New year, new you ROMs. Yep, the Galaxy S II is getting even more attention, with a duo of Ice Cream Sandwich versions landing on that capacious 4.3-inch screen. They consist of an early Android 4.0.1 build made on December 20th and version 4.0.3 crafted just ten days later. The interesting part is that, according to YouMobile, both of these will arrive through Kies, Samsung’s Android connectivity software. The mobile news site also suspects that these are close (but still buggy) approximations of what we’ll see on our as-yet un-tinkered Galaxy S IIs in the very near future. These Kies-capable builds also have a few cosmetic differences to the build leaked earlier, like a distinct lack of Tron hues adorning the notification bar at the top. While we await a release through the official channels, you can check out a swift run-through right after the break.
America’s insistence on being politically correct has gutted the once joyous holiday spirit. The new rules say that shouting “Merry Christmas” might offend people of other religions. Instead of acknowledging that America is the beautiful result of what happens when more than two centuries worth of immigration takes place, we’re forced to surrender any sort of individual identity and stick with the generic phrase “Happy Holidays”. But not Apple. No sir, their latest iPhone 4S ad is all about Christmas. In it they depict Santa doing his job, that is delivering presents to all the world’s children, and he’s getting help from his iPhone 4S. Siri, the “intelligent agent” that responds to queries and commands, shows Santa how to find a little boy’s house, reads a message from his wife telling him to cut back on the cookies, and reminds him that he still has half the world’s population to go in terms of delivering gifts.
It’s a great ad that not only shows what the iPhone 4S is capable of, but that Apple knows how to touch people’s hearts. It may not be as funny as the ads that Samsung recently showcased making fun of people who buy the iPhone 4S, but who really cares? If you’re the kind of person who buys a smartphone based solely on how well a company’s marketing division is able to execute, then you’re not really a critical thinker.
While we’re on the topic of ads, the sad reality is that you can’t move hardware unless you’re flooding people’s screens, magazines, and newspapers with commercials. Which is why we’re extremely curious to see what Microsoft and Nokia do in America during 2012. They need to go from essentially 0% market share to becoming a competent platform that you can genuinely say is in third place. Think they’ll be able to pull it off?
Facebook Timeline has gone live worldwide, the social networking giant has announced, with all users now being notified that they can activate the life-tracking activity log Mark Zuckerberg announced back in September. A chronicle of your interactions, events, photos and video from your time on the social network, Timeline has been available to beta testers, celebrities and those following sneaky hacks for a few months now.
Since the potential for revealing too much is high, Facebook has built in some extra controls around Timeline. The system will default to a seven day review period initially, giving users time to check everything that appears on their timeline before anyone else can see it. A “View As” button allows the layout to be checked from the perspective of different friends groups and non-friends, so you can ensure those slightly risque photos of you and the office photocopier are saved only for loved-ones.
There’s also an easily-accessed “Hide from Timeline” option that allows you to instantly remove any photo, update or other content from the overall Timeline list. Timeline replaces the traditional profile page, but also adds an Activity Log, private to each user, showing pared down details of full activity.
You can turn on Facebook Timeline by heading here and choosing “Get It Now.” More details on what it includes here, and on why you might want to think twice before activating it here.
Great news HTC Desire owners – it looks like you’ll soon be able to enjoy the all the goodness of the latest version of Android on your aging handset. Developers have been working on an Ice Cream Sandwich port for the phone and it looks like they’ve had a breakthrough recently. The folks over at XDA-developers have announced the beta release of the Ice Cream Sandwich ROM for the phone and have posted it online for the public.
As usual, not every single function of the phone is working (camera, USB tethering etc) but there are quite a number of things that do work i.e. WiFi, SMS, GPS, Sound, Calling, Touchscreen, Stable 3G, Gmail sync + calendar, SD read/write, all sensors, Bluetooth, Hardware acceleration, WiFi tether, Market with paid apps and more so it’s safe to say you can use it as a daily phone (assuming you have no use for the camera or USB tethering).
Judging by the video demonstration, it’s safe to say Ice Cream Sandwich can run pretty well on this 21 month old phone. Sure it’s not as smooth as the Galaxy Nexus, but this definitely gives hope to all the other Android users out there without dual-core phones and looking forward to having Ice Cream Sandwich on their devices. Now, if only phone manufacturers would spend as much effort as the developer community when it comes to updates. Head over to XDA-developers if you’re keen on flashing this custom ROM to your HTC Desire.
The next movie in the Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises, is set to be 2012′s ultimate summer blockbuster. When a movie of that caliber comes out, you know brands will do anything to associate themselves with something bound to receive such an ungodly amount of attention. One such brand is Nokia, who will take the Lumia 800 that they already sell, put it in a fancy box with the Batman logo on it, set the default wallpaper to a photo of Bane (the primary antagonist in the film), and best of all they’ll etch a little Batman logo into the back of the device. How many of these limited edition handsets will come out? Just 40. Where are they going to be available? Not sure. How much will they sell for? An arm and a leg. We’re waiting for some additional details from Nokia, but don’t expect this thing to show up at a store near you.
The bigger question on our minds is why isn’t stuff like this done more often and to an even greater degree? This Batman flavored Lumia 800 should have been custom 3D printed to look like one of Batman’s weapons. It should also have come preloaded with crazy custom ringtones. And it should have sold for double what a regular Lumia 800 sells for. Such a device would be picked up so fast that Nokia’s payment processing servers would melt. And why stop at Batman? There are plenty of other franchises to latch onto. All in the name of marketing, right?
