Hasta La Gadget!

Yesterday, Google released an update to its Chrome web browser for most of the major platforms, including Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. However, it appears that a lot of users have been experiencing crashing issues with the new update on iOS, including many of our readers, as well as myself. It turns out that the update doesn’t quite work well on jailbroken iDevices.

According to Jay Freeman (a.k.a. Saurik, who operates the Cydia jailbreak store), the latest Chrome update for iOS adds “untested jailbreak-specific code,” and the only way to fix the crashing issue is to enable “send crash reports” in Settings. However, that’s not exactly possible when the app keeps crashing on its users.

Then again, you can change the setting by digging deep into your iOS device’s file system by navigating to Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Local State and changing the “reporting_enabled” option to “true.” Jailbreakers can use iFile or any other file explorer jailbreak app to get access to this setting. However, you do so at your own risk.

Google says they’ll be releasing an incremental update to fix this issue, but there’s currently no timeline as to when it will be released. Google also says that if you’re not comfortable with digging into the file system, you can uninstall and reinstall Chrome and then enable crash reporting, but there’s the chance you may lose data if you don’t use sync. However, some SlashGear readers have mentioned that reinstalling didn’t work for them, so your mileage may vary.

PSA: Chrome for iOS update crashes on jailbroken devices is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook has updated its Messenger for Android app, adding VoIP calls for its Canadian users. This is a further rollout of the feature we saw back in January, with iOS users in the United States currently having access to the feature. In addition, version 2.3 also brings with it some other updates, including the ability to name a group from a conversation.

With this update, Android users in Canada can make free VoIP calls via Messenger to other other users in Canada, as well as iOS users in the US. This is performed by using your smartphone’s data plan, meaning users won’t be gobbling up their plan minutes, something that will be especially appealing to those who barely use up their minutes every month, or who’s most frequent conversations take place with others who use Facebook.

In addition, other updates for Messenger for Android include updates to its group conversation feature. Aside from the newly added ability to name a group from a conversation, users can also pull up group chats easily now by swiping left across the screen to see them in the app’s sidebar. Finally, group convos can also be accessed by searching for a friend who is part of them, or by searching for the groups’ names.

Aside from that, Facebook lists “other improvements and bug fixes” on the Google Play Store’s “What’s New” page, but doesn’t specify what those changes and improvements are. Messenger for Android is available for Android versions 2.2 and higher, coming in at a reasonable 9.5MB in size. You can grab it now from your computer or handset from the Play Store.

[via TechCrunch]

Facebook updates Messenger for Android, adds VoIP for Canadian users is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There you were, using that old and busted version of Google Chrome on your Windows or Linux-based PC, iOS or Android device, when Google decided to hook you up with an update, thus validating your previous assertion about Chrome’s old and busted-ness. “Hot dog!” you thought, “The Googleplex wants to give me more free stuff!” But what free stuff will you get? Chrome on iOS is moving to the big two five, adding long-press to the back button for exploring your recent history and a handful of other tweaks; its Android cousin is optimizing scrolling for your super fast fingas fingers. On the full computer side of things, both Windows and Linux are getting 25.0.1364.152, which adds the less thrilling “security and stability improvements along with a number of bug fixes.” Now that you’ve got that new hotness, you’re feeling pretty good, right? The future! We’re in it!

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Handhelds, Laptops, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google

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Source: Google (1), Google (2), Google (3)

It may not be a “super” IPS display, but it is very good nonetheless

ASUS has just announced that it is releasing an Android 4.2 Update for the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T in the United states. This is an over-the-air update and users should see it appear in the settings or as a notification as it is rolled out. ASUS says that in addition to providing Android 4.2 features, this will also bring a number of stability and performance improvements that ASUS has added along with the OS update. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony XPERIA Tablet Z Hands-On Review, Tegra 4 Benchmarks: NVIDIA Jumps Into Hyperspace,

Microsoft has announced that Bing Maps has received a major update, with in excess of 13 million square kilometers of satellite imagery being updated. With the updates, the base satellite imagery is now comprised of 15 meters per pixel, giving a high-resolution look at the world from the comfort of your laptop or mobile device.

With the updated resolution, users can now zoom in to Top of the World imagery to a 13x level, at which point further zooming will pull up high-resolution satellite images. More detail is also visible in certain locations now thanks to cloud reduction, which removes clouds from locations where they are often present, revealing the details below them.

The base satellite imagery was provided by TerraColor, while bathymetric imagery has also been added, which is basically underwater topography. Because of this, oceans no longer look like endless blue swatches of water, but instead have coloring to indicate depths and mounds of the ocean floor. This provides quite a bit more detail than was previously available, which you can see represented in the image above.

Finally, there has been a release of additional Global Ortho imagergy to the tune of a tad over 203,000 square kilometers. This amounts to a total of 11,001,500 square kilometers, of which there is 100-percent coverage of the United States and 90-percent of Western Europe. Global Ortho imagery is high-resolution orthophotos that were taken “straight down” from an airplane.

[via Bing]

Bing Maps updated with 13 million square kilometers of updated imagery is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.