Android 4.3 Rolling out for Sony Xperia T, TX, V and SP
The Sony Mobiles blog site has announced a fairly aggressive Android 4.3 update today that covers four different models of Xperia devices. Technically only three as the XPeria SP rollout of Android 4.3 began last week. now they are starting the process for the Sony Xperia T, Xperia TX and the Xperia V. Check out what is new and coming for you guys.
- Google’s Android 4.3; Jelly Bean as standard – bringing Project Butter performance & UI response optimisation and a smoother graphical experience
- We’re also uplifting Sony’s entire native app portfolio to the latest versions – bringing tweaked / improved / current experiences for (to name but a few): Messaging, Smart Connect, Small apps, TrackID, Sony Select and
- Sony’s Media apps: WALKMAN, Album and Movies, with Sony Entertainment Network cloud service integration* – a more converged and full Sony entertainment experience – Sony Entertainment Network & PlayMemories integration with a more intuitive UI, offering seamless access to both local and cloud conten
- The launch of our unique custom interface experience: “Xperia Themes”, with downloadable UI packs from Sony Select – more on this soon…
- The latest Android security enhancements, matched with Sony’s mobile enterprise solution: Xperia in Business
- Battery STAMINA Mode – updated version of Sony’s power management app, now with refreshed interface and more smart options for prolonging battery life
While the software is available for the various devices those carrier and market specific versions might be delayed slightly, or might not come at all. Any of our global readers seeing the magical update yet?
Source: Sony Mobile Blog
Sony delivers Android 4.3 to Xperia T, Xperia TX, Xperia V
Sony today announced that the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update has commenced for the Xperia T, Xperia TX, Xperia V smartphones. The actual rollout, of course, depends on markets and carriers, however it’s officially pushed out the door.
In addition to the standard 4.3 stuff, the update includes updated Sony apps and services, Xperia Themes, security enhancements, and more.
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8-core HTC Desire phone rumor
It has been rumored for some time that HTC has been working with Mediatek chip-makers on producing a low to mid range 8-core smartphone for global markets. The pictures below are of the supposed development between the two companies, the “HTC Desire”.
The phone is said to boast a 5 inch display, 720p resolution, Android 4.3, 1.5GB of RAM, and HTC Sense 5.5. Now these are only rumors, but this could be HTC’s reaction to the iPhone 5c in order to get in on China’s growing smartphone market.
No availability has been released, but it has been said that the price will be 2000 Yuan or $330 USD. At this price it would be a direct competitor for business in China.
Source: GizChina
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Sony hopes to push Android 4.3 to Xperia T, TX, V, SP later this month
Sony is fast at work on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for their Xperia T, TX, V, and SP smartphones. According to a recent tweet, the handset maker plans to have the software push out beginning later this month and into February. Keep in mind that is will be for the unlocked international models and timing will vary depending on carriers and markets. Seeing as how don’t have any of these offered in the U.S. with a wireless provider, the time frame is up in the air for the models you might pick up through channels such as Amazon.
We hear you re: JB 4.3 for #Xperia T, TX, V, SP – we’re making final preps & will start rolling from end Jan / early Feb
— Sony Xperia News (@SonyMobileNews) January 16, 2014
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HTC confirms One X and X+ won’t be upgraded to Android 4.3 or higher
It looks like Android 4.2.2 will be the end of the upgrade roadmap for the HTC One X and X+, two of the company’s primary flagship phones in 2012. The phone maker tweeted out — and later confirmed to the press — that neither handset will be upgraded to Android 4.3 or anything newer. As frustrating as this announcement is, we don’t consider ourselves shocked: the original One X launched nearly two years ago, and we speculate that the 15-month-old X+’s Tegra 3 processor may have been the reason for its fate. Take a look at HTC’s official statement below.
We can confirm that the HTC One X and One X+ will not receive further Android OS updates beyond Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed both devices to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC, Google
Via: The Verge
Source: HTC UK (Twitter)
These Cookoo analog smartwatches take a minimalistic approach to viewing notifications
Looking for a nice-looking smartwatch but not interested in having the kitchen sink? Cookoo’s new set of analog timepieces are about as minimalistic as you can get without removing the “smart” element entirely. The Cognito lineup consists of two models, and although there really isn’t much difference between the two, the more expensive one is the more elegant option. The watches promise to be extensions of the phone, rather than replacements, and each features a series of LED icons that light up when you have a notification waiting for you on your handset. The company believes this is the ideal use for a smartwatch, since many people don’t care to interact with the notifications that start buzzing on their wrists.
The higher-end Cognito differs from its counterpart by offering Caller ID and giving you the option to mute incoming calls, as well as the ability to tap the watch to light it up so you can see your alerts. Cookoo reps boasted that both watches will easily last up to a year before you need to replace the battery, a remarkable length of time that’s likely the result of Bluetooth 4.0+LE support. The watches are compatible with iOS 7 and Android 4.3+, and watch (pun not intended but welcome) for the Cognito Pop to come out near the end of next month for $129, and the Cognito original mid-March for $179.
Joseph Volpe contributed to this post.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Wireless, Mobile
HP serves up 21.5 inch Android-powered All-in-One
Android hybrid tablet/laptops are so 2013 according to HP, which just announced its new Android-powered HP Slate21 Pro AiO.
