1/31/2014 Tesco Mobile now offers free 4G LTE

     Here’s some good news for those who enjoy a spot of super-speedy mobile surfing – Tesco Mobile has decided that from now on, its 4G LTE service will be free for both new and existing customers.

Tesco Mobile was the first MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator – Tesco piggybacks on O2) to introduce 4G, and it’s trumpeting this move as a major boon for both pay monthly and Sim-only contracts. Also, 4G data bundles for PAYG customers are expected to launch in the coming weeks.

Simon Groves, Chief Marketing Officer of Tesco Mobile, commented: “Introducing free 4G is a clear example of our intention to provide all of our customers with the very best at no extra cost.”

He added: “As a network we hope that this move will challenge others in the market and encourage the industry to follow suit. We want to see 4G with no extra cost become the norm and networks making the very latest technologies accessible for all.”

Laudable words indeed.

Tesco Mobile is also planning to push more higher-end 4G phones into its line-up, including the Moto X, which we’ve just reviewed, and the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact.

Previously, Tesco Mobile customers had to pay a premium of £2.50 extra per month to access 4G.

Sim-only 4G tariffs now start from £7.50 per month for 250 minutes, 5,000 texts and 500MB data. Of course, the downside with 4G speeds is that you’ll chew through 500MB pretty swiftly if you’re not careful. Still, you can’t knock Tesco Mobile’s pricing here.

Source: ITPROPORTAL

12/27/2013 Google TV: Android set-top box set for CES 2014 launch?

It was only a matter of time before Google's Android platform joined the television rumor game. However, unlike Apple's iOS before it, the recent batch of reports surrounding the search giant don't have Google making a physical television set of its own.

No, it's just a set-top box that we're all postulating about. At least, that's the rumor that's been thrown out by the brand-new tech news website The Information, which suggests that said set-top box — based on Android — will likely be available for purchase from Google in the first half of next year.

The device is said to be able to handle a number of different streaming services – think Hulu Plus, Netflix, YouTube (obviously), et cetera — and give a purchaser living room access to some gaming as well. As for just how powerful the set-top box will be, gaming-wise, we don't know just yet.

The news echoes previous rumors from the Wall Street Journal months ago, which mentioned at the time that Google was also planning to stick a video camera and motion sensor into the set-top box — presumably, to make Google Hangouts just that much easier (and to throw the gauntlet down to rival Skype, which currently enjoys living room success as the de facto communication service on Microsoft's Xbox gaming consoles).

The latest batch of rumors don't explicitly call out this motion sensor by name, which gives us pause to wonder whether Google has rethought that part of the device.

The rumored purchasing window dovetails nicely with additional news that Google is planning a big Google TV announcement at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Additionally, it comes right as Amazon is allegedly making its own set-top box, likely for release in 2014 as well.

As for whether the Google set-top box will be unveiled at CES, we're not sure. We're also not certain what one might call it, but it's been reported that Google will be re-branding this web-friendly set-top box as "Nexus TV," an update from previous rumors that had Google calling the device "Android TV."

Were we to bet, however, we'd lay down a little bit of cash that Google is likely to announce updates to the core Android OS that powers Google TV on the various devices the smart TV service lives. It took the company quite a bit of time to get its Android 4.2.2 update for some of the Google TV products previously stuck on Android version 3.2 of the OS (that's Jelly bean versus Honeycomb, for those that prefer tastier names). Theoretically, the move the Jelly Bean now allows Google to upgrade Google TV even quicker – could a quick jump to KitKat be on the horizon as well?

While that might not please those looking for a fancy first look at Google's ambitions for the living room, it's would at least be throwing a bone to those who backed Google's other TV initiative.

Source: ITProPortal

1/10/2012 Gingerbread Dominates 50.51% of Android Phones, Five Others Coexist.

 

The Android platform moves quickly. While Google does its best to keep the OS fresh and secure, OEMs and carriers don’t always act quickly in pushing out the latest code to already existing devices. Complicating matters are new devices, often pushed to market with code that’s not always the latest.


The result? Now, six versions of Android coexist on devices (Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich) with Gingerbread being the dominant one. Android 2.3.x represents 50.51% of all Android installs while the rest of the versions still account for a total of 47% (the difference is Honeycomb on tablets). In layman’s terms, for every Gingerbread phone in use, there’s a phone running older code.





While Ice Cream Sandwich is too fresh to be part of the pie chart, Froyo still has a 35.3% share with Eclair running on 9.6% of Android handsets. There are also 1.3% of devices running Donut and believe it or not, there are 0.8% phones powered by Cupcake.





