Android Community

Galaxy Note 3 tipped to arrive with Samsung’s familiar plastic design

By Robert Nelson
on 16 May, 2013

Samsung still hasn't offered any official details on the Galaxy Note 3, however the rumors continue to surface. This later round of rumors deals with the build quality. Despite hopes of seeing the Note 3 roll-out with an improved build quality, it is looking like Samsung is going to continue the plastic trend.

Samsung GALAXY S 4 earns TCO certification for eco-friendliness

By Robert Nelson
on 16 May, 2013

The Samsung GALAXY S 4 has received the TCO certification. Perhaps key here, the GALAXY S 4 marks the first smartphone to achieve such a certification. A bit of background on the TCO certification, this actually comes by way of TCO Development and it touches on sustainability certification for IT products. In this case, the GALAXY S 4 was awarded the certification for eco-friendliness.

ZTE Grand X2 features a dual-core Intel Atom processor

By Shane McGlaun
on 16 May, 2013

A new smartphone has debuted from smartphone maker ZTE this week called the Grand X2. The phone runs the Android operating system, but uses a processor much different from those we're used to seeing inside Android devices. The phone is powered by an Intel Atom processor.

Android gamers can now get old-school Sonic the Hedgehog game

By Shane McGlaun
on 16 May, 2013

If you were a gamer back in the early 90s and had a Sega Genesis, you undoubtedly played Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was one of the most popular games on the game console and remains popular to this day. In fact, there are a wide variety of new and updated Sonic games available on various mobile devices, including android smartphones and tablets.

Samsung says it will look into compacting Galaxy S 4 software bloat

By Shane McGlaun
on 16 May, 2013

Earlier this month we talked a bit about Samsung and the fact that it had raised the ire of some owners of the Galaxy S 4 and a BBC television program in the UK called Watchdog. The problem is that if you purchase a 16 GB Galaxy S 4 smartphone, you end up with about half of that promised storage space available to you as soon as you open the box. The reason is a huge amount of software that comes preinstalled on the smartphone.

Recon Jet is like Google Glass for the thrill seeker: we go hands-on

By Cory Gunther
on 15 May, 2013

Google has their popular Google Glass, and now the folks from Recon Instruments have revealed their own wearable computing glasses here at I/O. Only they have a different approach with what they are calling the Recon Jet. Last year we saw their micro display tech in Snowboard Goggles, and today they're bringing Glass-style to all types of athletic eye wear for the thrill seeker in you.

What Google didn’t announce at I/O 2013

By Cory Gunther
on 15 May, 2013

Google I/O is going on full steam right now, and Google has just finished up the keynote full of announcements. So is there anything that Google didn't announce this morning? Absolutely. There is plenty that was expected that wasn't announced, but there's also plenty that wasn't announced that is probably new we'll be spotting all week long. For now, lets talk about what didn't happen.

Google TV update will bring Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

By Robert Nelson
on 15 May, 2013

Google TV wasn't mentioned during the keynote today, however there is some related news. Following the keynote, Google announced that Google TV would be getting an update. The update will be arriving sometime in the "coming months" and will bring Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean along with the latest version of Chrome. Aside from simply announcing a new update, Google also released some details about future updates including those from TV OEM partners.

Google+ Hangouts app goes live, we go hands-on

By Robert Nelson
on 15 May, 2013

Google+ Hangouts were announced earlier this morning during the keynote. At that time Google had said this would be arriving today and true to that statement, the app has since come available in the Google Play Store. The app has arrived as Hangouts and it will replace the Talk app already installed on your device. As we saw earlier, Hangouts is a cross-platform messaging app and allows for text and video chatting.

Google Maps for mobile update brings improved search and ratings system

By Robert Nelson
on 15 May, 2013

Google I/O 2013 also included some updates in terms of maps. In this case our focus will be on the mobile side, in which these updates will be coming for Android as well as iOS users. The big line here was how they will be going "beyond direction and navigation." Pretty much, new features will be coming to Google Maps for mobile devices.