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Can anything actually kill the Galaxy S5? So far we've seen Samsung's newest flagship device get run over by an SUV, dropped into a pool for an hour and even put through a full washing machine cycle and still come out working perfectly. Now YouTube user GadgetGuruHD has decided to go even farther in the mad quest to find out what can kill the Galaxy S5 by dropping it from the second story of a two-story building. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

The international version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 has already been rooted by Chainfire, and that was before the device was even launched. Well now it looks like seven more versions of the device have been added to that list, as announced by the developer today. The versions included are as follows: SM-900H (International Exynos), SM-G900M (Middle and South America), SM-G900R4 (US Cellular), SM-G900T (T-Mobile US), SM-G900T1 (Metro PCS), SM-G900W8 (Canada) and SM-G900P (Sprint). To root the devices you’ll need to use the CF-Auto-Root tool, and as Chainfire noted on his Google+ post, rooting the device will break Knox warranty and increase the flash counter. Users may a…

While most of the newer devices have already received Android 4.4, owners of slightly older devices have kept waiting. For owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Samsung Galaxy S 3, that wait might not be much longer. A Samsung customer managed to get a hold of someone from tech support, who confirmed that Samsung is expecting to launch the Android 4.4 update on the Galaxy Note 2 somewhere in mid-April, and for the Galaxy S 3 by early May. These time-frames are for the Korean variants of these devices, but devices in the rest of the world shouldn’t be that far behind. Source: Daum.net Via: G for Games Come comment on this article: Android 4.4 for Sams…

The battle is on! Both the Galaxy S 5 and HTC One (M8) are now available globally. There is no question that Samsung will win the war, but can HTC put a dent into Samsung’s market share? Samsung also has another battle, but this one is in the court. It’s that same ongoing struggle with Apple, but shouldn’t Apple be going after Google? T-Mobile continues to shake the carrier industry up forcing the other carriers to respond. Google I/O registration entries got pushed back one week, and everyone will have an opportunity to buy Google Glass for one day. Are you buying? It’s time to get caught up and get ready for what is sure to be another exciting week in the world of Andro…

It looks like HTC is working very hard on releasing a variety of devices this year. A new report out today claims that HTC is planning to release the One (M8) in plastic. While the internal specifications and overall design would be the same as the aluminum One (M8), the plastic model would undoubtedly be cheaper. The reason for this is that the HTC One (M8) costs almost $900 in China and having a plastic model would bring that number down to about $483. Source: TMT Post Via: G 4 Games Come comment on this article: HTC could be working on a cheaper One (M8) constructed with plastic Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more! New…

Remember the Moto X+1 name that leaked earlier this month? It is now (almost) confirmed that it will be the device to feature Motorola’s upcoming leather backplates. On Twitter, @evleaks tweeted an image that listed twenty-five varieties among five categories. The star of the show here is the Leather category as it will allow customers to choose between four differ colors. Also, Wood backplates make a return along with the usual Cool, Neutral, and Warm categories. Rumored Moto X+1 backplates, from @evleaks: Cool: Navy, Turquoise, Olive, Royal Blue, Dark Teal Neutral: Slate, Purple, Smoke, Black, Chalk Warm: Red, Orange, Lemon Lime, Violet, Crimson, Raspberry, Cab…

Samsung never seems to disappoint with sales. The company’s April 11 launch of the flagship Galaxy S 5 smartphone has reportedly surpassed sales of last year’s Galaxy S 4 by more than 30%. In fact, some European markets experience sales growth of more than double when comparing the GS5 to last year’s GS4. And that number was expected to go up significantly had retailers not run out of stock. Across Europe, lines were formed despite many believing that there was no true excitement for the Galaxy S 5. So before you go knocking Samsung for not using metal, just remember that people will still buy anyways. Source: ZDNet Korea Via: GSMArena Come comment on this art…

