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Posts tagged good
5.2-inch LG Nexus 5 leaks, sounds too good to be true
069 days
by J
Now that the Galaxy S4 is out we’ve seen a variety of reports hinting at other smartphones that could be launched in the future, with most of them focusing on Google’s X Phone. But there’s also a new wild LG Nexus 5 rumor out there.
From an untrusted source, Android and Me has gotten a hold of a leaked picture of an LG device that’s a candidate for the Nexus 5 position. The leak for this LG Megalodon – apparently that’s its codename for now – includes specs and features as follows:
- 5.2-inch OLED Display with 1920 × 1080 resolution
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 @ 2.3 GHz
- 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
- 16/32/64GB of internal storage
- 16MP rear camera by OmniVision (4k video recording @30FPS, 1080p video recording @60FPS, Real Time HDR & HDR video recording, optical image stabilization, BSI 2.0)
- 2.1MP front camera (1080p video recording @30FPS)
- 3300mAh Lithium Polymer battery
- Front positioned stereo speakers
- Qualcomm RF360 (LTE 150 Mbps & HSPA+)
- Integrated DVB-T / ATSC-antenna
- Gesture like controls (navigation, zoom, etc)
Naturally, we’re advising you to take everything with a large chunk of salt for now, as this Nexus 5 sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?
At the same time, this isn’t the first LG Nexus 5 rumor we’ve seen, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see LG get the Nexus 5 contract after all, no matter whether today’s leak proves real or fake.
In case we’re looking at the real deal, this LG Nexus 5 is said to arrive in October, so there’s plenty of time to find out more details about the handset.
The post 5.2-inch LG Nexus 5 leaks, sounds too good to be true appeared first on Android Authority.
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Would a Galaxy S4 failure be good for Android?
077 days
by J
We all know it’s coming. The Samsung Galaxy S4 event is right around the corner. The Galaxy faithful are chomping at the bit, while the rest of the world waits in curious anticipation. We’ve already told you how this could be nothing but a failed fireworks show, but what if it just falls flat? What implications does a failed Galaxy S4 have for Android? It could be good… but it could also be a disaster.
Why it would be bad
Failure is never an option, but this fervor surrounding the Galaxy S4 is perhaps too much to live up to. At this point, we expect it to make coffee for us in the morning. We want for too much, and expect even more. We need to slow down a bit to accept what the device is. We’re not doing ourselves, or Android, any favors by going wild with anticipation.
The S4 is still Android
As much as the Samsung fanboys drive some people nuts, the S4 is still going to be Android. The Galaxy S3 accounts for a huge portion of Android sales, and the S4 shows no sign of slowing that trend. Toss in the Note 2, and other Galaxy devices, and Samsung is a juggernaut. The Galaxy devices are the first Android handsets that people actually anticipate on a large scale, even more so than the Nexus line. All that desire for one line still leads back to Android, and that’s good for everyone.
Market Share
With Samsung being such a large part of Android sales, that also means it comprises a huge portion of the worldwide market share Android dominates. If more people have Android, more developers will make cool apps. More movie studios and record companies will get media to the Play Store. More features will be added, and more awesome devices will be made. It’s a cyclical symbiosis, but an important one. Without a strong Galaxy device, it may be like taking a step back for Android.
Why it would be good
Samsung is pulling further away from Android all the time, so maybe a failed device would be a good thing. A big slice of humble pie may show Samsung how fortunate they are to have the success they enjoy with Android. Samsung is a big part of the current Android landscape, but they have a few other contenders willing to take their place.
Proprietary nonsense
All this S-Beam and S-Voice stuff is just S-illy. With Samsung making features available only on their devices, it closes the door slowly on what got them there. It’s a bit myopic to think the world operates on Samsung, or to make it an “us or Android” fight… and make no mistake, they are doing just that. Consumers are more often than not turned off by features that won’t work with other devices, meaning that course of action may end up backfiring.
Identity theft
Galaxy is more searched for than Android, and it makes us wonder if Android is losing itself to the biggest partner it has. The Galaxy line is full of great devices, but they don’t define Android. It speaks more to a great marketing strategy than anything else, this search conundrum. I’m sure people search for “Kleenex” more than “facial tissue”, also. Consumers sometimes are unaware of the difference, though. Technology is a tricky thing for most people, so the concern is that “Android” will get lost in “Galaxy”. Our beloved OS is nothing to sneeze at, but Kleenex is.
Tizen
While Tizen, a new OS Samsung is heavily invested in, is targeted for the Asian market, it does show Samsung’s true desire. They want to move away from Android to start their own ecosystem and operating system. Tizen is the biggest indicator that, ever so slowly, Samsung wants to break away from Android. Samsung, in many ways, is a Trojan Horse inside of Android. Many believe Tizen is a bad idea, and Samsung should stick with Android. An S4 failure may show them just how important Android is, and how tough it can be to make it on their own.
