This morning an XDA user posted a few photos of a Nexus 4 spotted at a mobile expo in Thailand, and it’s causing quite the buzz. The reason why the photos are intriguing is because this particular N4 appears to be running a completely new build number, JWR45B. We could very well be looking at Android 4.3.

Only a few images were captured, one of the About section, another of the camera’s semi-new interface (controls to the side rather than in the focus area), concluded by the Jelly Bean Easter Egg found through the About section. The design hasn’t been changed too much, so don’t expect a drastic new look or huge UI change.

At this point in the game dear old Google could launch Android 4.3 at anytime. We just don’t know when. In the meantime you can check out the images below and tell us what you want to see out of Android 4.3 in the comments below.

Source via XDA

Read More: Android 4.3 Spotted in the Wild Running on the Nexus 4?

If you are an app junkie and have been keeping up with Amazon’s Free App Of The Day, then you probably have scored some sweet apps for free. Surprisingly, since the Appstore was launched in March of 2011, we’ve seen quite a few big named apps to grace the free app spotlight. Now, we’re seeing another multi-award winning app, called 10000000, available for no cost.

So, what’s the big deal about this particular app? We’re glad you asked. This app has had one of the highest ratings in the Play Store with 4.8 stars out of 5, and awards for Best Mobile Exclusive 2012 (Game Informer), Best Puzzle Game (5th Annual Best App Ever Awards), and Pocket Tactics Puzzle (GOTY 2012). Impressive right? Considering the app will normally cost you $1.99, grab it today for free while you still can at the link below. What do you have to lose?

10000000 on Amazon Appstore

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Read More: Award Winning 10000000, Is Today’s Free App Of The Day On Amazon (Reg. $1.99)

The Galaxy S 4 is now making its way on over to the prepaid world with an upcoming release on wireless carrier Cricket. The  company announced today that it is planning to offer the smartphone beginning June 7th for a low up-front price of $55.00. Customers will have to agree to an installment plan to pay off the device but that may be a better option than having to pony up the full $600 off-contract price.

You will have to live in one of Cricket’s LTE network areas, but for those of you who do– this just may be the deal you’ve been waiting for. Check out the full press release below:

Cricket Announces Launch of the 4G Samsung Galaxy S®4

~ Next Generation of the World’s Best-Selling Smartphone Available On Cricket’s Value-Packed Unlimited No-Contract Plans ~
~ Rate Plans Start as low as $50 per Month including Unlimited Muve Music ~

SAN DIEGO – May 22, 2013 – Cricket Communications, Inc. today announced the upcoming availability of the Samsung Galaxy S4. The Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone builds on the success and innovation of its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S3, and provides a suite of new innovations that will change how customers interact with a smartphone. The Galaxy S4 uniquely makes advanced technologies and features easy to use by integrating them into the way individuals use their phones every day. The Galaxy S4 will be available at Cricket company-owned stores, dealers and at www.mycricket.com starting June 7, 2013 for $599.99 (MSRP). Qualifying customers can put $54.99 down at purchase plus monthly payments.

“The Galaxy S4 redefines the smartphone and we are very proud to offer our customers the highest level of wireless technology on the market,” said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president of devices for Cricket. “Cricket’s three smartphone rate plans start as low as $45 per month1 and give customers value-packed choices for the plan that’s right for them with unlimited music included.”

The Galaxy S4 is the first device to enable consumers to control the device with touch-less features including scrolling or turning a page and viewing documents within a file folder or a link on a web page. It enhances memorable moments with innovative camera features that captures progressive action and easily removes unwanted people from the photo. The Galaxy S4 also enhances the TV watching experience with the new Samsung WatchON™ service that simplifies searching and recommends TV, movies and sports according to personal tastes. With WatchOn and the built in IR blaster, the Galaxy S4 also functions as a remote control for home theater equipment.