While it is fair to write off Cupcake and Donut phones, the future should see a shift from Froyo to Gingerbread and from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich (in some exceptional cases, directly from Froyo to Ice Cream Sandwich). We have to also accept the fact that some devices out there are doomed to run the current version of Android until they’re trashed. The only question is how quickly will OEMs and carriers act on this.

[via Android Developers, DroidDog]
 
This article originally published at Pocketnow here.

@atulplayer

9/14/2011 Sony unveils Walkman Z series powered by Android

http://best4hackingnews.blogspot.com


Not everyone who wants to play music and videos or run apps and games on a touchscreen device is in the market for a for an iPhone or Xperia Arc. That’s why Apple still makes the iPod touch — and why Sony has just introduced the Walkman Z series powered by Android.

Like many smartphones, the Walkman NWZ-1000 series PMPs offer a 4.3″ display that pushes 480×800 pixels, a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 512MB RAM, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, FM tuner, and a micro-HDMI port for video output. Full 1080P HD video is supported and plays back smoothly at bitrates as high as 10Mbps. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Player range, Sony has decided to omit a camera on the NWZ-1000 — but this is a mediaplayer, so it’s easy enough for Sony to claim it doesn’t need to capture media as well.

Three models are available: the NW-Z1050 with 16GB, the NW-Z1060 with 32GB, and the NW-Z1070 with 64GB. Pricing starts at about $360 and tops out around $560 (when converting at current rates from Yen to USD).

Unlike some Android PMPs, Sony’s Walkman Z features access to the official Android Market for downloading additional apps and games. It’s also running Gingerbread, and Sony estimates about 20 hours of music playback or 5 hours for video.





The new Sony Walkman Z series will launch in Japan on December 10th — no pricing or availability outside of Sony’s home has been announced as of yet. Still, it’s nice to see the Android Walkman finally get a launch date anywhere. It’s been a long time coming.


@Atulplayer

8/28/2011 HP TouchPad to run Android thanks to TouchDroid

By now, there’s a massive, yet unconfirmed, number of brand new owners of the HP TouchPad tablet. As you read this, thousands of apps are being installed, the UI played with, and the device as a whole is being re-judged. Compared to other tablets in the market, the TouchPad is still a major competitor when it comes to hardware, and yet it’s only $99 right now… if you can find one. So, they will continue to fly off the shelves until there are none left and the people at HP can move on with their lives.

What happens when that “new gadget smell” wears off, though? The honeymoon effect with your new,
heavily-discounted device wears off and you’re left with a tablet that isn’t likely to get any better than it is right now unless you do something yourself. The Preware community already has a nice collection of things you can do to play with any WebOS device, but even that has its limits. So, what are you to do with that shiny new tablet? Well, eventually, you’ll be able to put Android on it.

RootzWiki, the Android-focused rooting, modding, and development forum has put together a small team dedicated towards assembling Android for the TouchPad, as well as performing the hacks necessary to shoehorn the OS on the device. The team has put forth a clear plan of attack and is documenting the process along the way using both the RootzWiki forum as well as a separate “TouchDroid” Wiki. Each of the team members purchased their own TouchPads, but also have a donation link available in case they brick one of their TouchPads, or if one needs to be the victim of a teardown for additional information.

Basically, they will attempt to put (stock) Android 2.3.5 from the Android Open Source Project on the device at first. If that succeeds, they will move in to CyanogenMod, a popular Android rom that has a full suite of tablet enhancements for large screens. When the next version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, becomes available, the team plans to port that to the TouchPad as well, provided Google sticks to their plan to release Source once again when that version comes out.



This attempt has garnered a mixed bag of responses from TouchPad users. There are those who would rather keep their stock WebOS experience still, though I refer you to the first paragraph for my opinion on that. There are those who welcome the Android port with open arms, and likely bought the tablet with that in mind from the beginning. While I am an Android user, I must say that I am a huge fan of the WebOS experience and have preferred it over Android for some time now.

I’m not the only one, apparently. James Kendrick recent wrote that what he would rather see happen is closer to what RIM has in store for the Playbook. Some sort of emulator to allow Android apps to run on the TouchPad, while still following the rules and multitasking principles of WebOS. I have to say, that idea excites me. I feel that solution would certainly be more elegant, and would preserve much of what we have come to appreciate from WebOS. I do know, however, that making that work is a great deal more difficult then just shoehorning Android onto the TouchPad. So while I am excited at the possibility, I will refrain from holding my breath.

Another notion that was raised was the possibility of seeing Windows 7 or Windows 8 on the tablet in the future. Essentially, if the TouchPad gets opened up for Android, the sky will be the limit for modders who want to push the limits of this device. So many things will be possible as long as there is an audience and developers interested in making the TouchPad do “all of the things.” If you have a TouchPad, keep your eyes on the RootzWiki guys, as they will most certainly be making noise about their developments regularly.


@Atul Purohit