[Android News] HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE delayed at customs due to ITC exclusion order

We've just received a statement from HTC indicating that two of its flagship devices -- the One X for AT&T and the EVO 4G LTE for Sprint -- have been delayed at customs due to an ITC exclusion order that was handed down last December at Apple's behest. That order was set to go into effect on April 19th, and it looks like HTC's two new stateside superphones are the first to feel Apple's the government's wrath. Here's HTC's take on the matter:

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

We've reached out to HTC for clarification on the delay and to find out if this will affect the launch of the EVO 4G LTE, which is expected to hit the shelves this Friday, May 18th. Stay tuned for updates.

Update: While HTC doesn't have any additional information to share at this time, we've also contacted AT&T and Sprint for comment. Let's just hope that the issue can be resolved in a timely manner.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/15/htc-one-x-and-evo-4g-lte-delayed-at-customs-due-to-itc-exclusio/

[Android News] ASUS PadFone gets benchmarked: a mere teaser of what's to come

It was only last week that we learned of the varied battery life of ASUS' phone that would be a tablet that would be a laptop. Now, a further trickle of its performance might has passed our way, giving us insight into the real-world chops of its dual-core S4 processor and companion Adreno 225 GPU. The tests, carried out by the fine folks over at Netbooknews, highlight the device's strengths across a swath of the usual benchmarks, putting it just below AT&T's One X variant in Quadrant with a score of 5,057 and Sunspider at 1,917ms. The company's hybrid did, however, manage to eke out a victory against its similarly CPU-equipped smartphone rival in Vellamo, as well as NenaMark 1 and 2, coming in at 2,554 and 60.4fps / 60.5fps, respectively. We'll have our own comprehensive review of the PadFone ready for your eyes in the days to come, but for now, sate your appetites with these various nuggets.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/15/asus-padfone-gets-benchmarked-a-mere-teaser-of-whats-to-come/

[Android News] http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/11/distro-issue-40-smartphone-battle-continues/

Having trouble with the barrage of smartphone news in recent weeks? Don't worry, we've got you covered in this Friday's edition of our e-publication. The focus this week is the on-going quest for the ultimate smartphone champion. In our search, we take a look at the recently outted Samsung Galaxy S III while putting both the AT&T HTC One X and the Sprint Galaxy Nexus through their paces. While he's a fan of their thin frames, Darren Murph demands better battery life in new laptops and his editorial offers some thoughts on the matter. Our hands-on section is all CTIA this week, as we look back at a handful of gadgets that caught our eye. Smartphone reviews just not doing the trick this week? Well, we take the Jawbone Big Jambox for a spin in this week's issue as well. Yes, all the regulars are here -- including Reaction Time with a word on The Avengers and Call of Duty. Stat takes a look at phone profits, Switched On tackles smartplayers, IRL takes another peek in our backpacks, Square's CTO Bob Lee gets cozy with the Q&A and Dustin Harbin offers the Last Word on excessive texters. So, grab a seat in your favorite reading chair and hit the download link of your choice to get your copy of our tablet mag.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/11/distro-issue-40-smartphone-battle-continues/

[Android News] ASUS PadFone's real world battery life: 14.1 hours of 3G browsing in laptop mode

Since the official launch at MWC, ASUS has been mum on how many hours its upcoming PadFone can stay on the treadmill for, but earlier today, we spotted an official promotional video -- which has since been removed from ASUS's YouTube channel -- that mentioned 16 hours of battery for the phone itself, 63 for tablet mode and 102 for laptop mode. Something smells funny here so we pinged ASUS, and guess what? Those turned out to be just continuous talk time over 2G, so perhaps said video clip was pulled to be re-edited.

Conveniently, ASUS was also kind enough to share some very realistic battery life figures from the lab. With the corresponding screen set to 137 nits (about half the brightness), you get the following for phone mode, tablet mode and laptop mode, respectively: 2.6 hours, 10.7 hours and 17 hours of continuous WiFi browsing; and 2.1 hours, 8.9 hours and 14.1 hours of continuous 3G browsing. Just as promisedbefore, the PadFone Station (the tablet) and the PadFone Station Dock (the keyboard) do seem to pump up the battery by about five-fold and nine-fold max, respectively.

