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To steal from an old Chris Rock joke: "I love tech fans but I hate fanboys." What I mean is that I think it's great if you have a favorite brand or company that you're enthusiastic about. However, it's not-so-great if your love of that brand turns into an insane religious devotion that leads you to lash out angrily at even the slightest criticism of it. The absolute worst tech fanboys remind me a lot of the ridiculous Beliebers who posted hilarious messages defending Justin Bieber even after he was arrested for drag racing while intoxicated... except the difference is most of those people at least have the excuse of being 12-year-old girls and aren't supposedly grown-up m…

A new study reveals that Apple is still the most coveted brand in emerging markets, even though not all potential customers can afford its products and end up using Android devices “because of their accessibility,” Fortune reveals, pointing us to a recent Upstream survey performed on 4,505 smartphone buyers in five emerging markets including Brazil, China, India, Nigeria and Vietnam. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

A rather strange Business Korea report cites an unnamed Samsung executive who claims that Samsung announced the Galaxy S5 earlier than many had anticipated because it feared higher-than-expected iPhone 5s sales in Europe would eat into a good chunk of its core market. Samsung decided to make an announcement of the Galaxy S5 earlier than it might have liked even though that meant sharing the stage with numerous other handset makers at the MWC 2014 show that took place in Spain in late February. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

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 Play celebrates second birthday with lots of deals Aviate Launcher updated with custom icon pack support Carriers Current device subsidy model is changing according to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Xperia Z2 up for pre-order with extras included at Phones 4u Sprint announces which other Samsung devices will receive KitKat T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy S 5 amasses 300,000 pre-registration…

A new prototype Google Glass app from Emotient, a San Diego based startup, is designed for reading specific emotions and facial cues through Glass’s camera. Any face that passes into a Glass wearer’s field of view can be recognized, and the app is able to recognize general sentiment, such as positive, negative, or neutral, and different emotions ranging from simple emotions like joy, surprise, sadness, fear, to more complex emotions like frustration and confusion. The app doesn’t record or send off any information it interprets, so there isn’t much of a privacy concern here. Emotient said a prime example of how its app could be used would be in a retail environment,…

Twitch is an extremely popular streaming service that’s dedicated to streaming video games. It’s available natively on Sony’s Playstation 4, it’s coming as a native app to Microsoft’s Xbox One, and it’s a very popular service on its own. One place it hasn’t had much success with has been mobile games, however. Mobile games may not be killing traditional video game consoles like some people believe, but there’s no denying they’re growing in popularity. Twitch knows this, and they’re working on an SDK for mobile developers to allow users to not only view game streams, but to also broadcast streams of whatever game they’re playing on their mobile device. Twitch already…

When the Galaxy S 5 was announced last month at the Samsung Packed Event 2014, the company did not unveil any accessories for its new flagship. However, the accessories for the smartphone have appeared in a wide variety on mobile accessory site MobileFun. The first accessory is the Protective Hard Case Cover Plus made of plastic and which has a rugged look. The cover is priced at €25 which costs $35. The other one is the S View Wireless Charging Cover which has a rectangular cut on the front that allows you to view the screen, answer calls, check the time & weather and view the notifications received. It’s called wireless cover because you can wirelessly charge …

A new leaked image of the Nokia Lumia 630 shows the device will come in many color variations. @evleaks took to twitter today to post an image of what appears to be the Nokia Lumia 630 showcased in multi-color variations. The image shows that the device be available in orange, black, white and yellow color in addition to the green color. The device also lacks a camera flash on the back which means that it might be targeted for the low end market. Although the exact specifications of the device is not known, previous rumors hint that the device could come with a 4.3-inch WVGA screen with a resolution of 854×480 and will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 chipset wi…

A new application plans to help out with all those restless nights when falling asleep seems to be next to impossible, provided that your sleep disorder is related in any way to caffeine intake. Jawbone’s new "Up Coffee" mobile application will tell you when you’ll finally be able to fall asleep, or at least when that should happen according to your coffee habits. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

