PlayMG announces new MG pocketable WiFi Android gaming system for “young people”

Any parent with kids can attest to the problems created when one of them notices you playing Angry Birds or something similar on your Android powered smartphone. Inevitably, said kid will relentlessly pester their parent until they can borrow the smartphone to enjoy some Android gaming action. PlayMG Corp. hopes to address that problem and help parents “reclaim” their smartphones with the introduction of the MG, a pocketable WiFi-capable Android gaming system targeted at youth ages 5-18. If you are familiar with the relationship between iPod Touch to iPhone, you should understand the concept. The MG is basically an Android smartphone without the phone. According to PlayMG’s press release, the intent is to fill the void for kids who are too young to have their own Android smartphone or whose parents find phone and data plans to be cost prohibitive. PlayMG has taken some steps on the software side to orient the device’s use for youth gaming, incorporating features like strong parental control apps and a “Digital Wallet” allowance type system for the purchase of games and apps.

This new device is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and at PlayMG.com. A special pre-sale price of $149 is available until November 4th when the price goes up to the regular retail price of $169. PlayMG will include an 8GB SD card to go with the 4GB of internal memory and up to $40 worth of preloaded games and a prepaid SpendSmart Mastercard for future purchases. Hit the break for the full press release.

Mom and Dad Will Soon Get Their Smartphones Back: PlayMG Corp Announces Pre-Sale on Amazon.com and PlayMG.com of MG(TM) — First Pocketable Wi-Fi Android App-Gaming System for Young People

SAN DIEGO, CA–(Marketwire – Oct 16, 2012) – PlayMG™ Corp., a startup comprised of technology, game and social industry veterans (and parents) who have come together to reimagine play for young people with the introduction of MG™ — the first dedicated, pocketable Wi-Fi app-gaming system for the Android market — announced today that it is now taking pre-orders at Amazon.com and PlayMG.com. Through November 4, the sleek new MG — loaded with up to $40 in added value — will be available for a special pre-sale price of $149 before it ships this holiday season for a suggested retail price of $169.

The MG was specifically designed to fill a huge void currently experienced by young people who either are not old enough to have their own smartphones, or whose parents have found data plans costs prohibitive. With no monthly charges or expensive cartridge games to buy, and an all-new Family Collaboration System poised to make traditional parental controls seem a thing of the past, the MG enables young people to enter the world of portable “freemium” app play, while parents can safely and affordably give it to them. MG delivers a sophisticated, sleek look, and many new features to the portable gaming category — ensuring young people will finally, and gladly, stop asking to borrow Mom and Dad’s smartphone or tablet.

“We spent a lot of time designing the MG concept and prototypes to determine what would be cool enough for young people to actually want to give back their parents’ smartphones,” said T. Scott Edwards, PlayMG Founding Partner. “They want something specifically designed for their generation that fits in their pocket, doesn’t look at all childish, has expandable memory and gives them the most financial independence and play possible. We are excited to be able to deliver this ‘wish list’ of features, and are now working to get the word out to parents and the estimated 52 million 5-18 year-olds in the US who don’t currently own smartphones.*”

MG FAMILY COLLABORATION SYSTEM: (Not just another name for ‘Parental Controls’)
The MG Family Collaboration System includes “Digital Wallet” and “Remote Trust” notification functions, which are new to the portable gaming space. Parents no longer need to be bothered every time their teen wants to make a 99-cent purchase or worry about surprise charges.

The MG “Digital Wallet” lets parents create and manage “game allowances” through the reloadable SpendSmart™ prepaid MasterCard® for teens. The MG is the first portable gaming system to include this unique feature, allowing teens the freedom to discover, download and play the games they want from the app marketplace while staying within set spending limits defined by their parents.

Parents wanting more than just traditional parental controls, which have been devised to shut down access to entire activities or categories, can opt into MG’s “Remote Trust” notification to receive email updates on MG activity, or for instantaneous notifications, can simply check on the MG device itself. Remote Trust was designed to allow young people to get the most out of their MG and the ever-expanding world of app play, but within agreed upon parameters.

LIMITLESS EXPANDABLE MEMORY
Every MG comes with 4GB built in memory and an additional 8GB SD card. The MGs standard SD port allows unlimited expandable memory to download and save as many apps, music, photos and videos as desired. This is an important advantage as many smartphones and tablets carry a higher suggested retail price than the MG, but offer only a fixed memory with no ability to ever expand it.

