Phones

Living in a major metropolitan area, I’ve come to take my broadband Internet access for granted. However, that’s a luxury that is not afforded to a solid two-thirds of the world. Project Loon has been launched (no pun intended) by Google to provide high-speed Internet to more remote areas on the planet. And they’re doing it with balloons. You could say that the name “Project Loon” is a play on the word “balloon” and perhaps something to do with being a little crazy, but the idea here is that they launch these massive balloons about 12.4 miles above the Earth’s surface. At this altitude, they can avoid most adverse weather or airplane traffic. The balloons, which measure 49 x 39 feet when inflated, can withstand abuse for over 100 days before they need to be recovered. Each balloon can cover an area on the ground of about 25 miles in diameter, providing it with speeds “comparable to 3G.” The initial test has them in New Zealand where they launched the first Project Loon Internet-providing balloon on June 14 and they plan on launching a total of 30 more in the next few days. The balloon itself contains a myriad of electronics — radio antennas, GPS, flight sensors, weather monitoring instruments, etc. — and there’s an array of solar panels for 100 watts of power. By using the wind for travel, the balloons are pretty green. The Internet signal isn’t sent back via Wi-Fi. Instead, the balloons connect to the ground and then the service is broadcast via a radio frequency over ISM bands. Homes in the area then need to install special antenna to nab the signal and decrypt the data. This may seem wacky, but it could prove to be a fascinating solution for areas where conventional broadband just isn’t feasible or cost-effective. They also say it’s a good way to get connected following a natural disaster. [Source] The post Video: Google Project Loon Balloons Connect Remote Areas to the Web appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Streaming media has really taken off in the last few years with services like Netflix for movies and Pandora for music. Apple is tackling this arena with its upcoming launch of iTunes Radio for iOS 7, but you can actually get a taste of iTunes Radio right now on your Apple TV. Well, you have to be a registered developer first. The latest Apple TV beta release is iOS 5.4 and it contains a beta build of iTunes Radio for your music streaming enjoyment. The service is similar to some other “custom radio” type solutions, building radio stations based on your favorite artists. Then, you can tag the tracks and buy the songs directly from iTunes from within that service. Along with the inclusion of iTunes Radio, iOS 5.4 for Apple TV also has updates for Home Sharing, plus the release of iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. Photo Stream has been rebranded as iCloud Photos too. There’s also something called Conference Room mode where you can implement custom backgrounds and instruction overlays, plus you can play stored iCloud presentations, videos, photos and music content. Have you tried iOS 5.4 and iTunes Radio on your Apple TV yet? Tell us what you think in the comments below. [Source] The post Apple TV Gets iTunes Radio in Beta Form Right Now appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Cruising around Reddit, I came across this Last of Us/Scott Pilgrim mashup that just so happens to make the perfect wallpaper for your Android device. Enjoy.

Mark Zuckerberg is an interesting fellow. If he’s not living on what he catches, or scouting the world for new talent, then he’s heading out to South Korea to talk to Samsung execs about finding ways to better promote Facebook through their product portfolio. Sadly for us, not many details can be made, but we can make some educated guesses as to why he’s there in the first place. Sadly for Zuckerberg, the shares in Facebook he put up to market in May of 2012 haven’t really soared as much as he had planned to. So it’s likely with some diligent decision making that he’s headed out to the land of the most successful mobile phone company in the world, to actively seek ways to secure his investments and gain market share. Or at least we suspect. Although Zuckberg himself didn’t make a statement while being caught leaving Samsung HQ, Samsung President Shin Jong Kyun did talk about “the state of the information-technology industry”, according to the President himself. Then, if that wasn’t enough, Zuckerberg was scuttled over to the President of South Korea herself, Ms. Park Geun Hye. Talking to her, he reportedly theorized about ways that Facebook can make a bigger impact in the international mobile market, and what kind of effect it can have on business and trade relations. Samsung and HTC were the first to feature the Facebook application on their Android OS respectively, however Facebook itself has struggled to maintain stability in the financial market. Its share has seen a massive drop of 9.8 this year alone, which has investors and users alike worried. SOURCE: Edmonton Journal Story Timeline Samsung GALAXY S 4 Review Facebook Home reaches 1 million downloads, usage on the rise HTC First 'Facebook Phone' gets Sense by way of custom ROM Facebook invite teases arrival of a "new product" next week

Shazam for iOS got some pretty nice updates today, but it seems as though the app has been a bit forgotten on Android. The Android version of Shazam hasn't seen an update since April, but this new update for iOS comes close behind an update a couple weeks ago that brought some location services to the app. This time around, Shazam is getting UI tweaks and Pulse discovery...Photos:

