Android and Me |
- HTC Bliss to be the first Android phone targeted specifically at women?
- Midweek Madness! Score a Samsung Modus 6450 Bluetooth Headset
- Gingerbread update rolling out to HTC Desire HD and Incredible S devices
- Android steamrolls competition, now owns 35% of the global smartphone market
- Verizon’s Motorola Droid X2 and LG Revolution to be released May 12
- Deals: Get the T-Mobile G2x and Sidekick 4G for $99 and $29 respectively
- ASUS working on next generation tablets, with Tegra 3 and Intel processors
- Com2uS hits a homerun with 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011
| HTC Bliss to be the first Android phone targeted specifically at women? Posted: 04 May 2011 02:31 PM PDT While most men have no issues picking up a phone like the HTC DROID Incredible 2 or the new Thunderbolt, we're heard many women complain that HTC phones are far too manly for their taste. We could debate this point for quite a while (I personally know many women who own the EVO 4G, Nexus One, and countless other HTC phones), but it is true that the distinct aesthetics of HTC phones appeal primarily towards men. So when news broke that HTC may be in the planning phase for a new handset which is targeted specifically at women, we were not surprised one bit. HTC has been holding focus groups with women to see what their take is on a new handset scheduled to launch on Verizon's network towards t he end of this year. The new handset is currently known as the HTC Bliss and will feature hardware and software tweaks that should make it more appealing to women. The HTC Bliss will have a green hue and will feature a soft-touch rubber casing for a better grip (similar to the HTC DROID Incredible 2). The handset will feature both front and rear facing cameras and will be nearly a half centimeter thinner than the HTC Desire Z. Most other exterior features will be similar to HTC's current lineup of Android phones. Software tweaks on the HTC Bliss include "calming" wallpapers along with shopping, and calorie counting apps. We don't have any indication as to which version of Android the HTC Bliss will be running, but our guess is that the phone will be running HTC Sense 2.5 or above with a modified UI skin. But since women love to accessorize, HTC may be hoping that the accessories for the Bliss will be the key factor in the handset's success. According to the report, HTC is working on a desktop dock with built-in speakers, a speaker which attaches to a car visor which is capable of voice recognition, and a matching Bluetooth headset. If that wasn't enough, the "charm indicator" should definitely get the women excited for the HTC Bliss. This accessory will come with a hook so that is can be attached to purse and will light up when the phone receveis a new message or call. We certainly like the idea of HTC going out of their way to find out what women want in a phone, but would an Android phone specifically targeted towards women really sell? Maybe HTC should simply focus on creating more accessories for all of their phones or offer their current handsets in a variety of different colors. What do you think HTC should focus on if they really want more women to purchase their phones?
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| Midweek Madness! Score a Samsung Modus 6450 Bluetooth Headset Posted: 04 May 2011 11:03 AM PDT Another week, another Wednesday, and another chance to get your hands on a cool prize for doing almost nothing. Today we’ve got a pair of the new Samsung Modus 6450 Bluetooth headsets up for grabs and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. The Samsung Modus 6450 is one of the first headsets to offer specific support for Android applications. What that actually means, I have no idea- I just saw the Android logo on the box and got excited. To confirm my elation, I hit up the included spec sheet that relayed the following: The Modus 6450 is compatible with its own specially-designed Android application, Samsung FreeSync – equipped with several features that set it apart from other applications, including EQ settings for stereo mode, LED settings, and language selection. We’re giving away both headsets, so you’ve got a double chance to win today! To enter, leave a comment below. Make sure to use a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. Other than that, good luck! We’ll announce the winners on Friday!
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| Gingerbread update rolling out to HTC Desire HD and Incredible S devices Posted: 04 May 2011 10:55 AM PDT Oh, the joy of owning an HTC phone. This morning, the company announced on its support page that the Gingerbread update is now rolling out to those people with the Desire HD and Incredible S. HTC is certainly keeping true to its label as the most efficient company when it comes to updating their Android phones. Here’s some of the things you’ll get with the Gingerbread update:
While HTC plans to have most of its devices running Android’s latest and greatest in the near future, other companies like Motorola and Samsung keep dragging their feet with the Gingerbread update. For those that care about having the latest Android version, HTC is becoming the de facto choice when buying a new phone. That’s something I’ll certainly keep in mind next time I buy a phone, you hear me LG?
