Samsung Offers Up A Slew Of Free Apps And App Subscriptions To Galaxy S5 Buyers

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Samsung is big on offering free stuff with their devices. Not always so much in the physical sense, but through software and app subscriptions that you can use alongside your new device, or any other android devices you might carry around with you. For the last couple of years Samsung has been offering a free two years of extra Dropbox storage-50GB extra-when users purchased one of their flagship smartphones like the Galaxy S3 and 4, or the Note 2 and Note 3. This year we’re seeing them offer all kinds of bundled and free apps packages with their new line of Pro tablets, and don’t think that for one second that Samsung is going to leave out its new flagship device the Galaxy S5.

Yes when it comes to enticing consumers and making the deal of buying a new phone just a little bit sweeter, Samsung is no stranger to the practice. This year Galaxy S5 buyers will have access to all kinds of app subscriptions and goodies. If you live in the UK like our resident Tom Dawson who is sure to be picking up a Galaxy S5, you’ll not only get the free extra 50GB of Dropbox storage that has become a trademark with buying a new Galaxy device, but you’ll also get three months free of Evernote, and three free months of LinkedIn premium. Going to be taking that new device out for a run? Make sure to use the free 1-year membership to the Endomondo community-I use the Endomondo Pro app for all my bike rides and running to track my routes and map them with GPS, it’s seriously the best fitness app that I’ve used-or you could use other apps like RunKeeper, MapMyFitness or Skimble.

The US Galaxy S5 buyers get pretty much the same app deals, with discounts on apps like Evernote, Bloomberg Businessweek, Paypal, Box, the free 50GB of Dropbox storage, and a handful of others. We would assume that Endomondo is included for US buyers as well because the app itself isn’t region specific, but there was no mention of it so if you’re interested you’ll just have to wait till you pick yours up and check it out for yourself. Once you have your shiny new Galaxy S5 in hand, tap on the Samsung apps icon and navigate to Samsung gifts, which is where you’ll find all the apps that Samsung is offering for free that you can choose to download, or not download. Does this make some of you even more excited about buying Samsung’s new flagship device?

The post Samsung Offers Up A Slew Of Free Apps And App Subscriptions To Galaxy S5 Buyers appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1qzSK8n

The Display Raises The Difficulty Level Of The Galaxy S5 Repair

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Many of you may be familiar with the team over at iFixit. They basically take just about any smartphone or tablet-and now wearables-and tear them apart(in the nicest way possible of course)to see how easy or difficult they are to repair. We realize most consumers won’t be engaging in this particular activity, but it’s good information for those of you that either have the desire to do so or are feeling relatively brave enough to attempt it yourself. If you love to tinker with things and are generally one to try and replace something yourself if anything goes wrong with your device, then you definitely want to check out all the details.

Before you jump into all of that though we’ll do a little breakdown of what happened when the team at iFixit took apart the device. With everything they tear down to mimic a repair process, they end up giving a score of how easy the device was to take apart should anything actually have the need to be repaired. While it wasn’t exactly the easiest device to tear down, it did receive a repairability score of 5 out of 10 from iFixit, which is much better than the score given to it’s top rival the HTC One M8, which ironically was given a score of 1. The reason for the difficulty on the Galaxy S5′s tear down may not be for the reasons you think. In fact, what made it harder to take apart was the screen which has to be removed before you can proceed and get to the phones guts, but with all the adhesive that Samsung used to hold the screen in place, careful prying and patience along with a large amount of heat application were needed to ensure they didn’t crack the display in the process of removing it.

With things being as difficult as they are, we couldn’t see ourselves trying to attempt a repair of the Galaxy S5. If you want to see the all the details including all of the images, you can head over to iFixit from the link below to see how everything was done step by step. While we imagine most people won’t be giving this tear down a go, it’s still interesting to look at.

Click here to view the embedded video.

