Samsung Apps to offer BBM for Android

Samsung has announced that it'll offer the Android version of BlackBerry's BBM messaging app upon its release. A press release issued today confirmed that BBM will be "available to all Samsung GALAXY smartphone consumers across Africa" on Google Play as well as Samsung's own app store. And while today's presser refers to Africa specifically, it's likely Samsung owners in other territories (not to mention other Android device owners) will be able to download the app too.

Samsung also states that BBM "will form part of Samsung Messaging Hub" on Galaxy devices, suggesting some kind of deeper integration with the built-in Messaging app may be on the cards.

There's still no word on exactly when BBM for Android (or iOS) will appear, but it's understood to be in beta testing right now, so the public release probably isn't far off.

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Jelly Bean tops 40% market share on Android devices

Jelly Bean has now firmly established itself as the dominant version of Android. The newest numbers posted on the Android Developers website show that Jelly Bean, which encompasses Android 4.1 and Android 4.2, is now found on 40.5% of all Android devices, up from the 38% of devices that featured Jelly Bean last month. Jelly Bean’s rise means that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is finally fading away and its market share declined slightly from 34% in June to 33% in July. Google has been slowing down how often it releases major updates to Android of late, as Jelly Bean has been the codename of the new version of Android for more than a year now. Google is expected to release a larger overhaul of Android dubbed “Key Lime Pie” at some point over the next year.

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Samsung’s tablet army helps Android march past iOS as top tablet platform

All this has happened before and all this will happen again. The latest numbers from Canalys show that Android has now overtaken iOS as the world’s most-used tablet operating system, thanks largely to a flood of smaller devices put on the market by Samsung. Overall Canalys found that Samsung’s tablet shipments nearly quadrupled between the second quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2013, going from just 1.9 million last year to 7.4 million this year. Samsung wasn’t the only manufacturer to show a big increase in tablet shipments, however, as Amazon’s shipments grew from 425,000 in Q2 2012 to 1.55 million in Q2 2013 while Lenovo’s tablet shipments grew from 354,000 in Q2 2012 to 1.5 million in Q2 2013. Canalys also says that Apple’s tablet shipments have actually declined year-over-year, going from more than 17 million in the second quarter last year to 14.6 million in the second quarter this year.

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CyanogenMod device support expands to include several from Motorola

CyanogenMod 10.1 is the current stable build at the moment, however work has already begun on CM10.2. We have seen some nightly builds released for those looking to begin playing with Android 4.3 (CM10.2) but it looks like that is not the only work coming from the CyanogenMod team at the moment. In short, they have just announced some additional device support.

The officially supported list has been expanded to include a few additional Samsung smartphones as well as a handful of Motorola smartphones. The interesting part here, these aren’t all brand new devices. In fact, it was said that some of these devices have been a “work in progress for quite some time.” The handset being referred to with that comment was the Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G (apexqtmo) which was first teased back in October 2012.

That aside, the other Samsung handset is the C Spire branded Galaxy S 4 (jfltecsp). Shifting over to the Motorola handsets and we find the following;

• Motorola Atrix HD (mb886)
• Motorola Photon Q (GSM xt897)
• Motorola Photon Q (CDMA xt897c)
• Motorola DROID RAZR M (xt907)
• Motorola RAZR HD (GSM xt925)
• Motorola DROID RAZR HD (CDMA xt926)

The additional device support will likely be welcomed by users sporting any of these handsets and it looks like there is still more to come. Details coming from the CyanogenMod team also go on to mention how this is “only the first wave” and the will have “more in the near future.”

Further good news for these handsets mention how they are all (with the exception of the C Spire Galaxy S 4) set and in line with CM10.2. As always, those looking for CyanogenMod will be able to download the ROMs by heading to the get.cm website. Once there it is just a matter of choosing whether you want release candidate, M snapshot, nightly, experiments or stable and then finding your handset in the list.

