Jelly Bean’s Sound Search feature now available root-free on ICS

Jelly Bean's Sound Search feature now available rootfree on ICSDid you know you can get a little squirt of Jelly Bean flavor in your Ice Cream Sandwich right now? It’s nothing mega — just a non-root APK for Google Sound Search, the new in-house rival to Shazam and SoundHound, courtesy of user “asdfzz” over at XDA. The widget, which is also known as “Google Ears,” currently works in a similar way to third-party apps, analyzing a track via remote servers and bringing up the result within Google Play, but in the future — according to Mobile Phones Fan — it could achieve faster speeds and better integration with other Google services by running natively within the OS. Of course, if you’re up for flashing a whole ROM, then Jelly Bean can already be had in its entirety.

Jelly Bean’s Sound Search feature now available root-free on ICS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DROID Incredible 4G LTE unboxing and hands-on

Today we’ve got our hands on the HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE from Verizon, a device that’ll be out in stores on the fifth of this month. This device represents HTC’s efforts to bring most of the greatness from the HTC One series over to Verizon for their 4G LTE excellence in a relatively small form factor. You’ve got a 4-inch LCD qHD display – the same one as exists on the HTC One S, coupled with a 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor from Qualcomm and a price of $149.99 after $50 mail-in rebate – have a peek at it up close below.

This device works with Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich and has HTC’s own newest user interface on top, that being Sense 4.0 as well. This device looks and feels rather similar to the HTC Rezound, aka the highest definition smartphone on the market, and comes with its own lovely egg-like shape as well. Have a peek at our full review of the HTC Rezound and come back for a much more compact version of said device here.

Above you’ll see our newest hands-on with the device, our first look having been back earlier this year at CTIA 2012 in New Orleans. Things having changed much since then, this device still looking the same on the inside and outside, with what appears to be no significant software modifications inside either. On another note, the only difference between this and an HTC One device – HTC One S, HTC EVO 4G LTE, HTC One X, is the HTC ImageSense chip.

What you’ve got here is the next in a line of rather successful “Incredible” devices from Verizon’s DROID lineup. With HTC’s addition of the fantastic Snapdragon S4 – the same processor also sitting in the rest of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S III line, mind you, HTC and Verizon likely have another winner on their hands. Have a peek at the hands-on photos above and below and prepare for a full review this week!

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DROID Incredible 4G LTE unboxing and hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


HTC Incredible S ICS update rolling out now

Back in May, HTC published a long list of handsets that would be receiving an update to Ice Cream Sandwich, the Incredible S includes among them. According to reports the ICS update is now rolling out for the mid-range handset of old, arriving just in time to hit HTC’s own July timeline. We imagine that the unlocked GSM version will be seeing the update first with staggered updates depending on your region and carrier.

The update apparently comes in at around 250MB and is being delivered OTA, so there’s no need to rush to your computer and find a microUSB cable. If your phone hasn’t already pinged you about an update, it might be worth checking manually. Ice Cream Sandwich will bring some performance improvements, Face Unlock, and HTC has bumped Sense up to 3.6.

If you’re using an HTC phone with less than 512MB of RAM, you won’t be getting an ICS update. Other handsets such as the Desire S, the Desire HD, and Rezound are still due an ICS update though, with HTC’s schedule suggesting those handsets will see the upgrade between July and August. Hang tight in the meantime, HTC fans.

[via the::unwired]


HTC Incredible S ICS update rolling out now is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Refresh Roundup: week of June 25th, 2012

Refresh Roundup week of June 25th, 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 June 25th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of June 25th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung appeals Galaxy Nexus ban, of course

Samsung appeals Galaxy Nexus ban, of course

In a completely expected move, Samsung today filed to appeal the preliminary Galaxy Nexus ban granted to Apple last week, moving to stay the injunction. Among other claims, Samsung is arguing that the ban is “inconsistent with the Federal Circuit’s directive that market share losses must be substantial,” and, as Foss Patents puts it, “attributable to the ‘infringing feature,’ not just the presence of the infringing product on the market.” This, of course, mirrors Samsung’s appeal for the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which also had its US sales halted last week. The Federal Circuit could very well decide to stay, putting the devices back on store shelves, but until then, we imagine Sammy will be looking longingly at Posner’s courtroom.

