HTC Fireball Rumors

Rumor has it, HTC is in the works of a new phone with a codename of the HTC Fireball. It's model number currently falls between the Rezound and the Thunderbolt, so it could possibly be an in-between model of them and sport a slide out keyboard? HTC hasn't done one of those in a while. We shall see.

Transformer Prime Preview

Specs:
Display - 10.1" Super IPS+ LCD

Processor: NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core @ 1.3gHz
RAM: 1GB
Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 32GB or 64GB/32GB/64GB or 96GB
Camera: 8MP Rear, 1.2MP Front
Battery: 12 Hours Medium Usage
Connectivity: WiFi Only
Bonuses: Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) with a promise to receiving Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 shortly after its release, Micro-HDMI output, World's first quad-core mobile device.

The ASUS Transformer was one of the best selling Android tablets created. It had an amazing brand behind it with excellent build quality. The biggest differentiator was it's dockable keyboard that added battery life.

The ASUS Transformer Prime is no different. It is the world's first quad-core mobile device. Because of its importance in taking mobile computing further, it will likely be like the Motorola XOOM in the fact that it will be considered a 'developer unit'. All testing for Android modifications and updates will be done on this device. It will sport a new and improved keyboard dock which will make it look very similar to a Macbook Air. It won't be long until we start seeing cell phones with quad-core processors. Sporting 1GB of RAM and amazing cameras, the Transformer Prime will be the tablet of the season. While we're on the subject, there is no 'official' release date for the Transformer Prime. It was slated for late November, but is now looking like December/January. It will have an obnoxious amount of storage in it as well. 96GB? I'm not quite sure who would use that much storage, but what the hell.

ASUS has also shown us a video of Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Prime. It will receive the update within 'weeks' of ICS going live with the launch of the Galaxy Nexus in the USA. If you were to get some kind of mobile broadband with this thing, you can basically trash your old desktop unless you play intense games on it. Otherwise, you'd be fine rocking a laptop and this bad boy.

That's about it for the ASUS Transformer Prime. More will be leaked closer to the release of the device.

Tweaks to Increase Your Android's Battery Life and Increase Performance Part 2

Continuing on my older post on how to greatly increase the battery life and performance of your Android phone, I'm going to write a second edition to that article that goes in to a little more depth.


Tip #1: Remove Unused Widgets
1. Press and hold your finger on the widget you wish to remove from your screen.
2. After it unlocks itself from the page, you can swing it up or down (depending on your phone) to the trash can to remove it. NOTE: This does not delete the widget off of your phone, it simply does not show it anymore.

Widgets are a huge power sink for your phone, whether you use them or not. Any widgets that you don't commonly use, take off of your home screens to greatly save both battery and performance.

Tip #2: Take Extra Social Media Site's off of your Contact Sync List
1. Go to your contacts list.
2. Hit the Menu button on your phone.
3. Click 'Accounts', or on some phones you will have to click 'More' and then 'Accounts'.
4. Click on Twitter, GroupME, or whatever other social media apps you use.
5. Remove the option to 'Sync Contacts'. You only really need one social media website syncing your contacts (most people use Facebook or Google+).

This will save your battery a ton from not having to sync all your contacts every so often.

Tip #3: Change your background to something a little darker
1. Go to your home screen.
2.Hit the 'Menu' button on your phone.
3. Click 'Wallpaper'.
4. Select a wallpaper from your Gallery or from your phone. Make sure to select a darker one.

On most displays, the color black uses the least amount of light to draw on the display. So having a darker, blacker display wallpaper means that the screen is using less back light to create your background. This saves you power.

Tip #4: Clear Your App Cache Once In a While
1. Download the application App2SD from the marketplace.
2. Launch the application.
3. When it opens up and compiles your application list for the first time, hit the 'Menu' button.
4. Select 'Clear Cache'.
5. Confirm when the window pops up.

Applications use their cache to keep frequently used and accessed data. By wiping this every once in a while, you remove all of the data that those applications have stored. By doing this, you free up phone memory that can be used elsewhere for other things and keeps your phone in good health. The applications will continue to store things in their cache, so I suggest wiping it once a week at least.

Tip #5: Use Wi-Fi When at Home

1. Go to 'Settings'.
2. Click 'Wireless and Network'.
3. Click Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Settings. If you did option 1, skip to number 5.
4. After Wi-Fi Settings, click on Wi-Fi to check the box and turn on Wi-Fi.

It is a fact that when your phone searches for a Wi-Fi signal and tries to keep you connected to that signal, it uses about 50% less battery than when it is trying to search and stay connected to a 3G signal, and about 150% less battery than when it is trying to search and stay connected to a 4G signal.

Tip #6: Update Your Applications

1. Launch the Market application.
2. Click the 'Menu' button on your phone.
3. Click 'My Apps'.
4. Apps that need to be updated will be moved to a category called 'Updates' or 'Manual Updates'.
5. Click on each app that needs to be updated individually, and then click on 'Update' and then click 'Accept and Download' if you accept the Market terms.


