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Mar

Bell, Rogers, And TELUS Pushing Jelly Bean 4.1.2 Update To LG Optimus G; SaskTel Trailing Close Behind

Posted by Cody Toombs in Bell, Device Updates, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Optimus G, Rogers, TELUS

Last Updated: March 25th, 2013

We have some good news to share with our neighbors to the north: the Optimus G is getting an update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Right now, this only includes customers on Bell, Rogers, and TELUS. LG says that SaskTel users will receive the OTA in "late March", which suggests it should begin shipping only a few days behind the other carriers. This version bump will bring support for Google Now, offline speech recognition, expandable notifications, and several other goodies. LG has also packaged a few of its own improvements, but seems to have left out an upgraded QSlide 2.0. Here is the full changelog, provided by MobileSyrup:

Touch performance improvement
A simpler user interface for complex features such as WiFi-Direct and Miracast combined
Multimedia file transfer through Android Beam
Lock front key feature for QuickMemo
A memo scribble feature
Notification bar enhancements
Google Now support
Offline Voice recognition and typing
Quick Translator
Exchange task sync support

The update appears to be available only as an OTA, so just keep watching for the notification.

Mar

[Update: Unlocked LTE SIII, Too] CyanogenMod 10.1 Nightly Builds Now Rolling Out For The LG Optimus L9 And U.S. Cellular Note II With LTE

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Note II, News, Optimus L9

Another day, another set of CM10.1 nightlies for some currently aging handsets. Well, maybe not that aging, but the point remains: new nightlies are here for the LG Optimus L9 and U.S. Cellular's LTE variants of the Galaxy Note II.

Update: Looks like the unlocked LTE variant of the SIII (i9305) just got its first experimental nightly, as well.

If you just can't stand not having stock Android, have been dreaming of CyanogenMod 10.1 for your device, or some other thing related to flashing this ROM, the time is here. Keep in mind that these are nightlies, so there may be some software quirks, though I've generally found these types of builds to be stable enough for everyday use.

Mar

[Update: Annnnd, It's Back] Nexus 4 Bumper Ends Its Rollercoaster Ride Of Availability, Now Listed As 'No Longer Available For Sale'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Accessories, Google, News, Nexus 4

Update: Oops! Looks like Google classified this one as dead just a bit too early – it's back for a thirtieth go in the Play Store. If you want one, you should probably buy it now before they really do disappear forever.

Shortly after slimming down the Play Store's selection of Nexus 7 cases, it looks like Google has brought out the axe again, this time aiming it at the Nexus 4 Bumper. The bumper, which enjoyed an absolute roller coaster ride during its tenure, finally ended its on-again-off-again relationship with the Play Store today, with no warning at all.

Mar

LG Just Announced A Clone Of Samsung's Smart Pause Eye-Tracking Feature Before Samsung Could Even Unveil It

Posted by David Ruddock in Device Updates, LG, News, Optimus G Pro

Oh, LG. Sometimes I really do wonder if you come up with the good ideas first, or if it really is like everyone else sort of thinks it is. Korea's #2 smartphone producer just sent out a press release announcing LG Smart Video, a new feature in the Optimus G Pro. So, if you've heard about the Smart Pause feature that was recently discovered in some screenshots from a Galaxy S III Android 4.2 ROM, it's that. Literally, exactly that.

The feature is pretty simple in concept - if you're playing a video on your phone (unknown if it supports 3rd party video players), the front-facing camera tracks your eyes.

Mar

Nexus 4 Bumper Case Back In Stock On US Play Store After Being Unavailable For Over A Month

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, News, Nexus 4

Nexus 4 bumper cases have been out of stock on the US Play Store for at least a month now, but today they've finally returned - same price, same place.

The official Nexus 4 bumper will run you $20 plus tax and shipping, which is indeed quite pricey for such a simple little item. While Google does seem to have stabilized Nexus 4 stock in the last month, it's more than a bit befuddling to me that they can't keep a cheap piece of plastic in stock to match the demand of the phone for which it is exclusively built.

