android

Car Tech's guide to using your Android phone in the car

As a CNET reader who's addicted to tech, you likely already know why a phone and the apps therein can be useful in the car. Your phone is a hub for your music and entertainment, GPS navigation, and communications with your friends, family, and social circles. You've got your apps for streaming music and podcasts from the Web, apps for picking a place to eat or finding the lowest fuel prices around, and your hands-free calls of course. Or, because phones are such personal devices, your handset can bring only a few of these things to your driving … Read more

Developer survey offers top mobile predictions for 2013

It appears that 2013 will be the year that mobile shopping becomes pervasive. According to the just-released "Q4 2012 Developer Survey Report,"  from research firm IDC and Appcelerator, a mobile-platform developer, it's likely that most retail companies will have enabled mobile commerce in 2013. 

The survey, which encompasses the views of nearly 3,000 Appcelerator customers, predicts that 86 percent of shoppers will access a retailer's site on their mobile device while shopping in a retail store, and 71 percent of those surveyed predict the mobile wallet will "permeate" the consumer … Read more

Sprint's HTC Evo 4G LTE joins the Android 4.1 club

The HTC Evo 4G LTE is the newest member of the Sprint family to receive an Android 4.1.1 update.

Sprint will release Jelly Bean in stages over the next few weeks, but anxious users can manually install the update starting today.

As is the case with other 4.1 updates of its kind, the Sprint smartphone will see new features such as enhanced notifications, camera improvements, and a smarter keyboard.

The Evo 4G LTE will get a few HTC-specific tweaks as well, such as the Tap and Go function that pairs the handset with select Beats Audio speakers. … Read more

The 404 1,183: Where we shut up and take your money (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Why can't America deal with Kanye West's leather skirt?

- Missing from the concert: Women and Jay-Z.

- The six most disappointing games and trends of 2012.

- Check out Jeff on CNET's Ask the Editors for gaming and entertainment.

- Snapchat (aka the "teen sexting app") just raised $10 million from one of Instagram's backers.

- "Back to the Future" writer hates the Mattel hoverboard toy.… Read more

Facebook for Android hits 2.0, gets speed boost

Announced today, Facebook for Android version 2.0 is officially out and apparently, it should blow previous versions out of the water, speedwise. According to Facebook's blog post, the app is twice as fast at displaying photos and Timeline items.

Previously, the Facebook app functioned in a sort of hybrid native/Web view, which was a major reason for its sluggish performance. With today's update, however, users will get to enjoy a completely rebuilt app, made entirely with native code. This is a big deal. The main news feed, notifications, and Timeline should feel faster, and photo loading … Read more

Verizon updates Samsung's Galaxy S3 to Android 4.1

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will begin rolling onto Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S3 as soon as tomorrow, Verizon announced today on its blog.

The update will occur in phases, so you may have to exercise some patience before you see your OS version start its over-the-air transformation to Android 4.1.

Specific to Verizon, the Jelly Bean update will make the handset global-ready, so customers can add an international roaming plan to use the phone overseas in GSM areas. Verizon is a CDMA network.

Android 4.1 also brings support for Verizon's Isis wallet, a mobile payment collaboration … Read more

Google, Microsoft 'challenged' vs. Apple, says Goldman Sachs

Google and Microsoft will struggle to vend off Apple's smartphone-tablet juggernaut, according to a recent study by Goldman Sachs.

Titled "Clash of the titans," the 75-page study depicts Google and Microsoft as "challenged" in their bids to compete with Apple.

Some salient points made by Goldman Sachs, which based many of their findings on internal survey results:

Well positioned v. challenged: In the "context of platform adoption," companies that are defined as "well positioned" include Apple, Facebook, Samsung. Amazon is "straddling the line." Google and Microsoft are "challenged&… Read more

More details emerge about high-end ZTE Grand S

Event info posted on CES' press page details a January 8 unveiling of the ZTE Grand S.

We already knew that the Chinese company would announce a high-end smartphone during the January trade show, but more specs reveal that it'll be a thin, 5-inch handset with an FHD screen.

Judging by the event summary, the device may also sport a stylish look, too.

It noted that the phone will be made out of ceramic, feature a "traditional Chinese style," and is perfect for the "fashionable set."

Though ZTE is remaining mum about further details, a … Read more

Former top Apple fanboy now rocks all Android devices

We already know Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak uses both iOS and Android devices, but this week we learned that the former evangelist who helped create the original "cult of Mac" has left iOS behind and gone all Android.

It's been decades since Guy Kawasaki preached the gospel of Apple in the '80s, but only about a year since he jumped ship as an iPhone owner for an Android phone with 4G LTE -- the Droid Razr Maxx. Kawasaki was quoted in ReadWrite saying he no longer uses any Apple mobile products:

"I fell in love with Android on the smartphone, and then I got a Nexus 7 and started using Android on the tablet as well... To me the great irony is that Apple's slogan was 'Think Different,' but today if you think different you're looking at Android."… Read more