The announcement during yesterday’s I/O keynote that showed off the “Nexus Edition” Samsung Galaxy S4 surprised a lot of people. It was as if Google listened to what we have been saying forever – we want great hardware with stock Android and we want it now! Of course, minds started spinning over the possibilities, but HTC quickly put on the brakes by saying they have no plans for a Nexus Edition One. 

In a statement to TechnoBuffalo, HTC said they are, “not currently planning a ‘Nexus Edition’ of the HTC One.” It is unfortunate, but makes sense considering that they already have a developer edition of the device that comes with an unlocked bootloader. That makes it fairly easy for you to throw on stock Android, but a Nexus Edition would have been exciting to see.

Via: TechnoBuffalo

Sad Day: HTC Not Planning on “Nexus Edition” One is a post from: Droid Life

Love it or hate it, HTC is fully behind their Android skin, Sense. With each upgrade it is promised to be slimmer and easier to use, but still people complain about it getting in the way of their phone. Sense 5 debuted with their newest flagship the HTC One this year, but according to an HTC ROM developer, Sense 5 is upcoming for last year’s device, the One X. 

If this is true, HTC also plans to bring two of the highest profile features from this year’s device back to the One X as well. The curated social news-stream BlinkFeed and the awesome camera feature Zoes are planned to be included in this update as well. With an update of this size however, it could be a while before we see it on the international version of the One X and even longer before any US versions of the device see it. If we hear anything, we will be sure to keep you posted.

Via: Phone Arena

HTC One X to Receive BlinkFeed and Zoes in Upcoming Sense 5.0 Update is a post from: Droid Life

When news broke that the 16 GB Galaxy S4 only let you have access to 9 GB of the internal memory, users were rightfully a bit angry. It is understood that system partitions eat into some of our space, but gobbling up half of the storage promised is cause for concern. After Samsung suggested that people used SDcards to expand that space, it seems that they may be looking for another solution to the problem. 

In speaking with CNET, a Samsung spokesperson said they are “committed to listening to our customers” and that they are “reviewing the possibility to secure more memory space through further software optimization.” There was no timetable given for this reviewing process and that doesn’t mean it will even come to fruition. If Samsung can find a way to cut down on the size of their partition, S4 users could see some storage coming back their way.

Via: CNET

Samsung Considering Giving Galaxy S4 Users Their Storage Space Back is a post from: Droid Life

Today, the newest shirt from the Andy vs. Apple guys is available, and boy does it take this ongoing fanboy battle to the next level. The designs of their shirts usually feature our favorite little Android doing anything stomping out the Steve Jobs army Godzilla-style to smashing Apples with a mean swing. But if those shirts were all a little too soft for you, today’s shirt might be more your style. 

This newest release boldly expresses “Android kicks Apple’s ass,” so you can let all your friends that have iPhones know just how much you love them. If you are looking to start a fight like in those new Windows Phone commercials, this shirt will only set you back $17.

Buy. ($17)

Latest Andy Vs. Apple Shirt Makes the Fight Personal is a post from: Droid Life

Google tipped us off early this morning, aside from the leaks we saw previously, that Google Maps might be getting some love at this year’s I/O.  A preview build of the new Maps was shown on iOS and Android. It featured a new slimmed down look with a search bar that took you into a revamped reviews section that has a 5 star scale instead of the previous 4. Google Offers was also worked into this same space to make finding food and deals easy. 

A whole new tablet-based Maps application was shown off as well with the emphasis on “exploring” the world around you. Ratings of restaurants, places of interest and other things are tightly integrated into this new Maps for mobile. We didn’t get a specific release date, but it was said to be coming to Android and iOS “this summer.”

Google Maps for Mobile Gets Reworked, Coming to Android and iOS “This Summer” is a post from: Droid Life

We have heard rumors up until this point, but today during their keynote, Google made their new streaming music service official. Google Play  Music “All Access” gives users the ability to search through Google’s huge amount of songs and the ability to play them instantly. An all new UI allows you to swipe away songs if you don’t want them and the ability to make radio stations instantly based on one song. The price of this new streaming service is $9.99 per month, but everyone gets a 30 free trial. If you are an early adopter and sign up before June however, your price is only $7.99.

The I/O keynote is still going on, come and join us!

Update:  The service is now live! Get to it here. 

Google Announces Google Play Music “All Access” for $9.99 Per Month (Updated: It’s Live) is a post from: Droid Life

We’re at the Google I/O keynote and Google just announced their new Google Play game services which include cloud save, achievements, and leaderboards. They also announced that it will be cross platform, so that iOS users can take advantage. As if those new, awesome features weren’t enough, Google+ sign-in has been integrated into this service and once games are installed with this API you can invite friends from your circles on G+ and they will receive notifications to join directly into your game. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as we learn more about this new awesome service.

If you are not there already, join us in our liveblog to watch the event!

Google Announces Google Play Game Services With Cloud Save, Achievements, and Leaderboards Across Platforms is a post from: Droid Life

Google dove right into Android during their day one keynote at I/O 2013 today. Starting off with a bang, Google announced that Android has now reached the 900 million activation mark as of today. Last year’s number that Google gave us was 400 million and we have seen it steadily increase since then. 

This is an enormous number of Android devices to be activated out there in the world and lets Google say with confidence that Android is “the most popular mobile operating system out there.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Announces Android Has Reached 900 Million Activations Worldwide is a post from: Droid Life

You can’t think of the Android development community without mentioning CyanogenMod at some point. The series of ROMs has been around almost as long as Android itself and today, the CM team passed a huge milestone. If you take a look at the CyanogenMod Statistics page, you will see that the number of overall installs has passed the 5 million mark. 

