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Tag: Ice Cream Sandwich

  • Jelly Bean Is Finally On More Android Devices Than Gingerbread

    Over the last year, we’ve seen Android 2.3, or Gingerbread, slowly lose its majority share of Android distribution. Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, helped start the decline of Gingerbread, but it was Android 4.1/4.2, or Jelly Bean, that really helped kick Gingerbread to the curb.

    In the latest Android distribution numbers released on Monday, Google revealed that Jelly Bean is finally the dominant Android operating system. By combining both Android versions 4.1 (32.3 percent) and 4.2 (5.6 percent), Jelly Bean is now on 37.9 percent of Android devices. Gingerbread is still hanging onto second place, however, with 34.1 percent.

    Jelly Bean Has Finally Eclipsed Gingerbread

    As you can see above, Ice Cream Sandwich, much like Gingerbread, is ceding ground to Jelly Bean as more and more Android users upgrade to devices that use the latest OS. As this trend continues, developers will be able to better target Jelly Bean and ICS devices without having to worry about Gingerbread users.

    Next month’s numbers will undoubtedly see the continued rise of Jelly Bean, but it will also hopefully mark the introduction of Android 4.3. The newest version of Jelly Bean is rumored to be coming out this month alongside the rumored new Nexus 7 tablet. Google will upgrade its own Nexus devices to Android 4.3 first, but it shouldn’t take long for carriers to start upgrading some devices to the newest Android version.

  • Jelly Bean Is Now On A Quarter Of All Android Devices

    Over the past few months, Jelly Bean has been on a meteoric rise as it latches onto more and more Android devices. At the same time, Gingerbread use has been slowly declining. With a new way of reporting distribution numbers, Google will hopefully hurry both trends along.

    For its April report of Android distribution numbers, Google says that the reporting mechanism has changed from Android activations to only devices that visit the Google Play store. The change will more accurately reflect “those users who are most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem.”

    With this new method of reporting, Jelly Bean use has risen by almost 10 percent to 25 percent of the entire Android ecosystem. Ice Cream Sandwich saw a minor rise in use as well with it now sitting at 29.3 percent.

    Gingerbread continues its path of decline with only a 39.8 percent share of the Android ecosystem. Even with the new method of reporting, Gingerbread only saw a decline of less than five percent. It will still be a while before we see Jelly Bean or Ice Cream Sandwhich become the dominant player in the Android ecosystem.

    Jelly Bean Is Now On A Quarter Of All Android Devices

    It will be interesting to see what the Android ecosystem looks like a few months after Google launches the new version of Android later this year. Distribution reporting may also be thrown off if rumors of an Android notebook turn out to be true. Both scenarios will likely create a very interesting year for Android.

  • Jelly Bean, ICS Combine Their Powers To Take Down Gingerbread In February

    Last month’s Android distribution numbers showed that Gingerbread was on the way out. Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean still had a bit to go, however, before they were finally able to eclipse the outdated mobile OS. Turns out the Android 4.0 and up club only needed one more month to do so.

    In the latest Android distribution numbers, Gingerbread is shown to be at an all time low of 44.2 percent. It’s still higher than the separate distribution percentages of both Ice Cream Sandwhich (28.6 percent) and Jelly Bean (16.5 percent), but they barely best Gingerbread when combined (45.1 percent).

    Jelly Bean, ICS Combine Their Powers To Take Down Gingerbread

    Aside from Gingerbread’s dominance being semi-officially over, it should be noted that this is the second month in a row where Jelly Bean saw the only growth. Ice Cream Sandwich is beginning to decline as more Android 4.0 devices are upgraded to Android 4.1. Android 4.2 also saw a slight bump.

    Google is expected to show off the next version of Android at this year’s Google I/O in May. It will be interesting to see what Android distribution looks like before then. Getting more people on Jelly Bean, or at the very least Ice Cream Sandwich, should be a priority for Google before then. Supporting Gingerbread is good for consumers, but it’s not good for the developers straining themselves to support multiple versions of Android.

  • Jelly Bean Continues To Grow, Gingerbread And ICS Hit With Small Declines

    Back in January, we finally saw Gingerbread fall below 50 percent in Google’s Android distribution numbers for December. At the same time, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean both saw increases. Now only one Android version is seeing continued growth.

