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OLPC XO Tablet review
In late 2007, One Laptop Per Child launched its "Give 1 Get 1" program. While the do-gooder organization had originally shrugged off suggestions that it should offer its XO Laptop as a commercial product, OLPC finally gave in, letting consumers get their own device for a $399 donation (that price also paid to send one to a child in a developing nation). Unveiled back at CES, the Android-powered XO Tablet marks OLPC's first proper foray into the consumer space, with the device available for $149 at major retailers like Walmart and Target. So is it any good?%Gallery-195835%
CyanogenMod 10.2 nightlies arrive, offer an unofficial taste of Android 4.3
Official Android 4.3 upgrades are currently few and far between, but you won't have to wait for one if you're willing to experiment -- the first CyanogenMod 10.2 nightly builds have arrived. As of this writing, those with Samsung's Captivate, Galaxy S Relay 4G or AT&T Galaxy S III can install the unofficial firmware to take advantage of 4.3's new features. Just be aware that you're taking more risks than usually exist with such firmware; this is an early release of unsanctioned code, after all. If that's no deterrent, the first releases of CyanogenMod 10.2 await at the source link.
Refresh Roundup: week of August 5th, 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!
Toshiba Excite Write review
It's a tricky thing to name your devices after a verb. And when we say "tricky," we mean ill-advised. That Toshiba could willfully overlook Excite as a magnet for terrible (and terribly negative) puns speaks to its distance from the tablet category (remember the Thrive?). Yet, here we have another generation of Excite tablets and this, the Excite Write, is the line's top-shelf offering. Its Wacom digitizer and included stylus mean this tablet can go toe to toe with the Note 10.1; both have the same screen size and 1,024 degrees of pressure sensitivity. But where Samsung's outsized Note skimped on the HD resolution, Toshiba's gone the opposite direction. Boasting a 2,560 x 1,600 display, a Wacom digitizer, a Tegra 4 heart, 2GB of RAM and Harman Kardon speakers, the Write is a welcome chord change in an otherwise uneventful 10-inch Android fugue. Of course, the catch to all of this premium goodness is a premium price: $600 in this case. You still there? %Gallery-195572%
Moto X review
One year ago, Motorola, fat and fed by its Google acquisition, inched quietly into a silicon-spun cocoon to gestate. The subsequent passage of time allowed it to transmogrify and re-emerge a thing of red, yellow, blue and sometimes green beauty; a Google thing made by a Google company. The Moto X, its newborn monarch, arrives in an array of different colors, made possible by the NikeID-like Moto Maker site. It also comes with a homespun narrative: it's assembled here in the USA. Time to empty your wallets, patriots. This is America's smartphone and it costs $199 on a two-year contract. If I'm right in reading between the lines of Google's marketing speak, the Moto X was made in the image of the everyman. It's the product of a democratic process -- you can take that future design poll on Facebook as proof of this point. The 4.7-inch screen size, the curvature of its back, the composite materials, its weight and front-face look were focus-tested for maximum inoffensiveness. The Moto X exudes no tech halo like the Galaxy S 4 or the HTC One because it is the sum of averages. Here's how I see it: You know those people who own iPhones, but don't know which model number they own and also refer to all Android phones as Droids? This phone is for them. %Gallery-195299%
Refresh Roundup: week of July 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!
Google Play Edition smartphones start receiving Android 4.3 (updated)
If you were wondering just how long it would take the Google Play Editions of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 to get Android 4.3, we can now tell you: not long at all. Owners of both devices report that they're receiving over-the-air updates to the new OS. There isn't yet word of any GPE-specific additions, but we'll let you know if there are surprises in store. Update: AnandTech has noticed a few GPE-specific changes. Most home screen icons appear larger, infrared now works on the HTC One, and Bluetooth-based internet tethering is now an option for the Galaxy S 4.
More than 40 percent of active Android devices now run Jelly Bean, Gingerbread stubbornly holds steady
The last time Google visited Jelly Bean's user saturation numbers, it took the combined efforts of 4.1 and 4.2 to edge out Gingerbread's (v2.3.3 through 2.3.7) hold on the user base. Not anymore; the latest numbers from the Android Dashboard show the base version of Jelly Bean, Android 4.1, representing 34 percent of the active devices -- singlehandedly surpassing the old guard's 33 percent share of the market. When combined with the rest of the Jelly Bean contingent (Android 4.2 and above), Google's latest flavor of Android crushes Gingerbread with a 40.5 percent majority. Froyo (v2.2), Eclair (v2.1) and Ice Cream Sandwich (v4.0.3 through 4.0.4) all took modest hits as well, though the latter of the trio retained its third-place position with 22.5 percent of active users. The only builds to hold steady? Honeycomb (v3.2) and Donut (v1.6), each retaining a miniscule 0.1 percent of the market. We'll admit, it's cute to see these old versions hang on, but please -- if you're still rocking a handset running Android 1.6, do us all a favor and turn it off.
