Samsung Galaxy S5 now available in Canada

With spring's arrival, the Galaxy S5 is also finally here. Available in Canada and worldwide the S5 is available from numerous Canadian carriers. namely Rogers, Bell, TELUS, WIND, Eastlink, Videotron, Virgin and SaskTel .

With the S5, Samsung refreshes the already familiar and solid offering in the Galaxy S4 with inspiration from the Note 3. Sporting  5.1 inch Full HD 1080p display, 2.5 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 801, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16/32GB of Internal storage expandable by up to 128GB via microSD card, Wifi 802.11 ac with MIMO (2x2), USB 3.0, IP67 Water and Dust Resistance, 16MP Camera with 4K recodring capabilities, Heart Rate Monitor, Fingerprint Scanner Home Button, LTE Cat. 4 Capabilities (150/50mbps), 2800mAh battery and Android 4.4.2.

We're working on getting our hands on a review unit in shortly for a full review.

HTC Desire 601 Android 4.4 KitKat update available for some Canadian carrier coming soon to others

While the Desire 601 isn't the most high end device on the market or even in HTC own lineup of 2013 smartphones, it certainly hasn't been forgotten. According to HTC's software update schedule and corroborated by Rogers' own OS Upgrade Schedule, the Desire 601 on Bell, Fido, Koodo, Rogers and SaskTel should start seeing OTA updates to Android 4.4 KitKat while the Virgin, Videotron and WIND versions are in the final certification stage.

If you have a Desire 601 and are getting the OTA, drop us a line and let us know how it goes.

Samsung Galaxy S5, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit coming to Canada April 11th

With the buzz from MWC waning down, Samsung has announced to Canadians that the Galaxy S5, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit will be hitting Canadian shelves on April 11th. While we already know that the S5 will be made available from Bell, Eastlink, Fido, Koodo, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, Videotron, Virgin Mobile and WIND Mobile.

Pricing is becoming a bit clearer too as Samsung suggests that princing will start at $229 on select plans. While there is no specific on which carrier we expect it to be in the same ballpark for most carriers on 2 year plans.

Check out the press release after the break.

Virgin releases the Moto G

The Moto G is one of the best value buys available on the market. Today, the Moto G hits another carrier as it becomes available to Virgin Mobile. This seems like a good fit as Virgin tend to target the younger crowd who may or may not be more price sensitive than older demographics. This makes the Moto G a great choice as it offers good build quality with an affordable price tag.

Motorola had just recently announced that the Moto G is their most successful smartphone to date and it looks like sales should maintain till a proper successor. If you're on Virgin and are looking for something like the Moto G, check our full in depth review here.

[MWC 2014] Samsung unveils the Galaxy S5

Here is it, after months of rumors and speculations Samsung has finally unveiled the Galaxy S5. As expected Samsung has packed the S5 to the brim with the latest hardware including a 5.1 inch Full HD 1080o display, 2.5 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 801 (one of the first phones with the Xperia Z2), Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16/32GB of Internal storage expandable by up to 128GB via microSD card, Wifi 802.11 ac with MIMO (2x2), USB 3.0, IP67 Water and Dust Resistance, 16MP Camera with 4K recodring capabilities, Heart Rate Monitor, Figerprint Scanner Home Button, LTE Cat. 4 Capabilities (150/50mbps), 2800mAh battery and Android 4.4.2.

In terms of the looks, the Galaxy S5 looks very much like the S4 from the front but in the back you see a drastic change as Samsung forgoes the glassy hyperglaze of the S4 and like the Note 3 opts instead for a leather like plastic textured back that is surprisingly reminiscent of the original Nexus 7.

We've also gotten word from our friends at Samsung that the Galaxy S5 will be available in Canada (presumably in April like the rest of the world) from Bell, Eastlink, Fido, Koodo, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, Videotron, Virgin Mobile and WIND Mobile (noticeably absent is Mobilicity).

The Galaxy S5 will come in Black, White, Blue and Gold although we don't think all the colours will be available in Canada at launch. We also expect carrier specific exclusive to be announced later like with the S III and S4.

Check out the full press release and press images after the break.

