May, 2012 - Android Community

Monthly Archive: May 2013

HTC Sensation XL Ice Cream Sandwich update is live

By Michael Crider
on 29 May, 2012

Listen up, UK residents: if you're sporting HTC's beats-enabled plus-sized smartphone, you'll want to check your setting menu for a long-overdue Android 4.0 update. Reports are surfacing that the HTC Sensation XL is seeing its Ice Cream Sandwich rollout begin, at least for those on Vodafone. Other scattered reports say that international models are being updated as well, and they're getting it over the air.

Samsung Galaxy S III on sale in 28 countries

By Michael Crider
on 29 May, 2012

Well it's finally here folks - the most anticipated Android launch of the summer. In selected countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates (which got a bit of an early start) the Samsung Galaxy S III hits retailers today. Even as the superphone launches, it's facing setbacks: the "pebble blue" color option is in extremely limited supply after a manufacturing defect, presumably caused by a faulty glaze that shows scratches too easily.

Sony Xperia Arc and Neo officially updated to ICS

By Michael Crider
on 29 May, 2012

"Enough with the betas already," said the international hardware giant, "they're ready for the real thing." Xperia Blog reports that Sony is rolling out the final version of its Ice Cream Sandwich update for its Xperia Arc and Xperia Neo phones, free for the asking for anyone who prefers up-to-date software. Sony had already updated the Arc S, Neo V, Ray and the Tablet S. The rest of the 2011 Xperia line, with the notable and disappointing exception of the Xperia PLAY, will be updated later.

Samsung blames blue Galaxy S III delay on lofty standards

By Shane McGlaun
on 29 May, 2012

If you're excited about getting your hands on a Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone and have been wondering what the hold up with the blue version is Samsung is offering an answer. The color is called Pebble Blue and Samsung had some quality control issues with the new color and its special coating, which are causing the delay. The delay is currently 2 to 3 weeks out on the blue version while the white version should be available.

Small British nano satellites use Kinect and Google Nexus smartphone

By Shane McGlaun
on 29 May, 2012

A British satellite company called Surrey Satellite Technology is working on a nano satellite that uses off-the-shelf consumer technology to save money. Traditional satellites can cost millions of pounds apiece to build whereas Surrey says that its nano satellites can be built for hundreds of thousands of pounds each. That is a massive savings and to reach that low-cost not only of the satellites small, but they use your average consumer technology.

SoftBank to launch radiation scanning smartphone in Japan

By Shane McGlaun
on 29 May, 2012

It has only been a bit over a year since the tragic tsunami hit parts of Japan killing thousands and leading to one of the worst nuclear disasters in history with radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear reactor in the wake of the tsunami. The radiation leaks from the power plant have left many in Japan very concerned about radiation. Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank has announced that part of the summer lineup will be a new smartphone with a radiation detector.

LG E970 leak indicates an AT&T Eclipse 4G LTE

By Michael Crider
on 28 May, 2012

LG's American flagships for the latter half of 2012 are starting to take shape. We've already seen the LS970 "Eclipse" 4G LTE, ostensibly a CDMA version of the Optimus LTE2 (below) and headed for American shores late this year. Now UnwiredView has spotted what appears to be the same phone, headed for AT&T at an unknown date. The E970 (final name unknown) showed up in a recent benchmark with some specs along for the ride.

ASUS Transformer Pad 300 gets CyanogenMod 9 beta

By Cory Gunther
on 28 May, 2012

Fresh off the news this morning that the popular ROM CyanogenMod has been installed on over 2 million devices we now have one more to add to the list. Late last week an official but experimental build of CyanogenMod 9 Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich was released for the new ASUS Transformer Pad TF300. Read on below for details and download links.

Galaxy Nexus CM9 add-on pack brings Galaxy S III goodies

By Michael Crider
on 28 May, 2012

We all know how it is. Six months after purchasing the be-all, end-all Android superphone, new models like the HTC One X and upcoming Galaxy S III are looking mighty tempting... but you're stuck in your two-year contract. What's a saddened Android modder to do? Well, if you're OK with having the look without the horsepower, then a team of XDA members is here to help. He's developed a flashable theme pack that will turn CyanogenMod 9 for the Galaxy Nexus into a pretty good imitation of the GSIII.

GameStop now offering Android tablets at over 1,600 stores – free games too

By Cory Gunther
on 28 May, 2012

Adapt or die is what appears to be the case here with GameStop. Back in late October they started offering Android tablets in-stores along with a few pre-loaded games for free as incentive and apparently that trial run of 200 stores went quite well. GameStop will now be offering multiple tablets like the Transformer Prime and more in over 1,600 stores nationwide.