Zauba, an Indian import site, receives data on all devices being shipped in and out of the country. In many cases, the data that the site releases reveals an upcoming device which had entered the country for testing purposes. Today, a Samsung phone with the model number SM-G87oa was outed— a device which many believe is the Galaxy S 5 mini. The hardware/software data isn’t available. The clue that makes us believe that this is the S 5 mini is because of the price that was listed, which is a similar price ratio (to the S 5) when compared to the difference in cost of the S 4 and S 4 mini from last year. Other leakers have suggested that the S 5 mini will feature a…

Yesterday we filled you in on Google Play Music’s latest update, which added support for offline listening of radio stations after “pinning” them while you have service. The navigability of the interface was also improved. Today, Google followed up with the update with yet another update. This improvement allows users to listen to radio stations based on user-created playlists. It’s a nice feature which will serve as a way for users to discover new music based on their current interests. Hit the break for the link to the app in the Play Store. Play Store Download Link Come comment on this article: Follow-up update to Google Play Music adds playlist-r…

HTC’s very own Peter Chou was apparently running late to Mobile World Congress thanks to a major traffic jam, but thanks to a friendly biker on the road, he managed to avoid a bulk of the traffic and get there right on time. Apparently the biker, Obdulio Herrera, willingly helped Chou out of the traffic jam and got him to the doors of his MWC appointment in barely 10 minutes. Pretty friendly, right? After getting in touch with Obdulio to verify some of the information, including finding out that he had just dropped his daughter off at school, what color his motorcycle was, and that he didn’t have to speed to get to MWC on time, HTC is looking to repay the favor to M…

Goophone is famous for releasing knock-off clones of high end devices, sometimes before the actual devices are available to the public. Looks like that’s going to be the case again, as Goophone has officially started selling a clone of HTC’s unreleased M8 for just $229.99. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t look to be one of Goophone’s best copycat devices, as the back of the device is missing some of the styling we’re expecting on the All New One, and it only has one camera, not two. The specs aren’t completely awful, and for $229.99 you’ll get a 1080p 5-inch screen, 1 GB of RAM, a 13 megapixel camera, and an octa-core MediaTek CPU. The Goophone M8 does have a microS…

California establishments seemed to have been the most lenient when it comes to Google Glass policies, but recent news from a San Francisco bar would prove otherwise. In a somewhat “techie” area of the city, a bar known as The Willows has banned customers from using Google Glass while in the restaurant. A sign has been placed outside, which states, “Our patrons have expressed concern with being recorded while enjoying themselves at The Willows.” An image of a pair of Google Glass is under the statement, with a large red circle and cross running through it. “Kindly remove before entering,” is printed below the image. Because “the customer is always right,” it makes…

"Android SmartWatch" would be a very apropos name for Google's own smartwatch, but that’s not going to happen, as such a product already exists. Sadly for Android fans, the Android SmartWatch doesn’t have anything to do with recent Nexus smart wristwatch rumors. Instead, it’s produced by Android Watches USA, and while it can be paired with Android devices, it doesn’t even run Google’s operating system, CNET reports. Instead it runs Android USA's own software. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

What will Google's robots have in common with Google+? Apparently they'll be everywhere and you won't be able to escape them. Bloomberg reports that Google chairman Eric Schmidt said this week that his company is experimenting with using robots to automate a lot of the more mundane tasks we do every day. In this way, says Schmidt, "robots will become omnipresent in our lives in a good way" because they'll "replace a lot of the repetitive behavior in our lives." Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

Surprise, surprise: A lot of people are interested in buying Samsung's Galaxy S5. SamMobile notices that T-Mobile senior product manager Desmond Smith has tweeted out that his company has now received 300,000 pre-registrations for the Galaxy S5, which is particularly impressive since it was just over a week ago that T-Mobile announced it had already received 100,000 pre-registrations. Pre-registrations aren’t the same as pre-orders, of course, since they aren’t commitments to buy a device and are only sign ups to be alerted it when it becomes available. Nonetheless, getting 300,000 pre-registers in just a week and a half is definitely indicative of high interest in the Ga…

