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Sprint announced the Flash back in November last year, when it launched with Android 4.0. Well, it's finally getting an update to Android 4.1... 9 months later. Ugh. The new software version is N9100V1.0.0B15. Improvements aside from things like Google Now and expandable notifications include enhancements to the camera app, which now includes blink detection, flash mode toggle, an EXIF data menu, and a detailed settings menu.
While we haven't heard much on the Android 4.3 update news front for the One or Galaxy S4 GPE other than "soon," it sounds like soon really may mean soon. HTC just released the Android 4.3-based kernel source and framework files for the One GPE on HTCdev.
Google just dropped a bomb on the official Android blog moments ago: Android Device Manager, a tool to help locate your lost phone. It's simple - you can track your phone from a web interface (or the official Android app!), and then ring or wipe it. Simple? Yes. Absolutely something we've all wanted since, I don't know, ever on Android as a standard feature? Duh.
The One VX was a rather quickly-forgotten mid-range handset released only on AT&T in the US, and we haven't heard much about it since its announcement. Those who purchased what is best called HTC's follow-up to the One S, though, will be pleased to know that an Android 4.1 update is head their way starting today. You can see HTC's announcement of the update, software version 2.21.502.1, here. Of course, Android 4.1 brings awesome stuff like Google Now and expandable notifications.
The AT&T-branded variant of the HTC One has a new maintenance update available, bringing the device to version 1.26.502.15. HTC's official announcement and update instructions can be found here. This is the second OTA update to be issued to the AT&T version of HTC's flagship handset, and the changelog is but a single item long. That item? "LTE Enhancements." Hooray! (?)
A small but very much helpful update was announced for the Google Calendar app today: sync of notification dismissals across multiple devices. And yes, this is a staged rollout, so you will have to wait patiently for the updated app to actually become available. Hopefully it won't take long.
I really like the HTC One. I also really like the Galaxy S4. And the Optimus G Pro. And that's because there are a lot of great Android smartphones out there right now, and really, none of the very best ones are actually bad (nor are any of them perfect). And if I were to ask you, our readers, what would be the first thing you could change about any of them - if it could be just one thing - a few months ago the consensus likely would have emerged as "give them stock Android."
AT&T Galaxy S III Finally Getting "Premium Suite" Multi-Window OTA Update, Android 4.1.2 (Build UCDMG2)
AT&T Galaxy S III Is Finally Getting Premium Suite
While the AT&T Galaxy S III received its Android 4.1 update way back in December 2012, it still had yet to get the Samsung "Premium Suite" upgrade with the much-vaunted multi window feature. Starting today, that update is rolling out - a full two months after even infamously-slow Verizon managed with its own S III. Better late than never, I guess.
Google's single biggest source of revenue is advertisements. The AdSense platform is a big part of that, allowing web content owners to manage their Google ads, revenue, and monitor performance. It's safe to say that, for Google, AdSense is a hugely important product. A hugely important product that didn't have an Android app until today, which is kind of weird!
Call it too ambitious, ahead of its time, or just plain not a very good idea - it doesn't really matter at this point: former Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth's Ubuntu-powered smartphone crowdfunding campaign has all but fizzled at this point.
I think photo spheres are pretty awesome, and they just got a big quality overhaul in Android 4.3, to boot. So when Google announces a new way to share this immersive images, that's always a good thing, and today, that's what happened. Views is a new community built into the new Google Maps for desktop web client, and it allows you to upload and view photo spheres inside Maps. You sign in with your Google+ profile, and from there, you can add photo spheres that have been synced to your Google+ Photos, or directly from your Android device by selecting "Maps" from the share dialog in the gallery.
Update: Zagat claims the number of cities available will be expanded to 50 over "the coming months," and that old restaurant reviews will be made available on the web page "soon." Woohoo, a whole 50, guys!
So, you want to know about everything that's new in Android 4.3. Every single change that's occurred since 4.2.2. Well, if you don't mind scrolling through a barely-human-readable, mile-long developer changelog, now you can satisfy that urge.
The new Nexus 7 does not support Google Wallet - officially. Why? It lacks the hardware component necessary to securely store your payment credentials for NFC transactions, aka the "secure element." The AT&T and Google Play Edition HTC Ones don't have this element, either.
Google Maps product manager Evan Rapoport revealed another Android 4.3 change on Google+ this morning - better photo spheres. Photo spheres were introduced in Android 4.2, and I truly believe they're one of the biggest things to happen to personal photography in years. They're limited to Nexus devices for the time being - and viewing outside of Maps / Google+ is still hard - but it's encouraging to see that Google is still going strong developing the feature.