It wouldn’t be smart to imagine that the likes of Samsung and others would allow the latest version of Android to shine through as much as we would like but TouchWiz does indeed cover up a lot of what we loved about the Ice Cream Sandwich aesthetic. The video shows off only a couple of new features within TouchWiz that would hint that the handset is running Android Ice Cream Sandwich but what we do see is rather nice.
The changes in TouchWiz, like Android 4.0, begin at the lock screen. TouchWiz has always allowed the user to swipe anywhere on the screen and drag to unlock and it’s no different this time around. However, it looks like when a finger is placed onto the display on the lockscreen the Ice Cream Sandwich circle lock appears. It’s pretty subtle but we supposed it’s a nice touch.
Other tweaks are minimal, as the home screens look almost exactly like any other TouchWiz build you see today. The new method of multitasking in Ice Cream Sandwich is easily accessible by holding down the home button, just as you would on any other Android device. Face Unlock also made an appearance in the settings, though it wasn’t demoed.
If there weren’t so many sweet tweaks on the back-end of Ice Cream Sandwich, it would be a little disappointing to see TouchWiz covering up so much of the new, futuristic look and feel of the latest version of the OS. Luckily, when Android 4.0 peaks through, it looks great and hopefully there’s more Ice Cream Sandwich to be found.
Given that TouchWiz looks to cover up so much of Ice Cream Sandwich, it makes me wonder if you’ll even know you’re on Android 4.0 when HTC releases it with Sense.
Huawei took the relatively unprecedented step of providing a “demo ROM” of Android Ice Cream Sandwich for its Honor smartphone and you just know we had to give it a go. Check out the video below to see the first version of Ice Cream Sandwich running a phone that’s not the Galaxy Nexus.
You should probably re-read our Ice Cream Sandwich review for an idea of what to expect from the latest version of this software, as it includes multiple improvements in nearly every aspect. The user interface paradigm is more cohesive, the fonts have changed and it has become quite friendlier for first-time users while still retaining the power that made many fall in love with Android in the first place.
Now, let’s hope the other handset makers are hard at work getting this update out there. Check out the video below and we’ll have more for you soon.
The iPhone 4S has been doing gangbusters for Apple ever since it was released a couple of months ago, but that does not mean other companies around the world are going to sit down and see Apple dominate the smartphone market. No sir, the competition’s heating up in China, with Meizu recently rolling out the Meizu MX, not to mention Meizu’s closest rival, Xiaomi, having rolled out a video that shows off the Xiaomi M1 handset being powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This is still a work in progress, with the ROM being known as MIUI V4. Check a video of Ice Cream Sandwich in action after the jump.
OnLive has launched its smartphone and tablet cloud gaming apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, bringing console-class gaming to WiFi and 3G/4G mobile devices with an optional wireless controller. This updated control pad uses what OnLive calls “adaptive wireless” to automatically find the best connection with your TV, PC, Mac, Blu-ray player, smartphone or tablet, and will go on sale on December 9 at $49.99/£39.99. Check out the video demo after the cut.
The iOS and Android apps themselves are free, though you’ll of course need to pay OnLive for the privilege of using the games. If you’re on a budget, though, you can bypass the wireless controller and just stick with the touchscreen on your phone or slate, though only 25 titles actually support that method of input; if you want to use most os OnLive’s near-200 games, you’ll need that controller.
Up to four controllers can be paired with a PC using a bundled USB adapter, along with a Bluetooth headset for in-game voice communication. It’s powered either by a pair of AA batteries or an OnLive rechargeable pack, which rejuices via a USB connection and is apparently good for up to 36hrs of play.
Those gaming on their phone or tablet can play against others using their PC, Mac or the OnLive Microconsole itself, and all the usual social and “Brag Clip” features are present. Touch-supporting games include L.A. Noire, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and 5-7, and Defense Grid Gold.
October certainly was a big month for Rockstar Games as the announcement of Grand Theft Auto III coming to Android and iOS was received by many a squeal of delight by mobile gamers everywhere. After going hands-on with the game at New York Comic-Con later that week, I can tell you that we all have a very good reason to be excited about the game, especially now that Rockstar has officially announced the game will be hitting both Android and iOS next week.
If I had to guess on a price point for GTA III, I easily could see people paying $10, maybe $15 for the game on their mobile device, which is why I’m befuddled but also excited Rockstar is releasing the game for only $4.99. When you consider how much content is in the game, as well as the fact that you can bring the GTA III experience with you wherever you go, then you’ll hopefully realize this is a complete steal.
Rockstar has also updated the list of phones and tablets Grand Theft Auto III will run on next week. If you’re device isn’t listed, don’t worry as Rockstar has said they’ll continue working on supporting more devices in the coming months.
Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive
iOS gamers should take note that Rockstar has worked on supporting the original iPad and iPhone 4, which is a welcomed addition as it was originally said only the iPad 2 & iPhone 4S would be supported from the get-go. As for Android gamers, the list of sporadicly supported devices shouldn’t surprise us as developers tend to support more of the latest and greatest devices than some of the older ones. If you’re phone isn’t supported, don’t forget that you could always purchase an Android tablet, iPad, or iPod touch in order to experience the goodness of Grand Theft Auto III when it’s released next week.
