With the last of the four Galaxy S III nationwide launches underway, Verizon Wireless has made their July 10th launch official. For $199 you can buy a 16GB Galaxy S III or pony up $249 for a 32GB model, Both versions of the Galaxy S III feature the latest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE connectivity, a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD display and an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording. Press release below.
This Nexus 7 was recently disassembled by the tech site iFixit and was awarded a 7 out of 10 for repairability, which is just one point away from beating the Kindle Fire. The engineers at iFixit discovered several things, such as confirming the 4,326 mAh battery and Tegra 3 chipset, discovering that the 1280 x 800 display is manufactured by Hydris, and that the Nexus 7 doesn’t use Gorilla Glass 2 — it simply has a scratch-resistant screen. Check out the full teardown at the source link. Via: iFixit
The domination of Android 2.3 Gingerbread continues, as this week’s statistics for operating system versions for Android have been released: (Android 2.3) in first place with a 64-percent install lead, followed by Froyo (Android 2.2) with 17.3-percent of the ecosystem, and ICS with a petty10.6-percent. And yes, it was part of the strategy presented 8.5 months ago by Google to have ICS as the dominate operating system among Android device, but with 4.1 Jelly Bean around the corner, the problem is not going to get any better, any time soon. Via: Android Developer
In the land of fairies and Microsoft’s Windows 8, $40 represents the price that users with a Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 machine will pay to upgrade to the new operating system. The $40 upgrade gets you a more enterprise-friendly version of Windows 8, and to do so you’d need the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, which verifies and prepares your existing computer for the upgrade. Sounds promising; Microsoft’s offer lasts until January 31st of next year. Via: Microsoft Team Blog
Despite being months in the pipeline and having some of the weakest specs of the HTC One series, the Incredible 4G LTE is still quite — incredible? Featuring a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4-inch qHD display, 4G LTE on Verizon Wireless, and an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording on a f2.2 aperture with LED flash, the DROID Incredible 4G LTE brings a little less to the party, but rightfully so, costs less. The Incredible 4G LTE goes on sale for $149.99 this July 5th on a new, 2-year contract with VZW. Press release below. Via: VZW (Newswire)
Price as Reviewed: $199.99 on a new 2-year agreement with AT&T
Everything seen in the Galaxy S III from the other carriers in the United States is present in the AT&T 4G LTE models that I’ve had for the past few days, testing away by implementing the device into my normal, daily actions (read: it’s still awesome). The Galaxy S III on Sprint was given a strong 9/10, which is why I also awarded it a “Stef’s Top Pick” award and pretty much summed it up to be the best Android phone that a consumer could simply walk into a store and say, “I want that one”. Everything made positive about the version on Sprint I reviewed stays exactly the same: the amazing speed, sharp cameras, the sharp and clear (as well as decently saturated screen), the ergonomic design, and very — for lack of a better word — acceptable battery life (around 8 hours of intense use). The only cons to that particular version of the Galaxy S III was an aging, redundant 3G network, unable to use the current LTE speeds as Sprint’s network is not yet available — but AT&T’s is.
Once again, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled in favor of Apple, landing a preliminary injunction for the sales of the Galaxy Nexus in the United States. The two patents mostly responsible for the ruling against Samsung pertained to the “slide to unlock” feature, as well as certain methods of searching. As Judge Koh argues in her ruling:
Although Samsung will necessarily be harmed by being forced to withdraw its product from the market before the merits can be determined after a full trial, the harm faced by Apple absent an injunction is greater. Apple’s interest in enforcing its patent rights is particularly strong because it has presented a strong case on the merits. As discussed above, Apple has shown a likelihood of prevailing on the merits of all four of its asserted patents. Apple has further shown a likelihood of irreparable harm attributable to Samsung’s infringement of the ’604 Patent if the injunction does not issue. Samsung, by contrast, does not present any evidence of what hardship it will suffer if the injunction issues.
Since this is Google’s flagship smartphone and one of Samsung’s greatest achievements in the Android era, no doubt the manufacturer will be appealing the decision. And as such, another round of arguments will begin in the saga that is Samsung infringing upon Apple’s patents, so the court continues to say.
Via: All Things D, Engadget
So, the era of Flash on smartphones is near the end: Adobe has confirmed that not only it won’t implement Flash on Chrome for Android, but on the upcoming refresh of the operating system, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it will cease to optimize Flash for that version. Also, come August 15th, Adobe will remove their Flash app from the Google Play Store, so only those who have downloaded Flash in the past would be able to receive any incremental updates. So, in the meantime, download Flash if you want to make use of it in the future; it no longer is one of the daring features of smartphones.
Via: Adobe
It may have taken nearly all of Windows Phone’s software versions since the original 7.0 release for Twitter to care, but the official Twitter for Windows Phone now has notifications. These alerts apply to new followers, mentions, direct messages, and so on. But keep in mind that while Twitter for Windows Phone v1.5 Has all these handy dandy features, there are much better Twitter clients available on the Marketplace.
Just putting that out there. Via: Windows Phone Marketplace (Twitter)
This is making heads spin in every direction, as announced by Brian Rakowski, Vice President of the Chrome at Google I/O 2012. Not only does Google Chrome have 310 million active users under its belt, but now an iOS app with Apple’s WebKit technology running underneath and syncing for Google accounts will make its way to the App Store today, for iOS 4.3 and up devices. Exciting news out of Google I/O, as usual. Via: Google Chrome (Twitter)
Have you ever experienced a 3D TV like you get at the cinema? Lightweight glasses, cool effects and a great picture experience? LG 3D televisions bring it right into your home.