Sense UI 4.1 spotted in leaked Android 4.0.4 ROM for international HTC One X

Sense UI 4.1 spotted in leaked Android 4.0.4 ROM for international HTC One X:

A freshly leaked ROM for the international variant of the HTC One X has made its way online, bringing some new surprises with it. Aside from version 4.0.4 of Ice Cream Sandwich, a relatively minor upgrade

Vodafone releases ICS update to Galaxy Note tomorrow

Vodafone releases ICS update to Galaxy Note tomorrow:

The Samsung Galaxy Note has had a wild ride, globally speaking, since it’s initial impression on the public almost a year ago. Tomorrow, the fun continues as the sweet phablet that shook the market gets a sweet upgrade to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Motorola Corvair Android-based TV remote control is back, now called the FiOS Companion

Motorola Corvair Android-based TV remote control is back, now called the FiOS Companion:

Usually, when some sort of “technologically pioneering device”, bizarre hybrid, or road opener drops off the radar for almost a year, it’s a good indicator that the project has been abandoned. That’s exactly what we all thought happened with Motorola’s Corvair 6-inch tablet/universal TV remote control, first leaked way back in November 2011.

Android smartphone set for space launch with STRaND-1

Android smartphone set for space launch with STRaND-1:

Android is going to space. Smartphones have previously been part of NASA shuttle missions as productivity tools and for experimentation. This time, however, an Android smartphone will, itself, be the core of the satellite.

GameKlip pairs real controllers to smartphones

GameKlip pairs real controllers to smartphones:

One of the main complaints about gaming on a smartphone is that you just can’t play a “normal” game on a smartphone just with touch controls, because the experience is too poor and it’s too hard to play this way. Sony tried to solve this problem with the Xperia Play, but the problem was they didn’t want it to compete

Google kills Google Apps for Teams, Google Listen, and Google Video for Business

Google kills Google Apps for Teams, Google Listen, and Google Video for Business:

Google has a penchant for adding so many products and services to its lineup, but at the same time the company doesn’t seem to have any qualm about dismissing the less than successful ones. Well, we’re here to announce the passing – or soon to be – of three Google services that you probably never heard of before. Following the phasing out of 5 products last month, the time has come for Google Apps for Teams, Google

AT&T new Mobile Share plans to kick in on August 23

AT&T new Mobile Share plans to kick in on August 23:

Last month, AT&T revealed the first details about its upcoming shared data plans, stating that the new pricing scheme will come into effect by the end of August. Now the carrier has announced that the Mobile Share plans will become available to customers starting August 23.

Modified menu functionality to come to international version of HTC One X and HTC One S

Modified menu functionality to come to international version of HTC One X and HTC One S:
Courtesy of Droid Life
Last week we reported that an update to AT&T’s HTC One X version brought an interesting modification to the core functionality of the phone. Till the update, users that wanted to access the menu in certain apps were presented with an ugly black bar at the bottom/side of the screen, that featured that three-point icon that

MediaTek to launch affordable quad-core MT6588 smartphone chip by Q1 2013

MediaTek to launch affordable quad-core MT6588 smartphone chip by Q1 2013:

System on a chip infrastructures are all the rage with smartphone and tablet platforms. Employing them results in lower power consumption without sacrificing performance. MediaTek, one of the smaller players in the SoC area, is set to launch new quad-core SoC products by the first quarter of 2013.

Google Now fully ported to Ice Cream Sandwich, all features including Voice Search reported as working

Google Now fully ported to Ice Cream Sandwich, all features including Voice Search reported as working:

Google Now has been the headline of Jelly Bean’s update changelog since day one, but unfortunately, the service has only been available to JB users until now. We’ve talked on a number of occasions about Google Now’s exquisite interface, its ease of use, functionality, and its splendid Voice Search function, which has

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos outed in the UK, starts at around $300

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos outed in the UK, starts at around $300:

The market for affordable entry-level phones with dual-SIM capabilities might not seem too promising in the US, but in Europe and Asia, there is quite the competition over the niche. And where there’s competition,

Sony Xperia P will get an ICS makeover on August 19-25, only in India for now?

Sony Xperia P will get an ICS makeover on August 19-25, only in India for now?:

According to a post from Sony India’s Facebook page, the middle-brother of the Xperia NXT series, the Sony Xperia P will be treated with a serving of Ice Cream Sandwich between August 19 and August 25.

ARM announces second generation Mali T600 GPUs, supporting video resolutions of up to 8k

ARM announces second generation Mali T600 GPUs, supporting video resolutions of up to 8k:

Although we haven’t even seen the first generation of Mali T600 series GPUs shipping, ARM is already announcing the second generation of T600 GPUs, not only for the Mali T604, but also for the

Chrome surpasses IE, claims one third of the browser market

Chrome surpasses IE, claims one third of the browser market:

Who knew that Google Chrome would get so far? It now accounts for 1/3 of the market, and it has the highest browser market share as well, surpassing the total market share of IE (IE7, IE8, IE9) on its own. Chrome took 33.4% market share in June, according to StatCounter, while IE took only 32%. Firefox was at 23.7%, while Safari was at 7.1%.

Samsung releases source codes for Galaxy Note 10.1

Samsung releases source codes for Galaxy Note 10.1:

It didn’t take long after the formal launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 for the Korean to release one of the things that developers and tinkerers would like to get their hands on the most first – the source code of the tablet.

UK’s Clove to sell unlocked white Sony Xperia Go for £210

UK’s Clove to sell unlocked white Sony Xperia Go for £210:

We’re sure everyone has that moment when they wish that their smartphone was built like a tank and came with a waterproof body; you know, something along the lines of the Sony Xperia Go. What we’ve seen so far concerning Sony’s rugged smartphone is that not only can it take some serious beating, but it also plays nice with water.

