Phandroid
HTC One Max on Verizon to receive Android 4.4.2 KitKat this Monday, April 7th
Good news for HTC One Max owners on Verizon Wireless. It looks like HTC has finally received technical certification for Android 4.4.2 KitKat on the HTC One Max for Verizon. HTC’s executive director of product management revealed the news just a few moments ago via Twitter, and mentions that the over-the-air update is scheduled to hit devices this Monday, April 7th.
Along with the usual KitKat goodies, the One Max will get a bump up to Sense 5.5. Other devices still in waiting for their KitKat updates — but have already passed certification include the HTC DROID DNA on Verizon, and the HTC Desire 601 on Virgin Mobile.
ComScore US February 2014: Android highest performing platform, but Apple dominates hardware
Yay, numbers! The latest ones from ComScore are here, giving us a look at mobile smartphone market share in the United States for the three months ending February 2014. Not a whole lot has changed in the trends here, folks: Android still beat out its competitors by commanding 52.1% of the smartphone market share.
Over half is good, even if only by a little bit, but clawing at their heels are Apple at 41.3%. The quarter-over-quarter increases for both platforms are pretty minuscule, but perhaps things will get a bit more heated this Spring and Summer with big hitters like the HTC One M8 out and the Samsung Galaxy S5 on the way soon.
Rounding out the list at the absolute bottom are Blackberry at 2.9%, Microsoft at 3.5%, and Symbian at a mere 0.2% (which we’re not even sure is enough to be considered life support at this point).
Apple’s trailing platform market share probably doesn’t sting much, though, considering the Cupertino company is sitting on top of the totem pole when it comes to their dual status as a hardware manufacturer. Their aforementioned 41.3% beat out their closest competitor Samsung, who commanded a respectable 27%. LG, Motorola, and HTC were responsible for 6.8%, 6.3%, and 5.4%, respectably.
And that’s the breakdown, folks. There wasn’t much movement aside from Blackberry suffering even more devastation and Microsoft improving their standings. We also tip our hats to Samsung, who was able to increase their percentage a tad despite not coming out with a flagship smartphone for a while.
Like we said before, though — Spring is here, Summer is quickly approaching, and things are about to get really interesting really fast. It’ll be interesting to see how these numbers are looking just another few short months from now. Head to the source for the full breakdown!
[via ComScore]
Hover Browser is an awesome (cheaper) alternative to Link Bubble
In case you missed it, we featured Link Bubble as one of our favorite applications for the month of March. We loved the popup browser functionality that allowed us to load up a webpage in the background — then view it — while staying inside the app we were already viewing. The only downside to Link Bubble would be it’s “premium” $5 price tag. A little steep for some, it kept us from impulse buying the app on a whim.
If you were looking for something close to what you’d find on the value menu, Hover Browser might be right your alley. It works in much the same was as Link Bubble (pop up web browser that loads in the background) but Hover Browser is only $1. Keep in mind that while you get that basic popup functionality, Hover Browser doesn’t mimic “Chatheads” behavior like Link Bubble does. Instead, pressing on the upper right corner will close the app, there’s a pin button to minimize the browser to the side of your display, and other options. Performance-wise, Hover Browser’s scrolling is also pretty choppy, and nowhere near as fluid as Link Bubble.
Overall, we thought Hover Browser made a great, cheaper alternative to Link Bubble, and generally got the job done. For those needing a quick and easy way to view multiple web pages, without being taken out of your app, Hover Browser could be for you. You can find Hover Browser for $1 via the Play Store link below.
Download on Google Play: Hover Browser
Phandroid Recap: Amazon Fire TV, HTC One M8 review, and more [March 30-April 5]
What a crazy week it has been. We had a surprising new product launch, a flagship phone review, and tons of “Best” lists for phones, tablets, games, apps, and more. You may have noticed an influx of content going up on the site, and that is something we’re going to continue doing. In order to make sure you don’t miss any of it we have the Phandroid Recap. Below you will find all the big stories and featured articles from the last week. You don’t want to miss a single thing!
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon is finally make their play for the living room with Fire TV. This new set-top box is made to give people quick and easy access to Amazon’s huge library of movies, TV shows, and music. Along with Amazon’s media offerings there are popular apps like Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora. The biggest difference between Fire TV and other set-top boxes is Amazon’s focus on gaming. They put a quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM inside for great performance. For an additional $40 you can get a gaming controller to play Android-based games.
Buy It Now | Comparison chart | Unboxing | Everything You Need to Know | Forums
HTC One (M8) Review
HTC’s latest and greatest flagship was put to the test by our own Rob Jackson. Last year we gave high marks to the original HTC One, but did the M8 live up to the hype? Here is an excerpt from our full review with plenty of sample photos and videos:
In a smartphone world where everyone else is pumping out rectangles, HTC cuts through the clutter with the HTC One M8. They take the road less traveled at almost every turn – front-facing speakers, metal unibody frame, cameras that provide an experience instead of a pixel count – and it pays off.
Continue reading on the HTC One M8 forums, see the specs, or find news and reviews.
“Best” Lists
Who doesn’t like a good list? Since this week marked the end of March and the beginning of April we had several lists go up. First we recapped last month with out favorite apps and games. Then we looked forward to this month and let you know our picks for the best phones and tablet currently available. We also put together a list with some of the phones that get the best battery life. Be sure to check out all of these lists below.
Best Apps | Best Games | Best Phones | Best Tablets | Best Battery Life | From the Forums
April Fool’s Day 2014
Everyone on the internet thinks they are hilarious, and this is never more apparent than on April Fool’s Day. For most people this “holiday” revolves around pranking your friends, but in the tech community we get dozens of fake product launches and parody videos. This year all the usual players came out with their attempts at April Fool’s Day jokes. Some were successful, others were miserable failures. We created a handy April Fool’s Day round-up with many of the popular jokes from tech companies. Check it out!
Top News Stories
There was a ton of regular Android news this week too. Some Google apps are getting redesigned, Apple and Samsung are at it again, HTC defends “dat bezel,” Facebook gets free WiFi calling, and Samsung is buying selfies again. Check out all the trending stories from this week below.
- HTC exec defends the One M8′s infamous black bezel bar
- PSA: HTC One M8 performs factory reset after 10 unsuccessful tries to unlock it [VIDEO]
- Apple is suing Samsung for another $2 billion, and Google’s been asked to help with this one
- Apple vs Samsung 2014 kicks off today, Apple wants Google to sit this one out [UPDATE]
- Leaked Gmail user interface screenshots suggest big changes coming; Hangouts and Calendar, too
- Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini specs leaked, and it doesn’t sound half bad
What was your favorite story from this week?
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