Google Android discussion - Page 28

Google's Niantic Labs operates as a semi-autonomous company within Google that works on projects like Ingress and the travel app Field Trip. Ingress gets most of the attention, but now Field Trip might become a bigger part of all Android users' lives. Data from Field Trip is about to be integrated with Google Now to make sure you know what cool stuff is around when you're away from home.

Motorola just sent out press invites for an event that it will host in Chicago on September 4. The company has long promised a Moto 360 launch sometime this summer, and that’s likely where we’ll hear all of the final details on the device, including the price and launch date.

Additionally, we’re expecting news on the highly-rumored Moto X+1, a new device that will follow in the footsteps of the popular Moto X that was launched last year. It’s also possible we’ll see the Moto G2, a mid-range device that should also come in at a competitive price.

According to a report published by India Today, phones using Google’s new Android One reference platform will make their debut earlier than expected. Announced during the Google I/O conference in June, Android One was slated for an October release, but if the publications sources are correct, the new OS will be out in September instead.

Google has teamed up with three local hardware manufacturers, Micromax, Spice, and Karbonn, all of which produce cut price smartphones running Android already. Interestingly, Micromax and Karbonn have also signed up to make Windows Phone devices recently. Apparently, three phones will be released next month with Android One installed, and they’re “more or less ready,” according to the report.

However, it’s not absolutely certain when they’ll be announced, and they must overcome one final stumbling block; it’s a big one. Google wants Android One hardware to come in at around $100 unconnected, but none of the companies feel confident they can meet this low cost, and would prefer to attach a higher price tag to the finished products. The three companies are pushing to charge at least $150 for their Android One efforts.

It is an official teaser AD from Samsung Chinese site, the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will be “announced” on August 22. If the rumored specs are true, the Note 4 will have a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display (1440 x 2560 pixel resolution, 515 ppi), a 2.5GHz, quad-core Snapdragon 805 or an octa-core Exynos 5433 and 4GB of RAM.

Anyone who uses more than one language on a regular basis has probably felt some degree of annoyance with Google's voice search system on Android. You have to dig way into the settings to change the language, and there's no way to mix and match. It looks like Google is finally fixing that in these images we just received. Voice search on Android will soon have support for enabling multiple languages at the same time.

Today, some benchmarks appeared for the Moto X+1, and it shows quite a few specs, which may look familiar. And that’s because we’ve seen this list of specs before, leading us to believe that it is close to the real deal. According to the GFX Bench listing, we’re looking at a 5.2-inch 1080p display (benchmarks don’t say whether it’s AMOLED, IPS, etc.), Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 12MP camera on the back capable of 4K, with a 2MP front-facing camera. No word on battery just yet, but with it being a 5.2-inch display, we could see a 3000mAh battery inside. Seeing as the LG G2 last year was a 5.2-inch display and had a 3000mAh battery inside. It’s also important to note that both LG and Motorola use step batteries. And in fact, Motorola uses LG’s batteries. And Motorola has always had great battery life, but just wait for Android L, and it’ll be even better.

We are expecting to get official Moto 360 launch details when Motorola hosts press at a September 4 event in Chicago, but Best Buy may have gone ahead and let us in on all sorts of details early.

According to a listing on Best Buy’s site for the Moto 360, we could end up paying $249. The device is also listed as having a 1.5-inch backlit LCD touch screen, with a 320×290 resolution, 205ppi, and Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3. Matching up to what we learned from a leak a week ago, we are also seeing mentions of a heart rate monitor, water resistance (up to 3.3 feet for up to 30 minutes), and an ambient light sensor. On a specs tab, the listing suggests that there is 512MB of RAM, Wireless N connectivity, and a Texas Instruments processor inside.

The size of the watch is 1.8×1.8×0.4inches and weighs 2.1oz. The device itself is a combination of stainless steel and plastic, just like we thought.

Of the three Android Wear smartwatches introduced at Google's developer conference in June, the Moto 360 was by far the crowd favorite; its circular watchface gives it a classic, elegant look, and a stark contrast to the squarish Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch. It turns out that LG wasn't very excited about its first Wear watch either: It's going to introduce a round-faced sequel -- called the LG G Watch R -- next week in Berlin, shortly after Motorola officially launches its new timepiece.

Word on the street is that Motorola's September 4th event will see the announcement of several important devices that the now Lenovo-owned company will use to reinforce its positions. Among those are the high-end Moto X+1, the Moto 360 smartwatch, and, of course, Motorola's next budget solution -- the Moto G2.

Now, it's fair to say that the Moto G2 has received decent amounts of attention from leakers and the media on the whole. This almost surely has to do with its predecessor's success, which wasn't surprising considering it is still likely one of the very best buys in its price tier. In any case, a bunch of new snaps of the Moto G2, courtesy of Hellomotohk, are now available, and the folks behind the dedicated Facebook page have even worked up a small teaser that sums up the major upgrades over the soon-to-be-replaced Moto G.

On August 27 2014 06:09 zatic wrote:
Hey, so I remember reading somewhere that the Nexus 5 would be the last Google phone and that they won't be releasing phones themselves anymore. Anyone know if that is still the case? Can we expect a Nexus 6 at some point?

LG is enjoying a strong period, at a time when much of the industry is experiencing a slowdown or even struggling to turn a profit.

For the past couple of quarters, LG announced record sales, and analysts believe the Korean group will manage to move a total of 60 million smartphones in 2014. A big part of that success will be owed to the G3, which is slated to become LG’s first device to hit the 10 million sales milestone.

No more teasers. This is the LG G Watch R — the South Korean manufacturer's second Android Wear smartwatch. It's also the second round entry we've seen this year, the Moto 360 being the other. And it looks like folks are going to have some hard choices to make later this year.

Yes, we said later this year. (Which means we fibbed just a bit when we said "no more teasers.") The LG G Watch R won't be available until October at the earliest — fourth-quarter 2014 is all we've got at this point, and it wouldn't surprise us in the least to see it launch alongside the L version of Android — and we don't yet know the price.

LG's using a 1.3-inch P-OLED panel at 320 by 320 resolution. (The Plastic OLED is the same tech used the LG G Flex, for what that's worth.) LG says you'll get "stunning image clarity even under bright sunlight" — that's been a pretty major issue with Android Wear watches thus far, so we'll see.

For the strap, LG's using a standard 22mm leather band (calfskin, if you must know), and you can swap it out for something else if you prefer.

Sky has updated its NOW TV mobile apps to add Google Chromecast support, enabling consumers to stream their favorite shows to a television and opening up a world of entertainment on a larger screen.

What's neat about this latest update is that Sky is making it so the Roku NOW TV streaming box is no longer required to enjoy the same functionality. Simply download (or update) the Sky NOW TV Android app and you're good to go.

Google has plans to release a number of updates to its Android Wear software before the end of 2014, which will include adding GPS features for the devices that support such a feature in hardware.

In an interview with CNET, Android Engineering Director David Singleton stated that another update will add a way to link a Bluetooth headset with an Android Wear watch. He added an example of how both GPS and Bluetooth would work:

"If you're someone who likes to go for a run, it might be convenient to be able to leave your phone at home. So you can start recording your track with GPS on the watch. You can throw on some music and have a really enjoyable run. And when you come back home, everything will be synced up with the apps running on your phone."

Another new feature that's coming will allow third party developers to develop and release custom watch faces via the Google Play Store. Singleton said that one update for Android Wear will be released this week, which should "improve the navigation experience and some of the voice action experience."