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Thursday, July 26, 2012

The first non-Nexus Android 4.1 Jelly Bean phone is a ZTE!

zte logo

Just a few days ago, we were discussing how ZTE might be the one to start the “stock Android revolution“, with their upcoming Grand X flagship, which will arrive with stock Android 4.0. ZTE is trying hard to become a stock Android manufacturer, and they’ve been working with Google to bring out stock Android devices faster into the market. According to Kan Yulun, VP and CTO of ZTE’s handset division:

“ZTE has an excellent relationship with Google and this, combined with our extensive R&D capabilities and our experience of customising devices for partners around the world, means we are able to bring new technologies to market very quickly”,

One of the results of this close relationship is the ZTE N880E smartphone, which was launched in China in May with Android 2.3, but is now jumping straight to Android 4.1.

This will make the ZTE N880E the first smartphone to run Android 4.1 in China, and (to our knowledge) the first non-Nexus device to run Jelly Bean. How is this possible, you may wonder? My guess is ZTE was one of the limited number of partners that received the PDK beta, before Google even announced Jelly Bean to the public.

The ZTE N880E looks like a mid-range phone in terms of specs, but the Jelly Bean upgrade should make it run smoother than ever before, and it’s the reason why I’m excited for Jelly Bean to arrive even on lower-end smartphones.

The full list of specs of the ZTE N880E includes:

Size: 119mm x 61mm x 10.4mmScreen: 4.0-inch, WVGA, 480 x 800 TFT, capacitive touchscreenWeight: 130gBattery: Li-ion 1650mAhStandard: CDMA2000 1x, EVDO Rev.A, 800MHzOS: Android 4.1.1Platform: Qualcomm 7627AFrequency: 1GHzMemory: 4GB (storage) + 512MB (RAM)Extended memory: MicroSD (max. support 32G)Camera: 3.2MP AFBluetooth: 2.1, A2DP, AVRCPWLAN: 802.11 b/g/nOther: GPS, GMS, FM, A-GPS

It’s nice to see that Google is working so closely with manufacturers to bring out upgrades faster, but ZTE wasn’t the only one in the limited beta program for the PDK. We’ve heard rumors that Samsung may upgrade the Galaxy S3 to Jelly Bean as soon as this August, and of course we know HTC is preparing to upgrade their One series smartphones to Jelly Bean very soon as well, so they must’ve been included in the limited beta as well.

This is great news all around for the Android ecosystem. Not only some smartphone manufacturers are starting to switch to the Google Experience version of Android, but the PDK is helping them upgrade to the latest version of Android much faster than before.

Hopefully, this also means that Android manufacturers will support their devices with upgrades for a lot longer than a year, and that they will upgrade more of their models as well.

SOURCES ZTE

TAGS Android 4.1 Jelly BeanNexusZTEZTE N880E



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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Slider phone Kyocera Rise coming to Sprint and Virgin Mobile

You may know Kyocera for its water-resistant smartphone offering, the Kyocera Hydro. But there’s one more Android trick up the Japanese manufacturer’s sleeve. After it was first showcased at CTIA 2012 back in May – the Kyocera Rise is on its way to two wireless carriers in the US.

EVleaks has shared new pictures of the Kyocera Rise in the wild, bringing along with it fresh information of where the phone will be heading to. Looking at the specs and the mentioned SprintZone app in the phone’s home screen, it’s safe to say that the slider will be offered by Sprint. But that’s not all, because the phone apparently will be available on Virgin Mobile as well.

The Kyocera Rise is, at best, a mid-range phone that boasts a 3.5-inch IPS display a t320 x 480 resolution. It is set to join the ranks of other phones in the market donning a physical keyboard, which is making quite a comeback this year. Powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon chip, the Rise also packs 512MB RAM, 2GB onboard storage, microSD card slot, 3MP rear camera, 1,500mAh battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

We don’t have details of the phone’s price and release date for now. But given its middle-of-the-road specs, we’re sure the price will be in the double digits. The Kyocera Rise should make a welcomed affordable addition to Sprint’s growing list of slider phones, as it will soon roll out the red carpet for the LG Cayenne.

