect.

Vicarious' technology may turn into something to cheer about…or something to worry about. It may also prove meaningless. But with CAPTCHA codes providing a major security barrier for many popular online sites and services, the public has a reason to be concerned about any serious claims at cracking it.  It could threaten the security of any data stored in the cloud or accounts managed on the Web.  Or we could just be looking at a simple code tweak.  We’ll hope for the latter, but either way, we won’t find out for a while.

source-pcworld.com

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Galaxy S4 Review

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has arrived to America, and if you have been eagerly waiting to know how it feels to use the Galaxy S4 in the real world, the wait is over. Since its predecessor sold more than 50M units worldwide, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has to live up to rather high anticipation and expectations. You may have followed our first hands-on review of the S4, so you may know a fair amount about this smartphone. for this complete review, we have had more time to use the Galaxy S4 as a primary smartphone, and needless to say that on paper, it improves upon all aspects of the Galaxy S3 with which you may have seen or played with. If not, don’t worry, we’ll provide a good picture of what the S4 is. Now, the question is: how does it actually behave in the real world, and is it a smartphone for you? Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs (powerful) First of all, let’s go over some critical specifications of this new smartphone (a Sprint unit), just to have a frame of reference: Galaxy S3 iPhone 5 Galaxy S4 HTC One Weight 133 112 130 143 Display Size 4.8 4 4.99 4.7 Resolution 1280×720 1136×640 1920×1080 1920×1080 Pixel Density 306 326 441 468 microSD 64GB max No 64GB max No OS Android 4.1 iOS 6 Android 4.2 Android 4.1 Battery mAh 2100 1440 2600 2300 Battery removable Yes No Yes No Infrared blaster No No Yes Yes Camera (F) MP 1.9 1.2 2 2.1 Camera (B) MP 8 8 13 4 Thickness (inches) 0.34 0.3 0.31 0.37 Note that there are a few variants of the Samsung Galaxy S4: this one is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor at 1.9GHz, but the two others feature a Samsung Exynos Octa 5 4+4 cores that I have described at length in my Exynos Octa 5 post. The Samsung chip may embed 8 cores, but it should be considered to be a quad-core chip (in code execution terms) since only 4 can run at any given time. Samsung used the big.LITTLE architecture from ARM, and if you are curious, check what I think of big.LITTLE, it’s pretty neat. Update: experts say that the GS4 is also “easy” to repair. Many of you have asked “why” Samsung comes up with these hardware variations, and although none of the companies involved would usually comment on this hot topic, my guess is that carrier certifications end up being what’s driving those choices. Since the Qualcomm communications software stack works obviously much better with their own processor/modem combo, and given that US carriers (AT&T in particular) have tested and approved Qualcomm, it’s likely that Samsung has chosen Qualcomm to have a faster time to market (Samsung may not have time to qualify their own chips) in order to hit a worldwide market at launch. Although you may hear a lot of noise about the hardware differences, the user experience of both platforms is largely comparable. That’s my opinion after playing with an “Exynos version” of the S4 recently. Context We all use our phones differently, so it’s important that I tell you what I do with my smartphone(s): I typically check email often with the built-in email app (via Microsoft Exchange), and reply moderately because typing on the virtual keyboard is tedious. I browse the web several times a day to check on news sites, but rarely watch movies or play music. I don’t call much – maybe 10mn a day, if at all. On the “apps” side, I have a couple of social networks (FB, G+), a receipts manager and random apps (<20), but I rarely play games or do something super-intensive like video editing. This usage pattern will affect battery life and the perception of what features are useful. Now you know where we’re coming from…

source-ubergizmo.com

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Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. HTC One Google Edition

You knew that those devices were coming: the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition (GPE) was announced at Google I/O and the HTC One Google Play Edition followed shortly after that. There are even unconfirmed rumors of an XPERIA Z Google Edition (loaded with the stock Android OS, without modifications), but so far only two have finally landed in our offices: The S4 and the HTC One. You may wonder why Google does sell those devices, and the reason is quite simple: Google wants the general public to be able to experience Android as it was originally developed, on the best possible hardware. In this review, we will focus on the Android aspect, and if you are not yet familiar with the industrial design, performance and other critical aspects of those phones, I recommend reading our in-depth Galaxy S4 Review and HTC One Review articles since they will provide a lot of details.

source-ubergizmo.com

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Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie Release At Google I/O Reportedly Delayed

A lot has already been rumored about Google’s I/O conference. It is believed that the company will announce a revamped Nexus 7 and a 32GB LTE Nexus 4 instead of a next generation Nexus 5 smartphone. Google was also expected to announce the next major Android platform update, Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Its release has now reportedly been delayed by as much as four months to give ample time to OEMs so that they can keep up with the new Android version. Another reason for this delay could be the launch of Motorola X smartphone. The company’s top executives have sung its praises, perhaps they’ll merge both announcements together? At the moment 29.3% of Android devices are powered by Ice Cream Sandwich, in second place comes Jelly Bean which powers some 23% devices. Pushing back the Key Lime Pie release will aid both OEMs and Google itself. Despite being announced at last year’s I/O, many manufacturers and carriers are still rolling it out to Jelly Bean deprived customers. Launching a new version would further increase the fragmentation, and if this rumor is anything to go by, Google looks intent on avoiding that.