“You are not held hostage to the MG’s memory,” said Edwards. “With the MG’s built in memory and included SD card, every MG will come with 12GB of memory capability and the option to add even more inexpensively.”

UP TO $40 WORTH OF ADDED VALUE AND EXCLUSIVE PRELOADS RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX
In addition to a $10 offer from SpendSmart™ prepaid MasterCard®, MG comes preloaded with EA Mobile™ hit titles ‘Need for Speed Hot Pursuit™’ and ‘NBA JAM™’ — a $10 value**. EA Mobile™ is a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA). PlayMG has also partnered with award-winning developer and publisher Com2uS to include preloads of the popular games Slice It, Swing Shot, Homerun Battle2, Tiny Farm, Tower Defense, 9 Innings Baseball, Super Action Hero and Derby Days. The 8GB SD card included with every MG is a $20 added value.

Another preload and exclusive MG feature is the proprietary MG Origins Avatar System. As young people play on their MG, they gain points, customize and unlock the origin story of their own personal gaming companions, which makes setting up and using the MG a game in and of itself. The MG also comes with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, the ability to shoot and play video and is one of the first systems operating on ICS 4.0 to include its new Face Unlock security feature.

PlayMG™ Corp. is a startup formed in 2012 comprised of technology, game and social industry veterans (and parents) who have come together to affordably reimagine play for young people, while enabling mom and dad to get back their smartphones and tablets. PlayMG is the visionary creator of MG™ — the first dedicated, pocketable Wi-Fi app-gaming system for the Android market. To learn more or order the MG visit www.PlayMG.com. “Like” MG on facebook.com/mgmoregame .

*Estimated 52M US kids 5-18 years-old who do not currently own smartphones (Sources: Pew Internet & American Life Project Report on Teens, Smartphones & Textingand Kaiser Family Foundation Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds).

**Limited time only.

The SpendSmart Prepaid MasterCard is issued by University National Bank, member FDIC. MasterCard and the MasterCard brand mark are registered trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated.

About MasterCard
MasterCard is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities–such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances — easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Learn more at mastercard.com or follow us on Twitter @mastercardnews.

This Ereader Will Cost Less Than $15 [EReaders]

# ereaders This is the Txtr Beagle . It's a new low-end ereader, that does away with fancy technological trappings: you'll find no touchscreen, backlight, 3G or even Wi-Fi here. As a result, it's set to cost less than $15—but will it be any good? More »

T-Mobile and LG officially announce LG Optimus L9

Well, now we can say that it’s official. Last week, we reported images of the LG Optimus L9 complete with T-Mobile branding were leaked. Today, T-Mobile and LG have officially announced its availability. LG is touting the device’s sleek, stylish, and thin frame (.36-inches thin) to go along with its 4.5-inch qHD display, 1GHz dual-core processor, and long-lasting battery. Pricing and a solid release date have yet to be announced, other than the vague “fall” release window. However, it’s safe to say that we’ll probably see the sleek device by November. If interested, you may also want to keep checking T-Mobile’s device page on its website since it may be listed as “Coming Soon” in the coming days. Hit the break for the full press release.

LG and T-Mobile Announce Stylish, Powerful LG Optimus L9

 

10/08/2012 | 12:05pm US/Eastern

Sleek LG Optimus L9 Features 4.5-inch qHD Display, Long-Lasting Battery for Extended Connectivity and Delivers Superior 4G Experiences and Value with the Power of T-Mobile’s Nationwide Network

 

LG Electronics USA and T-Mobile USA, Inc., today announced that the stylish and powerful LG Optimus L9 smartphone will be available this fall.

Built with a sleek, stylish frame that is only 0.36-inches thin, and surrounded by premium metal trim to provide designer-level styling, the LG Optimus L9 is the latest in the style-focused L-Series of smartphones from LG. Following other popular L-Series phones, such as the Optimus L3, L5 and L7 that were released globally earlier this year, all L-Series phones are designed around five primary aesthetic elements: Modern Square Style for comfortable grip, Floating Mass Technology for a slimmer look, Seamless Layout for a more intuitive arrangement of keys, Harmonized Design Contrast utilizing metallic accents and Sensuous Slim Shape that naturally draws the user’s attention.