SOURCES Phandroid

TAGS Kyocera RiseQWERTYSprintVirgin Mobile



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Best Android apps for brain training and exercise

We are in the age where technology allows us to do so many things that in the past we could never do or never do well unaided. Because of technology, ironically, many people are no longer exercising their mental skills and, instead, are making their gadgets do things like computations and analyses for them. In turn, their mental capabilities become rusty. After all, “Use it, or lose it.”

If you refuse to let your brain turn to mush, we’ve put together a list of apps that can help you exercise, train, and sharpen your brain. They are mostly free to download from the Google Play Store. Read on to learn about the best Android apps for brain training and brain exercise. Flex those mental muscles, yeah?

Do you think you are smart? Or, are you a moron? One way to find out if you are either of the two is by trying the puzzle-filled game called The Moron Test. As the name of the game suggests, it tests your mind through different obstacles and challenges which are seemingly easy yet tricky. Every time you solve a problem or finish a challenge, you’re closer to being a genius. You need to finish all the obstacles for you to be hailed as a genius.

The game has a fun and animated interface, featuring different animated characters adding to the fun factor of the game. It’s great to play with your friends or the whole family. The Moron Test lets you exercise your brain through various challenges while being user friendly. Take the test to know whether or not you are a moron.

What do you think the age of your brain is? If you are curious, we suggest that you try and play Brain Age Test Free. It’s an easy and simple game that analyzes your brain age by testing your short-term memory.

When you play the game, you will see bubbles with numbers inside them. The numbers will eventually disappear and you have to tap the bubbles in the numbers’ descending order. You have up to 3 chances before the app will start to analyze your brain age.

Play the game 10 minutes a day and it will help exercise your brain, particularly your short-term memory, making you more alert and most importantly, making your brain younger. You can also track your progress through the progress screen. The game is very user friendly, perfect for everyone no matter what age or brain age.

We have already mentioned one brain-age determining app and another app of this sort is Brain Age Game. Playing this game lets you determine what your brain age is, but what makes the Brain Age Game unique from The Brain Age Test is that it also measures your memory age and arithmetic abilities.

It has different kinds of brain tests that will help you workout your brain reflexes and concentration. At the end of each test, the app will show your scores, which you can opt to post on the global scoreboard.

Tracking your performance and improvement is also supported via the Progress button on the homescreen, as well as sharing your results to Facebook every time you play.

The Brain Age Game is a great and fun way to exercise your brain. You can encourage your Facebook friends to workout their brains, too.

There’s no doubt that the human brain is capable of more than what you are using it for, and the only way to squeeze some extra performance from your brain is by training it. Memory Trainer does just that for you, exercising your brain to improve spatial and working memory, as well as helping in improving your concentration through regular workout sessions.

The app is very handy; you can use it during your short breaks or while waiting for something. It explains to you more about memory training, allowing you to have an in-depth understanding of how it can improve your brain.

The app allows you to track your progress and continuing your last session is also supported. If you think you’re getting the hang of it faster than you thought, you can also tweak the difficulty settings of each session to make it more challenging.

Solving mathematical problems does improve your brain skills, since it requires concentration, observation, memorization, and computation. You need to have imaginative thinking to be good at math and you can get a daily dose of that with Math Genius Brain Trainer.

This app provides you math puzzles to solve. They can be addictive, certainly useful if you want to make your brain perform better. The app puts your brain to the test with infinite levels, and playing it regularly improves your skill in doing quick and accurate calculations. If you love puzzle games, then for sure you’re going like this game, too.

It’s user friendly and it includes instructions to give you hints on how to the play the game. You can also tweak some of the app’s settings via the Preference button found on the homescreen. You can also continue your unfinished games anytime you want via the Continue button.

Brain Genius Deluxe is another app that is filled with brain training exercises, dedicated to help your brain think better. In this app, you have to prove that there is a genius within you by passing all of its 23 brain training games. You may think that those may not be much, but these games are challenging since they are timed. Playing it also allows the app to analyze your brain skills such as observation, memory, calculation, and reasoning.