Moto X preview: A Google phone assembled with you, the user, in mind
Motorola. A Google company. It's time to commit that to memory. With the Moto X, a 4.7-inch phone going on sale later this summer for $199 on contract, the company has officially started the shot clock for the "new Motorola"; this is the first Moto product designed from scratch with Google's direct oversight. And it shows, from the packaging to the messaging to the features aimed at mainstream users. Most importantly of all, there's Moto X's standout feature: personalization. We've been hearing for years from various OEMs that smartphones are a personal statement, a reflection of the individual, but aside from the occasional color option, the wallpaper and case have been the only real opportunities for personal expression. Well, you can kiss those days goodbye. Motorola's keyed in to a core part of the user experience -- self-styling -- and we expect its rivals to follow suit. But all of that backstory can wait. We need to talk about the Moto X. The company never explicitly said so when it showed us the phone behind closed doors today, but this is clearly a mainstream phone (it's geared towards the "majority of users" several execs told us). To that point, its spec sheet and feature list (Touchless Control, Active Display, Quick Capture) won't dazzle the technorati. And, from what we can tell, it's not supposed to. To hear the company tell it, the Moto X's journey began one year ago with a whiteboard listing all of the most common user problems, ways to address those issues and a plan to get the device into as many hands as possible. You won't be able to assess that for yourself until the phone launches on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular later this summer. For now, though, if our initial hands-on time is any indication, it appears Motorola's succeeded.
ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 review: a budget tablet that punches above its weight
To some extent, ASUS is a victim of its own success: it gave the budget tablet category a boost with the original Nexus 7, and it now faces a legion of competitors in that space. The company is taking a two-step approach to maintaining its relevance. The new Nexus 7 tackles the higher end, with top-tier specs that include a 1080p display and wireless charging. Right now, though, we're more interested in ASUS' low-end solution, the MeMo Pad HD 7. While it's one of the cheaper name-brand tablets at $150, it promises some of the quality we typically expect from more expensive products. But is the HD 7 good enough to fend off other entry-level tablets? And can it attract customers who'd be willing to pay the premium for a new Nexus 7'? Let's find out.%Gallery-194959%
Android 4.3 supports TRIM, improves performance on Nexus devices
It's no secret that many Android phones and tablets show a decrease in performance over time. Nexus devices are not immune -- it's particularly noticeable with the original Nexus 7. Our friend Brian Klug over at AnandTech discovered an interesting tidbit while testing the new and improved Nexus 7: Android 4.3 supports TRIM. What this means is that Google's mobile OS can now instruct the flash storage controller when to collect / recycle unused data pages / blocks. The net result is that devices running Android 4.3 will no longer become sluggish with time -- in fact, existing Nexus handsets and tablets will see performance improve after the update. It also looks like Jelly Bean invokes TRIM maintenance once within a 24-hour window (after one hour of inactivity), and only if the battery is 80% full (30% when charging). Follow the source link below for all the details.
Refresh Roundup: week of July 22nd, 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!
Android 4.3 source code reveals support for 4K resolution
We've seen Android run on anything from low-resolution smartwatches to high-PPI phones and tablets, including the new 1920 x 1200-pixel Nexus 7 Google launched earlier this week. To make this possible, the mobile OS supports a number of pixel densities for app content -- from 120PPI (LDPI / Low DPI) to 480PPI (XXHDPI / Extra Extra High DPI). Close examination of the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) source code reveals the addition of a 640PPI (XXXHDPI / Extra Extra Extra High DPI) pixel density, which -- according to the comments in the code -- is intended for 4K televisions. Does this mean we'll begin to see Android devices with 640PPI Ultra HD displays? Perhaps, but considering 480PPI is overkill on handsets, this is most likely designed to make image assets and fonts, such as the Google TV UI, readable on 4K screens when viewed from a distance.
