Hasta La Gadget!

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 September 17th, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Refresh Roundup: week of September 17th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 20:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qualcomm’s Vellamo app has been a part of the furniture in our Android benchmarking suite for a while now, providing a fun little test of browsing and networking speeds on almost any Android device. Version 2.0 adds something extra, however: a section called “Metal” that is all about putting your processor and memory through the wringer.

As a quick taster, we ran the new HTML5 and Metal tests on the HTC One X (both global and AT&T) and the Galaxy S III (global and Sprint), settling on the average of three consecutive results. Conspiracy theorists who think that Qualcomm’s app favors its own processors will only find further ammunition in the CPU results, however the HTML5 scores actually give the QCOM devices much less of a lead than the old Vellamo did, scoring all four handsets roughly equally. You’ll find the table overleaf, along with a publicity video that explains the update.

Continue reading Vellamo benchmark adds CPU and memory tests, here’s how it rates the One X and GS III

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Vellamo benchmark adds CPU and memory tests, here’s how it rates the One X and GS III originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Custom ROM fans will know AOKP (Android Open Kang Project), but the first build derived from Jelly Bean was knowingly rough around the edges. What a difference a month makes: along with the usual round of bug fixes, the team’s second build has added options to force screen rotation and the tablet interface on any device. Not-quite-so-early adopters also get fine-grained control over the interface DPI, LEDs, theming and vibration, and the device list has grown to include the Verizon Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note and multiple variants of both the original Galaxy S and the Galaxy Tab family. If you were waiting to stay just short of the bleeding edge before trying AOKP, your version is ready.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

AOKP team posts giant update to its Jelly Bean build, allows rotation and tablet UI anywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s tough to get excited about phone cases — really tough. But, we’ll admit that PowerSkin’s new Galaxy S III case did pique our interest a bit. It’s not a revolutionary design that makes us rethink smartphone protection, but it does pack a number of nice features that definitely make it more interesting than your average silicone skin. Most notable is NFC integration, which means you wont have to take your GS III out of its case to make payments or tap and share data. Of course, like other PowerSkins, it also packs a backup battery (this one a 1,500 mAh pack) that lets you cruise through a day of heavy usage with little worry. That silicone shield should also help keep your precious handset safe in the event of an accidental drop or fall (just don’t hit it with a hammer or anything). They’re available now for $80 and, if you’re curious, the official press release awaits you after the break.

Continue reading PowerSkin launches NFC-friendly battery case for Galaxy S III

Filed under: Mobile

PowerSkin launches NFC-friendly battery case for Galaxy S III originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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 September 3rd, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Refresh Roundup: week of September 3rd, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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