For those who follow technology trade shows, the big ones are typically CES in January and Mobile World Congress in February. Of course, there are also a smattering of other shows held throughout the year, including Google I/O, IFA and others. Some of those "others" are shows from CTIA and MobileCon. Typically these are smaller shows and don't generate nearly the same buzz and industry attendance as the more well-known ones. Apparently, the folks behind CTIA and MobileCon want to change that perception. They just announced plans to do a team-up combo tech show. This new combined forces event will be called Super Mobile Show (SMS) starting in September of 2014 at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Of course, many tech journalists are scratching their head at this move. For the most part, many of the big companies no longer hold huge launch events at these conglomerate trade shows anymore, preferring instead to host their own launch events for larger and more focused coverage of their new products. In fact, with several other big tech events happening every year, and with attendance at these events declining, it seems like this SMS show will be competing for a small amount of attention. However, we will reserve judgement until after it actually happens. Do you guys think we have room for another huge tech show in the year?

Source: AndroidAuthority

The entire staff of Android.Net wish to extend a very Happy New Year to everyone!! May 2013 bring you everything you wish for and more. Happy New Year!!!

Samsung has reached a milestone with its Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but it took some time to get there. The South Korean manufacturer has finally reached one million units sold in it's home country. Some of you may be saying "so what, the Galaxy S3 didn't take nearly as long to hit that mark", but this begs the question as to why it's taken longer to hit the milestone.

Without and access to data or trends we are only left to speculate that size played an important role in this equation. The handset has some spectacular specs and gives the S3 a run for it's money, but the handset just may be too large for most users. Perhaps Korea's smartphone culture is much different in such that they don't feel compelled to jump on the latest and greatest when they are more than happy with their current handset.

One thing is for certain though, consumers across the globe have a very strong affinity towards Samsung's Galaxy line-up.

Via: SammyHub

As a member of the Android Forums, we wanted to be the first to invite you to our sister site located at OUYA Forum dedicated to the all new $99 OUYA Android powered gaming console. The first batch of developer consoles were released this week and the official consumer/retail launch is scheduled for a March/April timeframe.

To sign up and get a low user ID, visit this link: Register at OUYA Forums

Christmas Day brought a surge of iOS and Android wireless device activation's which certainly brought a smile to developers and manufacturers alike. Acording to Flurry, an application analytical firm, more than 17 million devices were activated with tablets accounting for 51% of that figure. That is an astounding 3 times as many activation's as a year ago. Flurry also found that mobile device owners downloaded 328 million apps on Christmas which set a record number and a 112% increase from a year ago.

Despite Apple iPad Minis and Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablets being the most popular devices to sell on Christmas, Android Tablets continue to gain on the iPad in popularity according to Chitika Insights. We want to hear from you, did you receive or gift a tablet and/or smartphone and what OS is it running?

Source: GigaOm

We'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Despite all the "bad" things that have been happening in the world we must all stop for a moment and reflect on all that is good. In the spirit of giving, please give of yourself and make someone's day a special one; be it by words, a smile, a compliment, something to eat or a gift in any other form. Make someone's day special. Merry Christmas everyone!!

The Android Team just put out a very heartwarming video for Christmas with a couple of docks for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 making an appearance as well. It's a really well done video with a lot of love for the little guy. We are not going to ruin it for you, so watch and enjoy.

For weeks we have seen several rumors regarding the Sony Yuga. This newest intel puts are more direct face on the new phone. Supposedly, the new Yuga is also the Sony C660X, and will actually launch as the next Xperia device, the Sony Xperia Z. This rumor also seems to confirm some previous intel that the device will come sporting a 5-inch 1080p display with 443 PPI, with final dimensions of 139 x 71 x 7.9mm. This new info did not come with any hint as to when it might be announced although the current speculation is at CES or MWC early next year.

As always, we will keep you informed when something official breaks.

Source: AndroidAuthority

Sprint just shared a press release updating their upgrade schedule for their 4G LTE service. In it they also give some additional details about how much they have expanded, and where they are going next. Here's the full presser,

Sprint Reports Significant Progress in Deployment of Network Upgrades in 2012: 49 Markets Covered To Date With 4G LTE; 3G Network Upgrades Proceed Nationwide

Customers enjoy blazing speeds of Sprint 4G LTE; in the coming months, nearly 150 more markets, including 36 announced today, will enjoy 4G LTE

Customers in more than 70 markets coast-to-coast are beginning to enjoy the improved coverage, call quality and data speeds of improved 3G

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), December 19, 2012 – This year Sprint (NYSE: S) has made a significant investment in its wireless network to better meet the needs of its wireless customers. From the rollout of 4G LTE to the upgrade of thousands of 3G sites across the country to thousands of voice and data capacity additions, Sprint has focused resources and funds to improve its overall network quality and performance. Sprint has hit a deployment stride and is making measurable progress on its goal to bring Network Vision to customers nationwide.

