jelly bean

How to stop Android from adding new apps to the home screen

Have you ever noticed after installing an app on your Android device, the icon for that app is already on your home screen? Sure it can come in handy, but it also can be pretty annoying. Nicole Cozma showed us how to disable this annoying feature on Honeycomb tablets a while back, and now I'm going to show you how to disable it on other Android devices.

Disabling the auto-add widgets (or shortcuts) feature is easy.

Launch the Google Play Store on your Android device. Tap on Menu and then Settings. Uncheck the box next to "auto-add widgets.&… Read more

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ported to Kindle Fire

Hundreds of years ago, whoever controlled the ports of the world controlled the empire. In the Android world, ports rule once again -- in particular, a developer named Hashcode's port of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the Amazon Kindle Fire totally rules.

You can find all the necessary files at the xdadevelopers forum, and Lilliputing also has a nice walk-through of the process.… Read more

Nexus devices get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update

After releasing the operating system source code yesterday, Google announced that those who have Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ devices will be able to update their handsets to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean starting today.

Users will be prompted with an alert about the update over the next few days.

New Android 4.1 features include a faster user experience, improved Voice Search, and more expansive notifications.

Other products that have a Jelly Bean update in their midst include: the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus S, the Motorola Xoom, and the Nexus 7 tablet, which will ship natively with Android 4.1 later … Read more

Google Nexus 7 tablet available through Staples

Consumers eyeing Google's new Nexus 7 tablet now have another choice of retailer.

Staples announced yesterday that it will carry both models of the new tablet -- the 8GB version for $199 and the 16GB edition for $249.

The Nexus 7 is currently available for preorder through the Staples Web site, an offer good until July 11.

Staples expects to ship the tablet between July 12 and July 17. Consumers can opt to have the tablet delivered to their homes or to their nearest Staples store. Either way, shipping is free.

Potential buyers who'd like to play with … Read more

Google releases Android 4.1 source code

In a sweet treat for modders and developers, Google has released the source code for Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean.

The source code for the latest version of Google's mobile operating system was released today as part of the Android Open Source Project, Jean-Baptiste M. "JBQ" Queru, lead engineer on the project, said in a company blog post.

"We recommend that you create new clients, even if you're working in the master branch," Queru said. "It'll make your clients smaller and faster to sync."

In addition, he noted that proprietary … Read more

Galaxy Nexus reappears in Google Play store

The harried Galaxy Nexus smartphone is again available for purchase in the Google Play store.

On June 29, a judge in a lower court granted Apple's request for a pretrial injunction against U.S. sales of the Samsung-made, Android-running smartphone while the court determines whether the device infringes the patents Apple claims it does. Samsung appealed, and the appeals court temporarily lifted the ban yesterday, while it deliberates on whether to dump the ban altogether.

Apple, however, may be able to convince the court to reinstate the injunction while the legal proceedings roll on; it has until Thursday to … Read more

How to turn off notifications for an app in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Last month we got our first look at Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and all of its buttery goodness. With plenty of new features coming to the latest release of Android, there are some smaller tweaks that haven't seen a whole lot of discussion.

One of those tweaks is the capability to disable notifications for a particular app. This will come in handy if you have an app that's overloading you with notifications, with no setting in the app to disable them. But now you can do it at the OS level in Android 4.1.

You may … Read more

Bigger, faster Galaxy Note rumored for IFA release

The rumored Samsung Galaxy Note successor is now expected to debut in late August at the annual IFA conference, according to MK Business News. Citing unnamed sources close to the publication, the next phone/tablet hybrid will reportedly run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and feature a larger display.

Whispers of a bigger, faster Galaxy Note surfaced a few weeks with rumors of a 5.5-inch, 1,680x1,050-pixel display and an Exynos 5250 dual-core processor running at 1.7GHz. The MK Business News report from today says that the handset may also include a 12-megapixel camera, up from the … Read more

Friday Poll: Will you buy Android now or wait for iPhone 5?

The Android-packing Samsung Galaxy S III will be arriving in stores in a few days with plenty of fanfare to welcome it. The Galaxy Nexus is expected to change into new clothes and reappear wearing the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system.

All these hot Android developments mean the ball is now lobbed onto Apple's side of the smartphone court. The iPhone 5 is shrouded in both secrecy and juicy rumors. It may be bigger. It may have NFC. It may be a true world phone.

The biggest problem is you may have to wait until September for the official iPhone 5 announcement. With some enticing Android options showing up sooner, how antsy are you for a fresh, new phone?… Read more