Users of the Samsung Nexus S and those who bought the Galaxy Nexus will start to see a new light at the end of the tunnel as the update for Android 4.0.4 ICS is being pushed to these devices. Also owners of the Motorola Xoom (Wifi – only) will also start to see a similar update for their tablets.
The Nexus S users who missed the 4.0 update before Google pulled it due to major concerns, will also be directly able o update to Android 4.0.4.
Got yourself a curvalicious Nexus S? Then you might fancy yourself a Ice Cream Sandwich. According to a tweet from the GoogleNexus team early last night, Google will now begin pushing ICS updates to lucky Nexus S owners. The information was also available on Goole+
[threecol_two_last]The Nexus S is among the first phones to officially get the ICS update. Google has also made note that the Nexus One may also get ICS down the line.[/threecol_two_last]
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Google employees are testing Ice Cream Goodness on the Nexus S and apparently it works great. This means that if you are rocking a Nexus S you are only weeks away from receiving an official update to the next delicious version. The company is also hoping to remove any and all kinks during this test process so that they can deliver a very stable bug free version for an update.
Tasty treats anyone?
Google has officially confirmed that all Gingerbread devices should be able to get some Ice Cream Sandwich love. Starting with the Nexus S devices will soon get their upgrades as they go along.
Currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S. Theoretically should work for any 2.3 device.”
-Gabe Cohen, Google Android Team
Glad you bough that Nexus S huh?
Paypal usually not preferred by Sellers has announced a new Mobile-Mobile NFC payment system at the Mobile Beat 2011. NFC equipped Device owners, majorly Nexus S, can accept transactions from other NFC equipped devices.
Currently the functionality is limited – there is only the Nexus S which is supported- and only specific type of transfer requests can be made. Paypal promises its working hard to roll out the system more commercially. Also to note – Inter-Mobile transactions will be free of cost especially if you are using a tied bank account or Paypal credit.
The app will be available for free in the Android Marketplace in the coming months. Check out the video demo below
The Anticipation clock of most humans starts to ring with the sight of an Apple Product Launch. This time around people are expecting 3 new launches. The iPod refresh, the iPad with some minor changes and most importantly the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4s).
The iPhone is the most successful smartphone ever made, with in excess of 18.5 million devices sold this year the iPhone has set records that are yet to be matched. Why everyone loves the iPhone? There could be several answers:
The most obvious guess for a name of the upcoming iPhone would be the iPhone 5 , but unless Apple is planning some major changes the new iPhone may just as well be called the iPhone 4s. Whatever said and done the word “iPhone” will be there and a 5 would sound much better than an iPhone 4s. Some people suggest that the new device will be called iPhone 4 HD, but that seems like an unlikely name for a device from Cupertino.
There is no guessing the obvious, Apple has already shown off their A5 chipset in the iPad 2 , and just like the iPhone 4 had the iPads chip, the next iPhone will have the new Apple dual core A5 chip. This will boost the speed and performance of the iPhone 5 (we are just going to stick to that name for now) upto four times. Also, in tow will be RAM upgrades and a bigger 8 megapixel camera sensor, which has been talked about.
Various rumors and speculation points to a larger Edge to Edge display on the front of the device. A possible 3.8 inch or even 4 inch capacitive display can do no harm to Apple’s Jesus phone, giving it a larger screen – real estate would require pumping in more pixels per inch to retain the “Retina Display” badge.
Now this is where the controversy starts. The iPhone 4 had a impressively new design which was loved by everyone when it was launched. Mostly everyone appreciated the new stainless steel design, although there were some who said that it was not as nice looking as the original iPhone. The new design brought a lot of possibilities for Apple especially in the components department. A machined design meant that they could stuff their components into the phone and still have room for a large battery. The frame of the iPhone was the most impressively designed structure to be ever used in a SmartPhone, leaving only the glass front and back in question, which did end up weakening the whole device and making it prone to damage.
The Antenna design, dubbed Antennagate put Apple in the wrong kind of limelight and has ever since been know as the “break all or make all” theory for last years Jesus phone. Everyone thought the antenna problem would diminish the sales of the iPhone 4, but it actually gave them so much publicity that the device did better than expectations from the company HQ.
Using a similar antenna on the next iPhone would be a not-so-smart move from Apple, although there are those who would still buy the device, a large chunk of the audience would think that Apple ignores the consumer, and move onto alternatives.
The tear drop design has had many references in rumors of the upcoming iPhone 5, a device machined out of Aluminum (unibody is Apple’s forté) which is really slim for the most part but thicker in arears that will hold the antenna and battery. A device of such design will do fantastically well with the young consumer base of Apple’s baby.
We all know the iPhone 5 will have the iOS 5, which will radically enhance the usability of the phone. With dedicated notifications, iMessage, iCloud, Newsstand, Twitter integration, Wireless Device syncing, new photo editing, and the use of volume button as a dedicated camera shutter release. The iOS 5 is ready to give stiff competition to its competitors, still remaining the most secure and bug free mobile OS below the stratosphere . There are still basic features missing from the iOS, bluetooth file transfer being one of them.