---

The post The Display Raises The Difficulty Level Of The Galaxy S5 Repair appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1sHysOg

Featured Review: Fugoo Portable Bluetooth Speaker

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Bluetooth speakers are pretty awesome. But what about when it runs out of battery in the middle of your favorite song? That’s where the Fugoo Bluetooth speaker shines. Most other speakers will die after about 12-15 hours of continuous playback, some longer some shorter. But the Fugoo Bluetooth Speaker lasts a whooping 40 hours. Yes you read that right, thats forty. And I can say, after using it for about 2 weeks now, that it lasts longer than that, if you have the volume rather low or medium. Now with it higher, it’s going to give you less battery life. But still 40+ hours of continuous playback is amazing for a Bluetooth speaker this size.

The features of the Fugoo do not end with the battery life either. This speaker is pretty durable as well. There are three sleeves for the Fugoo speaker. The inners are called the Core, and the outer side is the Sleeve. It comes off pretty easily, although it did take me a few minutes to figure out how to switch them. For the sleeves there’s the Style, Sport and Tough. Which range from rugged to ultra rugged. Obviously the Tough one is the most rugged of the three. Fugoo sent me the Style and Sport sleeves with my review unit. Which I actually like the way the Sport one looks better. As stated they are interchangeable and all of them are water resistant and dust proof. They are even drop proof to an extent.

Fugoo also has all kinds of accessories to go with the Fugoo Speaker, including a remote control, multi mount, strap mount and a bike mount. So you can mount this speaker to your bike as you go on a bike ride, which is pretty cool. Especially since it lasts forever. It’s a pretty lightweight speaker, especially when you consider how big the speaker is and how big the battery is.

Now for the part you’ve all been waiting for. Sound quality. The Fugoo Speaker uses 360-degree sound, so you’ve got sound coming from everywhere. And the sound quality is really good, actually. I’d have to say it’s got better sound, and louder sound without getting distorted, than most of the other Bluetooth speakers I’ve reviewed recently. Now that’s really saying something.

As far as price goes, the speaker is $199. But the Style jacket is $40, Sport Jacket is $40, and the Tough jacket is $50. So you can get all three jackets for $300. Which isn’t bad, and definitely worth the price in my opinion. You can buy it from Fugoo’s website right now.

The post Featured Review: Fugoo Portable Bluetooth Speaker appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1n8SL32

Report: Google To Allow anyone to buy Glass in the US; For One Day Only

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

According to sources of The Verge, it appears that Google is about to make a rather large push to get as many people outfitted with Glass as they can. However, they’d probably have a better time with this if they lowered the price from $1500. The Verge has obtained documents about Google’s Explorers program, and it appears that for one day, anyone in the US will be able to buy Glass for $1500. According to the document that is down below, it looks like we’re going to see this go live next Tuesday, April 15th beginning at 6am PDT. Google is also throwing in their new frames and shades for the $1500 price tag.

While this isn’t a full consumer release, it is getting close to being one. Now we were told that the $1500 price tag is just for the early adopters and those looking to get in and developing for Glass early. But with them charging $1500 for anyone who wants to get it on this special one day, it looks more like we’re going to see that price stick around. Which is a bit sad, as I’m sure it would do really well at about $300-500. While this is also still part of the Explorer program, evidently, we aren’t sure when the consumer release will take place. Perhaps at Google I/O we’ll get more information about that. However, at this point, I think we are looking forward to Android Wear than Glass, but that might just be me.

Are any of our readers thinking about grabbing Glass during this one-day only sale for Glass at $1500? It still seems a bit expensive to me, but what does everyone else think? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below as always. I won’t be getting one, I’m more interested in Android Wear right now.

The post Report: Google To Allow anyone to buy Glass in the US; For One Day Only appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1hDXBjt

Google Rolling out Service that Will Continually Check for Malware

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

We’ve been hearing this for years and years. That Android has all the malware, and which anti-virus app should users use on their device. We’ve even seen “reports” that show that Android gets almost all the malware compared to other platforms. Although I don’t know anyone that has ever had malware on their phone. Recently, Google added the ability to check apps that you side load for malware. Which it works pretty well. But now it appears they are going to open that up to continually check for malware. So that means when you’re downloading apps from the Play Store, Amazon’s App Store and other places. According to The Verge, Google is rolling out an update that will bring this functionality. Once the update is rolled out, users who are attempting to install an app with malware in it will get a warning letting them know what’s up. From there the user can choose to uninstall or abort installing it. Google says that unsafe apps are pretty rare and the risks are miniscule.