You can also track your performance when you use this app. Brain Genius Deluxe is also available for iPhone/iPod Touch users, allowing you to compare your scores with your non-Android friends. And, if ever you need a break from the challenges, you can check out the bonus games included.

Interface-wise, the app is very easy to use and each challenge is easy to understand. It has a fun and nice-looking interface, too.

Learning never stops, even when you step out of the four corners of your school. There are always new things to learn about, and our very own planet Earth simply doesn’t run out of interesting wonders. Learning about these wonders is fun and enjoyable with GeoQuiz. It simply provides you with trivia about different things on our planet.

You can easily learn new things in a specific field that you prefer since the app allows you to choose from various categories. Everything is presented well in the app’s brilliant-looking interface which features different landscapes and views. GeoQuiz is easy to use and it has loads of knowledge waiting for you to discover.

Do you have sharp eyes? Can you pay attention to small details? To be able to do so, your eye-and-brain coordination should be high. Find Differences is a fun and easy to use app that will help you improve your attention skills and exercise your brain, too.

All you need to do is to spot the tiny differences for every pair of high quality images that the app presents to you. They could be tricky, but the app can give you a hand, giving you 5 free hints and for every 200 points that you earn by playing the game, you get another free hint.

It’s great to play when you have nothing to do, letting you kill time while working out your brain.

Another app that gives you a daily dose of mental math exercises is Math Workout. It has brain training exercises and math drills designed to keep your mind sharp and alert. The app lets you choose among different kinds of categories and challenges. If you have done all of the challenges or you are not up for them, you can choose to challenge other players of the app via the Online World Challenge.

Tracking your mental math progress is also supported by the app, letting you know how fast you are learning or improving your arithmetic skills. The app is also easy to use and you can use it no matter what your age is, guaranteed to make your mental skills sharper.

One of the classic mind games that really requires critical thinking is chess and Chess Free simply lets you enjoy this game on your smartphone. It’s one of the best free chess games that you can get on Android and it’s really a quality chess app if you consider its nice and classy interface and the game features.

The game has 10 levels that you can play, from novice level up to expert. It’s also great since it uses the Treebeard chess engine which plays chess in a very human-like manner, allowing you to learn from the great moves that it will make. It also has a CPU thinking option where the moves that the CPU is considering to make are shown.

It also has other features like stats, timers, hints, and handicaps which can help you evaluate how you are improving in each level that you play, not to mention a Review game mode to let you see every move that you and your opponent made during the game. Ches Free is definitely a great game to play with your friends.

Playing word games is also a great and fun way to exercise your brain and to enrich your vocabulary. One great app that helps you with flexing your skill with words is the PowerVocab: Vocab Word Game. It has features like Learn words, Challenge quiz, and Search words that help challenge and exercise your mental skills. You can also choose to challenge other live users.

The app itself is not just something that you can play during your past time because it also functions like a real dictionary. Each word is presented with complete definition, examples, and phonetic pronunciation, which is very handy if you encounter words that you do not understand. It is a good way of exercising your mental muscles while at the same time enriching your vocabulary.

Have you heard of the Classic Simon game? If you haven’t then we suggest that you should try it out. It’s a very easy 2-player game yet it’s really a great brain teaser to help you give your brain cells some exercise. Its simplicity allows users of all ages to play it.

To play this game, all you have to do is just to repeat the colors and sounds in the correct order. The app has a very simple interface with the classic 4 color mode but you can also choose advanced modes such as Super color mode with 9 colors, Magic Memory mode or the Chaos mode. Tease your brain with this vintage app.

If you like playing memory games and puzzles, you may have already stumbled across MatchUp : Exercise your Memory and similar games. Its definitely one of the best classic simple games that can also help you exercise your mind every once in a while. Not familiar with this game? To play this game, you just have to flip the cards and match them all with the least moves possible.

