Articles about Jelly Bean

If you deem the Samsung Galaxy Note II as being either too small or too big for your taste, then you'd better look out for Huawei's new phablet. Ahead of the big CES opening day, the Chinese telecommunications company unveiled the Ascend Mate, the "smartphone with the world's largest screen". And with a 6.1-inch panel it's quite difficult to think of a more suitable claim.

The Galaxy Note II ships with a 5.5-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, but the Ascend Mate easily tops it thanks to the 6.1-inch HD IPS+ LCD panel, which Huawei admits to be "huge". The 1280 by 720 resolution is however on the lower end of the spectrum judging by recent pre-CES announcements, namely the Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL. The Ascend Mate is powered by Huawei's own 1.5Ghz quad-core Hi-Silicon processor and a whopping 4,050mAh battery, again, topping the Galaxy Note II by 950mAh.

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Right before the big opening day at CES, Japanese manufacturer Sony took the wraps off two new Android smartphones -- the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL. Both sport similar under-the-hood specifications but different looks on the outside. Likely making up for the late upgrade schedule for previous Xperia handsets, Sony is adamant that it will update both smartphones from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the second Jelly Bean iteration "shortly after launch".

The Xperia Z and Xperia ZL follow smartphones like the HTC DROID DNA and Oppo Find 5 in delivering large 1080p displays paired with quad-core processors. Both handsets feature a 5-inch TFT panel with a resolution of 1920 by 1080, with the former of the two devices protected by a "shatter proof sheet of scratch-resistant glass". Power comes from a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor paired with an Adreno 320 graphics card and 2GB of RAM.

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The Computer Electronics Show gathers a significant number of companies and prospective buyers alike in Las Vegas for four days starting Tuesday. However, many companies didn't wait for opening day. Which among the early birds stand out from the others?

From the plethora of pre-show announcements most are oriented towards general consumer appliances. For instance, LG's presentation emphasized 39 new driers and 72 new fridges, among super expensive OLED TVs. For a passionate technology enthusiast like myself CES is not Heaven, it's utter Hell. Still, within the literally hundreds of announcements there are some exciting products unveiled in all the pre-show madness.

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Little more than three months since the last build, breaking away from the previous Sunday release schedule, the team behind Android Open Kang Project (AOKP) unveiled Jelly Bean MR1 Build 1. The latest build represents the first official release based on Android 4.2, sporting most of the custom distribution's traditional features.

The work on Android 4.2-based builds started from scratch after Google released the latest green droid operating system, a "tough decision" according to the team behind AOKP. At the moment, Jelly Bean MR1 Build 1 delivers most of the previously known features such as widely customizable navigation bar, including buttons, color or widgets to name a few, custom vibrations, LED Control, lockscreen targets, Quiet Hours and advanced sound settings, among others. However, there are some new features included as well.

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Gingerbread, your reigning days are numbered as Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean aim to take your crown! For the first time in recent months the two year-old operating system drops under 50 percent in the Android distribution charts, based on the number of devices accessing Google Play during the 14 days ending January 3.

On November 13, Google released its latest treat in the candy jar, Android 4.2. Little under two months later, the second Jelly Bean iteration claims a distribution level of 1.2 percent of all green droid devices, a number 50 percent higher compared to the previous figures released in early December. The significant growth can be attributed to sales and software upgrades for Nexus-branded devices such as the Nexus 4, Nexus 10, and Nexus 7, respectively.

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If there's one word that best describes my personal tech use for 2012, change is definitely it. For the most part of the year I "cheated" one platform with another, with no particular personal favorite to get me through (almost) 365 days. Each piece of software and hardware is used for a particular scenario, something that I find rather soothing for my personal early adopter endeavors as well as my sanity. I just can't stand tinkering with the same bit of tech for longer periods of time, although there still is a dear old friend in my life...

My colleagues Alan Buckingham and Wayne Williams already wrote about their personal tech choices in 2012, and now it's my turn. Without further ado here is what I used most throughout the year, starting with my trusty dear old friend.

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After almost three weeks since Samsung announced the Premium Suite upgrade for the Galaxy S III, the South Korean manufacturer officially revealed that the older Galaxy Note is set to receive the same software treatment alongside the coveted Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade.

The previously available leaked ROMs gave away Samsung's plans to introduce Premium Suite functionality as well the first Jelly Bean iteration for the original Galaxy Note, however details were scarce at the time. Users can now expect to take advantage of a number of new features including Multi Window, which allows to view two apps concomitantly or Popup Browser, Note and Video to display a web page, create notes and watch a video while running other apps.

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Apple's newest iPad and mainstream Android tablets couldn't be more different in the display department -- the former embraces a more conservative 4:3 format while the latter prefer the multimedia-oriented widescreen panels. However, French consumer electronics company Archos deviates from the norm with the 97 Titanium HD, an Android tablet with an iPad 4-like display.

The 97 Titanium HD tablet features a 9.7-inch IPS display with 10 point multitouch and a resolution of up to 2048 x 1536. Power comes from a 1.6GHz dual-core processor based on the A9 architecture, a quad-core Mali 400 MP4 graphics card and 1GB of RAM, a combination similar to the one found in the original Samsung Galaxy Note. The tablet also sports 8GB of internal memory, alongside a microSD card slot that can extend the storage capacity by a further 64GB. What about the software?

