Posts by Joe Levi
Joe graduated from Weber State University with two degrees in Information Systems and Technologies. He has carried mobile devices with him for more than a decade, including Apple's Newton, Microsoft's Handheld and Palm Sized PCs, and is the Pocketnow.com "Android Guy". By day you'll find Joe coding web pages, tweaking for SEO, and leveraging social media to spread the word. By night you'll probably find him writing technology and "prepping" articles, as well as shooting video. End of line.
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by Joe Levi | May 21, 2013 10:45 AMOne of the announcements at Google I/O this year was somewhat unexpected. We'd heard a few scattered rumors of another Samsung-made Nexus based on their new Galaxy S 4 platform, but I don't think anyone was ready for what we actually got: an unlocked, cross-carrier version of the Galaxy S4 -- the Galaxy S4 Google Edition. Earlier today Pocketnow's Stephen Schenck wrote about this new but "not quite-a-Nexus" phone, and why it's a "slightly" bad deal. His points are fair and accurate, and I can't say that I disagree with any of them. Why is the "Google Edition" of Samsung's latest flagship ...
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by Joe Levi | May 20, 2013 7:24 AMHTC seems like they want to be "number one" -- at least they want people to associate them with that level of prestige. Why else would they name their devices "One" and "First" when everyone else is rapidly iterating their model numbers? Recently the hardware maker teamed up with a social networking service to do something bold and creative: they released a smartphone that was "Facebook centric". When you turned on your phone you got Facebook first. Finally, the much rumored "Facebook phone" had arrived -- but they were bold enough not to call it that. And now, just a few months later, ...
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by Joe Levi | May 17, 2013 12:01 AMYou may be hearing about Intel's missed opportunity to put their chip inside the iPhone. But what about Microsoft's lost opportunity? It seems like quite a while ago, but it hasn't been that long. Microsoft was on top of the world. They were quickly approaching their goal of a computer on every desk and in every home -- and were pushing boldly outward, finding a welcome spot in briefcases and backpacks. Then they decided to "go smaller". Windows CE Some of you may recall Windows CE, Microsoft's "compact environment" (though they claim that's not what "CE" stood for. Microsoft pushed ...
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by Joe Levi | May 15, 2013 10:54 PMThe keynote of Google I/O 2013 has come and gone. This would have been the time when Google announced a new version of Android. Instead they went into great detail about new features that are coming to Google Play Services. To bring everyone up to speed, Google Play Services are a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) -- hooks that developers use to make apps do awesome things. While some may argue that APIs alone don't do much to help end users like you and I, others would say they provide a foundation upon which developers can write new applications and extend current apps ...
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by Joe Levi | May 14, 2013 8:40 PMGoogle I/O 2013 is right around the corner and chances are that we'll see something Android-related announced at this year's developers conference -- though perhaps not what we've become accustomed to from the conferences of yesteryear. Whether or not we will see another flavor of Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie is still yet to be seen. Regardless, we're not going to sit idly by. Here are some of our last-minute requests for Android Key Lime Pie (or whatever they're going to show us at I/O). Adam Doud Contributing Editor I'd like to see a smarter version of Google Now. Currently ...
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by Joe Levi | May 14, 2013 12:15 PMWe've shown off the Paranoid Android Custom ROM before. This is the ROM that enables phone, phablet, and tablet mode regardless of whether you're using a phone, phablet, or tablet -- and you can change the way your device displays any app. Paranoid Android also includes a very functional Pie-shaped control and notification area that we've shown you as well. Recent builds of Paranoid Android include a Halo-styled notification system. When a new notification comes in, it's presented to you in a small circle that floats above whatever app you're in. Once you've seen it, it slides out of the ...
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by Joe Levi | May 13, 2013 10:10 AMIntel makes processors for all kinds of notebook, desktop, workstation, and server computers. They make excellent products that power the world -- well, the world outside your pocket anyway. Intel's chips are conspicuously few and far between when it comes to smartphones and tablets. That's something they hope to change with their new Silvermont SoC. Silvermont is the code-name for an upcoming line of chips from Intel. According to their documents, chips based on the Silvermont architecture will run up to three times as fast as their current models, handle up to eight cores, and some ...