The faster you match all those cards, the better is your memory. If you want more of a challenge, just need add more cards. You can choose among 2×2, 4×4, 5×6, 6×6, 8×8, and 10×10 card grids. The harder the level becomes, the more complicated the images are, so the game will really test your memory, as well as your attention to detail. Playing it often will help train your memory to be sharper.

Need a brain workout to improve several brain skills? If that’s the case, then you might want to try Brain Workout. Unlike other brain exercise or training apps, it trains your brain to improve in different areas such as memory, focus, reaction, and accuracy through different brain exercises.

It has 4 different brain training games for the brain skills that were mentioned and it also analyzes your performance in each area to help you know where you should improve. The app allows you to keep track of your progress from the first time you use the app. You can also share and compare your results with your friends.

When it comes to exercising your mind, one of the best classic puzzles to play is Sudoku and Sudoku Free is the app of choice if you want a quality Sudoku game. It has a very neat and intuitive interface, letting you reach all the buttons of the app easily, such as the numbers and some other options.

It has 4 levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Extreme. It also has several handy features such as automatic saving, Undo and Redo, and intelligent hints. You can also play with other players in real time if you are looking for challenging opponents. You can then post your scores and track your progress online.

(Can’t live without Sudoku? See our post about the best Sudoku apps for Android.)

Another mind-boggling game that would really squeeze your brain is Unblock Me FREE. You have to get the red block out of the board by sliding the other blocks out of the way. It’s seemingly easy, yet it’s a tricky game that would help you improve your problem-solving skills. The game has 4 levels of difficulty from Beginner to Expert.

You don’t have to worry of about running out of puzzles to solve since the game has 4,200 puzzles for you. There are two game modes, namely, Relax Mode and Challenge Mode, the latter you can play if you just want to kill time while the other if you are really serious about playing the game.

Unblock Me FREE also has a ranking system to motivate you to play better, a hint system to give you a bit of help, and an Undo system to cancel moves.

Training and exercising your brain will be very addictive and fun when you try Brain Test HD. It includes various games and brain exercises that you can play to improve your memory, speed, flexibility, accuracy, and reaction. It’s also a great app that you can use to turn your waiting moments to fun a brain training session.

Like other brain training apps, it also has the feature to allow you to track your performance using a progress graph. It also features brain classification based on your IQ and how well you play the game. You can brag about your high scores to your friends by sharing your results via Facebook.

If you are looking for a mind-enriching game that you can play with your siblings or your parents, then try Move the Block. It’s a great game for all ages and it’s very challenging, not to mention very brain-stimulating.

To play this game, you have to move the columns and rows up and down to achieve a target figure. The app has 100 exciting levels that you can play, so it will be long before you run out of puzzles to solve. Tracking your scores every time you play is also supported in the app, allowing you to see how much you have improved. Your scores could also be shared on Facebook so that you can let your friends know that you are exercising your brain.

Reversi Free is another game that can give you a mind-boggling exercise. It’s one of those games which are seemingly easy to play yet very tricky. You have to be very clever and careful in flipping those chips, or else a game that you thought you were going to win will turn into a shocking loss.

The app has a very user friendly and intuitive interface. It has 10 levels of difficulty including some hints that can guide you in playing the game. It also shows your game statistics such as how many losses, wins, and draws you had. It’s a great game to give your brain a bit of exercise everyday.

Pump some math problems into your brain to help it exercise with Brain Exerciser. The app tests your arithmetic skills by giving you math questions such as basic subtraction or addition. It may seem easy but if you haven’t been practicing with computations lately, you’ll surely struggle at the beginning.

The app has three different games that you can play: Add Like Mad, Number Breaker, and Balloon Solver, all of which are designed to help your mind become alert and sharp. It won’t help you solve complicated math problems, but it’s great to refresh your math skills once in a while.

It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. Having a sharp mind is not only a gift of genetics but also a result of frequent practice. Exercising your brain cells can make a difference. Even if you are old, your brain can still grow new neurons, so it’s just a matter of putting them to use for you to stay sharp. Try the best Android apps for brain training and brain exercise on this list so your brain will always stay alert and sharp.

