After selling low-cost tablets for a half-dozen years, French company Archos is shrinking down its mobile device expertise into a trio of Google Android smartphones ranging in price from $99 to $249 without a contract. Read more »
MoPub’s report says the share of ad buying on Apple phones increase 12 percent between January and March. Android tablets saw less than 1 percent of money spent on ads for the quarter. Read more »
The newest Weather app for iPhone and iPod touch to hit the market uses gorgeous photography, well-designed informational icons and simple navigation. And it’s from Yahoo. Really! The company also has a new take on email for tablets. Read more »
Eric Schmidt also suggested the Android OS and the Chrome OS won’t be merging: “Don’t confuse organization design and product design.” Read more »
Being a sucker for small slates, I dropped $399 on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 this weekend. How is it? Not bad, but not ground-breaking either. Here are my first impressions. Read more »
A quick tour of Facebook Home leads to a positive experience. When it comes to tablets, watch the small slate space targeted: it’s a growing market. And the new $399 Galaxy Note 8.0 looks good on video. Read more »
Facebook Home arrived in the Google Play store as planned. What wasn’t planned however, was the surprisingly good experience and well designed software. Here’s my first look and impressions. Read more »
Good news for those that want a better Facebook experience on their Android, but don’t want to give Facebook full control of their home screen. Chat Heads is available in Messenger for devices Android 2.2 and up. Read more »
With data gathered from nearly a million of its users, Animoca’s information shows that five of the top six Android tablets are small slates. That’s good for Microsoft, if it is indeed planning a smaller Surface tablet. Read more »
With the new Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3 smartphones, Samsung continues its quest to offer a phone for every sized hand. In fact, it’s mimicking the Android market itself with an array of choices; a clever strategy. Read more »
The trend of larger screens on flagship Android phones shows no signs of stopping. At some point, however, one has to wonder how big “too big” is. At this rate, could Android smartphones outgrow their user base as one-handed phone use disappears? Read more »
Intel and ZTE announced a strategic collaboration last month and already have a new product. The ZTE Geek smartphone uses Intel’s latest Atom chip promising more speeds and better battery life. With a foothold in China, Intel isn’t out of the mobile game yet. Read more »
Launchers are nothing new to Android, having been around for a few years now. That’s why I’m not surprised a Facebook Home style launcher is already available in the Google Play store. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0 Android tablet arrives in the US on April 11. The slate is poised to compete against Apple’s iPad mini and includes Samsung’s digital S-Pen. Early reviews suggest, however, that $399 is too much, even with the note-taking feature. Read more »
Not satisfied with targeting Google over its search practices, Microsoft and its allies have complained to EU competition authorities over the way Google services are bundled with Android. Read more »
HTC has had another rough quarter financially, but the delayed HTC One isn’t the problem. HTC hasn’t been a shining star for months; it’s now just a dim light in Samsung’s galaxy. Read more »
This week Facebook became the next tech giant to build upon Google Android. That raises quite a few questions — and some potential answers — about privacy, control over Android and who might use Facebook Home as their full-time Android launcher. Read more »
How exactly will Facebook be using your data if you download the new Home launcher on Android or buy the HTC First phone? Facebook says it won’t be collecting your data any differently than it does with the traditional app. Read more »
Its a unicorn. No it’s a phone. Actually it is Facebook Home, for now; Apple’s China Syndrome is making it think different; The Bit coin boom (& bust); Chrome & WebKit go to war and did Vdio really kill the Rdio star? Read more »
Developers can now sink their teeth into the smartphone OS that picks up where MeeGo left off. However, the operating system will struggle to make its voice heard in a turbulent year for mobile. Read more »
Starting April 12, you can get the HTC First from AT&T: An LTE, Android 4.1 phone with Facebook Home as your launcher. AT&T hasn’t provided many specs, but some nosing around on the HTC site yielded quite a few. Read more »
Facebook didn’t quite unveil its own phone, but you can make your Android phone a Facebook phone with a custom launcher. The question now is: will you? Read more »
We’ll have live coverage of Facebook’s Android event here, with a new Facebook-centered experience expected running on an HTC smartphone. Read more »
We’re covering Facebook’s Android event live here, with a new Facebook-centered experience expected running on an HTC smartphone. Read more »
A new software update for Jawbone’s Big Jambox brings several performance improvements. Only iOS 6.1 devices will get one of the biggest though: two extra hours of battery life on the wireless speaker. Read more »
It’s about time Google’s Nexus 7 tablet gets a refresh and sources tell Reuters it will happen in July. Here’s what to expect in terms of pricing and hardware changes. Read more »
In October, I suggested that more than half of all Android devices would run Android 4.0 or better within four to six months. My time was just about up, but it happened as planned. That’s good for developers and for end users. Read more »
There’s little doubt that Facebook will unveil a new phone on Thursday, but the star of the show will be software, not hardware, in this battle between Facebook and Google for user engagement. Read more »
AT&T does have an exclusive, at least at time of launch, on the 64 GB HTC One smartphone. The carrier announced a contract price of $299 for that model, while $199 buys a 32 GB version. Pre-ordering earns a free wireless HDMI adapter. Read more »
A reported leak of the software that will power Facebook’s upcoming phone shows specs of the handset as well as capabilities of what appears to be a dedicated Facebook home screen for Android devices. Read more »
An AT&T promotional video for the new HTC One smartphone shows an exclusive: Only AT&T will carry the 64 GB model of the phone. That may be good for AT&T, but it’s bad for consumers and for HTC. Read more »
A “Facebook phone” is one of the longest-running rumors in the technology world, but a number of observers think such a beast is actually going to make an appearance next week. But do users actually want one? Read more »
AT&T may be the first in the U.S. to offer Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 phone, but it won’t come cheaply: The carrier starts taking pre-orders on April 16 for the $249.99 (with contract) handset. Read more »
Energy management startup People Power is back with a new remote monitoring app designed to reuse old iOS devices as security cameras. It’s a nice app and People Power’s gateway drug to the internet of things. Read more »
Heading out of the country with your Android phone? Consider upgrading to the latest version of Google Translate for Android, which now supports offline language translation. Read more »
Sony’s attempt at a smartphone success in the U.S. looks good on paper: The Xperia ZL has top-notch hardware. But without a carrier partner, can consumers be convinced to pay full price? Read more »
An update to Evernote for Android includes new photo features, shortcuts and enhanced document search for premium users. Read more »
At the Google Big Tent Summit in India, Eric Schmidt wouldn’t give a straight answer about whether his company’s well-received contextual search app for Android would be coming to iOS soon. Read more »
Google’s new Android and web app, Keep, lets users jot down ideas and make lists. The app will soon be fully integrated with Google Drive. Read more »
What can a pair of Google engineers do with their technical prowess at home? Create an Android app that controls a lawn watering system through an Arduino board and the web! Read more »
