Official Galaxy S3 3000mah Extended Battery Review

As promised, our review of the official Galaxy S3 3000mah extended battery kit is up. Many of you Galaxy S3 owners have had your phones for almost a year now. After almost a year of use, your battery has lost some of its ability to hold a good charge. If you're considering replacing your battery, definitely take a look at the extended battery kit. Although it does cost a bit more than the standard battery, it's well worth the price. After going two full days with the extended battery, I wouldn't even consider going back to the stock battery.

Genuine Samsung Extended Battery Kit for Galaxy S3 - 3000mAh - Blue
Genuine Samsung Extended Battery Kit for Galaxy S3 - 3000mAh - White
Genuine Samsung Extended Battery Kit for Galaxy S3 - 3000mAh - Black

ZooGue Galaxy SIII Social Case(Extended Battery Case)

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Github removes files due to DMCA violation, including one from CyanogenMod

Now this is getting interesting. github(the repository for open source code used by most Android developers) was sent a notice by a French based company called DxO Labs SA,  to take down certain files for violation of DMCA.

Here is a quote from the original notice:

[3] I have a good faith belief that the file downloads identified below (by URL) are unlawful under these copyright laws because among other things, the files circumvent effective access controls and/or copyright protection measures;
[4] Reason:
Content Type: "Custom Firmware" files
Violation(s): Trafficking a device that circumvents effective access controls and/or trafficking a device that circumvents effective copyright protection measures.

There is a repository of CyanogenMod which is a part of the list as well. What we fail to understand is if it is violation of DMCA then what took DxO Labs so long to find that out. We'll see how this story progresses and if the owners of the repositories give us their side of the story.

Andy Rubin passes the Android baton to Sundar Pichai

In some interesting news just a few months prior to Google I/O, Google announced today that Andy Rubin is moving on to other ventures and Sundar Pichai will be in charge of Android henceforth  It was Andy Rubin who proposed the idea to Larry Page and Sergey Brin. After making Android one of the most popular open source mobile operation system Andy has decided to explore new ventures. Sundar Pichai, who is the brains behind Chrome Browser and Chrome OS, will now also be handling the progression of Android.Many look forward in anticipation to what Pichai can bring to Android. Rubin will no doubt be missed greatly for all of the wonderful additions he brought to the little green fellow.

Here is the official statement from Google:-

Sergey and I first heard about Android back in 2004, when Andy Rubin came to visit us at Google. He believed that aligning standards around an open-source operating system would drive innovation across the mobile industry. Most people thought he was nuts. But his insight immediately struck a chord because at the time it was extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. We had a closet full of more than 100 phones and were building our software pretty much device by device. It was nearly impossible for us to make truly great mobile experiences.

Fast forward to today. The pace of innovation has never been greater, and Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world: we have a global partnership of over 60 manufacturers; more than 750 million devices have been activated globally; and 25 billion apps have now been downloaded from Google Play. Pretty extraordinary progress for a decade’s work. Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android—and with a really strong leadership team in place—Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. Andy, more moonshots please!

Going forward, Sundar Pichai will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use—and he loves a big bet. Take Chrome, for example. In 2008, people asked whether the world really needed another browser. Today Chrome has hundreds of millions of happy users and is growing fast thanks to its speed, simplicity and security. So while Andy’s a really hard act to follow, I know Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push the ecosystem forward.

Today we’re living in a new computing environment. People are really excited about technology and spending a lot of money on devices. This is driving faster adoption than we have ever seen before. The Nexus program—developed in conjunction with our partners Asus, HTC, LG and Samsung—has become a beacon of innovation for the industry, and services such as Google Now have the potential to really improve your life. We’re getting closer to a world where technology takes care of the hard work—discovery, organization, communication—so that you can get on with what makes you happiest… living and loving. It’s an exciting time to be at Google.

Posted by Larry Page, CEO

Source-Google

HTC: BRINGING IT THE RIGHT WAY SINCE 2013...

HTC releases a Developers Copy of the One: can we all agree this is the perfect way to appease the ones of us that full enjoy tweaking our phones?  
Here's a bit of the old official from their blog:

—————

What could be better than the HTC One; an all-metal phone with 64GB of memory and a 1080p Full HD screen? How about the same phone shipped SIM and bootloader unlocked?

Introducing the HTC One Developer Edition, the most powerful smartphone HTC has delivered specifically for our developer community:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor
• 2 GB RAM
• 64 GB of storage
• SIM and bootloader unlocked
• Open APIs for Bluetooth Low Energy, Infrared, and more
• Front-facing stereo speakers
• Two dual-membrane microphones for recording
• Multiple frequency compatibility:
  • HSPA/WCDMA: 850/1900/2100 MHz
  • GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
  • LTE: 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz (US)

And let’s not forget that gorgeous 1080p Full HD display that brings graphics, photos, and videos to life. With the HTC One Developer Edition you have a modern platform to build and test your apps.

The HTC One Developer Edition will be available in limited quantities to customers with a US Zip Code for $649 when the HTC One is released in the United States.

——–——

As a long-time fan of their devices,  I feel like I should just stand up and applaud HTC. 

This isn't something they're known for.

Getting fully unlocked phones to their customers hasn't always just happened. Fully customizing their devices has been limited in the past to an online software method: the company provided a limited bootloader unlocking method thru external channels, and only then upon the sacrifice of warranty redemption. (Ouch.) That headache of a system has been in place since the Evo 3D days. ("Back in my day, 5uNny...we had to unlock our bootloaders manually...like MEN...") It was only instituted in the first place after heavy petitioning by "custom users" and software hackers of their devices (you know, those of us over at XDA, Rootzwiki and the like.) 

Although appreciated, and a decent first step, "fully" unlocked devices haven't been available from HTC, and could only be attained via personally hacking them after purchase with third-party methods.

(Initially, this is only official for the Verizon release of the HTC One, more carrier's versions are sure to follow, if this "Developer's Version" system of offering devices mimics other manufacturers that offer the same.)

HTC: I for one just want to say 'Thank you'.

This gesture has been Noticed, and Appreciated, and this is Progress.

Anytime any manufacturer visibly caters to its customers' wishes, they should be congratulated. 

(Seems like HTC really is pulling out all the stops for this device, and here's hoping they sell a zillion of them.)

Thoughts?

Stay Tuned!

OK!  So here's the deal!


I've been saying for the past two weeks that our site will be down for a few days while we switch formats.  Why are we still posting?  I have no idea!  It's completely out of our hands while we're waiting for everything to transfer from Enom, a web hosting company, to our new format.  All of us here at AFN have been kind of sitting on our hands waiting for the transfer to happen, not entirely sure if our posts will be even seen by you.

Once this does happen I promise you all of us here at AFN will hit the ground running and will be one of your top Android news sources.  This has been a very frustrating time for AFN, as all of us here are excited to start spreading the Android gospel.

Until then.....  Stay Tuned!