Mar

CyanogenMod 10.1 Nightlies Now Available For Galaxy R, C Spire Galaxy S III, CM10 For The Optimus L5

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Galaxy R, Galaxy S III, LG, News

Definition: A "nightly" is a bleeding edge release that is built on a daily basis, usually at night after a full day's worth of new code has been committed.

It could oftentimes be unstable and not properly tested, lacking any changelogs, but eventually evolving into alphas, betas, release candidates, and finally stable releases.

CyanogenMod 10.1 nightlies have officially landed for the C Spire Galaxy S III and the Samsung Galaxy R, and are available at get.cm for your flashing pleasure. Note that the C Spire GSIII support is actually now baked into the Sprint Galaxy S III ROM, so you'll be downloading the d2spr build for that device.

Mar

Nexus 7 Arrives In The Play Store In South Korea, Nexus 4 May Be Launching In Japan Soon

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News, Nexus 4, Nexus 7

Nexus 7 in South Korea

The international rollout continues as Google has announced that the Nexus 7 is now on sale in South Korea. This marks the ninth country the tablet can be purchased in and the widest availability of any Play Store hardware to date. The first runner up is the Nexus 10 with a whopping 8 countries.

Nexus 4 in Japan

The Nexus 4, however, wants to catch up in that list with a possible Japanese launch. We've previously heard reports that the handset had already appeared, but multiple Japan residents have confirmed to us the phone is not actually on sale yet.

Mar

Sprint Officially Announces Optimus G Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) Update

Posted by David Ruddock in Device Updates, Jelly Bean 4.1, Optimus G, Sprint

While it began to trickle out to a few users at the end of February, the Android 4.1 upgrade for Sprint's Optimus G remained unannounced up until today. Here's the official changelog:

Enhancements/Fixes

- Android 4.1.2 Jellybean
- Google Now™
- Expandable, actionable notifications
- Android Beam™ to send photos and more
- QuickTranslator application downloadable from the Application Manager
- Smoother user interface. Vsync timing across all drawing and animation done by the Android framework, including application rendering, touch events, screen composition and display refresh; and triple buffering in the graphics pipeline.
- User-installable keyboard maps
- Ability to turn off notifications on an app specific basis
- Shortcuts and widgets can automatically be re-arranged or re-sized to allow new items to fit on home screens
- Bluetooth data transfer for Android Beam
- Improved voice search
- Improved camera app
- Android mobile version of Google Chrome replaces stock Android browser
- Ability for other launchers to add widgets from the app drawer without requiring root access

Interestingly, this build is labeled as LS970ZVA, whereas the build that was rolling out to some users in February was LS970ZVB.

Mar

PSA: LG Intuition's Latest Update Wreaking Havoc, Should Be Avoided For Now

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Intuition, News, Optimus Vu, Verizon Wireless

Owners of LG's Verizon-connected Intuition (otherwise known as the Optimus Vu) would be well-advised to avoid an update that began rolling out recently. The short version of this story is that the update is wreaking havoc on handsets –users who have already accepted the update are reporting constant app errors, an inability to connect to the Play Store, camera/gallery failure, and more. You can read users' impassioned responses to the flawed firmware here, here, and here.

It should be noted that although some users report total loss of photos and contacts, user files should still be present on the device.

Mar

DODOcase Durables Wallet Available For The Nexus 4 And Galaxy S III, Durables Sleeve For The Galaxy Note 10.1 [Hands-On]

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000 / N8010 / N8013), Galaxy S III, News, Nexus 4

When it comes to device protection, there is no shortage of options out there on the great wide internet. With enough digging, you can find almost any different style of case you can think of, be it an on-device super-thin case, something ultra-durable, or a simple sleeve. If you're looking for something along the lines of the latter for your Nexus 4, Galaxy S III, or Galaxy Note 10.1, look no further than the just-announced Durables Wallet and Sleeve from DODOcase.

The company was nice enough to send me the Durables Wallet for the Nexus 4 to check out before the official release, and I have to say: this is one nice case.