Official Jelly Bean for Samsung Galaxy S III spotted in the wild, blends old with new (video)

Official Jelly Bean for Samsung Galaxy S III spotted in the wild, blends old with new video

Getting Jelly Bean to run on a Galaxy S III has so far required a strictly unofficial build that strips away much of Samsung’s handiwork. If you prefer the official software to the point where thoughts of TouchWiz keep you comfortable at night, you’ll be glad to hear that a beta of a more official Android 4.1 upgrade has reportedly landed in the hands of AndroidMX.net. An extensive video look in Spanish (after the break) almost completely mirrors what you’d expect: clear advantages like the expanded notifications and Google Now make the cut, while Samsung’s Nature UX vibe remains intact. Only a few minor surprises have snuck their way in, such a brightness slider in the notification bar that we’d previously seen in some firmware for the Galaxy Note. We’re skeptical of claims that Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S III is just days away — Samsung isn’t exactly known for speedy Android updates. As long as the update we’ve seen here isn’t just a clever hack, however, it’s close enough to completion that it might tame the pessimists.

Continue reading Official Jelly Bean for Samsung Galaxy S III spotted in the wild, blends old with new (video)

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Official Jelly Bean for Samsung Galaxy S III spotted in the wild, blends old with new (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Droid-Life  |  sourceAndroidMX.net (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

SwiftKey 3.0.1 brings new themes, languages and bug fixes

SwiftKey 301 brings new themes, languages and bug fixes

Rejoice, Android keyboard enthusiasts! SwiftKey announced today that it’s pushing out an update to its popular virtual keyboard that brings new themes, languages and bug fixes. Version 3.0.1 incorporates two new summer themes — Sky blue and Fuchsia — and bumps the language count to 44 with the addition of Malay and Urdu. The keyboard now also supports continuous dictation with Google voice typing on Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. Most important, however, are a plethora of tweaks, performance improvements and bug fixes designed to further improve the SwiftKey user experience. We’ve been using the update for a few hours now on AT&T’s red Galaxy S III and it definitely makes our favorite Android virtual keyboard even better. Hit the break for screenshots of the new themes plus the full PR.

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SwiftKey 3.0.1 brings new themes, languages and bug fixes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dropbox Android preview shows off video thumbnails and Nexus 7 UI, yearns for your approval

Dropbox Android preview shows off video thumbnails and Nexus 7 UI, yearns for your approval

It appears that Dropbox is also tweaking its Android app to better suit the Nexus 7 and Jelly Bean. The cloud storage outfit made a recent build (2.1.8.6 to be exact) of its mobile software available for download as a sneak preview of sorts. A few fortunate subscribers got first dibs, but you can grab a look for yourself at the improvements. The tweaks include video thumbnails, improved video playback on both ICS and Jelly Bean, a Nexus 7-friendly UI and the ability to open Dropbox files directly from other applications. If you’re jonesin’ for a look, visit the source link below to do just that.

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Dropbox Android preview shows off video thumbnails and Nexus 7 UI, yearns for your approval originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Iconia Tab A110 allegedly caught brandishing Jelly Bean in press shots

Acer Iconia Tab A110 allegedly caught brandishing Jelly Bean in press shots

When we last left Acer’s Iconia Tab A110, it was going to be yet another 7-inch Android 4.0 tablet. No big deal. The proposition just became a little more intriguing now that online shop Ebuyer has posted what might be formal press shots of the A110 sporting a fresh coat of Jelly Bean, making it one of the first third-party Android 4.1 tablets that we’ve seen. Assuming the gallery isn’t just a clever attempt to whip customers into a frenzy, the posting suggests Acer’s design will follow the Nexus 7 formula all the way through to the stock interface. About the only differences are that empty home screen and incredibly generic wallpaper. Where it goes awry is the timing: without any hint of a release date, we don’t know if a Jelly Bean update would push the A110 beyond its original summer launch target. Any truth to the story, however, can only mean good things for the tablet’s larger A210 sibling.

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Acer Iconia Tab A110 allegedly caught brandishing Jelly Bean in press shots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 01:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Netbooknews, Tabletblog.de  |  sourceEbuyer  | Email this | Comments

Engadget Giveaway: win one of four Nexus 7 tablets, courtesy of NVIDIA!

Engadget Giveaway win one of four Nexus 7 tablets, courtesy of NVIDIA!

