Zachary Lutz
Articles by Zachary Lutz
Mobile Miscellany: week of May 20th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought hints of a revitalized Galaxy Exhibit for T-Mobile, news of two additions to the lineup at Cricket and a peek at the next GoPhone for AT&T. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of May 20th, 2013.
Microsoft and Google make amends, will co-develop a YouTube app for Windows Phone
We've gotta give it to Microsoft... building a YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 that strips out advertising and allows users to download streaming videos was one hell of a way to get Google's attention about the lack of an official app for the platform -- even if it managed to attract ire at the same time. Now, multiple reports are coming in that both companies have reached an agreement of sorts, which will result in an app that's fully compliant with YouTube's Terms of Service in the coming weeks. You might've already guessed it, but unlike Microsoft's most recent conciliatory update to its YouTube app, the next version will serve up ads. You'll find a joint statement from both companies after the break. Now that the pair are learning to cooperate, might we suggest they take a look at Gmail?
Rumors persist of HTC One with stock Android, despite the official denial
Is Russell Holly a seer of the future, or did he just manage to get lucky? That's the question we're currently kicking around at Engadget. You see, when he first revealed that a Galaxy S 4 would be introduced at Google I/O with stock Android, we quickly dismissed it as something that'd never happen in a million years. Then it came true the very next day. Now, Holly is back with another mighty tall claim: "HTC is considering a stock Android variant of the One for release in the US." In fairness, rumors of such a phone began to circulate last week, but were quenched just as quickly by HTC. Contrary to the denial, however, Holly claims that multiple sources have informed him of an HTC One that's in the works with stock Android 4.2.2. It's tough to make heads or tails of Holly's report, especially since he follows the assertion that HTC is "considering" such a phone with a claim that it'll be announced within the next two weeks. Naturally, we're taking this with more than the usual dose of skepticism, but like Fox Mulder, we want to believe. [Image credit: Pencilshade / deviantART]
LG invites you to splash around with Optimus GJ, a water-resistant phone for Taiwan
Come next month, NTT DoCoMo users won't be the only ones to benefit from a water-resistant version of the Optimus G. Similar to the L-01E for Japan, LG has introduced the Optimus GJ for Taiwan, which carries IPX7 certification that allows for worry-free immersion in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. The Optimus GJ also carries IPX5 certification for protection against dust particles. Dubbed the E975W, the smartphone is by and large a thicker version of the Optimus G (E975). This means you'll find a 4.7-inch, 1,280 x 720 True HD IPS display, a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, a 13MP primary / 1.3MP front-facing camera setup, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and Android 4.1.2. Unlike the original Optimus G, the Optimus GJ wields a larger 2,280mAh battery and a red backing, but also lacks NFC functionality. You can expect it to hit the market next month in Taiwan, where it'll sell for NT$17,990 ($600). Hit up the source link to find additional views of the of the Optimus G -- it seems that LG has thrown a bit of a pool party to celebrate its announcement.
HP Q2 2013 financials: $1.1 billion in profits on revenue of $27.6 billion, earnings down 32 percent
HP just posted its Q2 financial report, and despite somber news of falling profits and revenue, the company managed to beat consensus estimates and the stock has jumped more than 10 percent in after-hours trading. As for concrete figures, HP pulled in $1.1 billion in profit, which is down 32 percent from just one year ago. Revenue of $27.6 billion reveals a similar story, which is down 10 percent year over year. With respect to HP's Personal Systems group, the company is pulling in a 3.2 percent margin, where revenue is down 20 percent year over year. Here, total unit shipments are down 21 percent, with an 18 percent decline for desktops and a 24 percent hit for notebooks. Just three months ago, company CEO Meg Whitman promised a bright future for HP with plans to bring "a number of new programs and disruptive innovations to market in the coming quarters," which likely includes such products as the Split x2. Whether consumers will respond remains to be seen, but for the moment, HP is keeping investors happy by returning $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases. Meanwhile, in a move to further set expectations, Whitman reiterated her confidence for the rest of the year, but followed with, "As I have said many times before, this is a multi-year journey." The future remains just that, but for the moment, you can hit up the source link for a peek into the current financial health of HP.
Survey says Verizon is best at customer satisfaction... among the big four, anyway
The results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index are in, and parroting a recent study by Consumer Reports, Verizon Wireless is named the front-runner with the most happy subscribers among the big four carriers. The survey takes a number of factors into account, such as call clarity, dropped calls, network coverage, data speeds, helpfulness of in-store staff, diversity of plans and the quality of the carrier's websites. As the dust settled, Verizon notched a three-point gain to chart a score of 73 (out of 100), whereas ACSI's previous front-runner, Sprint, held steady with a score of 71. AT&T is portrayed as "in a statistical dead heat with Sprint," which climbed one point to chart an ACSI score of 70. Meanwhile, satisfaction among T-Mobile customers fell a point, which caused the carrier to pull up the rear with a score of 68. On the whole, ACSI suggests that subscribers are generally more satisfied with regional providers and MVNOs, as the little dogs hold an aggregate score of 78. Speaking in broader terms, the ACSI reports that the wireless industry has reversed its two-year trend of sliding customer satisfaction to hit a benchmark score of 72, which matches the industry's 10-year high. Naturally, improvements still need to be made across the board, but at least things seem to be moving in the right direction.