We are at the Release Candidate stage for Android 4.2 which brings us up to CM 10.1. The community behind CyanogenMod is huge and developers continue to jump in to help maintain new and older devices. CyanogenMod has evolved a lot since it began and Android has evolved a lot since CM was created, so hopefully the two will keep going for the foreseeable future.

Are you still a CM fan or have you left for another AOSP ROM?

Via: CM Statistics

CyanogenMod Passes 5 Million Download Mark, Shows No Signs of Stopping is a post from: Droid Life

Way back when Google first launched, the new company came out with a moral stance that stated “don’t be evil.” A lofty, but noble goal that the company has tried to live by for sure, but in a recent interview Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt said he thought that it was a pretty dumb idea. “When I showed up, I thought this idea was the stupidest rule ever, because there’s no book about evil except, maybe, you know, the Bible or something.” 

Schmidt brings up a good point about the motto, but points out that it was mostly a good thing that allowed employees to speak up about things that they weren’t sure about. Schmidt was brought onto the old company slogan through the discussion that Google holds a lot of info on it’s users and he assured that if someone were to sell or look through the data, “someone would find out, trust me.” Assuring words for those who fear of Google’s amount of information.

Via: The Verge

Eric Schmidt Thought Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” Rule Was the Stupidest Thing Ever is a post from: Droid Life

Last year with the launch of Google Drive, Google revamped their storage options for your data in the cloud. However, the data you had in your Drive account was separated from that storage you had in Gmail, which was also different from the photo storage you had in Google+. Today, Google announced that they are taking all that storage space and making them all into a tight little package for everyone. All Google users now have a free 15GB of storage space across the three applications and Google Apps users will receive 30GB of space. 

Along with this new unified storage space, Google has launched a new page to help you keep track of it. A pie chart will show you just how much space you are using in each app and how much that eats into your overall space. The options to upgrade to more storage are the same as they have always been, so if you see that you need more you can purchase it right there. This change will be rolling out over the next couple of weeks so keep your eyes peeled.

Via: Google Drive

Cheers everyone who sent this in!

Google Merges Storage Between Drive, Gmail and G+ Photos, 15GB For Everyone and 30GB for Apps Users is a post from: Droid Life

The value of comments anywhere on the internet can range from very bad to very useful. When it comes to Google Play, the best way to get feedback on an application is to read the reviews from the people who have actually used it. To cultivate more interaction in reviews, Google now allows all app developers on Google Play to respond to reviews on their applications. 

Google has been testing this feature with certain developers for a while now and has received enough good press that they feel ready to roll it out to everyone. Google says that this allows developers to more easily “identify and prioritize bugs, reply constructively to both negative and positive reviews and to get ideas about new improvements or features.”

If you are a developer, check your Google Play Developer Console to find the new reply feature.

Via: Android Developers

Google Now Allowing All App Developers to Respond to Play Reviews is a post from: Droid Life

One of the bigger surprises to come out of last year’s I/O keynote was the announcement of the Nexus Q. The spherical entertainment system was meant to bring Android and Google Play right into your living room, but for the price of $300 many weren’t sure if it was worth it for what it did. After only a month of sale, Google put the Q on hold indefinitely and now with I/O coming up again, rumors are contradicting each other over whether or not the Q might be given a second life. 

Today, AllThingsD published a story  that has sources familiar with the matter saying that the device will not be seeing any press this year. However, everything that we have been hearing from sources says that the Q will be getting some sort of re-vamp at this year’s I/O. Hints of a link to Google’s new Gaming service and maybe even a shape change could give the Q a second life if Google does it right, but we will have to wait until I/O to see.

What would it take for you to be interested in the Nexus Q?

Via: AllThingsD

Could the Nexus Q See a Rebirth at This Year’s I/O? New Report Says No is a post from: Droid Life

It’s been a full year since we saw the last launch of an ASUS Transformer tablet. The Infinity came out in February of last year and since then we haven’t heard much from ASUS about their flagship line of Android tablets. Today though, ASUS has taken to YouTube to post a teaser for this year’s Computex conference which has the tagline “We Transform.” Excited? 

Now, the video doesn’t come out and say that a new Transformer is coming, but it is a full minute of philosophical thoughts on “innovation” and “moving forward” so it is not too much of a stretch to get to that point. Not too long ago, the Transformer series was seen as the best tablet line that Android had to offer, so it would be good to see another shot at it. The conference is only a month away, but you can bet we will hear more before that comes around.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: ASUS Teases Us With Possible New Transformer Tablet at Upcoming Computex Conference is a post from: Droid Life

YouTube took to their blog today to announce a subscription-based model of monetization on some of their biggest channels. Everyone take a deep breath, the world is not ending. Now that we have all calmed down, let’s look at this rationally. YouTube’s post mentions that they were approached by many of their already money-making partners and asked for different ways to monetize and distribute content. Starting today with a select few channels, paid monthly subscriptions have come to YouTube.

Each channel comes with a two week free trial of the channel so you can decide if you want to lay down real money for the content. Prices range from $0.99 per month up to $5.99 per month. These channels will obviously be pushing quality content fairly often. For example, the Sesame Street channel will start posting full episodes to their collection and the UFC channel will host classic fights along with their newer ones.

Once you pay for a channel, it is linked to your Google account so you can watch it from your computer, TV, tablet or phone. YouTube says they will be rolling out more paid channels over the next few weeks so this is just the beginning from what it looks like.

Thoughts?

Via: YouTube

YouTube Unveils Paid Channel Subscription Service is a post from: Droid Life