Daily News Courier

Introducing phon.es – our new URL shortener for Android Central and Mobile Nations!

We've talked a bit in the past about URL shorteners and how they can save space — or wreak havoc. It's really all about trust, right? We've used third-party shorteners like bit.ly before, and since then we've been using Google's own shortener, goo.gl. Now we've got our own.

From here on out, if you see a link to phon.es (it's phones, get it?), you can rest assured that it's from us. Actually, it's from any one of the Mobile Nations sites, which comprises Android Central, CrackBerry, WPCentral, iMore and webOS Nation.

So when will you see a phon.es link? Most likely it'll be on a service like Twitter or App.net, where characters are at a premium. So instead of http://www.androidcentral.com/lg-nexus-4-review, you'll see http://phon.es/n4review — or something even shorter.

Nobody knows phones better the members of Mobile Nations, and phon.es is just one more way we're continuing to improve Android Central, the Mobile Nations network, and life on Earth in general. Enjoy!

From the Editor’s Desk: Android forum life

With the year winding down and my plate relatively clear of any review work (mad props to Alex and Anndrew and Andrew and Jerry and everyone else for helping make that happen), I've been spending more time in the forums. That's where any one of us here will tell you the real work happens. Questions come in, questions get answered. Tips are proffered. Sweeping how-to threads are created. It's really incredible stuff, all guided by our awesome moderators and advisers.

And it's been extremely interesting to read reaction to the hottest phones of the second half of the year. First and foremost, however, it's important to keep things in perspective. Forums by definition tend to be a bit of an echo chamber. That's not to say that what's being posted isn't important — it most certainly is. But you tend to start saying "Everyone says this about that phone!" when it's never "everyone," just as it's never "no one." Some people have problems. Some don't. You look for trends. You get feelings about the way things are going. It's not an exact science, and I'm hardly an expert. (The guys and gals at CrackBerry teach me something new about forums every day.)

The pleasant surprises lately? There have been a few.

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Introducing the first annual Mobile Nations Community Awards!

Be it Android Central, CrackBerry, iMore, Windows Phone Central or webOS Nation, you need only dive into any of our forums for a few minutes to realize what makes them so special is the amazing group of individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day to make them a helpful, friendly and fun community to be part of.

With the introduction of the first annual Mobile Nations Community Awards, we are going to better acknowledge and reward the members and volunteers who have made outstanding contributions to our Mobile Nations community across our individual sites and give them the full recognition they truly deserve.

And there are so many people too recognize. Passionate members who share their expert knowledge freely, answering and troubleshooting the questions and issues of new users at all times of the day. We have many volunteer moderators, advisors and ambassadors, who not only keep the forums organized and under control, but also produce guides and tutorials to help device owners get the most out of their ownership experience. And then you have somebody like Cory Streater, our Android-loving Forums Administrator, who has put literally thousands of hours into the forums on all of our sites over the years behind the scenes, squashing bugs and adding new features that make the forums rock.

We have a lot of categories planned for the Community Awards. Next week we'll be following up with another post here and in each of the forums, opening up nominations and voting for some of the different categories. In the meantime, if you have any ideas for specific categories of awards you would like to see us acknowledge, be sure to let us know!

Monday Brief: LG Nexus, L-Series BlackBerry 10 spotting, iPad Mini event date and more!

HP “Bender” shows up in benchmarks log, running Android 4.0.4

Well, what do we have here then? Right after HP CEO, Meg Whitman, came out saying the company needed to provide a smartphone, we see mention of one. First though, we need to say this. The information comes from a set of benchmark logs, and we know these things can be faked. Now, that's out of the way, let's take a look at what we've got.

As Derek Kessler points out over at webOS Nation, the likelihood of a future HP smartphone running webOS would be unlikely — "less likely than getting CrackBerry Kevin staying off of BlackBerry devices for longer than a day." Given the long standing relationship between HP and Microsoft, the first assumptions were that this could have a Windows Phone 8 connection. Well, maybe not. 

Showing up in a GLBenchmark log is a device codenamed 'Bender,' made by HP and running Android 4.0.4 and packing some interesting specs. Powering the Bender is said to be a dual-core Snapdragon S4, and the display resolution is a rather odd 1366×720. For a device with a HD display, this 17:9 aspect ration does seem strangely tall. It at least would indicate a screen size above 4 inches, so no Android powered HP Veer then. 

There's every reason to be skeptical about the existence of such a device, and there could be any number of reasons for what we're seeing. Including it all being a big fake. However, let's not forget that the HP Touchpad was supposed to run Android before the acquisition of Palm. So, it's possible for sure, especially if HP has already considered Android in the past. 

