Rockstar Games releases GTA III for Android and iOS

  GTA fans, gather up. Rockstar Games has just released the Grand Theft Auto III 10th Anniversary edition for Android and iOS. Users can delve into the same GTA goodness on their mobile devices which is now optimized for touchscreen interface with improved controls and graphics. The game also supports select USB gamepad controllers.
Download now via Android Market or iTunes App Store for $5.

PS Vita could succeed with more PS3 integration

Sony’s PS Vita could get a good boost from integration with the PS3 console. With casual mobile gaming becoming popular, the dedicated next-gen gaming portable didn’t get quite the reception it was hoping for. But if it can enhance the PS3 gaming experience or somehow work in tandem with the console, it could offer a gaming experience like none other.


Capcom has recently announced that Sony’s PS Vita will be the “ultimate controller” for the PS3 version of the Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 game. It features dual analog sticks as well as all of the PS3′s face buttons, which means that it can not only duplicate the controller experience, but also add extra touch features to perform moves or attacks exclusive to it. In a way it could work in a similar fashion to what Nintendo has planned with the Wii U.
There’s also the possibility of having more support for remote play. The PS Vita has already been shown to work with the graphically intensive Killzone 3 game title when it comes to remote play suggesting that many other titles could also support this functionality. Players could be able to save game data from their PS3 console and pick up where they left off on the PS Vita if they have to be on the go.
The PS Vita is set to launch here in the states in February. These connectivity options between the device an the PS3 console are expected to be available at launch or soon thereafter. GameStop has already begun listing the device, its accessories, and corresponding release dates

GammaTech unveils fully rugged Durabook R13C convertible notebook

GammaTech has announced its latest fully rugged convertible laptop called the Durabook R13C. It will withstand the harshest of conditions and is perfect for those having to work out in the field, such as law enforcement, military, and homeland security. It boasts serious Military Standard 810G certification for drop, shock, and spill protection. It’s also got explosive atmosphere, salt, fog, and freeze/thaw standards checked as well.


The Durabook R13C also features an IP65 rating, which ensures that all enclosed portions are completely protected from dust and water. It has a water-resistant backlit keyboard and a magnesium alloy case that’s 20 times stronger than ABS plastic. Additional security features include a fingerprint scanner, Trusted Platform Module 1.2, and a Kensington lock.
The laptop features a 13.3-inch multi-touch shock-mounted display with a 1000 NIT LCD that’s readable in sunlight. Inside, it’s powered by an Intel Core Low Power i7-620LM vPro processor along with 8GB of RAM. It also sports a 2.5-inch shock-mounted SATA hard drive with heater, an ultra slim super-multi DVD drive, two USB ports, SIM card connector, and SD card reader.

Motorola DROID XYBOARD 10.1 Review

When it comes to tablet warfare, Motorola seemed to get out in the open with a weapon of mass excellence with the XOOM pretty early, it being the first to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the first Android made specifically for the tablet form factor – now they’ve come back with the XOOM 2 aka the DROID XYBOARD and we’re not so sure it’s the same ground-breaking situation. What we’ve got here instead is certainly a solid package, this XYBOARD 10.1 making some improvements over the original XOOM, especially in form if you were one of the many people who said the XOOM was a hunk of metal with no style, (note: I was not one of those people, I still think the XOOM looks pretty awesome for the workhorse that it is,) and with LTE right out of the box, the XYBOARD provides the promise that the original XOOM took much MUCH to long to deliver on: 4G LTE connectivity. But is it enough for Motorola enthusiasts to want to upgrade from their first 10.1-inch love?