TAGS Android AppsBrain ExerciseBrain GamesBrain TrainingLogicMemoryMemory GamesMind GamesObservationReasoning


Ken is an expert on management and is currently engrossed with his newly started adventure in logistics management. But, that's only his second love. His first love, of course, and without being mushy when this is said, is Android.


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Galaxy S3’s inner beauty exposed thanks to intrepid X-Ray technician

samsung-galaxy-s-iii-x-ray

Do you love teardowns? I do too, but the thought of losing a beautiful device in the process is always making me a bit sad. Call me sentimental, but I wished there was a more humane, non-invasive way to see what makes my Samsung Galaxy S3 tick… Well, there is.

Engadget reader alexcaron works with mammography machines, and, in his spare time, he likes to shoot bursts of X-rays at consumer devices, such as the iPad, Galaxy Tab 10.1, or the Nexus S. The results are beautiful, ethereal images of the innards of our beloved gadgets, which reveal many of their components.

Alex stuck a new Samsung Galaxy S3 in the X-Ray machine, obtaining the image you can see below. What strikes me is just how much of the space inside the Galaxy S3 is taken up by the battery. You can also spot the two cameras, speakers, the antenna, and various circuits.

Apparently, the X-rayed Galaxy S3 still works fine, so it’s not the same device that caught fire a few weeks back, apparently due to exposure to an external source of radiations.

SOURCES Engadget

TAGS SamsungSamsung Galaxy S3teardownX-Ray


I'm here to report on the latest, most breaking developments in mobile technology, all the latest and greatest Android news, and to dig deeper on where Android is headed. I'll tell you one thing - we're in for a wild ride!


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Galaxy S3 sales top 10 million in less than two months

Samsung’s 2012 flagship device, the Galaxy S3, is doing a lot better when it comes to overall sales than its predecessors – sure, the comparison is not necessarily fair since from year to year we’re seeing more and more people dumping regular cell phones and feature phones in favor of smartphones. Hence, it makes sense to see the Galaxy S3 sell better than the 2011 Galaxy S2, which itself did better than the original 2010 Galaxy S.

The smartphone environment is dominated by the iPhone and by the Galaxy S flagship devices – when it comes to single device sales – in that order. While no Android maker managed to match Apple’s sales of a single handset, the Galaxy S3 is probably the first smartphone that will attempt to do it.

A new report now reveals that Samsung has already sold over 10 million Galaxy S3 units, after less than two months since its launch – the handset was first released in the UK on May 29.

The news comes straight from Samsung’s president Shin Jong-kyun, who mentioned the sales mark to reporters. At this rate, Samsung is selling almost 200,000 Galaxy S3 units per day, and the company is expected to sell over 40 million Galaxy S3 units by the end of the year.

Comparatively, Samsung sold over 10 million Galaxy S units (as of January 2011) and a combined 30 million Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 units (as of October 2011), although these numbers are certainly higher by now. Samsung is not mentioning smartphone sales in its quarterly reports anymore but the company is expected to have sold 50 million smartphone units in total in the second quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, Apple is expected to announce somewhere around 30 million iPhone sales for Q2 2012, it’s third quarter of fiscal year 2012, and the company’s next-gen iOS smartphone should hit stores at some point in fall.

Have you purchased your Galaxy S3 yet?

SOURCES Yonhap News

TAGS Galaxy S3Samsung Galaxy S3



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Watch Google’s first Nexus 7 commercial

I think one of main reasons why the “mainstream” users don’t know much about the “Android” brand, or can’t recognize an Android phone that easily is because Google has never really had a marketing campaign for Android itself. This coupled with the fact that each manufacturer makes their “Android” phones look quite different from other manufacturer’s Android phones, is why the Android brand is so weak in the market compared to the “iPhone” brand, or “iPad” brand.

