Nexus 4 support manual suggests 8GB and 16GB storage options, wireless charging

Support manuals for the LG E960 have emerged on the company’s Australian and UK websites, ultimately confirming the ubiquitous Nexus 4 moniker. The documentation suggests that the device will be available in both 8GB and 16GB versions. As we have come to expect with Nexus-branded devices, the handset will not support expandable storage via MicroSD. According to the manual, the device will also include an induction coil to enable wireless charging by default, something that users have been interested in for what seems like forever.

Unfortunately, it looks as though we’ll have to wait indefinitely for an official announcement, considering the cancellation of Google’s Nexus event on Monday. You know what they say–safety before fun, right?

Source: Engadget

HTC to launch money-saving app called ‘Best Deals’ for the One X+, One X, and One S

HTC just announced “Best Deals” which will deliver personalized money-saving deals direct to your HTC smartphone. It will be based on your preferences and interests, as well as your location. They can be reviewed, bookmarked, or shared with a single click.

For now it looks like it will only be available in the UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. They expect to have about 1700 deals at launch from 12 leading deal providers, which include Living Social, Trip Advisor, Qype Deals, and Offerum.

The application and widget will come with the new HTC One X+ and it will eventually arrive on the One X and One S with a software update shortly after. It will also be available to Windows Phone users via the 8X and 8S.

Press release after the break:

HTC LAUNCHES BEST DEALS SERVICE

Customers get access to thousands of discount deals

UK, 26th October  — HTC, a global leader in mobile design and innovation, today announced Best Deals, a new service that delivers personalised money-saving deals direct to your HTC smartphone.

Categorized by your preferences and interests, this service uses your location to bring you all of the best discounts in your area. Preferred deals can be reviewed, bookmarked or shared with a single click; they can also be sorted by popularity, discount, price and expiration date.

“HTC strives to deliver the best web content and services to its customers,” says Cédric Mangaud, Vice President of Value-Added Services for HTC. “We’re excited to be launching a service that gives you the very best deals, in line with your own personal interests, wherever you are.”

Partners
HTC has built partnerships with 12 leading deal providers across the five launch markets, UK, Italy, Germany, France and Spain, including LivingSocial, that will provide four of the five markets with deals, Trip Advisor, Qype Deals and Offerum.* Best Deals customers will have access to thousands of local offers and will also benefit from exclusive deals for a range of HTC products and accessories.

“HTC’s dedication to providing personalised experiences fits perfectly with the diversity of our handpicked deals service,” says Peter Briffett, Managing Director for the UK and Ireland at LivingSocial. “Our wide range of location-based offers will allow HTC smartphone owners to take advantage of hundreds of deals in their local area, from Michelin-starred dining and luxury spas to supercar racing days and hot air balloon rides.”

HTC will continue to secure a range of additional deal categories after launch by establishing new partnerships with a number of providers and mobile operators.

Availability
The Best Deals application and widget will be available on the new HTC One X+, and the Windows Phone 8X and 8S which launch in November. It will also be included in the upcoming software update for the acclaimed One series devices, the HTC One X and HTC One S.

A total of 1,700 deals and offers will be available at launch.

UK retailers cutting price on 16GB Nexus 7 in advance of Google’s upcoming event

With Google’s The Playground is Open event only days away, we have already seen the Google Play Store “de-list” the 8GB version of the Google Nexus 7 tablet. A 32GB Nexus 7 device is in the works along with a 3G-enabled variant, which apparently has prompted some retailers in the UK to guess these devices will be announced next Monday. In response, they have started to cut the price on 16GB Nexus 7 tablets as it appears destined to become the bottom rung on the Nexus 7 ladder.

