Hasta La Gadget!

If you just can’t wait for the official Jelly Bean 4.2 update to land on your Galaxy Nexus, you can at least do a pretty good job of faking it. Last week saw the camera and gallery apps from the latest iteration of Google’s OS ported to the Nexus, and this week, Twitter user @KillDroidHack has done the honors of releasing another cluster. All Android 4.2 core apps — such as Gmail, Maps, Calendar and the like — are now available in APK form, as well as the newest version of Google Wallet. So, if you want the fresh set on your Nexus and have the loading know-how, head over to the Dev-Host links below to find the files you need.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google

Android 4.2 core apps and Google Wallet APKs released for pimping your Galaxy Nexus originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s no Key Lime Pie, but Android 4.2 is certainly a treat in its own right. The latest version of Google’s mobile OS makes a number of evolutionary improvements to its already impressive repertoire, including a new quick settings menu that can be accessed from the notification pull down and support for multiple user profiles. The multiple user support is especially handy for tablets like the new Nexus 10, which are much more likely to be shared, and now offer quick and easy user switching right from the lock screen. If you don’t want to share your tablet, just what’s on it, the new support for Miracast makes will allow you to wirelessly beam movies, games or anything else to a compatible display.

Google has also overhauled the photo experience and added Photo Sphere — a 360-degree panoramic shooting mode that captures everything around you. Obviously, you’ll be able to post those shots to Google+, but you’ll also be able to add them to Google Maps, basically creating your own personal Street View.

Developing…

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google

Google bumps Android to 4.2, keeps Jelly Bean moniker originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SwiftKey must be keen to finish its bout with Swype, as it just went for the knockout. It’s launching SwiftKey Flow, an extension of its Android keyboard that blends SwiftKey’s familiar word prediction with the hold-and-swipe gestures we most commonly associate with the company’s arch-rival. Speed-minded typists now just have to glide across the virtual keys and let go as soon as Flow makes a correct guess. They don’t have to pick a typing mode and stick with it, either, as both gestures and the usual taps will work at the same time. Prospective testers will want to sign up today for the SwiftKey Flow beta starting in the next few weeks. Everyone else, though, might want to watch from the bleachers — the new parallels between SwiftKey and Swype just made this fight infinitely more entertaining.

Continue reading SwiftKey Flow keyboard takes the fight to Swype with predictive gestures (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

SwiftKey Flow keyboard takes the fight to Swype with predictive gestures (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The back and forth continues. US International Trade Commission Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender has made an initial ruling that some Samsung’s devices violate four Apple patents, including one iPhone design patent (the one you see above) and three software patents. Apple didn’t manage a clean sweep, as Samsung was cleared of treading on two more patents, but the verdict still carries the all-too-familiar potential for a trade ban if the ITC maintains the findings in its final review. It’s bleak news for the Korean company, which faced an initial loss to Apple at the ITC just last month — even though large swaths of the mostly Android-based Galaxy phones and tablets in the dispute have long since left the market, an upheld verdict gives Samsung one less bargaining chip in a protracted legal war.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung

ITC rules that Samsung violates four Apple patents covering design, touch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon is one of the more common proponents of silly Android device names, in part through its insistence on that “Droid” prefix for some hardware. When its smartphone badges practically demand a pause for breath, you know there’s a problem. Android Central‘s purported copy of a Minimum Advertised Pricing list could show that there’s hope for the carrier yet. The chart shows the HTC DLX (6435LVW) skipping the rumored Droid Incredible X name in favor of Droid DNA — and that’s it. No superlatives, no arbitrary “4G LTE” tags to remind us of the network we already know we’re using. The 5-inch phone might have even been a reasonable launch, as the MAP shows a $200 contract price that would potentially take effect just before Thanksgiving.

Want more? Other smartphones are on the supposedly leaked MAP list as well, primarily focusing on Windows Phone 8 gear: the as yet unconfirmed Nokia Lumia 822 shows up with a $100 price and a mid-November release window, while Verizon’s take on the Windows Phone 8X is present with a $200 price and similar timing. Those who’d rather go for a Samsung phablet than HTC’s aren’t left out, either. The Verizon edition of the Galaxy Note II is on the list with a $300 price and availability that starts immediately — rather convenient, that.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Verizon

Verizon’s HTC DLX may be called Droid DNA, Windows Phone 8 devices get tentative prices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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