Jawbone Jambox bluetooth speaker review [video]

Jawbone Jambox bluetooth speaker review :

There are a lot of features packed into our smartphones, but for many, nothing is more important than the ability of the device to function as a music player. Manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into making sure that their high-end flagship devices don’t give consumers a reason to complain when it comes to this key feature. We’ve seen this happen recently, with the Beats Audio integration with the HTC One X (and all other new HTC releases), and the Samsung Galaxy S3 being no slouch in the sound quality department either.

HopeLine Android app brings hope and resources for domestic violence victims

HopeLine Android app brings hope and resources for domestic violence victims:

Domestic violence is an issue not to be taken lightly, as it affects more people than you know. According to studies, 1 in 4 women, 1 in 9 men, and over 3 million children have to deal with this harrowing problem.

Deal: Amazon Wireless offers high-end Sprint Android phones for a penny, Samsung Galaxy S3 at half-price

Deal: Amazon Wireless offers high-end Sprint Android phones for a penny, Samsung Galaxy S3 at half-price:

Sprint launched its 4G LTE network less than a month back, with further expansion already on its way and set to arrive by the end of September. Granted, the third largest network carrier in the U.S. is still playing

Motorola Xoom 4G LTE to get Android 4.1 soon

Motorola Xoom 4G LTE to get Android 4.1 soon:

 

We recently saw that the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS is already available on 0.8% of current Android devices. Granted, this is mostly because of the very successful release of the Nexus 7 tablet, and the quick upgrade rollout to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the WiFi version of the Motorola Xoom, as promised by Google. Needless to say, the current distribution of Jelly Bean is in a far better state than ICS, after it was first announced last year.
Even though the WiFi version of the Motorola Xoom received the update a while back, the rollout for the 4G LTE version, available from Verizon, would take a while, as it’s once again dependent on the network carrier. The good news is that it may not take as long as first expected.
One Droid Life reader says that he received the official update to Jelly Bean over the weekend. The screenshot above shows that the Android version is 4.1.1 with the build number JR003H. The baseband version, and the 4G notification at the bottom left of the screenshot proves that it is indeed the 4G LTE version of the Motorola Xoom. He also sent in a screenshot of Google Now, which as we all know, is a feature available only on Jelly Bean.
It’s unclear whether this update was pushed out by mistake during Verizon testing, as there has been no official word yet of the carrier being to ready to rollout the upgrade. Either way, that is one lucky customer, and this hopefully means that the latest Android OS is on the way for every Xoom 4G LTE owner out there very soon.
What are your thoughts? Mistake by Verizon, or the start of the official rollout? If you use a Xoom 4G LTE and have received the update, let us know in the comments section below.

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www.rtechinsane.in

Samsung allegedly copied iPhone app icons too, Apple says and it may be right

Samsung allegedly copied iPhone app icons too, Apple says and it may be right:

The U.S. Apple vs Samsung trial continues today with new testimonies and evidence submitted by each party to make it case. We’re going to share with you an interesting slideshow, as posted by CNET, that

T-Mobile slashes HTC One S price to $149

T-Mobile slashes HTC One S price to $149:

Even though it seems to be hip these days to cut the prices of some of the best-selling smartphones around, we can’t help but suspect some of these discounts have ulterior motives or strings attached to them.

Want an Android-powered microwave oven? Here’s MAID!

Want an Android-powered microwave oven? Here’s MAID!:

Android has surely gone a long way since its 2007 inception, now powering more smartphones and tablets than ever, but the mobile OS’ expansion might well go beyond what anyone over at Google imagined a few years back.

Google, Apple start bidding for Kodak’s digital patents

Google, Apple start bidding for Kodak’s digital patents:

WSJ reported yesterday that Kodak’s upcoming patent auction already has 2 bidders: Google and Apple, and each has bids between $150 million and $250 million so far. Kodak, however, is expecting up to $2.6 billion for its 1,100 digital patents to pay off its creditors.
This may be wishful thinking for Kodak, but who knows how fast the bids will escalate with Apple in there. Apple doesn’t really care about the money they have to spend, so they will try to at least raise the cost for Google as much as possible provided Google does retain them eventually.
The two companies are not actually bidding by themselves, but are leaders of 2 consortium of companies. On Google’s side, there seem to be Android manufacturers genuinely interested in defending themselves against the likes of Apple and Microsoft, like Samsung, HTC and LG, while on Apple’s side there’s Microsoft and the known patent troll, Intellectual Ventures.
You can only imagine that these companies are not looking to use those patents defensively. If Apple gets some of Kodak’s patents, they will probably use them to put more injunctions on Android manufacturers. Microsoft would try to get even more money from the companies they are charging for alleged patent infringements. Intellectual Ventures would just spread them out to certain patent troll shell companies to sue other companies, including Android manufacturers.
Kodak has denied the leaked information, which makes sense as they don’t want to upset some of the bidders. Google and their consortium would have the most to suffer from this because if Apple and the others know they are bidding, they will just keep raising the price. But I think they already knew there was a high chance Google would bid for them. Hopefully, history won’t repeat itself like with the Nortel patents, and Google and their partners will obtain the goods without incident.

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rtechinsane.in

HTC’s sales down 45% in July compared to a year ago

HTC’s sales down 45% in July compared to a year ago:


HTC doesn’t seem to be doing too well lately, even after the big launch of the One series, and the much praised HTC One X smartphone. Yesterday they said that their sales fell by 45% in the month of July compared to the same month last year, from T$45.11 billion to T$25 billion ($834 million). The sales were also down compared the previous month by T$5 billion.