Welcome to another Android Community weekly wrap-up of everything that mattered to us in the world of Android news. Where do we start? It was another hectic and exciting week in Android news, and next week will be even crazier. We’ll start with Google, since they had two major bits of news. The first being Google’s officially scheduled an Android event for October 29th, so be ready for some Android 4.2 and Nexus news next Monday. Read on below for the rest from Google, HTC, Motorola and more.
Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has been in the news all week. We expect it to be one of the many bits Google will release to all us Android fans come the 29th. We’ve basically confirmed a 32GB Nexus 7 is $249, replacing the 16GB model, which will hopefully drop to $199 and knock off that 8GB model that is too short on storage. Then there’s a major possibility of a 3G HSPA+ Nexus 7 for $299 or $349 — but you’ll just have to wait and see. As we said on Friday, Google’s Nexus 7 is poised to take on the iPad Mini. Oh and while we’re talking about the Nexus tablet lineup. Google’s getting ready to drop a Samsung made ultra-HD 2560×1600 resolution Nexus 10 — and it’s even out in the wild being tested.
In other Android news Motorola and HTC both had exciting weeks. The Motorola RAZR HD finally hit Verizon shelves, and you’ll want to check out our RAZR HD Review. If you’re debating the RAZR HD, the MAXX HD, or even the budget RAZR M you certainly should take a peek at our full comparison. Speaking of Motorola, all their recently launched devices have root access. Good stuff right? Then for the bad stuff — Motorola announced what devices won’t see Jelly Bean right here.
While we’re on the Jelly Bean topic, Sony also announced their Jelly Bean update timeline. At the same time even more international Galaxy S III’s are getting the Jelly Bean update too. Now lets talk about the next juicy bit of hardware we are all patiently waiting to arrive — and that is HTC’s new phablet. HTC officially announced the J Butterfly 5-inch 1920x1080p full HD smartphone. It is a 5-inch powerhouse with a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and basically top of the line everything. Immediately the HTC Nexus 5 rumors appeared — and eclipsed the LG Nexus 4.
Now before we end there’s a few little tidbits that were also worth a quick mention. ISIS Mobile Wallet is officially coming October 22nd (tomorrow) and we reviewed the Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL and that’s worth a quick look too, even though it isn’t available stateside. Google released a Samsung made and Exynos 5 dual Cortex-A15 powered Google Chromebook for $249 — which is making a splash for the price — and SlashGear has a full review. Last but certainly not least, Angry Birds Star Wars is coming early November. Just for fun check out this StormTrooper teaser video. Next week we have tons of events coming up that may impact Android. While we try to focus on Android news here at Android Community, it’s worth noting that we keep an eye on the competition. The iPad Mini, Windows Phone 8, and multiple Win 8 tablets are all having big days this coming week. Don’t worry though, Google’s 29th event will take care of business.
Stay tuned and get excited guys!
