4.0 - 2/7 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

Spotify App Update Now Adds NFC Sharing Ability, Equalizer For Users Running ICS And Up

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Today, Spotify's Android app received an update that should please audiophiles the world over (where available): if you're using the mobile app on Ice Cream Sandwich or above, you can now access an equalizer from the Settings menu. The features is actually called "Audio Effects" in 4.0, but on Jelly Bean it's been changed to the more readily-recognizable "Equalizer" moniker.

Also new is the ability to share music via NFC. Assuming you and a friend have NFC-enabled devices and both subscribe to Spotify, you can share tracks by tapping your devices together. Handy! Other improvements include a better offline mode bar and a bunch of bug fixes.

Aug

[Leak] HTC Droid Incredible 2 Gets Its Own Ice Cream Sandwich ROM Based On Leaked RUU

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Incredible 2 (Vivow), Leaks, News

It looks like another one of HTC's handsets (besides the Thunderbolt) has gotten a Sense-ified Ice Cream Sandwich ROM of its own – today, XDA user nitsuj17 posted a ROM for the Droid Incredible 2 (aka vivow) allegedly based on another leaked RUU from HTC. Readers may remember the Incredible 2 as being among devices officially slated by HTC to receive Ice Cream Sandwich "by the end of August," so this leak's timing isn't too hard to figure out.

The ROM, which carries Sense 3.6 over top of Ice Cream Sandwich and software build number 7.01.605.01, is the stock HTC fair you may expect, but with a few tweaks ranging from root to removal of HTC's inconvenient app association settings.

Aug

Cyanogen Mod 9.0 Stable Released For 21 Devices And Counting

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News

CyanogenMod is a pretty big deal in the Android modding world, and there's a good reason for that: it's fast, lean, well-featured, and supports a ton of devices that manufacturers have abandoned. When Android 4.0 was released, the CM team made it clear that CM9 (based on ICS) would be a long time in the making, as they were going to focus on doing everything properly and cleaning up the code. And now, as promised yesterday, CM9 stable is rolling out en masse.

So far, the supported devices:

LG Nitro HD/Optimus LTE
Samsung Galaxy Tabs
Samsung Galaxy Note (Intl)
Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GSM/CDMA)
Sony Ericson Xperia Mini Pro
Samsung Galaxy S II (Intl/AT&T/GSM)
Sony Ericson Xperia Neo
Samsung Galaxy S
Samsung Epic 4G
LG Optimus Sol
Samsung Nexus S (+/- 4G)
Sony Ericson Xperia Arc
Sony Ericson Live With Walkman

Clearly the list so far is dominated by Samsung and Sony Ericson, but builds are still going up every 20 minutes or so - the build bot is just churnin' them out.

Aug

[New App] Mobint Joins The 4.0+ Launcher Party With Jelly Bean-Inspired Holo Launcher HD

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Mobint, the dev team behind the original Holo Launcher (for Android 2.2+ devices), decided to jump into the Android 4.0+ launcher party recently with their latest entry in the Play Store – Holo Launcher HD.

Holo Launcher HD, like its older counterpart, gives your home screen the 4.x panache we've come to know and love, but is specifically modeled after Jelly Bean, and is only compatible with devices running 4.0 and above.

Besides providing a smooth Jelly Bean aesthetic, the launcher has plenty of customizable options, making it a competitive entry in the current fray of ICS/JB launchers. Users can add up to 9 home screen pages, each with icon grids up to 10x10, utilize a scrollable dock with up to 7 icons per page, use gestures to open apps (something that can't be said of Nova's free offering), and apply icon packs compatible with either ADW or Launcherpro, in addition to a handful of other handy features.

Aug

Gmail App Updated To v4.1.2, Brings Better Support For 7" Tablets And Performance Improvements

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Google just pushed an update v4.1.2 to the Gmail app (up from 4.1.1 and 4.0.5) that brings a few enhancements to Android 4.0+ devices, including improved support for 7" tablets. The full changelog for this update reads as follows:

Android 4.0 (ICS) and up:
- Improved 7" support
- Bug fixes and performance improvements

At first blush there don't appear to be any visual alterations, so we'll just assume that most of these enhancements take place under the hood.

Looks like Google left part of the old changelog in place with this update, as Android 2.2+ received the labels API several months ago.

Jul

LG Optimus 2X Might Not Receive An Upgrade To ICS After All, Says LG Canada

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990)

Way back in November, LG took to Facebook to announce that its high-end handsets would be receiving an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, that was eight months ago. A lot can change in that time. Now, LG Canada's twitter account is saying that the Optimus 2X will not be upgraded, and that LG's previous comment on the subject was a "general statement issued from HQ."

Of course, it's a little hard to understand how "the LG Optimus 2X will receive an upgrade to ICS" could be interpreted as a "general statement". We've reached out to LG for comment and will update as soon as we hear more.

Jul

[Rumor] HTC Rezound May Be Getting Its ICS Upgrade As Early As July 29th

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Rezound, Rumors, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2012

HTC Rezound owners may have a reason to get excited in the very, very near future. According to a leaked document, the Rezound may be seeing an update to Ice Cream Sandwich starting as soon as tomorrow, July 29th. The document says the OTA update should be about 292MB, so be sure to have your WiFi handy before you download.

As we mentioned before, there is a decent chance that the tip was fabricated. An update on a Sunday, "6/1" in the "available for pull" field, and inconsistent use of double digit dates are just some of the warning signs.

Of course, we are all waiting with bated breath for the arrival of Jelly Bean, but the more devices that break the 4.0 barrier, the better.

Jul

Android Platform Distribution Updated: 10.9% On Android 4.0, 22.7% Still On 2.2 And Below

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

Depending on how ~~fanboyish you want to be~~ you want to look at it, things are either getting better by the day, or still dismal as can be. First, the charts:

Obviously, the good news is that in the past month, Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0+) has moved up from 7.1% to 10.9% - and considering there are hundreds of millions of devices running Android, that seemingly meager 3.8% is actually quite a few devices.

And then there's the bad news. First, the fact that ICS is the latest (and by far the best) version of Android and yet we're happy to see it on just under 11% of devices is sad; it's even worse that it's literally 8.5 months old.

Jun

Toshiba Delays Android 4.0 Update For Thrive And Thrive 7 To "Early Fall" / 5th Of Never

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Thrive / Regza / Antares / AT100, Thrive 7, Toshiba

As the person that reviewed both of these devices, the Thrive and Thrive 7, here at Android Police, I felt something of a responsibility to post on this matter. On its community forums, a Toshiba rep issued the following statement on the status of the Ice Cream Sandwich update for its Thrive tablets:

We are working hard to bring Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich to our Thrive tablets. While we originally estimated it would be ready this spring, we now estimate the update will be delivered to all Thrive 10” and 7” tablets by early fall. Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Jun

Here's A First Look At The ViewSonic 22" Android Smart Display, And It's Kinda Nice

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, VCD22 Smart Display

We heard just recently that ViewSonic was launching a 22" tablet/display running Android. Today, we get a look at this display. We've also learned that it's running a dual-core TI-OMAP processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.0, and a 1920x1080 display underneath the gargantuan screen. The demo seems to be targeted at being used in a classroom setting, with plenty of child-friendly apps and videos, but that's just bundled software. The display, which starts at $479, could be used by any budget-conscious consumer that wants to try using Android instead of Windows as their primary OS for a shared family device.