Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Just in case that recently announced ChefPad wasn't suited to your tastes, Archos is now introducing a smaller, not-so-kitchen-friendly Android tablet, the Xenon 80. Naturally, the main highlight of this 8-inch slate is that it boasts 3G capabilities, and the company's quick to point out it's SIM-unlocked. Archos also endowed the Xenon 80 with some decent specs, including a vanilla flavor of Google's Jelly Bean, an unnamed Qualcomm quad-core CPU, a 1,024 x 768 IPS display and 4GB of internal storage (expandable to 64GB by way of a microSD slot). And as with other recent Archos tablets, the Xenon 80 carries the proper Google Play credentials, making it easy for you to have access to all your favorite apps. It'll cost a mere $200 when it hits shelves in June, which is on par with competing offerings. Now, whether it's worth taking the plunge, well, you'll have to make that call for yourself.

Gallery: Archos 80 Xenon press shots

Filed under: Tablets

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Source: Archos

Although Panasonic's cellphones have traveled far from Japan, the company has left the hot Indian market relatively untapped -- until today, that is. The company is staking its first proper claim in the country with the launch of the P51. The Android 4.2-toting smartphone reflects the local market's taste for big-screened yet modest phones between its 5-inch, 720p LCD and quad-core 1.2GHz MediaTek processor, but comes across as a sort of Galaxy Note lite: Panasonic bundles both a capacitive stylus and a magnetic flip cover in the box. The remaining hardware is a slightly unusual mix of budget and premium components, with the so-so 1GB of RAM and 4GB of expandable storage buffered by an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front camera and support for both HSPA+ and dual SIM cards. The P51 will be comparatively expensive for India at 26,900 rupees ($517) contract-free when it's available next week, but it should be a bargain next to its pen-packing Samsung counterpart.

Update: Panasonic is being a bit clever with its Indian foray -- we now know that the P51 shares a TCL-built design template with the Alcatel Scribe Easy, keeping the French phone's basic formula while upgrading the processor, camera and screen resolution. However, the P51 is definitely identical to the TCL Y900 in China.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: FoneArena

Source: Panasonic

It apparently wasn't big enough to garner a mention earlier today, but Google has now followed up its slew of I/O keynote announcements with the news that it's moving Google TV to the latest versions of Android (that'd be 4.2.2) and Chrome. What's more, it also says that it's "refactored" Google TV so that its OEMs can update their devices to future versions of Android faster than they're currently able to -- in a "matter of weeks rather than months," according to Google. Likewise, Chrome for Google TV will now be on the same six week upgrade cycle as its desktop counterpart going forward, and it'll also now come with support for hardware-based content protection.

As for those with existing Google TV devices, though, the company's only saying that they can expect to see updates in the "coming months." We've yet to hear from most Google TV manufacturers themselves yet, but LG has chimed in to say that it will be updating its devices to Jelly Bean sometime in the third quarter of this year. You can get a look at what the update will bring in the video after the break showing off high performance apps enabled by NDK support, and an LG remote control app that has two-handed control for games and updates reflecting the action on-screen.

Update: Some have asked what this means for the future of Flash on Google TV. We've confirmed with Google that this does mean the end of Flash on Google TV since it's no longer supported on the newer versions of Android, and the build that was in Google TV was already out of date. The update will bring more enhancements to HTML5 streaming and interactive content -- hopefully the sites some users frequent will expand their technology platforms just as quickly.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google, LG

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Source: Google TV Developers, LG

While Intel's Clover Trail+ Atom platform has been slow-moving so far, with only a handful of noteworthy unveilings, it just got a big shot in the arm through the official launch of ZTE's Grand X2 In. The 4.5-inch, 720p Jelly Bean phone is smaller than the Geek we saw not long ago, but it still carries that 2GHz Atom Z2580 inside -- and it's quite the screamer for shutterbugs between its 24 frames per second burst shooting, zero shutter lag and image stabilization. It otherwise sits in the middle of the road like its ancestor, carrying an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1-megapixel front camera, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage. We're digging that soft-touch purple finish, though. Europeans should receive the Grand X2 In sometime in the third quarter of the year; there's no word on launches elsewhere, but you can be sure that we're interested in giving this x86 headliner a proper shakedown.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Intel