Currys has reduced the price to £189.99 ($302 USD) while retail chain Comet has cut the price down to £179.99 ($287 USD). Prior to these price cuts, the 16GB Nexus 7 was selling for £199.99 ($319 USD). Before being cut from the Google Play Store, the 8GB Nexus 7 sold for £159 ($255 USD), so the 16GB version appears headed toward that price range.

source: Eurodroid

Unlocked UK Model Of The Galaxy S III Smartphone Gets Jelly Bean Update

Owners of the American version of a particular device may be seething at this time— but if you’re an owner of a carrier-branded variant of the Galaxy S III, try not to be too angry: owners of the unlocked model in the UK can now look forward to the 284MB Jelly Bean update being pushed to their devices or via Kies Desktop software. Reports indicate that in addition to the latest version of Android (as of now), TouchWiz has been updated to include a “blocking mode” and “easy mode”— both of which offers better overall management of the device. If you live in the UK and own the unlocked variant of the device— head on down to your settings -> About Device -> Software update to get the latest update today. Oh and try not to rub it in the rest of our faces, pretty please?

source: Android Central

Featured Play Store Review: Hands on with TunnelBear VPN [Tools]

TunnelBear VPN is one of those apps that’s extremely simple, but is very powerful. There are two really important reasons why you need to download TunnelBear VPN today, and many of you will fall into both. The first if for those who frequently use public WiFi hotspots. Everything you do on a public WiFi is available to hackers and that includes passwords and just about anything else. You can’t always avoid public WiFi’s so how do you safely take care of your business? A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the only way. Now you can set up your own personal VPN, but who has the time to mess with that. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something safe and secure without all the hassle? Well TunnelBear VPN is just that. It provides “safe-passage and privacy” for Android tablets and smartphones with a secure, encrypted connection to either a U.S. or UK server (more on that in a bit). What this means is that if you are utilizing TunnelBear on an open WiFi network, anyone who intercepts your data won’t be able to read it thanks to the AES 128-bit encryption.

The second reason is you might not have access to certain apps or sites because of where you live. For example, if you live outside of the U.S., you cannot get Hulu, Pandora, Google Voice, Google Music, or some YouTube videos. With TunnelBear you can experience the internet as if you are living in another country. So if you live outside the U.S. you can choose the U.S. server. Not only will your traffic be encrypted, but it will be just like you were in the U.S. and you would have access to the services mentioned above. Those of us here in the U.S. who might want to watch the BBC out of the UK can now do so by choosing the UK server. If only you knew about it during the Summer Olympics. I know a lot of people tried all kinds of silly things to spoof their IP addresses, but TunnelBear eliminates all the fuss and it’s amazing how simple it is to set up.

Using the TunnelBear app couldn’t be easier, but if you are looking to get access to stuff you are restricted to, you might have to follow a few extra steps to get it working. If you are just looking for a safe VPN when you are connected to an open WiFi, then all you have to do is open the app and you will see a bear in a tunnel. You only have two options which are at the top left. The first is whether you turn it on or off and the second is your choice of server (U.S. or UK). When it’s turned on, the bear will have a digging motion. At the top right, you will see how much data you’ve used towards your quota. If you want access to something in another country, you might have to follow some additional steps depending on what you’re looking to do. If you are accessing something involving an app already installed (such as the BBC iPlayer app) or something via the Browser, you might have to force close the app before running TunnelBear as well as turn off your GPS and other location services. If you are trying to get something from the Play Store, you might also have to clear all data from the Play Store app. You can clear all data, by going into settings, choosing “Apps” and selecting Google Play Store under “Downloaded Apps”. You will then see an option to “Clear Data”. Just tap that, then tap “Force Close” and you will be all set. Now there is one other thing if things still don’t work, and that is to pull your SIM card if your phone ot tablet has one. I believe this is only an issue when dealing with the Play Store, but depending on what you’re doing, it’s possible you still might have to do it. You can see some of these issues in my hands on video below.

If you’re concerned that your speed will drop significantly when using TunnelBear, don’t worry. It’s natural to have a drop off, but you shouldn’t lose more than about 20 to 25% of your current speed. You won’t be able to use sites like Speedtest.net to test you loss because they attempt to find a local server. The only way to truly test your speed is to download a 100mb test file from CacheFly. I was getting 10.26Mbps down with my normal WiFi, but when using TunnelBear, I got 8.70Mbps down. That’s only a 15% reduction, which is very good.