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Verizon XOOM 4G LTE getting Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

The Motorola XOOM 4G LTE is far from the newest tablet available at the moment. In fact, at this point it is probably more accurately described as being one of the oldest. But even with that, it looks like the updates will continue. In this case we are looking towards those who happen to sporting the Verizon branded XOOM 4G LTE.

It seems Verizon has approved an update to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. More to the point, Big Red has detailed the update on the support pages. Those sporting a Verizon XOOM 4G LTE will want to be on the lookout for an update notification to arrive, but otherwise — here is what can be expected. The update will arrive asAndroid 4.2 with build JZO54M.

That being said, aside from the perks of Jelly Bean, the changelog isn’t all that long. This means goodies such as Google Now and Notifications. More to the point with those notifications, they are actionable. That means users are table to take direct action from the drop down notification shade with things such as email and text messages. You can also expand these notifications to get additional details.

Otherwise, aside from the Google Now and Notifications mentions there were only a few items mentioned under the “device improvements and fixes” category. Those items are as follows;

• Voice Search speed has been improved
• Keyboard adapts over time and predicts user’s next word
• Settings application has been revised for clearer options
• “Accounts & Sync” has been moved from the Personal group to an independent group called “Accounts”
• Enhancements to modem stability to improve data connectivity
• Search Option has been added in YouTube Application

Perhaps more important here is the history. While the XOOM 4G LTE is probably not a tablet that many will call wonderful — it is hard to deny that it is one that seems to have been taken care of. With this Android 4.2 update, that means XOOM users have gone through two major system upgrades. After all, if you remember back, the tablet received Ice Cream Sandwich back in June 2012.

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Android Device Manager arriving this month to locate a misplaced device

Google has announced an upcoming security feature for Android. This one will be called Android Device Manager and it is expected to arrive sometime “later this month.” While there are a few aspects to the device manager setup, this is all about helping you locate and track a missing phone or tablet.

The Android Device Manager will do a few things. To begin with, it will help you locate a misplaced device. Think about how nice it would be to fire up an app and be able to see your phone is at home, or alternatively, at the restaurant you just left. And for times like this, you can remotely make the phone ring. The other aspect here is for stolen phones.

This will allow you to track a stolen phone, though we would advice some caution if you plan on confronting the thief. That being said, the Android Device Manager will also come in handy for times when your phone is not going to come back to the rightful owner. For these times you can also remotely wipe the data. Google has said the device wipes will be both quick and secure.

As mentioned earlier, this is set to arrive later in the month. Further details point towards it arriving for devices with Android 2.2 or later. There will also be an Android app available, which should come in handy for those times when you lose a device and you either have another on-hand or have a friend also carrying something with Android.

That all being said, this is far the the first remote location setup we have seen for Android. In fact, the Sony “my Xperia” remote security solution recently graduated from beta. Not to mention, there is Lookout. The Lookout app may be better known for the antivirus side, however they also offer a similar remote location service. Bottom line here, while there are quality third party solutions available, it is nice to see Google addressing this — especially considering how many Android devices are out in the wild now.

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HTC One Google Play edition Android 4.3 kernel source files released

HTC has released the Android 4.3 kernel source code and other goodies for theGoogle Play edition of the One. The files, of which there are two have recently appeared on the HTCdev website. Those files include the Framework Support Files and Stock UI, which are sitting with notes about how these are kernel version 3.4.10.

Otherwise, these are both software version 3.06.1700.10 and sitting at 164MB and 99.7MB in size for the framework support files and stock UI files respectively. Those looking for the Android 4.2 comparison will find the kernel version has remained the same and the software version has increased from 2.14.1700.15.

That said, the disappointing part about all this is the HTC One Google Play edition is still sporting Android 4.2.2. Looking towards the positive side and the appearance of these files does suggest an update should be coming sooner rather than later. If nothing else, this just goes to prove that while stock, these Google Play edition handsets aren’t quite Nexus material.

