Click here to view the embedded video.

Could you stare at the Samsung Galaxy S4 for 60 minutes straight with motorcycles whizzing by your head, couples arguing in your ear, hot dog vendors tossing sausages in you face, remote control cars ramming into your feet, and a crowd reacting to your every move? Swisscom and Samsung ran a promotion in Zurich Main Station on May 16 that included all of the above. They asked contestants to stand on a platform and stare into a Galaxy S4, since it can track your eyes and all. Should you last for 60 minutes, you would have walked away with a brand new GS4.

I want in. Bring your game to Portland, Samsung.

Video: Can You Stare at the Samsung Galaxy S4 for 60 Minutes Straight? is a post from: Droid Life

Along with a redesigned app for Android, is Google planning to introduce a new type of organization for Gmail across all platforms? In a series of leaked screenshots sent to TheNextWeb, we may see a set of five category types embedded within our inboxes to help keep things organized. 

The categories are listed as Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums (pictured below). Primary would would be the category for important emails from friends, family members or any other major communication that also may not fit into the other categories. In Social, you’ll find emails related to social networks like Twitter, Facebook or Google+. In Promotions, emails from coupon sites or retailers will be grouped, while the Notifications tab will let you know about bills that need to be paid, flight status updates, or other reservation types that are upcoming. Last, the Forums section could be emails from messageboards or forums.

As you’ll see in the screenshots below, these changes could rollout to updates for the web, Android, and iOS. TheNextWeb suggests we could see these all over the next couple of weeks, but at this point, it seems like anyone’s guess. Haven’t we been expecting a revamped Android Gmail app for months now?

I’m not exactly sure what I think of these new categories. On one hand, I wouldn’t mind if Google took all of the garbage emails I receive and tossed them into a separate category, but you can do this already with a filter or two. I guess the automation here is the point, especially for those who don’t even know what a Gmail filter is.

Of course, there will likely be a way to opt-out of this new feature should you prefer the current Gmail.

Thoughts on this new way of organizing your inbox?

Via:  TheNextWeb

New Gmail to Feature Categories for Social, Promotions, and Updates? is a post from: Droid Life

Crowdfunding of new tech products through sites like Kickstarter and indiegogo has become the go-to method for anyone with a brilliant idea, but little cash to get things up and running. We have probably covered dozens of projects over the last couple of years (some good, some not-so-good), as many of these ideas are amazing concepts that have the chance at becoming a reality thanks to enthusiasts like you and I. One of those ideas from the last year was the Misfit Shine, an activity tracker similar to the Nike Fuelband or Fitbit, only it carries a much simpler, minimal-yet-beautiful, and less intrusive design. It won awards at CES, bragged about its awesome mode of syncing, and attracted almost 8,000 backers before closing as one of indiegogo’s most successful campaigns ever with a closing goal of $846,675.

But where it stood out to Android users, was the fact that its creators were willing to support Android from the beginning, something that even Nike wasn’t able to do after leading us on for months. Just before the campaign closed, they went as far as to show off their Android app, or at least the first render of it. This looked to be one of coolest, most attractive, and well-thought-out fitness trackers to date. Well, that was the case until today. 

After months of delays on the product due to waterproofing issues (was supposed to ship in March) and Misfit Shine’s creators worrying about signing contracts to distribute their product to retail channels before even getting it out to backers, bad news has arrived. In an update to the campaign last night, Misfit Shine has announced that Android support is no longer happening as of now, and that they will “only support iOS at launch,” a launch which is now scheduled for mid-July. Their note doesn’t say if they will support Android at a later date, only that it won’t be a part of the launch. So yes, backers are left wondering if it will ever come. Will this be another Nike Fuelband situation all over again?

To add insult to injury, the post claims that “Shine will work on its own out of the box,” though we aren’t sure how a fitness tracker that pairs with a smartphone can do anything without the ability to sync to a smartphone. There has been no word yet on if there is a web interface to sync for those without an iOS device.

If you backed this project, they are willing to give you a refund, which can be done by emailing kate@misfitwearables.com.

