We all know NVIDIA and their Tegra chipsets but some big news has come out regarding their technology. NVIDIA has announced via a blog post that they’re planning to license out their Kepler GPU architecture to mobile manufacturers. The Kepler GPU architecture is the most advanced and efficient mobile GPU that NVIDIA makes and it [...]]]> We all know NVIDIA and their Tegra chipsets but some big news has come out regarding their technology. NVIDIA has announced via a blog post that they’re planning to license out their Kepler GPU architecture to mobile manufacturers. The Kepler GPU architecture is the most advanced and efficient mobile GPU that NVIDIA makes and it serves as a part of the reference design for the next-gen Tegra processors. But now that NVIDIA has agreed to license out the technology, it could make huge waves in the mobile sector.

You see, both Apple and Samsung make their own SoCs, or system on a chip. But to date they both have always had to license their GPUs from companies like ARM, with their Mali GPUs, or Imagination Technologies, who create the Power VR GPUs. With NVIDIA’s Kepler GPU being available for license, we could see one of Samsung’s Galaxy devices using a high-end NVIDIA GPU. Or possibly even an iPhone with an NVIDIA GPU. Either of those things would be a huge breakthrough for NVIDIA who has long struggled to have a major impact in the mobile phone market.

Companies who choose to license the Kepler GPU will get designs and support to integrate the Kepler GPU into their chipsets. But NVIDIA is also planning to license out their visual computing portfolio to allow manufacturers to create their own GPUs. This means that rather than putting their own Tegra chipsets in different devices, NVIDIA can instead get their renowned technology inside of them which should help save money for both them and the manufacturer. If you’re interested in reading their full post, then simply follow the source link below.

Who’s excited about this news?

Step aside HTC One, there’s a new titan to contend with. The HTC Butterfly S, featuring an impressive array of specs, was unveiled today in Taiwan. The HTC One is still considered to be HTC’s flagship Android device, but the those in the know have to admit that the Butterfly S is now [...]]]> Step aside HTC One, there’s a new titan to contend with. The HTC Butterfly S, featuring an impressive array of specs, was unveiled today in Taiwan. The HTC One is still considered to be HTC’s flagship Android device, but the those in the know have to admit that the Butterfly S is now the must-have smartphone in HTC’s lineup.

The HTC Butterfly S sports a quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, 5-inch 1080p (440 ppi) Super LCD3 display, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, microSD expansion slot up to 64GB, front-facing stereo speakers with BoomSound audio, BSI UltraPixel camera sensor (we’re presuming 4 megapixels like the HTC One), 2.0 µm pixels size, f2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens for the main camera, 2.1 megapixel shooter on the from with a wide angle lens. To top things off, HTC has bestowed the HTC Butterfly S with a 3,200 mAh battery, enabling 3.5 days of continuous mp3 playback, 25 hours of talk time and an astonishing 659 hours of standby time on while on  a WCDMA connection. On the software side, the HTC Butterfly S is running on Android 4.2.2 with HTC Sense 5. This means Butterfly S owners will be treated to features like BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe and the advanced imagine capabilities found in the gallery application.

The HTC Butterfly S is scheduled to make its retail debut in Taiwan in July with a sticker price of NT $22,900 ($766 USD). We doubt the HTC Butterfly S will be arriving in Europe or North America any time soon (if ever), but other Asian markets should see the phone appear in stores later in Q3.

How do you think the HTC Butterfly S stacks up against the HTC One? Would you be willing to  sacrifice the full-metal aluminum construction of the HTC One for a slightly larger screen, expandable storage and a battery that’s guaranteed to last a full day?

Gallery

As one of the larger prepaid carriers in the US, Virgin Mobile does offer a decent selection of phones for their no-contract plans. They just announced the Samsung Galaxy S III 4G LTE and now they’ve got another Samsung smartphone to release. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is the latest smartphone to hit Virgin Mobile and [...]]]> As one of the larger prepaid carriers in the US, Virgin Mobile does offer a decent selection of phones for their no-contract plans. They just announced the Samsung Galaxy S III 4G LTE and now they’ve got another Samsung smartphone to release. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is the latest smartphone to hit Virgin Mobile and while it’s not a high-end phone, it’s no slouch either.

The Galaxy Ring packs a 4″ display, 1.4GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 4GB storage, microSD card slot, and a 1,750mAh battery. On the software front you’ll find Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI placed delicately atop.