Hardware

Before we begin, note that we’re having a look at this 10.1-inch model XYBOARD first here in this post, then the 8.2-inch version later this week! Now here in the DROID XYBOARD you’ve got Motorola’s second and most third most confortable to use tablet on the market, the 10.1-inch version only trumped by the surprisingly lightweight 8.2-inch version we’ll be reviewing later on also here on SlashGear. The 10.1-inch tablet here has a relatively bright LCD display at a standard 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. It’s covered up by a layer of reinforced Gorilla Glass, while the innards of this device share the same splash-resistant coating that the DROID RAZR does. You’ve got a microSIM card slot here, but no microSD slot like the XOOM does, the rest of your ports consisting of the standard headphones jack on top and a standardized Motorola setup of microUSB aside microHDMI ports next to one another on the bottom. This means you’ll be able to use the full rundown of Motorola devices in this current season, even though most of them are basically meant for handsets.

This tablet is only .02 inches than the thinnest tablet on the market right now, and at 599g it beats out the 730g of its predecessor, the original XOOM, by a healthy margin. In other words, you can tell the difference even without having both in your hands. You’ll have a much easier time gripping this tablet than most other tablets on the market today (if you have any trouble with any of them, that is), and the sharp-curve of the corners makes for a nice differentiation point from the rest of the world’s slates.

Software

You’ll be running Android 3.2 Honeycomb out of the box with some very BASIC additions by Motorola to make it their own. You’ll have the same Honeycomb Vanilla gallery, same camera, same interface on the whole, it’s just the icons a handful of applications that are coming from the manufacturer and Verizon. Most prominent is the MotoCast app sitting right there on your main home screen just begging you to get into Motorola’s extended world of devices via their rather nicely crafted software ecosystem – check out the DROID RAZR and the Motorola MOTOACTV reviews we’ve got to get a better idea of what it means to be part of this bigger family Motorola is promoting here.

Then it’s all about the built-in games like Madden 2012 which is, admittedly, the first sports game I’ve enjoyed on the mobile platform thus far, and that “Let’s Golf” game we’ve seen on essentially every Android device since early this year — someone did some GOOD promotion deals, I’ll tell you that much. You’ve also got Evernote which works just fine with your included sylus pen for hand-written digital notes, GoToMeeting for group chatting, and Quickoffice HD which you’ll find works more than good enough for editing your Office documents on the go. Slingbox, Skitch, VideoSurf, Dijit, and even Netflix begin to look like the devil word: “bloatware” when they’re all stacked up on two screens of unremovable apps that come with this talbet straight from the store, but they’re certainly not the worst quality apps when it comes down to it for someone looking to avoid the Android Market entirely.

You’ll find that the dual-core processor from Texas Instruments is the 1.2 GHz OMAP4 you’ve been seeing on a lot of devices with Android under the hood lately, it appearing in title to out-do the most common dual-core processor of 2011 the NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz, but having a look at our Quadarant Advanced benchmarks here you’ll see the increase isn’t the most fantastic in the world, but is certainly something to have a look at – pay attention to the individual numbers for a wild bit of difference:

You’ll notice one big difference: I/O has had the doors blown off between the two of these machines. You’ll not notice the difference in real life usage unless you’re REALLY attuned to the functions of the device – the ladies and gentlemen in the audience won’t be able to tell the difference. Have a peek at the device in action here in the hands-on video and know the truth:

Camera / Battery

Just like the original XOOM and the rest of the greater Android tablet family, the XYBOARD 10.1′s up time is several days strong if you’re not using it for heavy activities like streaming video. If you ARE streaming video non-stop, you’ll probably be plugged into the wall anyway, but just supposing your not: you’ve got something like 6-8 hours streaming via LTE. For those heavy users playing nothing but HD games and playing music via Google Music at the same time, you’ve got just about the same amount of uptime ahead of you.

The camera on this device is not especially good. It’s a 5-megapixel shooter, but don’t expect much better than what you got with the original XOOM. This tablet is certainly not made to be the master of the 5 megapixel shooters that the Galaxy Nexus is, nor is it ready to take on the big guns in tablet photography that the HTC Jetstream and the ASUS Transformer PRIME are, the both of them. Have a peek at some examples here and in the gallery below.

