Google requiring “browser conformity tests” for Smart TVs pre-loaded with YouTube application, manufacturers react

Smart TV manufacturers that have opted to feature a YouTube streaming application on their televisions have run into a bit of a wall lately with Google— the company will now be requiring all manufacturers to undergo and pass a Smart TV “browser conformity test,” which can take up to three months for Google to complete. That’s going to be a major issue for manufacturers that want their TV’s to hit the market as fast as possible. Not only that, but Google is requiring the YouTube application to be placed on the main apps page on each of these TV’s, which may seem a bit controlling and, what one industry insider said, were “coercive sales tactics.”

While it’s certainly admirable that Google is taking an active role with manufacturers that are using their products, it does seem like a bit too much at this point. We’ll see what the manufacturers decide to do in the coming months.

Samsung Mobile releases Andrew Park inspired YouTube video for Galaxy Note 8.0

To start off the second half of 2013, Samsung Mobile released a new video on their YouTube channel showcasing the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 device. Trying to hit the sweet spot for 8-inch tablet devices, Samsung released the Galaxy Note 8.0 earlier this year to fill in the gap between theirGalaxy Note II “phablet” devices and the 10-inch class Galaxy Note 10.1.

The latest video is an interview with Andrew Park. You may recognize his work from videos on the Internet for the RSA Animate series which tries to create visual narratives of complex concepts and ideas. In the video Park talks about how using the S-Pen is similar to drawing on a whiteboard. He also praises the ability to use the Galaxy Note 8.0 as a place to gather information and ideas in a central place instead of all the different tools he used to carry.

AT&T launches 35 new LTE markets and expands 17 more

AT&T just expanded their massive LTE network by a sizable amount, adding 35 new markets and expanding 17 others. If you are an AT&T subscriber in any of the listed cities, you should be able to start enjoying LTE today. Check out the full list after the break.

New markets:

• Pine Bluff, AR
• Searcy, AR
• Chico-Oroville, CA
• Grand Junction, CO
• Silverthorne, CO
• Homosassa Springs, FL
• Palatka, FL
• Milledgeville, GA
• Valdosta, GA
• Lafayette, LA
• Morgan City, LA
• New Iberia, LA
• Cape Cod, MA
• New Ulm, MN
• Corinth-New Albany, MS
• Greenwood-Cleveland, MS
• Grenada, MS
• Meridian, MS
• Cape Girardeau, MO
• Atlantic City-Toms River, NJ
• Batavia, NY
• Dunn, NC
• Lawton, OK
• Dillon, SC
• Midland, TX
• Odessa, TX
• Sherman-Denison, TX
• Victoria, TX
• St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
• St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
• Bremerton, WA
• Moses Lake, WA
• Yakima, WA
• Beckley, WV
• Oak Hill, WV

Expanded markets:

• Mobile, AL expansion (Bay Minette)
• Los Angeles, CA expansion (North Sunset)
• Boulder, CO expansion (Longmont)
• Jacksonville, FL expansion (western Nassau County)
• Tallahassee, FL expansion (Leon County)
• Atlanta, GA expansion (Spalding County, Griffin)
• Bowling Green, KY (Muhlenberg County, Ohio County, Butler County)
• Duluth-Superior, MN expansion (Cloquet, I-35)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN expansion
• Starkville, MS expansion (West Point)
• Southern NJ Shore Points, NJ expansion
• Fayetteville, NC expansion (Fort Bragg)
• Philadelphia, PA expansion (Bordentown)
• Philadelphia, PA expansion (Gloucester)
• Philadelphia, PA expansion (Pottstown)
• Columbia, SC (Newberry)
• San Antonio & Corpus Christi, TX expansion (I-37 corridor)

Best icon packs for Android [July 2013]

In a world where OTA updates come few and far between, Android users are constantly trying to find ways to refresh and customize the look and feel of Android on their devices. An icon change-up would certainly give any user a quick-fix without having to revamp the entire OS. Because of this, I’ve decided to compile a list of the most far-out, diverse, and sweet looking icon packs out there today.

First, what is an icon pack? Icon packs are packages of customized icons for an operating system which can be downloaded and installed, meant to replace the default icons on your OS. They can serve as a pretty neat way to show off your device to others, especially if you’ve got some crazy and wildly designed icons.

How does one go about getting an icon pack, you ask? Is there rooting or hacking involved? Sure, for some icon packs, you’ll need to root your device. But for most, a simple download and install is all that’s necessary. For some icon packs, you’ll need a third-party home-screen launcher. This can be done by simply installing a launcher such as Apex or Nova. If you need help installing your icon pack, there are plenty of instructional videos on YouTube with great information and tips. Lets get to this list shall we? Hit the break for my selections (in no particular order)

1. ‘Crysta Icons’ icons pack features a very nice suite of polished-looking icons for your device and is compatible with a variety of launchers, including Nova, Apex, ADW, Holo and more. For just $1.30, users get 65+ icons to choose from in the icon picker, two wallpapers, Jelly Bean compatibility, and icon mask support. Judging by the Google Play page for the application, the developer offers plenty of support if you’re struggling with setting up this icon pack on your device.