    In the latest Android distribution numbers, Jelly Bean has grown 3.4 percent to a total of 13.6 percent of the entire Android market. The increase can be attributed to any number of things including the Galaxy S III finally being upgraded to the latest version of Android. Sales of Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets likely contributed to the increase as well.

    Jelly Bean Continues To Grow, Gingerbread and ICS Decline

    What about the other versions? Surprisingly, Ice Cream Sandwich is down, but only by .1 percent. Android 4.0 ended January with 29 percent of the market compared to its 29.1 percent from last month. This is probably an anomaly as ICS will most likely continue to grow as those with cheap Gingerbread handsets will upgrade to now cheap ICS handsets throughout the year.

    Speaking of Gingerbread, the Android OS that won’t die is still falling slowly as it only lost a few percentage points over the month. Android 2.3 now holds 45.6 of the Android market. It will only continue to decline as more users upgrade to devices with Android 4.0 or 4.1/4.2.

    It will be interesting to see how the Android market continues to evolve over the course of the year. I have a gut feeling that Gingerbread’s days are numbered, and that its overall distribution will see a huge decline sometime in the middle of the year. Google’s expected rollout of Key Lime Pie (or Kandy Kane) may also have an impact on overall distribution numbers later this year.

  • Jelly Bean Adoption Slowly Growing, Gingerbread Still On Top

    Back in early November, the October Android distribution numbers revealed that Ice Cream Sandwich was now on a quarter of all Android devices. It was a good sign even if Gingerbread was still on over half of all Android devices. The November numbers have finally come in, and it’s more of the same.

    The latest distribution numbers show that Ice Cream Sandwich usage has only jumped a measly two percent in a month’s time to 27.5 percent of the entire market. The slow growth can be attributed, however, to the relatively explosive growth of Jelly Bean. Android 4.1 was only on 2.7 percent of all smartphones, but now it has grown to 6.7 percent with 0.8 percent of users being on the newest distribution of Jelly Bean – Android 4.2.

    As for the Gingerbread the undying, it refuses to let go. It’s still on a little above 50 percent of all Android smartphones at 50.8 percent. I predicted that Gingerbread usage would drop below 50 percent before the end of the year, and I still stand by that prediction. The holidays should provide enough new ICS and Jelly Bean equipped phones to push Gingerbread out of its majority stranglehold.

    Jelly Bean Adoption Slowly Growing

    Even then, Android has a long way to go before it can rid itself of its fragmented ecosystem. Google has to work with carriers to deliver timely OS upgrades and updates to the numerous Android devices that are now invading the market. It doesn’t help that smaller players in the Android market are still offering entry-level phones with Android 2.3. Google needs to hold OEMs and carriers to an ICS standard if it wants to solve its fragmentation problem.

    The next Android distribution numbers should be out at the beginning of January and cover the tail end of December. The holidays are coming up fast, and a Christmas miracle complete with Gingerbread falling below 50 percent could happen. We can only dream, but hey, that’s what the holidays are for. Let’s just hope Google doesn’t get too caught up in the Christmas spirit and names it next Android distribution “Kandy Kane.”

  • Ice Cream Sandwich Is On A Quarter Of All Android Devices

    In its Android distribution reports, Google has shown that Gingerbread is slowly losing its grip on the Android market. The keyword here is “slowly” as the most prominent Android OS doesn’t seem to be giving up the fight just yet.

    Google released the latest Android distribution report today and there’s some good news – Ice Cream Sandwich distribution has grown yet again. Jelly Bean is also showing signs of life as more users adopt the OS. At the beginning of October, ICS was on 23.7 percent of Android devices. That number has grown to 25.8 percent, a full quarter of the entire Android ecosystem. As for Jelly Bean, it has grown to 2.7 percent from 1.8 percent.

    The old dinosaur that is Gingerbread is still hanging on to its majority across Android platforms. At the beginning of the month, Android 2.3 was at 55.5 percent distribution. In a month’s time, that number has only shrunk to 53.9 percent.

    It can be frustrating, especially to developers, to see Gingerbread retaining its dominance. It’s not going to change either until more people get newer phones that run ICS. A number of phones running Gingerbread were slated to get upgrades until the handset manufacturer pulled the update. Customers are irritated as they can’t upgrade to a new phone just yet, and it holds back developers who want to focus solely on the improvements afforded by modern operating systems.

