4.2 - 3/3 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Editorial: The Android 4.2 Tablet UI Looks Just Like A Giant Phone's, And That's Fantastic

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Nexus 10

After BriefMobile leaked what appear to be the first shots of a near-production-build of Android 4.2 running on a Samsung Nexus 10 tablet this morning, the response from many people has been absolutely vicious: the new UI looks like a giant phone, it doesn't look it's meant for a tablet, the pull-down notification bar doesn't make sense, the centered navigation buttons are going to be harder to reach, etc.

I think, though, that this is reactionary. It's kind of what I expected, honestly. Not the reaction, but the look - because Google never really said whether or not they were keeping the old tablet UI, which inherently put its future in peril.

Oct

The Playground Is Open Again: What To Expect From Google's Android Event On October 29th

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Android OS, Features, News

After seeing a deluge of rumors, leaks, and hoax after hoax this season, it looks like we're finally starting to wind down. With Google's Android event a mere 8 days away, it's time to clear away the muck and take a look at what we expect to make an appearance just a couple days before Halloween. Let's start with the stuff we're most confident in and work our way down, shall we?

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

We were already fairly confident that the next version of Android would not be 5.0. While Google is inconsistent with its naming and number scheme, The company does tend to at least save full number releases for big changes (2.0 brought a huge face lift, Navigation and the Droid, 3.0 introduced tablets, 4.0 brought tablets and phones together under the biggest UI change yet).

Oct

Breaking: Google Is Holding An Android Event On October 29th

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

An invite for an Android event held by Google just hit our inbox - on October 29th, in New York, we'll be seeing the latest and greatest from Google in regard to its mobile operating system.

It has been widely speculated that the focus of this event will be on two things: a new Nexus phone, and Android 4.2. It's becoming increasingly apparent that Android 4.2 is a fairly incremental update to the OS (see our teardowns of an alpha build of 4.2, here and here), so the focus has largely shifted to the next Nexus.

Rest assured, we'll be there.

Oct

exclusive-upcoming-gmail-for-android-4-2-will-finally-have-pinch-to-zoom-swipeaway-deletearchive-video

[Exclusive] Download: The Unreleased Gmail 4.2 APK With Pinch-To-Zoom And More

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Development, Exclusives, News

Last Updated: October 15th, 2012

Ok, guys. Start your engines - here's the download and instructions you need to get the leaked Gmail 4.2 up and running on your device. Keep in mind that this is an unreleased version so some things may be buggy or broken, though I haven't run into any problems.

If you somehow don't know what I'm talking about, we have the next, unreleased version of Gmail, and we're finally allowed to share it with you. Gmail 4.2 finally has pinch-to-zoom, a nifty new swipe-to-archive/delete feature, and a bunch of other things. Just for fun I'll embed the video again:

Download

Note: This APK should work on Android 4.0+.

Oct

New Photos Of LG's Nexus Leak Out, Look More Press-y, Just As Bedazzle-y

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Leaks, LG, News

If you had your doubts before, they should be all but settled. The rumored LG Nexus phone that we saw the other day has changed hands and re-appeared in high-quality photos on Onliner. Of course, these aren't actually designed for release to the media, as the device still has "Not for sale" emblazoned over the back, indicating that this is a prototype and not a consumer-ready model. However, there is no shortage of brightly lit angles and, for some reason, the phone held up next to a stuffed parrot. All Nexuses should be introduced this way.