Hasta La Gadget!

Messin’ with hacked ROMs? Fuhgetaboutit. HTC’s Droid Incredible 2 is finally getting the Android 2.3 it has long deserved, with the luckiest of Verizon Wireless subscribers seeing the update pushed to their phones this evening. The update (coined 2.18.605.4) brings along performance improvements with mobile IM, solved Hotmail sync issues, better device connectivity, a built-in browser bookmark for the New York Times, the addition of the Wireless Charging UI and a new desktop dock app. Don’t be shocked if it takes a week to get to your particular phone, but be sure to let us know how things go in comments once your turn arrives.

[Thanks, Jimmy]

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) starts rolling out to Verizon’s Droid Incredible 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you have an Iconia Tab A500 and an unbridled passion for running the latest Android software, we’ve got good news for you. Acer’s 3.1 update for the 10-inch Tegra 2 slate has actually slipped out a little early and can now be downloaded at the source link below. It brings the resizable widgets and other goodies that Xoom and Eee Pad Transformer users have been savoring for a while, though that’s naturally not been enough for some and there are already custom ROMs built off this leak that augment the upgrade with superuser privileges. Alternatively, should you be disinclined to flash your own tablet, you can just wait for Acer to start beaming Android 3.1 over the air to its European A500s on July 5th.

Android 3.1 update for Acer Iconia Tab A500 leaks out in China, can be downloaded worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Netbook News, MyTabletLife  |  xda-developers, bbs.gfan.com  | Email this | Comments

The Atrix 4G is today an eminently more intriguing smartphone than it was yesterday. Leaked code from Motorola’s upcoming Gingerbread update for the handset has made its way into the hands of the always-eager coders at xda-developers, which has resulted in two things: one, the discovery that Motorola intends to unlock the Atrix’s bootloader when it upgrades it to Android 2.3, and two, downloadable files to let you do exactly that today, even if you’re still stuck on Froyo. Moto users have been pleading for this change for a long time and Motorola did pledge to make it happen across its portfolio of devices, but it comes as a mild (and happy) surprise to see this change being effected retroactively. Check the links below to see how you can unchain your phone’s bootloader if you can’t wait for the official software to drop.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Atrix 4G bootloader unlocked: you can hack it up today or wait for official Gingerbread update originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Having difficulty with your PRO-HD this week?” That announcement headlining the Slingbox Answers Forum sums it up: a software update pushed last week “caused some Slingbox PRO-HD models to appear unavailable for TV streaming” — a fairly significant issue, considering TV streaming is what these things do. Sling Media has since released a fix, but your device will need to connect to the internet to receive it. A spokesperson said that a “very small percentage” of users were affected, and that power cycling the device and waiting 10 minutes should solve the problem, as each box is programmed to connect and check for updates during the boot sequence. One Pro-HD owner wrote in claiming that the new software “bricked” his unit, meaning it’s unable to power-up to receive the new update. If you’re experiencing a similar issue, Sling suggests calling customer service at (877) 467-5464 — mentioning the failed firmware update should help you avoid that nasty $30 service call charge.

[Thanks, Tom]

Sling sends some users offline with PRO-HD update, issues fix originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid 2 Global users, your moment in the Gingerbread sun has arrived. Verizon’s put up a page with download instructions for a 103MB update, taking your QWERTY slider from version 2.4.330 to 4.5.600. Updating isn’t the most taxing of activities, you just look for a system update in the About Phone menu and then give your blessing for the download to commence. VZW will also be prompting tardy users to take their OTA medicine in due course. So what’s new apart from Android 2.3? Well, the big change is that the previously static phone, contacts and apps icons at the bottom of the UI have now been turned into a user-customizable dock, with three links of your choosing sidling up next to the App Launcher. There’s also a freshened up UI look, a Download Manager App, user-definable App Groups, encryption for data both on the device and its SD card, improvements in battery life while using WiFi and Bluetooth, and the obligatory stability fixes. If all that sounds irresistible and you have the requisite phone in hand, go get it!

[Thanks, Jon]

Droid 2 Global gets Gingerbread, customizable dock and more in latest update from Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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