Not that we suspect this will make many HTC One Google Play edition owners that much happier, but you are currently ahead and will likely remain ahead of those who picked up a carrier branded version of the One. Plus, the Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition handset has also yet to be updated to version 4.3. While we hope updates will arrive for both in the near future, officially speaking we have yet to hear anything from HTC, Samsung or Google.

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Moto X vs the Android and iOS competition

We’ve already seen a press image or two of the Moto X sitting next to the competition, but now that it’s out and in the wild, we figured a few more were in order. We already know all the details, as Motorola announced their new Moto X yesterday. So now, how about a few pictures comparing the overall size and general look vs the competition.

At this point there’s no missing pieces to this puzzle. We know all there is to know about the new Moto X, nothing is left to the imagination (except for why it costs so much) and we’ll have to simply wait and see how well the phone sells. In the meantime however, lets take a peek at the iPhone 5, Galaxy S4, and HTC One vs Moto’s new top dog.

We all know the specs of these devices, but just in case we’ll mention a few noteworthy parts. The iPhone 5 has a 4-inch display, the HTC One has a 4.7-inch front, and the Galaxy S4 comes in the biggest with 5-inches of 1080p glory. Compare that to the 4.7-inch Moto X, and you’ll see just how impressive the phones design is. They’ve managed to make a compact and comfortable phone here, and the screen size is quite large given the small package.

Dual-core vs quad-core, 720 vs 1080p HD displays, and even a smaller battery than the competition. You all know the story, you know the specs (and if not here’s more details) so instead of running through everything we just figured a few different angles comparing the phones was in order.

With the Moto X you get a phone designed from the ground up my Google and Motorola. It’s nearly stock Android, updates should (hopefully) be quick, and it has some next-gen always on features for instant voice actions using Google Now. Motorola promises 24 hours of battery life with “mixed and average” usage, and that dual-core processor is actually extremely powerful thanks to the GPU and X8 computing system in place.

To tech fans and enthusiasts like us it might be a hard sale vs the Galaxy S4 or HTC One, but we have a feeling Motorola is going after everyone else. Without talking specs, if you’re at an AT&T store, the Moto X is a great looking phone. To be honest, it’s great in general, so we’ll just have to wait and see how well it actually does in the market vs what’s readily available.

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GALAXY S 4 and HTC One Google Play Edition Android 4.3 update rolling out

The pure Android-laden HTC One and GALAXY S 4 Google Play Edition of the two handsets are seeing a version boost to Android 4.3 this evening, with reports surfacing that some users have scored an over-the-air update. Though not every handset owner has received it yet, the details are already rolling out for all to see.

Those with the handsets will be seeing the OTA update showing up as build JWR66V – the Samsung GALAXY S 4 version is the larger one with a 180MB size, and the HTC One is a bit smaller at about 150MB. After updating, users are seeing several changes, including larger widget panel icons and the ability to tether with Bluetooth (for the GALAXY S 4, that is).

When using the Google Play Edition handsets in comparison with their regular-variety cousins, the pure Android software feels snappier with regular use, though the benchmarks betwixt the two show relatively the same numbers. Obviously, the lack of preloaded software reduces the overall file size – in the case of the S 4, it takes it down to the 6GB range. Meanwhile, the hardware remains relatively unchanged.

As we said, the update is arriving to users over-the-air, and not all users are seeing it yet – if you’re one of them, hang tight. For those not familiar with Android 4.3, it brings several changes, including improved rendering, enhancements, and changes for developers.

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Android Device Manager coming this month; locate and protect your lost Android phone

There are plenty of tools and software packages out there that will monitor your Android phone and help locate it in the event that it's lost, but until now we've not heard of any official solution from Google themselves. That's about to change according to the official Android blog, as the Android Device Manager is set to launch later this month.

Built for devices running Android 2.2 or above (that'd be about all of them) Android Device Manager is said to have tools to help you locate a missing phone by sounding the ringer at max volume, tracking its location if it's out of earshot, and a quick and easy way to remotely wipe your personal data off the device if you're not able to recover it.

