Category Archives: Android

LG holding launch event on 7th August 2013

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LG is getting ready to announce details of their new flagship phone the Optimus G2 in New York on 7th August 2013.

The G2 should contain Qualcomm’s newest quad-core S800 chip, feature Ultra HD video recording and playback (that’s four times higher density than 1080p), screen output at resolutions up to 2560 x 2048 pixels, and 1080p HD over Miracast wireless.

If you were thinking of buying or upgrading your phone it may be worth waiting a few months to wait for the new crop to appear in September and October.

Turn your silver HTC One into black for only £4.99

An eBay seller “smartskins” sells vinyl stickers for a number of devices. On various HTC One forums the feedback on the stickers for the HTC One were positive. So I ordered the slate black costing £4.99. I have used vinyl stickers from decal girl and gelaskins, both of whom are renowned for their quality and designs.

Opening the envelope I was greeted with the vinyl sticker itself, instructions and a cleaning swab. So first I cleaned front and back of my HTC One and then commenced attaching the vinyl sticker.

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You have a few options. On the rear you can have different colour top sections to provide a contrast look and on the front you can either have 2 small sections top and bottom that just cover the speakers, or one large piece that covers the side of the screen and the bottom screen up to the beginning of the screen. See photo above. If you make a mistake you can remove and start again. And when you fancy a change, you can remove and change the look.

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As you can see from the photo above, you get stickers to cover all the edges, sides and top and bottom.

So, what do you think?

The Experiment – One Phone for everything – the Sony Z Ultra

Above is the promotion video of the new Z Ultra by Sony which is due out shortly. And as soon as I caught eye on it, I was sold on the idea. My brief experience so far with the Sony Z Tablet, has convinced me I really like the Sony brand and design.

So, in preparation of buying the Z Ultra, I have moved all my music, documents, media and photos to various cloud services. Therefore, I do not need a harddrive. That means I have been able to sell my MacBook Pro, iPod Classic and when the Z Ultra arrives I will sell my Z Tablet and HTC One. My iPad Mini is also history.

The Z Ultra with the Bluetooth headset will be my single piece of tech. It will handle everything. It is a phone, camera, ultra thin, waterproof, dust proof, mini computer, game console with the ps3 controller, internet browser, and high quality Walkman. You can use a normal pencil or pen to write on the screen too. And has a super large 6.44 inch screen.

So my question to you all, could you just have the one device?

Does it really matter that the HTC One S won’t receive any more updates?

HTC recently announced that their HTC One S currently running on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 won’t receive any further updates.

HTC added that they realised this news would be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.

Following that announcement, there was so vocal comment on the social networks. Mainly from techie people.

But does it really matter? How many people on the street, even bother to look at the software version number? Does the phone still make phone calls, take photos and browse the internet. Yes of course. Therefore, the average person won’t be bothered. So long as the HTC One S is bug free, it is a good phone.

Those that do care about the software version, are likely more in to their tech, perhaps a bit geeky. These people will have heard of XDA Developers, and will use a custom rom to continue to update their HTC One S for many years to come.

Or like most people, after 2 years ,the contract has expired and a new phone is acquired.

Samsung buys Boxee DVR Cloud to take on Apple – then kills

Samsung has bought Boxee, for a cool $30 million dollars. This acquisition is designed to beef up their arsenal to take further aim at the Apple TV box.

I also worry that when an acquisition like this happens, the company bought effectively vanishes. Well, even quicker than jumping jack flash, Boxee will be closed on 10th July 2013. So all customers TV programmes will be unavailable too.

And we call this progress!

Latest Samsung Galaxy Note 3 rumours

As September approaches, more and more gossip is appearing re the Galaxy Note 3.. And guess what, it will come with different configurations dependent on country.

The Note 3 will be 8mm thick and weigh in at 183g, which is slimmer than but about the same weight as the Galaxy Note 2.

3GB of RAM is also rumoured, but only on the LTE model. Non LTE models may only get 2GB of RAM.

Personally, I just wish Samsung release this with one memory size of 32gb and keep a level of consistency. Samsung’s competition in the phablet space will be intense so they really need to make sure this is a top notch designed device using flash materials too.

