We Android fans had a pretty big day today, with some very noteworthy news stories hitting throughout. Apple and Samsung have gone back before Judge Lucy Koh to continue discussions about the trial that ended with a $1 billion fine for Samsung. Meanwhile, we saw a heavily redacted settlement statement from the Apple and HTC patent trial. Today was also a big day for Google, as it and Nik Software launched the Android version of Snapseed on the Google Play Store – an app that we reviewed later on in the day.
MetroPCS has added the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G to its smartphone line up, but unfortunately it’s a phone that’s stuck on Gingerbread – at least for the time being. The Archos GamePad launched today, but only in Europe meaning those in the US are going to have to wait a bit longer. Today was the day that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was supposed to go up on the Google Play Store, but it was sadly pulled shortly after launch. It was a good day for DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD users, as Verizon and Motorola began pushing updates to Jelly Bean out the door.
LG is blaming the Nexus 4 stock shortage on incredibly high demand (which seems like something we could have figured out for ourselves), and MediaMonkey released a beta Android app for its popular media player. Google launched Google+ Communities today, along with releasing Google Play Books and Movies in Brazil. Amazon told us that Appstore downloads have grown by 500% in the last year, while it seems that even an excellent handset like the HTC DROID DNA can’t help pull HTC out of its rut, as the company’s earnings were down 31% in November.
T-Mobile told us that it will end all device subsidies next year, on the same day that it announced three markets for its mobile network refarm. We also heard that the Samsung Galaxy S IV could launch with an unbreakable screen, which is an interesting thought. Finally tonight, a mysterious new phone called the LG E940 has popped up in GLBenchmark – it has a 1080p screen, a quad-core processor, and it looks like it will be offered through AT&T. That does it for tonight’s Android Community Nightly, but be sure to check back with us tomorrow for all of Friday’s Android news.
