Items tagged with Ice Cream Sandwich
The researchers at Erlangen University in Germany would like to offer some advice: don't put that Android 4.0+ phone in the freezer. It's been discovered that even on a phone with PIN security and encryption, data can be retrieved from the device via a cold boot attack - that is, the process of turning on the desktop, notebook, smartphone or et cetera and then sucking down the data stored in RAM before it's wiped clean during the boot process. Normally, a "cold boot" attack doesn't actually refer to cold temperatures, but in this case it does. With the help of its "FROST" tool-set, the researchers found that when the Android phone is tossed into a -15°C freezer for up to an hour, it...
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It's been more than six months since Google first introduced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and it's taken that long to break the 10 percent barrier in Android market share. According to the Android Developers Dashboard, Jelly Bean is now installed on 10.2 percent of all Android devices that have accessed Google Play within the past two weeks. That's either promising or depressing, depending on your outlook. Essentially one out of every 10 Android devices is rocking Jelly Bean, and if you own one, then you have reason to grin. But if you're like the majority, your device has either been abandoned by the manufacturer and your wireless carrier, or you're waiting patiently for a Jelly Bean update that...
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Another month is in the books (September), and that means it's time to examine the state of Android. What did we find? Well, according to data posted on the Android Developers blog, Gingerbread (Android 2.3 to 2.3.2) is still the most widely used version of Google's mobile operating system and is installed on more than half of all active Android devices (55.8 percent). The next closest build is Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.3 to 4.0.4), which has been unwrapped on less than half as many devices, accounting for 23.7 percent. Where things get interesting is if you throw Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) in the mix, which accounts for 1.8 percent. Between the two latest builds, more than a quarter of active...
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Forget about Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.x), many Android handset owners would be happy if they could just unwrap Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.x) already. If you happen to own an HTC device that was previously promised an ICS upgrade, hang tight, your Android update is coming within the next couple of weeks, the handset maker promised via Facebook. Users have been pinging HTC with ICS questions about their specific handset models, including the Desire S and Thunderbolt. In both cases, HTC confirmed that upgrades are forthcoming, as well as those for all announced products. HTC is planning to update its Thunderbolt and several other devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of August....
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Living in the Android ecosystem is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Google is great about updating Android with awesome new builds, including Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean, both of which raised the bar over previous versions. Unfortunately, handset makers and wireless carriers are slow as molasses when it comes to issuing device updates to the latest and greatest builds. What's even more frustrating is when device makers scrap plans to upgrade devices that were previously promised. That's the unfortunate situation LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black smartphone owners find themselves in following a pair of announcements by LG Canada on Twitter. "The Optimus 2X will not be receiving the ICS upgrade....
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One of the most highly anticipated Android phones of the year is the Samsung Galaxy S III. This smartphone comes with a number of new features we haven't seen on other phones including S Voice (improved voice control functionality), new sharing features, NFC features including Samsung's new TecTiles, and more. The hardware specifications for the Galaxy S III are impressive as well. The US variations of this phone feature a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED touchscreen (1280x720), a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, 16 GB or 32 GB of internal memory, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 1.9MP front-facing camera, and a 2100 mAh Lithium Ion battery. And all of the Galaxy S III smartphones...
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One of the most highly anticipated Android phones of the year is the Samsung Galaxy S III. This smartphone comes with a number of new features we haven't seen on other phones including S Voice (improved voice control functionality), new sharing features, NFC features including Samsung's new TecTiles, and more. The hardware specifications for the Galaxy S III are impressive as well. The US variations of this phone feature a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED touchscreen (1280x720), a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, 16 GB or 32 GB of internal memory, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 1.9MP front-facing camera, and a 2100 mAh Lithium Ion battery. And all of the Galaxy S III smartphones...