At Verizon, the HTC One (M8) is only available in Gunmental Gray and Glacial Silver. Along with these colors, Verizon gained exclusivity from HTC by releasing the One (M8) on the same day it was announced. And it now looks like Verizon will be getting another exclusive. This time, another color. On Twitter, @evleaks let the cat out of the bag by saying the HTC One (M8) on Verizon will soon be available in Glamour Red. When? We do not know. But we have heard about other red variants of the One (M8). The Stealth Red variant was recently delayed, so will Glamour Red hit a speed bump as well? Cannot be sure just yet. Glamour Red HTC One M8 to Verizon. — @evleaks (…

The Samsung Galaxy S 5 Active is coming. In fact, it is coming to AT&T, Sprint, and likely others as a recent leaked suggests. As many of you know, the Active model for Samsung’s Galaxy S devices bring extra durability. Many people were unsure that this device would return in 2014 since the Galaxy S 5 is already an extremely durable device with a high waterproof rating. But now the Galaxy S 5 Active is almost confirmed thanks to @evleaks sharing its APKs. There are 277 of them and just too many to go through each and every one. So if any catch your eye in the list above, let us know in the comments below! 277 Samsung Galaxy S5 Active APKs pic.twitter.com/j4Wp…

Google gave a presentation at the recent Electronic Transaction Association’s trade show in Las Vegas. While they acknowledged that consumers have been slow to embrace the mobile payment service Google Wallet, they also said that they plan to stick with it. Ariel Bardin, the chief of Google Wallet gave the presentation, and mentioned that when Google Wallet was launched it relied on NFC technology and only one carrier – Sprint – to push it. This limited the reach that the service had, and after a year it only supported one credit card and bank combination. Google has since moved away from the NFC powered hardware solution, and now works on a cloud-based solution u…

The CEO of T-Mobile received a gift from HTC America yesterday. Nothing too flash, just a new HTC One (M8) with a 24 carot gold finish. Of course, the device was promptly shown off on Twitter. That’s not all though. As if all that gold wasn’t enough, Mr. Legere then received a gold Samsung Galaxy S5, which was also shown off on Twitter! It certainly must be nice to be getting all that gold! Source: @JohnLegere (HTC One) and @JohnLegere (Galaxy S5) Come comment on this article: John Legere receives HTC One (M8) with 24K gold finish as a gift Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more! News via TalkAndroid

In less than one week, Spider-Man fans will be able to download the latest mobile game from the beloved franchise. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be in theaters on May 2 and the corresponding game will be released on April 17. The trailer for the game shows some gameplay along with cutscenes that will be packaged. Gameloft is the developer, so Spidey is in good hands. Hit the break for the trailer. Click here to view the embedded video. Come comment on this article: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game trailer is here, full game coming April 17 Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more! News via TalkAndroid

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!! Apps Google Keyboard updated with improved suggestions, corrections, and more Deezer now provides free access to its music streaming service, Galaxy S 5 users get 6 months free premium access Carriers Samsung Galaxy S5 to hit Boost Mobile in May Samsung readying Galaxy S 5 Developer Edition for Verizon Chromebooks Lenovo debuts ThinkPad 11e, a kid-friendly convertible tablet with Chrome OS option …

With the patent wars between Apple and Samsung raging on, an interesting person took the stand today. While the trial doesn’t involved Google, they got involved anyway, with the VP of engineering for Android taking the stand to aid Samsung. In his testimony, Hiroshi Lockheimer talked about the early days of Android, and how he worked 60 to 80 hour weeks. The point of him joining the battle was to show that many features in Samsung devices, including some that are on trial, were actually invented by Google and not Apple. This is all part of Samsung’s point that Apple is going after Samsung to indirectly affect Google. His testimony also was to talk to the jury about And…

Samsung first made a splash when it mocked the "iSheep" who stand in long lines around Apple stores waiting to get the newest version of the iPhone. However, it looks like the launch of the Galaxy S5 has produced some long lines of its own and you can bet that Samsung won't be making fun of them in future commercials. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

http://androidforum.us/data/MetaMirrorCache/65a29a77036f6e4db8071f99beb30bde.jpg Samsung is taking another stab at the wearable market this week with a slew of new wearables: the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches and the Gear Fit fitness tracker. As expected, the new Gear models are much improved over the original Galaxy Gear, with more comfortable designs and cleaner interfaces, but they also happen to be surprisingly easy to take apart. iFixit tore into the new wearables to find that replacing a battery in the Gear 2 is almost as simple as replacing a battery in a regular watch. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