Motorola XT1056 gains FCC credentials for Sprint
The future of Motorola's smartphones are now falling into place, and we couldn't be more excited. Following the FCC certification of the XT1058 for AT&T, a similar test report for the XT1056 has just crossed our desk. This time around, the smartphone carries certification for LTE Band 25, which puts it as a dead ringer for a Sprint device. Regardless of whether this handset turns out to be the purported "X phone" is almost beside the point, because we already know that cross-carrier availability and stock Android are key to Motorola's future in the smartphone realm. There are a few worthwhile points to take away from the FCC certification of the XT1056, which suggest that this will be a very capable handset. First and foremost, we're looking at a device that'll offer NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 LE+EDR and 802.11ac. In addition to support for Sprint's network, the phone also carries certification for HSPA+ 21 Mbps over the 2100, 1900 and 850MHz bands, although the documentation specifically states that it'll be SIM-locked for all US carriers. All in all, these are good signs of what's to come. Now, if only Motorola could get on with the reveal.
CellMaps by Mosaik brings accurate, detailed coverage maps to Android
Sometimes in the mobile world, selecting a carrier isn't determined so much by devices or plans, but rather which provider best suits your coverage needs. Sadly, the map tools on carrier websites are needlessly painful, and most coverage apps that you'll find rely on crowd-sourced data -- great if others contribute, but that's not always the case. Now, you'll find a better solution from Mosaik Solutions, which has released an Android app that provides data from the carriers themselves. Known as CellMaps Mobile Coverage, it brings a quick and easy visual overview into the likes of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, which can be parsed by 2G, 3G, 4G and LTE signal. The basic version of the app is free, but the real power comes with a premium subscription that runs $1.99 annually. Here, you'll find the ability to view map overlays from multiple carriers, along with the ability to zoom into a street-level view. Additionally with the premium version, you can drop a pin onto any given spot and get a complete breakdown of carrier service in the area. We've already taken the app for a spin, and were quite pleased with the utility. Now, you can hit up the Play Store link and discover the joys (and pains) of being a coverage nerd. %Gallery-188924%
Evolio announces the Quadra, its first quad-core Android 4.1 tablet for Romanian locals
The buy local movement has plenty of appeal, but the philosophy often extends more readily to tomatoes than tablets. Not so in Romania, where Evolio has served up its share of slates and laptops for the home crowd. Now, the company is back with its first quad-core tablet offering, the 10.1-inch Evolio Quadra. The slab of aluminum and glass weighs in at 1.18 pounds (535 grams), and is outfitted with a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex A9 CPU and the Vivante GC1000 GPU, which sits on the lower end of Vivante's offerings. Other specs are largely standard fare, such as a 1,280 x 800 IPS LCD, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The Quadra's 5,000mAh battery is on the weaker side, and its connectivity is limited to WiFi (outside of an external 3G adapter), but that's what you'll get for 999 Romanian leu (roughly $296). This slab of Eastern European engineering is available for pre-order now on Evolio's website, and it's said to hit store shelves in mid-June.
HTC One for T-Mobile: what's different?
By most accounts, the HTC One is the most compelling Android smartphone on the market today, but only three of the major US carriers are wise enough to sell it. Up until this point, we've put the AT&T and Sprint models through their paces, and now we have an opportunity to round out the trio with T-Mobile's version. Given the carrier's recent shift to an unsubsidized pricing model -- which brings lower monthly fees in exchange for purchasing your phone outright -- you may be in for some sticker shock with the HTC One, which runs $580, but you can also pay $100 down with installments of $20 per month over the course of two years. If you're currently on the fence about whether the HTC One is right for your needs, you'll definitely want to check out our full review, which features an in-depth look at the phone's design, camera and the many novel features that you'll find with HTC's custom software environment, Sense 5. Here, we'll explore the subtle nuances of T-Mobile's version, with plenty of benchmarks, impressions about the voice quality and battery life, an overview of the bundled apps and a comparison to the One's closest competitors on T-Mo. There's plenty to cover, so join us after the break as we explore everything that you need to know about the HTC One for T-Mobile.%Gallery-188800%
Refresh Roundup: week of May 13th, 2013
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Mobile Miscellany: week of May 13th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought a new handset from Sony to the US and UK, updates to Nokia Creative Suite and three new (and very inexpensive) smartphones from Blu Products. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of May 13th, 2013.
