Android 4.2 officially out, Jelly Bean name here to stay

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean is now official, following Google's announcement of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10. There are a lot of new things to cover, so let's not waste any time.

Multiple user accounts

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for tablets adds multiple user-support to the OS. This way everyone in the household can have an account, which once logged in, welcomes them to their own homescreen, background, widgets and apps. Even the games keep the individual high scores and levels.

Settings center in the notifications drawer

The expandable notifications were a welcomed addition in Android 4.1, but now in Android 4.2, you can also take various actions like toggling Wi-Fi, adjusting screen brightness, go to Airplane mode, and more.

To do so, just tap on the icon on the top right once you have the notification drawer on. It took Google a while to copy the time-saving feature that TouchWiz, SenseUI and many other manufacturer Android skins implemented a while ago. Still, it's good to have it backed in right into the OS.

Photo Sphere

With Android 4.0, Google introduced the Panorama capturing mode, and now with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean users will get a cool feature dubbed Photo Sphere. It's a panorama mode on steroids and allows you to capture photos in multiple directions (up, down, left, right).

After they've been captured and saved as JPEG files you can view them and navigate around the whole image. You can share the image on Google+ or, if you feel like it, contribute the Photo Sphere to Google Maps.

The feature itself was inspired by Street View, as the Product Management Director for Android Hugo Barra points out. He adds that the photos pack embedded XML metadata in them allowing you to easily share them on Google+ and put them in Google+ photo albums, where your friends can view them as well.

Google Now is updated

Google has added a lot of new cards to its Google Now service. It now can feed data directly from Gmail, which will provide new cards, such as package shipments info.

Google Now also got cards for events, restaurant reservations, hotels, and flights. Some of them, like hotels and flights will be location specific. There are also new cards like movie screenings, concerts, stocks, public alerts and developing stories & breaking news.

Naturally, most of them won't be available world-wide at launch, but make sure that Google will work hard to bring them to more and more places in the future.

Gesture Typing

Forget about Swype, Android's very own Gesture typing is the new cool kid on the block. It works in a manner very similar to Swype -- you just Swipe your finger over the letters you want to type, lifting after each word is complete.

Naturally, the Gesture Typing feature benefits from the already existing Android word prediction, so you can just click on the words the keyboard suggests. This comes in addition to the offline voice typing service that Google offers, which makes for an all-round great messaging experience.

Wireless TV integration

Better late than never, finally in this version of Android Google has allows you to wirelessly share the screen of your phone or display with a big screen TV set.

All you need to do is connect a wireless display adapter to an HDMI-enabled TV and then it'll start mirroring whats on your screen using DLNA. The new feature uses the Miracast protocol for streaming.

It's another feature most customs launchers had, but is only now making its way to the platform itself.

Widgets on the lock screen

Widgets are a major part in Android and now you can assign a widget on the lockscreen as well. Think of the Music player widget on the lockscreen, but now you can assign another one there, so it's always just a click away.

Daydream

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean isn't just business and no play. Google has integrated a little feature called Daydream, which is simply a sort of a screensaver. Once turned on, you can set it up to show photo albums, latest news from Google Currents and more when the device is either docked or idle.

Various improvements

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean has a lot going for it, including some minor additions. You can now use pinch-to-zoom in Gmail for enhancing reading, triple-tap to magnify the entire homescreen and the pan and zoom with two fingers, as well as added speech output and gesture mode navigation for the visually impaired users.

Expect Android 4.2 Jelly Bean to start its roll-out once the new Nexus family of devices goes on sale on November 13.

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Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are now shipping

Nokia announced that the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 duo of Windows Phone 8 smartphones is now shipping. The devices will be available in stores and carrier retail locations as early as this week.

France and the UK will be the first countries to receive the two Nokia handsets. Russia, Germany, and other select markets will follow throughout November.

AT&T will also launch the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 in November. Verizon and T-Mobile on the other hand will begin offering Nokia Lumia 822 and Lumia 810 respectively during the same period.

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Verizon to get WP8 Samsung Ativ Odyssey in December

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 press conferences is already over and among all new things announced there was the Samsung Ativ Odyssey for Verizon. The only bits of info we got were the name and the launch month – December.

