Android Phone Fans
Android Phone Fans |
- Motorola giving some Moto 360 fans on Twitter the chance to purchase the smartwatch before anyone else
- How will the iPhone 6 compare in size to the HTC One M8, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy Alpha? [VIDEOS]
- Sprint finally makes the HTC One E8 official, available today for $100 with a 2-year agreement
- T-Mobile’s Uncarrier 7.0 event kicks off Sept 10th – ‘This time it’s personal’
- Mobile Roar 60: Round and Round
- AT&T giving $100 bill credit for adding new AT&T Next lines
- From Android Forums: HDMI on the LG G3, SmartSwitch, car chargers, and more!
- Report: Sprint to offer their very first Sony phone soon; Xperia Z3?
- OnePlus looking to get off the invite system by October, but is that too late?
| Posted: 29 Aug 2014 05:38 PM PDT Motorola has been hard at work promoting their upcoming smartwatch — the Motorola Moto 360 — these past few days. Wednesday, we saw Motorola kick off their Yo contest where the manufacturer gave out 40 Moto 360s to lucky winners and it seems they were only getting started. We’ve been receiving reports that the official Motorola account on Twitter has been busy notifying select users on Twitter of a “sweet opportunity” headed their way. Motorola’s tweets seems to follow anyone who has recently tweeted the hashtag #moto360, where they’re then asked to DM Motorola with the email associated with their Motorola account. If that sounds a little fishy to you, here’s how it played out for one Twitter user: We did some digging on Twitter and sure enough, found this was not an isolated incident. Motorola spent a large portion of their day yesterday replying to just about anyone expressing interest in the Moto 360 over the past few weeks. Once Motorola receives a DM with the user’s email address, the conversation picks up there with Motorola notifying these Moto 360 fans of a chance to buy the smartwatch before it’s officially available to the general public. Here’s the email they’re sending out to a few lucky fans: Motorola was careful not to provide any kind of firm release date or timing for the Moto 360, only telling fans to continue checking their inbox over the next few days for a followup email where they’ll then only have a few hours to participate. We imagine that wont be too much longer as Motorola has a big event planned for Sept 4th in Chicago where the Moto 360 (along with a handful of other devices) will officially be unveiled unto the world. While it doesn’t appear that Motorola notified anyone else after yesterday, there’s no saying if they wont do so in the future. While I wouldn’t go rushing to tweet out any #moto360 hashtags, it certainly couldn’t hurt. Cheers. Images via Reddit Thanks anon!
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| How will the iPhone 6 compare in size to the HTC One M8, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy Alpha? [VIDEOS] Posted: 29 Aug 2014 03:37 PM PDT In case you’ve been living under a rock (or simply haven’t been keeping up with Apple news), it’s looking like the iPhone 6 will officially be unveiled in 2 weeks. Although “iPhone 6″ was never actually mentioned, Apple did begin sending out invites for a September 9th event in Cupertino where the tag line was “Wish we could say more.” Oh, you don’t need to. We know what you’re up to. There’s been enough leaks in recent months that we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the event. Perform a simple search on YouTube for “iPhone 6″ and look at how many people got their hands on alleged dummy units of the bigger, softer 4.7-inch iPhone 6. But with such a big jump in screen size (and still roughly the same bezel ratio), you may be asking yourself how the upcoming phone stacks up against Android’s greatest in terms of overall size. Luckily, with dummy units being so easy to come by these days (security is a bit more lax at Apple lately), we found a few videos that compare the upcoming i6 against Android heavyweights like the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8, and Samsung’s most recent answer to the iPhone 6: the recently announced Samsung Galaxy After taking a look at the videos, we were a bit surprised to find that, despite having a much smaller 4.7-inch display, overall the iPhone 6 is pretty large. This was mostly in part to that extra hunk of bezel along the bottom of the phone where Apple’s Touch ID home button sits. The iPhone 6 was only a little smaller than the HTC One M8 (which could have come out a lot differently had HTC only ditched their useless black bar bezel along the bottom) almost the same height as the Galaxy S5 (although a little more narrow), and nearly identical to the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. We can only hope that with the iPhone 6 said to come in 2 sizes — 4.7-inch model and a 5.5-inch version — Android OEMs will finally catch on and realize 1-size doesn’t fit all and that consumers need at least 2 size choices when shopping for a high-end smartphone. But given the fact that Android has had 4.7-inch screen sizes for years now, we’re sure many OEMs see smaller devices as a “step back.” Hey, at least Sony is on the right track with the rumored Xperia Z3 Compact. Gotta speak with your wallet, folks. |
| Sprint finally makes the HTC One E8 official, available today for $100 with a 2-year agreement Posted: 29 Aug 2014 12:46 PM PDT After prematurely publishing a video to their YouTube account nearly 2 weeks ago, Sprint is ready to stop beating around the bush and make the HTC One E8 official. The nation’s 3rd largest carrier has officially announced that the One E8 will be coming to their network later this year and provides the same One experience you’ve come to expect from devices like the One M8, only in a fresh new polycarbonate design. Yum. The HTC One E8 features hardware specs eerily similar to the HTC One M8 only with one exceptions. HTC has dumped the 4MP UltraPixel camera in their flagship phone for a regular ‘ol 13MP shooter. While we haven’t seen any picture samples just yet, we’re sure that on paper, the higher number count will make a few of you happy, although we’ll reserve judgment until we can see a few comparisons. Other One E8 specs include a 5-inch 1080p display, 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, and a 2,600mAh battery — all running on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Other key features include:
