Android 4.3 |

Verizon updating Galaxy S3 to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

December 19, 2013 By Nicholas Anderton Leave a Comment

Verizon Wireless is on an Android 4.3 update spree, starting with the HTC One grabbing the last version of Jelly Bean and now the Galaxy S3 is getting an important update, even after one and a half years on the store front.

The Android 4.3 update comes with a host of other small updates, including an improved Premium Suite, updated Multi-Window and support for the Galaxy Gear, Samsung smartwatch that only runs on their devices running Android 4.3 and Android 4.4.

Samsung has been pushing out the Android 4.3 update since November and Verizon has managed to add the update to their carrier service before too long. Verizon has been known for their lack of effort when it comes to updating smartphones, but this year may be different for the largest carrier in the US.

The update will be coming over the air and is one of the larger updates we have seen from Verizon, but not uncommon for Samsung. The South Korean mobile giant love to bundle software updates with firmware updates, bug fixes and other free bloatware the user will either hate or never use.

It looks like this will be the last update the Galaxy S3 will receive, Samsung normally knock off their devices after 12 months and extend to 18 months if the phone did well and sold to millions of users worldwide.

The Galaxy S4 has been available for around 18 months now and it looks like Android 4.3 will be its send off, unless Samsung adds a cheeky Android KitKat 4.4 update before the Galaxy S5 gets released.

HTC One Max leaks in China with $800 price tag and October launch date

September 16, 2013 By Micheal Baptiste Leave a Comment

The HTC One Max will finish the ‘One’ range for 2013, with the original, the Mini and now the phablet. With the original HTC One about six months old now, it is about time to launch the HTC One Max, before the end of the year.

In China, the HTC One Max has already been fully revealed, with the internal specs, price tag and release date all available. This is a little sad for HTC, but the secret was out the box about a month ago when the rumors started surrounding the HTC T6.

On the specs side, the HTC One Max will stay true to its name with a 5.9-inch 1080p screen, quad-core Snapdragon processor (either S4 Pro or 600), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (no word on storage options), 3300mAh battery and Android 4.3.

The 4 Ultrapixel camera, 2.1MP front shooter and BoomSound speakers will return to the HTC One Max and so will the thin white strip across the back and sides of the smartphone, the same design as the HTC One Mini.

As the leak comes from China, the HTC One Max will have dual-SIM compatibility, LTE and GSM. The Chinese version also has a removable back and microSD slot, two features we are unlikely to see on the international variant for the US and Europe.

Price wise the HTC One Max is set to launch for about $800 in China, we may see a drop in price to $599/699 off contract in the US. In China they have named the smartphone the HTC 8088, with the country loving numbered smartphones and not names.

This is a big move by HTC with the third quarter not doing very well in terms of sales. With the love for big devices in Asia and a growing interest in the US and Europe, we may see the HTC One Max keep the Taiwanese company afloat in quarter four.

The HTC One Max should close the ‘One’ range for this year, with the next year bringing a new design and better performance, unless HTC decides to go a different way with their smartphones.

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Google cuts Nexus 4 price by $100, now available for $199

August 28, 2013 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Google already wowed customers when they started selling the 8GB Nexus 4 at $299 and the 16GB model for $50 extra. Not noticing they had hit gold with the cheap smartphone, the Nexus 4 was out of stock for the first few months since launch.

The Nexus 4 came with an almost complete set of top end specs, with a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, 720p display and adequate battery life, the only real mistake was not adding an LTE-chip for US buyers.

No figures have been released, estimates say the Nexus 4 has sold millions of units. We doubt this has hit double digit millions, considering the only carrier in the US carrying the Nexus 4 is T-Mobile and the only real way to get it off contract is through the Google Play store.

Google has dropped the price by $100 in the US and various amounts in Europe and the UK – now the phone only costs $199 off contract. This is an incredible deal for a smartphone with Android 4.3 and marginally lower specs than the top end phones today.

No word has been given by Google as to why the price drop has occurred, but as usual practice, it seems the company is lowering the price of the smartphone to get remaining stock sold, before the launch on the new Nexus device.

Leakers are still unsure about the next Nexus smartphone, for a while it was almost settled that LG would make the next generation Nexus 5, working with the same blueprint as the LG G2 with a few adjustments here and there to give it the Nexus feel.

However, new leaks say that Motorola will work with Google on the new ‘Moto Nexus’, this will be similar to the Moto X and Google may incorporate the Moto Maker for the new Nexus smartphone, allowing tons of customisations off contract.