Many of us have been using some of the great third party tools for this for a while now, but we're still excited to see an official offering. We'll have a good look when it becomes official.

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Google Play edition Galaxy S4 Android 4.3 kernel source released, too

Following right on the heels of HTC releasing the kernel source for the Google Play edition HTC One, Samsung has released its required code for the GPe Galaxy S4. This isn't at all surprising, as the manufacturers are required under their license to make the kernel source for these devices available. What is surprising is that the source is for Android 4.3, a build that as of now hasn't been pushed to either one of these devices.

We have to think that the kernel source code being published means that these updates will be on their way in short order. In the meantime those who need this kind of source code can start looking through it (search for i9505g at the source link below) — remember that this isn't everything needed to make a custom ROM, just the kernel bits. Keep on the lookout for those OTA's, folks.

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Google Play edition HTC One and Galaxy S4 start to see Android 4.3 OTA

Scattered reports of users with both the HTC One Google Play edition and the Galaxy S4 Google Play edition phones seeing an OTA update to Android 4.3 are coming in this evening. We've seen the kernel source for both devices uploaded to the web — a legal requirement before any software is delivered — so we've been expecting the updates.

Users should see the same basic experience that Nexus users have been playing with, plus the few minor additions that Samsung and HTC have made with Boomsound and Flipcover support. 

There are bound to be a few bugs, but perhaps the most exciting part of the whole thing is that we've got a good idea what "timely" updates means, at least this time around.

If you've got either of the Google Play edition devices, start hammering that button.

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New wave of devices get official CyanogenMod support

Even those who have never rooted or ROM'd their phones have probably heard of CyanogenMod, the most widely used custom ROM for Android devices. The CyanogenMod software is so popular, that many times builds get ported to phones and tablets that are not officially supported by the CM developers.

If an Android device has enough of a following, and there are developer(s) willing to commit (no pun intended) to maintaining the device in the official CyanogenMod source tree, this device becomes officially supported -- and receives official builds of the CyanogenMod ROM. Official support not only gives owners a warm fuzzy feeling inside, but also less headaches as official builds are usually more stable and have fewer bugs.

CyanogenMod has announced that these eight devices will receive official ROM builds, with more device to come. While some of these have been in the works a while, this will be the first set of official builds for any of them:

• Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G (apexqtmo)
• Samsung Galaxy S4 - C Spire (jfltecsp)
• Motorola Atrix HD (mb886)
• Motorola Photon Q - GSM (xt897)
• Motorola Photon Q - CDMA (xt897c)
• Motorola Droid Razr M (xt907)
• Motorola Razr HD - GSM (xt925)
• Motorola Droid Razr HD - CDMA (xt926)

All of these devices, with the exception of the C Spire Galaxy S4, have planned support for the Android 4.3-based CyanogenMod 10.2. Don't expect anything flashable in the next few days (as these things do take time), but owners of the above phones have working versions of one of the best custom ROMs to look forward.

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New wave of devices get official CyanogenMod support

Even those who have never rooted or ROM'd their phones have probably heard of CyanogenMod, the most widely used custom ROM for Android devices. The CyanogenMod software is so popular, that many times builds get ported to phones and tablets that are not officially supported by the CM developers.

If an Android device has enough of a following, and there are developer(s) willing to commit (no pun intended) to maintaining the device in the official CyanogenMod source tree, this device becomes officially supported -- and receives official builds of the CyanogenMod ROM. Official support not only gives owners a warm fuzzy feeling inside, but also less headaches as official builds are usually more stable and have fewer bugs.

CyanogenMod has announced that these eight devices will receive official ROM builds, with more device to come. While some of these have been in the works a while, this will be the first set of official builds for any of them:

• Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G (apexqtmo)
• Samsung Galaxy S4 - C Spire (jfltecsp)
• Motorola Atrix HD (mb886)
• Motorola Photon Q - GSM (xt897)
• Motorola Photon Q - CDMA (xt897c)
• Motorola Droid Razr M (xt907)
• Motorola Razr HD - GSM (xt925)
• Motorola Droid Razr HD - CDMA (xt926)

All of these devices, with the exception of the C Spire Galaxy S4, have planned support for the Android 4.3-based CyanogenMod 10.2. Don't expect anything flashable in the next few days (as these things do take time), but owners of the above phones have working versions of one of the best custom ROMs to look forward.

