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 October 22nd, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Samsung, HTC, Google, LG

Refresh Roundup: week of October 22nd, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve known for months that HTC intends to upgrade the One X to Jelly Bean, but now it appears the update is finally going live, at least for folks in Taiwan. Members of the XDA Developers forum are chiming in about a 352.87MB OTA update that’s available within both HTC’s home country and Singapore, which brings Android 4.1.1 and HTC Sense 4+ to the One X. Jelly Bean’s appearance for the handset matches an earlier report from Engadget Chinese of an incoming update promised by HTC Taiwan. According to PocketDroid, general manager of HTC North Asia, Jack Tong, announced that One X users within Asia will see the update begin to roll today, and that the One S will also receive Jelly Bean a tad later. We’ve reached out to HTC to verify Mr. Tong’s comments, and for clarification of specific regions throughout Asia.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

HTC One X sees Jelly Bean rollout in Taiwan and Singapore, One S update reportedly coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 01:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shopping for a smartphone can be an exciting and arduous experience. Along with the promise of something new and fantastic, it brings the fear of commitment, and even worse, the prospect of saddling yourself to a lousy device for two years. Fortunately for you, Engadget spends tons of time playing with the latest gear and we’re constantly on the lookout for what’s coming next. If you’re wanting to take the pain out of shopping for a smartphone, you’ve come to the right place. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: your one-stop resource to finding the best and most exciting handsets on the market today.

Before you dive in, however, we’ve introduced a few changes to the buyer’s guide, so take a minute to prepare yourself for what’s in store. First and foremost, you’ll now find alternate selections to supplement our top picks. This should already be familiar to many of you, which is the same format we use for our seasonal gift guides. The next one is a biggie: we’ve dropped the QWERTY selection. By and large, manufacturers and carriers alike have shifted their focus away from keyboard-equipped smartphones, and you’ll rarely find more than one option on any given carrier. That said, if you still insist on the tactile experience, you’ll always find everything you need to know in our reviews. Finally, whenever possible, you’ll now find prices from Amazon Wireless, which allows us to provide you with more compelling budget selections and highlight the substantial savings that you can score by circumventing the carriers. It’s not like they need your charity, anyway.

If you’re curious to see how it all unfolded — and we know you are — join us after the break, where we round up the very best smartphones of the season.

Continue reading Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, Google, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, LG, T-Mobile

Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony is looking to ramp up their mobile efforts even more by introducing PlayStation Mobile, a new service that allows gamers to play a handful of games across different mobile platforms. The service will allow you start a game on one device (like the Vita), and pick up where you left off on another device (like an Android smartphone or tablet).

There are a couple caveats that you should be aware of, though. First, the service only works on “PlayStation Certified” devices, which means the Vita, obviously, but also only a handful of newer Android devices from Sony and HTC. The list consists of the Xperia Play, Xperia Arc, Xperia S, Xperia Ion, Xperia Acro, Xperia Acro HD, Sony Tablet S, Tablet P, the HTC One X, One X+, One S, and One V.

Second, PlayStation Mobile only works on up to three devices. This isn’t too much of a problem, since most users wouldn’t own more than a Vita, smartphone, and tablet at once, but for a service where its main selling point is playing games on multiple devices, you’d think they would allow unlimited devices or at least more than three.

Once you purchase games, and have PlayStation Mobile installed on three of your devices, you’re pretty much good to go. The games take advantage of both the Vita’s touchscreen and gaming controls, as well as the on-screen virtual DualShock controller for the Android devices. Right now, there are only 20 games to choose from, but we’re guessing that number will grow over time.

[via Android Community]

Sony PlayStation Mobile launches for Vita and select Android devices is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After its annus horribilis of 2011, HTC‘s year is looking considerably better. A solid reception to the One series and a potentially key deal to be the face of Windows Phone 8 – seized right under Nokia’s nose, no less – is the dressing around hardware that is finally compelling: attractive, competitively priced, not embarrassed in specifications. Now, with the HTC One X+, there are signs that HTC is addressing its last big blot on the score-sheet: cloud services.

I’ve been a vocal critic of HTC’s cloud strategy in the past. The company had a head-start on mobile device sync, on remotely accessing a smartphone from the browser, of streaming video, of cloud gaming; it frittered each advantage away, either leaving them to wallow with little promotion and even less love, or seemingly forgot it had them altogether. “Quietly blundering” was the HTC strategy, culminating in the bizarrely handled axing of HTCSense.com services altogether.

“Any company squandering a potential advantage deserves to be scolded”

But it’s not vitriol for vitriol’s own sake. In a market where Apple and Samsung have so definitively raised their game – and aren’t averse to combining competition on the shelves with some back-stabbing in the courtroom – any company that squanders any potential advantage deserves to be scolded.

HTC is now taking tentative steps back into the cloud. HTC Sense 4+, which debuts on the new One X+ flagship, reboots Sense online with “Get Started” – a way to easily configure your phone without having to actually paw and swipe at it. It’s front and center in the initial setup wizard and – as one of the few obvious changes in Sense 4+ – something HTC appears to be focusing on.

It’s very early days. Right now, “Get Started” is just that: a starting point for new Android users. You can set up your new device online – choose wallpaper, homescreen layout, and apps to download from Google Play – but you can’t then backup any changes you make on the phone itself. The sync is all one-way, a starting point (and a reset point) though there’s no real ongoing reason to keep visiting the online tool.

“HTC could play on the geeky anticipation felt while waiting for a new toy”

Nonetheless, I’m cautiously admiring of the new strategy. From what we’ve seen so far it’s being built out in recognition of HTC’s target audience: fresh smartphone users excited about their first device. The “set it up while you wait for it” approach could be a strong marketing point, playing on the geeky anticipation people feel when they’re waiting for a new toy. “Don’t just watch out the window for the mailman,” HTC should be telling people, “make your phone your own before it’s even in your hands.”

Sense online, in its old form, could’ve been a sticking point for HTC users. The value-add it brought should’ve been something HTC played on: don’t jump ship to iPhone, or another Android OEM, because then you lose out on contacts sync, on remote backup, on phone tracking and remote control in the comfort of your browser. Given the success of iCloud (and the persistent rumors that Samsung is developing its own, ahem, homage with S Cloud), HTC would be foolish not to revisit that strategy with Sense online 2.0.

HTC needs to be careful as it’s being expansive. Just as it needs to maintain sight of its “Hero Device” strategy, it also needs to deliver pitch-perfect cloud services. A 25GB DropBox bundle isn’t enough any more; users want holistic, integrated experiences they can’t get elsewhere. Apple has shown us that you needn’t throw the world at your audience, that it’s enough to give them a few core gems that are easily grasped and have clear value. Now, HTC needs to start looking at more than just one device after the next, and frame its line-up with a portfolio of cloud services that bring context and value users understand.

More on the HTC One X+ and Sense 4+ in our full hands-on

Is HTC finally making Sense? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.