Moto X Sign Up page goes live

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Motorola launched a sign-up page for its Moto X smartphone. The Moto X will be the first smartphone designed, engineered and assembled in the USA” Rumors suggest that the smartphone would be equipped with a 720p display, a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, a 10-megapixel camera and a nearly stock version of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The Moto X is expected to launch in August across multiple carriers. When ordering you will also be offered a choice of rear back colours – upto 24 different colours.

But will it come to the UK or be a US exclusive for a while?

Falcon Pro is playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Twitter

Falcon Pro Google + page has details on its new beta app.

Why the beta? Developer Joaquim Verges has announced that Falcon absolutely has run out of user twitter tokens, the app itself is not dead. If you still have a token through Falcon Pro, you’ll be able to use version 2.0.4 of Falcon Pro.

However, if you don’t have a token, that is you have never signed in using the app to twitter, there is a back door. Full details are on the Google Plus page.

Somehow I see this ending in tears, with twitter totally banning Falcon Pro from using its services.

Moga Pro Controller – Review

The Moga Pro Controller  is a game controller with clickable dual analog sticks, shoulder buttons and triggers, D-pad, and four action buttons offer the control you need for the games you want to play. It connects with a wireless Bluetooth connection that works with Android tablets and phones.
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-The MOGA Arm™ secures phones up to 3.2 in./82mm, the largest phones in the market
-Full-sized, rubberized grips minimize wrist fatigue during mobile gaming sessions
-Internal, rechargeable batteries with a USB recharging cable
-Folding tablet stand
-Huge game library with more titles coming all the time
-Works with Bluetooth-enabled Android 2.3+ smartphones and tablets

In the box you get the controller, a micro usb lead, instructions and a tablet stand. This is ideal for using with any tablet including my Xperia Z Tablet.
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However, using it with your phone is equally slick, with an extendable arm that springs back to hold your phone. Shown above with the HTC One in situ. The angle of the arm can be adjusted too, either as shown or upright. The controller is available in several countries. In the UK, I got mine from Game UK for £39.99. I have also seen it in Game UK retail stores. As part of the price, you also get a copy of Pac Man and Nova 3. Nova 3 can only be installed on one device, so if you have a tablet and phone choose wisely.

Holding the Moga Pro feels really great. It fits like a glove in the hand and all the controls are easy to reach and use. I have had the controller for nearly 2 weeks and it is just as fantastic to use as it was from day one.
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The first thing you need to do is fully charge it, so connect the micro usb cable into the rear socket and charge away first. Setting up is simple. Install the Moga Pivot app and setup connection A first, then B. The controller Works better in mode A with Moga enhanced games, but it is also great with non enhanced games in mode B.
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Connection A is for games specifically Moga enhanced for which there are over 100 and the list is growing. After you are all connected, reboot your phone and switch off and on again the controller. Open the Moga Pivot app, and connect to profile A. Once connected, it brings you to the store list of available games.
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If you tap the top right icon controller icon, it will bring up a list of your games, ones you have played via the Moga Pro and ones yet to play. Below is my games.
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And more.
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It is quite likely you will already have some Moga enhanced games. So one thing to remember that everytime you want to play a game, you must launch the Moga Pivot app first, and each time and launch the game from within the app.

So what’s it like to use. Two words. Freaking awesome. Action or racing games come alive. Having analogue controllers provides a level of control not possible with touch screen controls. The gaming experience is a wonderful experience. But it is not just action type games that benefit. Games where a bit of skill is required also benefit. I have some crazy high scores on games were I was useless previously.

At present the Moga Pro is for android 2.3 upwards.

And if you like playing games this is well worth considering.

Flipboard promise of seamless Google Reader change over appears to have failed

Before the Google Reader shutdown,  Flipboard made a point of asking you to log in to Google Reader to save all your feeds with Flipboard. The changeover to Flipboard from Google Reader would be seamless. Well, this is what I got today.

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Clearly, something has gone badly wrong. And after getting this message it appears I’m not alone.

Have you been affected?