HTC One now receiving Android 4.4 KitKat update

HTC gave itself 90 Days to get the carrier branded HTC One updated to Android 4.4 and it looks like it has kept that promise. Despite indications from HTC Americas boss Jason Mackenzie that the Android 4.4. update was going to be delayed to the coming weeks, it looks like Canadian HTC Ones have started to receive the coveted update to Android's latest version.

If you have an Canadian HTC One on Rogers, TELUS, Bell, Virgin, SaskTel or WIND look for your update under Settings -> About Phone -> Software update.

Canadian HTC One and Rogers One Mini Android 4.4 update now in certification phase, possible roll out in coming days

The HTC One (and one Mini) represents a significant change for HTC, as they are working on the most criticized and scrutinized aspect of their operations, post purchase updates. While the One X might not see the light of another update, the 2013 flagship HTC One is looking at it's third update in Android 4.4 KitKat while the One Mini will be going straight from Android 4.2.2 to Android 4.4 its first major update.

It looks like we are inching closer to meeting that self imposed 90 day deadline to get KitKat rolled out to users after Android 4.4 was announced. According to HTC's website the Android 4.4 update is now in the Certification process which means that it is now down to the carriers as the last major hurdle to pushing out an Over-the-Air update.

Hopefully they can keep their promise made just 83 days ago.

Google Nexus 5 Review

The Nexus line of smartphones is quite unique in the world of tech. It has the feverish following of thousands of fans, not unlike its chief rival from Apple, and is awaited with bated breath every fall for the past few years. Some get it for the promise of swift updates to the latest versions of Android while others for the undeniable value it presents as an off-contract device. Surprisingly, for many reasons out of our control, this is Android Bugle's first look at a Nexus device but boy did we pick a great one to start off with. This is our full review of the Google Nexus 5.

Sony Xperia M now available from Virgin

Sony has released a midrange phones to Virgin, the Xperia M. The Xperia M is targeted for the the more budget conscious consumer as it isn't to most specced out device on the market, nor is it running the latest version of Android but it will be made available to users for $0 on contract at Virgin.

Specs include a Dual-Core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus with Adreno 305, 4-inch FWVGA 480x854 TFT Display, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal Storage (expandable by up to 32GB via microSD card), 5MP Camera, NFC, LTE, 1750 mAh battery and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Nexus 5 now available from Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Fido, Virgin, Koodo and Videotron

The LG made Nexus 5 has just started landing in the hands of users this week, but it's about to reach a whole lot more hands in Canada as several Canadian carriers have made the Nexus device available starting today.  Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Fido, Virgin, Koodo and Videotron have all officially launched the Nexus 5.

On the "Big 3", Virgin and Videotron, the Nexus 5 is $99 on 2-year contract, Fido is offering the Nexus 5 for $200 on 2-year deal and Koodo $350 on tab.

We will be getting our hands on a Nexus 5 in the very near future for a full review.

HTC Desire 601 available from Rogers, Fido, Bell and Virgin

The Budget/Midrange HTC Desire (601) is now available in Canada. The 2014 version of the Desire is now available from Rogers, Bell, Fido and Virgin. Rogers and Fido made the new Desire available earlier this week while the Bell and Virgin made it available today.

Specs for the Desire include, a Dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, 4.5-inch qHD 960x540 display, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (expandable by up to 64GB via microSD card slot), 5MP camera, BoomSound stereo speakers, 2100mAh battery and Android 4.2 with Sense 5.

We're working on getting a review unit as soon as possible for the full Android Bugle review treatment.

Canadian HTC One getting Android 4.3 update today

Looks like HTC has managed to pull off a last minute Hail Mary Touchdown as they have succeeded in updating the Canadian HTC One to the latest version of Google's OS, Android 4.3. All this despite fears from HTC themselves that they would miss their self-imposed deadline. While this will most likely be short lived with 4.4 on the horizon this is a great feat by HTC whos software support has been the subject of much controversy.

Overall, we are glad to see their flagship taken care of, but we would like to see long term support shored up for past devices like the HTC One X and One S that are more than capable devices that could use the update to Sense 5.