With TunnelBear, you get 500MB of data for free per month and you can grab another 1GB by simply entering your Twitter ID and sharing your love with a tweet. That’s a total of 1.5GB per month, which is more than enough for those that want a simple VPN at times when they are utilizing an open public WiFi. For those of you that plan on using it to access sites that you’re blocked from, you might need more data. Watching a lot of Hulu or listening to Google Music could eat up that data in a hurry. For $2.99 per month, you will have unlimited data, and you can get it as cheap as $2.50 per month (average) if you pay for one year upfront, which is $29.99. They also offer a a 3-month plan for $7.99, which equates to $2.66 per month. This is a small price to pay for access to content that you wouldn’t normally get.

TunnelBear is completely free to try so you have nothing to lose. I guarantee it will work as you will see in my hands on video below. So check that out and hit one of the download links at the bottom to get started. As always, let me know what you think.

Features

* Incredibly simple – On/Off!
* Experience the internet as if you’re living in another country
* Browse the internet on your Android tablet or smartphone with privacy
* A giant-sized animated bear
* Servers in US & UK + more coming soon!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Play Store Download Link

Featured Play Store Review: Hands on with TunnelBear VPN [Tools]

TunnelBear VPN is one of those apps that’s extremely simple, but is very powerful. There are two really important reasons why you need to download TunnelBear VPN today, and many of you will fall into both. The first if for those who frequently use public WiFi hotspots. Everything you do on a public WiFi is available to hackers and that includes passwords and just about anything else. You can’t always avoid public WiFi’s so how do you safely take care of your business? A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the only way. Now you can set up your own personal VPN, but who has the time to mess with that. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something safe and secure without all the hassle? Well TunnelBear VPN is just that. It provides “safe-passage and privacy” for Android tablets and smartphones with a secure, encrypted connection to either a U.S. or UK server (more on that in a bit). What this means is that if you are utilizing TunnelBear on an open WiFi network, anyone who intercepts your data won’t be able to read it thanks to the AES 128-bit encryption.

The second reason is you might not have access to certain apps or sites because of where you live. For example, if you live outside of the U.S., you cannot get Hulu, Pandora, Google Voice, Google Music, or some YouTube videos. With TunnelBear you can experience the internet as if you are living in another country. So if you live outside the U.S. you can choose the U.S. server. Not only will your traffic be encrypted, but it will be just like you were in the U.S. and you would have access to the services mentioned above. Those of us here in the U.S. who might want to watch the BBC out of the UK can now do so by choosing the UK server. If only you knew about it during the Summer Olympics. I know a lot of people tried all kinds of silly things to spoof their IP addresses, but TunnelBear eliminates all the fuss and it’s amazing how simple it is to set up.

Using the TunnelBear app couldn’t be easier, but if you are looking to get access to stuff you are restricted to, you might have to follow a few extra steps to get it working. If you are just looking for a safe VPN when you are connected to an open WiFi, then all you have to do is open the app and you will see a bear in a tunnel. You only have two options which are at the top left. The first is whether you turn it on or off and the second is your choice of server (U.S. or UK). When it’s turned on, the bear will have a digging motion. At the top right, you will see how much data you’ve used towards your quota. If you want access to something in another country, you might have to follow some additional steps depending on what you’re looking to do. If you are accessing something involving an app already installed (such as the BBC iPlayer app) or something via the Browser, you might have to force close the app before running TunnelBear as well as turn off your GPS and other location services. If you are trying to get something from the Play Store, you might also have to clear all data from the Play Store app. You can clear all data, by going into settings, choosing “Apps” and selecting Google Play Store under “Downloaded Apps”. You will then see an option to “Clear Data”. Just tap that, then tap “Force Close” and you will be all set. Now there is one other thing if things still don’t work, and that is to pull your SIM card if your phone ot tablet has one. I believe this is only an issue when dealing with the Play Store, but depending on what you’re doing, it’s possible you still might have to do it. You can see some of these issues in my hands on video below.

If you’re concerned that your speed will drop significantly when using TunnelBear, don’t worry. It’s natural to have a drop off, but you shouldn’t lose more than about 20 to 25% of your current speed. You won’t be able to use sites like Speedtest.net to test you loss because they attempt to find a local server. The only way to truly test your speed is to download a 100mb test file from CacheFly. I was getting 10.26Mbps down with my normal WiFi, but when using TunnelBear, I got 8.70Mbps down. That’s only a 15% reduction, which is very good.