source-http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/04/android-5-0-key-lime-pie-release-at-google-io-reportedly-delayed/

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Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie Concept

It has been said that the next update of the Android mobile operating system would bump Jelly Bean to version 4.3, but that particular version number is said to lack any major, earth shattering changes, so most folks have already cast an eye in the direction of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Well, what do you think one can expect from Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie when it arrives? We have absolutely no idea, so it is left up to the folks with an imagination to think of how “delicious” Key Lime Pie would look like on your smartphone down the road with this particular concept from a certain Jinesh Shah on Google+. Shah’s day job is a graphic artist, and his Key Lime Pie concept boasts of a minimalist and beautiful vision, sporting an extremely clean design approach. It looks like the “flat” graphical user interface scheme is catching on, where being minimal is a surefire trend in the right direction where mobile operating systems are concerned. This concept would see the Home Screen arrive with highly functional “hidden” widgets, showing up only when the user indulges in a customizable gesture. This helps reduce unnecessary clutter on the interface, coming into play only when you need to use it. Do you like what Shah did with his conceptualization of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie?


source-ubergizmo.com

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Certain Samsung Smartphones Might Skip Android 4.2.2 Update For Android 4.3

There are certain Samsung smartphones that are yet to receive the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update, these include the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3. Rumor has it that Samsung might not roll out said update for these devices, instead opting to skip it in favor of Android 4.3. The problem is though, no one knows exactly when Android 4.3 is going to be released. To make matters worse, Google hasn’t as yet recognized that Android 4.3 is indeed the next major update. According to the rumor Samsung won’t release the update until November or December, and if by that time Android 4.3 is out, it would update these devices directly to the latest version. Furthermore, the rumor claims that Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 2 and the yet to be released Galaxy Note 3 will all be updated to Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Once again, the same problem is present here as well. Google hasn’t confirmed that Android 5.0 carries the Key Lime Pie moniker. Google is expected to release a major platform update in the coming months, though an exact release time-frame is not known as of now.

source-ubergizmo.com

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Android 4.4 KitKat Moniker Revealed As One Billion Device Activation Milestone Is Passed

Vice President of Android, Chrome and Google Apps, Sundar Pichai, announced today that Google’s mobile platform has now been activated on more than one billion devices around the globe. To celebrate this occasion, a KitKat Android statue has been propped up outside the company’s Mountain View campus. Yes, that’s right, KitKat. The chocolate, if you’re still confused. Turns out, the next Android release is going to be named after the chocolate. Google has now unveiled Android 4.4 KitKat moniker, which replaces the much rumored Key Lime Pie label that most people expected to accompany the next platform update. The official Android website has been updated to reflect this decision. It has also been revealed that the next major update won’t actually be called Android 5.0, it will be called Android 4.4. Nothing much has been revealed beyond this right now. A new promotion has been unveiled by both Google and KitKat, one can win Google Play Store credit or a new Nexus 7 2013 tablet. This change marks the switch from desserts to chocolates, Android versions have been named after popular desserts such as Ice Cream Sandwich, Donut and Eclair for a few years now. What do you think about KitKat moniker for the upcoming Android update?


source-ubergizmo.com

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Apple Patent Suggests iWatch With On-Demand Bluetooth 4.0 LE Connectivity For Battery Conservation

If there’s one thing Apple has been criticized for, it would be its iPhone battery life where there are some users who find it ridiculous that Apple still relies on 1,500mAh-sized batteries while the competition is offering twice that amount. The reason for using smaller batteries is so that Apple can make their products thinner, and if the upcoming iWatch is any indication, we expect Apple will try to distinguish the device from the competition (such as the Samsung Galaxy Gear) by making it thinner. If a recent Apple patent is anything to go by, it would certainly seem that way, but in order to balance out the smaller battery, Apple would be turning to Bluetooth 4.0 LE for the connectivity between the phone and watch. According to the patent which describes an on-demand creation of a Bluetooth connection between devices, “The proximity profile defines a proximity notification alert that the supporting device sends to the device to advertise its shared access service to the network for devices within range. In one embodiment, upon receiving the proximity notification alert the device joins the supporting device’s shared access service and briefly connects to the network to receive push notifications or other messages, before disconnecting.” There’s no telling if this patent applies to the rumored iWatch, but what do you guys think? Samsung’s Galaxy Gear while a noble effort, has been criticized for its battery as well, especially given that it will most likely last users a day before requiring a recharge. In light of this criticism, we certainly hope that Apple will not be making that mistake as well.


source-ubergizmo.com

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iQi Is A Wireless Charger For Your iPhone That Will Fit Into Your Case