Wrap-Up

The question that’ll be popping up on most XOOM owners minds at one point or another now is this: should I upgrade? With a tablet that’s got such a similar processor and a display that’s not especially improved over the original XOOM, it’s essentially only the chassis and the fact that you can no longer use a microSD card that should sway you in one direction or the other – not to mention the money you’ll have to drop to move from one model to the next. If you’ve already got a tablet, I’ll say, this probably isn’t going to seem like much of an improvement over the model you’ve already got.

If on the other hand you’ve never used an Android tablet before, this is as good a place to start as any, as believe it or not, most Android tablets aren’t all the different from one another, regardless of their manufacturer. The biggest difference between Android tablets at the moment can be found in the ASUS Transformer Prime — therein lies the next generation of Android tablets, complete with keyboard dock that turns the thing into a laptop and a quad-core processor that beats down the whole rest of the Android world with ease. But if you’re not quite into that world yet and would like to remain in this fully connected LTE world (the Prime has no carrier affiliation as of yet), then by all means try out the XYBOARD 10.1 and Motorola your way to victory. Feel free to ask any additional questions below and I’ll do my best to answer, and another reminder: we’re reviewing the 8.2-inch version of this tablet here on SlashGear as well, soon!

Asterisk insect robot demos prey-grabbing talents

Humans, this is your fate: scooped up by a terrifying, insectile robot and dumped into the organic power-reclamation unit or, if you’re lucky, the breeding vats. Researchers at Osaka University have developed an omni-directional robot called Asterisk, capable of grabbing and carrying prey DigInfo reports, and perfect for when the AIs revolt and begin to see us as the fleshy Duracells we really are.


The six-legged robot usually uses all of its limbs to walk, but it can also repurpose two of them as grabbing arms to grab things. The researchers have several different versions, including models with wheel-tipped legs for faster movement, some which can climb up mesh walls and even let out a web-like rope for abseiling down to the ground, and, still in the labs, a cartwheeling model just in case there are fast-running children to be rounded up for processing.
As for the envisaged use, for search and rescue missions, the ‘bot can lower its body and still move so as to scuttle through small spaces, and be outfitted with pressure sensors on the leg-tips to more precisely control what’s picked up. The quad-jointed limbs mean it can work just as easily either way up, so forget about flipping it onto its back before dashing off to join the nearest resistance cell.

LG adds Intel WiDi to 2012 Cinema 3D Smart TVs

LG‘s 2012 Cinema 3D Smart TV line-up will be the first televisions to natively support Intel WiDi, the chip manufacturers Wireless Display streaming video standard. The deal will see LG’s sets capable of displaying content streamed from Intel WiDi-compliant laptops and computers, via WiFi, without the need to plug in a separate adapter as has been the case to-date.


The number of gadgets that will be able to squirt video over to LG’s new TVs via WiDi is set to increase, however. The technology is gradually showing up in smartphones, and is a natively supported feature in Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon S4 chipsets, so the likelihood is that more than just laptops will be capable of pushing their content to the big screen. Being able to use a phone in that manner is arguably more useful, in fact, since you could easily set up a mini-office or gaming station without being caught up in HDMI cables.
WiDi use should also be relatively transparent to the user, with no active WiFi connection – such as to a router – being required, nor indeed an internet connection. Instead, a point-to-point connection is established with the TV itself.
The first new LG Cinema 3D Smart TV sets with integrated WiDi support will be shown at CES 2012 next month. No word on how much the new models will be, nor when they will go on sale.

Acer trims 2012 range by two-thirds, predicts Wintel besting Apple

Acer’s chairman has announced some big changes for the Acer line up in 2012. The company will be cutting its product line back significantly with a reduction of its line by two-thirds. That reduction will come after a reported full evaluation of the entire Acer product line. Presumably, the products cut will be those that aren’t popular any more. I wonder if any of the Andorid tablets Acer is offering will meet the axe.