The one problem with this leak is the international availability, Motorola is currently shipping the customised Moto X to the US only, with Canada and Latin America getting the stock black and white versions for the time being.

If Google were to go international with the Moto Nexus, they would either need to crop down the amount of customisations, the return guarantee or the US assembling, each one is collateral to getting the Nexus device on the international grid.

iOS 7 Beta 4 Release Date – The Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Competitor May Not Release Soon

August 1, 2013 By Nicholas Anderton Leave a Comment

Since Apple is not talking anything about the release of iOS 7 Beta 4 and the re-launching of Developer Center, iOS developers are speculating that the release will not happen anytime soon. Previously, it was reported by many tech sites that iOS 7 Beta 4 would release and even compete against the newly released Android 4.3. However, it does not seem to happen that way now.

The iOS Developer Center portal went offline last Thursday. Apple had stated that it was because a hack that the company decided to make the Developer Center go offline. This can cause the iOS 7 Beta release to get delayed even more. There won’t be any issues in performing iPhone app updates. iDevices users do not need to worry anything about the hack. The only details that were accessed through the hack include names of the developers, email ids and physical address.

The iOS 7 Beta 4 release was about to happen very soon but until the Developer Centers is brought online, we don’t feel that Apple will release iOS 7 Beta 4 update. Till the time iOS Developer Center portal is not brought online, users will experience slowness when performing app updates and accessing new app releases. However, the access to the updates will not stop. Now, Apple is working on launching a more powerful and secure Developer Center.

To keep the users informed about the status of recovery from the recent hacking, Apple has already created a status which clearly informs the reads on the plan of action Apple will be taking on Developer Center to bring it online. Even though the iOS 7 Beta release is essential, Apple is now focusing to fix developer functions that will allow them to create and sell apps to iDevice users powered with iOS 6.

A week has passed after the hack attack and still the Developer Center is offline. The portal is not accessible to developers and testers of iOS 7 beta. People who were excited about the iOS 7 beta 4, they were expecting the update to be available on last Monday. It was expected because of the two-week release cycle which has been happening since the first beta version of iOS 7 was released. Now that the Developer Center remains offline, developers are unable to submit required apps and files and are now in wait for the new update of iOS 7 beta to become available.

On Twitter, we spotted two iOS 7 developers expressing that the beta 4 release make take few weeks to arrive. These people are not employees from Apple and the news has not come from Apple, but these are just comments made by experienced Apple developers.

The iOS 7 beta 3 is scheduled to go expire by August 29. Since a month’s time is available on Apple side, the Cupertino company can make the best of the ample time to fix the problem and bring the iOS Developer Center online. However, apart from speculations, nobody has a clear idea about Apple’s situation.

Apple had sent emails to iOS and OS X developers stating that Apple is planning to release updated systems by beginning with certificates, identifiers and profiles, developer forms, and libraries. After this, they plan to restore downloading of software which will make the beta versions of iOS 7, OS X Mavericks available again to the developers.

Since the iOS 7 beta 4 was scheduled to release but hasn’t made it because of the hack, there is no way to fix bugs and access new features because of unavailability of iOS 7 Beta 4. Experts feel that Apple is continuously working on newer editions of iOS 7 beta. According to the recent leaks, Apple is working on a different build which supports offline dictation.

Galaxy S3 Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean Update Rolled out by AT&T Android 4.3 Not yet

August 1, 2013 By Mary Duncan Leave a Comment

The AT&T edition of the Galaxy S3 would have Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update as the same has now been released by AT&T recently. AT&T has been late in rolling out the update for the Galaxy S3 for users of the said device have already received the upgrade from their respective provider in the US much before. Sure version 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is not the latest Android update though it is always a nice feeling when there is an update available.

And the reason for that is there are new set of features that updates come along with and the Galaxy S3 benefits from the introduction of several cool features. This includes the Samsung “Premium Suite,” a feature that allows for multi-window functions on the handset. This will allow users to have two simultaneous apps running on two window panes. The “Auto Share Shot” makes sharing of photo a breeze though the feature requires the other devices to which the file is to be sent must have NFC and S-Beam enabled. The camera itself has the option, after the upgrade for paper artist and best face functions. Functions for easier access to calendar, SD Card is also brought in by this upgrade as also enhancement to the existing S-Voice function. Some of the interesting apps that the update includes are Drive Mode, Family Map, Live TV, SmartWifi, AT&T services and AT&T locker.