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Motorola Xoom 4G LTE soak test to finally begin, 3 months after initial invites [Update 2: Android 4.1.2]

Update: Shortly after the soak testers started getting emails, Verizon made 4.2 official for everyone with a Xoom. We're not sure if they still have something special planned for testers or if they're done with the Xoom. 

Update 2: It seems that the soak test has begun, and it is for Android 4.1.2 — despite the official Verizon page (see screen shot after the break). We may see a retraction from Verizon soon.

Almost 3 months after the initial invites were sent out by Motorola, emails telling participants that the soak test for the Verizon Motorola Xoom 4G LTE will soon begin and finally being sent. At the time when the invitations initially went out, it was expected that Xoom owners would get a version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to test, or maybe Android 4.2. Now that more time has passed, and Android 4.3 has been released, things could change — although it is unlikely.

It would make sense for Motorola to bring the Verizon Xoom up to the same Android version as its WiFi-only sibling, Android 4.1.2. We won't know for sure until builds become available to those participating in the soak test, which should be any time now. Verizon Xoom owners that received an invite back in May, make sure to keep an eye on your inbox.

Thanks, Hunch!

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Platform numbers for July 2013: Jelly Bean over 40%, Gingerbread at 33%

As it does a monthly basis, Google has just released its Platform Version numbers to show a snapshot of the Android OS versions being used on devices today. With numbers taken over a two week period ending August 1st, we see small growths in the highest versions. Jelly Bean (4.1 and 4.2) rose to 40.5-percent — up from 37.9-percent last month — and together with Ice Cream Sandwich hit 63-percent of the install base.

Android 1.6, 2.1, 2.2 and 3.2 are all holding on by a thread, with under 5-percent share between the four versions. Gingerbread dipped slightly but is still holding strong at 33.1-percent of the install base.

This time around Google is also releasing a distribution chart of the different screen densities of devices in use today, which is quite interesting. Stick around after the break to have a look.

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Nexus 4 users pestered by Android 4.3 upgrade issues

Sometimes, getting the latest, though not always the greatest, does have its price, a lesson that some Nexus 4 users are now learning. Google announced Android 4.3 last month and its eventual availability for Nexus devices, and indeed the upgrades did arrive as promised. But Nexus 4 users are discovering that upgrading to the latest iteration of Android might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Reports are coming in from Google’s forums about various issues across the board. Some are annoyances like slower performance, missing apps, or reception problems. Others are functional problems like missing multi-touch functionality or disappearing content. Some have also reported overheating when using the upgraded handset.

But these are the issues that plague only those who are able to actually get into their phones. There are more serious reports of being locked out of their phones because it isn’t possible to enter their pass phrase. But even worse, there some who can’t even get their units to boot properly, being stuck in an endless loop at the Google and boot splash screens.

Not everyone have had problems with their upgrade and the process has been smooth for some. Those who did experience issues will be able to do a factory reset to get their phones working again. Still, the amount of users reporting such major problems and Google’s silence on the issue is worrying, leaving users no proper way to fix the issue. For now, it would be best to hold off from upgrading. And always do a backup before performing an upgrade.

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HTC One in Blue possibly coming to Verizon

After a period of phones in white, black, or gray tones, it seems that colors are in vogue again. There was an earlier leak of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 mini getting a paint job. Now it seems that HTC’s current flagship, the HTC One, will also be landing in a new color exclusive to Verizon. And this isn’t exactly its first makeover.

Just months after its launch, HTC announced that the HTC One will be made available in a new color, Glamour Red. The shiny red variant was made available initially to UK markets. It added a sharp and distinct look to a phone that we have so far liked. And it looks like HTC will be trying to make a repeat performance.

