Articles about Android

HTC promised, and Samsung delivered.

After a number of leaked beta builds surfaced, the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy S III is now available in select European countries.

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Say, do you remember those phone hacks of the 1970s -- free calls using a whistle inside Capt'n Crunch cereal boxes? Or perhaps you recall the 1980's version, depicted in movie WarGames with a soda can pull top? Supposedly you can relive the underground hacking days, quite literally, using an Android app to get free subway rides.

My boss spotted a ZDNET story about this little, ah, gimmick from the Intrepidus Group. Due to a Near Field Communication-chip flaw, would-be digital turnstile jumpers can reset some transit cards to their original state using an Android app. That's another 10 free rides for you, bud.

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Microsoft is taking a considerable risk with the Windows 8 ecosystem and major push into the post-PC era. There is no room for error and to get it right all the parts must work in perfect harmony. Windows 8 faces stiff competition and must dismount all preconceptions it's a weak tablet operating system.

Microsoft enters the market fully prepared to take its opponents head-on. Instead of copying adversaries, the company takes the more mature approach of offering a different user experience. Every competitor should fear Windows 8 tablets, and I've got five reasons why.

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Almost two weeks after Amazon unveiled new tablets, the $199 7-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet gets "a new lease on life" through rooting.

Gaining elevated privileges (popularly known as "root") is facilitated by an exploit found in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that Amazon didn't fix before shipping the tablet. The fairly uncomplicated process gives the Kindle Fire HD a new trick up its sleeve -- using the Google Play Store, which provides access to all apps available there.

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In the world of Android distributions, one name stands above all -- CyanogenMod -- and praise doesn't come higher than that. Based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the popular CyanogenMod 10 should be a go-to for any modding enthusiast, be they a newcomer or aficionado looking for the custom ROM to unleash all the power without being too over-the-top.

As of late, CyanogenMod 10 offers increased flexibility by being available as a monthly release and nightly build, but what better way to experience the latest changes and the project evolution as a whole than running the latest cutting-edge nightly build?

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Asus' Windows 8 tablet roadmap leaked a few days ago, revealing the company's intention to launch three tablets powered by Microsoft's soon to be released Windows 8 operating system. Bloggers and journalists have used the roadmap to argue that the pricing is too high to compete effectively against Apple iPads and Android tablets. Taken aside that the pricing may not be final, it seems like they are right, if you only compare price and nothing else.

Asus' entry model, the Vivo Tab RT, for instance, lists with a starting price of $599. That's $100 more than Apple's cheapest new iPad model, and $300 more than Google's Nexus 7 tablet. But can you really make that comparison?

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You do even better! That's what I'd say to fellow BetaNews contributor Mihaita Bamburic if I ran into him in a hallway somewhere. As I watch with amusement, his "existential struggle" with the post-PC question, I have to chuckle a bit at his naïveté. Like most PC veterans, Mihaita tries to squeeze a square peg (tablet) into a round hole (desktop-centric thinking). He'll need to leave those preconceptions behind if he ever hopes to do more than scratch the post-PC surface.

For starters, reset your purchasing criteria. You need to forget about those expensive "clamshell" tablet/dock combos and start off with a simple, cheap Android tab. I picked up a dozen Acer Iconia A200s on eBay for use at the new school my wife and I are building. Prices ranged from $170-200 for refurbished units with 8GB or 16GB of onboard SD storage. At that price point, you can pretty much experiment to your heart's content without worrying about trashing some "transforming" device that costs more than a decent laptop.

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Motorola, which recently announced the Droid Razr HD smartphones as well as the Droid Razr HD Developer Edition, added a new smartphone to its line up -- the Razr i. In two color designs -- white and black, it bears an uncanny resemblance to the well-received Droid Razr M.

Unexpectedly, the star of the show is not the device itself, but rather Intel's Atom processor which makes it the first commercially available smartphone clocked at 2GHz. Just like the Droid Razr M, it comes with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display and, according to Motorola, a battery that is 40 percent more powerful than the competition. By competition, Motorola is referring to the year-old Apple iPhone 4S. On the back, there is an 8MP camera with an illuminated sensor and HDR (High Dynamic Range) capability, that can load in less than a second and can take 10 pictures using multi-shot mode, again, in less than a second as long as the display is not off.