Talk about frustrating news for what could be thousands of backers who own an Android device, you know, a device powered by the most popular mobile operating system in the world. I would have thought that in 2013, with Android having fully taken over the world for a couple of years now, that we wouldn’t see this iOS exclusivity continue to happen. But once again, here we are as Android users getting left behind.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  Misfit Shine

Misfit Shine Activity Tracker From IndieGogo Drops Android Support After Months of Delays and Reaching $846,000 Funding Goal is a post from: Droid Life

Remember the Motorola device by the codename XT1060 that we reported as likely being Verizon’s variant of the XFON? It cruised through the FCC today, sporting Verizon’s LTE band 13 and CDMA frequencies. It also supports GSM bands as well, so the device can probably be taken overseas on a global roaming journey, like many of Big Red’s current lineup. No other information immediately stuck out to us from the filing other than WiFi of 802.11/a/b/g/b/AC, but this does indeed confirm the phone’s existence and the model number. 

So now we have the XT1060 headed to Verizon, XT1056 on its way to Sprint, and the XT1058 headed to AT&T. Now we just need T-Mobile’s to stop off at the FCC and we’ll be primed for a multi-carrier simultaneous launch. How does mid-June sound? Rumors, just rumors.

Mid-range phone or not, we should all be interested in whatever it is that Motorola has cooked up for a mid-year launch. Even if the specs disappoint, this may be our first look at the software approach that the new Google-powered Motorola has in store for the future.

Via:  FCC | Blog of Mobile

Verizon’s Motorola XFON Hits the FCC as Model XT1060 is a post from: Droid Life

We’re almost into Memorial Day weekend, so why not kick the holiday off with a giveaway? Since most of you will have the next three days off, we’re sure you could easily find a way to spend $10 in the Google Play store using a gift card, right? We have five of them to giveaway! Winners will be chosen tomorrow morning. 

Contest

Update:  Our five winners have been picked and emailed! Check your inboxes.

Prizes:  5 (five) Google Play $10 gift cards.

How to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners:

Winners will be chosen at random tomorrow morning (May 25) at 9AM Pacific.

Contest: Win 1 of 5 Google Play $10 Gift Cards! (Updated: Winners Picked) is a post from: Droid Life

One of the downsides to joining a prepaid network has always been their lack of connectivity when it comes to 4G LTE networks. Some can take advantage of HSPA+ speeds, but none at this time connect to LTE networks from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Well, until today. AT&T will allow customers on their GoPhone prepaid plans to connect to LTE and HSPA+ going forward, as long as they have an LTE phone or iPhone.

Currently, the smartphone GoPhone plan runs $65 and only includes 1GB of data, along with unlimited talk and text. But hey, LTE on prepaid? We have to start somewhere.

Via:  Engadget | AT&T

Cheers thebeeobee!

AT&T’s GoPhone Prepaid Service Gets Access to 4G LTE and HSPA+ is a post from: Droid Life

After we got our first sighting of Android 4.3 this morning, information continues to flood in. We were able to spot a tweaked UI to the camera in the original set of pictures, but this video gives you almost every little detail that has been changed. The biggest is obviously the change to a settings UI that isn’t covered by your finger.

In the old UI, once you long-pressed in the center of the camera, a ring would appear around the focus with options, many of which couldn’t be seen because your finger was in the way. With this, Google has moved the settings menu to above the circle and builds on top of itself as you enter new menus. If you don’t want to interact with the menu in the middle of the camera UI, you can tap the settings circle in the bottom right, which then pops up settings over top of the shutter button. We’re also noticing a new timer option that I’m not able to find on my Nexus 4 running Android 4.2. 

We wish that the man behind the camera would have tapped on the camera menu to see if anything has changed in terms of video, Photosphere, and panorama, but that didn’t happen.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Notice anything else?

Via:  +Theogusper George Philip Piccadilly

Video: Here is the Android 4.3 Camera UI With Improved On-screen Controls is a post from: Droid Life

One of the biggest announcements to come out of Google I/O last week was Google’s new streaming music service called Google Play Music All Access. It’s like Spotify meets Pandora, in that you can check out any album at any time, play them as many times as you’d like, or use them to create special radio stations. It works on both mobile and desktop and is currently available as a free trial, but will jump up to a monthly subscription service once the trial ends. You can sign-up before the end of June and lock in for $7.99 per month, however, the price will go up to $9.99 on July 1. It’s pretty awesome, though, that’s for sure.

But for many of you who are considering a move to All Access from something like Spotify, there is something you should consider should you have had the unfortunate pleasure of moving to a tiered data plan with your wireless carrier (shared data plans included). All Access lacks any sort of control over the quality of the music that is streaming through your device, meaning it can eat up data in minutes. 