The Galaxy Ring may not appeal much to you in the specs department but it has a very wallet-friendly price tag of just $179.99. Since Virgin Mobile’s main focus is price, this could be a pretty good seller for people who want a decent smartphone at a low price. Bear in mind though, it only has support for Virgin Mobile’s 3G network.

Are any of you guys thinking about picking up a Galaxy Ring?

New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of new entries on the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We have shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and launch them to new heights. So, we’re bringing back our weekly [...]]]> New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of new entries on the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We have shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and launch them to new heights. So, we’re bringing back our weekly column Fresh Meat that highlights new apps with less than 100k installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy.

How to Make Paper Airplanes 3D

Description: If you’ve ever dreamed about building a bomber or a modern fighter jet, that doesn’t mean you love war; you just think planes are cool. We understand you completely. All right, are you ready? Go get a piece of paper.

How to Make Paper Airplanes FreeHowset.com PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Compare Between the Stores

Description: Want to find the apps from iPhone store in your android by one click? The app “iPhone store” will let you know and follow all the leading apps in iPhone Store sorted by countries. You will find top 300 free apps, top 300 paid apps and top 300 grossing apps in each country you select!

Compare between the stores FreeArabLabsAndroid PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Fitness Checkup

Description: Are you in shape? Fitness Check Up is the app you need to do a fun and enjoyable check-up! The Fitness Checkup application helps you assess your physical shape using 11 health tests: Flexibility, Balance, Body Core, Strength, Capacity for effort, Muscle Tone, Explosiveness, Pulse at rest, Body mass index, Body fat index and Reaction speed.

Fitness Check-up FreeBio2Imaging PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Verizon FiOS Mobile

Description: Check out the new Verizon FiOS Mobile application with live streaming TV Channels, available now to watch anywhere in your home! FiOS Mobile also offers premium subscription On Demand content from Starz and Encore, the ability to use your device as a remote control to interact with your FiOS TV, remotely manage your DVR recordings, view TV listings, and access the entire Flex View On Demand catalog.

Verizon FiOS Mobile FreeVerizon Services Corp. PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Music Tutor Sight Read

Description: Learn to sight-read music with MusicTutor SightRead (MTSR). MTSR is a quiz game designed for music students, for learning to read (and write) music in an easy and pleasant way.

Music Tutor Sight Read $2.32VirtualCode.es PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Floating Notifications

Description: Floating Notifications is a new and intuitive way to view your notifications. It can take a notification from any app and present it to you as a floating icon, similar to Facebook chat heads, but for any application. It even works in fullscreen mode (in Games, Youtube etc) and is fully customizable.

Floating Notifications (Trial) FreeRob J PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Kids Media

Description: Looking for what to watch, rent, read, play or buy for your kids? Get instant access to over 18,000 trustworthy ratings and reviews from Common Sense Media, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping you make the best media decisions for your kids. Our extensive database of movie, DVD, TV show, book, music, app, and game reviews are now at your fingertips.

Kids Media FreeCommon Sense Media PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Flowpaper Free

Description: Flowpaper is an interactive drawing tool that lets you make beautiful flowing paintings using your finger-tip. Perfect for making a personal background for your device or for sharing with a friend. We hope you enjoy this trial version of Flowpaper!

Flowpaper Free FreeDiatom Studio PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

3D Image Live Wallpaper

Description: Increase the liveliness of your Android device with this moving parallax wallpaper. 3D depth effect works best with images with strong edges – i.e. not plain colours or smooth gradients.

3D Image Live Wallpaper $1.57Opotech PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Taskbar – Windows 8 Style

Description: Taskbar – Window 8 style is a tool that mimics Window 8 Taskbar. It comes in handy when you want to launch apps, common settings, favorite contacts quickly.

Taskbar - Windows 8 Style FreeRoot Uninstaller PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Trailerpop

Description: Play hundreds of thousands of trivia questions while watching over 20,000 movie trailers. Who was almost cast as the iconic Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate? How many films have Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino worked on together? From The Wizard of Oz to The Matrix, Argo to Key Largo, there’s something here for everybody to enjoy.