Samsung appeals Galaxy Nexus ban, of course originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of June 25th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany week of June 25th, 2012

Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you’re like us and really want to know what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place. This past week, Samsung introduced its first Windows Phone for China and both HTC and Samsung each chimed in about Android 4.1 — the sweet treat better known as Jelly Bean. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of June 25th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of June 25th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany: week of June 25th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic’s Eluga V for NTT DoCoMo swings past the FCC

Panasonic Eluga V

Panasonic’s Eluga V smartphone arrived at NTT DoCoMo back in May and now the company has dropped one of its handsets off at the FCC’s underground bunker. The Ice Cream Sandwich-running phone has a 4.6-inch, 1280 x 720 display, wireless charging, the same water and dust proofing that we saw in its two brothers, HSPA, Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi. Don’t let the news of governmental approval get your hopes up for a stateside launch however, this one’s just to ensure that tourists won’t have the handset seized as soon as they reach customs.

Panasonic’s Eluga V for NTT DoCoMo swings past the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC teases something ‘Incredible’ for the US in July, we think a 4G LTE Droid might fit the bill

HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE

HTC has been leaving Verizon subscribers hanging on just when they would get the Droid Incredible 4G LTE ever since we saw it in New Orleans last month. The company just dropped a not-so-subtle hint that the wait is about to come to an end — a Twitter update from HTC’s US branch is promising some “special fun” coming to us next week that will be “incredible,” which we’re pretty sure doesn’t involve refurb sales of the 2010 original. While the clue is still a bit cryptic, it lines up with internal documents pointing to a July 5th release. We’d advise against partying too hard on Independence Day if you want to line up early for Big Red’s adaptation of the HTC One line.

HTC teases something ‘Incredible’ for the US in July, we think a 4G LTE Droid might fit the bill originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple lands preliminary ban against Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US (update: search patent the key)

Galaxy Nexus HSPA

It hasn’t been Samsung’s best week. Just days after Judge Lucy Koh granted a preliminary ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, she’s following it up with a similar granted request on the Galaxy Nexus. Judge Koh had already signaled that she thought Apple’s lawsuit over four patents might have merit, but it’s only now that she’s deciding the potential damage is worth halting sales of the phone until there’s a final trial verdict. Samsung will no doubt try to appeal the dispute, which centers on Android 4.0’s slide-to-unlock mechanism (among other elements), but there’s a lot more urgency here than with the outgoing Tab 10.1: the Galaxy Nexus is still a current-generation device, and just became Google’s Android 4.1 phone flagship. Samsung’s odds aren’t great given that Apple has already used one of the patents to give HTC grief with its imports.

Update: As patent lawsuit guru Florian Mueller found, the clincher for the ban was the patent on unified search that’s linked to Siri. Although Judge Koh is inclined to believe Apple’s view regarding all four patents, that search patent is the one whose violation would reportedly merit more than a slap on the wrist. She’s similarly convinced that Apple’s patents are legitimate and likely won’t be dismissed anytime soon.

Apple lands preliminary ban against Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US (update: search patent the key) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDan Levine (Twitter), Reuters  | Email this | Comments

LG Optimus L7 review: a beautiful, entry-level Android 4.0 smartphone with LG’s new UI 3.0

DNP LG Optimus L7 review a beautiful, entrylevel Android 40 smartphone that introduces LG UI 30

Consider your last trip to the car dealership. Let’s say you saved up and hit up BMW. While you might’ve looked at — or even test driven — the M3, there’s a good chance that your better judgment (and your budget) led you to drive off of the lot with a 328i. Sure, it’s only got a four-cylinder engine inside, but the car offers great handling and good gas mileage. Better yet, you didn’t have to spend an atrocious amount of money to get behind the wheel. The same goes with mobile phones. While it’s fun to dream of owning a One X, a Galaxy S III or an Optimus 4X HD, they’re called superphones for a reason: they cater to power-hungry individuals with a fair amount of disposable income. Like supercars, they’re designed to bring people into the store, even if shoppers ultimately leave with something else in hand.

Enter the LG Optimus L7. Positioned at the higher end of the company’s entry-level lineup, it aims to be the 328i of smartphones. Sure, no one’s lining up to drool over it, but LG is aiming for this to be a practical choice with just enough elegance and pizzaz to keep consumers grinning. Of course, that sweet spot is difficult to achieve, and we’ve seen plenty of smartphone manufacturers miss the mark in attempting to balance performance and amenities with a palatable price. So, does the Optimus L7 rise to the challenge? We’ve spent the past week with it as our daily driver, and we’re ready to make the call. Read on for the answer.

Continue reading LG Optimus L7 review: a beautiful, entry-level Android 4.0 smartphone with LG’s new UI 3.0

LG Optimus L7 review: a beautiful, entry-level Android 4.0 smartphone with LG’s new UI 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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