Random reboots continue to plague the Galaxy Nexus, how about yours?

News

  • January 16, 2012 at 1:56 pm

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Galaxy Nexus back - close-up on Google logo

When we thoroughly reviewed the Galaxy Nexus, the buggy launch of the device was one of its sticking points. While both the GSM and LTE versions of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus are now running Android 4.0.2, there are a number of bugs still plaguing both devices.

One of the most annoying issues plaguing the Galaxy Nexus are random reboots. I’ve been having them on my first Galaxy Nexus and now the same situation has been going on with the second Nexus I’ve got my hands on. They could happen at any time and a couple of times the Galaxy Nexus rebooted while charging during the night. If you have a PIN number set, your device will be ‘off the hook’ when it restarts, until you punch in the PIN number. I also had my first reboot yesterday after updating to 4.0.2 on a GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus last week.
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HP TouchPad now seen running Android 4.0 thanks to CyanogenMod 9 (video)

News

  • January 13, 2012 at 7:36 am

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HP TouchPad running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

The CyanogenMod Android custom ROM may have just reached an important milestone of 1 million installs, but as we’ve said before, it’s getting ready for even bigger things to come. One of these, is to liberate the HP TouchPad from the uncertainties and lack of app support of WebOS.

We’ve already seen CyanogenMod 7 (CM7) running on the tablet. But the install was plagued with a bunch of issues and CM7 is based on the not so tablet-friendly Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The CM team has been fiendishly working on the latest version of the ROM, CyanogenMod 9 (CM9), which is based on the spanking new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Although a final stable build of CM9 has not yet been released for any device, the aftermarket ROM has already found its place on the HP TouchPad. It also seems that significant progress has been made since the last time we saw the TouchPad flirting with Android and CM. As you can see in the preview video below, everything is working pretty smoothly, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Only key sticking points remain the camera and video playback.
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Asus and NVIDIA announce 7-inch Tegra 3 quad-core tablet with Ice Cream Sandwich for $249

News

  • January 10, 2012 at 3:35 am

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Asus 7-inch NVIDIA Tegra 3 tablet ME370T

There are a lot of new tablets at CES this year. The biggest piece of news however has just come in today. NVIDIA has announced that a 7-inch version of the Asus Transformer Prime, which will also run on the Tegra 3 quad-core SoC and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, is coming soon. The Asus ME370T tablet will sell for $249 at launch.

This completely blows the under-powered and barebones $199 Kinde Fire and $249 Nook Tablet out the water. Besides the super fast Tegra 3 chip, the 7-inch Asus tablet will have a 1280 x 800 screen resolution and an 8-megapixel camera.
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Lenovo IdeaTab S2 10-inch tablet with Android 4.0 and keyboard dock

News

  • January 9, 2012 at 4:38 am

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Lenovo IdeaTab S2 10.1-inch Android tablet with keyboard dock

Did we mention we are expecting an onslaught of Android tablets at CES 2012? Hot on the heels of Acer’s Ice Cream Sandwich bearing Iconia Tab A700, Lenovo has announced its own Android 4.0 tablet. The Lenovo IdeaTab S2 with a 10.1-inch IPS LCD 1280×800 resolution and Qualcomm’s latest 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 SoC. Similar to the Asus Trasformer Prime, the IdeaTab S2 can be used with a detachable keyboard dock.

Thin is the game now, and the S2 tablet measures just 0.34 inches thick and weighs a mere 1.1 lbs. Lenovo claims a 20 hours runtime when the tablet is paired with its keyboard dock. We’ve mentioned that it will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, though Lenovo will slap its own Mondrian UI on top. You get the typical set of Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, micro-USB and micro HDMI. The S2 is said to come in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flavors, though no pricing or availability has been made public yet.
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Acer Iconia Tab A700 10-inch tablet with 1080p display, quad-core Tegra 3 and Android 4.0

News

  • January 8, 2012 at 6:47 pm

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Acer Iconia Tab A700

CES 2012 is expected to open the floodgates for new tablets, yet Acer has managed to put its competitor early in. The Acer Iconia Tab A700 is a 10.1-inch tablet with some spectacular specs. The screen has a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, it runs on the quad-core Tegra 3 SoC, which is clocked at 1.3GHz, and will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich pre-installed.

Of course you get a typical set of ports, like micro-USB and HMDI, and connectivity, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and 3G, together with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing camera for video chatting. The A700 also boasts Dolby Mobile sound. Measuring 9.8mm thick, it might not be the thinnest tablet around but with a 9,800 mAh battery you’ll be pleased to carry it all day with you.
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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 0.6 percent of Android devices

News

  • January 4, 2012 at 1:21 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus bottom screen close-up

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was released with much fanfare this past November together with the Galaxy Nexus — you can read our full review here. Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is a huge step forward for Google’s mobile platform, and offers a large number of visual and backend enhancements.

We are pretty sure that every knowledgeable Android user can’t wait to get his hands on this latest version, however ICS currently only comes officially pre-loaded on the Galaxy Nexus, while existing Android device owners would have to wait if and when their devices get upgraded. The ASUS Transformer Prime tablet, will be the first device to receive an Android 4.0 update on January 12.

Well, now we have the first official numbers for the adoption of Android ICS, which now accounts for 0.6% of all Android devices that have accessed the Android Market during a set period. The pie chart below is based on the number of devices that accessed the Android Market within a 14-day period ending January 3rd.
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ASUS Transformer Prime to receive update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on 12 January

News

  • January 3, 2012 at 2:00 pm

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ASUS Transformer Prime running Android Ice Cream Sandwich

ASUS has taken to its official Facebook page to announce that its Nvidia Tegra 3 tablet will soon be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). The update will start rolling out on the 12th of January to the 10.1-inch quad-core ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, making it the first Android tablet to officially receive Android ICS. We are sure this will put a smile on all the lucky Transformer Prime owners out there.