“The LG Optimus L9 gives our customers an amazing 4G experience packaged in a stylish design,” said Brad Duea, senior vice president, product management, T-Mobile USA. “And, when coupled with T-Mobile’s Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data plan, T-Mobile customers have the freedom to live an always-connected lifestyle on our 4G network- whether that means watching videos, streaming music or searching the Web – without having to worry about overage charges or surprise bills.”

LG Optimus L9 features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a gorgeous 4.5-inch qHD Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass 2 display for bright colors and clear text. LG Optimus L9 is equipped with a long-lasting 2,150 mAh battery so users can watch video, listen to music, explore the Internet or chat with friends and family for hours with just one charge.

“As the latest device in LG’s L-Series smartphones, LG Optimus L9 has been designed to fulfill users’ needs for a slim, stylish device that is comfortable to use,” said James Fishler, senior vice president of marketing and go-to-market operations, LG Electronics USA. “With LG Optimus L9, users can take advantage of premium smartphone features – a stunning display, a powerful processor and a long-lasting battery – in a sleek design.”

LG Optimus L9 also features LG QuickMemo^?, a smartphone experience with powerful note-taking capabilities that lets users add commentary, notes and drawings to screenshots with a few swipes of a finger, then share them with friends and family via social media and email. LG Optimus L9 provides users with a five-megapixel camera and true-to-life 1080p HD video recording capability, so all of life’s important moments can be captured with clarity. For spontaneous photo-worthy events, the LG Optimus L9 lets users snap photos while simultaneously capturing video and take advantage of voice-activated photos using “Cheese Shot” by simply saying “cheese” to snap a picture.

LG Optimus L9 features a suite of connectivity technology. Whether it’s streaming high definition movies over T-Mobile’s 4G network, sharing a data connection with up to five devices using LG Optimus L9 as a Portable Wi-Fi^® Hotspot via T-Mobile’s Smartphone Mobile HotSpot feature with a qualifying rate plan, or making calls over a Wi-Fi network with T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi Calling feature, LG Optimus L9 has the wireless capabilities to keep users connected virtually wherever they are.

Key Features:

• Android^? 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 4.5-inch qHD Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass 2 Display
• T-Mobile Blazing-Fast Nationwide 4GNetwork
• Sleek, Stylish Design and Slim Profile
• Powerful 1 GHz Dual-Core Processor
• LG QuickMemo^?
• 5-megapixelCamera with LED Flash
• True-to-Life 1080p HD Recording
• Simultaneous Video/Photo Capture
• Long-Lasting 2,150 mAh Battery

Additional Features:

• Wi-Fi^® Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n/a
• Wi-Fi Calling: Make calls via your Wi-Fi connection in areas with little to no coverage, such as a basement
• T-Mobile Smartphone Mobile HotSpot: share a 4G data connection with up to five compatible wireless devices with a qualifying rate plan
• Bluetooth^® Version: 3.0 + HS
• SmartShare: share media wirelessly to DLNA^®-enabled devices
• Slacker Radio: create personalized music, news, sports and comedy on the go
• Video Player with Touch Lock, Dolby^® Mobile,1 and Resume Play Function; Supports DivX^®, WMV, MP4, 3GP, and 3G2 Formats
• Music Player with Dolby Mobile; Supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, and WAV Formats
• Rear-Facing Camera Resolutions up to 2592 x 1944 (default)
• Cheese Shot: simply say “cheese” to take a picture
• Shot Mode: choose from Normal, Panorama, and Continuous shot
• Customizable Scene Mode, Brightness, ISO, White Balance, Color Effect, Silly Faces, Backgrounds, Timer, and Shutter Sound

Slacker and Slacker.com are registered trademarks of Slacker, Inc. All other registered or unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

About LG Electronics USA

LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $49 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells a range of stylish and innovative mobile phones, home entertainment products, home appliances, and air conditioning systems and energy solutions, all under LG’s “Life’s Good” marketing theme. LG Electronics is a 2012 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. For more information, please visit www.lg.com.

About T-Mobile USA:

Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG (OTCQX: DTEGY). By the end of the second quarter of 2012, approximately 130 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group — 33.2 million by T-Mobile USA — all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS and additionally HSPA+ 21/HSPA+ 42. T-Mobile USA’s innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile USA among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit http://www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG. For further information on Deutsche Telekom, please visit http://www.telekom.de/investor-relations.

