Rumor: LG Optimus G To Receive Update Bump To Kit Kat 4.4.2 Near The Summer

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Well into the release of android kit kat, many users are still waiting to get their updates to the newer version of software. It has always been this way, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for LG Optimus G owners. Presumably anyway. According to sources of a french carrier called sfr, there is a rumor that LG will be pushing out the android 4.4.2 update to users of the LG Optimus G sometime around the summer. This is just a leak at this point, no actual confirmation from LG, so take it with a grain of salt but at least the hope is there that it could come soon. It’s still a few days shy of April so there are still a couple of months between Optimus G owners and the taste of chocolaty covered wafer goodness in digital format, but hang tight if you’re one of those people because you’re patience could soon pay off.

While this is potentially some good news for those of you that have this particular LG model smartphone, some are still in shock that the software update hasn’t pushed out to users over the air or otherwise. The reason for this is because the LG Optimus G is, at its core, the same build makeup as the Nexus 4, which clearly has android 4.4.2 already. With the guts being nearly the same and a only a couple key differences, some feel that it should be relatively easy to update the device. Whatever the reasoning, if the update is coming soon users can feel at least some small amount of happiness over the matter. However an updated version of android could already be in the works which would leave those users behind yet again.

LG isn’t known for quick updates to newer version of software. Most people that follow the tech industry and the android ecosystem know this. It still doesn’t stop users from wanting a better experience in the update department, and should we really blame them? No, but some reciprocal patience and understanding wouldn’t hurt. LG may not be quick on the updates, but users also have other options to get in on the newest and latest software builds. Other devices are one option, while throwing on a custom ROM is always a good way to get what’s new if you’re brave enough.

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Hammers And Keys, And Knives Oh My! It’s The HTC One M8 Damage Test

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Fear not fellow smartphone and tech enthusiasts, if you have been finding it hard to fall asleep at night due to nightmarish thoughts that your smartphone might come under attack from everyday house hold tools and kitchen utensils, rest easy.. you can at least go to bed knowing how things will end up. No, it’s safe to say that your HTC One M8 probably won’t make it through the night if you accidentally(or intentionally) take a hammer to it. Hammer’s don’t like electronics. They are sworn battle enemies and the hammer always wins. Why am I telling you all this? So you can prepare yourself. Not only for what you’re about to read and watch, but so you can at least try not to do the same thing to your own stuff, or in more blunt terms, take better care of your things.

In this eye opening test to see how the HTC One M8 would hold up against various items one usually has lying around the house, we get a look at what sort of fate might befall your brand new HTC One M8 should there be a war between it and a squadron of sharp and heavy objects. If watching this video alone will give you nightmares, avert your eyes, it isn’t for the faint of heart. The guys over at TechSmartt(the same wonderful team of people who compared the original HTC One to the new HTC One M8 just the night before last) are going to do a scratch and smash test on this new phone, because.. why the hell not? Aside from the obvious, that the odds are one in a million that you might accidentally slash your phones gut while trying to rapidly slice onions like Iron Chef Bobby Flay, there is one practical part to this video which is the test to see how the phone’s Gorilla Glass screen holds up against scratches from a regular old house key.

All things considered, the phone does a decent enough job at not being broken to bits, but it certainly doesn’t end up usable anymore. We won’t spoil the fun for you if you’re keen on watching the video, and if you can’t bare to watch the video, then you don’t want to see how things end up anyways. We thank the team at TechSmartt for doing this little test for us, cause now we don’t have to wonder anymore.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Supertooth Disco4 Review!

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All Android Devices Could Soon Carry Powered By Android Message

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All our android devices could soon carry the message powered by Android in the near future. At least two devices(the Samsung Galaxy S5, and the new HTC One M8) so far will have this message pop up after you power on your device. It seems that Google is making an attempt to better educate people on what software their smartphones are running on. It’s a little surprising given that Android holds the most marketshare when it comes to smartphones, but after stepping back and thinking about it for a second, I realized that many people often times don’t know the difference between Android as the OS, the Galaxy line of products that run on Android, and the iPhone. It seems silly but it’s the absolute truth, as I had run into this almost on a daily basis when working as a cell phone rep. People were always unaware.

This rather small but hopefully effective change is a way for Google to make people more in the know about Android as an OS and what type of device they are actually using. It’s part of a bigger effort that Google has been making as of late to help people become more familiar with Android, and while the Powered By Android message alone might not have a huge effect on the general public knowledge of who powers their smartphone, when paired together with Google’s other terms for use of their play services like the Play Store, Gmail, and other apps, it should do just fine to help equate what’s what.

This may seem trivial to some, but really think about it. If you had a product that was widely popular but potentially more than half of all users had no idea it was your product, wouldn’t you want to enlighten them? Time will tell whether it makes a difference, but if this specific condition remains in place for all future android devices people should have a hard time forgetting what kind of smartphone or tablet they have. Especially since they’ll be seeing this message stare them in the face every time they power cycle their devices.