Apple may introduce a new cheaper iPhone this year, to target the Android buying generation. A similar strategy already kind of exists with the iPhone 4 being the pedigree and the iPhone 3Gs being sold for Rs. 19,990 (USD 400).
But these rumors point to a completely new and cheaper device id, possibly a US $ 200 iPhone ( they could relaunch the 3GS at 200 $/ or drop in a sim card in the iPod touch). Nobody really knows till Steve walks up on stage ( hopefully) with the next “Magical” device and amazes the audience watching the event worldwide.
No matter how many expectations are met, the iPhone 5 is coming and its coming soon. So hold on to your monies and wait for its arrival, for you never know what technologies might make you drop loyalties and compel you to make the switch.
Here is a list-up of all the expectations we have
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Skype announced that its Android client now supports cross platform video calls, so desktop users can now see mobile users and vice versa. At the moment, this functionality is limited to only four Android handsets, the Desire S, Xperia Neo and Pro and the Nexus S. If you have one of these phones, you can now make video calls to your friends over WiFi and 3G both.
Video Calls between android devices have been possible for a while now, but the option to make video calls to desktops/laptops has been limited. Most Android users won’t be affected by this update although Skype promises to add other handsets “soon”.
The new Skype client can switch between front and rear facing cameras, so you can show people your face as well as what you are seeing. It can connect to all Skype clients including the iPhone as well as many Skype enabled TV’s.
The iPhone 3Gs was a hardware revision device for the iPhone 3G, bringing more CPU power and Ram to the equation. The iPhone 3GS also brought about a better 3.2mp camera with tap to focus.
We got information of the impending re-launch of the iPhone 3Gs on 24th June. Without fail the 3Gs reappeared at the new price point of 20k. Now the question remains does the iPhone 3Gs qualify as a good option? Does is present a value for money deal?
Here is what we think.
The iPhone 3GS was originally launched in 2009 in the US and 2010 in India. The Device features a 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, PowerVR SGX535 GPU, 256 MB RAM, and upto 32GB of storage. The device also currently features iOS 4 and works brilliantly with iOS 5 (we’ve tested it and can verify, that till beta 2 iOS 5 works great on 3GS).
Reading a whole bunch of articles written by Tech – Bloggers , I was shocked at how blatantly the iPhone 3GS was being shot down. Though in a personal opinion the 3GS is an old hardware based device and has specs which would disgruntle almost anyone looking for souped up smartphone. The iPhone 3Gs bring a lot more, than any device at the price point can.
Lets look at it point by point.
iOS by far is the simplest of operating systems, designed to be used by a finger. The UI is fluid and begs you to interact with it. Currently multitasking between apps is great on iOS where most Android handsets in that price range don’t support true multitasking, the iPhone 3GS has it and it works great. Using the right setup you can do a lot of things on your device. Wireless sharing of emails, pictures and music, streaming internet radio and movies, home automation, wifi printing and even controlling a quadro-copter the hundreds of thousands of apps from the App Store let you make your imagination run wild, and then, there is an app for that. The Apps are designed to run perfects in harmony with the iOS infrastructure.
The best part (according to me) of iOS for someone who does not understand or have the time to understand the intricate details of technology, is that the system is safe and bug free. Because third party apps go through a strict verification process, seldom do you find an App which would slow your device down. So no matter what you install or how many you install, Apps will not slow down the OS. That makes perfect sense for someone who is not a techie.
On the other hand Android brings the ability to customize the OS, and play around with it, the more you edit and tweak the OS, the more your chances of a system restore appear. Now there is no need to throw a banter, you can be extremely safe with Android, you just have to know what you are installing and what all does it access. But in Android, third party apps can have a built in snooper sending all your information back to the designer of the app.
While it isn’t an iPhone 4, the 3Gs is pretty solid when it comes to construction. One of the most beautiful phones available today the 3Gs is available in black and white and millions of customization options are available, from skins, decals to plain covers, flip covers, leather covers, plastic covers, branded covers and hard cases. The most number of accessories ever made for a phone? the iPhone stands at number one in that record.
When we first heard rumors of the iPhone 3Gs being relaunched, we heard a price point of about 16,500/-. But, when the actual price came to be 20,000/- we lost confidence that Apple would do well selling its last year legend. Sure there are those who would love to buy the 3GS for its “Brand” and its simplicity, there are also those who will buy it for the sheer number of apps and usability features that these apps will give.
There are better options in terms of hardware specs, the rugged motorola defy is much cheaper and its water proof, the Galaxy S, the Nexus S, The Galaxy Sl, Wave 2, Blackberry Bold 3, Nokia N8. Sure these devices have better hardware, But we can promise one thing No operating system in our opinion comes close to the smooth and lag free experience of the iOS running on the iPhone 3GS (Of-course we mean at that price point)
So if you don’t have time to mess with your device / Smartphone get the iPhone 3GS because it doesn’t get any better than this. But if you are more of a tech friendly person get an Android device you will be much happier with the open-ness of Android infrastructure.
