| Google brings in-app subscriptions to Android May 24th 2012, 17:02  Developers can never have too many options when it comes to ways to take your money. Google has opened the doors to In-app purchases, carrier billing and now, in-app subscriptions. Perhaps it wasn't enough that game creators be able to lure you in with perks and content you could purchase for a one-time fee, now devs can choose to hit you with a monthly charge for the privilege of using their wares. Of course, it's not all that bad. Subscription-based games aren't the only potential uses here. Customers can now buy monthly or annual subscriptions to services or publications as well. There's even a publisher API for extending the subscription beyond the walls of Google Play and your Android device. Glu Mobile will be first out the gate, turning on subscriptions in properties like Frontline Commando, but we're sure plenty of others will follow. Soon enough you might be able to get your New York Times subscription or Spotify Premium account without ever leaving the comfort of the Android app. Any handset with Google Play 3.5 or higher installed should have access to subscriptions starting today. Google brings in-app subscriptions to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Android Developers Blog | Email this | Comments | | T-Mobile myTouch Q makes its mark on the FCC May 24th 2012, 16:59  Talk about being tardy to the party: a month after its keyboard-less twin, the Huawei Ascend G312 QWERTY has finally received approval from the FCC. While this particular name may not sound very appealing to the average US customer, perhaps its other designation -- the T-Mobile myTouch Q -- will. Indeed, this is the 2012 iteration (the slide-out keyboard version, at least) of the carrier's annual series, and it sports quadband GSM / EDGE and 850 / AWS / 1900 / 2100 HSPA+. Most of the specs are already known: you can expect to find a 4-inch WVGA display, 1.4GHz MSM8255T chip with 1GB RAM and 4GB of onboard storage and room for microSD expansion. If you're a fan of the myTouch series -- or even hardware keyboards in general -- you likely won't have to wait too much longer. T-Mobile myTouch Q makes its mark on the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | FCC | Email this | Comments | | Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 review May 24th 2012, 16:10  When it comes to business-friendly features and comfortable keyboards, Lenovo is king. And while the PC maker is no stranger to powerful systems (here's looking at you, ThinkPad X220), it's not necessarily the first brand that comes to mind when you're in the market for HD video streaming and a little gaming. But those are just the sorts of things Lenovo hopes you'll do with the IdeaPad Y480, which ups the multimedia ante with a new GPU from NVIDIA, along with a quad-core Ivy Bridge processor. The notebook complements that power under the hood with an elegant, understated design and flourishes such as JBL speakers -- all for a reasonable starting price of $849. At 5.1 pounds, it may not be the lightest 14-incher around, but it packs some of the most robust internals in its class. Less forgivable, though, is the notebook's middling 1366 x 768 display; when you have that graphics oomph, you want the high-res visuals to match. Can its amped-up insides and bang for the buck make up for that less-than-premium screen? Join us after the break as we make that determination. Continue reading Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 review Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 12:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Huawei Ascend P1 slips through FCC with pentaband goodness for all May 24th 2012, 15:24  Huawei's putting a whole bunch of oomph behind its 2012 lineup, and it's finally beginning to get noticed here in the US. Not too long after getting the Ascend D1 approved by the FCC, the Chinese manufacturer has returned to Washington to push the Ascend P1 through the government agency. Regarded as a close sibling to the slimmer P1 S, this particular Platinum-class device comes offering gifts of pentaband HSPA+ / UMTS, which means there's a chance we could see it show up on AT&T or T-Mobile (neither carrier has made their intentions known as of yet). The OMAP 4460-powered Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone will, however, be available in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia by the end of the month, with Europe and Latin America following soon after. If you enjoy poring through federal documents, you'll love peeking at the source link below. Huawei Ascend P1 slips through FCC with pentaband goodness for all originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | FCC | Email this | Comments | |