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| Android steamrolls competition, now owns 35% of the global smartphone market Posted: 04 May 2011 10:15 AM PDT This morning, research firm Canalys, released their latest mobile report and it’s not a shocker. According to the company, Android now sits at the top of the smartphone food chain with 35% of the market. That’s 2.1% more than the quarter before, when it had a 32.9% market share. Android is now the most popular smartphone platform for the second quarter in a row, with 35.7 million units shipped in the first quarter. Canalys credits Android’s growth to “good performances by a number of key vendors. 'HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson drove Android shipments in the first quarter, with each vendor shipping well over 3 million devices While Android is doing pretty good, the same can’t be said about its competitors. Nokia’s share is now down to 24%, compared to the 39% it had a year ago. Nokia just recently decided to do something about its shrinking sales, by joining forces with Microsoft and building Windows Phone devices. However, that strategy might not work out as well as Nokia wishes it would. Microsoft’s platform is not showing any signs of life with just 2.5 million units shipped, that’s 1 million less devices than Samsung’s Bada platform. Ouch. Overall, the smartphone market grew by 83% in one year, going from 55.2 units shipped in Q1 2010 to 101.0 units in Q1 2011. The most growth came from Asia, which now owns 37.3% of the smartphone market. Which is not hard to believe, when you see that Samsung sold 120,000 Galaxy S2 phones in South Korea in the first 72 hours. We’ll sure hear more about Android’s exponential growth next week at Google I/O, and rightly so. The mobile OS has taken many companies by surprise and is taking over the world at an outstanding pace. You bet whoever does the Android keynote — the Android fan in me wants that person to be Vic Gundotra – is going to remind us about Android’s growth every five minutes.
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| Verizon’s Motorola Droid X2 and LG Revolution to be released May 12 Posted: 04 May 2011 09:15 AM PDT For most of us, May 12 will be Google I/O hangover day — that’s the day we recover from the tsunami of Android-related news. For Verizon, however, it’s the day they get to unleash even more droids upon the country. According to Droid-Life, eight days from today, Big Red will officially announce the Tegra 2-packing Motorola Droid X2 and the 4G-capable LG Revolution. Right after that — on May 26 — the company will also announce the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. As of right now, Verizon’s website shows more than 20 Android devices. The carrier’s Android lineup is getting so big it’s getting quite hard to keep track of all of them. We’re still waiting for the Droid Charge to arrive, and the wireless carrier is already getting ready to release even more Android phones. I never thought I’d say this but, you’re going too fast Verizon. Slow down please, for our sanity’s sake.
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| Deals: Get the T-Mobile G2x and Sidekick 4G for $99 and $29 respectively Posted: 04 May 2011 08:39 AM PDT Amazon seems to be set on becoming our number one place to buy Android devices. Last month we saw the company sell the Motorola Atrix 4G for a measly $49 price. Now the web giant is back for revenge, selling the T-Mobile G2x for just $99 and the just-released Sidekick 4G for $29. Like usual, you’ll have to sign a new 2-year contract with T-Mobile to be eligible for these deals. On the T-Mobile G2x’s case, for $99 you’ll enjoy the following features:
Whew! That’s a lot. For $29, the more economical Sidekick 4G will give you all these features:
Do any of these two phones with those incredibly low prices convince you to sign away two years of your life to T-Mobile? Me personally, I’m having a hard time not doing it.