Sprint reminds us that HD Voice is now available nationwide and while Sprint Spark’s enhanced LTE service is currently available in 27 markets across the US, they plan to blanket 100 million customers by years end. The HTC One E8 is available right now for $100 with a 2-year contract from either Sprint.com or through their telesales department in either “Polar White” or “Misty Gray.” Well qualified buyers can even put the phone on Easy Pay, paying off the phone over 2 years with monthly payments of $20.84 (or $500 outright). |
| T-Mobile’s Uncarrier 7.0 event kicks off Sept 10th – ‘This time it’s personal’ Posted: 29 Aug 2014 10:42 AM PDT Hold onto your butts, T-Mobile has just announced a date for their upcoming Uncarrier 7.0 event. Looks like everything will go down on September 10th — a day after Apple’s iPhone 6 event– so we’re wondering if T-Mobile wont have some kinda Apple tie-in planned. According to T-Mobile press invite “This time it’s personal.” Sounds ominous. The event is actually being held at a T-Mobile retail store in San Francisco, right on the corner of Market and 3rd. The last T-Mobile event actually announced Uncarrier 5.0 and 6.0, where we saw week long, no strings attached, trials to test T-Mobile’s network using the iPhone 5s (did any of our readers ever take them up on that offer?), along with unlimited music streaming on very specific services (Google Play Music is coming soon). While it’s true you can find prepaid wireless services for a few bucks cheaper than T-Mobile (like the new Cricket which now operates on AT&T’s network), there’s no denying the added value you get when signing up with Magenta. The event kicks off at 1PM PST. Anyone want to guess what they’ll announce this time around? |
| Mobile Roar 60: Round and Round Posted: 29 Aug 2014 10:32 AM PDT The age of the round smartwatches is finally picking up steam. The Moto 360 is less than a week away, and so is a round Android Wear device from LG. The Amazon Fire Phone is in the news again, but not for good reasons. Same can be said about OnePlus’ “explosive” phone. Other topics this week include Apple’s September 9th iPhone post, Swing Copters drama, and much more! Thanks for watching/listening! Programming Note: we will not be recording the podcast next week due to IFA/Motorola event craziness. Top Stories
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| AT&T giving $100 bill credit for adding new AT&T Next lines Posted: 29 Aug 2014 09:42 AM PDT Quick heads-up on a deal for anyone looking to add lines to their AT&T accounts soon. Ma Bell is willing to shoot you $100 to go toward your bill if you add a line using AT&T Next. In case you’re not in the know, AT&T next allows you to buy phones for $0 down and you can pay it off in 20 (upgrade every 12 months) or 24 (upgrade every 18 months) monthly installments. The offer is good for new customers opening an account or existing customers adding lines. It’s good until September 30th, and you’ll have to keep your account in good standing for up to 3 months before you receive the bill credit. You can pop into your local AT&T shop or head online right here if you’re eager to take advantage. [via AT&T] |
| From Android Forums: HDMI on the LG G3, SmartSwitch, car chargers, and more! Posted: 29 Aug 2014 08:08 AM PDT The Android world has been busy, busy, busy as we slide into a long holiday weekend, and the forums have been abuzz with chatter in anticipation of some sure-to-be huge happenings next week. Time to check in on discussion surrounding the latest gadgets and gizmos in the Android World, where else but Android Forums. HDMI on the LG G3?Disappointed with Miracast on the LG G3? You’re not alone. Or maybe you’re coming from a Samsung device with AllShare and want an alternative. That’s been a big topic on our LG G3 Forums. The LG G3 doesn’t have HDMI out, but If you don’t mind running a cord between your phone and TV, you can buy an HDMI adapter for the LG G3 that gives you that functionality! And for those in the UK, here is your solution. Want more cool stuff for your G3? Head on over to the official LG G3 Accessories Thread. Galaxy Note 3 to Galaxy Note 4 with SmartSwitchThere are a hoard of Galaxy Note 3 users eager to upgrade, many of which have congregated in our Galaxy Note 4 Forums. They’ve suggested users bookmark the newly redesigned Samsung SmartSwitch page, an app and service that helps you transfer all of your contacts and content from your old phone to your new Samsung device. This doesn’t only pertain to people switching from Galaxy Note 3 to Note 4, though. Samsung’s website outlines how you can easily make the switch from an iPhone, iPad, another Android device, or even Blackberry or Symbian. Looks like Windows Phone users are out of luck. If you’re eager for the Note 4 you’ll want to check out the Note 4 Rumors Thread which has accumulated hundreds of posts since its inception in April and continues to garner buzz. Android Phone/Tablet charging in car but still draining?If you take your Android Phone or Tablet on a road trip, you’ll want to be prepared to keep it charged. You’d think plugging it into a cigarette lighter or other vehicle outlets would be a no-brainer, but that’s not always the case: often times it shows as charging but the device consumes more power than the charger emits. This is exactly what happened to RubyRide.co, a transportation network startup who faced this exact problem. Because they’re running the display (at full brightness), Bluetooth, GPS and Data all day long it was eating battery quickly, but they need reliability to best perform their service. So they asked Android Forums members for help. It all comes down to the charger itself, and in this case, it seems this PortaPow charger did the trick. Another problem solved at Android Forums!