2. ‘Pushy Icon Pack’ icons pack is created by the same developer that designed ‘Crysta Icons.’ It’s available on the Play Store for the same price as ‘Crysta Icons,’ but it offers a ton more icons to pick from, standing tall at around 1,100. The icons have a circular theme to them, and seem to be quite a bit smaller than the default Android icons. It’s compatible with Apex, Nova, ADW, Holo, and more launchers. It supports icon masker, works on Jelly Bean devices, and comes with 2 themes. Definitely grab this icon pack if you’re into the theme— the low price is definitely worth all of the icons you’re getting in return.

3. ‘MIUI X5′ has a ridiculously large offering of over 1,400 icons with full HD quality for XHDPI devices. It’s compatible with Apex, Nova, ADW, Holo, Go Launcher, Atom Launcher, and more. They also note that they have some unique design elements specifically for Apex and Go Launcher, a new app drawer design, 4 wallpapers, and simple installation instructions. The design is pretty unique as all app icons feature rounded edges and have specific themes for different types of apps— for example, all shopping apps have a ‘bag handle’ image over the app icon. You’ll definitely get the bang for your buck from this one as it’s only $0.99!

4. ‘Colorful Theme’ offers a really nice looking minimalist theme with maximum effect, with over 840 unique icons to choose from and over 2500 icons themed. The developer definitely put a lot of thought into this icon pack, as each icon is brilliantly illustrated with gorgeous colors that stand out. It’s also compatible with all the major launchers. If you like this icon pack, definitely check it out as it’s only $0.99 in the Play Store.

5. ‘Snack Pack’ by developer Pure Designs did a really nice job with this icon pack. ‘Snack Pack’ offers some really nice minimalist, simple designs, but at the same time makes them pop out and easily catch your eye. Click on the link to the Play Store below to see what I mean. Personally, this is my favorite, especially because of how easy it was to set it all up and get the icons on my phone. The developer allows for icon requests and promises to get as many of them done as he can, adding icons through regular updates as well. The icon pack is compatible with all the top launchers too, including Apex, Nova, Go Launcher, ADW, etc. It’s $1.49 on the Play Store and it’s definitely worth the extra $0.50 for the top quality design you’re getting for all your icons.

Obviously we can’t list every great icon pack out there as there are hundreds, but here’s a list of honorable mentions that you may want to check out before deciding on the right icon pack for you.

Honorable Mention: Boom, Blawb, Aelous HD, Joker, Graphene Theme, Lustre Theme, Vivid Icon Pack

Motorola’s vision for the Moto X and for the future outed in a newspaper ad set to debut tomorrow

On the eve of America’s biggest holiday some of the country’s biggest newspapers (yes they still have those) will be seeing an ad by the newly logo’d Motorola. Big names like the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal will feature it as a full page ad. While we don’t see the highly anticipated device, we see where the new Google Company is heading.

Pulling our patriotic heart strings, the new company will market a new phone, with a new vision. From what we see in the ad, it will be an American made device, from an American company, that’s designed by you. As was rumored before, you could very well customize the hardware of said device or it could be as simple as choosing the color of your device.

Either way, the ad campaign starts tomorrow. Given Motorola’s statement in regards to a summer release of the Moto X, it looks like we may get to see the phone sooner rather than later (we’re hoping). You can check out the ad after the break. We’re excited about the direction that MotoGoogle is heading. What about you?

Motorola’s X Phone will not be a Verizon Droid device

There’s still quite a bit of mystery surround Motorola’s hyped up X Phone, such as carrier availability or pricing. With the latest leaks of Verizon’s new Droid Ultra line, it would be pretty logical to assume the X Phone may come to Verizon under the Droid moniker, but fortunately for those of you that are tired of hearing all of your friends refer to every non-iOS smartphone as a Droid, that won’t be the case.  The X Phone will be all Motorola/Google with no glaring red eyes or strange marketing campaigns, assuming it comes to Verizon at all.

Motorola and Verizon are still obviously creating some exclusive phones together, but I’m personally very happy this device won’t help beat the dead Droid-horse, whenever it shows up.

MediaTek working on 2 GHz, 8-core CPU later this year

MediaTek has always offered extremely affordable processors with decent specs, but this time around it looks like they’re trying to one-up nearly every other player in the mobile processor industry. Many people knows Samsung launched their international Galaxy S 4 with an octa-core Exynos processor, but it wasn’t true 8-core processing; only 4 cores could be in use at once, and they traded off depending on how intensive the current task was. MediaTek, however, has reportedly developed a full 8-core CPU and has already shown the CPUs to some partners and is planning on putting them in mass production by November and shipping them in devices by the start of 2014.

AnTuTu benchmarks put this CPU around the 30,000 score range. It can’t hang with Qualcomm’s latest offerings, but it also likely won’t cost as much as a high-end Snapdragon chip, either.  Supposedly, MediaTek also has an LTE solution in the works that’s set to be launched in Q4 of this year, so we may also see that alongside this new processor. We won’t have to wait too much longer either way.