An insider leak tells of an addition to Verizon’s inventory with a Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU) of HTC6500LVWBLU, simply described as “HTC One in Blue”. Other than that, there has been no additional information or photos. It seems, though, that Verizon won’t be offering the Glamour Red variant.

Whether the information pans out, we’ll just have to wait and see. And wait we will, as the earlier anticipated August 1 launch has seemingly been pushed back by Verizon to mid-August. In the meantime, you can read about our impressions of the HTC One to decide whether you’ll want to grab this phone in whatever coating it comes in.

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Motorola Moto X to also get “Google Play” version soon

There seems to be a new trend of new flaghship phones getting unlocked and pure “Google Play” versions that can be purchased directly from Google. Since such was the case with Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and HTC’s HTC One, people have wondered whether the Moto X, which Motorola just launched today, will be getting a similar treatment, especially considering it is the first Motorola phone created under Google’s supervision. And so it will be that one will be able to buy a Google Play version of the Moto X “soon”.

There are some benefits to purchasing such a version of the phone. For one, units sold from stores of carriers like Verizon come preloaded with tons of apps, a good number of which do not really provide additional value to users and have been derisively called “bloatware”. Secondly, carriers are notoriously slow for providing Android updates, sometimes taking months, or even never. The technical reason for this is that manufacturers and carriers make so much modifications on top of a pure Android system that it takes them a significant amount of time to apply and test those changes on top of new Android releases.

That’s where Google Play versions come in. Same hardware, no bloatware, no modifications. Just pure Android. Of course, if there are features specific to a certain manufacturer that you’ve come to love, you might end up having to give up on those, too. In the case of the Moto X, however, there might not be much to take out as it doesn’t deviate too much from Google’s pure Android experience unlike HTC’s Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz. Moto X does have some software customizations, and it is unknown whether they will survive in the Google Play edition.

There are also other unknowns, such when the Moto X Google Play edition will be available from the Google Play store and how much it would cost. If prices of other Google Play editions are to go by, we could expect that it would cost a lot more than a unit on contract but slightly less than one off-contract. So far, only AT&T has announced its pricing, offering on-contract prices of $199 for the 16GB version and $249 for the 32GB variant. Off-contract units will be available for $575 and $629 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. It is also unknown whether the Google Play edition will be able to customize color options, something that is so far exclusive to AT&T customers.

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Jelly Bean usage continues to rise, takes 40% of Android distribution chart

Slowly but surely, Gingerbread’s days as the top honcho of Android distribution are being numbered. Taking its place is Jelly Bean, which now comprises 40% of the total Android distribution as of August 1 this year. Not far behind is Ice Cream Sandwich, which is enjoying a good 23% of the pie.

When Gingerbread came out, it easily became the most popular version of Android. It became so popular that manufacturers started putting it on devices that Google didn’t initially design it for, namely, tablets. The popularity of Android on tablets, as well as Gingerbread’s paltry performance on such devices, led Google to hurriedly release Honeycomb. It then immediately released Ice Cream Sandwich to correct Honeycomb’s many mistakes. But even then Gingerbread still ruled the Android valley.

Last June, we already saw the trend, with Gingerbread slowly dropping in favor of Jelly Bean. Since then, Jelly Bean consistently risen to the top, from June’s 33% to August’s 40%. Gingerbread isn’t disappearing any time soon, with a 33% foothold in the market. But with the announcement of Android 4.3, another Jelly Bean release, we might see even more changes as Nexus devices and recently released flagships, like the Moto X, are upgraded to this version.

There are some caveats to Google’s data, however. The data that is collected only comes from units whenever a user visits the Google Play Store, whereas previously it was collected whenever the device connects to Google servers. Although Google claims that this paints a more accurate picture of users who are actively engaging in the Android ecosystem, it does leave out hundreds if not thousands of devices, many of them cheap phones or tablets, that either do not regularly connect to Google Play or do not even have Google Play.

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