HSPA+ Xperia Z available in all three colors; ZL price cut by $130

Sony doesn't have a very long track record for selling unlocked devices to the U.S., but it certainly seems to be giving it a better shot with the release of the Xperia Z and ZL. Starting today, the HSPA+ model (C6602) of the Xperia Z is on sale direct to the U.S. for a cool $629 -- the North American LTE capable device is still missing, however. The Xperia ZL, which has been on sale direct to the U.S. for a little while now has taken a steep price cut as well, to $629 down from a previously ridiculous $759. Unlike the Z, the ZL currently shipping from Sony does support both AT&T and T-Mobile on HSPA+ and LTE, which makes this a good bang for your buck in terms of carrier portability.

XperiaBlog points out that the Z and ZL are both slightly cheaper ($599 and $609, respectively) from other retailers such as Newegg and Amazon, but it's good to see Sony drop its prices to more realistic levels. Some people just like the reassurance of buying directly from the manufacturer as well, and they shouldn't be punished with a severely higher price. If you're interested in one of these, all three colors of the Z and the red version of the ZL are now shipping from the source links below.

Source: Sony (Z); Sony (ZL); Via: XperiaBlog

As with many features of the Galaxy S4, there's more than one way to get a camera shortcut on the lock screen

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is brimming with features, but right out of the box you could be forgiven for thinking there's no way of unlocking the phone straight into the camera app. Like many of the S4's advanced features, this is optional, and disabled by default. Enabling it is easy enough, but as it turns out there are three different kinds of camera shortcuts you can put on the Galaxy S4's lock screen.

New Halo notification system is ready for testing, Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 owners can download today

A couple of days ago we talked about the upcoming Paranoid Android ROM and its new Halo feature. Part chat heads, part awesome, and a rewrite of the Android framework make this one of the neatest tricks we've seen in a while from any third-party development team.

Starting today, those of you with a Nexus 4 or a Nexus 7 can give it a try, as the team has made some early testing builds available for download. Be warned, these are by no means finished, and will surely have a fair share of bugs. We know that's hardly going to stop a slew of people from giving this a try.

A build for the Oppo Find 5 is also in the works, and a Galaxy Nexus version is promised when there's time. If you are feeling a little adventurous, and not afraid to try something new, hit the source link for the details and download links. The video of Halo in action is after the break as a refresher.

Source: +Paranoid Android. Thanks, David!

Evleaks offers first glimpse of buttonless LG phone with unique earpiece

Prolific leaker Evleaks has posted images of what could be a future LG handset. The device, pictured on Facebook, shows a spartan front face with only an LG logo down below. There's also a curved glass front and an unusual looking reflective earpiece. In today's post, the leaker offers a guess that this might be the rumored Optimus G2.

The mystery phone seems to share some design cues with the Nexus 4, but there's no suggestion at all that this is a Nexus device -- for one, LG's branding is very much front and center. But it could indicate a change of tack for LG, if it's to join the likes of Motorola and Sony with a push towards on-screen buttons. (It's a move that would undoubtedly please Android purists.)

For the moment that's about all we can surmise from an image showing a featureless phone with a blank screen. If you've got any theories of your own, be sure to shout out in the comments. The original image is linked below, as is a close-up of the bezel.

Phil weighing in here: The Optimus G Pro has nicely hidden buttons as well. I'm willing to bet there are a couple on either side of that LG Logo.

Source: Evleaks (Original, bezel close-up)

Samsung shows off the Galaxy S4's features, pokes more fun at the iPhone in their latest ad

Samsung has a new commercial for the Galaxy S4 out there, and like we saw last year with the Galaxy S3, they aren't afraid to take the fight to Apple about features. In the latest Graduation Pool Party ad, Samsung shows us hands-free features like gestures to answer a call and hovering to read a text, the admittedly awesome camera software and it's "Drama Mode" where a series of images are transmogrified into one really cool picture showing all the action, S-Beam, and the IR blaster capabilities. And at every turn, they are quick to show us that the iPhone can't do any of them.

Samsung really wants Apple's spot in the smartphone food chain. The Galaxy S4 is poised to be the device that can get them there, taking the brand to the level where it's synonymous with the smart phone. For the folks who care about features great and small, it's clearly the current best-in-class device. Advertising can help sell products, but you have to start with a great piece of equipment to begin with, and Samsung has built a phone that people will like and want to buy -- and the ads will let the people know it's available. Hit the break where we've embedded the latest video.

