Hasta La Gadget!

Android Ice Cream Sandwich has finally broken the 10-percent barrier for active installs, meaning 1-in-10 Android devices run the OS which has, ironically, just been superseded by Jelly Bean. Android 4.x installs are to be found on 10.9-percent of Google Play-accessing devices, according to the latest batch of platform break-down stats, though Gingerbread still dominates the market.

Google’s figures are based on active Android installations that are available to officially access the Play download store; those third-party devices which use Android but which aren’t permitted access – such as cheap tablets running phone versions of the OS – aren’t counted. The latest batch of numbers cover the two week period up until July 2.

The span of devices running different versions of Android has become an increasing issue for Google, carriers and manufacturers, not to mention a frustration for owners who’d like to have the very latest software. Google has often argued that “fragmentation” isn’t a big deal, but the search giant revealed plans last week at IO to seed a “platform developer kit” (PDK) to OEMs 2-3 months ahead of future OS releases so as to give them time to ready their own upgrades.

That’s not soon enough to combat another round of fragmentation this time, however. With Jelly Bean’s arrival on the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7 tablet, it remains to be seen how quickly manufacturers will be pushing out Android 4.1 to their phones and slates.

Ice Cream Sandwich breaks 10% Android installs (just as Jelly Bean arrives) is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NTT DoCoMo of Japan has just announced that after mulling over a particular issue for the longest time, they have decided to put a stop to an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for a quartet of Xperia models from Sony. These particular handsets will be the Xperia acro (SO-02C) which has burned up sales charts in quite the charming manner to date, the aging Xperia arc (SO-01C), the maligned Xperia PLAY (SO-01D) and the Xperia ray (SO-03C).

These four models came under consideration for an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, but at the end of the day, NTT DoCoMo figured out it was easier to shelve the update simply because of memory and performance issues – definitely the lack of memory is involved for some of the handsets, that is for sure. DoCoMo PR mentioned that 1GB of RAM is required to have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich run smoothly, although it is rather weird as those living in the West have had Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on those devices for some time already (other than the Sony Xperia PLAY, of course).

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update on 2011 Sony Experia handsets is not all that smooth, Sony Xperia Mini Pro receives Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update,

When HBO Go launched for the Kindle Fire a few weeks ago it seemed odd that the app still didn’t officially support other Android tablets, but now that has changed. v1.5 is now available on Google Play, and the release notes indicate it supports Android tablets running software up to 4.04 Ice Cream Sandwich. That would appear to lock out the Nexus 7 for now but since it hasn’t been widely released yet, we’ll let it pass (although it is worth noting that Netflix was updated with Jelly Bean support last week.) Another recent change across the tablet apps is that Time Warner Cable is a supported provider. The usual caveats still apply (you’ll need HBO and of course, pay-TV to sign in) but the updated app is available now at the source link.

HBO Go update supports Android tablets up to ICS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android tablets come in all shapes, sizes, and price but Lenovo‘s latest tablet, the IdeaTab S2109 is here on the review block at SlashGear and seems to be sitting right in the middle regarding all 3. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and comes offering decent specs at a great price, but can it compete with the iPad 2? Check out our hands-on and initial thoughts below.

Lenovo’s previous tablets were decent but nothing extremely top of the line, and the same holds true for this latest variation. Coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box — completely vanilla — without any of their changes and rocking a dual-core processor. When we said the specs were similar to the iPad we meant it. The S2109 comes with a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 resolution 4:3 ratio display, a Texas Instruments 1.0 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage. Some improvements are the SRS quad-stereo surround sound, and a micro-SD slot for extra storage. Here’s our hands-on:

Lenovo made this look extremely similar to the iPad, and priced it along with Apple’s lowered $399 iPad 2 as well. The IdeaTab S2109 will start at $349 and go up from there, so is slightly cheaper than the Apple slate. Without the Lenovo logo and rounded plastic unibody design you’d barely tell the different until you power it on.

Lenovo hasn’t had the best success with the tablet market, but this could be a shift into more sales for them. Coming with a mid-range price and specs could make this a go-to tablet for the budget conscious user. The design is improved over their recent tablets, the 4:3 aspect ratio is a plus, and the SRS sound is exceptional from our limited time with the device. You can get the IdeaTab S2109 Android 4.0 ICS tablet on sale for July 4th this week only for just $311 (8GB) or $351 for the 16GB model — making this a great alternative to the iPad 2. It even comes with a nice rubber case for free and additional storage options.

Stay tuned and check back shortly as we’ll be sure to give Lenovo’s new budget Ice Cream Sandwich tablet the full rundown to see what she’s worth.

Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 Unboxing is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Wines and artwork by the old masters do age well, but one thing is for sure – the world of consumer electronics is a cut throat one, and you are more or less guaranteed that the moment you unpack your latest gizmo and fiddle around with it in your hands, it has already lost some value on the second hand market, never mind the fact that you have yet to turn it on. Well, the aging HTC Incredible S does seem to have some legs left in it, as it is touted to receive the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in due time. Basically, this is the HTC Droid Incredible 2 if you are rocking with Verizon, and the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update will see the software hit version number 4.0.4, in addition to being treated to HTC Sense 3.6, now how about that? (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC Sensation XL starts getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, HTC EVO 3D Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich ROM leaks,