Chairman JT Wang said that it would take three years to complete the simplification plans Acer has in mind. Acer is expecting the products it leaves in the line to sell better than they did last year with a prediction of a 10% rise in sales for 2012. Acer does not that the downsizing of its range will not affect outsourcing to ODMs.
Wang was also boasting that he is very optimistic about Wintel. He noted that Apple, Wintel, and Android are the three major categories and that Wintel will be the single biggest driver of all three of the PC industry. Wand also noted that he is expecting the price of an Ultrabook to drop to $699 in 2012. That is a much lower price than we see in the Ultrabooks on the market so far.

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance thank you package rolls out to 3DS early adopters this Friday

Following August's dramatic price drop for the 3DS, Nintendo has announced that, come Friday, members of its Ambassador Program will finally be able to download the ten Game Boy Advance games they were promised. The complimentary titles in question are F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Metroid Fusion, Wario Land 4 and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames, each of which will be automatically added to your purchase history. In other news, Nintendo expects you to receive your bouquet of three dozen long-stemmed roses and promises that "It'll never happen again" by this afternoon.

Verizon to begin selling Galaxy Nexus tomorrow for $300

Get the conga line going, folks, because Verizon's finally come out of its non-committal shell and announced that its version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as expected, can be purchased in stores and online starting tomorrow for $300 with a new two-year commitment. If you go through the official site to grab your copy, you may want to stay up late tonight -- they'll be ready to go at 1AM ET.

 GALAXY™ NEXUS™ BY SAMSUNG NOW AVAILABLE ON
THE VERIZON WIRELESS 4G LTE NETWORK

First Smartphone to Combine Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the
Power of America's Fastest, Most Reliable 4G Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless, Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and Google announced Galaxy Nexus is available starting today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Customers can browse the Web, stream music and more at blazing speeds using the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Galaxy Nexus customers can enjoy access to the 4G LTE network in 190 markets covering over 200 million people across the United States, and fly through the Web with fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps within the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband coverage area.

Galaxy Nexus runs Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, which brings an entirely new look and feel to Android. Galaxy Nexus offers customers a redesigned user experience with improved multi-tasking, notifications, Near Field Communications (NFC) sharing with Android Beam and a full Web-browsing experience. The lock screen, home screen, phone app and everything in between have been rethought and redesigned to make Android simple, beautiful and useful. Galaxy Nexus also features an ultra-thin 9.47mm design with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Contour Display to watch movies, view pictures and play games that come to life in 720p (1280 x 720) resolution.

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) features:
• Redesigned user interface – software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones, and a dedicated recent apps button to make multi-tasking easy
• Face Unlock – use state-of-the-art facial recognition to unlock Galaxy Nexus
• Android Beam – quickly share Web pages, apps, contacts and YouTube videos with friends by simply tapping two compatible phones together
• Redesigned Camera – introduces panorama mode, 1080p video capture, zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, and effects such as silly faces and background replacement
• People Application – browse friends, family and coworkers, see their photos in high-resolution and check their latest status updates from Google+ and other social networks
• Cloud Services – keep email, contacts, photos, music, browser bookmarks and other data synced to the cloud, available across multiple devices so customers never lose important data
• Google Music – upload up to 20,000 songs to the cloud, discover and buy new music from Android Market, and stream it instantly on Galaxy Nexus and from the Web for free
• Google+ – Create a Google+ account right from the phone and check status updates, manage circles, quickly share updates and photos, video chat with up to ten friends with Mobile Hangouts, and chat with groups of friends with Google+ Messenger
• Support for Google Mobile Services – Gmail, Google Maps with 3D maps and free turn-by-turn navigation, Google Earth, Movie Studio, YouTube, syncing with Google Calendar, a redesigned Google+ app and access to more than 300,000 apps, millions of eBooks, thousands of movies to rent, and millions of songs available to download from Android Market