Samsung Galaxy S4 review | Samsung Galaxy S4 forums

UK marketing efforts to include banners at 'iconic' sites and key TV and movie spots

With the Galaxy S4 now available to buy in the UK, Samsung has announced the first details of its marketing efforts for the handset. Unsurprisingly, it looks like we're in for an advertising blitz in the weeks and months ahead, with Samsung using every available outlet to get as many eyeballs as possible on the Galaxy S4.

Samsung's advertising plans include a seven-week TV campaign targeting popular shows, including Britain's Got Talent and ITV's UEFA Champions League coverage. Samsung's targeting of the Champions League in particular is interesting, as rival HTC sponsors the league itself as part of a wider deal with UEFA. By airing ads during ITV's coverage, Samsung will be hoping to dilute the impact of HTC's presence and push its product to the front. The TV spots, Samsung says, will focus on prominent Galaxy S4 features, such as Group Play and "Sound and Shot."

Movie theater spots will target Star Trek Into Darkness, The Great Gatsby and Man of Steel, while banner ads will be erected at prominent locations, including Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, the BFI London IMAX, Cromwell Road, Westfield and Heathrow Terminal 5.

So if you're anywhere in the UK over the next couple of months, chances are you'll run into Samsung's marketing machine, as the manufacturer hopes for a repeat performance of the Galaxy S3's wildly successful launch.

Gesture-based feature lets you preview notifications and other info without waking up the phone

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is one of the most feature-laden phones we've ever used, and it's easy to overlook some stuff, especially if you don't go digging in menus. One neat but understated capability of Samsung's new high-ender is its ability to detect gestures at a distance using front-facing sensors, even while the device is sleeping. The GS4 takes advantage of this by introducing "Quick Glance," which lets you preview the time, date, notifications and other details without waking up the phone.

Part of the Air Gesture suite of features, Quick Glance can be activated by long-pressing "Air Gesture" in the quick settings pull-down and enabling it in the list that appears. That's also where you control other gesture features like Air jump, Air browse and Air call-accept. (Yeah, this thing's not short on gesture controls.)

Check out our quick video demo above, and subscribe to the Android Central YouTube channel for more awesome GS4 video content. 

5.5-incher costs $199.99 on contract, ships May 7

Right on schedule, AT&T has begun taking pre-orders for the LG Optimus G Pro. The 5.5-inch device, which rocks a Snapdragon 600 CPU and a 1080p screen, is yours for $199.99 on a standard two-year contract or $549.99 on its own. AT&T's site reveals a May 7 shipping date, so pre-order customers may well get their phones a little ahead of the previously-announced May 10 launch date.

In our March review of the Korean Optimus G Pro, as well as our more recent hands-on with AT&T's version, we've found the device to be a worthy competitor to Samsung's Note series, which has so far dominated the large form factor space.

If you're wanting to place a pre-order today, you can do so over at the source link.

Source: AT&T

More: AT&T Optimus G Pro hands-on, Korean Optimus G Pro review

A simple setting hidden in a not-so-obvious place

Update: To clarify, this is for the international GS4 only. Looks like the US versions don't require any extra steps to enter mute mode.

If you've got an Android 4.2 phone set to vibrate mode, notifications that would normally play a sound alert cause a vibration. On the Nexus 4 that's easily avoided by cranking the volume all the way down to the "mute" level, but on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (international version only, for some reason) the lowest level on the volume bar is 'vibrate,' not 'mute.' So how do you avoid being pestered by vibration alerts? Turns out there's a simple toggle for it, though it's tucked away in a less than obvious place.

Samsung smart devices get the Pentagon's stamp of approval

Update: Samsung's just passed along an official press release, which states that the DoD approval applies to both smartphones and tablets running Knox. You'll find the full presser after the break.

Original story: The Samsung Galaxy S4 has been approved for use on the U.S. Department of Defense's secure networks, Korea's Yonhap news agency reports. The news follows announcements by the DoD indicating plans to open its networks up to Android and iOS-based smart devices by next February.

Samsung has been keen to advance into the secure smartphone market in recent months, a space traditionally dominated by BlackBerry devices. The company's new Samsung Knox security system for BYOD, aimed at enterprise and government customers, is a major part of this push.

In related news, BlackBerry's latest BlackBerry 10 phones and its PlayBook tablet were also approved for DoD use yesterday. The Next Web reports that Apple's iPhone and iPad should gain DoD approval later this month.

Source: Yonhap; via: The Next Web