Unlike the AiO desktop PCs that dual-boot Windows and Android, this one strictly runs our little green friend, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.
Said to be designed for productivity in office, education and kiosk environments, the AiO features a 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS touchscreen display with wide 178-degree viewing angles, plus Its stand design allows it to decline up to 70 degrees. There is also optional “VESA mounting,” that makes it flexible enough for a variety of work environments.
Other specs of the HP Slate21 Pro are an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core T40S Processor (1.66 GHz – Dual-Core/Single-Core mode up to 1.8 GHz), 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of flash storage, SD card slot, 8.11 a/b/g/n dual band wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 2.0 port on the side and two on the back, HDMI input, a USB 2.0 upstream port, RJ45 network connection, integrated Ethernet, DTS Sound and integrated audio, two, integrated stereo speakers, a 720p HD webcam and access to the Google Play store.
The AiO can use apps such as Kingsoft Office Suite, Google Docs, Google Drive, it’s certified Citrix ready and HDX verified and can deliver a virtual workspace with secure data and Windows application support via Citrix Receiver, so users also can easily switch between the Android environment and content displayed from a Windows PC.
With business users in mind, it comes pre-installed with Citrix XenMobile, which allows companies to manage apps and secure the HP Slate21 within a corporate environment.
When available, you get all of this this, plus 50 GB of Box cloud storage, starting at $399. If you’re not getting this for business, it should be able to handle games such as Dead Trigger 2 beautifully.
via HP
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Tegra Note platform receives OTA to Android 4.3, enhancements and bug fixes
If you own a Tegra Note 7 device, you should be seeing an update soon – if you haven’t already.
NVIDIA announced earlier this week that it was releasing an OTA update that brings new features and capabilities to all devices on the Note platform, including devices from EVGA, ADVENT, Gigabyte, Shenzhen Homecare Technology, ZOTAC and XOLO.
The OTA updates the device to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (sorry no KitKat yet), brings an enhanced the Tegra NOTE stylus experience with support for left-handed users and improvements in overall response, a DirectStylus help option under the device setting’s menu, a stylus removal and insert notification on the notification bar and the ability to capture the notification bar with full-screen capture.
Other features in the update include an always-on high-dynamic range (AOHDR) capability for the camera, which “utilizes Tegra 4’s processing power and Chimera computational photography architecture,” video stabilization, tuning and optimizations to improve camera performance under certain lighting conditions, the ability to transfer app and data files from internal memory to an external microSD card, and some security and bug fixes.
via NVIDIA
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Tegra Note 7 gets updated with Android 4.3 and camera enhancements
A few things were missing from NVIDIA’s Tegra Note 7 when it launched a month and a half ago, but the company promised that users would get a timely update that filled in some of the holes. That refresh, which includes Android 4.3 and a handful of other enhancements, is coming out to the $200 Tegra 4-powered tablet today. One of the biggest features that should’ve been offered from the very beginning is Always-on HDR (AOHDR), which does exactly what the feature’s name implies — make sure users can snap a real-time HDR shot without waiting several seconds for the camera to process it. There are a few other nice touches in the changelog, such as left-handed stylus support, improvements in the DirectStylus’ response, notifications and the ability to transfer files to microSD from internal memory. Granted, this isn’t the latest version of Android (4.4), but NVIDIA is planning on bringing it to the Note 7 eventually. In the meantime, at least users can enjoy the current update as it begins rolling out today around the world, regardless of which market you live in.
Source: NVIDIA
Android Never Ceases To Amaze Me; My Personal Mind-Blown Moment On Christmas Day
I don’t pretend to be an expert at Android; I haven’t even rooted my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and I still use TouchWiz. But I do like to think that I know most of the functions of Android, enough to be able to pick up any phone and use it quite extensively. So when I came across something on my Note 2 yesterday that I’d never seen before, I had a bit of a ‘mind-blown’ moment. Time for a story…
It was Christmas Day, the night was winding down and I was at the table with friends playing word games. One of my friends commented that Siri on her iPhone was configured to Cantonese and that it would always detect that she was saying something, even when she wasn’t. To counter this, she needed to find the menu to change Siri’s native language, a feat which was only accessible through the search menu, which in iOS 7 is now ‘hidden’ unintuitively (preditable, really). As it turns out, you access it by swiping down in the middle of the screen, but before arriving at this conclusion, another friend was convinced that this menu could be accessed by swiping down with two fingers. Naturally, this was incorrect, but I thought to myself “does swiping down with two fingers even do anything on an Android phone?”. As it turns out, it does.
Many of you will be familiar with this screen, or at least a variation of it, on your Android device. This is just the standard navigation menu when swiping down with one finger from the top. Lo’ and behold, if you swipe down with two fingers instead, you are greeted with this instead:
Now, I did consider that this was specific to the Note 2 running Android 4.3 as this second menu as seen above is just all the quick menu buttons on the one screen, but I tested this on my friend’s Nexus 4 as well and swiping down with two fingers brought about a different menu as well.
The question here is not if you have this functionality, though it would be nice to know which phones and software builds can actually do this; rather, I’d like to ask everyone whether you’ve had a similar ‘mind-blown’ moment where you realised how amazing Android is or been surprised that there’s actually been a function you’d not known existed before and is very useful. Let us know your stories in the comments below. And Merry Christmas to you all!
AIVAnet 