On today's episode of All My Mergers And Acquisitions, the long-running Sprint bidding war between Dish Network and Japanese carrier SoftBank appears to be over, at least for the moment. After SoftBank increased its Sprint bid to 21.6 billion dollars for 78% of the company last week, and Sprint subsequently sued both Dish and Clearwire for getting in the way of its corporate matchmaking, Dish has withdrawn its offer. According to Reuters, the company stated that submitting a new offer by today's deadline was not practical. Dish is still hungry for wireless spectrum, and intends to buy shares of LTE provider Clearwire for well above market value - at least, it intends to buy the portion of Clearwire that isn't currently controlled by Sprint. Done With This Post? You Might Also Like These:SoftBank Raises Bid For Sprint To Ward Off Dish Network: $21.6 Billion For 78% Stake In Wireless Carrier [Drama] Sprint Sues DISH Network And Clearwire For Butting In On Its SoftBank Love Triangle DISH Proposes Alternative Sprint Buyout Plan, Is Not So Secretly Gunning For Clearwire Holdings Softbank Wants A $23 Billion Loan To Buy 70% Of Sprint Dish Network Bows Out To SoftBank And Abandons Its Bid For Sprint, Re-Focuses On Buying Clearwire was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Only just recently we discussed how Samsung was looking into switching it up color-wise for their Galaxy S 4 Line, and now AT&T has come in with their brand new “Aurora Red” paintcode. Spicing up (most literally) the S 4, this vibrant red is only available to AT&T customers on a two year agreement for $199, or can be picked up on its own, off contract, for $639.99. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 AT&T “Aurora Red” edition comes with all the same specs as the standard S 4. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 line is currently expanding as well, with the introduction of the Galaxy S 4 Mini, the S 4 Active, and the S 4 Zoom. We ponder whether all of these will get some interesting colors as well. However, as of most recently, there have been hints that Samsung would offer the original Galaxy S 4 in more colors. The new red color from AT&T does confirm that more variants are on the way, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see some really interesting colors popping in our pockets. If you’re not into waiting, ColorWare currently offers your own custom S 4 colors… at a magnificent $1000 a pop, not including price of the phone itself. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 AT&T Aurora Red Edition can be picked up now at any AT&T or Samsung certified retailer. If you’re not into red, we suggest playing that aforementioned waiting game; There could be something different in store for you. What colors would you most like to see? SOURCE: Samsung Story Timeline New Samsung Galaxy S III colors landing at Verizon soon Samsung planning three new colors for Galaxy S III Mini, Note II Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 leaks in new Brown Black color Samsung Galaxy S 4 gets custom colorful paint by way of Colorware

Voice commands are becoming a staple when it comes to phones and tablets these days. Apple pushed it into the lime light with Siri and Google refined it with Google Now. While some of the features seem to be for novelty sake companies like Samsung and LG are taking a look at using it for navigational purposes. With that being said it appears that LG is working on a phone that will debut some time in 2014 that will feature voice commands at the core of its system. This functionality will be used to navigate through various system functions. This will help, for example, in the car where handsfree voice navigation is crucial. One function may include zooming in and out of maps, but from what it sounds like voice navigation will work throughout Android itself. That’s about it on the software front. On the hardware side of things the device may sport a Snapdragon 800 processor which should help the software run smoothly. Other than that there isn’t much to go on. LG hasn’t said anything regarding such a device. Voice navigation seems to be a logical step in a hands free world. How about you folks out there? Does the idea of voice navigation on a system wide level intrigue you? source: GottaBe Mobile Come comment on this article: LG said to be working on a phone with always on voice commands that will arrive in 2014 Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Hello my Android friends, I appreciate you guys clicking into another ManDroid Show. I apologize for my 3 minute ramble about E3 last week. Had to let you guys know of my utter disappointment in myself when it came to taking a picture with some of the hot nerdy girls I saw there. Anyways, lots of Key Lime Pie stuff today, so enjoy yourself. News Topics Key Lime Pie rumored for October Moto X Specs hit the web Key Lime Pie concept UI images part 1 Key Lime Pie concept UI images part 2 Download Google Now style wallpaper

HTC One users shouldn't have to go without the latest version of Android for too much longer. Engadget reports that HTC is still planning to upgrade its flagship smartphone to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean at some point, although the site says that "users may need to wait a little longer before it becomes available" for download. The HTC One originally shipped with Android 4.1.2 when it launched this past spring, although HTC vowed that users would be able to upgrade to version 4.2.2 at an undetermined time. Given how quiet HTC has been about the upgrade lately, it's good to hear that the company still plans on making it happen if we don't have any idea of when it might occur.