Holy Smartwatch, Droidman!The amount of buzz around the latest Android Wear devices has reached a boiling point and we’ve got newly created forums for each: Jump on in and get the discussion going or check out our full list of Android Wear Forums. Get in on the Action!There are literally THOUSANDS of people on Android Forums at any one time… to be one of them, all you have to do is sign up. Whether you want to browse around for interesting stuff, dive into your device forum, scour around to uncover apps and games, help answer questions, or ask some questions yourself: we invite you in. It’s 100% free! |
| Report: Sprint to offer their very first Sony phone soon; Xperia Z3? Posted: 29 Aug 2014 07:03 AM PDT Take a quick stroll through Sprint’s history of phones and you’ll find that the company has never offered a single Sony Android smartphone. Ever. Shocking, isn’t it? That could change soon, though, as Reuters reports Sprint and Softbank will look to offer their first smartphone from Sony later this year. The exact wording was that this would be a “flagship smartphone,” and nothing sounds more flagship-y than Sony’s Xperia Z3 set to be unveiled at IFA next week. The report didn’t specify whether the launch would be exclusive for Sprint which leaves hope that it could eventually make its way to other carriers. We wouldn’t bet on that, though, considering Sony doesn’t have a history of being able to get their smartphones onto multiple US carriers at a time like HTC, LG, Samsung and Motorola have been able to. We’re certainly hoping that this is the first step to penetrating the US market with a more aggressive strategy, though, and that Sony could eventually reach the heights of their aforementioned competitors. The consumer electronics industry hasn’t exactly been friendly to Sony over the years with their struggling television and PC business havign drained them of a ton of money. They’ve gone as far as having to sell or spin-off some of those divisions and scale their business down. Their smartphone business wasn’t in as immediate danger as those dollar-sucking entities (we imagine it’s much less expensive to develop, research and manufacture smartphones than TVs and computers), however it isn’t exactly strong enough alone to keep Sony in the black. Let’s hope this is a good first step toward changing that. |
| OnePlus looking to get off the invite system by October, but is that too late? Posted: 29 Aug 2014 05:43 AM PDT When OnePlus originally launched the OnePlus One, they mentioned they’d need to sell phones via an invite-only system over a traditional pre-sale / first come, first serve setup. Many people forgave them for this considering they were still a very new company and likely had no other choice than to resort to unorthodox tactics. Many contests (controversial and otherwise) have already given tens of thousands of folks the opportunity to buy one, but there are still a ton of would-be buyers left in the dark. So when is it all going to end? Thankfully, we have a new answer — OnePlus hopes to wash their hands of this invite stuff at some point in October. That much was confirmed in an Ask Me Anything session over at the Android subreddit. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean stock is going to be readily available at that point. Shortages will still be prominent. The only difference is you’ll be able to pre-purchase the device without an invite. You’re still subject to the first come, first serve rodeo, which means you could be pre-ordering a phone that you might not see for a couple of weeks to a month. In fact, some might argue that this is even less savory than the invite system — at least when you have an invite you know there’s a phone waiting for you. It’s unfortunate that OnePlus is taking so long to wean off the invites. Some might wonder if October is much too late. IFA Berlin kicks off next week, and we’ll be seeing exciting new smartphones from Motorola, Samsung, Sony and other major players announced (many of which are due for worldwide launch the very next month). Granted, none of them are likely to be as powerful as the OnePlus One for a $300 price point, but at least folks would be able to buy those phones as soon as they’re available. Only time can tell if OnePlus ended up missing their first boat, but for now all anyone can do if they truly have their hearts set to buy this phone is to more actively pursue invites or just wait for the circus to be over with. Let us know if you’ll still be looking to buy one of these things by the time October makes its way to the forefront of the calendar. |
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