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by Joe Levi | May 10, 2013 10:51 AMSmartphones, like it or not, are disposable goods. We buy them, we use them, we abuse them, then we toss them away when they no longer serve our purposes. The reasons for getting rid of or replacing our smartphones are many, but what would it take for manufacturers to "wow" us with a super long lasting smartphone? What is a "Long Lasting Smartphone"? Before we get too far into the question, what exactly is the question? What do we mean by a "super long lasting smartphone"? Does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me? Let's break down the various components of what an ideal "long ...
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by Joe Levi | May 9, 2013 10:59 AMAny respectable company wants to grow its user-base. Companies can't stay stagnant, they have to grow, or they will be eaten up by their competition. Microsoft isn't going to be eaten up any time soon, but their smartphone platform isn't growing -- at least not compared to their competition. It shouldn't come as a surprise for anyone who has been following the news: Windows Phone is still a distant third in the smartphone race. What's a mega-corporation like Microsoft to do in this situation? Try to steal Android users, of course! Android and iOS dominate the market, and Microsoft knows ...
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by Joe Levi | May 8, 2013 10:36 AMTechnology has been improving by leaps and bounds in recent years. Processors have gotten faster, RAM has become more plentiful, graphics processors and screens today are outstanding. We even have megabit data connections in our pockets -- which is amazing if you stop and think about it. What hasn't changed much? Batteries. I've seen the future of technology... and battery life still sucks! Honestly, it should come as no surprise, we've been complaining about battery life for as long as we've had consumer electronics. While improvements have been made, let's face it, none of us are ...
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by Joe Levi | May 7, 2013 7:27 AMIf recent rumors hold true, Google and LG could be working together on the next Nexus smartphone, possibly dubbed the Nexus 5. Before we dig into that rumor and what it could mean, let's look at some history. Google first partnered with HTC to build their "Nexus" line of smartphones. I put "Nexus" in quotation marks because I consider the T-Mobile G1 (aka the HTC Dream) to be a "Nexus" phone. It was the first commercially available Android-powered smartphone and it ran the "pure" Android experience. That sounds like a Nexus to me. Up next was another HTC phone, this time the Nexus One. ...
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by Joe Levi | May 6, 2013 7:29 AMAll signs are pointing to Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie not being released at Google I/O 2013. What's more, it probably won't even be announced. We've talked about some probable causes for the delays, though nothing is confirmed at this point. At the May 16, 2013 meetup of The San Francisco Android User Group a "trio of dev gurus from HTC" are making time in their "busy Google I/O schedules" to present to the group. What are the developers from HTC going to talk about? Two things in particular that we've heard of: Bluetooth 4.0 and OpenGL ES3.0. Bluetooth 4.0 Back in January I went into quite ...
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by Joe Levi | May 3, 2013 11:05 AMWe all know how important batteries are in our modern electronics. They're also becoming an increasingly vital part of our vehicles. For people in both camps, the latest news from Toyota is disheartening: Li-Ion batteries have a "memory effect". Ni-Cad Batteries When the traditional, land-line telephone evolved from a corded beast into a clunky -- but wireless -- beast, there was much cause for celebration. The battery technology of the day was Ni-Cad (Nickel Cadmium). Batteries based on this technology were used in everything from cordless phones to satellites orbiting the planet. There ...
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by Joe Levi | May 2, 2013 11:38 AMGoogle Glass is the latest consumer electronics product from Google -- though you can't buy it just yet. More than hardware, Google makes a lot of money from selling advertising space. A lot of money. You'll see ads when you look at search results, on websites that have partnered with the search giant, in Maps -- all over the place. It's not quite as bad as some originally thought -- they never released a "free phone" paid for entirely with advertisements like some had predicted. Google has kept the same model they introduced with smartphones on tablets, televisions, and other products ...
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by Joe Levi | May 1, 2013 7:31 AMYou're not going to see it advertised on billboards or during your favorite television program. Your local cell phone store isn't going to tell you about it either. It's something quite remarkable, and something that even the mighty Google couldn't do. Let's get some background under our belts, shall we? GSM is a wonderful technology. It has opened the world to mobile communications. That's basically what the acronym stands for -- Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial Mobile. Using systems based on this technology, a subscriber can place their "identity ...