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Cover your eyes, Android fans, here comes that dirty F-word no one in the Google camp likes to see, hear, or acknowledge: Fragmentation. It's an F-bomb that resonates with any Android user waiting on their carrier to deliver that delicious Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) update long after Gingerbread (Android 2.3) started to taste stale. The good news is, things are improving. And the bad news? There's still a long ways to go. Google's Android Developers portal was just updated with new statistics that show the current distribution of Android builds to date. By and large Gingerbread is the most-used version of Android, with nearly three quarters (65 percent) of all active Android devices running...
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If you own an HTC device and have been anxiously awaiting an upgrade to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, you'll be interested to know HTC has released some more details as to what devices will receive an upgrade and roughly when those upgrades will arrive. While we're glad to see HTC is giving us some more information about when the upgrades will be available, we're sad for users of the HTC ChaCha, HTC Salsa, HTC Wildfire S, HTC Explorer, and others who will not be receiving an official update to Android 4.0. HTC tablet users who own the HTC Flyer, HTC EVO View 4G, and HTC Jetstream are also left in the cold, with HTC stating these tablets will remain on their current Android version (Honeycomb)....
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Ultra low cost PCs are all the rage these days, from the $25 Raspberry Pi to a $74 Android 4.0 USB/HDMI thumb drive based on AllWinner's A10 design. The latter was recently made available to purchase from an overseas vendor, and unsurprisingly, stock quickly sold out. Shipments to those who managed to place an order will go out on Friday; everyone else will have to wait until June 10, which is when a new batch is expected to be available. So, what exactly is this thing? This nifty device is about the size of a standard thumb drive and, as mentioned above, boasts both USB and HDMI ports. It sports an AllWinner A10 processor clocked at 1.5GHz with a Mali 400 GPU (based on ARM's Cortex A8 SoC),...
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We weren't terribly impressed with Sony's Tablet S performance when we reviewed the device at the tail end of last year (you can read our analysis here), but that was before Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) started making the rounds. As of right now, ICS is available on the Tablet S, and perhaps it will give the uniquely designed slate the performance punch it needs in order to compete with other Android devices. The ICS upgrade brings a bunch of new features to Sony's Tablet S, including an enhanced lock screen with direct access to Notifications and/or camera, a new panoramic camera mode, an enhanced Gallery media viewer, exclusive "Small Apps" for multi-tasking, new Home Screen actions, and...
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One of the biggest frustrations in the Android camp right now is sitting around waiting for an update to Android 4.0, otherwise deliciously known as Ice Cream Sandwich. What makes it even worse is simply not knowing when, or even if, your device is going to be updated. Well, if you're rocking a Samsung handset or tablet, you don't have to sit around twiddling your thumbs hoping for a status update. Samsung has gone and posted a list of devices confirmed to be receiving an ICS upgrade in the U.S. AT&T subscribers can officially look forward to ICS on their Galaxy S II (SGH-i777), Galaxy S II Skyrocket (SGH-i727), Galaxy Note (SGH-i717), Captivate Glide (SGH-i927), Nexus S (SGH-i9020A) and...
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Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) has been available for a little while now, but many carriers and manufacturers are still working hard to roll out official updates. Today, Samsung began rolling out an Android 4.0 update to its unlocked Galaxy S II devices in America. While users of carrier-branded Galaxy S II devices will continue to wait for an update, there are plenty of carriers and manufacturers that are working on updates of their own. According to details shared with Droid Life, Verizon Wireless is getting ready to release an Android 4.0 update for the Motorola Xoom (3G/4G) tablet as well as the HTC Rezound smartphone. Both of these devices are expected to get Ice Cream Sandwich in...
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If you have an Acer A100 or A500 tablet, you may be wondering when that promised update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is coming. Previously, Acer said the update will be available in April. Now that April is winding down, Acer is getting more specific with a date. On Acer's support page, the company revealed that US owners of the 7-inch Acer A100 and 10.1-inch A500 tablets will begin receiving the ICS update starting April 27th. Unfortunately for users who own the AT&T A501 variant of the A500, no update is currently planned for the tablet. For A100 and A500 users, we expect Acer's skin to ride on top of ICS, complete with a ring launcher similar to what we saw on the A200's ICS upgrade...
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