Is the world ready for the Swiss Army knife of USB sticks? LogmeOnce, a new Kickstarter project that's aiming to raise $50,000 for its multipurpose USB stick, is betting that it is. LogmeOnce is a USB attachment that will not only securely store and encrypt your data but will also act as a secure password vault and a phone charger. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

A lot of people are having trouble saying goodbye to Windows XP even after Microsoft has cut off support for the ancient operating system. Earlier this week we gave XP fans some tips for how to keep Windows XP around even if they upgrade to Windows 8, but what about those XP diehards who just flat-out refuse to upgrade to a new OS? For those hardy souls, The Guardian has put together a handy guide for XP stragglers who still can't let go but who also don't want to be open to the barrage of malware that will now run completely rampant on their machines without Microsoft's support. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

The fourth season of HBO's hit series Game of Thrones kicked off this past week. 6.6 million people tuned into the premiere, making it the most watched single episode of an HBO show since the series finale of Sopranos. Based on author George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel series titled A Song of Ice and Fire, the show takes place in a mythical world consisting of four continents, one of which is Westeros. We've all seen the models of Westeros in the show's opening credit sequence, but a group of Stanford researchers have taken things to the next level by creating a series of geological maps that shows us how the landscape of Westeros might have evolved over time. Continu…

The OnePlus One has garnered quite a lot of attentions in the past few weeks. Just two weeks left to its announcement, the company has now posted a teaser image on its official Facebook account hinting that the device will be released in Austria and Germany along with 14 other unnamed countries. According to the image posted, the device will be released in a total of 16 countries, two of which have been already mentioned. We expect more countries to be announced before the launch and undoubtedly, China will make it to the list. The company previously hinted on the “Ask Me Anything” Reddit session that it will launch the device in the US as well and will start selling t…

If you head over to the Play Store now, Google Keyboard has an update waiting for you. This update brings improved correction and suggestions thanks to increased data sharing with other Google applications. Also, keypress popup animations have been adjusted and Google threw in the usual “bug fixes and stability improvements” statement. This is Google Keyboard’s second update in less than one month. Hit the break for download links. Play Store Download Link Come comment on this article: Google Keyboard updated with improved suggestions, corrections, and more Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more! News via TalkAndroid

According to Boost Mobile, they will be carrying the Samsung Galaxy S5 starting in May, for their no-contract customers. They have launched a pre-registration page, allowing people to sign up to be notified when it becomes available. Price and exact release date still have yet to be released. Source: Boost Mobile Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S5 to hit Boost Mobile in May Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more! News via TalkAndroid

Deezer has now made its music streaming service available for free to everyone, regardless of the subscription plan you’re on. Previously, the free access was limited to only 10 hours, but now users can listen to any streamed music for as long as they want. However, the only disadvantage is that there will be audio ads in between. That’s not all as the company has now signed a contract with Samsung offering Galaxy S 5 users 6 months of free premium access to its music streaming service which would otherwise cost £60 ($83). The premium access comes with 320kbps sound quality and a range of music recommendations made by music editors. In addition to this, the compa…

Everyone is waiting for Amazon to finally release its smartphone, Project Aria. As recent as last month, there were reports that the device is coming this year. And now a report out of The Wall Street Journal says that Amazon’s smartphone will be revealed in June. And shortly after in September, it will be ready for consumers. It has been reported that Amazon has let developers in San Francisco and its hometown Seattle test prototypes over the course of the last few weeks. The long-rumored 3D content feature for the Amazon smartphone has also made an appearance in this report. This would allow for users to view 3D content without the need for special glasses, similar t…

The NSA has apparently known about Heartbleed for years, but the general public was only made aware of the devastating bug a few days ago. Many of us are at a loss for what to do, but smartphone security firm Lookout is living up to its name with a free app that will allow you to check and see if your Android device is vulnerable. Lookout's Heartbleed Detector app determines which of OpenSSL is running and then tells users whether or not their phones could have been affected by Heartbleed. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report