The name Odyssey was the rumored codename for the Ativ S, though the latter turned out to be with a 4.8-inch display opposed to rumors for a 4.65-inch screen. So it is highly possible the Odyssey is in fact a different device headed to Verizon.

If so, then expect the Odyssey to have the same SuperAMOLED HD screen as the Ativ S but with a 4.65-inch diagonal, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset, an 8MP rear and 2MP front cameras, 16GB internal storage and microSD slot. LTE and NFC connectivity will be there for sure.

The Ativ Odyssey is coming to Verizon in December

Google unveils HSPA+ Nexus 7 version, 32GB version in tow

Alongside the brand new Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet, Google also announced an HSPA+ enabled Nexus 7 slate. The 3G radio sporting device will be compatible with over 200 GSM carriers worldwide, including AT&T in the United States.

There is no difference in the specifications of the HSPA+ enabled Google Nexus 7 save for the GSM radio on board. You can check out our review of its Wi-Fi sibling over here.

The 32GB HSPA+-enabled Google Nexus 7 will retail for the nicely sounding $299. Google has also sweetened the deal on the Wi-Fi only versions of the slate - the price of the 16GB one has been slashed to $199, while a newly introduced 32GB version will retail for $249. Gone is the 8GB Nexus 7.

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Watch the Windows Phone 8 event here [Update: it's over]

Microsoft's event in San Francisco will see the official launch of their new mobile phone OS, Windows Phone 8, and you can be a part of it, even if you're not in town (or didn’t get an invite).

Here's the live stream where you can watch the event as it unfolds and you can also head over to the Windows Phone Facebook page to join the conversation and vote for your favorite feature. You can also watch the live stream on Microsoft's web site.

Update: It's over, here's the recording. The action starts at 3 hours 6 minutes (note that the player uses Silverlight).

We'll be covering the event, so make sure to check back with us to find out what's new.

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Unlocking iPhone Would Be Illegal Starting January 2013!

Surprise surprise, this is something non of you would have expected. Unlocking iPhone’s would be illegal starting January 2013. Yes folks this has been confirmed. New DMCA ruling will soon make it illegal to unlock iPhone.

iPhone Unlocking illegal

Recently factory unlocking iPhone’s suddenly took a real boom. The reason? Well it seems that many companies found out a way to factory unlock iPhones. What it is that, it caused a huge price drop in factory unlocks. Previously people could get their iPhone factory unlocked but for a huge price somewhere close to $200. Now it’s the other way round. Factory unlocks have taken a major dive and the prices are as low as $20.

That’s a great thing, right? Well it is, but unfortunately it will soon come to an end. When exactly?

January 2013.

Starting from January 2013, unlocking iPhone’s would be illegal. Yes folks, this is a big NO NO for you. So how did this iPhone unlocking suddenly become illegal? And, who is responsible for it?

Congress Considers Unlocking iPhone illegal

Congress has now considered unlocking iPhone to be illegal. Well not exactly right now, but it was in the pipeline for quite sometime.

New DMCA ruling from the library of Congress will make unlocking your iPhone illegal starting the first month of next year. Now this would definitely sound bad but actually it’s not as bad as you are thinking.

Back in 2006 and 2010, Library of Congress ruled that unlocking iPhone would be completely illegal but now it has turned 90 degrees. Starting 2013, iPhone unlocking would be (almost) illegal. Why the word “almost illegal”? Well you would still be able to unlock iPhone but with the permission from your carrier, which almost makes it impossible to legally unlock iPhone.

The new DMCA would make iPhone’s purchased after January 2013 to be not illegible to be unlocked but those purchased before would still be able to get it unlocked.

While the new rules do contain a provision allowing phone unlocking, it comes with a crippling caveat: the phone must have been “originally acquired from the operator of a wireless telecommunications network or retailer no later than ninety days after the effective date of this exemption.”

So if you are planning to get an iPhone 5 and want to unlock it, you better hurry up.

Why Unlocking iPhone To Be Illegal

Congress considers two main reasons why they think unlocking an iPhone would be illegal. The first is that; when you purchase a software you do not actually own it, you rather simply license it according to End User License Agreement. In basic words it means you can use the software but can’t make changes to it, thus unlocking iPhone to be illegal.