We declared Google’s new flagship tablet, the ASUS-made Nexus 7, to be the best slate that $200 can buy — as well as one of our top choices for students — and while it’s hard to beat the price, we’re going to give four of them away regardless! This week’s contest is all thanks to NVIDIA, the folks behind the quad-core Tegra 3 that powers the Jelly Bean tablet and turns gaming into a smooth and pleasant experience. These little guys are definitely worth a grab, so add a comment to enter!

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Engadget Giveaway: win one of four Nexus 7 tablets, courtesy of NVIDIA! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Refresh Roundup: week of August 6th, 2012

Refresh Roundup week of August 6th, 2012

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!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of August 6th, 2012

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Refresh Roundup: week of August 6th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC G1 auditions CyanogenMod 10, runs Jelly Bean at a snail’s pace (video)

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Putting Google’s latest candy-coated OS update on the very first Android phone? We’ve got a guy for that. Jcarrz1, the same wizard from XDA-Developers who ported Ice Cream Sandwich to the HTC G1, has managed to port a buggy build of CyanogenMod 10 to the handset — which puts Jelly Bean on the oldest hardware possible. Sadly, the old handset isn’t up to Project Butter’s 60FPS interface, but brave tweakers can still use the device’s touchscreen for apps, CM10 features and a partially functional Google Now. WiFi is also up and running, but cellular data is MIA. Check out the video above to see the pre-alpha build in action, or try it out for yourself at the source link below.

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HTC G1 auditions CyanogenMod 10, runs Jelly Bean at a snail’s pace (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we’re leaning back with our tablets — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of August we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — you can hit up the hub page right here!

DNP Engadget's back to school guide 2012 tablets

Your back may be straining from the textbooks, laptop, gym gear and lunch in that dangling overstuffed messenger, but you’re still gonna want to save room for one more item — a tablet. After all, while you can surf, tweet, play games and watch video from your other devices, there’s nothing like doing it from a simple glass window that sits in the palm of your hand. As the hardware gets more powerful, these devices are rapidly becoming versatile enough to let you justify leaving the laptop at home on less-intensive days, so why not check out our picks of the finest devices you should be using and abusing before, during and after class.

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Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TouchPad gets an early taste of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean courtesy of CyanogenMod 10 (video)

TouchPad gets a taste of Android 41 Jelly Bean courtesy of CyanogenMod 10 video

Want the latest version of Android on your device? Sure, we all do, and despite HP having put the TouchPad out to pasture long ago, the modder community isn’t giving up hope. One brave soul over at Xda Developers who goes by the handle Jscullins can (and should) be thanked for bringing bargain tablet lovers a dose of CyanogenMod 10. It’s still a preview build lacking, among other things, sound and video acceleration, but if you absolutely have to get a buttery smooth UI on your tablet right now hit up the source link for the download. Or, you could just check out the video of it in action after the break courtesy of Liliputing. It’s probably safer.

Continue reading TouchPad gets an early taste of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean courtesy of CyanogenMod 10 (video)

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TouchPad gets an early taste of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean courtesy of CyanogenMod 10 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Liliputing, Slashgear  |  sourceXda Developers  | Email this | Comments

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean proven carrying rough but working code for multi-user support (video)

Android 41 Jelly Bean proven carrying rough but working code for multiuser support video

If there’s ever been a persistent gripe among families sharing mobile devices, it’s been the absence of multiple user profiles — hand that iPad or Nexus 7 to Junior and you may have to play a spot-the-differences game when it comes back. Some long overdue testing of previously found code references in Jelly Bean shows that Google, at least, has explored ending that anxiety over who uses the family gadgets. Command-line code in AOSP-based versions of Android 4.1 will let you create a separate guest profile, complete with its own lock screen security, home screen layout and limited settings. To say that the code is unpolished would be an understatement, however. Apps and even some notifications cross over from the main account, which could prove more than a little embarrassing if the hardware is left in the wrong hands. At least it’s easy to revert back, as the instructions (and video after the break) show. The real challenge will be waiting to see when — or really, if — Google gets to finishing multi-user code and turns that Nexus 7 into the communal tablet we want it to be.

Continue reading Android 4.1 Jelly Bean proven carrying rough but working code for multi-user support (video)

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Android 4.1 Jelly Bean proven carrying rough but working code for multi-user support (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceXDA-Developers  | Email this | Comments