Hasta La Gadget!

The Droid 4’s update to Android 4.0 has been in the making for long enough that we’d started to wonder if someone in the QA department had a grudge against keyboards. Verizon just proved that there’s still plenty of QWERTY love to go around by posting a document, and starting a soak test, that gives the OS upgrade a rubber stamp. Motorola’s messaging phone is getting more than just a new software layer with this upgrade: the Android 4.0.4 release will switch on global roaming for those willing to pay Verizon for access abroad. Camera quality should get a quiet lift in the process, while the rest of the phone is getting a proper polish as well. Verizon hasn’t mentioned just when we’ll see that update notification flit past our screens, but the carrier’s tendency to push updates days after notices like these could see Droid 4 owners treated to Android 4.0 well before August wraps up.

Update: Apparently, “soon” means “today” for Verizon: over-the-air updates should already be rolling out to Droid 4 owners as part of a phased process.

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola Droid 4’s Android 4.0 upgrade clears Verizon hurdles, brings global roaming soon (update: starts today) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Droid-Life  |  Verizon (PDF), @Motorola (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Remember Samsung’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch for Sprint? Think that name was a mouthful? Well here’s a press shot of — wait for it — Samsung’s SGH-T699 aka. Galaxy S Blaze Q, a QWERTY slider for T-Mobile that’s been leaked before. Beyond the terrible name, the August 15th mention on the screen appears to confirm the previous launch date rumors. Spec-wise, the phone is expected to pack a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. There’s also mention of 1080p video capture and a 720p display — the latter being unlikely in light of the large amount of bezel surrounding the screen (Samsung’s smallest HD Super AMOLED display is 4.65-inches across). Our guess is that T-Mobile’s just complementing Samsung’s existing Galaxy S Blaze 4G with a mid-range QWERTY slider, but we’ll find out soon enough.

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze Q leaks in August 15th-dated press shot, keeps terrible name originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 05:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Add another future Sony Xperia model to a rapidly growing pool. The LT25i Tsubasa (not to be confused with the ST25i/Xperia U) has been caught by Tencent in AnTuTu and NenaMark2 tests, seemingly running the same mix of a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, a 720p screen and Android 4.0 that we’ve seen in the upcoming Xperia T (LT30p). So what’s different? There’s rumors of in-cell touch to keep the display thin and vivid, but even the unverified source isn’t certain that it will become a reality. The crew at Xperia Blog also claims that there will be international LTE and HSPA+ models along with China- and Japan-specific editions. Assuming the details are at all consistent with the truth, having the Tsubasa arrive on the scene mostly hints that Sony might be readying a broader speed-up of its roster than we first thought.

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony LT25i Tsubasa pops up in benchmarks, may swell the high-speed Xperia ranks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Tencent (translated), Xperia Blog  |  AnTuTu (translated), NenaMark2  | Email this | Comments

We saw CyanogenMod 9 reach the perfect poise of a stable release on the Galaxy Nexus just this past Thursday. It’s now time for everyone else to join the club: all devices that can run CM9 now get the firmware in the same polished state, giving more conservative fans a path to CyanogenMod’s custom Android 4.0 build. The code brings an audio equalizer, OS gesture commands and themes, among other tweaks that you won’t find sitting in that vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich. If you’re not so adventurous as to live on the bleeding edge that is CyanogenMod 10, hit the source link for the (considerably safer) next best thing.

[Thanks, Bryson]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

CyanogenMod 9 now stable on every supported device, get your fix today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s certainly taken a while, but the popular CyanogenMod finally has a stable version of its ninth iteration. It’s yet to hit the ROM’s homepage, but that’s probably because its only available for the GSM Galaxy Nexus at the moment. The Ice Cream Sandwich-based ROM has clearly posed some issues for the devs, but it’s worming its way towards a wide release and work on CM10 (which is based on Jelly Bean) is already progressing quite nicely. In many ways moving to a build of Android 4.0.4 will be a step backwards for those running stock 4.1, but CM9’s support for themes, gestures and the top-notch DSP equalizer will surely lure a few away from the official Google release. Hit up the source to download the stable Maguro-friendly release for yourself.

[Thanks, Jul]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

CM9’s first stable release lands for GSM Galaxy Nexus originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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