Take the screenshot above as a great example. The left shot shows a test that a reader of ours conducted over WiFi using the default settings for both All Access and Spotify. He played the exact same album all the way through, which resulted in Google Play Music using up four times the amount of data as the same album played via Spotify. That’s pretty significant, especially with data caps as low as they are today. The screenshot on the right shows All Access after the same album with default settings, while Spotify has been turned up to its highest quality setting. In this case, you can see that both consumed about the same amount of data.

So here is the problem – Google Music only has one setting for quality adjustment. If you go into the app’s settings, you’ll see an option to force it to “Stream at highest quality only.” But that’s it, there is no way to turn it down a notch to help save you data. Google Music streams music based on your connection speed, so assuming you have a decent phone and live in an area covered by a solid 4G LTE network, (in theory) you will always stream the highest quality (320 kbps). You can’t tell it to not stream at high-quality, or to use a low quality stream instead. It all depends on how your network connection is.

In Spotify, you have options to turn music quality to “Low bandwidth” (96 kbps), “High quality” (160 kbps), and “Extreme quality” (320 kbps). We would love to see Google change Google Music to include additional quality settings, especially when they want you to buy into their new streaming service and in a time when carriers are forcing you into tiered data, but the settings have been this way since it was first introduced.

While we’re huge fans of All Access, be aware that it can gobble up data without you even realizing it.

Cheers Bret and Chris!

Google Music All Access Can Eat Data Like No Other, Be Careful Tiered Data Folks is a post from: Droid Life

Are you looking at the new UI of a redesigned Gmail app for Android? Possibly. The slide above appeared at the “Structure in Android App Design” session at Google I/O, which was focused on teaching developers how to choose which navigation techniques to use in their complex apps. This was the only look at what could potentially be the new Gmail, but if this is indeed it, there are some things worth talking about. 

But before we do that, understand that this was a single slide in a 40-minute presentation that included all sorts of mock-ups for a variety of apps. In fact, shortly after this slide appeared, the presenter showed three different examples of what navigation could look like in the native Android gallery app, only one of which is actually the real deal. So this could be the new Gmail that we were supposed to have seen at I/O, or it could be a mock-up that was used as an example.

Mock-up from Google I/O

With that said, this new Gmail includes a navigation drawer, or what you may know as a slideout menu. It forfeits the top drop down menu for account or label switching, something the iOS version has had for a long time, and appears to allow you to do all of that with a swipe from the left. We have seen the navigation drawer implemented into a number of Google apps recently, like Drive and the new Google Music. The bottom navigation/action bar also appears to be gone in favor of a set of top buttons for new message, search, and the action overflow. It looks, OK.

One thing I’m confused about, is that there is no way in the screenshot above to either add a new account or switch to another. See, in the iOS version of the app (pictured below), you have a navigation drawer that lists your account along with an arrow button that can be tapped to take you to a screen that allows you to add a new account or switch to another. That is clearly missing in this Gmail for Android mock-up. It also lacks any sort of new polish that we have seen from apps like Google Music and Drive and really looks like nothing more than a boring step up from the old.

I hope that is not the new Gmail. It would almost surprise me if it is the new Gmail. Seems like there should be more to it.

Gmail app on iOS

Here is the clip (jump to the 23:00 mark):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  YouTube | Android Police

New Gmail App for Android Possibly Spotted in Google I/O Session, Assuming It’s Not Just an Ugly Mock-up is a post from: Droid Life

Within an hour of Google’s announcement at I/O that they would soon sell a special “Nexus experience” edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4, rumors popped up suggesting that HTC would do something similar with the One. And as soon as those rumors surfaced, HTC quickly shot them down, claiming that a “Nexus edition” was not in their plans. Well, here we are a week later, and rumors have once again surfaced surrounding a “Google Edition” of HTC’s popular One device. According to sources who spoke to both Geek.com and Modaco, an announcement is imminent, potentially happening next week. 

According to at least one source, HTC CEO Peter Chou is behind the decision, even with many parts of the company against such a move. You can understand how tied (and proud of) their employees probably are to HTC’s Sense, which offers quite a different experience over stock Android, which  this “Google Edition” would certainly run.

The device will likely come with 64GB of internal storage, and I would assume at the same price of $650 that the current “Developer Edition” of the One is sold for.

Personally, this move makes zero sense to me. Forget the fact that a report two days ago suggested that HTC as a company is in disarray because of snap decisions that Peter Chou continues to make – like this one – but offering up a stock Android device provides no benefit to HTC. The HTC One is a great device because HTC actually added features and functionality with Sense overlay. Should you wipe that out for a stock experience, you lose everything that made this phone great (like the entire suite of camera software). So without any of that, you have a big, heavy metal phone, with a shitty navigation button arrangement, and stock Android’s terrible camera software. Yikes, and no thanks.