Applications release updates to themselves to improve their efficiency on battery and to work out any bugs there may have been in the application. Doing this not only makes your phone more efficient, but it also makes sure you are getting the most optimized version of the application.

GZR Top 5 Android Phones - November

Rank 1: Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch

Specs:
Display - 4.5" Super AMOLED Plus
Processor: Samsung Exynos dual-core @ 1.2gHz
RAM: 1GB
Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 16GB/32GB/48GB
Camera: 8MP Rear, 2MP Front
Battery: 1800 mAh
Connectivity: 4G WiMax
Bonuses: Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread).

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch was an excellent lineup to the Galaxy series. Exclusively for sprint, this device is technically an Galaxy S2 (has the branding on the back of the phone and everything), however was modified for Sprint. It has a bigger screen (4.5" vs 4.3") and different battery. This bad boy has amazing camera options. Taking very vivid photos, you can also switch it to a panoramic camera mode as well. Overall, this is the best device out there right now. Hats off to Samsung for this one.

Rank 2: Motorola DROID RAZR

Specs:
Display - 4.3" Super AMOLED

Processor: TI OMAP dual-core @ 1.2gHz
RAM: 1GB
Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 32GB/32GB/48GB
Camera: 8MP Rear, 2MP Front

Battery: 1780 mAh
Connectivity: 4G LTE
Bonuses: HDMI output, webtop capable, Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), incredibly thin (7.7mm), 720p front-facing camera recording.

The DROID RAZR's selling point is its thin design. Somehow, Motorola has managed to fit a 4G modem into a device that is only 1/3 of an inch thick (7.7mm to be exact). How they have done it, I have no idea. This is also the first phone able to record 720p quality videos using its front-facing camera. It's got an industry standard amount of RAM, an excellent processor, and a very nice gorilla glass screen. Definitely for those who want a 'wow' factor from people. Holding this feels like you aren't even holding a phone.

Rank 3: HTC Rezound

Specs:
Display - 4.3" S-LCD

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core @ 1.5gHz
RAM: 1GB
Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 32GB/32GB/48GB
Camera: 8MP Rear, 2MP Front

Battery: 1620 mAh
Connectivity: 4G LTE
Bonuses: Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), 720p resoultion screen (incredibly crisp and clear), comes with a $100 pair of Beats Audio earbuds.

The HTC Rezound is an incredible piece of equipment. The screen looks incredibly detailed and crisp, given its 720p resolution on only a 4.3" display. It has excellent HTC cameras, which have decent software to handle its cameras power. It runs on Verizon's lightning fast 4G LTE network. The processor is clocked at 1.5gHz, which gives it a lot of raw power at its disposal. This also means, however, the Rezound's battery will take a small hit from having to power that monster for long periods of time. Given that the Rezound's battery is already rather small, AND it has a 4G modem, it ranks #3. Oh (and this has nothing to do with how it ranked, since I look at only the phone itself), but did I mention it comes with a free pair of $100 Beats by Dr. Dre ear buds? Sweet deal.

Rank 4: Motorola DROID Bionic

Specs:
Display - 4.3" qHD
Processor: OMAP Dual-Core @ 1gHz
RAM: 1GB
Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 16GB/32GB/48GB
Camera: 8MP Rear, VGA Front.
Battery: 1930 mAh
Connectivity: 4G
Bonuses: HDMI output, webtop capable, Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread).

The DROID Bionic keeps on the list, however moves down to #4.

Rank 5: Samsung Galaxy S2

Specs:

Display - 4.3" Super AMOLED

Processor: ARM Dual-Core @ 1.2gHz
RAM: 1GB

Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 16GB/32GB/48GB
Camera: 8MP dual-rear, 2MP rear-facing

Battery: 1650 mAh
Connectivity: 3G
Bonuses: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 has dropped to #5. Given that this is a slightly (and when I say slightly, I mean very slightly) outdated piece of equipment, it has some competition that has came out with better hardware. This phone is still an amazing piece though, so it keeps its place on the list.

Droid RAZR Preorders Now Live

Specs:
Display - 4.3" Super AMOLED "Advanced" Display

Processor: TI OMAP Dual-Core @ 1.2gHz
RAM: 1GB
Onboard Storage/SD Storage/Total Storage: 16GB/16GB/32GB
Camera: 8MP Rear, 1.3MP Front (capable of shooting 720p front video)

Battery: 1780 mAh
Connectivity: 4G
Bonuses: HDMI output, webtop capable, Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), MotoCast.

The Droid RAZR was available for preorder Thursday and sold out online quickly after it was made available. Given the fact that it has an amazing 4G radio from Motorola and is incredibly thin, you can see why it did. It has the amazing RAZR name behind it as well as some serious hard ware under the hood of this device. For those who are interested, you can head over to your local Best Buy and grab one for a $50 down payment.