Trailerpop Freetrailerpop, inc. PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

The HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 currently rank as the most powerful smartphones on the market, but we knew that wouldn’t last long. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC isn’t shipping in any smartphones yet, but we expect to see the chip show up in a handful of phones and tablets starting [...]]]> The HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 currently rank as the most powerful smartphones on the market, but we knew that wouldn’t last long. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC isn’t shipping in any smartphones yet, but we expect to see the chip show up in a handful of phones and tablets starting in Q3 of 2013. We all expected the Snapdragon 800 to easily outclass the Snapdragon 600, but we were a bit socked when we first saw the benchmark scores below.

Our friends from Engadget were able to get some hands-on time with the latest Qualcomm reference smartphone and tablet – both powered by the new Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor. While both devices features most of the same specs, the discrepancy between the benchmark numbers can probably be attributed to the difference in screen resolutions (11.6-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel display on the tablet versus 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 pixels smartphone display). For the most part, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 numbers edge out what we’ve seen from the NVIDIA Tegra 4, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see how the two match up once they are available in production devices.

While the numbers show a huge improvement in processing power over the Snapdragon 600 and latest Exynoxs chip, do you think the Snapdragon 800 will deliver a noticeable improvement in real-world performance?

It’s been nearly two years since Verizon’s DroidLanding Twitter account, used to promote new Droid series devices using cheesy robotic language and B-movie quality special effects, has uttered a peep. Today,  June 18, is the day we will remember as the day DroidLanding rose again.

We have absolutely no idea what the DroidLanding Twitter account [...]]]> It’s been nearly two years since Verizon’s DroidLanding Twitter account, used to promote new Droid series devices using cheesy robotic language and B-movie quality special effects, has uttered a peep. Today,  June 18, is the day we will remember as the day DroidLanding rose again.

We have absolutely no idea what the DroidLanding Twitter account could be preparing for, but you can bet it will be something big. The tweet doesn’t reveal any details on what Verizon’s working on, but it does assure us that, whatever it is, it’ll be going down in true Droid fashion:

Reactivation protocols initiated ::: Systems nearing operational status ::: Stand by for further instructions...DroidLandingTwitter

Could it be as simple as Verizon giving away some phones for the summer? Is it to announce a new Droid device? If so, from whom? Motorola? HTC? Right now, we have more questions than answers. Feel free to speculate on what Verizon has in the works in the comments below. And remember, Droid does.

Update: Verizon has posted a corresponding video to YouTube and game to the Play Store (D:Com) centering around giant mechs. The video shows the mechs in a number of locations across the U.S. and the game puts you at the helm of one of the mechs in a multiplayer augmented reality battle.

• Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn
• Clark Street in Chicago
• The Pier (Santa Monica?)
• Moose Junction (Wyoming? Wisconsin?)
• Douglas Lake in Tennessee

As if AT&T doesn’t have enough exclusives to drive customers away from other carriers and into their expensive (but well covered) arms, today the US carrier will start selling a red version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $199 on contract.

Aside from its very rouge exterior, AT&T’s exclusive Red Aurora Samsung Galaxy S4 [...]]]> As if AT&T doesn’t have enough exclusives to drive customers away from other carriers and into their expensive (but well covered) arms, today the US carrier will start selling a red version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $199 on contract.

Aside from its very rouge exterior, AT&T’s exclusive Red Aurora Samsung Galaxy S4 is no different than the boring ol’ Black Mist and White Frost versions we’ve already come to know and love. You still get a 5-inch full HD 1080 display, a 13MP camera and of course, access to AT&T’s LTE network.

The Red Aurora S4 is just the latest in a string of AT&T exclusives. Ma Bell looks to be going all-out on offense, securing as many handsets and special edition devices as possible to use as ammunition against rival carriers. It’s not like other carriers aren’t participating; T-Mobile just announced the Sony Xperia Z as an exclusive today. But AT&T seems especially keen to open their pocketbooks and tempt manufacturers.

What do you say? Do you see a red Galaxy S4 in your future, or does something else have your attention?

Talking to in-store reps can reveal a lot about what customers want. It may not be the most scientific approach when computing device sales, but it clearly illustrates what the consumers are buying and asking about. R.W. Baird’s William Power talked to reps of each of the four major US carriers to find out what [...]]]> Talking to in-store reps can reveal a lot about what customers want. It may not be the most scientific approach when computing device sales, but it clearly illustrates what the consumers are buying and asking about. R.W. Baird’s William Power talked to reps of each of the four major US carriers to find out what phones were selling the best, and the results aren’t too surprising.

The two top selling phones for all four carriers were the Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S 4. We didn’t expect anything different, and we’re sure you didn’t either. However, the device that came in third place was a pleasant surprise. At AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, it was often mentioned that the HTC One is their third best selling device.