It's a big old heap of rumor at this point, and we'll have to stand by and wait to see if anything does ever come of it. In the meantime, be sure to head on over to webOS Nation for their take. 

Source: Slashgear via webOS Nation

How does NASA keep time on Mars? With an Android app of course!

The Mars Curiosity Rover mission is big news, and rightly so enjoying fantastic coverage around the globe. Keeping things ticking along when it takes a signal 14 minutes to travel to and from the red planet is no mean feat. And, that's without taking into account having to keep track of the time, on Mars. 

While a Martian 'day' is split into the same segments as an earth day — 24 hours, 60 minutes per hour, 60 seconds per minute — on Mars, a second lasts longer than on Earth. Each day then ends up 39.5 minutes longer than on Earth, meaning that Crackberry Kevin's $500 watch app is of no use to anyone. 

There are smartphones involved though. Telling the time on Mars used to involve custom built quartz watches, but there is another way. Turns out that some of the team involved use their smartphones to keep track of time with a Mars Time app. The question about Martian watches was raised during a Q&A session on Reddit, and prompted this response from Surface Systems Engineer, Eric Blood:

Some of us do, but a lot of us have iPhone and Android apps with Mars time.

-Blood

Even on Mars, there's still room for Android. The app cited on Reddit was MarsClock by Scott Maxwell, grab it from the Google Play link above!

?Original Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Source: Reddit via TPM 

From the Editor’s Desk: Winnipeg is still standing, mostly

That's what's left of Manitoba's finest city. OK, not really, but I did spend much of last week in Winnipeg, in a series of well-caffeinated meetings with three other Mobile Nations editors. (From left, that's Rene Ritchie of iMore, myself, Dan Rubino of WPCentral, and ol' CrackBerry Kevin himself.)

Basically, we spent the week plotting our continued takeover of the world. We're in this for the long haul, and we've got some grand plans for the rest of this year, 2013, and beyond. 

But we've also got some fun short-term stuff we're working on. You've already seen a bit of that put into action, with our increased focus on accessories. And you're going to see some more this week with new features.

And now, a few other musings …

read more

From the Editor’s Desk: Winnipeg is still standing, mostly

That's what's left of Manitoba's finest city. OK, not really, but I did spend much of last week in Winnipeg, in a series of well-caffeinated meetings with three other Mobile Nations editors. (From left, that's Rene Ritchie of iMore, myself, Dan Rubino of WPCentral, and ol' CrackBerry Kevin himself.)

Basically, we spent the week plotting our continued takeover of the world. We're in this for the long haul, and we've got some grand plans for the rest of this year, 2013, and beyond. 

But we've also got some fun short-term stuff we're working on. You've already seen a bit of that put into action, with our increased focus on accessories. And you're going to see some more this week with new features.

And now, a few other musings …

read more

Mobile Nations podcast 17: Tasty hardware profits

Kevin from CrackBerry.com, Phil from AndroidCentral.com, Daniel from WPCentral.com and Rene from iMore.com talk Google I/O, Windows Phone 8, WWDC, BlackBerry 10, 7-inch tablets, and media streamers. This is Mobile Nations!

• Our podcast feed: Audio | Video
• Download directly: Audio | Video
• Subscribe in iTunes: Audio | Video
• Subscribe in Zune

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The one where CrackBerry Kevin buys a $200 Android app and gets a picture of an iPhone …

Oops. I did it again. Back in January at CES 2012 I got double-dog dared into buying the most expensive app in BlackBerry App World. I paid $500 for a clock widget. Stupid? You bet. But somebody has to take one for the team.

I didn't start today planning on buying the most expensive app in the Google Play store, but somehow between the booze, the crowd and the tension that's exactly what happened.

I was at a local watering hole taking in the quarter final Italy – England match at EURO2012. Scoreless at halftime, I figured I needed to download a Vuvuzela app for the second half of the game so I could cheer on Italy (I'm engaged to an Italian — my life is a lot easier when they win).

I found a lot of free and/or cheap Vuvuzela apps in the Google Play store, but I also found the Vuvuzela World Cup Horn Plus for $200, which is the maximum price Google allows apps to be sold for. I was shocked to see Google Play tell me it had 50+ downloads, and there was one other rating in there, so my curiosity got to me. What magic and wonders could a $200 Vuvuzela app possess?

Surprisingly enough, the answer to that question is that the app features a picture of an iPhone holding a Vuvuzela! Hilarious. The developers really should be ashamed of themselves for this one. I also found the app crashed a lot, and though it looked like there was a menu for more options, it never opened and the app crashed a lot.

A complete ripoff? I should say yes… but Italy did come through with a the victory in an overtime shootout, so I'm not going to complain on this one. Hit the video above to see it how it all went down. And to the developer who just made a whack of cash off me. … I sure hope you put it to good use.