Conclusion
How do we define “failure” when it comes to the Galaxy S4? It’s a hard metric to gauge. On one hand, we expect an S3-like adoption, and the fawning over the device like we see with the Note 2. The other side of that equation is not so simple, though.
People may love their S3 or Note 2… but they’re probably under contract. Is the Galaxy S4 going to be so great people will want to break their contract to get one? Probably not. Over time, it will be the natural upgrade path for many, but it has some stiff competition. Excellent Android devices are released all the time, so standing out becomes much more difficult. Samsung is also pretty defiant about their product line, and that may turn some away from them.
Will it fail? That’s doubtful. It will be a very good device, and turn a lot of heads, but it could leave us all wanting. When you create such a frenzy, and there’s no blood in the water, the sharks will find another source of food. The biggest benefactor to a Galaxy S4 failure may just be all the other Android manufacturers.
The post Would a Galaxy S4 failure be good for Android? appeared first on Android Authority.
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Good news for Samsung: Judge Lucy Koh cuts fine for Apple patent infringement from $1B to $599M
083 days
by J
This will be good news for Samsung and its stakeholders — including investors and Samsung device users. Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the Apple vs. Samsung patent lawsuit that was decided in favor of Apple in August of 2012, has cut down the damages that Samsung was ordered to pay.
Originally, the jury found Samsung guilty of patent infringement and ordered it to pay Apple US.049 billion in damages. However, Judge Koh said the jury made a mistake in computing for damage. Specifically, they made two errors.
- First, they used Samsung’s profits in computing for damages accounting for Samsung’s infringement of Apple utility patents. This would be acceptable if the patents being discussed were design patents, but said computation was for utility patents.
- Secondly, the jury made an error in the time frame in which the infringement occurred. Apple argued that it had met with Samsung about their potential infringement in August 4, 2010, and the jury based its computation from that starting point. However, this included Apple’s “381″ scrollback patent, which it did not present to Samsung until April 15, 2011. Apple included additional devices to the list on June 16, 2011.
See also: Apple vs. Samsung: No ban on Samsung products but the billion penalty stays
This adds up to a cut of US0,514,650. Judge Koh has encouraged both parties to go through the appeal process in order to arrive at a more acceptable resolution (or re-computation, if necessary) rather than go to trial anew.
Samsung actually requested Judge Koh to unilaterally compute for the damages. However, she declined to do so, as she is unable to determine the jury’s intent and process, and will not be able to adjust for the errors based on these.
Samsung is not yet off the hook, though, since Judge Koh said it will still be liable for infringements done after the August 2012 decision. Still, Apple and Samsung plan to battle it out in court come 2014, so the patent litigation drama is not yet over. This time, it will be for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which Apple had requested a ban of in some markets, with some success.
If you’ve just tuned in to the Apple vs. Samsung patent mess, you can check out our Apple vs. Samsung archives for an idea of the issues involved, the legal decisions, the market reactions and official company statements.
The post Good news for Samsung: Judge Lucy Koh cuts fine for Apple patent infringement from B to 9M appeared first on Android Authority.
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New mobile malware threat report has some good news and some bad news
099 days
by J
A new report, which looks at the security threat that mobile devices pose to corporate networks, has some good news and some bad news for smartphone users. More and more business smartphones are representing a convergence of personal and corporate needs. This means that corporates face the new challenge of keeping up with the proliferation of mobile devices while trying to impose some form of control with regards to malware and security.
First the good news for worried business managers (and, in fact, every smartphone user). At the moment the majority of mobile threats are still largely mischief-ware in the sense that they are used to earn money through the unauthorized sending of premium messages or by stealing potentially useful personal information. They aren’t as yet overly malicious. Most mobile attacks use the classic tactics of scams, spam and phishing. These attacks work on iOS, Android and in fact any device that can receive email and access the web. From the criminals point of view these attacks are easy to deploy, but they should also be easy to spot and most users using common sense won’t be affected.
However, campaigns waged against mobile devices are becoming more active. Cyber-criminals are increasingly using botnets (or malnets as the report calls them) as the backbone of their operations. In 2012 nearly two thirds of all web-based attacks employed a botnet.
Blue Coat Systems 2013 Mobile Malware Report
The report, which was published by Blue Coat Security Labs, goes on to say that the freedoms enjoyed by Android users, in that there are dozens of app markets available and a large diversity of Android powered devices, means that cyber-criminals have a greater success rate targeting Android compared to other smartphone platforms. In the July-September 2012 quarter alone, the company saw a 600 percent increase in Android malware when compared to the same period in 2011.
The best thing for Android users, both private and corporate, is to only download apps from trusted sources and stay vigilant when visiting web sites using your smartphone. If an offer is to good to be true, it normally isn’t true!!! It is also worth running an anti-virus app on your phone, check out our review of the best anti-virus apps for 2013.