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If you're looking for a Samsung-made Android smartphone that is bigger than the Galaxy S III yet smaller than the Galaxy Note II, fret not! On Tuesday, the South Korean manufacturer unveiled the Galaxy Grand, which slots right between the two with a 5-inch display.

That's the extent of the comparison between the three handsets, though. The Galaxy Grand may feature a 5-inch display, but it sports an outdated 800 by 480 resolution which is subpar when compared to high-end devices, and is actually closer to many entry level offerings on the market today. The smartphone also ships with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, aided by a fairly large 2,100mAh battery.

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For an Android manufacturer that supports the modding community, Sony sure knows how to keep customers waiting. Almost two months after the previous announcement, the Japanese corporation released an updated Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade schedule for 2012 Xperia smartphones and, sadly, the news is no better this time around.

The upgrade plans for the company's newest smartphones, the Xperia T, Xperia TX and Xperia V, appear unchanged. The three devices will receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean "during February and March" 2013, on par with the previous estimate provided by Sony just under two months ago. However, for older smartphones, customers will have to wait a little longer for the coveted upgrade.

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A month has passed since I started using Nexus 10, Google's first 10.1-inch tablet, which Samsung manufactures. iPad is reason for the delay writing this review. I bought the first three generation models and sold each within two months. The appeal didn't last, in part because of the user interface's long-term limited utility. So Nexus 10 faced resistance before I opened the box and for another, compelling reason: I was (and still am) hugely satisfied with sibling Nexus 7, which form factor and feel in the hand hugely appeal. After a month of testing, just to make sure, I don't plan on selling the larger tablet; its immediate fate won't be that of iPad 1, 2 or 3.

I definitely recommend Nexus 10 to anyone considering a tablet this year in the $400-$500 range. Nexus 7 ($200-$300) is a better option for the budget conscious -- or even Kindle Fire HD ($300-$600). I don't recommend iPad 4 or mini. They cost too much ($329-$829) for the benefits, and iOS has fallen behind Google and Microsoft operating systems. My experience with Surface RT is limited, but the tablet makes a great first impression such that it's worth considering -- and easily over Apple's larger tablet.

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Modders, get your tools ready! Little short of three weeks after the team behind the popular custom Android distribution CyanogenMod introduced official builds for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, CM 10.1 nightly releases are starting to make their way onto more supported devices.

At the time of writing this article CyanogenMod 10.1 builds are available for the Samsung Galaxy S III (codename "I9300", "d2att" and "d2tmo"), Galaxy S II (codename "I9100" and "I9100G"), Galaxy S (codename "I9000" and "I9000B"), Galaxy Nexus (codename "maguro"), Google Nexus 7 (codename "grouper"), as well as ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity ("codename "tf700t"). The latest nightly release, dated December 17, is based on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean, build number JOP40D, and delivers a significant number of features, either ported from previous iterations of the custom distribution or adapted for the new version of Android.

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Android modding is often perceived as a rare disease that must be treated at all costs with tightly locked bootloaders and impossible to root devices. When users do want to remove the shackles imposed by manufacturers, and carriers alike, there's always a sense that someone will suddenly knock on the door and say: "Stop, we'll void your warranty. Your device must run unadulterated software!" That's just limited thinking. Modding is beneficial and not just for those roaming around in obscure corners of the interwebs.

Some argue that modding is just that insignificant other that is over-hyped per the overall scheme of things. When enthusiasts ask for unlocked bootloaders or maybe easier to root devices, those very same people will shorty argue with "Most people don't need that, so your wish doesn't matter!" Obviously there's some "truth" to that, because in most cases the deniers don't bother to read thousands of forum posts or even to check custom Android distribution statistics. Yes, there are such things.

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That was fast. Little short of three months ago Android 4.1 Jelly Bean made its way onto the international Samsung Galaxy S III and, starting Friday, the coveted operating system is available for the Verizon Wireless branded handset as well.

The software upgrade, bearing the "JRO03L.I535VRBLK3" moniker, comes in at a rather modest 62MB in size and upgrades the Galaxy S III to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, build number JRO03L. Users should expect a number of new features, the most noteworthy of which include better voice search capability through Google Now, a revised notification panel, resizable widgets, and improved camera software. There's also a treat for global travelers.

Big red customers that wish to take the Galaxy S III abroad now have the ability to select a new "Global" option in "Preferred network mode". It will allow the handset to operate on international carrier networks, without resorting to modding to enable GSM compatibility.

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People that want to try out Google's latest voice assistant on green droid devices are confined by the search giant to use either of the two Jelly Bean iterations. However, Google Now also makes its way onto Ice Cream Sandwich through third-party app GNow Handlebars.

Previous to GNow Handlebars, the process of installing Google Now onto Android 4.0 mostly involved flashing files in a custom recovery like ClockworkMod or TWRP. Now the same result can be achieved simply by opening the app and selecting the voice assistant to kick off the installation. There is also a restore option available that brings back the older Google Search, which should come in handy if something goes wrong.

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