Now sure, these may make the 1,520mAh battery inside the phone look feeble and silly, but do bear in mind that these aren't the "up to" numbers. As always, stay tuned for our own tests whenever the PadFone finally lands on our doorstep.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/11/asus-battery-life-in-hours/

[Android News] Baidu announces new smartphone partnership, stops short of saying who with

China's search giant Baidu has already got its foot in the mobile platform door, now it plans to wedge it open a little further. Reuters report that the firm will be announcing a new partnership next week that will involve a new smartphone running an updated version of its mobile operating system, this time called Baidu Cloud. There's no word right now on who is supplying the hardware, with vice president Wang Jing only going as far to say it's in talks with "global" manufacturers. So looks like it's names in a hat for now, until the big reveal.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/11/baidu-announces-new-smartphone-partnership/

淘汰了的智慧手機怎麼辦？八招舊機再利用報給你知

智慧手機的汰舊換新速度超快，忠實果粉每年都得要追一款新的 iPhone，Android 用戶則是時時都有機海可以選擇。那遭汰換了的舊智慧手機要怎麼辦呢？有不少人選擇送人或轉賣吧！其實還是可以把它們留在身邊使用，只是主要用途不同罷了。一起來看看這八招舊機再利用的方法吧！

GPS 導航機：變身獨立 GPS 導航機，不會浪費到手機的電，而發生電力不足的慘事。

觸控式遙控器：若你是 Apple 或 Google TV 用戶，都可以下載到該裝置的遙控 App，或者是使用 Griffin 的 Beacon 把你的舊機變成觸控遙控器。

觸控板和小鍵盤：你可以下載 TouchPad 或 NumPad App，將你的舊機變成觸控板和小鍵盤使用，打數字不再麻煩了！

越獄實驗機：換新手機，過了保固期的舊手機，自然是試試越獄最好用的工具啦！

電子相簿和鬧鐘：這個應該是最簡單的再利用方法了！

娛樂中心遙控器：如果你有 Xbox 360 或 PS3，舊機也可以成為你操控家中娛樂中心的遙控器。

專用音樂播放器：超方便的隨身音樂播放器，和獨立 GPS 導航機一樣，都不用擔心沒電了怎麼辦。

打字或語音 App 專用機：現在多半的智慧手機都是虛擬鍵盤了，如果你的舊機是鍵盤機，在家就用舊機來傳訊，打字超快速。另外，用來當作 Tango 或 Skype 這類視訊 App 的專用機也不錯。

除了上述八招，你還有什麼樣的妙用法子呢？和我們分享吧！

[Android News] Flipboard for Android 'liberated' from Galaxy S III demo unit, available for all

For many, one of the biggest causes of jealousy after the Samsung Galaxy S III launch event wasn't that 4.8-inch screen, or the new Exynos innards, it was that beautiful looking Android version of Flipboard. Alas, the Korean mobile giant had enough cunning to secure the popular glossy social network and feed reader all for itself -- for the time being. That is, unless, you're a naughty little xda-developer visitor, perhaps called Valcho, who had the foresight / lack of restraint at the event to nab the .apk from one of the demo phones. He's made it available for all and sundry (well, those with Android phones at least). If you want to see how it looks on your phone, point it at the source link, or be a good spirit, and wait for the official outing.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/09/flipboard-for-android-liberated-from-galaxy-s-iii/

[Android News] Crapgadget: summer show-off edition

When summer starts to creep up, so does that dreadful jumble of terms like "swimsuit season," "beach body" and "crippling insecurity." But these crapgadgets would like you to stop being so dang selfish and think about your tech's appearance for a change. After all, what you lack in muscle you can always make up for in accessories that inspire, intrigue and lead others to speculate about your financial standing.

Read - All that darting around corners and covert memo-recording just makes you look creepy, but it could make you look as cool as this man with a mission. Japanese retailer Strapya World would have you know that its radio transceiver for the iPhone is "made for the everyday awesome person."

Read - Those Swarovski crystals decking out your smartphone? They might as well be lumps of coal. The discerning consumer knows that it's diamonds or nothing, and this $11 million diamond laptop sleeve -- complete with sable fur trim -- is certainly something.

Read - Just as you wouldn't ride a bike without a helmet, you wouldn't be caught dead holding your phone without a ring to secure the device to your finger. Don't you care about safety at all?