This update does aim to increase security on Android, but that’s not going to prevent users from installing malicious apps, mostly from places outside of the Play Store. While Google’s “bouncer” is still scanning apps that are in the Play Store to be sure they are safe, there’s only so much they can do. I’d also say that if you’re that worried about an application, be sure you read the reviews on the app first. If you see a lot of people giving it one or two star ratings, then you should probably steer clear of it. Apps like McAfee, Lookout, and other anti-virus apps seem unnecessary to me.

How many of our readers have had malware or a virus on their Android smartphone or tablet before? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

The post Google Rolling out Service that Will Continually Check for Malware appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1iynz9c

Amazon’s Trade-In Program is a Good Way to Get a new Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One (M8)

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Two of the most talked about phones for 2014 are about to hit store shelves. Well the HTC One (M8) is already in most stores, except for T-Mobile stores. But the Samsung Galaxy S5 is hitting stores tomorrow. It’ll be available for T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. So how are you going to pay for that new phone? Why not just trade in your current phone to help pay off the new one? Sounds like a good plan, right? Well Amazon’s trade-in program is offering some pretty good prices for last years phones. For example, if you have a Galaxy Not 3, you’ll get around $271 for that device, and the Galaxy S4 is going for about $190. While the HTC One (M7) is going for $123 and the Galaxy S3 is going for $100. Which is a pretty good price considering it’s a year-old phone.

Their trade-in program is pretty simple. You look up your device, then tap on the “Trade-in” button, ship it to Amazon, then you’ll get an Amazon gift card for the amount that your phone is worth. Then you can buy your new phone through Amazon. Seems like a good idea, right? Since Amazon does sell everything, might as well give you an Amazon gift card. You’ll find the link to get started down below.

How many of you are tempted to sell your current phone back to Amazon to pick up the Samsung Galaxy S5 or the HTC One (M8)? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Amazon Trade-In

HTC One M7, Silver 32GB (Sprint)

Samsung Galaxy S4, Black Mist 16GB (AT&T)

Apple iPhone 5 16GB (Black) – AT&T

Apple iPhone 4S 16GB (Black) – AT&T

---

The post Amazon’s Trade-In Program is a Good Way to Get a new Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One (M8) appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1eoYbHo

Project Ara Opens to Developers, MDK also Released

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Project Ara is one of those moonshots from Google that we’ve been interested in for quite a long time. It’s basically the idea of having a modular phone. Where you can choose your own parts, and replace them as needed. Almost like you would with a desktop. So if you want a new camera sensor, just place the camera, etc. It’s a pretty cool idea, and we thought it’d be a few years before it came into fruition. But when Project Ara’s YouTube video got “leaked” and it blew up, Motorola contacted them and basically said they wanted to work with them on this. Then as we know Motorola got sold off to Lenovo, but Google kept this part of Motorola in Mountain view, Google ATAP.

Now Google ATAP has opened up Project Ara to developers, so we should really start seeing some cool stuff coming out of Project Ara now. The Project Ara MDK shows the device’s nickname of “endo” and that the endoskeleton is a 4×7 parceled grid. There is also a 3×6 and a 2×5 parceled grid that Project Ara has available. Unfortunately, due to a few limitations, the largest that a component can be is 2×2. Which shouldn’t be too much of an issue. What’s also interesting here is that Ara users will be able to use more than one battery. So users will be able to swap batteries without actually removing them or turning off the phone. Which is pretty awesome, in my opinion.

Project Ara has a long way to go, but this is just the beginning. We should see lots of manufacturers working on parts for Project Ara pretty soon. Hopefully it’s not as slow as Glass was/is. We may see partners like Samsung, Qualcomm, NVIDIA and others jump on-board with this device. I’m hoping LG jumps on board as well.

The post Project Ara Opens to Developers, MDK also Released appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1gPyIRK