But beyond the experience, does HTC think it will sell enough of these to make it worth their time? According to these reports, it may not even be available in the Google Play store, so that would mean they would be selling it directly through their own online shop which has no presence whatsoever.

Would anyone be interested in this? I’m just wondering why you wouldn’t have already purchased the Developer Edition and then flashed stock Android on it.

Via:  Geek | Modaco

HTC One “Google Edition” Said to be Imminent, After the Company Denied Its Existence is a post from: Droid Life

Bootloaders in general had a tough day today – or should I say the security departments behind them. Dan Rosenberg went ahead and published “Loki,” his tool for helping developers flash custom kernels and recoveries on the Galaxy S4 variants of Verizon and AT&T. It’s not a full bootloader unlock tool (“bootloader itself is untouched”) like we saw with a handful of Motorola devices, but it is a positive sign for the dev crowd. There isn’t a tool that can be used to do anything at this time – you’ll instead have to wait for your favorite ROM dev to use Loki in their next release. 

On a related note, the long-standing S-OFF battle for the DROID DNA has apparently come to an end. Devs beaups and Fuses posted the image below, which is a DNA with S-OFF that was not acquired by using JTAG or any of the other unattainable methods previously mentioned over the last few months. They haven’t released their method yet, so we are all waiting in limbo for the magic to be presented. Congrats, though, DNA owners.

Via:  XDA [2]

Cheers Maximus and David!

Bootloader Bypass Tool Released for Verizon and AT&T Galaxy S4, DROID DNA Sees S-OFF Too is a post from: Droid Life

With the Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 (quick overview) now in hand, along with its step-brother on AT&T, we decided to take a look at the software each is running to see if there are any major differences. Since Samsung is now releasing one phone in one size on all carriers, with identical specs (at least in the U.S.), we don’t have to worry about comparing hardware. These devices are identical in physical form outside of a logo here or there. But software can certainly differ from one carrier to the next – we have seen that with the Note 2 and even Galaxy S3.

So what’s different? Let’s look. 

About screens

The About screens won’t show any differences other than the model numbers and the slightly newer (by 2 days) kernel in the Verizon version of the device. Each is still running Android 4.2.2 (JDQ39), however, Verizon has chosen to show the hardware version, while AT&T leaves that out.

Notifications

The notification panels on each will differ ever-so-slightly, and I’d argue for the worse on Verizon’s model. Just as they did with the Note 2 and Galaxy S3, Verizon has removed the WiFi toggle from the quick toggles section of the notification pulldown. Instead, they have placed an ongoing (non-removable) notification reminding you to turn WiFi on whenever you can. I still don’t know how this ongoing notification makes things any easier than a toggle at the top of the device would, but this is what Verizon has chosen to do.

Also, if you flip over to the full list of toggles, you’ll notice that Big Red has removed a couple that are present on AT&T’s Galaxy S4. Toggles for Blocking Mode (we’ll get to this in a second), WiFi, and Air Gesture have all been removed. The first two make sense, but why on Earth they removed the toggle for Air Gesture is beyond me.

Blocking Mode

Speaking of Blocking Mode, Verizon removed (or at least hid) it again from the GS4, just like they did with the Galaxy Note 2. This is another head scratcher, as Blocking Mode is a great feature that allows you to set your phone to disable calls, notifications, alarms, and the notification light during specific hours.

Bloatware, App Drawers and Home Screens

When it comes to the bloatware battle, Verizon wins because they are now preloading their phones with the entire suite of Amazon apps. So thanks to those five coming pre-installed, they lay the smackdown on AT&T in terms of un-removable garbage that no one in this world wants to see installed on their phone.

Some other things that you’ll notice being different have to do with the way the phone handles transitions. On the AT&T version (and all other versions to my knowledge), Samsung uses an infinite scroll, meaning whether or not you are on your home screen or in the app drawer, you can continue to swipe even as you approach the last page – you’ll simply return to the start or next home screen. With the Verizon version, they have taken away the infinite scroll and instead stop you at the end of each app drawer or home screen. It’s a subtle difference, but something that stood out from the moment I fired up the phone.

Subtle Text Changes

Throughout the device, you’ll see subtle text changes on buttons or in areas that the AT&T or international variants may not have. For example, if you long press on the Home button to get into the task switcher, you’ll see that the Verizon version displays text for “Task manager,” “Google,” and “Close all,” where as the AT&T version shows logos for each button.