The second reason Congress mentioned was that there are way too many unlocked phones in the market compared to those locked ones. Which is kind of bad for carriers as they lose much of their revenue from locked iPhones.

So is this is the end of the world for you? Absolutely not, there would still be plenty of ways from which you would be able to unlock iPhone, although not legal

Samsung Exynos 5 blows the competition out of the water in GLBenchmark

The Samsung-made Exynos 5 chipset, has gone through some benchmarking and to has proved to be quite the performance champion.

The test in question is GL Benchmark and currently the dual-core Cortex A15 processor running at 1.7GHz and quad-core ARM Mali T604 GPU tops the charts, beating the LG Optimus G and the Pantech Vega R3.

The Mali-T604 inside the Exynos 5 smokes the Adreno 320 GPU (found in the Optimus G), managing nearly 34 fps in the GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt HD Offscreen (1080p) test.

Can’t wait to see this chip flexing its muscles in the Samsung Nexus 10, which is expected to be announced in the rescheduled Google event. This very same chip is now powering Google’s latest batch of Chromebooks, again manufactured by Samsung.

Thanks for the tip, MrPhilo

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Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon goes official

Nokia's flagship Windows Phone 8 handset may be exclusive to AT&T for the first half year, but its Lumia 820 sibling is not - Nokia just announced the Lumia 822, Verizon's version of the device.

The phone comes fully loaded - it has the Nokia Drive+ offline navigation with US maps pre-installed, the City Lens and Transit apps and several camera apps (Smart Shoot, Cinemagraph, Panorama and Creative Studio).

The free, no-ads, no-log-in Nokia Music streaming service will be available on the phone too, to make use of that fast 4G LTE connectivity.

CDMA and LTE with Verizon bands aside, the Nokia Lumia 822 features the same specs as its GSM twin, including an 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens, 4.3" WVGA ClearBlack AMOLED display and dual-core Krait processor.

Different shells can be put on the back of the Lumia 822 to enhance its looks and functionality, including a shell that enables wireless charging.

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Jelly Bean update for HTC One X boosts performance

The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the HTC One X recently started rolling out and it brings a good performance boost with it. One of our readers (thanks, Safal) sent in screenshots of some benchmarks he ran on a JB-running One X.

  
SunSpider • Quadrant * AnTuTu

The web browser saw the biggest boost and it’s the area where the HTC One X most needed one. The old results just weren't fit of its quad-core flagship status. A slight boost in AnTuTu and Quadrant point to an overall performance increase too.

Here's how the updated phone stacks up against its ICS-running self and other high-enders.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

• Sort by Label
• Sort by Value

• Samsung Galaxy Note II13562
• HTC One X (Tegra 3, JB)12932
• Samsung Galaxy S III (JB)12288
• Meizu MX 4-core11820
• LG Optimus 4X HD11735
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)11633
• LG Optimus G11226

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Sort by Label
• Sort by Value

• LG Optimus G7439
• HTC One X (Tegra 3, JB)6822
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)5952
• Samsung Galaxy Note II5916
• Samsung Galaxy S III (JB)5375
• Meizu MX 4-core5170
• LG Optimus 4X HD4814

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Sort by Label
• Sort by Value

• Apple iPhone 5915
• Samsung Galaxy Note II972
• Motorola RAZR i XT8901059
• HTC One X (Tegra 3, JB)1117
• Samsung Galaxy S III (JB)1192
• Meizu MX 4-core1312
• LG Optimus G1353
• LG Optimus 4X HD1446
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)1468

The Jelly Bean-running HTC One X gets ahead of a Jelly Bean-running Samsung Galaxy S III, at least in these benchmarks, and makes it very competitive with the LG Optimus G (which has a next-gen Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset but ICS is keeping it back).

Note that we're talking about the regular One X here, not the zippier One X+ and its overclocked Tegra 3 chipset (it will launch with JB out of the box too).

Google Nexus 10 shown on video, new lockscreen demoed

The Samsung-made Google Nexus 10 tablet managed to get itself caught on camera yet again, after its video appeared the other day. The video is very short but does, briefly, show the new lockscreen layout and takes a quick look at the homescreen.