Meet the Megadroid Project, using 300,000 Android devices to test network disruptions

Avid Android fans are likely to purchase multiple devices every couple of years. Some may get one device a year, or even throw down their money for three. It all depends on the user. Imagine running your own network tests, using 300,000 Android devices at once. This is now a reality with project Megadroid.

In this scenario, the name of the project fits the description well. David Fritz, an electrical engineer over at Sandria National Laboratories, described that the project will consist of 300,000 virtual machines running the x86 version of Android 4.0 to test usage in various network disruptions. Natural disasters, protocol glitches, terrorist attacks, you name it, is being tested and researched with Megadroid. The goal is to “understand and limit the damage” caused be these situations.

To create a realistic environment, Fritz proposed to emulate features like Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth as a subject to test vulnerabilities to malicious attacks, within the Android OS. The engineer stated:

“I imagine somebody like Foursquare would have liked to have a city’s worth of Android devices sitting in the room next door to test their platform on before releasing it into the wild. There might be some emergent behavior that you only see at scale.”

David Fritz believes that it is important to study social networking and explain how easy it is to obtain data. However, the head researcher isn’t a fool, succeeding in previous projects such as “Megatux and Megawin”, to test Windows and Linux software issues. Large tests like this requires a large budget. The cost of the virtual machines cost $500,000. Hopefully with the newest “cluster” of Android 4.0 testing, the researchers will reveal the important flaws to fix before an attack occurs. Check out the video below to know more about the Megadroid efforts.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: Ars Technica

New GoPhone $65 monthly plan from AT&T for smartphone users

While many people prefer to obtain their mobile devices via a monthly service contract for a year or two at a time, there are buyers who are interested in obtaining service through prepaid offerings. AT&T has announced a new option in its GoPhone portfolio targeted at smartphone users.The $65 per month plan includes unlimited talk and text and adds in 1GB of allotted data per month. Along with the prepaid service plan, AT&T also released a new Android powered device, the AT&T Fusion 2, for only $99. Hit the break for the full press release.

AT&T LAUNCHES NEW, AFFORDABLE PREPAID SMARTPHONE RATE PLAN

DALLAS, Oct. 1, 2012 – Beginning Oct. 7, AT&T* GoPhone® smartphone customers will have a new rate plan option. The new Monthly Unlimited Plan with Data offers unlimited talk and text, with 1 GB of data for $65 per month. Unlimited text messaging to Mexico, Canada and over 100 other countries is also included.

This new plan is specially designed for smartphone users, and saves them $10 per month compared to previously available options.
The $50 monthly plan with unlimited talk and text and the $25 monthly plan with 250 minutes and unlimited nationwide text with optional data packages will continue to be available to smartphone customers.

Launching in conjunction with this new smartphone rate plan is AT&T GoPhone’s newest Android device, AT&T Fusion™ 2, which lets customers enjoy the convenience of a smartphone with email, apps and web access for only $99.

“As more of our prepaid customers choose smartphones, we wanted to offer them a rate plan that meets their needs while still being an excellent value,” said Judy Cavalieri, vice president – Voice and Prepaid Products, AT&T. “We’re excited to offer this new option to our growing base of smartphone customers to give them a better smartphone experience while keeping their budget in check.”

AT&T operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network** including more than 30,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores and retailers, and provides access to more than 220,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers, including Fusion 2 customers, get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn’t count against customers’ monthly wireless data plans.

More information on AT&T GoPhone prepaid rate plans can be found at http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html.

Average cellular data usage of Android users is about 870MB per month, says NPD

You would expect that the average Android smartphone user would use at least a couple of gigabytes a month. But according to statistics provided by NPD Collective Intelligence, it is much lower.

Research suggests that on average, Android smartphone users utilize only use about 870MB a month on cellular networks, as opposed to 2.5GB on home wireless networks. To be honest, when I read this I thought everyone was crazy, or it was time for me to get new glasses. Especially with network restrictions and data caps provided by large carriers like Verizon and AT&T, you think people would use as much data as possible without exceeding limits.

Using software by the name of “SmartMeter”, NPD tracked 1,000 Android devices to obtain data for their recent tests. After collecting what the company needed, NPD categorized the experiment ”by age”. As it turns out, users that were 55 years or older, used a very light amount of 750MB on a monthly basis, while participants within the age group of 18-24 used around 1.05GB. This data consisting all on cellular data.

