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We've clearly got a little bias on the subject, but Android has a long and storied history filled with its own triumphs and pitfalls. It's been well over a decade now since that first HTC G1 landed, the inaugural Android smartphone, and things have changed drastically since then. Being "first" might make you think the G1 was the most influential Android phone — but was it, really?
LineageOS, the successor to the ill-fated CyanogenMod, is off to a great start. The ROM has already passed 600,000 active installs, and has steadily added support for more devices since launch. Now official LineageOS builds have expanded to several more phones and tablets.
The Galaxy S II is an iconic device in Samsung's line-up. It had a big role in changing the public's perception of Samsung's brand and establishing it as a major smartphone player. But in our day and age, at a time when the S7 is about to be announced, the S II is getting long, really looooooooong in the tooth. It's a 5-year old device by now and its specs (dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 4.3" 480x800 display) can hardly be found in the lowest of the low-end Android phones. It does have 1GB of RAM and 16/32GB of storage though, which make it a potential candidate ripe for more modern Android ROMs.
While the legal battle between Samsung and Apple has mostly winded down, there are still some legal loose ends that need to be tied up. US District Judge Lucy Koh on Monday ordered a sales ban of several Samsung phones in the US, stemming from a 2014 ruling that found Samsung did infringe on several Apple patented features. You can probably put down your pitchforks, though. The phones included in the ban are ancient and aren't even sold anymore.
At this point, custom ROMs are the only things keeping old Galaxy S2s feeling fresh and vaguely modern. If you turned to CyanogenMod as your experience of choice, you've been left stranded on version 11 running Android KitKat. Now you're in for a treat. Fresh builds of CyanogenMod 12.1 are ready for download.
Update 2: Samsung has clarified the issue to Android Central, and it turns out it's actually not all that bad. Here's the gist: if you buy a Galaxy Note 3 (or other region-locked Samsung phone), it must be activated with a SIM in its home region. That means you can't import a Note 3 from Taiwan and then activate it in Europe, for example, and if you try to do that, it will lock itself. If that happens, you can go to a Samsung service center (if such a thing exists) and they will unlock the device for you, free of charge, so that you can then use it.
Talk about a blast from the past: the Sprint Galaxy S II, released way back in 2011, now has official CyanogenMod support. Most of the other international and regional versions of the GSII are already supported to some degree, but I'm sure there are more than a few Sprint customers who are happy to see the most popular custom ROM family come to their devices. There's one nightly of CM10.1 (Android 4.2) available at the time of writing.
If you're reading this on a later GSM-only Samsung device, pay attention. After clarifying their continuing support for Tegra 2 devices earlier this week, the CyanogenMod ROM team wants to let you know about their position vis-à-vis Samsung's Exynos 4 series of chipsets. In a nutshell: devices based on the Exynos 4 will be getting CyanogenMod 10.1 (Android 4.2) nightly builds, and not much else. These phones and tablets will not be getting stable releases of the latest CyanogenMod builds for the time being.
Better Late Than Never: AT&T Galaxy S II (SGH-I777) Finally Gets Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean Update, Build UCMD8
Months after its flighty sibling, the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, received an update to Android 4.1.2, it seems that the vanilla GS2 on AT&T is finally
Months after its flighty sibling, the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, received an update to Android 4.1.2, it seems that the vanilla GS2 on AT&T is finally ready for its Jelly Bean bump. Threads on XDA and the official AT&T forums confirm that the update - build number UCMD8 - is now available, just check for an update through Kies.
The Jelly Bean rollout for Galaxy device has been fast and furious as of late, with Samsung making the update available to nearly all of its current and former flagship devices. Today's the day for T-Mobile's version of the Galaxy S II – but the download is only available via Samsung's Kies software.
According to a forum post on AT&T's support site and some scattered user reports, the carrier's Galaxy S II variant is receiving a small update today. Rolling out over the air as you read these words, the software fixes an issue where devices would become unresponsive or power down while idle.
The Rogers version of the Galaxy S II LTE is finally receiving its update to Android 4.1.2, aka Jelly Bean, and the firmware upgrade is currently available through Kies (Rogers' own site does not yet show the update as available).
Samsung recently starting updating its aging-but-not-dead flagship phone from yesteryear (OK, technically it was the year before that, but yesteryesteryear isn't a thing) to Jelly Bean. And when Samsung updates things, you know what that means, right? Source code. Because a new version of Android brings with it a new kernel. And Android modders want new source to go along with that new kernel. So Samsung delivered, as always.
The CyanogenMod team has been hard at work building CM10.1 for various devices over the last several weeks, with new devices getting official builds almost daily. Yesterday, we saw 10.1 hit AT&T and T-Mobile's versions of the Galaxy Note and AT&T's S II Skyrocket; today, the first nightly just landed for T-Mo's Galaxy S II, as well.
Last week, we reported on an OTA update for the T-Mobile Galaxy S II that brought a "Qualcomm fix," along with some general security enhancements and Vlingo S Voice improvements. It looks like that update was delayed shortly after it started rolling out, as Team Pink just updated its support docs with details of the update with a set rollout date of January 31st, which is today.
A small, 11MB over-the-air update is on its way to T-Mobile's variant of the Galaxy S II this morning, which brings a few minor enhancements to the year-old device. Among those, you'll find a "Qualcomm fix," along with Vlingo S Voice improvements, and some general security enhancements.
Nearly two years ago, Samsung unveiled what would become one of the most iconic Android handsets of all time, and its powerhouse smartphone for the year: the Galaxy S II. This follow-up to the original Galaxy S brought the goods in a major way, further increasing Samsung's undeniable presence in the Android world. And now the company is updating it to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2).
One hundred million – that's a pretty massive number. And it's one that Samsung can now tout as a sales figure for the Galaxy S line as a whole. That's a combined number for the entire series: the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy S III; no other Galaxy phones, like the Note, are included.
[Update: Changelog] AT&T Galaxy S II (i777) Receiving Unexpected Update To Android 4.0.4 (Build LK3)
Update: AT&T has published the changelog for the update (link to complete info):