The Daily Roundup for 07.24.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google makes Android 4.3 factory images available through AOSP (update: OTA available)
Google officially announced its latest version of Android today and, like clockwork, it's now made it available for download through the Android Open Source Project. That covers those with a Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10 or Galaxy Nexus (GSM version-only), all of whom can find what they need to start the update process to Android 4.3 (still going by the Jelly Bean moniker) at the source link below. Feel free to leave your impressions of the new OS in the comments below. Update: Android Central points to a link for the OTA version of the update for the Nexus 4, which users should be able to sideload more easily if it hasn't already been pushed to their devices automatically.
Motorola Droid Ultra unveiled with unibody Kevlar design, reaches Verizon on August 20th for $199
As expected, the star of the show is here: Verizon has unveiled the Motorola Droid Ultra at its New York City press event. The 5-inch smartphone is "all about thin," according to Moto, and sports a glossy, unibody Kevlar shell that makes it thinner (7.18mm) yet stronger than its predecessors. It's also speedier: a new dual-core X8 Mobile Computing System delivers about 24 percent faster processing power than the previous generations, graphics that are twice as quick and dedicated chips for both contextual computing and language processing. It sports the software tricks we've seen in leaks of the Moto X, such as hands-free voice control, Active Display notifications and Quick Capture. Google's augmented reality game Ingress comes preloaded for more adventurous owners. The Droid Ultra ships August 20th for $199, and pre-orders are starting today.
LG Optimus F3 comes to Virgin Mobile with LTE, $180 price tag
The LG Optimus F3 doesn't make much sense on Sprint, where a preference for contract pricing leaves the F3 competing with more advanced devices. It's a good thing that the 4-inch Android phone has launched on Sprint's contract-free Virgin Mobile brand, then. The smaller carrier's version offers everything we've seen before, including LTE, but costs just $180 up front -- a big discount over both the $250 Sprint variant and most 4G phones at Virgin. Combined with cheaper plans, Virgin's Optimus F3 should be a much better deal for those who want LTE on the cheap.
Android 4.3 leaks for the Nexus 4, teases us one last time
Oh, Android 4.3, why must you tease us so? The new version of Jelly Bean's been making cameos all over the place for a couple months now, so it was only a matter of time until we'd see a build available for download. A working TWRP backup of Android 4.3 just popped up on XDA Developers thanks to Google+ user Jeff Williams, who recently purchased a Nexus 4 running the new version of Jelly Bean. Some industrious folks were then able to extract a system dump from Jeff's phone (minus radio and bootloader, according to Android Police) and confirm that the build (JWR66N) is legitimate. Our friend Paul O'Brien over at MoDaCo is currently testing the TWRP backup. We'll keep you updated as we find out more, but one thing's abundantly clear: it won't be long before Android 4.3 becomes official.
Xolo Play T1000 brings Tegra 3-based phones to India
Tegra 4-based phones may be all the rage lately, but many in India haven't even had a shot at the Tegra 3 -- not very fair, we'd say. Xolo is addressing that deficit by launching the Play T1000, which brings the Tegra 3 to the country for the first time. The quad-core processor adds a gaming-friendly spin to what's otherwise a close cousin of the X1000 we saw back in March. Both phones share a 4.7-inch 720p LCD, 21Mbps HSPA+ and an 8MP rear camera; the T1000 cuts the (thankfully expandable) storage down to 4GB in return for a sharper 2MP front camera. Pricing may clinch the deal for some Indians, however. The Play T1000 is available now for 15,999 rupees ($268) off-contract -- a price low enough to make us wish there were plans for a US release.
Intel-powered ZTE Geek arrives in China on July 25th
When we first caught a glimpse of the ZTE Geek in Beijing, it was merely an awkwardly named prototype. Now, it looks like the smartphone with "Intel Inside" will soon be ready for primetime -- in China, anyway. It boasts the same Clover Trail+ processor as the Lenovo K900, but with pared-down features that help it achieve a lower price point. The phone's outfitted with Android (Jelly Bean), a 5-inch 1,080 x 720 pixel display, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1-megapixel front cam, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage space. Clearly, it's not the most tricked-out phone there is, but its price might entice people to try it out. The ZTE Geek will make an exclusive arrival at Jingdong Mall on July 25th, where it'll retail for ¥1,888 ($307). If you despise cables and your wallet can take a hit, you can also get one bundled with a wireless charging kit for ¥2,288 ($372).