The latest Android version that Google recently launched is Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. With the S3 benefitting from the Android 4.2.1 update, some opine that the next upgrade for the Galaxy S3 would be a jump to Android 4.3 without resorting to any incremental jump in between. At least Samsung has officially confirmed such a move to the Australian carrier Telstra and its likely to be applicable to the S3 as well.

Meanwhile, users of the S3 would start receiving their updates OTA by end of today. Users who do not update their sets till 7^th august would be notified by AT&T individually regarding this update.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Skip Android 4.2.2 Update For Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

July 31, 2013 By David Crozier 1 Comment

Samsung has added one more to its list of devices that won’t be provided with the Android 4.2.2 update, the Galaxy Nexus. The revelation was made by Vodafone Australia claiming the said device will be provided with the more advanced Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update instead. Till then, the device will remain stuck at Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean. Among the other devices that will also be making the Android 4.3 jump include the Galaxy Note 2 and the Galaxy S3. Telstra too has confirmed the cancellation of the Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy Note 2 earlier this month.

Google had launched the Android 4.3 just last week which was followed by a mad scramble among Android device manufacturers to provide the update for their respective devices. Surprisingly, the said update has already been rumored to be undergoing tests for the Google edition of the HTC One as well as the Samsung Galaxy S4 though a firm announcement for both is yet to arrive. Meanwhile, Sony has already come up with a list of devices that will be upgraded to the latest Android build. These include the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia SP, as well as the more recent Xperia Z Ultra.

Samsung has already made it known their commitment to providing the latest Android update for its smartphones and tablet devices. This is a good sign considering users who have been holding on to the company’s erstwhile flagship devices will get to enjoy the latest Android features. However, this might not be applicable to the S2 that will get to taste Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and none beyond that.

Sony Xperia Z Andriod 4.3 Jelly Bean Update – Sony Confirms Xperia Devices to Get New Android Update

July 30, 2013 By Nicholas Anderton Leave a Comment

Sony confirmed that its line of Xperia Z devices will get the newest Android 4.3 update. The official announcement was made by Sony on Thursday. The devices that are supposed to receive the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update include Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia SP, and Xperia Z Ultra. Apart from these smartphones, the only tablet to get the Android 4.3 update is the Xperia Tablet Z.

Sony is also considering providing Android 4.3 update to its other handsets which are currently running on Android 4.1. The Android 4.3 update was first made available by Google on is Nexus phones and tablets. When the most of the smartphones and tablets were running on Android 4.1, at that time Google had announced the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update. Like always, the update was first rolled out for Nexus devices. However, only few devices received the Android 4.2 update. We hope that the Android 4.3 update is made available for most of the devices that are still running on Android 4.1 Sony is the first among the top brands to get the Android 4.3 upgrade.

Even though Sony made arrival of Android 4.3 update official, the company is yet to announce the precise dates. Since Sony has announced that they will provide Android 4.3 update to handsets running on Android 4.1, this is a welcome relief to the users who have been endlessly waiting for the arrival of Android 4.2 update on their handsets.

Sad thing is that Sony has not been quick in offering Android releases to its customers. In December 2012, Sony had announced that they will be offering Android 4.2 updates to all the Xperia devices that were rolled out in 2012. However, the process was accomplished in the previous month. Sony has acknowledged the fact that they were slow in providing the Android updates. The company is aware of the frustrations customers have gone through and they are consistently making efforts to bring about improvements.

Another thing Sony users needs to be aware of is that the availability of the Android 4.3 update depends on the approval from carriers. However, this time around Sony hopes to provide the updates as quickly as possible. Currently, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is ruling the smartphone market and the next one to follow is HTC One. Hence, Sony does not want to stay behind and wants to offer the latest Android update on most of its devices.

Samsung has announced that they will be offering Android 4.3 update in the forthcoming months. HTC will also be offering the newest Android for its handsets but before that they wish to review the software and see it fits their plans. Even other brands will ensure that they offer the latest Android 4.3 to its customers. The specific date of Android 4.3 update is not available yet but we feel that the update will be out in November or December. This can be good for Sony as most people in US are expected to make purchases during the holiday season.

The Android 4.3 update cannot be called a ‘major’ update but it does improve the performance of the operating system. It also brings new features such as restricted profiles, Bluetooth Smart technology, better streaming multimedia support, and auto-complete feature in dialer.