The Galaxy S4 combines the simple and visual interface introduced with the Galaxy Series Camera with a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera to take professional looking photographs with a smartphone. The front-facing 2-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S4 allows consumers to capture special moments in unique and new ways with Dual Camera shooting mode. Dual Camera mode takes pictures with both the rear and front cameras simultaneously to enable the photographer to be in the photo as well.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is available on Cricket’s 4G LTE Android Muve Music Double Data service plans that offer, for a limited time, double the monthly full speed data allowance offered in 3G rate plans. The $50 4G LTE Android Muve Music Double Data Rate Plan allows 2GB of full-speed data; the $60 plan allows 5GB of full-speed data and the $70 plan offers 10GB of full-speed data.

The Galaxy S4 is also available on Cricket’s 3G all-inclusive smartphone rate plans start at $50 for unlimited talk and text plus up to 1GB of full-speed data per month. The $60 smartphone plan contains up to 2.5GB of full-speed data per month and the $70 smartphone plan offers up to 5GB of full-speed data per month. With the $60 and $70 plans, customers can use their device as a hot spot to power additional wireless devices.

Cricket 4G LTE service is now available in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Laredo, Corpus Christi and the Brownsville-McAllen-Harlingen market, Texas in addition to existing 4G LTE service in Las Vegas and Tucson. The company’s LTE service now covers approximately 21 million potential customers.

Source

Read More: Cricket to Launch the Samsung Galaxy S 4 for $55 Down Starting June 7th

Google Drive for Android received a major update today that features a new UI, document scanner, and editing improvements. Google chose to use a card-style layout for the new UI and coincides with what we are seeing from other apps like Google Play and Google Keep. With the new UI users are able to view larger previews of documents which enables you to find information at a faster pace.

The update also includes a document scanner, which allows you take photos of of documents, business cards, and whatever else you need to save for later use. The app then turns the image into a PDF file. Users will also notice an improved editing experience with the ability to adjust font sizes and types for spreadsheets. You can now modify cell colors and alignment straight from the app as well.

Interested readers can learn more about the updated app at the source link below or download it here.

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Read More: Google Drive for Android Receives Major Update: Document Scanner, Card Style UI and Editing Improvements

The Google+ Photos enhancements that were launched last week are up for grabs now on the web, and have also been added to the Android app.

With a user’s permission auto-backup is added into the update to automatically backup user’s photos taken on their phone to the cloud. Snapseed features are also included, which allow users to take advantage of basic editing features like cropping, rotating, and exposure adjustments, as well as the popular filters Snapseed offers. Users will also find Google’s own “Auto-awesome” feature and the new “highlights” feature which allows Google to pick and display the best photos from an album on the main page of that album. Additional perks include improved location sharing and automatic related hashtags.

So, if any of that sounds enticing, then go on and get your download on at the link below.

Play Store Link

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Read More: Google+ Android App Gets Update: Photo Enhancement and Auto-Backup Features

Our smartphones can do so much. It can provide answers to a question before you even finish typing, it can call your contacts without ever having to actually touch the keypad, and can make sure you’ll never find yourself lost on a road trip all the while streaming your favorite songs the entire time. We can all admit that life without our precious smartphones is somewhat unimaginable. The price we pay for being attached to our smartphones is a less than desirable battery life. At some point in the day, if not multiple times throughout the next 24 hours, your baby will be tethered to its lifeline–the dreaded charger.

Well, 18 year old Eesha Khare has taken on this problem by developing a supercapacitor that can charge phones in under 30 seconds as part of the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

No surprise the impressive tech caught Google’s eye, and the company has reportedly contacted Khare about the project. She hasn’t disclosed any specifics about what Google has talked to her about, but made it clear she’s not selling anytime soon. The technology she’s working on right now is already built to hold 10,000 charge-recharge cycles, which is 10 times more than the standard battery in our phones today.

No wonder Google is trying to woo the details out of this brilliant mind. Khare is currently preparing to evolve the technology and continue research into the future. You can check out Khare in action in the video below.

