Hasta La Gadget!

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. 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 from 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!

Official Android updates

• The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with LTE is now getting some very minor plastic surgery, with what appears to be a simple maintenance update. [Droid-Life]
• Not the biggest fan of your buggy keyboard, Motorola Droid X users? The latest bug fix update, eloquently called 4.5.605, resolves keyboard stability and usability issues that have affected a large number of users. [Droid-Life]
• Owners of the HTC Sensation on O2 should be enjoying an enhancement to Android 2.3.4 soon, as the rollout has already begun. [Pocket-Lint]
• How ’bout that Motorola Xoom WiFi? Android 3.2.1 (aka build HTK55D) is rolling out to devices now; we imagine the update’s a minor bug fix of some kind, but we haven’t seen any change log on it yet. [Droid-Life]
• Telus is cranking out Gingerbread to the Samsung Fascinate 4G. [AndroidCentral]
• The HTC Droid Incredible 2 is now on the receiving end of build 4.08.605.3, a minor refresh that improves server connections for email sync, enhances Visual Voicemail stability as well as other minor bug fixes. [Droid-Life]
• Rogers customers are now reporting that the Samsung Captivate is now seeing an upgrade to Gingerbread. [MobileSyrup]
• The Sony Tablet S came shipped with Android 3.1, but it’s already getting the bump to 3.2. [AndroidCentral]

Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery

• Remember Android 2.3.6? You know, the update that blocked tethering on the Samsung Nexus S? It appears that the Nexus One is due for the infamous build. If you don’t care to wait for the refresh to pop up OTA, you can download and install it on your own. No word on if tethering is blocked on this update as well, but we can’t imagine it being different from the Nexus S. [Redmond Pie]
• Android 2.3.5 has leaked for the Samsung Infuse 4G in the form of build I997UCKI4. Such a leak causes us to suspect the official rollout should be heading our way in the near future. [AndroidCentral]
• XDA’s rooted the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, and has published a full tutorial on exactly how you can do it. It’s no SuperOneClick, of course, but it’s certainly bound to get you to the same destination — as long as you follow the instructions precisely. [XDA-dev]
• An early preview version of CM7.1 for the LG Optimus Black is available for download. Keep in mind that it’s a test build, and won’t be completely polished. [AndroidCentral]
• The first deodexed ROM for the Motorola Droid Bionic is now downloadable. Follow the link to get the full set of instructions. [Droid-Life]
• If you desperately want to have Gingerbread on your HTC Thunderbolt, a RUU for build 2.11.605.2 is all yours. [Android Police]

Other platforms

• SFR France indicated this week that they’re ready to push the Mango update out to the HTC 7 Trophy, though it didn’t specify exactly when it will begin. Vodafone Romania and Telus (Canada) also let it slip that they’d be rolling out the update to their phones to Mango by the end of this current month. No date for the latest version has been officially set.
• The Nokia N950 is a bit of a rarity as it is, but that doesn’t mean it can’t receive continued support. The MeeGo-run device just received a beta of its latest firmware boost, and appears to be available for download. [NokiaHD blog]

Refreshes we covered this week

• Existing Windows Phones to get Mango within the next two weeks
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Play finally gets HD video capture
• Mango bumps NoDo, rolls the update train to Dell’s Venue Pro
• Samsung Nexus S 4G updated to Android 2.3.7, brings Google Wallet support
• Telstra won’t be Gingerbreading the HTC Desire after all

Refresh Roundup: week of September 19, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The ZTE Skate — spiritual successor to the Blade and current flagship — is pushing on with its global roll-out and it looks like it may reach the US. Now on sale in Hong Kong, Brazil and Spain, the Skate is rolling down the French Alps and into France and the UK, where the Orange-branded Monte Carlo (a Skate in phone network clothing) is already available. With a different ZTE device set to arrive on Cricket soon, the electronics giant also intends to bring this 4.3-inch phone to the US in the near future, though there’s nothing concrete on dates and prices just yet. According to ZTE’s executive VP He Shiyou, the company is set to launch “a total of 30 smartphone models” by the end of the year. We fear the company may run out of flat-shaped names before the end of November. Head on over to our Chinese site for some hands-on shots.

Continue reading ZTE Skate launches worldwide, attempts to stick landing in the US

ZTE Skate launches worldwide, attempts to stick landing in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Sep 2011 06:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comcast has been talking about adding live TV streaming to its Xfinity TV tablet apps for a while, but now this screenshot of a product page from MacRumors indicates it could be launching very soon. It requires an AnyPlay box — a Comcast brand name for the Motorola Televation cable TV-to-IPTV box shown off in June and previously a portable DVR concept from Panasonic — that will allow viewing over the local network on compatible devices, including iPads, Android tablets and the like. There’s also been recent rumors of Microsoft seeking a tie-in to bring live streams from Comcast to its Xbox 360, which could be eventually be enabled by a device and service like this. According to the page, it includes access to “most” channels, and can register up to ten tablets, but only allows for viewing on one at a time. Time Warner and Cablevision have already rolled out live TV streaming on their tablet apps, we’ll see if this in-home Slingbox-approach can avoid their licensing issues.

Comcast close to releasing AnyPlay box for in-home live TV streaming to tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The LG Esteem has been spotted hanging out in several official-looking press shots accompanied by several pages of specification juice at LG’s partner portal site. Previously seen under the guise Bryce, and seemingly identical to Verizon’s LG Revolution, this metroPCS interpretation looks set to arrive very soon. A welcome upgrade to the network’s previous LTE offering, the Esteem runs Gingerbread on a 4.3 inch screen and has some respectable mid-range crendentials under the hood including a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of storage expandable by microSD. There’s also a five megapixel snapper on the back, embedded in a stylish metal strip similar to the dual-core T-Mobile G2x. Unlike LG’s powerful flagship, though, MetroPCS will reportedly be offering up the Esteem off-contract for $349 — a reasonable way to increase your LTE-connected self-worth

LG Esteem leaked, delivers more LTE respect to MetroPCS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It seems that Motorola’s successor to the original Atrix has emerged in the streets of Chicago prior to being officially unveiled by AT&T. The crew at The Verge recently scored some hands-on time with the device, and in the process, cleared up much of the speculation regarding Ma Bell’s upcoming Atrix 2 — also known as the Edison. First, we know the device will indeed have a qHD display, although unlike Moto’s other 960 x 540 screens, this one discards the PenTile matrix and features properly proportioned sub-pixels, which delivers crisper text in the process. Additionally, there’s now further evidence that the handset will not be a member of AT&T’s LTE lineup, and thus will be limited to its HSPA+ network. Notably, this revision adds a shutter button along the right edge of the handset, although like the Photon, it’s only a single-stage mechanism, which is quite a bummer. Similar to the Bionic, it features a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP CPU and delivers comparable benchmarks in the process. Looks like it’ll be a fine contender for battle with the biggies from Samsung and Apple, eh?

Motorola’s Atrix 2 (Edison) flaunts qHD display, hands-on reveals no PenTile matrix originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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