With a recent history of diminished profits and failed products, it’s great to see HTC succeeding. Their newest device is a game changer with the UltraPixel camera and BoomSound front-facing speakers. But making an amazing product doesn’t always help; there’s more to the equation. Their advertising, though still spotty, is getting better. Their ad campaigns are pushy, borderline insulting and have people talking.

Since the HTC One is not available on Verizon, it seems that the RAZR models have been the alternatives to the Galaxy S 4 and iPhone. Fortunately, the HTC One will be coming to Verizon sometime this summer, so HTC might win third place on Verizon, too.

This doesn’t say much about actual sales, because many sales are online. It also doesn’t account for business sales. But in the end, it’s a good way of seeing what the customers want and have been purchasing. What do you think of these results?

The Humble Bundle with Android is back in its 6th iteration, sporting a grand total of seven games. All games but one are cross platform, supporting Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. And the second best part? You pay what you want!

The package contains seven games, five of which have no pay limit. Aquaria, Fractal, [...]]]> The Humble Bundle with Android is back in its 6th iteration, sporting a grand total of seven games. All games but one are cross platform, supporting Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. And the second best part? You pay what you want!

The package contains seven games, five of which have no pay limit. Aquaria, Fractal, Organ Trail: Director’s Cut and Stealth Bastard Deluxe are all cross platform games that can be installed on Android when purchasing the Humble Bundle. Pulse is an Android-only game you also get when buying. However, there are two games with a minimum fee. If you pay more than the average purchase price, you’ll receive Frozen Synapse and Broken Sword: Directors Cut.

Yes, you can pay a dollar and get five games. To get all of the games, you have to pay above the average price, which currently stands at $4.55. But please, don’t pay a dollar. Pay a good price for these games, because they’re worth $95 if purchased separately, and the developers deserve a big cut of the pie.

In my opinion, the best part of the Humble Bundle is giving to charity. Some of the money goes to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Child’s Play Charity. What’s better than getting cheap games and donating to charity at the same time? Other than pie? (Pie is delicious).

You can customize the amount that goes to each party, giving most to developers, charity or the Humble team. There are awesome sliders that let you customize the payout, so you get the most out of your purchase. The Humble Bundle has made $13.5 million for charities so far, so give a big amount and feel good about yourself. This is an amazing opportunity that benefits everyone, so take advantage of it. Hit the source link and get to buying!

Source: The Humble Bundle

The Motorola X Phone is one of the hottest rumored devices on the planet. All sorts of crazy rumors have popped up about this device, and it’s been entertaining to say the least. Now the mysterious Motorola device has popped up in FCC filings for various carriers: AT&T (XT1058), Sprint (XT1056) and Verizon (XT1060). The [...]]]> The Motorola X Phone is one of the hottest rumored devices on the planet. All sorts of crazy rumors have popped up about this device, and it’s been entertaining to say the least. Now the mysterious Motorola device has popped up in FCC filings for various carriers: AT&T (XT1058), Sprint (XT1056) and Verizon (XT1060). The latest to pass through the FCC was the Motorola XT1055, which has compatibility for the LTE Band 12 that US Cellular uses. Hopefully we’ll soon see a T-Mobile model, too.

The AT&T model’s filing revealed an image that looked exactly like previous leaks of a device titled the XFON, which looked like other leaks that were showing off the X Phone. All of these model numbers are close together, so they should all be variants of the same device. This means we just might see this X Phone across all US carriers.

Yesterday, evleaks revealed the specs of the Motorola X. Evleaks is known for accurate leaks of high profile devices, so we’re inclined to trust him. The specs revealed a Snapdragon dual core, 2GB of RAM, a 720p display, a 10MP camera and Android 4.2.2. These specs aren’t high-end by our fancy standards (especially compared to the quad cores and 1080p displays in the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4), but they’re definitely nice for a mid-range phone.

With FCC filings left and right, this device may come out very soon. We still don’t know of a release date or even the price, but we’re sure the info will come soon enough.

It’s surprising to see even regional carriers get the same Motorola device; we haven’t really seen a truly cross-carrier Motorola device in a long time. Naturally, we’re excited to see what Motorola and Google cooked up. With Google’s guidance on this device, it may be something very special. What would you like to see from the X Phone?

Via: Droid-Life
Source: FCC