During the Wi-Fi usage tests participants 55 and older averaged at around 1.42GB/ month, while ages 25-34 used more than twice that, at 3.01GB. Though these statistics may seem a bit unrealistic, you have to take in to consideration that:

• Location of subjects is unknown
• Devices used are unknown
• And chosen networks are still a mystery

NPD also revealed that they will be performing similar tests, on iOS users. Perhaps we should perform our own spin-off experiment on TalkAndroid. Would you participate? I would love to hear your comments.

Source: Fierce Wireless

Android 4.0.4 for the T-Mobile HTC One S is rolling out!

The long-awaited update for the T-Mobile HTC One S is finally rolling out to users nationwide. Of course, the software upgrade consists of the infamous “Android 4.0.4″ alongside its companion, 4.1 Sense. There is no doubt that the One S is one of HTC’s most popular devices, leaving users very anxious for some perfomance fixes and bug tweaks. And that is exactly what the update brought! You can now expect “more smooth” transitions with performance improvements, as well as wireless tweaks, involving Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Connectivity issues with wireless devices and networks have been a huge problem with the orginal build for the HTC One S, but we are happy to say, those are gone. Even though that the update isn’t 4.1 JellyBean, the OTA fix will help a lot of users in their daily tasks. All in all, the update will round up at about 150mb, so if you are locked into a “tiered” data plan, we recommend that you utilize your home wireless connection.

What do you think of the update? If you already installed it, are you noticing improvements? I would love to hear your comments, and… Happy Updating!

Source: Android Central

Sony’s Xperia Tablet S now shipping in the UK

Sony unveiled its revamped Tablet S last week at IFA 2012, and announced that the device would be available beginning September 7th. The manufacturer has kept its promise, as the newspaper inspired tablet is now officially available to purchase in the UK. Currently, Sony’s official website has two different models that are listed as ready to ship. Customers can select either the 16GB version for £329 ($524), or the 32GB model for £379 ($603). Keep in mind both of these models are Wi-Fi only, with the 3G-enabled 16GB version still up for pre-order for £429 ($683). Additionally, the Tablet S is expected to begin making its way to other regions over the course of the next few weeks.

Source: Xperia Blog, Sony

Apple and Motorola Strike Licensing Deal in Germany

On Monday, a filing was made with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in which Motorola Mobility (Google) and Apple entered into a standard-essential (FRAND) patent license agreement. The agreement states that Apple is now licensed to use Motorola’s FRAND patents in Germany. The royalty rate has yet to be set.

Now you have to understand, when it comes to standard-essential patents, the patent owner (Moto) must agree to a licensing deal with a competitor (Apple) if that competitor makes an offer to accept a licensing arrangement. The patent holder cannot refuse without blatantly violating antitrust law. That also means that Apple is essentially admitting to infringing the patents and is liable for past damages.

The filing only covers “cellular standard-essential” patents, leaving Wi-Fi and video codecs open for a later fight. Or separate licensing deals could be struck for those if both parties are tired of fighting.

Hmm, perhaps Microsoft had the right idea all along avoiding the courts and sleeping with its enemies instead. It sure is much less expensive.

source: foss patents
via: engadget

Samsung reportedly releasing a Galaxy S III based 16MP camera; Will be announced with the Galaxy Note 2 at IFA

This news is definitely surprising to me, what about you? According to an anonymous tipster, rumor has it that Samsung has plans on announcing a Galaxy S III based point and shoot camera alongside the Galaxy Note 2 during this years IFA. This device will allegedly be called the Samsung Galaxy S Camera and will feature the same 4.8″ Super AMOLED screen found on the Galaxy S III. It will also run Android’s 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with other internal specs of the device yet to be determined.

The tipster described the device as a Galaxy S III that has been attached to the back end of a camera with no physical buttons at the back of the device. It’s also reportedly to be as much as 2 times thicker than the Galaxy S III. Other features that’s being reported is a 10x zoom, a 16MP sensor (size still unknown), a pop-out Xenon flash with a curved right side to help with the ergonomics and will come in Wi-Fi and 3G + Wi-Fi versions (only mobile data, no voice).

What do you all make of this? Would this be a device that you would consider purchasing? I can definitely see this device appealing to many amateur photographers.

source: GSM Arena