Nevertheless, there has been a backlash from the developer community, as Transformer Prime owners discovered that the tablet’s bootloader is locked. ASUS explains that having a locked bootloader is a Google DRM (Digital Rights Management) requirement in order to allow users to rent videos. ASUS intends to provide an unlock utility. Use of the tool will void your warranty and make Google Video unavailable.
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Ice Cream Sandwich based CyanogenMod 9 pieces begin making their appearance

News

  • December 29, 2011 at 7:44 am

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CyanogenMod 9 Trebuchet launcher for Android Ice Cream Sandwich

We’ve included Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as one of our favorite pieces of tech for 2011. The main reason Android made it to our shortlist and into our hearts is that because it is an open source project, third-parties are able to use it and build on top of it. If there is something more you want from you mobile OS, or you want to get rid of some annoying feature, chances are there is either an aftermarket ROM, third-party launcher, or an app to do that.

One of the most popular aftermarket ROMs comes from the CyanogenMod team, with support for a huge number of devices.The team has promised to release the updated CyanogenMod 9 (CM9) based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012, and pieces of ROM are already finding their way to devices, showing us what CM9 will look like and be able to do.
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Our favorite gadgets from 2011

EditorialsFeatured

  • December 27, 2011 at 6:41 pm

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Our favorite 2011 gadgets

The holiday season is a period for introspection and some quality time with our favorite gadgets. As a gadget blog, looking back into what we have covered during 2011, there are a few pieces of tech that really stand out. These are the gadgets that got us excited because they were pushing new boundaries, or they instantly became an integral part of our lives because they perform their task really well. Here are our favorite pieces of tech for 2011, they might not be the most obvious choices, but if you read through you’ll find out why they earned a place in our hearts.
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Android Ice Cream Sandwich finds its way on the Kindle Fire, melts into our hearts (video)

News

  • December 27, 2011 at 3:31 am

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Amazon Kindle Fire

It had to happen. Someone was bound to get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on Amazon’s budget conscious 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet. Thanks to the Android developer community a pre-alpha version of Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) can now be seen running on the Fire and if you are feeling extremely adventurous you can go ahead and download the test ROM to start tinkering.

The pre-alpha ROM is based on the public Android Open Source Project (AOSP) release of ICS, and judging from the video, things are going well on the development front. Main issues are with audio and video not always working properly. The video and download link are after the break.
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Google Search launches carousel view for tablets, gives us a peak of Ice Cream Sandwich on a Xoom

News

  • December 8, 2011 at 12:35 pm

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Google Image Search for tablets

Google has just launched a new carousel view for tablets when using image search. Images take up the majority of the screen with an info box at the bottom and you can swipe left or right. The new tablet-optimized carousel view certainly looks like a great improvement to the user experience, and quite addictive for those who enjoy to flick through hundreds of images.

What we’ve spotted in the video, after the break, is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on what appears to be a Motorola XOOM.
No tablet has yet been officially updated to run Ice Cream Sandwich and we are sure that a lot of XOOM owners will be pleading to get their hands on the update ASAP.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus complete review

FeaturedReviews

  • December 5, 2011 at 6:41 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus in hand - on homescreen

There has been a lot of buzz around the release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and that has mostly centered on the fact that this is the first smartphone to carry the latest (and greatest) iteration of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (‘ICS’). Similar to previous Nexus devices, it acts as Google’s launch device for a major Android version.

What one must understand is that this is a mass adoption device rather than a super high-end smartphone. It lacks the exotic materials found in other high-end phones and features such as Bluetooth 4.0, GLONASS satellite navigation or an advanced camera.

Nevertheless, it’s a well-executed device, albeit a few early teething problems. The Galaxy Nexus features a sharp 4.65-inch Super AMOLED 720p display and a fast dual-core 1.2GHz processor. It’s also a pure Google Android experience smartphone, without any user interface customizations such as HTC’s Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz, which is important for some.

Most importantly, it’s the only device to officially run Ice Cream Sandwich, for a while, and similar to past Nexus devices, it will be the first smartphone to receive future software updates as they are released by Google — at least until the next Nexus device is launched. Although the Galaxy Nexus might not be bleeding edge with regards to hardware features, it will be cutting edge on software, which, can be argued, is more important.

This review is an in-depth look at the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and centers on the device’s hardware features, real-life performance, as well as what’s new in Android Ice Cream Sandwich. We will further cover Android Ice Cream Sandwich in more detail in a future review. So read on for our opinion on the latest and greatest Android smartphone.
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Android Ice Cream Sandwich demoed on ASUS Transformer Prime Tegra 3 tablet (video)

News

  • November 22, 2011 at 4:26 pm

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ASUS Transformer Prime running Android Ice Cream Sandwich

If you’ve been wondering how Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) looks like on a tablet, then wonder no more. Once Google made the source code of ICS available, Nvidia and ASUS rushed to the challenge and got the new operating system working on the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet. As a reminder the Transformer Prime is the first device to run on Nvidia’s brand new quad-core Tegra 3 chip. We’ve covered the Tegra 3 here, and it’s an impressive piece of silicon, which promises not only awesome processing and graphics power, but also longer battery life through aggressive throttling and a frugal 500MHz companion fifth-core.

We would easily guess that pairing such a chip with the latest and greatest version of Android would result in some smooth performance and now we’ve got the evidence to prove it. Nvidia has published a video of Android Ice Cream Sandwich running super smoothly on the Transformer Prime. If you would enjoy watching cool transitions, smooth 1080p playback and a demo of a quad-core optimized game called Riptide GP, head on after the break.
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