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Google I/O Site is Now Live! Let the Excitement and Rumors Begin

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Google announced last month that Google I/O will take place from June 26-27th. They also announced that they would be doing tickets a bit differently this year, since they always sell out within mere minutes of opening up sales. Basically what Google is doing this year is allowing developers to register interest in attending Google I/O, and then they will draw random numbers from a hat. It sucks, but that’s what Google is doing this year. You will be able to register your interest in attending this year from April 7th to the 9th. According to a blog post on Google Developers blog:

“Now, on to what I know you’re waiting to hear about most. A month ago, we mentioned that this year’s registration process would be different. You won’t need to scramble the second registration opens, as we will not be implementing a first-come-first-served model this year. Instead, registration will be remain open from April 7 – 9 and you can apply any time during this window. We’ll randomly select applicants after the window closes on April 9, and send ticket purchase confirmation emails shortly thereafter.”

Hopefully everyone can get in this year, although it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. We can, though, wish everyone luck. At least you won’t have to scramble to get your ticket when Google opens it up, since they never really tell you when tickets will go on sale anyways.

How many developers are looking to attend Google I/O this year? If you do, make sure you find us and say what’s up. We’d love to meet our readers, after all it’s you that keep us going and keep food on our tablets. Let us know in the comments below if you’re interested in heading to San Francisco this year for Google I/O 2014.

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Google Opens Up Browser Uploading For Google Play Music, Adds Other Handy Extras

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I have long been a fan of Google Play Music, since it had started I had been using the service, even through the beta. In fact, I have long been a fan of lots of Google products and services. Choosing to switch from various past alternatives to using Play Music like subsonic music servers or heavy use of Pandora, was not a hard decision for the sheer fact that it would make things simpler when it came to listening to, and tracking down new music, as well as managing my music library. The one caveat that I saw with Google Play Music from the beginning was that uploading music into your music library was less of a simple task than one would hope from a Google service. It wasn’t by any means difficult, it was just a little less convenient and time consuming. Today Google has finally given us a way to more easily upload and add music to our libraries, by allowing browser uploads.

This is something that many users, myself included, have been waiting on for a long time. Probably since the release of Google Play Music, but, as lovers of the service we stuck by it despite the lack of this arguably better implementation. For whatever reasons Google had to leave this feature out, they are now void because it’s available now. Enabling this feature is pretty easy, as all you have to do is navigate to the labs page for Google Play Music,(located here) then switch to enable the Google Play Music For Chrome lab. it’s that simple. After you’ve done that just hit save and you’ll now be able to add music to your library whenever you want just by hitting the Add To button from the music player tab, then find the songs you want and just drag and drop. Done.

This isn’t the only goody that Google added in, as they have now made it possible for you to more easily download music from the web whether it be songs, entire albums, or playlists. For those of you that use Google Play Music on a daily basis, you may have already known about the mini player that you could have pop up on top of what ever tab you’re in. It’s a useful little way to be able to skip to the next song, pause, play, and rewind, and see what you’re listening to as well as hit the thumbs up or thumbs down for better recommendations. This was available before this Google Play Music For Chrome lab was enabled, as I had it open before I turned on the new lab. With the new lab turned on though you can more easily access it by hitting the arrow in the bottom right hand corner of the Play Music tab. If you’re not already Google Play Music, now is a great time to start with these new features and easier management of all your favorite tunes.

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Benchmarks Show The Asian Model Of The HTC One M8 Scores Higher

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Yesterday we got to see just how the HTC One M8 stacked up on the benchmark tests against some of the other top flagship devices through various benchmarks including graphics, performance, browser, etc. The only problem is that the tests were run on the US model of the HTC One M8 only. This isn’t really a problem, but it lacks the results from testing the model of the HTC One M8 that is heading to the Asian markets, which has a slightly higher clocked Snapdragon 801 processor. Needless to say, we thought the results might be different, which is why we wanted to see how it tested as well, for comparison purposes. Sure enough, the processor did have an effect on how the results came out, and it seems the model headed for Asian markets is somewhat more powerful.

For those who are unaware, the model of the M8 that is headed to the US, Europe markets has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.3 GHz, while the model headed to the Chinese and Asian markets houses a processor that comes clocking in at 2.5 GHz. This may not seem like a huge advantage or a huge change, but lets see how much if any differences lie between the two in regards to benchmark tests. Both benchmark tests seem to have been run by eprice, and they do test both models of the phone that have different variants of the Snapdragon 801 inside. First you can see that the test score results for the model of the M8 that is bound for the Asian markets comes out with a score of 35,964, while the model bound here for the US and other markets comes in with a score of 29,431. Now we can see that both benchmarks are run through the same tests, using AnTuTu benchmarks to get the scores.

As we said in yesterdays report about the benchmarks with the US model, benchmarks only mean so much. While the scores talk a big game and seem to provide some stellar results for those who would be using this type of device, there are many factors in which this could change for consumers. Real world results could be very different, or they could be relatively the same but the differences in performance could be unnoticeable. What do you think? Does the higher clocked processor give the Asian variant of the HTC One M8 a slight edge, or does it really matter in the end?

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