It was an exciting and fun filled week in the mobile word this week, although most of it wasn’t Android related. This week was big for the smartphone market as a whole moving forward. Apple launched their new iPhone 5 and while it wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it still will make its dent. However, Android is still as strong as ever so lets check out what happened this week.
So what mattered to us the most for Android news this week? Well, lots of stuff. Probably the most exciting yet the most boring at the same time was Android 4.1 Jelly Bean finally rolled out to the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The wait has been a long one, and every other Galaxy Nexus (including in Canada, and the Now Network) got it first. Verizon had the exclusive device launch here in the US, yet was last to update the it. Most have moved on to custom ROMs, but for those that didn’t it was good news.
Probably the biggest other set of news was the fact that Samsung announced their excellent looking Galaxy Note II 5.5-inch phablet smartphone will be hitting for ALL major US carriers by mid November. Just like the Galaxy S III the Note II will see a nationwide launch. Good stuff Samsung, keep it up. That device will be launching out of the box with Jelly Bean, a first for Samsung.
This was the first week without an excess of Samsung news as of late, but who stole the show in their absence was LG. Their new LG Optimus G quad-core powered 4.7-inch IPS display rocking smartphone is probably the most exciting phone we’ll see the next month or so. It will be available in Korea starting tomorrow, and should arrive in the US in October or early November. You’ll want to check out our Optimus G hands-on for a better idea of what to expect.
Then to round off the week with important bits, Motorola announced the RAZR i for Europe with Intel’s 2.0 GHz dual-core processor, and HTC’s 5-inch phablet leaked as the One X5. Then to end on a few good (and bad) notes the ASUS Padfone 2 specs leaked in full, Verizon’s CFO bashed unlimited data and doesn’t think it’ll be around in the future, Samsung bashed the iPhone 5 in another awesome commercial, and speaking of the iPhone — Motorola took the opportunity and made fun of Apple’s new Maps app for the iPhone and showed off the awesomeness of Google Maps. In case you haven’t heard, iPhone 5 users have been getting lost with the not-so-perfect Maps app that replaced Google Maps. Hit the links below for more news, and we’ll see you next week!
