Phandroid
Project Volta is already improving battery life in Android L
One of the big new features in Android L is “Project Volta,” an initiative to improve battery life. This project is similar to “Project Butter” which made Android feel much smoother. We’re hoping Volta has a similar impact, and if early tests are any indication it seems to be making a big difference.
Under tightly controlled conditions many users have reported a 36% increase in battery life. These results don’t even use the new Battery Saver mode, which turns on when 15% of battery remains. Not all of the results were positive. Some users reported drastically worse battery life, but most of those results were due to apps like WhatsApp not being optimized for Android L.
Project Volta uses several new features to get this improved battery life. It has a new API that schedules minor tasks better, a “battery historian” for tracking what is using battery, and ART, the new runtime. Right now Android L is just a developer preview, but so far it seems Google has made some really great changes. Battery life is always an issue with smartphones. If Project Volta can do what it says we will be enjoying more time away from walls.
[via Ars Technica, XDA Developers]
Samsung’s Galaxy is collapsing, company fails to meet expectations again
Samsung, the mobile behemoth, is showing signs of stumbling. Earlier today Samsung announced its earnings for Q2 of 2014. The numbers were so unusual that they issued an explanatory note alongside them. In short, Samsung fell short of their record profits from last year. The decline in Q2 marks the second quarter in a row that Samsung performance has gone down.
Samsung has shared a few reasons why performance is down. They claim demand for their phones in Europe and China is down. China itself has proven to be difficult for Samsung. They also claim “sluggish” sales of tablets, which doesn’t surprise us one bit. Despite the declines Samsung still expects to make $51.5 billion in revenue and $7.1 billion in profit for Q2. Those numbers sound incredible (and they are), but they are significant lower than last year.
The most shocking part of this news is that Q2 of this year included the launch of Samsung’s flagship phone, the GS5. Even the launch of a new Galaxy phone couldn’t save the quarter. Meanwhile, HTC turned a profit in the same quarter for the first time in almost a year. Could the tide be shifting back in HTC’s favor? Has Samsung’s saturation strategy come back to haunt them?
[via WSJ]
OnePlus One and Cyanogen Inc commit to Android L, say it will arrive 3 months after final build
Seems like after the reveal of any major Android release, users start getting restless, wondering if the devices they recently paid a small fortune for (or plan on purchasing) will see an update to the latest firmware. As one of the biggest Android updates since Ice Cream Sandwich, Android L is no different. And while the next version of Android is still in an early preview state, manufacturers like HTC didn’t waste any time in letting their customers know an update to Android L for their flagship line would indeed be coming.
In an attempt at nipping customer questions/complaints/concerns surrounding Android L in the bud, newcomer OnePlus is now letting members of their forum know that, they too would be updating their flagship OnePlus One to Android L, committing to a release within 3 months of a final build (none of this preview stuff). With full time software development being handled by the folks at Cyanogen Inc., this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Still no word from the Cyanogen Inc regarding the news, which is a little odd considering they’re the ones technically responsible for getting out new versions of Android to the OnePlus One via their own modified version of the stock Android experience. We also couldn’t help but notice how very un-CyanogenMod-like the announcement was considering during Cyanogen’s pre-inc status, the team was well known around the dev community for avoid requests for ETAs. Guess things change.
Update: Cyanogen Inc. has confirmed to us that they too have committed to the launch timing (of course), and it wasn’t just OnePlus blowing smoke.
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