Jerry Hildenbrand's blog

Galaxy S4 Samsung's fastest selling smart phone, beating previous Galaxy models handily

As predicted last week, Samsung has pushed over 10,000,000 Galaxy S4 units out the door since the phone first became available on April 26. This solidly beats the previous record of 10 Million Galaxy S3s, which took 50 days and puts the S4 squarely at the top of the list for the years highest sellers, at least for now.

On behalf of Samsung, I would like to thank the millions of customers around the world who have chosen the Samsung Galaxy S4. At Samsung we'll continue to pursue innovation inspired by and for the people.

-- JK Shin, CEO and president of the IT and mobile communications division at Samsung Electronics

In addition to the announcement of 10 million units getting sold, Samsung has also said that we should expect more color variations of the S4 during the course of this summer. The new colors are listed as Blue Arctic and Red Aurora (pictured above), followed by Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn. The S4 will also be moving to 45 more countries over the course of the year, bringing the total countries selling the S4 to 155.

Source: Samsung

HTC ShopAmerica offering a cool $25 Google Play credit to folks who experienced delays

Folks who ordered an HTC One direct from HTC earlier this year will want to check their inbox, as there could be $25 worth of Google Play credit there waiting. Component shortages and supply issues caused a slight delay for shipping the first round of HTC One phones, and while all that seems to have been corrected, HTC still wants to compensate folks for the delay.

If your order falls under the umbrella (it seems like orders placed the first day or two are getting reviewed) you'll get a code worth $25 credit to spend in Google Play. No muss, no fuss. Thanks, HTC!

Via: Android Central forums

Keep your tweets your own and your Twitter account safe with two-step verification

After a slew of high-profile account hacks, Twitter has finally launched a two-step verification system to keep your account from falling into the wrong hands. Once enrolled, each time you sign in to Twitter.com you will be asked to enter a six digit verification number sent by SMS to your phone. If you don't have your number, you can't log in.

Existing accounts on other devices should still work, and when your Twitter account to other devices or applications, you'll visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to validate who you are. Users can set up the new account verification system starting today from their Twitter settings, and you'll need a verified phone number and email address. 

Two-step authentication is a good move (probably one Twitter should have adopted a while ago) and one that we heartily recommend. It may be inconvenient setting things up the first time, but losing your online identity to hackers is far worse. To learn more, and get started, visit the source link below.

Source: Twitter

Today's update brings a new look and some powerful tools to Google Drive 

Google Drive has a big update in Google Play today, with two very cool features being added. The interface of the application has been redesigned, and now we see Google's new cards design at play, looking very much like a mashup of Google Now and Google+.

In addition, users can scan paper items like receipts or bills, and transfer them into pdf files to get stored in Drive, With the new OCR technology, you'll even be able to search through their contents. This should make things a bit easier to use Google Drive for things like expense reports, and the new sheets (spreadsheets) editing tools will make it easier to build that report.

There are also a few other small changes, like being able to download local copies to your Android device and use Google Cloud Print with any compatible printer. To get this one, just click the Google Play link above.

Via: Google

Full screen browsing and simpler searching highlight the changes in Chrome 27 for Android

Chrome for Android has been updated to version 27 (27.0.1453.90 to be exact), bringing one of the most requested features along for the ride -- full screen browsing. In addition, other changes like simpler searching and tab history made it into Chrome 27.

The Chrome team is excited to announce the promotion of Chrome 27 to the Stable channel. Chrome for Android 27.0.1453.90 contains a number of improvments including:

• Fullscreen on phones - Scroll down the page and the toolbar will disappear.
• Simpler searching - Searching from the omnibox will keep your search query visible in the omnibox, making it easier to edit, and show more on your search result page.
• Client-side certificate support - You can now access sites that require you to use a certificate and Chrome will allow you to select an installed certificate
• Tab history on tablets - Long press the browser back button to view your tab history
• And a ton of stability and performance fixes

The update is recommended, and you can get the latest version from the Google Play link above.