Of course, it’s also easier to remember an actual product’s name than an operating system’s name, if you don’t care much about this sort of thing. However, if Google would’ve promoted Android heavily with traditional advertising, the same way they did with Chrome since the beginning, maybe “Android”, as a brand name would be a lot more recognizable. This would be much like the “Windows” brand in the world of PC’s; everyone and their mom knows “they need Windows” for their PC’s.

Plus, it would get people used to a certain type of UI that stock Android has, and that would lead to 2 things: it would make it harder for manufacturers to promote their own skinned Android devices as Android, and in the same time those who would use stock Android would benefit from Google’s own marketing for Android. So it would create an incentive for manufacturers to use stock Android, and a disincentive for them to use anything else, if they still want to call it “Android”. Win-win for Google and for consumers.

But Google didn’t do this early on, and it’s going to be tough to try this now. Now that they have both a good looking OS, starting with the ICS/Jelly Bean versions, and a worthy physical product, like the Nexus 7 tablet, I think Google will be trying to make more people recognize what pure Android really is about. Then the plan will be to have all these people expect that UI and those features (Google Now, Google Voice Search, etc) in future devices. Of course, this is all speculation on my part.

Google’s first step in mass-marketing, is a commercial that is much like their previous ads for other products, that try to show how technology is strengthening the relationship between people. This commercial is showing how the Nexus 7 is making the outdoor experiences between a father and his son, more fun. The name of the commercial “Nexus 7: Camping” also implies that this is but the first of a series of commercials for the Nexus 7.

It doesn’t matter how many reviewers think the Nexus 7 is a Kindle Fire killer, if regular people don’t hear about it at least.

TAGS Google NowJelly BeanKindle FireNexus 7



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Sony LT29i Hayabusa makes its first photo appearances

We can’t really say Sony has the necessary “muscle” to battle Samsung or HTC in the high-end Android universe, but that might well change in a matter of weeks. The company’s flagship device, known by the LT29i and Hayabusa codenames, is getting ever closer to its release, although its existence is yet to be confirmed from official sources.

Fortunately, we don’t need official confirmation to know that we are being prepared for something big! If the phone’s FCC approval from a couple of days ago wasn’t enough to warrant Hayabusa’s imminent release, today’s two leaks will most likely seal the deal.

The Xperia LT29i Hayabusa has made its first online photo appearances, and intriguing enough, there are two different websites who’ve managed to get their hands on some different pics at about the exact same time.

Both XperiaBlog.net and Xperia.com.vn are keeping their leaks’ sources anonymous, as expected in such cases, but we don’t have any reason to suspect the photos aren’t legit. Fortunately, these are pretty high-quality pics and show off the Hayabusa in all its splendor, from the front, back and sides.

Then again, the photos aren’t spectacular, as it is now confirmed the Hayabusa is an almost identical copycat of the “Japanese-exclusive” Sony Xperia GX (SO-04D), who’s had its fair share of official photo appearances.

Most rumors until now claimed that the Hayabusa will be coming with a slightly smaller 4.55? screen than the Xperia GX’s 4.6?, but as you can imagine, there’s no way to tell from these photos if that detail will prove accurate.

As for the phone’s other dimensions and its design, it’s almost impossible to set it apart from the GX, so we’re ready to bet that it will only weigh 127 grams and measure the measly 8.6 mm in thickness. Another detail revealed by one of the leaked pics is that the LT29i will be running Android ICS 4.0.4 upon its release, which is not at all surprising.

In terms of hardware, however, there’s nothing new we can tell out of today’s photos. There’s still a good chance that the Hayabusa will come packing a dual-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor with an Adreno 320 GPU. In addition to that ultra-snappy CPU/GPU duo, the 4.55-inch beast is also set to come with 1 GB of RAM, a 13 MP rear-facing camera, a full HD 1280 x 720 pix res screen, 16 GB of internal memory, and a microSD card slot.

While it’s a bit too early to draw any definitive conclusions on Hayabusa’s future success, I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re dealing with a possible game changer, especially if this gets released by the end of August. Do you agree? Why? Why not?

SOURCES Xperia Blog GSM Arena

TAGS SonySony HayabusaSony LT29iSony Xperia GX



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