Feb

LG Announces L Series II, Mid-Range To Low-End Phones For All

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in LG, News

While the Nexus 4 may be the LG handset getting everyone's attention, the company does have other market segments to think about. The L SeriesII (so that's what happened to the other letter from the Optimus G) fills that need with a trio of handsets that will debut with the Optimus L7II in Russia next week. The phone comes with a 4.3" 800x480 IPS display, dual-core Qualcomm processor and Jelly Bean 4.1.

Here are the full specs for the L7II:

• Chipset: 1GHz Dual-Core (Qualcomm MSM8225)
• Memory: Up to 4GB eMMC / 768MB RAM / Micro SD
• Display: 4.3-inch WVGA IPS
• Camera: Rear 8.0MP with LED Flash / Front VGA
• OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• Battery: 2,460mAh
• Size: 121.5 x 66.6 x 9.7 mm / 122.2 x 66.6 x 9.7 mm (Dual-SIM)

Following that initial release, the L3II and L5II (I'm noticing a familiar pattern here) will arrive.

Jan

Leaked Slide Shows Off LG Optimus G Pro With A 5" 1080p Display, 3,000 mAh Battery, And Snapdragon S4 Pro

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Leaks, LG, News, Optimus G Pro

Last Updated: January 21st, 2013

Just yesterday, an LG rep let us know that, among other things, the "G" branding would continue to be representative of the company's top-tier hardware. Today, we get a glimpse at what the next great handset could look like. This leaked slide shows off the LG Optimus G Pro with a gorgeous 5" 1080p display, a gargantuan 3,000 mAh battery, a gratuitous Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, and a glorious 13-megapixel rear camera.

Here's the full list of generous specs, partially courtesy of Blog of Mobile:

5" 1080p display
1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
2GB RAM
32GB storage
LTE
3,000 mAh battery
Jelly Bean (4.1)
13MP rear camera
2.4MP front camera

Before you get too giddy, though, this gleaming bit of hardware is likely destined for Japan in its current condition.

Jan

Android: A Look Back To 2012, And A Look Forward To 2013

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Editorials, News, Rumors

Last Updated: January 7th, 2013

Happy New Year! It's that time again; with the new year comes our new annual prediction post. I tackled this last year, and rather than do a bunch of crazy, pulled-from-thin-air predictions, I ended up with a link-filled research-fest for the year. It worked out pretty well, so that's what's on the docket for today. First though, I'll take a look and see just how many of last year's predictions and rumors came true, and provide some updates for the more important topics.

A Look Back To 2012

What a crazy year. 2012 brought us two versions of Jelly Bean: 4.1 and 4.2. We saw a complete transformation of Google Search with the Knowledge Graph, Google Now, voice output, and Google Goggles integration.

Dec

Lenovo IdeaTab A2109 Updated To Jelly Bean (4.1.1) Complete With Browser Download

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in IdeaPad A2109, Jelly Bean 4.1, Lenovo

Lenovo might not be the most prodigious maker of Android tablets around, but it's got its followers. Those who bought the 9.7-inch IdeaTab A2109 model, check your Tablet Settings: users on Lenovo's official forums are reporting that their hardware is being updated to Android 4.1.1 (A2109A_A411_03_13_121126_US) today. So far only American users have confirmed the over-the-air download or the WiFi tablet.

If you're not getting your update, there's a flashable US ZIP hosted on Lenovo's servers, ripe for the taking. While China's favorite PC manufacturer tends to leave their hands off of the core of Android, they also bundle in a whole lot of extra apps, which is why you'll need nearly 400MB of free space for the Jelly Bean upgrade.

Dec

AT&T's Samsung Galaxy S III Getting Android 4.1.1 Update Through Kies Right Now

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in AT&T, Galaxy S III, News

Sprint and T-Mobile might have beaten the big boys to the punch, but now it's AT&T's turn to get its Galaxy S III updated to (almost) the latest and greatest version of Android. The 4.1.1 update has started showing up for users of the AT&T Galaxy S III (that's the SGH-i747) in the Samsung Kies update and sync software.

Update 12/4/2012: AT&T just announced the update, and it looks like it will indeed be coming only via Kies.

The device launched with Android 4.0.4, so users can expect some solid additions in this update like Google Now, project butter, and enhanced notifications.

Sep

Samsung Reportedly Confirms That The International Galaxy S III Will Get Jelly Bean "As Soon As" October

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S III, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Speaking to CNET UK, Samsung has confirmed the Galaxy S III sold abroad will be getting Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) "as soon as" October. Which sounds wonderfully non-committal. Though if that October estimate holds true, it'd probably be a record for Samsung. Perhaps they've finally realized people care about OS updates.

We've already seen leaks of Jelly Bean firmware for the international S III, as well as the T-Mobile edition in the US, so this sounds about right to us. When the LTE version of the S III launches in the UK on the Everything Everywhere network, it will actually come with Android 4.1 pre-installed.

May

[Updated] An ASUS Nexus Tegra 3 Tablet Called Nexus 7 Has Potentially Been Outed - Shows Android Jelly Bean Is Version 4.1

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, ASUS, Google, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Rumors

According to Rightware's Power Board benchmark result site (see #11; the benchmark in question is Basemark ES2.0 Taiji), a long-rumored device has popped up in a result database: the much-awaited Nexus tablet. Here's the additional raw info you don't see in the benchmark that we were able to acquire from Rightware:

"os": {

"android": {

   "model": "Nexus 7",

   "hardware": "grouper",

   "manufacturer": "asus",

   "device": "grouper",

   "brand": "google",

   "display": "XXXXXX-userdebug 4.1 JRN51B 3XXXXX dev-keys",

   "version_sdk": "4.1",

   "board": "grouper",

   "version_code": "1"

}

}