02
Mar
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[Updated] Download: CyanogenMod 9 Nightlies Come To Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Wi-Fi, I/O Edition, T-Mo), Galaxy S II, ASUS Transformers (Original TF101 & Prime TF201)

Posted by in Development, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News
Last Updated: March 4th, 2012

Last week, the CyanogenMod team launched the first CM9 nightly builds for the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and Motorola XOOM. As of today, the following devices also have CM9 nightly builds available:

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi and I/O Edition (download: p4wifi) - yay for the latter, as it seems Samsung completely abandoned it - I believe mine is still running 3.1 with no updates in sight.
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 SGH-T859 on T-Mobile (download: p4tmo)
  • Samsung Galaxy S II (download: galaxys2) - I wouldn't try this on carrier-specific U.S. variants if I were you, wait for those to surface separately.

23
Feb
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Qualcomm To Integrate 802.11ac Into Snapdragon S4 - Get Ready For 433Mbps Wi-Fi On Your Phone

Posted by in Devices By Manufacturer, News

Just two days ago, we saw how blazingly fast Qualcomm's new Krait-based Snapdragon S4 CPU is in dual-core MSM8960 guise. Today, they've announced that the S4 line of CPUs - including the MSM8960 and its quad-core brother APQ8064 (seriously, who came up with this naming system?) - will pack the next-gen 802.11ac Wi-Fi spec.

Support for the new spec comes courtesy of Qualcomm's Atheros WCN3680 chip, which packs a 1x1 802.11ac chip with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM on-board. Luckily for consumers and manufacturers, Qualcomm designed the chip to be pin-compatible with the widely-used WCN3660, the company's 802.11n chip, meaning manufacturers can switch to the 3680 chip without redesigning other parts of the phone.

08
Feb
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New Transformer Prime OTA (Build 9.4.2.13) Update Rolling Out Now, Brings Improved Wi-Fi Connectivity And A New Kernel

Posted by in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

Transformer Prime owners in the U.S. are waking up this morning to a notification of a new OTA update that should bring improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance, along with a new kernel. Since there's no official changelog just yet, little is known for sure what else this update packs, but we're hearing that it also brings a fix for the random reboot issue that plagued many users after the update to Ice Cream Sandwich last month.

Screenshot_2012-02-08-11-05-35

As soon as more information becomes available, we'll let you know. Until then, you can see if the update is available on your device by heading into Settings > About tablet > System firmware update.

01
Feb
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[Public Disclosure] Vulnerability In HTC Android Devices Exposed Wi-Fi Credentials To Apps Which Knew How To Ask (But, Thankfully, Didn't)

Posted by in HTC, News

A serious vulnerability that affected the way some popular HTC Android phones handle 802.1x usernames, passwords, and SSIDs was disclosed publicly today by engineers Chris Hessing and Bret Jordan. The bug allowed applications with only an ACCESS_WIFI_STATE permission to read your Wi-Fi SSIDs, usernames, and, most importantly, passwords on at least the following devices:

  • Desire HD  (both "ace" and "spade" board revisions) - Versions FRG83D, GRI40
  • Glacier - Version FRG83
  • Droid Incredible - Version FRF91
  • Thunderbolt 4G - Version FRG83D
  • Sensation Z710e - Version GRI40
  • Sensation 4G - Version GRI40
  • Desire S - Version GRI40
  • EVO 3D - Version GRI40
  • EVO 4G - Version GRI40

Of course, if a malicious application also happens to have access to the Internet, SMS, or other means of sending out information, credentials could leak out from a vulnerable device to a remote location.

18
Jan
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[Updated x2] Ice Cream Sandwich Update (Android 4.0.3 IML77) For Wi-Fi Motorola XOOMs Now Live In The U.S.

Posted by in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Motorola, News, XOOM

A few days ago, Motorola pushed out a special soak test of the ICS update to a number of Wi-Fi XOOM owners in the U.S. Apparently, no serious issues were found by the company's engineers, as the very same Android 4.0.3 update (IML77) is now rolling out to everyone. Well, everyone in the U.S. with a Wi-Fi XOOM that is. This makes the XOOM the 2nd mainstream tablet device to officially receive ICS, losing out only to the Transformer Prime that beat it to the punch by only a couple of days.