Watch Dogs made a huge splash at E3, promising to be one of the stand-out launch window titles for the new consoles, but to our dismay, the game was delayed until spring just weeks before it was scheduled to release. Months later, Ubisoft is finally ready to share a new release date: May 27th on the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. The game is still going to make it to the Wii U as well, but Ubisoft hasn't set a date quite yet. Along with the date comes a new trailer, delving deeper into the story of Aiden Pearce, the hacker who plans to use the city of Chicago as a weapon against his foes. He looks really angry. Check out the new footage of Watch Dogs below. Conti…

T-Mobile CEO John Legere loves to talk trash about his rivals' networks but recent studies have indicated that T-Mobile has some work to do if it wants to match the network quality of Verizon and AT&T. Thankfully for Legere, he has a sugar daddy in the form of parent company Deutsche Telekom that for the time being is willing to lay down the cash necessary to back up Legere's boasts. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report

Just when you thought Samsung was all in on wearables, they might have something else waiting in the wings. A device called S-Circle just cleared the FCC, and it cleared Bluetooth SIG a while back. It’s model number is EI-AN900A, and the paperwork clearly states that it’s an “activity tracker.” How does it fit in with the Gear 2 and Gear Fit? Early speculation is that is might be a new member of the S Band family. Yes that band that was introduced last year that we never heard much about. Since it includes Bluetooth LE, we are also thinking that it will most likely have a heart monitor just like the Gear 2, Gear Fit, and Galaxy S 5. It will also most likely feed data…

We have seen our fair share of commercials, both good and bad. Then there are some that belong in a completely different category. The ones that make zero sense and are just ridiculously stupid. We are only in the 3rd month of the year, but it might be safe to go ahead and give LG the award for the worst commercial of 2014. I won’t say anymore about it. Just hit the break, watch it, and wonder why you wasted 2 minutes of your life on it. Click here to view the embedded video. Come comment on this article: LG’s new G Flex commercial is award winning Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more! News via TalkAndroid

Just a couple days ago we reported on QuizUp, the popular trivia game, making the move to the Android platform. At the time it appeared a public release would take place next week. However, beta testing must have gone extremely well as the title is now available in Google Play. The game lets you challenge friends online or take on random players from around the globe in a head-to-head trivia competition. QuizUp developers say there are over 400 topics available with new ones being added every week. Some of the more popular topics include TV shows, books, movies, sports, games and music. In celebration of the release to Google Play, QuizUp includes a category named “An…

Today, Spotify announced the acquisition of Echo Nest, which is a “music intelligence” company that determines recommendations for listeners. The key here is that Echo Nest is used by many of Spotify’s competitors like Rdio. Echo Nest will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Spotify and will honor any existing contracts. A Spotify rep told Engadget, “In the few cases where The Echo Nest does work with direct competitors we will work with them to understand these relationships and determine the next business steps. The Echo Nest will meet all contractual obligations to all customers.” The main competitors that use Echo Nest include Rdio, iHeartRadio, Deezer, MO…

If you are looking for a surreal journey through a new virtual dimension, soothed by the sounds music, the new title Smash Hit may get you part of the way there. However, your relaxation will be broken by the sound of breaking glass and other objects being smashed as you employ destructive physics models to journey as far as possible into this new environment. You may not find yourself relaxed either as Smash Hit requires some focus, concentration and good timing. Smash Hit includes a variety of music and audio effects that change based on the different stages the player passes through. The title comes with 50 different rooms and 11 different graphic styles. To help mo…

http://androidforum.us/data/MetaMirrorCache/8783a9e9eabb9e035c5051cefff909fd.jpg Do you want Google Fiber to come to your city? Well get in line: There are plenty of other cities that want it as well. However, DSLReports has done us the favor of posting a Google Fiber City Checklist that Google is handing out to prospective new Fiber locations so we can see all of the hoops that cities will have to jump through before Google will agree to bring its high-speed network to them. Continue reading... Via BRG - Boy Genius Report