With TunnelBear, you get 500MB of data for free per month and you can grab another 1GB by simply entering your Twitter ID and sharing your love with a tweet. That’s a total of 1.5GB per month, which is more than enough for those that want a simple VPN at times when they are utilizing an open public WiFi. For those of you that plan on using it to access sites that you’re blocked from, you might need more data. Watching a lot of Hulu or listening to Google Music could eat up that data in a hurry. For $2.99 per month, you will have unlimited data, and you can get it as cheap as $2.50 per month (average) if you pay for one year upfront, which is $29.99. They also offer a a 3-month plan for $7.99, which equates to $2.66 per month. This is a small price to pay for access to content that you wouldn’t normally get.

TunnelBear is completely free to try so you have nothing to lose. I guarantee it will work as you will see in my hands on video below. So check that out and hit one of the download links at the bottom to get started. As always, let me know what you think.

Features

* Incredibly simple – On/Off!
* Experience the internet as if you’re living in another country
* Browse the internet on your Android tablet or smartphone with privacy
* A giant-sized animated bear
* Servers in US & UK + more coming soon!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Play Store Download Link

UK carrier O2 starts Jelly Bean rollout for Samsung Galaxy S III; Vodafone to start on Monday

UK wireless carrier O2 has confirmed it is starting to roll out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to Samsung Galaxy S III owners on its network. They have not indicated how long it should take to reach all device owners, but some should start to see it on Friday, October 19th. O2 joins Three in rolling out the Jelly Bean update for Samsung’s flagship device. Vodafone has issued a statement via their forums that Jelly Bean will be deployed to Galaxy S III devices on their network starting on Monday. T-Mobile and Orange have not yet released any information about timing for users on their networks. The update will be available to O2 owners as a WiFi over-the-air update or through Kies.

source: TechRadar

Samsung Galaxy S III for Three UK now receiving Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean OTA

Samsung has already told us to expect the update to Jelly Bean to take place over the coming months, but subscribers on UK’s Three network are receiving a very early Christmas present. Users are reporting that the carrier is now pushing out an update to Android 4.1.1, making it the first carrier-branded device to receive the highly anticipated firmware upgrade.

If you haven’t already been prompted for the update, you can head into settings > about phone > system updates to check for it manually. The file measures a whopping 286MB, so unless you’ve got loads of data you’ll want to connect to your local WI-Fi network. After you’ve completed the upgrade, be sure to let us know how the new software fares in the comments below.

Source: Android Central

UK Confirmed To See ASUS PadFone 2 “Early Next Year”, Says ASUS PR Rep

As the world patiently awaits the arrival of the ASUS PadFone 2, consumers living in their respective countries are itching to know when exactly the device will be launched in their home market. Well those of you living in the UK are officially in luck as Asus UK technical PR rep Adam King has confirmed the UK “will definitely be getting it early next year“. When “early next year” is exactly is anyone’s guess, but it’s nice to know that UK residents won’t have to wait too long for the mouthwatering new tablet.

Still, it’s good to know that prospective owners will at least have a rough idea of when they can grab the tablet. All that’s left now is to wait and see the exact pricing of each variation of the phone/tablet hybrid. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to see the exact pricing.

source: Tech Radar

Upcoming 32GB Nexus 7 Tablet To Cost £199.99 In The UK

As Google continues to be mum on its all but confirmed 32GB Nexus 7 tablet, we continue to see additional specs and info leaked out for our viewing pleasure. Just like we had reported earlier in the week, the gang at Android Central managed to get a tip that famed UK retailer Argos has created its Christmas guide and lo and behold— the 32GB Nexus 7 is listed at a cool £199.99 ($323.00 USD). The significance of this is the pricing point pretty much confirms the upcoming tablet will indeed replace the existing 16GB tablet— while also adding that Google has finally listened to its customers (like yours’ truly) and will offer up more storage space.

So now that we know it’s very much real and on the way, all we need now is for Google to just finally stop holding out on the inevitable and give up the details on when we can grab one of the tablets for ourselves.

source: Android Central