jelly bean

Sony 'Odin' tipped as 2013 flagship device

We might be a few months away from CES and Mobile World Congress, but that doesn't mean handset rumors are going to wait around. The preliminary details for a new Sony smartphone have surfaced, possibly laying the groundwork for a new "flagship" device.

According to information first noticed by Blog of Mobile (translated), Sony is prepping a C650X smartphone under the code name of Odin. As detected in its User-Agent Profile (UAProf), the phone looks to run Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and Sony's 10.1.A.0.XXX firmware.

To be clear, there is … Read more

Acer brings Android 4.1 to four Iconia Tab models

Acer confirmed that an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update is in the cards for at least four of its Iconia Tab models.

The software update is coming to the Acer Iconia Tab A110, Tab A210, and Tab A510 models, a company spokesperson recently said.

Each tablet will reportedly get the tasty OS treasure later this quarter. The Iconia Tab A700, on the other hand, began seeing its own Jelly Bean rollout last week.

It's not all good news for Acer owners, though. The company rep says that the Tab A100, Tab A200, and Tab A500 will not see … Read more

AT&T armed to teeth with Android as 2012 winds down

Perhaps believing that it's not wise to put all its smartphones in an iPhone basket, AT&T has been on an Android tear lately. The last two weeks have yielded eight handset announcements with more on the way as we head full-on into the holiday buying season. Suffice it to say, AT&T is headed into the fourth quarter with its strongest Android lineup to date.… Read more

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ready for Transformer Prime, Infinity Pad

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is the latest Android device to see its Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean update, coming less than a day after Asus indicated it would be here "soon."

As is the case with every other Android 4.1 update, the Prime benefits from features such as Google Now, speed improvements, and enhanced notifications. Those of you who own the Asus TF201 tablet are advised to check the "About Tablet" section for a firmware update. Be sure to have plenty of juice in the battery and a good 10 minutes set … Read more

New Google Voice Search, Siri are closely matched (hands-on)

This article updates the original hands-on comparison posted on July 2, 2012, to include changes to iOS 6. I also compare Siri on iOS 6 to Samsung's S Voice (found in the Samsung Galaxy S3 flagship phone.

Back in June, Google's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean managed to bring Android's voice actions to the forefront in a meaningful way. Mostly, by dressing up the voice search interface like Apple's Siri, and making voice search available from any screen. (Samsung's attempt for select Android phone, S Voice, falls behind .)

Luckily for Google, Voice Actions was fairly accurate in our tests. Thanks to an iOS 6 update that brings even more capabilities, Siri can do more than Google Voice Actions. That's a definite benefit for iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 users. However, Google Voice Actions' accuracy remains on point.

The two of us, Brian and Jessica, each tested commands on the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 and on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus updated with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Brian tested the phones in New York and Jessica tested in San Francisco. Here's what we found.… Read more

Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets Android 4.1

Nearly two weeks after Sprint announced its Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for its Galaxy Nexus, Verizon has followed suit.

The carrier announced today that it will start rolling out Jelly Bean to Galaxy Nexus phones.

As is the case with other Android 4.1 updates, the Galaxy Nexus will benefit from enhanced notifications, Google Now, smarter widgets, and more. Verizon has a support page set up for users which outlines all of the minutiae and might be worth a quick glance for those not up on their Jelly Bean game.

It's frustrating for some that Verizon has … Read more

Intel reportedly brings Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to x86 phones

Android smartphones running Intel processors should soon be able to get upgraded to the 'Jelly Bean' version of the operating system.

Intel is a relative newcomer to the smartphone processor world, and its x86-architecture chips power only a few devices. Most smartphone processors use ARM's architecture, including those in the vast majority of Android phones.

At the moment, neither of the Intel-powered Android devices in the UK runs Android 4.1, the latest version that is also known as Jelly Bean, because Intel has to modify each version of the OS to run properly on its rarer system. The … Read more

Android 4.1 could hit Samsung Galaxy S3 in October

Android 4.1 may be heading to Samsung's Galaxy S3 as early as next month.

Samsung has confirmed the Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3 as soon as October, according to a story from CNET UK. The company reportedly told CNET UK directly that "the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system will be available on the Galaxy S3 from October."

In the U.S., however, CNET couldn't get Samsung to spill the same beans.

A company representative officially told us: "Samsung Mobile has not determined which devices will be eligible for the Jelly … Read more

Google: 500 million Android devices activated

Google won't be able to compete with the attention lavished on Apple for the launch of the sixth-generation iPhone, but it did announce the notable milestone late tonight of half a billion device activations.

"Today is a big day for Android... 500 million devices activated globally, and over 1.3 million added every single day," said Hugo Bara, Android's director of product management, in a Google+ post. It's not clear how many devices are replacing older ones, though.

Barra said in June at the Google I/O show that 400 million Android devices had been activated … Read more