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We always knew the Google Phones had juice under their hoods, But never did we expect it to be a steroid injected super powered beast. Android Community forum member Simms22. hacked and rooted his Nexus S installed Cyanogen Mod 7 and overclocked it to 1.544GHz apart from other little changes. The result ? you ask ! A massive 10082 on the Smartbench 2011 score card, where our beloved Samsung Galaxy S2 only scores 2600.
Check out the pictures.
Oh and did we forget to tell you we have a special offer on the Google Nexus S at INR 19,000/- (now with even more reasons to buy this powerhouse device)
Thats about 1000/- cheaper than any online retailer.
Leave a comment below if you want an offer
UPDATE : DUE TO TO OVERWHELMING RESPONSE ON THE NEXUS S and a lot of queries about it, we decided to give you guys an update.
– The Phone is official and brand new in a new box with full warranty and no issues
– Its not our review unit
– This price is for Delhi only
– Please email us with your contact information for the offer – name , phone number.
– We have only about 10 units left so its first come first serve.
– We apologize for not being able to contact everyone.
Looks like a bunch of Rumors floating around the web including a tweet which talks about the Nexus S – Video Chat on Gingerbread 2.3.4.
What this means is that all Android Devices with front facing cameras and the latest version of Gingerbread will be Able to use it to Video Chat amongst other with similar availabilities.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal , Apple sued Samsung Electronics Co., claiming that Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablet copied Apple’s iPhone and iPad. For patent infringements.
The Filing claims
“Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products,”
The lawsuit is kind of ironic, because Samsung manufactures key components that go into Apple Products, from Displays, to microchips and even camera sensors. This lawsuit ma actually sour the relationships between the two smartphone giants and result in other tie-ups.
The new Galaxy Tab is also the strongest rival to the iPad 2 , which may have been the biggest cause for the lawsuit.
Whats up , Exclusive News fans? iGyaan is here with more relevant information to feed your brain cells. The Samsung made, Google Branded Nexus S is coming to India in the second week of April anywhere from 7th to 10th of April. This news comes from a reliable insider at Samsung, But, we are still trying to get an official word on exact release strategies and pricing.
The Google Nexus S is the first handset to have officially been shipped with Android 2.3 GingerBread. So stay tuned for more on this including pricing, a full featured Unboxing to follow once we can get hold of the device.
There is speculation that it will be priced between 27,000 and 30,000 INR. The funny thing is that the company may launch the Nexus S for India in Bangkok!
Go Figure! Either way it should be here in April.
Update : We just got news that the device is available for pre-order on various Indian websites.
Our Recommendation is to stay away till proper pricing is announced. We expect it to be lower than quoted on these websites
The iPhone follows a yearly refresh cycle since the day it was launched and its that time of year again. This is where the rumors of the new iPhone to be, start pouring in.
For the beginning NYTimes reported that Apple is currently working on an iPhone which has inbuilt NFC payment system.
According to two people with knowledge of the inner workings of a coming iteration of the Apple iPhone — although not necessarily the next one — a chip made by Qualcomm for the phone’s processor will also include near-field communication technology, known as N.F.C. This technology enables short-range wireless communications between the phone and an N.F.C reader, and can be used to make mobile payments. It is unclear which version of an iPhone this technology would be built into.
One person familiar with the new Apple feature said the phone’s credit card information would be tied to information currently used on iTunes, which would make it simple for customers to set up the new mobile payment method on the iPhone.
The iPhone would look the same in appearance which has been quite talked about as well, the major difference to aesthetics could be a larger 4.0 inch display and a slimmer body. There is also a huge possibility of a metal back.
The iPhone 5 has reportedly entered the trial production stage in preparation for a Q3 release, according to the China Times. The report says the iPhone 5 will have a metal chassis to improve antenna sensitivity as well as a scratch resistant 4-inch touch screen.
“Looking back at old rumors, an iPhone 5 parts video that surfaced back in January may have actually been an early look at the iPhone 5 casing (photo below). That video actually first revealed the new antenna dividers found on the Verizon iPhone, but also included a SIM card slot that does not appear in the Verizon iPhone.” says macroumors
The iPhone 5 is still months away from release but there are some case designs floating around. If these cases are any indication, it looks like the iPhone 5 will look a lot like the iPhone 4 and will have a larger 4 inch display.
It is also widely believed that the iPhone 5 will be announced at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco in early June, but as said earlier , China Times reports that the device may actually ship in September instead of July. A report from a Japanese Newspaper said that a likely date for iPhone 5 production to commence is July 6, and that Apple is considering a reversion to the aluminum back for the new model.
Other rumors include
Nowhereelse.fr has created a beautiful rumor summary infographic for the iPhone 5.