At present, Xperia Z and Xperia ZL are the two devices from Sony that are in the process of receiving the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update. The next in line are the Xperia ZR and Xperia Z tablet to receive Android 4.3 update in the coming month. So, we can know that at least for these devices the Android 4.2 will not be skipped which means these devices may take some more time to receive the Android 4.3 update.

We hope that the new Android 4.3 becomes available to all the recent Xperia devices very soon. Sony has been quite slow in releasing the updates. Now is the time to release updates to stay in competition with the market leaders.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Update not a Major Update from 4.2.2 Android

July 28, 2013 By Lori David Leave a Comment

With Google finally announcing its Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, it’s now time for the device manufacturers to act and update their hardware respectively. The above is already applicable to the Nexus device range which includes the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and the Nexus 10 (official intimation have started reaching out in some regions) while Sony too has come up with the list of devices to be upgraded to Android 4.3 jelly bean.

However, Samsung seems to be least perturbed with the change of events and has stated they will reveal their plans to upgrade their devices at an appropriate time. Android Jelly Bean version 4.3 may not be a big upgrade over the older version Android 4.2.2, and hence, there is not much to be missed. But still there is hope among the users of Samsung Galaxy S3 that the company might keep them updated.

Meanwhile, some of the recent developments show that Samsung has firmed up plans of skipping the Android 4.2.2 update and instead has plans of rolling out the 4.3 version sometime in November. Samsung has not confirmed the news yet though an Australian carrier has claimed to have received word from the South Korean manufacturer about skipping the Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy Note 2 in favor of the more recent 4.3 version of Jelly Bean. That the same approach will also be applicable to all regions and more devices including the Galaxy S3 is all too evident. Further, a recent leak from Samsung India has revealed the Android 4.3 build for the Galaxy S3.

As such, there is not much for Samsung Galaxy S3 owners to do at this point, other than waiting for the South Korean electronics biggie to reveal something more definitive on this.

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Update for Galaxy S2 won’t Come from Samsung

July 28, 2013 By Lori David Leave a Comment

With Google having announced the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean version which will remain in vogue until the Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie is launched, manufacturers the world over have engaged in a mad rush to update their hardware to the latest software build. Key Lime Pie is rumored for a release not before early 2014, which means the current Android version will remain the latest version for several months now. However, while the devices that are still fresh in the market can be sure of their elevation to the Android 4.3 version, those that has been there in the market for quite some time may not be fortunate enough to be provided with the 4.3 update.

Take for instance the Galaxy S2 which was launched by Samsung amidst much fanfare in 2011. However, while the South Korean manufacturer has already made it known they are committed to providing updates to the latest software build for the smartphones and tablet devices it has launched last year, the same might not be extended to the devices it launched way back in 2011, which virtually rules out the latest Android flavor 4.3 jelly bean for the Galaxy S2. The S2 had started out with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has subsequently been updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with the latter having being made available this January itself. However, it’s Android 4.2.2 where the update saga for the S2 is expected to come to an end.

So its features such as Daydream, Quick Settings, new enhanced notifications area as well as the new TouchWiz user interface that users of the Galaxy S2 can look forward to at the most. That said, it is not the lack of Android 4.3 Jelly Ben update for the S2 that is likely to hurt users of the said device the most but Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie which is touted to be a comprehensive improvement over the current Android version.

Google Nexus 4 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Update – Manual Downloads Available

July 27, 2013 By David Crozier Leave a Comment

Google’s Android head, Sunder Pichai had stated the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the Nexus devices will be out the same day the latest Android build was released. It was on Wednesday last and three days later, things obviously have not turned out the way it should have been. Instead, Google has resorted to using the ‘coming soon’ tag and has revised the schedule of the coming of the Android 4.3 to the Nexus 4 to the next few days. Other devices that are also awaiting the coming of the Android 4.3 update are the Nexus 7, Nexus 10 as well as the Google Nexus.

However, before it gets too disappointing, the above applies to the update being pushed over the air since the update has already emerged online and can be downloaded manually.

However, before beginning with the download process, users will have to ensure they have Android Android 4.2.2 (JDQ39) build running on their devices. Also of course, the usual pre installation guideline of creating a backup of the device is extremely necessary to prevent nasty surprises later on. The official intimation of the update is still being sent out and it be a couple of days more for the same to make it to every Nexus device out there.

As for the update itself, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean version might not be anything to get too excited about as it marks a rather small improvement over Android 4.2.2. Among the new features to look out for include better parental controls who can now restrict the usage of app or games they deem unfit for this kid’s use and so on. The Android 4.3 build will however be faster than the current version.