If there’s one feature that the iPhone lacks compared to the likes of some Android and Windows Phone devices is wireless charging. Granted at the moment wireless charging is not as useful as one might think, namely because you’d still need to place your device on top of the base charger, we guess there are still some out there who love it and have their uses for it. Well the good news is that while wireless charging may or may not come to iPhones in the future, the iQi wireless charger for the iPhone is an accessory worth taking a look at. As you can see in the video above, what makes the iQi so unique is that half of the wireless charging component is apparently thin enough to the point where it will slip inside your existing iPhone case no problem. If you don’t use an iPhone case then we guess you’d be out of luck, but if you already have a case you love and don’t want to switch it out, the iQi boasts a thinness that should fit in just fine. The iQi will be paired with a transmitter on which you place your iPhone on top of to begin the charging process. As it stands, the iQi is an Indiegogo project seeking funding where a pledge of $65 will nab you both the charger and the transmitter:


source-ubergizmo.com

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Opera Browser Beta For Android Arrives On Play Store

I am quite sure that one major app that smartphone as well as tablet owners use each day would be the browser, and there is quite a number to choose from to date, with different browsers catering to various folks. You know, different strokes for different folks, one man’s meat is another man’s poison, the works. Well, Opera has just announced their latest Opera browser beta that will no longer be based on the Presto engine but rather, is in favor of WebKit. Just what kind of changes do you think you can expect with the latest Opera browser beta?

After downloading it for free over at Google Play, you would realize that having a similar rendering engine as its Chrome and Safari counterparts is useful for mobile web browsing, where it will feature a refreshed speed dial page that allows for the easier launching of favorite sites, an Off-Road Mode that helps you conserve data, in addition to a discover tab and HTML5 support.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/03/opera-browser-beta-for-android-arrives-on-play-store/

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Android 4.x Finally Overtakes Android 2.3 Gingerbread

It seems that it wasn’t too long ago that Android 2.3 (and its subsequent variants) was the dominant Android operating system, but according to recent statistics (via Android Developers), Android 4.x has finally caught up. While Android 2.3 Gingerbread is still sitting at a whopping 44.2%, Android 4.x and its versions collectively represent 45.1% of active use, beating out Gingerbread 2.3 by a very narrow margin. Even better news is that as far as Android 4.1/4.2 Jelly Bean is concerned, it seems that it is active on 16.5% of current users. Of course we expect that these figures don’t take into account rooted Android phones running on custom ROMs like CyanogenMod 9/10, but those are still pretty decent figures and we can only imagine it will be a matter of time before those numbers start to increase even further.

The question is will any of these versions of Android reach the same level as Android 2.3 Gingerbread? It’s hard to say, especially since the next version of Android after Gingerbread was Honeycomb, a version of Android that was designed specifically for tablets in mind. This meant that OEMs had to work with Gingerbread for longer periods of time compared to now, where they have the option of going for Android 4.0 ICS or Android 4.1/4.2 Jelly Bean, not forgetting that there are probably a good many older devices that weren’t eligible for the upgrade to Android 4.0. Many expect Google to introduce the next major revision of Android, Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, at Google I/O later this year and it will be interesting to see what the numbers will look like then.


source-http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/03/android-4-x-finally-overtakes-android-2-3-gingerbread/

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Sprint Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1 Update Starts Rolling Out

The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1′s Android Jelly Bean 4.1 update was rolled out by Samsung two months ago. Today, it looks as though Sprint customers who own a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 on their network will be treated to some Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1 goodness as the update has started to roll out.

The Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1 update will be available as an over-the-air (OTA) update which should alert users when it’s available through an update notification. Once the download is completed, users will be promoted to install the update, which we’re sure you’ll be dropping everything in order to update your device.

Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 owners can expect a number of improvements and added functionality such as Google Now, smooth transitions between the home screen and launched applications and tweaks to the device’s notifications and widgets.

If you don’t see the update available on  your device at this moment, know that Sprint is rolling out the Jelly Bean 4.1.1 update over the next few weeks in stages. We recommend you sit tight for the next couple of weeks by watching cat videos or something until the update becomes available to you.

source-ubergizmo

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Google Improves Gmail Mobile Web To Adopt Gmail 2.0 for iOS UI

We think it’s safe to say the UI redesign for Gmail 2.0 for iOS has received a large amount of praise from its users as the company is now expanding the UI design into its web apps.

Gmail users who access their email account with its mobile web app or Gmail Offline will now be able to enjoy the same UI design as Gmail 2.0 for iOS users have been enjoying for a few months now. Users will also be able to use Gmail 2.0′s search and Google Calendar integration, which were two features Google received a high amount of praise for from its iOS users.

Not only will the 2.0 redesign be available for iOS users who prefer to live life app-less, but it is also available for Android, BlackBerry and Kindle Fire users. As for Windows Phone users, you’ll have to wait your turn as Google has yet to deem you worthy of partaking in the new UI changes. Hopefully that will change soon considering how much better the new UI is compared to the previous version.

source-ubergizmo

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