According to a report from Bloomberg, HTC is working on an updated and refreshed version of its flagship One handset. The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer released the device in the spring of last year to much critical acclaim, and with the shelf life of most smartphones now seldom exceeding the twelve month mark, the company is looking to consolidate its re-emergence amongst the big boys in the mobile market.
Android users, if I were to ask you which app genre do you find most abundant in the Google Play Store, a lot of your answers would match when it comes to Twitter third-party clients. They’re actually flooding the Play Store these days, and despite the 100,000 token limit that Twitter has imposed upon third-party apps, they continue to thrive with people utilizing the different experience that such apps bring to the fullest.
Android has many advantages over its competitors that we don’t see anywhere else, one of them being the ability for users to change default apps for various actions, including something as basic as text messaging. It was due to the limitations and poorly-designed interface of the native Messaging app for Android that alternatives like Handcent and GO SMS Pro became so popular.
Nokia's supposed attempt at a mid-range Android handset, something that has been in the offing for quite a while now, was thrown into serious doubt after the Lumia maker was purchased by Microsoft late last year. But recent leaks have given us reason to believe that a device codenamed Normandy will indeed be the first from Nokia to run a variant of Google's flagship mobile OS. I say a variant because, from what we've seen, the interface is heavily modded to the point where it looks very much like the love-child of Windows Phone and Asha. Today, we've been treated to an even closer look thanks to press images from the ever-reliant Evleaks Twitter handle, and as well as that, we now have semi-confirmation of when Nokia will showcase Normandy.
The advantages of rooting an Android device - as well as some of the drawbacks - have been well documented in many a post here at Redmond Pie. But if you have decided to enter the Dark Side, as it were, you'll be more than aware that both management and all-in-one tools can be invaluable in terms of getting the most from your hacking and modding endeavors.
Hewlett Packard famously exited the smartphone and tablet industry back in 2011 when they made the business decision to retire webOS. After concentrating its collective efforts on a number of different industries, HP will today announce its plans to re-enter the mobile space by introducing two "phablets" that will initially be introduced into the Indian marketplace. The 6 and 7-inch VoiceTab devices are billed as tablets, but will come enabled with voice features that will bring calling capabilities to the hardware.
Following on from its introduction of the Xperia Z1S and Xperia Z1 Compact smartphones at CES, Sony has introduced two additional devices to compliment the Xperia range. The Xperia T2 Ultra and the Xperia E1 are built with relatively modest specifications and look like they will be aimed at the lower entry level smartphone market rather than those looking for a powerhouse device to compete with the best of Android.
Despite its flaws, Google Glass is gaining popularity by the day, and hence, every aspect of life has started taking into account the advent of new technology that didn’t exist earlier. A new app for Google Glass, aimed specifically at drivers, helps you stay awake during long drives in your car, as that’s the dedicated purpose of DriveSafe.
We’ve discussed on multiple occasions how fragmentation is Android’s Achilles Heel. Despite all the many advantages that the open source nature of the operating system brings to users, it’s no hidden truth that OEMs often tend to delay newer Android builds for even not-so-old devices (or cancel them altogether) simply because they want customers to upgrade to the latest phone to get their hands on the latest and greatest that Android has to offer. Nowadays, it’s not just the one year old smartphones that suffer this dilemma - even the reigning flagships see considerable delays in getting updates to the latest available version of Android. Galaxy S4 is just one example from Samsung.
Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's products and services department back in September of last year had thrown any aspirations of the Finnish company delivering an Android handset into doubt. Its Redmond overlord is, after all, trying to make strides with its own struggling mobile ecosystem in Windows Phone. But nevertheless, talk of a Nokia-made device running Google's Android has remained, and as far as we know, it's being developed under the codename Normandy. Today, courtesy of various sources on both Twitter and China's Weibo, we could have our first legitimate glimpse at the so-called "engineering prototype." Check it out after the leap!
