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LineageOS is the most popular custom ROM around, with official support for dozens of devices and a huge community. The project relies on the work of contributing developers, which means phones can just easily be dropped as they are added. Since we last covered LineageOS, a few new devices are now supported, while a handful of fan favorites have been dropped.
LineageOS is one of the most popular custom Android ROMs around, with somewhere around two million active installations. Since the last time we covered the project, nine more phones have been updated to the Android 9 Pie branch, and the Nvidia Shield Tablet has made a comeback.
LineageOS is one of the most popular custom ROMs available, with somewhere around two million active installations. It typically takes a while for the project to update to newer versions of Android, since development is largely done by maintainers in their spare time. Six months after the public release of Android 9 Pie, it looks like LineageOS is about ready to make the jump — but not before dropping older devices.
NVIDIA launched the SHIELD Tablet way back in the summer of 2014. Most device makers would have long since abandoned a tablet from that era, but NVIDIA has kept it reasonably up-to-date. The tablet is running Nougat and got the KRACK patch late last year. Now, NVIDIA says it's working on a new patch to address the recent spate of CPU vulnerabilities.
You have to hand it to NVIDIA—it's kept the SHIELD Tablet updated for more than three years now. That's about three years longer than most Android tablets. Today, the SHIELD Tablet is getting the 5.3 upgrade, which includes a few little bug fixes along with one big fix for the KRACK vulnerability.
It's been a few years since NVIDIA released a SHIELD Tablet, but it's been keeping them up to date with regular OTAs. However, this appears to be the end of the line. NVIDIA won't push an update to Oreo for the SHIELD Tablet and Tablet K1.
Some European AC wall adapters are being recalled by NVIDIA as they risk causing an electrical shock. We've had tips from readers of the GeForce forum, where a post by an employee linked to an official recall page with instructions for identifying and returning the faulty equipment.
When we last covered the LineageOS project, support for the Nexus 9 was added along with a few phones from Xiaomi. Since then, more devices have been added to the official builds, and there are a wealth of new features in the ROM. Without any further ado, let's take a look.
NVIDIA mostly focuses on the SHIELD Android TV these days, but it hasn't forgotten about the SHIELD Tablet. After getting the device updated to Nougat in February, NVIDIA has sent out two small updates. That includes today's v5.2 update. The changelog shows nothing major, but it's nice of NVIDIA to keep this tablet up-to-date.
NVIDIA has one of the best track records for software support among Android manufacturers. The original Nvidia Shield tablet, originally released in 2014 with Android 4.4 KitKat, is still being updated and currently runs Android 7.0 Nougat. Now both the original Shield Tablet and the newer Tablet K1 have a new update.
NVIDIA is on fire this year. Not only did the company release new SHIELD TV boxes, it also quickly updated them to Android 7.0 Nougat and upgraded the older SHIELD TV as well, then said it would bring the same update to the SHIELD Tablet, and here we are: promise fulfilled.
NVIDIA is getting ready to roll out Android 7.0 to the SHIELD Android TV, and of course it's shipping the new SHIELD with Android 7.0 pre-installed. But what of the SHIELD Tablet and Tablet K1? There's been little word on what's up with these devices, but NVIDIA's SHIELD Hub account on Google+ says that update is happening. It's not the strongest confirmation you can get, but we'll take anything we can get right now.
If you've been waiting for Nougat to miraculously appear on your SHIELD Tablet... keep waiting. This is not the update you're looking for, but it's an update nonetheless. There will be minor improvements to both SHIELD Tablets including, but not limited to, an updated Vulkan API and security patches.
The lads and lasses on the open source CyanogenMod Team continue to bring their Android nightly ROMs to phones and tablets that have long been abandoned by uncaring manufacturers. This week a handful of new devices get builds for CM13, based on code from Android 6.0. All of them are nightlies (so possibly not ready for primetime), but I'll bet their respective users are happy to get the attention anyway. Here they are:
NVIDIA is pretty good about regular updates for its SHIELD line, and the Tablet twins are the recipients of the latest bumps. Update version 4.3 for the original SHIELD Tablet (the one with the stylus) and 1.4 for the newer SHIELD Tablet K1 are basically identical, and in both cases the biggest addition is an update to Android 6.0 that brings the security patches to July of this year. The rest of the changes are pretty minor bug fixes and other small adjustments:
The NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet provides one of the best Android gaming experiences you can currently have, and right now an update is rolling out to the device. Following this latest release, the slate now meets Android 6.0 Professional Audio requirements. This means low latency audio, MIDI support over USB and Bluetooth, 24-bit@192kHz Stereo and 7.1 HDMI output, and other audio improvements. In-game audio should sound more responsive, and the same is true when listening to music or watching video.
NVIDIA is rolling out a new OTA for its SHIELD Tablet K1 today, the first one in a few months. This device has been running Marshmallow since last year, but there's still room for improvement. The 1.3 update adds compatibility with Android 6.0's professional audio requirements, better control of nav button position, and more.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, the third entry in the shoot-and-loot PC and console series, came to the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV earlier this year. Even with a significant delay, it's the most technically challenging game on the SHIELD and probably on Android as a whole. That said, it's not as good as the previous entry, Borderlands 2. The Pre-Sequel has a bit of a been there, done that feel to it: the story is a bit ham-fisted, the weapons and environments seem like retreads, and there are too many Space Australians. If you agree, you'll be happy to hear that Borderlands 2 is also coming, according to an announcement made at E3 today.
Space Hulk is not some Jason X-style reinterpretation of Marvel's not-so-jolly green giant, fun as that might be. Nope, it's a tabletop tactical RPG set in the vaunted Warhammer 40,000 setting. The setting, which features a bunch of strapping space marines stomping around a gigantic derelict spaceship, is kind of like Aliens, except you get to kill things instead of run away. The latest video game version of the Space Hulk setup was released in 2013, and today it's been made available on the SHIELD, SHIELD Tablet, and SHIELD Portable.