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Via: MojAndroid.sk (translated)

Source: ZTE

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

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Once upon a time (2007) in a land far, far away (Thailand) lived the i-mobile 902, a pseudo Sony Ericsson W800 clone featuring a trick five-megapixel autofocus camera with a Sony-made CCD sensor and xenon flash. At the time, it produced shots with the most detail and best low-light performance we'd ever experienced on any cameraphone, ever -- make no mistake, it took several years before CMOS-based shooters caught up. It was a well made handset, but fell somewhat short in every other area besides imaging. Fast-forward to yesterday, when Thai phone manufacturer i-mobile published a series of pictures of the IQ X and IQ XA, a pair of thin, handsome-looking Android 4.2 devices with a 4.7-inch 720p display and MediaTek's quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 SoC (MT6589). Read on and we'll run through some of the more curious specs -- not least the resolution of the cameras.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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Via: Siamphone

Source: i-mobile Thailand (Facebook)

If you're a fan of CyanogenMod, there's a good chance that flashing nightly builds of the 10.1 release is now damn near second nature. Fortunately, a more stable future is in store for you and your phone, as CyanogenMod has revealed that a final release is close at hand. As a buildup to that point, you'll find that Release Candidate builds are now available for installation. For the uninitiated, CyanogenMod 10.1 is based on Android 4.2.2, and along with many additional features, it serves as a great way to upgrade your device in the case that its manufacturer has given up. Hit the break for the complete list of devices to receive the Release Candidate treatment.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Source: CyanogenMod

After watching its international counterpart make the jump to Jelly Bean, Ma Bell's version of the original Galaxy Note is finally scheduled to receive its due. Starting on Thursday, Samsung's Kies servers will begin offering Android 4.1.2 to AT&T customers rocking the smartphone / tablet hybrid. While the update brings a host of new features, the main course is the introduction of Popup capabilities for notes, video and browsing. Surprisingly absent from AT&T's changelog is a mention of Google Now, which is typically embedded in devices running Jelly Bean. We'll reach out to the carrier for clarity on this missing item, but in the meantime classic Note owners, prepare to bid Ice Cream Sandwich adieu.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

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Via: Android Police

Source: AT&T

Google's big shake-up of Android version metrics has already given us a better understanding of where the platform's active users truly stand. Now that we're a month into the new methodology, we have a good sense of where those users are going -- and they're moving to Jelly Bean in droves. Android 4.1 and 4.2 combined grew to represent 28.4 percent of regular usage, or enough to finally overtake Ice Cream Sandwich at 27.5 percent. Not surprisingly, the transition to the newer OS involved a balanced mix of users either upgrading from ICS (down by 1.8 percent) or transitioning from devices running Gingerbread or earlier (down 1.7 percent). It will be a long while before Jelly Bean becomes the dominant platform, if it ever does, but we're not expecting a slowdown in adoption when flagships like the Galaxy S 4 and One are luring many of us into an upgrade.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google

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Source: Android Dashboard

HTC might be gearing up for a wider audio assault. Just days after the 606w made a pass through China's TENAA with stereo sound, a 608t cousin has made the agency rounds carrying its own pair of front speakers. If the 608t looks familiar, it should -- it's effectively a spin on the One SV body (or rather, the somewhat similar One ST from China) with both the reworked audio as well as the same navigation layout that first appeared on the One. While we can't verify rumors that the 608t will step up to Jelly Bean, a quad-core chip and an 8-megapixel rear camera, the TENAA report does show that it will include TD-SCDMA for China Mobile as well as GSM and WiFi. However subtle an upgrade the phone will be, about all that's left is for HTC to orchestrate a formal launch.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Via: Blog of Mobile (translated)

Source: TENAA (translated)

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Comments

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Tablets, Mobile

Comments