HTC to miss self imposed September deadline for Android 4.3 update to HTC One

Looks like our hopes of seeing an Android 4.3 update for the HTC One before the end of the month have been dashed. TELUS has updated their Android OS upgrade page to state that the Android 4.3 update to the HTC one has been moved to "early October". While this is disappointing, the fact that leaked build for HTC One with carrier customization (AT&T) have popped up on XDA, has us hoping that early October is within the first few days of the month.

This corroborates the Tweet put out by HTC Americas president Jason Mackenzie that the update will miss the 9/30 deadline.

Android 4.3 update for Canadian HTC One to rollout before the end of the month

Reaffirming what we've already reported on two occasions (1), (2), HTC Americas President Jason Mackenzie has stated on his Twitter account that the Canadian version of the HTC One will be getting an Update to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean by the end of the month. This is great news as it alligns with the TELUS OS upgrade schedule and seems to imply that all the versions of the Canadian HTC One will be getting the update in the upcoming few days before the end of the month.

[Update:] Rogers has updated their OS upgrade schedule and the Rogers HTC One will be getting an upgrade to Android 4.3 by the end of September.

Canadian HTC One to see Android 4.3 upgrade by end of September

Great news for those wondering where is their update to Android 4.2.2 on their Canadian HTC One. HTC Americas President Jason Mackenzie stated on Twitter that Engineers are working hard to to release all HTC Ones in North American SKUs. This means the HTC One from Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Virgin and SaskTel should be getting upgraded to Android 4.3 in a few short weeks.

We hope this ends up being the case and will have more info for you guys as it comes in.

Canadian HTC One S back on track for Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean?

Good news for people fearing that the HTC One S was going to get stuck at Android 4.1. Renown HTC leaker LlabTooFeR has tweeted that according to his sources, the HTC One S equipped with Snapdragon S4 (like the Canadian version) will in fact be upgraded to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

That being said, perhaps the online petition, signed by more than 7000 people, had something to do with it. but we would be glad to see an update for a very capable handset.

AndroidAndMe is reporting that Qualcomm's lack of support for the Snapdragon S3 chipset is the rason they could not get Jelly Bean 4.2.2 work on the S3 version of the One S but we are a bit skeptical of that reasoning given that the modders at XDA have working Android 4.2.2 ROMs.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review

The smartphone world has changed drastically over the past four years and Samsung has been an integral player in that change. The Galaxy S series of smartphone has been instrumental in the proliferation of Android. Last year's model, the Galaxy S III has sold a staggering 50+ million handsets and with such success everyone wondered how Samsung was going to follow up their best handset ever. In our short time with the Galaxy S4 at the Canadian launch party, it was clear that this year's Galaxy S was going to going to be a minor iteration over last year's model, but with mounting competition from Sony and HTC as well as the upcoming iPhone, will it be enough? We see if Samsung does the Galaxy S brand justice in our review of the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Samsung Galaxy S III getting multiwindow update

The Galaxy S III was already touting Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean but it got a small incremental update to give it functionality that was exclusive to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S4 and that's the Multiwindow support. So far the update has been pushed out to the Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Koodo, Fido and MTS (as well as Virgin we assume) versions of the S III and will hopefully also hit the AWS variants on WIND, Mobilicity and Videotron.

The update reportedly also improves download speeds on HSPA+, alerts users when VoIP applications could interfere with E911 calls and also include the Group play functionality found on the S4.

HTC One Review

It’s no secret that HTC has been in rough financial waters for the past few years. While many have been saying that this is HTC’s last shot, we don’t think this is the case. That being said, HTC is acting like it is their last chance. The HTC One is the culmination of that desperation, from design to innovative hardware features, HTC has without a doubt brought their "A" game. The HTC One X was a commercial shortcoming despite being almost universally praised by reviewers, we’ll see if this year can be different in our review of the HTC One.

Rogers, Bell, TELUS and Virgin HTC One is getting minor update (addresses touch response issues)

According to users reporting to MobileSyrup, the HTC One across Canada is getting a minor update to address bugs and includes "system enhancements". One of the reported fixes are more responsive capacitive buttons. Our review unit hasn't gotten the update yet but we'll keep you posted.