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There's an encore to Jelly Bean Build 1. Android Open Kang Project team has announced the availability of the second release named Jelly Bean Build 2 that should be even more impressive that the first.

So what's new? AOKP Jelly Bean Build 2 is based on Android 4.1.1 , build number JRO03L and adds stability improvements, improved functionality and larger supported devices list, that now includes Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy S III for Verizon Wireless and even the venerable Samsung Galaxy S. As a nice bonus for Google Nexus 7 (grouper) owners, 720p video recording is enabled for the front-facing camera.

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Post-PC is a lifestyle I do not strive toward and I have very good reasons for that. Yet after buying my Galaxy Nexus, I started toying with the idea that maybe a tablet is not such a bad idea after all. I will not concede to the concept of a tablet being suited for all tasks, yet I can accept it for what it is -- a toy. I have not self-medicated, nor did I happen to change overnight, but there is a logic to my madness.

I am the type of person that gets easily bored by using the same thing over and over again, be it software or hardware, and it would only be a logical step to assume that a new device could put an end to my unconscious --or most likely conscious-- quest to find the perfect anti-boredom device. My needs are rather specific, and I struggle to find the reason why I would rationally want to make the switch to an all-purpose tablet, and there isn't one.

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Google is the center of a controversy about Acer's cancelled Aliyun OS phone launch, and there is seemingly no end to punditry about the search giant applying pressure, possibly even making threats. At the end of the day the whole mess has very little to do with whether or not Google is tightening its leash or if the issues at hand are all about piracy, as Google Android chief Andy Rubin claims.

Acer openly violated rules set forth by the Open Handset Alliance, and Google made the device manufacturer aware of the consequences. Unfortunately, Google being the one to speak shines a spotlight on a much deeper issue with the Open Handset Alliance.

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Motorola recently introduced the new Droid Razr HD family of smartphones, and to top off the recent announcement the Droid Razr HD Developer Edition looks ready to join the group.

What you will get is exactly the same device as the more "common" Droid Razr HD with an unlocked bootloader thrown into the mix. The result? A modding-friendly Motorola smartphone, and if the older Motorola Droid Razr Developer Edition is of any indication there will be no warranty and a hefty price tag.

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In October 2009, I explained why "Apple cannot win the smartphone wars". That was just a year after Google launched the first Android handset, the G1, on T-Mobile and days after Verizon debuted the hugely-successful Motorola Droid. By end of that year, Android had paltry 3.9 percent smartphone sales share, according to Gartner. My prediction drew loads of criticism from the Apple Fan Club of bloggers, journalists and other writers.

Fast-forward to second quarter 2012 and Android's global sales share is 64.1 percent for all phones, not just smart ones. iOS: 18.8 percent. My how times change. Increasingly, Android and iOS look exactly like Windows and Mac OS in the 1980s and 1990s, as I predicted would be the case.

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In what can only be described as a turning point for post-PC operating systems, cumulative Android device sales now exceed iOS, and in a shorter time period. Today, during a special media event, Apple reduced the cumulative number of iOS sales to 400 million -- that would be since iPhone's debut in June 2007. But yesterday, Google put Android sales at 500 million, from the G1's launch four years ago this month. The days of iOS' perennial lead are over.

Android has been on the catch-up track for better part of the year. At the end of June cumulative iOS shipments were 410 million, according to Apple. Why CEO Tim Cook put the number at 10 million less today is anyone's guess. Days before the quarter ended, Google put cumulative Android shipments at 400 million. A few months earlier: 365 million and 300 million, respectively. Daily Android activations now total 1.3 million, up from 900,000 in June, according to Google.

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That is the conclusion I reached after several weeks living la vida post-PC. With nothing but my trusty Acer Iconia Tab to work on while waiting for my house sale to close in Florida (see previous post about not needing a smartphone), I've managed to remain productive and connected without touching so much as a byte of "wintel" technology.

Well, maybe a few bytes. There have been the occasional detors off the Android wagon -- for example, when I needed to quickly print, sign and re-scan some legal documents and hijacked my daughter's Dell Inspiron for a few minutes (it was like pulling teeth -- she's quite possessive of her toys). However, for the most part I accomplished everything I needed to from the comfort of my Ice Cream Sandwich-based tablet. And the secret of my success had as much to do with the accessories that I surrounded the tablet with as with the device itself.

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