Fitbit now syncs to Galaxy S 4, broader Android device support is coming
The state of Fitbit wireless syncing is far from ideal for Android users, but the company's latest step is proof that it's slowly getting better. Today, Fitbit updated its Android app to bring wireless syncing to the Galaxy S 4, which follows a previous update for the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. According to Fitbit's blog, its difficulty in supporting more devices stems from software differences on various Android smartphones, which causes trouble regardless of whether the device includes Bluetooth 4.0. On the upside, just yesterday, the Bluetooth SIG announced that Android will gain support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices in the coming months, which Fitbit reckons will solve much of the compatibility issues that it and other device manufacturers have faced. So, if you have a Galaxy S 4, take the opportunity to get syncing your fitness data today -- it won't be long before other Android devices get to join in the fun.
Rumors mount for white Nexus 4, may launch with next version of Android
The white Nexus 4 is stuff that dreams are made of, and the lucky son of a gun at Android and Me, Taylor Wimberly, has one in hand. According to Wimberly's description, it'll be a "carbon copy" of the black Nexus 4, with the same specs and hardware wrapped into the sparkly, snow white casing. That's not the only juicy detail to emerge from Google I/O, however, as Wimberly reports that the smartphone will debut in the Google Play Store on June 10th with Android 4.3. We're currently unable to confirm the rumor, but a growing number of server logs add to the speculation that Android 4.3 could be around the bend. With less than a month to go, it won't be long to know whether this one pans out, but you can be sure that we'll be dreaming of unicorns in the meantime.
Refresh Roundup: week of May 6th, 2013
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Canalys: Android nabbed 75 percent of smartphone shipments in Q1
Canalys is back with its latest worldwide estimates of mobile device shipments, and while the analyst group has a divisive way of combining figures, there's plenty of insight to discover in its breakdown of the smartphone and tablet realms. First off, Canalys reports that Android accounted for 75.6 percent of all smartphone shipments during Q1, which is an increase from the 69.2 percent it reported for the previous quarter. As a whole, Canalys estimates that 216.3 million smartphones were shipped during Q1, which is roughly steady when compared to the three months prior. It should come as no surprise, but Samsung is said to lead the category with nearly a third of all smartphone shipments, while Apple accounted for roughly 17 percent of the pie. Meanwhile, Huawei, LG and ZTE are next in line, each with less than 5 percent of the market. Given the prevalence of the iPad, you could just as easily guess that Apple continues to dominate the tablet category and still be right. Here, Canalys estimates that Apple holds a 46.4 percent market share, but qualifies that win, as that the company is losing ground to its Android-based rivals. On the upside, Canalys reckons that the tablet market has more than doubled from the previous year, which means there's plenty of pie to go around. [Image credit: Jon Fingas, Flickr]
NVIDIA Q1 earnings: $77.9 million profit on $954 million in revenue
NVIDIA's balance sheet may not look as appealing as it did just a quarter ago, but the company nonetheless managed to beat the consensus expectations and its stock is now climbing in after-hours trading. Profit for NVIDIA's fiscal Q1 2014 rang in at $77.9 million, which is a 55 percent decrease from the previous quarter, but still 29 percent higher than what it netted in Q1 of last year. It's a similar story for revenue: the company reported sales of $954.7 million, down 13 percent from the previous quarter, but up slightly from Q1 2013. Even beyond beating Wall Street's expectations, NVIDIA is giving investors two other reasons to smile: the success of Kepler has led to record margins of 54.3 percent, and the company will return over $1 billion during the year by way of stock repurchases and dividend payments. As for where it's headed? NVIDIA is looking to return to growth as the year progresses, thanks to a little something called the Tegra 4.
NewerTech crams an optical drive in the miniStack Max, combines SD reader and up to 4TB storage
It's no secret that Apple is trying to push the optical drive the way of the Dodo, but if you have a need for the legacy technology, then you might consider going all out with the miniStack Max from Newer Technology. Like other products in the miniStack lineup, it shares the same footprint as the Mac Mini, which makes for a perfect stackable solution. There are a number of options for configuring the miniStack Max, starting with the optical drive, which extend from a DVD writer, to a Blu-ray drive or even a Blu-ray burner. Likewise, the base configuration lacks storage, but can be configured with drives that range in size between 500GB and 4TB. Rounding out the miniStack Max, you'll find an SDXC reader, three USB 3.0 ports, one eSATA port, two FireWire 800 ports and a Kensington lock slot. The miniStack Max is available now for $249.99 with a DVD burner and 1TB storage, and ranges in price from $149.99 for a bare unit (sans optical drive and storage), to $569.00 for the model with a Blu-ray writer and 4TB storage. %Gallery-187869%
CyanogenMod 10.1 hits Release Candidate, nears a 'stable' future
If you're a fan of CyanogenMod, there's a good chance that flashing nightly builds of the 10.1 release is now damn near second nature. Fortunately, a more stable future is in store for you and your phone, as CyanogenMod has revealed that a final release is close at hand. As a buildup to that point, you'll find that Release Candidate builds are now available for installation. For the uninitiated, CyanogenMod 10.1 is based on Android 4.2.2, and along with many additional features, it serves as a great way to upgrade your device in the case that its manufacturer has given up. Hit the break for the complete list of devices to receive the Release Candidate treatment.
Refresh Roundup: week of April 29th, 2013
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!