Additional features:
• Dual-core 1.2 GHz application processor and HTML5 Web browser – optimized dual-core processing with Android 4.0 combined with lightning fast 4G LTE connectivity for fast downloading of graphics, applications processing and Web browsing
• Mobile Hotspot capability – share 4G LTE or 3G connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, autofocus and LED flash with full 1080p recording
• Front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat
• Textured soft-touch back cover – enhances the ergonomic feel and makes the phone slip-resistant
• Bluetooth 3.0 technology – support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access, human interface device (HID) and object push for vCard and vCalendar
• 1 GB RAM and 32 GB on-board memory (actual formatted capacity will be less)

Pricing and data packages:
• Galaxy Nexus is available now in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
• Customers that purchase a Galaxy Nexus by Samsung will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II software update rolling out now

Today T-Mobile and Samsung are pushing out a software update for the highly popular 4.52″ screen packing Galaxy S II. It looks like those HTC handsets over on T-Mobile aren’t the only ones having some upgrade fun this week. The Galaxy S II T-Mobile update is rolling out as we speak and should also be available via Kies for those opting for that route as usual.


Just like the recent HTC Amaze 4G update the SGSII has now received WiFi calling and a few other improvements like T-Mo Caller ID. We have already posted a full review of the Galaxy S II and this phone will only get better with updates and improvements as it’s already an awesome phone. Get it this weekend for free with the T-Mobile 4G Super Sale.
Full details on the OTA update can be found over at the T-Mo support page. Other than the few new changes mentioned above they are also toting better battery life and performance. Something every update usually lists as a new feature and we’ll be sure to give it a test. That is all they mention so it appears to be a relatively small update and should only take a few minutes should users accept the “optional” update. It should arrive sometime over the next week and as usual you can manually update by going to menu > settings > about phone > check for updates. Enjoy!
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Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S II (T-Mobile)

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : T-Mobile

Announced Date : August 31, 2011

Release Date : October 12, 2011

Also Known As : Hercules

Display

• Screen Size : 4.52 Inch
• Resolution : 480×800
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED Plus

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.11 Inch
• Width : 2.71 Inch
• Depth : 0.37 Inch
• Weight : 135 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1850 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 167 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• 3GP

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Qualcomm APQ8060

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16.384 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

LG Spectrum (Revolution 2) Photos and Specs Are Released

The guys over at Pocketnow, got their hands on some nice high quality photos of the LG Spectrum (Revolution 2), as well as the specs. We recently saw pics of this device but they weren’t all that fabulous, and you really couldn’t see the true look of the phone. As you can see from the picture above, LG actually did a good job making this phone look sleek and semi-sexy (I say only semi-sexy, because we are all whipped over the Nexus at this point).
Specs for the Spectrum are decent as well. Defiantly not a device that is going to take any shine away from the Nexus, but still a decent phone for those who don’t need a Nexus. Here is the run down for the Spectrum’s specs:
- Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3
- Android Gingerbread 2.3
- 10.6 millimeters thick
- 4.5-inch, 1280×720 IPS LCD
- 1GB RAM, 4GB storage plus 16GB microSD
- Eight-megapixel, 1080p rear camera; 1.3-megapixel front-facing
- Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n
- HDMI, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct
- 1830mAh battery
- Simultaneous voice and LTE data
- 10-device LTE hotspot
No release date has been given, only speculation and random thoughts as to when it will be released at this point. We will keep you informed as more information becomes available.

Consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday, up 19% from last year

U.S. consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday, up 19% from the same day last year according to comScore. Green Monday was the third heaviest day behind the record-setting Cyber Monday, when consumers spent $1.25 billion, and Monday December 5th, when consumers spent $1.17 billion. “Green Monday was another exceptional day for the online holiday shopping season, posting more than $1.1 billion in sales with a growth rate of 19 percent versus last year,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. “Green Monday also kicks off what should be the heaviest week of the year for online shopping, where we could see several billion dollar spending days, punctuated by Free Shipping Day on Friday, December 16.” The research firm recently said that holiday spending this year is already approaching $25 billion. ComScore’s full press release follows after the break.