Sprint has launched 4G LTE in 49 markets – including Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Baltimore – and sites are on-air and implementation is under way in hundreds more. In fact, Sprint has announced nearly 150 markets that should see an official LTE launch in the coming months, including 36 markets that have been added today.* Sprint also has implemented 3G service improvements in more than 70 markets, from Asheville, N.C., to Philadelphia and from Hudson, N.Y., to Santa Barbara, Calif.

Through Network Vision, voice quality is enhanced and Sprint customers in upgraded areas are seeing better performance on their smartphones, mobile broadband connection cards and mobile hotspots when using the Sprint 4G LTE and 3G networks. Customers can expect to experience the following performance improvements:

Faster data speeds that enable instant Web access for news updates, HD viewing and game-playing, quicker video downloads and clear video chats.
Better signal strength when making a call or using the Web.
Fewer dropped calls for peace of mind when talking to friends, family or colleagues.
Improved voice quality and less static or background noise when making phone calls.
“With the network investments we made in 2012 and as the only national wireless carrier to offer truly unlimited 4G LTE data plans, we continue to offer better value than our competitors,” said Bob Azzi, senior vice president-Network, Sprint. “But our commitment to an exceptional wireless experience doesn’t stop there. We are an aggressive path to complete the rollout of Network Vision, and we expect to accelerate this momentum in 2013.”

Sprint introduced its all-new 4G LTE network in July 2012 and now offers service in 49 marketsi. For the most up-to-date details on Sprint’s 4G LTE portfolio and rollout, please visit The Sprint 4G LTE network is here!. For detailed 4G LTE maps, providing coverage information right down to the address, please visitwww.sprint.com/coverage. Customers are

... [Read More]

AT&T wanted to make a few people have a brighter Christmas, at least when it comes to data download speeds on their mobile devices. They just lit up 15 new markets this week with their 4G LTE service. Here's the list:

• Boise, Idaho
• Boulder, Colo.
• Bowling Green, Ky.
• Harrisburg, Pa.
• Hartford, Conn.
• Lancaster, Pa.
• Lexington, Ken.
• New Haven, Conn.
• Ogden, Utah
• Providence, R.I.

AT&T expanded its coverage in:

• Middlesex County, N.J.
• Phoenix, Ariz.
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Los Angeles, Calif.

Tuesday, AT&T added:

• Green Bay, Wis.
• Melbourne, Fla.
• Oxford, Miss.
• Springfield, Mass.
• Tucson, Ariz.

T-Mobile is offering some deep discounts on several different 4G devices to entice you to join them. They are having a "Last Chance Zero Down" sale that includes a smattering of several excellent 4G enabled devices that you can get with their Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data Plan for $0 down. Several great phones are available to choose from including some of the more powerful options like the Samsung Galaxy S III, the LG Optimus 9 and the HTC One S.

Here's a link below if you want to check it out.

Source: T-Mobile

It turns out that the "next big thing" coming out of Samsung will actually be something very tiny. A new report shares that Samsung was successful in building and testing a new 14nm chip for the mobile world. To put it in perspective, today's ubiquitous Tegra 3 processor is 40nm in size. Some of the newer chips coming out early next year will be built using a 28nm architecture. This new chip will have transistors that are half that size, and will use the ARM Cortex-A7 processor implementation with big.LITTLE configuration. Here's a quote with a few more details,

The 14nm FinFET chips are next generation technology, which will allow "PC-like performance with low power consumption" in future Exynos processors, that are currently done at 32nm. Samsung already embraced the big.LITTLE architecture for upcoming Exynos chips, and the die shrink to 14nm will make it that much more efficient.

Samsung also outed a Process Design Kit (PDK) that will let its customers commence designing chips with the frugal tech with manuals based on the results from its successful 14nm FinFET chip tests. Samsung promised a big.LITTLE Exynos for this year, as you can see in the video below, but it might have waited for successful die shrink tests to place those in devices, and 2013 seems like the safer bet now.

Although it looks like Samsung is going to be a year behind their projections for getting out he first chips using the big.LITTLE technology, it's still very exciting to see what we get to look forward to next year. Imagine the possibilities of having a chip as powerful as our current desktops, yet energy efficient enough to use in a smartphone. Within the next few years, you will not be able to tell a difference between the computing power of your desktop and the computing power of your mobile device. The line between them will not just blur... it will be erased!

This is very exciting stuff, and a great way to usher in the new year!

Source: PhoneArena