Via: Google Chrome

Google Now voice search goes live in the latest Chrome desktop builds

Ladies and gents, it's time to upgrade your Chrome browser. Google Now style voice search has just went live in the latest Chrome stable version for the desktop (Version 27.0.1453.93). As far as we can tell from playing around testing things, the full contextual search isn't running like we saw in the demo during the Google I/O keynote, but the basic voice search and response is ready to go.

To get the latest update is easy. Open the settings in the Chrome browser, and click the Help line entry. Give it a second or two to start checking, and when it tells you to restart Chrome, just restart your whole browser session. When things come back, head to www.google.com and click the microphone in the search box. 

You have to give permission (look for the bar across the top of the window) to listen to your voice, then start asking questions. Welcome to the future! We've got a couple screenshots after the break just in case you're not able to update or don't use Chrome.

Thanks, Christian!

Real world examples and practices from the Android design team make this session from Google I/O 2013 a must-watch -- even if you'll never write your own app.

See how Android apps should look and act, and see what the folks behind Android say about why they should be this way. Whether you're into design, or just into great looking Android apps this one is a treat. Catch it after the break.

Major update delivers new features and support for new animations, notifications, bug fixes 

Ingress, everyone's favorite sci-fi virtual reality simulation game, got a major update this afternoon. Everything you love about the game is still there, with less bugs, but a couple very nice features were added.

• Portal health and faction control info on Portal Keys in the Inventory carousel.
• Android Notifications for "Portal under attack," "Portal neutralized," and "@<codename>" messages.
• Support for Jarvis Virus and ADA Refactor objects.
• New Recharge visual animation.

The new notification system will get all the attention, but the new information displayed about your Portal keys in inventory is probably the change people will use the most. The Jarvis Virus is something new started earlier this month, and it will flip an infected Portal to the opposing faction. 

You can get today's update from the Google Play link above, and learn more about Ingress (and try to score an invite) in the Ingress forums.

Via: +Ingress

HTC's Zoe feature is a perfect way to play with Auto Awesome motion on Google+

Google+ got some great new image tools and toys last week and Google I/O, including the "motion" portion of the Auto Awesome tweaks. How it works is, it takes any series of pictures of the same subject that have been shot in quick succession and transforms them into an animated gif image. You can then share it on Google+, or download it to share anywhere. Everyone loves animated gifs!

As it turns out, the Zoe feature on HTC's Sense 5 camera software is perfect for this. A Zoe is a series of high resolution stills that get stitched in series to create an animation on the phone, and since they are individual jpg files, Google+ can work its magic the same way. 

To play with it, you'll have to either turn on auto-upload to Google+ on your HTC One, or find the frames of your Zoe and upload them individually. You'll then find all 20 stills, the small video that your phone exports, and a single gif file of the full animation in your Google+ photos. If you're a nut about housekeeping, you can then delete the 20 stills and the video, leaving your animated masterpiece available for the world to see. 

Now get out your Ones, hit the Zoe button, and drop some links in the comments to show off your stuff! Hit the break to check one out.

Via: Android Central forums;  Phil's humidifier

The Nexus experience device won't be available outside the US at launch, sources tell CNET

It appears that folks around the world are going to have to wait to not order their very own Google Edition Samsung Galaxy S4, as CNET says Google has confirmed the launch to be US-only. The device, which was unveiled during the Google I/O 2013 keynote presentation, is the same Galaxy S4 you all know and love, but without Samsung's Touchwiz software -- or it's features. Instead the device has the same "Nexus user experience" that Google's own Nexus 4 delivers. The version shown at the I/O keynote will be penta-band HSPA+ and LTE, and will be completely compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile in the US.

It was a bold, if strange, move by the two companies, and nobody is quite sure why either side wanted it to happen. Around these parts, we still think you're better served buying the "non-Google" version and doing a little software hackery if you just have to have Google Android instead of Samsung Android, allowing for an easy path back should you want or need all the features the hardware can deliver.

There was no word on when to expect the device to be sold in other countries, but we imagine Samsung and Google both want to make it available and will work out the logistics and details as fast as they can.

Source: CNET UK