Galaxy Nexus Getting Android 4.0.2, Upon Activation

Well folks they day is finally upon us. Verizon is finally releasing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. If that wasn’t good enough news for you, there will be an update to Android 4.0.2 for all you lucky Verizon customers, that manage to get one when stores open. Upon activation the update should be ready to roll out to your device.
The update is said to improve the radio /baseband for better quality. We had earlier speculated that the update would be 4.1, we were wrong on the version, but not it does seem that we were close on the effects of the update. Stay tuned, as I am sure it will be a big day of news, as the Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich finally become a reality for America. I would also expect a line or two at most Verizon stores. Who plans on picking one up tomorrow? Let us know in the comments.

Intel enters licensing deal with Inside Secure for NFC tech

Intel’s NFC aspirations are hardly a secret. The company showed off a Medfield-powered tablet at IDF sporting the tech and it’s partnered with MasterCard — promising to bring PayPass checkouts to Ultrabooks. Now Chipzilla is putting the final pieces of the equation in place by landing a licensing deal with Inside Secure. The company specializes in contactless payment systems and will be lending its Microread, Securead and Open NFC products to Intel for future chips. While it’s a safe assumption that we’ll be seeing NFC pop up in Ultrabooks, it’s also going to be an essential ingredient if the Santa Clara crew ever hopes to make x86 a player in the smartphone scene. We’ve still got a while to go before near field communication becomes truly ubiquitous, but this is one more step in the right direction. Check out the PR after the break.

Intel Starts To Get Serious About Mobile, Names New Team

The perfect tag for this would be: What took you so long? Intel seems to finally consider the mobile device market as a business they should ponder. If we remember back in the old Windows Mobile days, the Intel XScale processor was quite the chip to beat, but then they decided to sell their whole mobile division to Marvell Technology. Now, five years later, Intel has decided to merge four separate product groups to for one single department focused on mobile products for smartphones, tablets, netbooks and wireless communication technologies.

As part of an even more interesting move is the fact that Intel decided to name Mike Bell as the leader of this mobile division. I know he probably doesn't ring a bell, but he was part of the team that designed and built the first generation iPhone, and which later was pulled into Intel after working for Palm. The team also includes Herman Eul, who previously came from Infineon, which also worked on the communication chips of the iPhone.

Call this a quick recovery move after loosing the ability to provide chips for the iPad? Could be. This sadly has already happened before, about a year ago. We're not really sure if they will go forth with all that it'll take to gain some market share in this round, but if they don't, we do see them slowing sales just as fast as the PC market is after Tablets became a competitor.

Verizon posts Galaxy Nexus simulator, doesn't cap your virtual data

Want to be an Ice Cream Sandwich champ before you even have a Galaxy Nexus in hand? Big Red's just opened the e-freezer, launching its Samsung Galaxy Nexus support simulator, complete with programed hands-on tutorials for navigating menus, launching apps, taking beautiful food pictures with creamy bokeh and browsing various single-page Verizon sites. The tutorial isn't a full sim in the traditional sense -- it's merely a microsite with static pages and limited animations -- but it's the closest many of us will get to playing with the real thing; until tomorrow, at least. Clear your schedule for the next five minutes, and hit up the source link for the smoothest smartphone experience you're likely to ever have.

Android Market updated to v3.4.4; Download here

Google is pushing out another update for the Android Market, bringing it to version 3.4.4, which seems mostly a performance upgrade because it does feel a lot faster.

 

They have also change the wording of "Auto-add shortcuts" in the settings to "Auto-add-widgets." Also, they have now moved the trailer video up with the photo preview carousel, which actually makes sense, and saves you from scrolling all the way down to watch the video.

 

Not everyone has gotten the update, so review the terms below to download and install it manually.