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| ASUS working on next generation tablets, with Tegra 3 and Intel processors Posted: 04 May 2011 08:32 AM PDT Android is evolving at the speed of light nowadays, and we usually find ourselves waiting for another device right after purchasing the current best-of-the-best. Are you thinking of getting your hands on that brand new dual-core tablet that will blow your mind? Well, ASUS is already working hard on the tablets you will be wanting after that. ASUS’ next generation of tablets will have Tegra 3 quadcore processors (Kal-El), as well as Intel CPUs. While we do not know which Intel processor will be added to the next generation of ASUS tablets, we do know that the Tegra 3 chip is meant to be a beast. We can surely expect impressive performance coming from these (expected to be 5x better than Tegra 2), and if you don’t know what the next generation of NVIDIA’s Tegra processors can do, just head over to Taylor’s article on Project Kal-El (It even has some performance videos). We do not know with certainty which of ASUS’ projects are meant to be for the Android platform, but we can expect at least one to sport our favorite OS. ASUS, like many other companies, has immersed itself in Android this year especially when it comes to the "tablet wars." This company is already releasing 3 Android tablets this year, one of which has already achieved a very high level of popularity (the Transformer), even taking many customers away from the almighty Xoom. The ASUS Eee Pad Slider and MeMo tablets should be getting some good hype as well, so when it comes to the Android tablet market, we can be sure that ASUS will play a significant role. More information about the next generation of ASUS tablets should be coming in due time, so for now let’s sit back and see what ASUS has in store for us. As always, share your comments and opinions with us in the comments below. What do you think of the performance of NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processors? Can you imagine a processor being 5 times better than NVIDIA’s currently amazing ones? On a tablet? In your smartphone? The average PC’s out there probably don’t even reach that level…
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| Com2uS hits a homerun with 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011 Posted: 04 May 2011 06:43 AM PDT Com2uS is slowly becoming a solid name in Android Sports Gaming. As you may recall, Taylor, Clark and I all thoroughly enjoyed Homerun Battle 3D, and with the 2011 baseball season comes an awesome new baseball game in Com2uS' repertoire. 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011 is a full-featured baseball game which is the first to feature a license agreement with MLBPA, the major league baseball player's association. This agreement means that your favorite baseball players are featured in the game via an up-to-date team roster.
Gameplay OptionsAt the game's first launch, you will be asked to select your favorite team, which will lead to that team being defaulted when you choose any of the gameplay options. You can change your "my team" setting at any time in the main menu. 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011 features the following gameplay options:
GameplayThe actual gameplay itself is ridiculously easy to master. There is a very small amount of on-screen buttons that you can touch to swing, bunt, throw to a base, and advance/return your runners. Not all buttons are on the screen at one time (thank God); instead, only the buttons appropriate to the current situation appear on the screen at any given time. Pitching is the only real variant from this. You begin with onscreen buttons corresponding to the various pitch types in the pitcher's repertoire. Once you tap on the button, a baseball appears in the middle of the strike zone, which you can move around to select pitch location. Once you've selected a location, a huge-mungeous circle appears in the screen, which gradually gets smaller in size as you further hone in your location. The idea is to tap the screen when the circle is smallest for pinpoint pitch accuracy. I found that after only a few innings, I had mastered the controls en route to massive victories (hint: you'll want to turn the difficulty to hard after like the first game). Overall ThoughtsPros
Cons
Final Verdict9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011 is an incredibly solid baseball gaming experience for Android, and the MLBPA license adds the authentic feel which make this seem like a full-fledged baseball game. Additionally, the game has significant replay value due to both the inclusion of a full-season mode, as well as the insanely challenging Homerun gameplay mode, in which I could barely manage to get past the 3rd or 4th levels. With how awesome this game is, you would expect it to come with a pretty hefty pricetag. But that is not the case. Com2uS has gone the ad-supported route, and though I'm sure some of you are squirming in pain at the thought of another ad-supported application, the ads are in no way overbearing, and only really show up between innings, or as pop-ups after the game is concluded. Your gameplay view WILL NOT be obstructed, I promise (checked on 3 devices now)! The one thing I really wish this game had is multiplayer mode, similar to what was found in the Homerun Battle 3D application. It'd be pretty awesome to school a friend in a game of baseball. In closing, if you're into baseball and gaming, you really ought to check this game out. It is available gratis on the Android market for Android 2.1+ devices. Gallery           
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