“Starter” Mode

The other difference I was able to find was the name of the basic home screen mode on the phone. Samsung and every other carrier on the planet are calling it “Easy” mode, but Verizon went ahead and had it changed to “Starter” mode. There really seems to be no point to this change other than some marketing guy with a big title at Verizon HQ thinking “Starter” makes more sense to a new user than “Easy” does.

Missing Apps

The Verizon version does not have the Samsung Optical Reader app, Samsung Apps (store), or ChatON. The rest of the Samsung apps appear to be there.

So outside of those minor changes, you won’t find many other differences between these two devices. All of the gestures, Air View stuff, camera enhancements, and power are the same on both.

Galaxy S4 Software Differences: Verizon vs. AT&T is a post from: Droid Life

Yeah we know, we already unboxed the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, but we couldn’t help ourselves. This is the Verizon version! Finally in hand! Available today! We also wanted to show it up against the AT&T and Sprint versions, though they are identical other than color and branding (or lack thereof). Really, this was just an excuse to show off a new toy and join in on the fun that early adopters have been experiencing for two days thanks to early arriving pre-order shipments.

Who jumped on this phone? 

Unboxing and Overview

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gallery

Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon: Unboxing, Overview and Quick Comparison is a post from: Droid Life

If you were at all disappointed to find out that the “Nexus experience” Samsung Galaxy S4 that was introduced at I/O with an unlockable bootloader, would only work on AT&T and T-Mobile networks, then maybe this news will brighten your mood. Posted to Samsung’s official online shop is a listing for the “Developer Edition” of Verizon’s version of the Galaxy S4 (AT&T version listed too).

The current listing is of the Black Mist model, with 16GB of storage, and all of the other specs featured in this year’s Galaxy flagship. No price is given, but with Verizon asking $650 at full retail for their non-developer edition, I’d guess this will drop in at that same price. That also means that it likely won’t be available with a subsidy (discounted price). 

A date isn’t included in the listing, only that it is “Coming soon!”

We should probably point out that this is not the same as the “Nexus experience” edition. This will not run stock Android out of the box and still should have all of Samsung’s TouchWiz skin atop Android 4.2.2. It will also be on the same update schedule as the regular Verizon version, meaning you won’t see updates any quicker, like you will with the “Nexus experience” version.

For the hackers in the building, this once again is Samsung and Verizon’s attempt at giving you an option. If you want an unlockable bootloader, and a device that can be hacked to your heart’s desire, this would be the one to get. Well, it would have been had Dan Rosenberg not already cracked the bootloader on the regular retail version.

Interested?

Via:  Samsung (AT&T version)

Cheers Open1Your1Eyes0!

Samsung Galaxy S4 Developer Edition for Verizon Coming Soon (AT&T Too) is a post from: Droid Life

Heard of Mailbox? It’s an iOS app that was such a massive success as an email replacement at launch, that Dropbox bought it within a couple of months of its existence. Today, the company launched an iPad version of its popular app, but that’s not what Android users care about. In a sitdown with Read Write, Mailbox’s founder Gentry Underwood said that a presence on Android is next on their list of things to do. He wouldn’t specify a time frame, only that it’s on their radar now that the iPad app is out. 

For those not familiar, Mailbox is an email replacement app that wants to make you more productive while also keeping your inbox down to a minimum (“Inbox zero”), so that you don’t feel so damn overwhelmed every time you open it. Mailbox helps you get there by incorporating swiping gestures that advance beyond what you use them for on Android currently.

For example, as you swipe away an email, you’ll get a different result depending on how long your swipe is and in which direction you take it. So if you want to archive a message, you can perform a quick swipe to the left and you’ll see a green color with a check mark. If you want to delete the message, drag your swipe longer to the right and it’ll turn red with an “X.” Should you swipe to the left, you can tell Mailbox to remind you to check the message at a later date, or even add it to a list should you continue the swipe like you did to delete.

Again, the point is to make you more productive and less stressed.

I’ll say that after spending a little bit of time with it on iOS, I can’t wait for it to come to Android. Can you imagine the power that developers would have with this app and its gestures with Android’s notification system? Your productivity could enter a new level should you not have to enter your inbox.

Keep this one on your lists, folks, it’ll be a good one.

Via:  Read Write

Mailbox Founder Suggests That an Android Version is Next in Their Plans is a post from: Droid Life