[News] Gmail phone calls to be free in 2013

Google has announced that the free domestic calling using their Gmail service will continue to be free throughout all of 2013.  A nice Christmas and New Year's gift for those who currently utilize this service.  I've used the video chat feature in Gmail a little bit, and while this tech (video calling in general) is still in its infancy, I believe its truly the way of future. And as more and more folks get mobile broadband services, this type of free service will impact a greater number of folks.  Good times!

*Source:  Droid-Life

[Rumor] Google and Motorola working on "X phone"

As noted in one of my fearless predictions for next year (see the whole list here) I theorized that the next Nexus phone would be produced by a joint Google and Motorola venture.  Since Google owns Moto, that's no small thing...but since Samsung, HTC, and now LG have all had their shot - I'm thinking it just makes sense if Motorola gets a shot at it.  And it looks like we might be well on our way to that future - if reports from the Wall Street Journal are true.  The rumored device, the so-called "X Phone" would be made by a super secret division within Motorola, and sanctioned by Google, to produce the next generation smartphone so that it can be released in 2013.

I for one am hoping for the unlocked, quad core, 3500mAh, LTE toting beast all Android smartphone lovers have been waiting for since LTE was introduced, but hey - this is just a rumor and could be darn near anything at this point.  Even something crappy.  So we'll all just have to wait and see.

*Source:  Droid-Life

[Rumor] Next "superphone" from HTC to come in Feb?

HTC's One X/One X+

Its not even the end of the year, and already juicy rumors are flying around that interweb about how HTC is trying to up their game after the Droid DNA's launch.  The newest rumors have HTC looking to launch a new superphone (codename M7) sometime in the first quarter of 2013, and man are the rumored specs on this guy crazy.  Can you imagine the One X's successor with: 1.7GHz quad core Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, either a 4.7 inch or 5.0 inch 1080p display using their new SoLux technology, a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, and a 2300mAh battery powering it all.

HTC's really slick unibody construction would give it the look and feel of the already beautiful One X series, but with much beefier internals.  If this bad boy comes to Verizon (no carriers rumored as of yet) I'm going to give it a strong look as my next phone.  Alas, we are still in just the rumor stage as of yet, but February is the early target date of release so far.  You know we will keep our ears to the grindstone for any more details.  Stay tuned.

*Source:  Geek.com

[Rumor] Next Galaxy Note to have even bigger display?

Could this be the Galaxy Note 3?

File this under the "it's just a crazy rumor right now but hey...maybe?" department, but Samsung is reportedly considering going even larger with their Galaxy Note device in the next generation, by throwing a whopping 6.3 inch display in the 3rd version of the Note series.

I can't imagine why anyone would consider such a large screen or form factor in their phone, but since that's pretty close to the size of my Nexus 7 - let's just call it like we see it and say any phone that size is really just a 3G/4G enabled tablet, shall we?  We'll just have to wait and see I guess.


*Source:  Droid-Life

[News] New BB10 device shown and "reviewed"

As we approach the end of the year, we are also approaching the beginning of 2013.  Duh.  But what this means for fans of Research in Motion (RIM) is that the next generation of Blackberry devices are actually coming soon.  The all touch screen device (with the code name of London) is set to debut in January 2013.   An Asian group has managed to lay hands on the device and offer up a walk through of the phone itself, as well as some of the new Blackberry 10 operating systems features.  Sadly, I don't speak Vietnamese, so most of the info is lost on me...but its worth a watch nonetheless.  Check out the video below if you are interested in seeing what RIM has up its sleeve with its newest Blackberry smartphone.

*Source:  BGR

[News] Verizon Galaxy Note 2's bootloader unlocked

Now this news will probably not mean much to a lot of folks, but for those precious few Android enthusiasts who enjoy "modding" their phones...this is a great day.  The good folks over at XDA Developers have found an exploit that allows the bootloader of the Verizon Galaxy Note 2 to be unlocked.  This allows for a variety of custom options to be flashed onto the device, including a custom recovery, kernels, and ROMs.  If you're like me and have a desire to always tinker with your device, the Galaxy Note 2 (already a great smartphone) just got a little better.

This link to the chaps over at Droid-Life includes some more info, along with the video on how its done.  You might want to make a "Note" of it if you are thinking about picking up this phone and messing around with it.

*Source:  Droid-Life

[News] Fortune interview with Google's Larry Page

Fortune sat down recently to talk with Google's somewhat reclusive CEO, Larry Page.  As Mr. Page is not often in the spotlight, it seems like this interview would be of significant interest to Google or Android enthusiasts.  A excerpt of the interview with a focus on Android is below:

There are some great products out of Motorola, but none of them are your signature Nexus line. Will you partner with Motorola for these sort of signature devices? How will you decide when to partner with them? And despite all your assurances to the other [Android] partners that you're going to be neutral, aren't they going to freak out [when you build a Motorola Nexus]?

First of all, I don't think there's any physical way we could have released a Nexus Motorola device in that sense. I mean, we haven't owned the company long enough.

How will you decide when to do a Motorola Nexus device, and what do you tell Samsung and LG? 

I think there's a lot of complexity in that question. Maybe I'll talk more generally about that area.
The right way to think about it is how do we get amazing products into users' hands in the most cost-effective, highest quality way possible and to the most people. That's what we do as a business, and that's what we've done with Android.  Part of the reason why we've done Nexus devices in the past is that we want to build an amazing device that kind of showcases what's possible on Android, gives a way for the programmers to get early builds, does a whole bunch of things that are important. Exactly what we do, which devices we do, what the timing is, how we release the software with them, all those things have been changing.

So...as you've probably read in our article on Fearless Predictions for next year, a proposed Motorola Nexus device would be of extreme interest to yours truly.  So hopefully Mr. Page has enough sway to make it happen.  Because I'm sure he's focused solely on my personal happiness.  Or something.  But enough from me...check out the whole article from Fortune here.

*Source:  Fortune Magazine