Head over to Settings > About > System Updates to see if the 81.9MB update is available on your XOOM, let it do its thing, and enjoy the greatest version of Android Google has ever created.

30
Dec
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[Update: Working As Intended] ASUS Transformer Prime GPS Performs Very Poorly Without Wi-Fi, Massive XDA Thread Ensues

Posted by in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News, Tablets
Last Updated: January 3rd, 2012

Update 2: ASUS has issued an official statement on the matter and determined that the Prime's GPS is functioning as intended, which for many folks means essentially non-functional.

Please note that this product is not a professional GPS device ... To avoid inconveniencing users who demand a powerful GPS device, we made the decision to remove it from our specification sheet and marketing communications. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

ASUS

That means if you're actually unable to live with your Prime without true GPS, there's not a lot to do but sell it - because ASUS isn't going to (and apparently can't) do anything about it.

24
Nov
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[Download] Latest Android Wi-Fi Tether 3.1 Update Finally Brings Inactivity Shutdown, Stops Turning Off Bluetooth On Start

Posted by in Applications, News

In the last couple of days, I've been closely interacting with Harald Mueller, the developer behind Android Wi-Fi Tether for root users, a free and open source tethering app for Android. Android Wi-Fi Tether is pretty much a de-facto app when when it comes to tethering on Android devices that have native Wi-Fi tethering disabled (thanks, carriers), and is what I consider one of the most important apps in our supposedly open ecosystem.

In my correspondence with Harald, I have brought up 2 specific issues that have been on my mind for a while now, and to my surprise, Harald solved them both in a matter of days.

08
Nov
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Republic Wireless Launches Its First Phone And The $19/Month Wireless "Hybrid Calling" Plan - Here's Everything You Need To Know

Posted by in LG, News, Optimus One, Republic Wireless

Seemingly out of nowhere, a new wireless brand Republic Wireless, a division of Bandwidth.com, announced earlier this month that it would revolutionize and shake up the mobile industry by introducing a Hybrid Calling plan that costs only $19 a month. This plan has indeed gone live today over at RepublicWireless.com, together with the first and only mobile device the company is offering (for now) - the LG Optimus.

The low-cost offering is made possible thanks to heavy reliance on Wi-Fi data - Republic Wireless devices are designed to prioritize Wi-Fi networks, and certain measures have been put in place to make sure you don't hog an unfair share of the mobile network (powered by Sprint).

01
Nov
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Tip: Is Your Android Market App Loading Slowly, Especially On Wi-Fi? Give This Fix A Try

Posted by in Android OS, Applications, Tips & Tutorials

The intrepid folks over at XDA are always tinkering away to try and make using your Android device a better experience. And a few weeks ago, one of them (namely, temasek) found that the Android Market has some issues trying to resolve DNS servers when your device is connected over Wi-Fi. This can cause the Market to load slowly, and it's definitely something I've experienced on my own phone.

The solution? A popular app called Set DNS (note: root is required), which forces your phone or tablet to use a particular name server when connecting to the web, may speed up load times over Wi-Fi.

27
Sep
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New Nexus S 2.3.6 OTA Update Rolling Out (GRK39F), Reportedly Fixes Tethering - Here Is How To Install It Manually

Posted by in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung, T-Mobile

A few weeks ago, a GSM Nexus S update 2.3.6 (GRK39C) with voice search fixes started rolling out, but it was immediately discovered to break Wi-Fi and USB tethering. After many complaints, Google pulled the OTA, and it seems like they've spent the last couple of weeks making sure everything works as expected.

A new update surfaced tonight, also numbered 2.3.6, but this time bearing build GRK39F. While there is no official changelog, based on the fact that an update with the same exact build hit the Nexus One a few days ago and didn't break tethering, I think it's safe to say it fixes at least that issue (Update: thanks to our buddy Omar for an additional confirmation of working tethering).

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