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Read More: 18 Year Old Student Gets Google’s Attention With 30 Second Smartphone Charger Technology

When Google introduced its new Hangouts app it brought with it some unsavory memories from the past. Who could forget when AT&T users found out that the carrier was blocking their ability to conduct video calls over their cellular data connections back when Apple’s FaceTime was first launched. AT&T put iOS users through the ringer and eventually backed down on many fronts in that case, but didn’t give in on every aspect leaving users on unlimited data plans with the short end of the stick. So, it was extremely surprising to hear that Ma Bell plans to drastically change its stance on video chat apps by the end of 2013.

AT&T draws an arbitrary distinction between “pre-loaded” apps versus the apps you install yourself, and for the former on phones from Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry, video chat over cellular is already available on the carrier’s Mobile Share and Tiered plans. That list expands to include unlimited users on LTE next month – but not unlimited users on non-LTE hardware.

According to AT&T all that plans to change by the end of 2013. The carrier plans “to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all customers, regardless of data plan or device.” That will cover apps like Google’s recently unveiled Hangouts, and will finally bring video chat to unlimited data users on older hardware, like the iPhone 4S.

It’s nice to hear that AT&T has finally decided to play nice in the sandbox. Now, if they could just hurry up and roll out the new policy. Check out AT&T’s statement on the hot button issue below:

For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.

Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by year end.

Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.

Source

Read More: AT&T Promises ‘Any’ Mobile Video Chat App To Work On Its Network by End of 2013

Lenovo has unveiled a new 5.5-inch Android handset called the K900. This baby is jammed full of premium specs sure to give other top named rivals like the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z a run for the money.

What makes this device stand out is that it is the first smartphone to use Intel’s new Atom Z2580 chip, a dual-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz. Additional spec highlights include Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, a full 5.5-inch HD 1080p Gorilla Glass display and a 13MP rear-facing camera.

The K900 isn’t half bad to look at either measuring in at a slim 6.9mm it design incorporates a stainless steel alloy and polycarbonate blend measuring giving it a cool sleek vibe.

As far as availability goes, the K900 has launched in China with no other launch dates on the horizon. Lenovo has said it is looking at international markets for a late summer release, so we could see this device hit our shelves sometime in July or maybe even August.

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Read More: Lenovo Unveils Premium K900, First Phone to Use Intel’s Atom Z2580 Chip

The rumors can now be laid to rest as Yahoo has officially confirmed their acquisition of popular blogging site Tumblr. Yahoo sealed the deal for $1.1 billion but has reached a joint agreement with Tumblr to maintain it’s own branding and line of development. The deal makes it starkly clear that Tumblr will remain “independently operated as a separate business”.

The press release goes on to say that terms of the arrangement will help ensure that Yahoo doesn’t “screw it up” and pledges to the 300 million monthly visitors that the beloved blogging site will continue to embody Tumblr’s original “irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.”

Yahoo hopes to turn Tumblr into a profitable part of the company. “Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love,” Yahoo stated. “In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.”

The acquisition falls in step with Yahoo’s  strategy under new CEO Marissa Mayer. Mayer has been with Yahoo for under one year, but has already acquired several small companies in that time.

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Read More: Yahoo Confirms Acquisition of Tumblr, Promises Not To Screw Things Up

Good news for anyone who pre-ordered the Samsung Galaxy S4 through Verizon as the company has started processing and shipping orders already. Many Verizon customers have reported that their orders have begun to ship and have estimated shipping arrival times as early as this week. The device was supposed to arrive on doorsteps around May 23rd, so some lucky people might get theirs a few days before. We’ve already heard from quite a few readers who should get their phone by tomorrow.

Did you pre-order your Verizon Galaxy S4? Anyone get word that their order has shipped out already? Let us know in the comments below.

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Read More: Verizon Galaxy S 4 Pre-Orders Shipping Out Now