Galaxy Nexus vs. Galaxy S2 Touch vs. Droid RAZR

Let's take the three best Android phones that are up-and-coming and put them head to head in a hardware comparison and see which one comes out on top.

Display:
Galaxy Nexus: 4.65" Super AMOLED HD, ~324 pixel density
Galaxy S2 Touch: 4.52" Super AMOLED Plus, ~206 pixel density
Droid RAZR: 4.3" Super AMOLED, 256 pixel density

Out of all of these, the Galaxy Nexus comes out on top. It's got Samsung's beautiful Super AMOLED HD display, which tops its AMOLED Plus and obviously its regular AMOLED.

Winner: Galaxy Nexus


Processor:
Galaxy Nexus: A9 Cortex Dual-Core @ 1.2gHz
Galaxy S2 Touch: Samsung Exynos Dual-Core @ 1.2gHz
Droid RAZR: A9 Cortex Dual-Core @ 1.2gHz

All of these devices use relatively similar processors. They are all clocked at 1.2gHz. While the Galaxy S2 Touch's processor rocks a better graphics chip in it, we will leave that part to the actual graphics section. As far as processor speed is concerned, all three are a tie.

Winner: Tie


RAM:
Galaxy Nexus: 1GB
Galaxy S2 Touch: 1GB
Droid RAZR: 1GB

Obviously this is the industry standard at this point. Not much to say here. Tie all the way..

Winner: Tie


Graphics Processor:
Galaxy Nexus: Power VT SGX540 GPU
Galaxy S2 Touch: Mali-400MP
Droid RAZR: Power VT SGX540 GPU

The biggest difference here is Samsung's amazing hardware acceleration that comes with their Mali-400MP chip. It will blow the RAZR and Galaxy Nexus out of the water. Expect about 10% more performance out of the Touch in comparison to the other two devices. Because of this, the winner is the Galaxy S2 Touch.


Winner: Galaxy S2 Touch


Min/Max Storage:
Galaxy Nexus: 16GB/64GB
Galaxy S2 Touch: 16GB/48GB
Droid RAZR: 16GB/48GB

Given that the Galaxy Nexus will be coming in a 16GB model and a 32GB model, the Galaxy Nexus allows for its 32GB onboard storage combined with a 32GB microSD card, giving it the most storage power out of all three of the phones.

Winner: Galaxy Nexus


Thickness:
Galaxy Nexus: 9mm
Galaxy S2 Touch: 10mm
Droid RAZR: 7.1mm

Motrola takes the cake on this one. 7.1mm? How on earth did they fit a 4G modem in something that is 1/3 of an inch thick? It's crazy thin. Motorola wins hands down with the Droid RAZR.

Winner: Droid RAZR


Camera:
Galaxy Nexus: 5MP Rear, 1.2MP Front
Galaxy S2 Touch: 8MP Rear, 2MP Front
Droid RAZR: 8MP Rear, 2MP Front

Just from the raw numbers, it seems as if the Galaxy S2 and Droid RAZR would come out on top. However this is the one area where pure numbers don't matter. Megapixels is just a small fraction of the equation to figure out what a good camera picture looks like. The Galaxy Nexus rocks the software of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, as well as allowing for panoramic pictures and zero shutter lag. This makes the Galaxy Nexus come out on top.

Winner: Galaxy Nexus


Battery:
Galaxy Nexus: 1750mAh
Galaxy S2 Touch: 1800mAh
Droid RAZR: 1780mAh

Now with battery, like the camera, there are many other factors that get bundled in with it. How efficient is the operating system in talking to the hardware? Is the processor running at the fastest speed it can handle? Is it overclocked, underclocked, or set at a normal stock recommended speed? The Galaxy Nexus has a TI OMAP 4460 compared to the RAZR's 4430. The difference being that the Nexus has a speed cap of 1.5gHz per core, while the RAZR has a limit of 1.2gHz per core. The S2 Touch's is clocked at 1.2gHz max, so in this case, the Galaxy Nexus wins on the terms of not being ran at its maximum potential.

Winner: Galaxy Nexus


Connectivity:
Galaxy Nexus: 4G Samsung modem
Galaxy S2 Touch: 4G Samsung modem
Droid RAZR: 4G Motorola modem

All of the devices run 4G networks. Motorola has always had considerably better 4G modems in their devices, and the RAZR is no different. For this, the RAZR takes the cake for faster download/upload speeds.

Winner: Droid RAZR




Overall:
Galaxy Nexus: 4
Galaxy S2 Touch: 1
Droid RAZR: 2


The Samsung Galaxy Nexus takes the cake on this one.

No Gorilla Glass on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Well, there you have it. No Gorilla Glass on the G-Nex. It's a sad report indeed, considering most of us tend to drop our phones when we try to pocket them. Don't do that with the G-Nex though, otherwise you're buying a whole new phone. Or just get the Best Buy protection plan. Runs you 9.99/month, but covers screen cracks and water damage on top of general wear and tear.