Read - Maybe you're one to buck all this flashy materialism, but still want to be recognized for the unique soul that you are. No one will accuse you of gadget snobbery if you stick to a soup can for all your telephony needs.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/09/crapgadget-summer-show-off-edition/

[Android News] Sprint confirms May 18th release date for HTC EVO 4G LTE

HTC's EVO 4G LTE went live for pre-orders just yesterday, and now we have confirmation of when you'll be able to expect Sprint's One X flavor to hit your front door. Friday May 18th appears to be the date in question, with the carrier peddling devices for a cool $199.99 with a two-year service agreement. Sadly, you won't be able to take advantage of those LTE speeds at launch -- Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio will be the first cities to light up when they come online later this year -- so if you have the need for speed right now, you'll need to hop on over to AT&T. There's a fluffy Sprint PR awaiting you just past the break.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/09/sprint-htc-evo-4g-lte-may-18th/

[Android News] Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June

Someone at Google's advertising department has probably received the hairdryer treatment this morning after a Gmail advert prematurely revealed that Sony's Xperia Ion would arrive in June. The banner ad popped up atop Droidmatters' inbox and revealed that the Stateside version of the Xperia Swill turn up just in time for Summer.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/09/gmail-leak-att-xperia-ion-june/

[Android News] Kyocera teases bone conduction audio technology for mobile phones at CTIA

Can you hear me now? It's a common phrase in the mobile industry, but if Kyocera has its way, the saying could quickly become a thing of the past, thanks to bone conduction technology that it plans to integrate into future handsets. Rather than operating with a traditional earpiece, we were told the display itself vibrates to create sound waves. The end result is an aural experience that can be perceived with your facial tissues and bones, and it's said to dramatically improves perceived audio quality within noisy environments.

Bone conduction technology was initially created for those with hearing difficulty, and while Kyocera isn't the first to reveal an implementation within mobile phones (a distinction that belongs to KDDI), the technology is Kyocera's own. During our brief hands-on demo, we were rather impressed by the noticeable difference created by tissue conduction in comparison to a traditional handset -- this applies to both quiet and noisy environments. In case you're curious, no, the vibrations aren't jarring, and yes, we'd genuinely like to see the technology take to the mainstream.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/07/kyocera-teases-bone-conduction-audio-technology-for-mobile-phone/

[Android News] Android 4.0行動裝置 使用率迅速增加

從谷歌(Google)最近公佈的一份統計數據顯示，對於Android各版本行動裝置與相對數量比例進行分析，出現了有趣的一種現象，即目前相當成熟與穩健的Android 4.0冰淇淋三明治作業系統(Ice Cream Sandwich;ICS)設備數量有明顯增加趨勢。

附圖 : BigPic:600x279

但在所有Android行動裝置中，現在仍不到5％設備在使用Android 4.0，可見其發展空間仍相當可觀；且所有Android 4.0運行的行動裝置中，其大多數運作是使用Android 4.0.3或4.0.4版本(占4.4%，四月初Android 4.0.3版本使用率只有2.9%)，而不是Android 4.0、4.0.1或4.0.2的早先版本(占0.5%)。

不到5％的Android 4.0使用率，可能聽起來不是那麼討人歡喜，但是Android 4.0冰淇淋三明治系統運行的裝置用戶，從今年一月時的1.6%，上升至四月初的2.9%，再大幅躍升至五月初的使用率4.9%。那麼為什麼會如此？主要的原因是最近設備升級的Android 4.0新手機，購買與使用者顯著增加之故。三星(Samsung)一直是領導者之一，從Android 2.3到4.0的智慧型手機都有跡可循，他們並且能夠公佈設備與升級細節，甚至是美國的智慧型手機和平板電腦的更新時間表。

但隨著Samsung與HTC等廠商推出新款Android 4.0行動裝置上市，如：在今年五月底於歐洲上市的Samsung Galaxy S3(搭配Android 4.0.4 OS)，其Android 4.0用戶數量應該會再進一步提昇，而六月份的統計數字應該會反映這一點。

至於其餘的Android系統，薑餅(Gingerbread)仍然是Android OS的領導者，近2/3的Android行動設備採用Android 2.3到Android 2.3.7，占64.4%；1/5的Android行動設備仍然是Android 2.2 OS的天下，占20.9%(但四月初是23.1%)；而運行Android 2.1 OS的設備也不少，占5.5%(但四月初是6%)。

關於Android 3.0蜂窩系統(Honeycomb，包括Android 3.1和3.2版本)，Android 3.0所使用的行動設備剛超過3％，占3.3%。這些統計數字也揭示了一個有趣的事件，即可能是由於一些使用Android 2.1及Android 2.2版本的人，轉移與更換到新版本Android 4.0行動設備所致。