The Nexus 10 underneath an Ace Iconia A100

Sadly the video itself isn't properly set up so we can't have a good lock at the screen but perhaps thepreviously leaked photos can be of some help.

The Google Nexus 10 will sport a 10.1" display of 2560 x 1600 resolution, which amounts to the impressive 299 pixels per inch and even outdoes Apple's iPad's "Retina". Under the hood the Nexus 10 will be driven by a dual-core Exynos 5250 SoC with two Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 1.7 GHz and the potent Mali-T604 graphics processor.

The Nexus 10 was supposed to make an appearance tomorrow at Google's New York event but sadly it has been postponed due to Hurricane Sandy

iPad Mini’s Initial Stock Gets Sold Out!

When Apple launched the iPad mini alongside many other products, many were not sure how well the iPad would do. Initially it seemed that the iPad mini would cannibalize it’s competitors but when Apple announced the price, it was a shocker. The iPad mini’s price was a staggering $329. But it seems it is doing well, as the iPad mini’s initial stock has been sold out!

iPad Mini Sold

iPad mini pre orders have been sold out. This previous Friday iPad mini was available for pre-order and after 2 days the initial stock has been sold out. This is good news for Apple, right? Well it is but we simply can not judge on how well it is doing by the initial pre-order.

People’s first reaction regarding the smaller tablet from Apple was that it is a good device but with a heft price tag. To an extend this is true but if you compare the device against its competitors it kind of falls short in many categories.

You might want to check out

iPad mini vs kindle fire HD vs Nexus 7

The entire iPad mini models have not been sold out. Actually the 16GB version of the iPad mini has been sold out, and that too after two days. This is well below Apple’s standard as they are normally sell out within some hours. But you have to give credit to Apple regarding selling out the 16GB version of the iPad mini.

Also we do not know how many were in Apple’ inventory so to get the idea of how many iPad mini’s have been sold thus far. We will have to wait until we get the official statement from Apple.

If you are going to buy an iPad mini you will now have to wait two more weeks

Apple says Samsung Didn’t Copy iPad Because Its Not Cool Like iPad!

Through the Apple vs Samsung war has came to an end long ago but the cold war between the two leading gadget companies of the world, seems to have no end. As when one seems calm the other raises an issue and the fight starts again. Recently,  Apple tried appealing a recent ruling by the High Court in London that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab didn’t infringe on its design patents. And to remind you that it is that similar case for which the judge ordered the fruit company to  run advertisements stating that Samsung didn’t copy iPad. Well, Apple’s appeal was rejected and it made good on its orders by posting a notice on the ruling to its UK website.

Samsung Didn’t Copy iPad

The High Court of Justice of England and Wales gave the final verdict that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001.

But the fruit company then quoted this in a very  insolent way that,

The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.

Not only this but the Apple also highlighted the previous defeats of Samsung in such trial and tried to prove its supremacy in the market. What do you think about Apple’s this quote?

Google cancels October 29 event due to hurricane

Google's October 29 event has reportedly been cancelled after a state of emergency has been issued in the US due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy, which will be passing through New York City, Google's venue for the event.

Although Google did not announce the specific purpose of the event, other than calling it an 'Android event', it was generally assumed that the company was going to announce the LG manufactured Nexus 4 smartphone and a 10-inch Samsung manufactured Nexus 10 tablet.

The event has likely been postponed to a later date although we are yet to hear when exactly it will be taking place. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 event in San Francisco is still on track, so we still have something to look forward to.

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LG E960 Nexus 4 manual leaks, leaves nothing to imagination

The upcoming LG E960 Nexus 4 has shaped up to be one of the worst kept secrets in the industry. After being fully reviewed and lost in a bar, it was time for the handset's user manual to make the rounds.

The manual which has subsequently been removed from LG's website reveals yet again the Nexus 4's close relationship with the LG Optimus G. Built-in 8 and 16GB memory options are all but confirmed, as well as the presence of induction coil for wireless charging.

The LG Nexus 4 will be unveiled at a Google event in New York City on Monday alongside the also leaked, Samsung made Google Nexus 10. We will be live from the spot, so expect the full scoop on both devices on Monday.

Source | Via