    There’s still hope for Android 4.0 this year though. A number of people will be receiving new phones over the holidays and the newer phones will come equipped with ICS. It should help boost Android 4.0 distribution. A number of Android handsets will also be getting their ICS upgrades later this month as well. All of this should help to bring down Android 2.3’s distribution below 50 percent.

  • Latest Android Distribution Numbers Show Gingerbread Still On Top, But Not For Long

    Motorola made its customers rather unhappy yesterday when it announced that the Atrix 4G would not be getting the promised upgrade to Android 4.0. The phone is now forever doomed to be stuck on Gingerbread until owners switch to a new phone. The reluctance to upgrade phones might be considered anti-consumer, but it also highlights how Gingerbread is still the largest Android OS on the market. The latest numbers indicate that it will probably stay that way too.

    Google released the latest Android distribution numbers, and it’s similar to how it’s been the last few months. Gingerbread, or Android 2.3, still makes up most of the market. The only real difference this time is that Ice Cream Sandwich is finally starting to make some progress towards usurping Gingerbread.

    As of October 1, Gingerbread is now installed on 55.8 of all Android phones. In second place is Ice Cream Sandwich which is installed on a total of 23.7 percent of all Android devices. Third place goes to Froyo with 12.9 percent.

    What about the newest OS, Jelly Bean? The latest numbers put it at 1.8 percent. It’s only been out for just a few months, but it’s still lagging behind legacy Android operating systems like Honey Comb and Eclair. The slow adoption of Jelly Bean shows that carriers are still trying to push Ice Cream Sandwich before they even touch Jelly Bean.

    Google has been working furiously with carriers to get everybody up to speed on the latest versions of Android. Jelly Bean is obviously out of the question for now, but it’s nice to see that Ice Cream Sandwich is now starting to gain some traction in the Android ecosystem.

    Looking at the speed at which Gingerbread is losing ground and ICS is gaining, we can estimate that Android 4.0 will become the dominant OS before the end of the year. The holiday rush to buy new Android devices like the Galaxy S III will certainly help push Android 4.0 to the top. It may not happen, but it would definitely be nice to finally be out of the obsolete shadow of Gingerbread.

  • Motorola Pulls A Sony: Atrix 4G Won’t Be Getting Ice Cream Sandwich

    Sony caught a lot of flak earlier this year when they failed on their promise to upgrade the Xperia Play to Android 4.0. They cited technical difficulties as the cause, but the comments on our original story showed that consumers were a little more than unhappy with Sony’s decision. It’s looks like Motorola is about to have their own Sony moment.

    Motorola released an updated upgrade chart today that gives us a better idea of when Android 4.0 will be hitting their smartphones. The original upgrade chart, according to Ars Technica, featured the Atrix 4G as being one of the lucky phones to receive ICS. That’s no longer the case as that particular model has been updated to say, “Will remain on Gingerbread.”

    Quite a few devices such as the Droid 4 and the Atrix 2 will be getting upgrades to ICS, but an even larger number of devices are being left to rot on the aging Android 2.3 OS. Here’s the full upgrade list:

    Motorola Atrix ICS

    To add insult to injury, a recent software update for the Atrix 4G disabled the bootloader. Owners who installed this update will not be able to load a custom ICS ROM onto their phone. It’s a little underhanded on the part of Motorola, who’s now owned by the maker of Android, to keep people from updating their devices.

    When Sony went back on their word, they cited technical reasons as to why the Xperia Play would not be getting ICS. Motorola’s Software Lead, Punit Soni, shares a similar tale:

    Motorola Mobility continues to review how each device can deliver the very best experience possible, and at times, this can mean making tough choices – especially as it relates to Android software upgrades. Today, we need to let you know about some tough choices related to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades. Specifically, ATRIX 4G, Photon 4G and Electrify will not receive the ICS upgrade, but continue to be supported with maintenance releases to ensure optimum performance for the consumer.

    Motorola’s move just further explains why Android 2.3 is still the most used Android OS on the market. The business model of offering hardware subsidies on the back of a two-year contract isn’t helping the adoption of Android 4.0 either. Most smartphone shoppers only buy phones when their contract is up for renewal. Either Google has to force carriers to be more aggressive about upgrades, or carriers need to offer more frequent upgrade options to keep the Android ecosystem from becoming too overburdened by obsolete versions of the OS.

  • Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) Continues To Gain Users

    At Google I/O Google revealed Jelly Bean, the new version of Android (version 4.1). It has some new bells and whistles, but but you’d have to go back three versions to get to the one that most Android device owners actually use.

    Gingerbread, which came before Ice Cream Sandwich and Honeycomb has over 60% of Android distribution. Google released the following charts showcasing that distribution:

    Android Distribution

    The data from devices that accessed Google Play (formerly Android market) within a two-week period ending August 1.

    Despite the dominance of Gingerbread, one major highlight to take away from this is that Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0) has jumped significantly. The number is up about 50% from last month.

    Devices that come with Ice Cream Sandwich, according to Android.com, include:

    HTC One V
    ARCHOS 97 Carbon
    Excite 13 Tablet
    Excite 7.7 Tablet
    Excite 10 Tablet
    Asus Transformer Pad TF300T
    HTC One S
    Galaxy Nexus 4G (LTE)
    Galaxy Nexus
    ARCHOS 101 G9
    ARCHOS 80 G9

    The distribution chart really highlights one of the most frustrating things about Android to users, and one major advantage of iOS by comparison. Most iOS users will get the iOS 6 on their devices when it comes out, but Android update distribution is and has always been chaos.

  • What If Android Powered The PlayStation Vita? It Would Look A Little Like This

    If the Ouya has proven anything, it’s that people are excited about an affordable game console running on Android. Google’s open source operating system can be put on just about anything and companies are definitely taking advantage of that.

    A Chinese manufacturer has announced they are building the Droid X360. Unfortunately, it’s not an Android powered Xbox 360 with the power to boot. It’s a handheld gaming device that runs on Android and looks suspiciously like the PlayStation Vita.

    MIC Gadget has the low-down on the specs for this new wonderful knockoff. The Droid X360 runs on Android 4.0.4, features a 1.5 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, 8GB of onboard storage and a 5 inch capacitive touchscreen. As for ports, it features an HDMI-out, microSD slot with support for up to 32GB of external storage, a mini-USB port, rear 2MP camera and a front 0.3Mp camera.

    The case is obviously taken from the PlayStation Vita itself as it features all the same features that gamers have come to love from Sony’s device including twin analog sticks. It remains to be seen if gamers would be able to use the buttons to control Android games. Fortunately, the buttons can be used for the nine built-in emulators the device ships with including Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance and others. Check it out in action:

    No price has been announced for the device thus far, but I can assure that it will be cheap. Chinese hardware is always cheap, but rarely of dubious quality. If you want a portable device that plays all the games of yesteryear alongside today’s greatest Android games – the Droid X360 might be just for you. I’m tempted to pick one up myself for the novelty factor alone.

  • Samsung Bricks Galaxy Notes With Ice Cream Sandwich Update

    Carriers and device manufacturers have been messing up Android since the beginning. Not simply content with a free operating system good enough to immediately allow them to compete with Apple, they have abused Android’s open source nature and adapted the OS, and mostly for the worse. In the U.S., smartphones routinely come packed with crapware and have some features of the Android operating system, such as tethering or mobile hotspot, disabled.

    All of this meddling not only hurts the Android brand, it also fractures the Android operating system. Manufacturers are slow to upgrade Android software on phones that have already been released, meaning frustration. While Google has just announced that Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be launched later this month on the Nexus 7 tablet, most smartphones don’t yet have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

    One of those smartphones is Samsung’s Galaxy Note. Samsung has promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich for owners of the ultra-large Note smartphone, but have delayed the release for months, though the international version of the phone has it. Many of the features Samsung has dangled in front of Galaxy Note owners are features that owners of Samsung’s Galaxy S III got with their purchase.

    This week, just when it finally looked as if Galaxy Note owners were going to get Android 4.0, Samsung dropped the ball. According to a Gizmodo report, some Note owners in France are having their smartphone crash or even become completely bricked by the update.

    France was one of the first places to receive the Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich update. Samsung has acknowledged the problem through its Facebook page, where the company is urging its customers to fill out a detailed form on the problem so that it can do some much-needed debugging.

    Take a look at the video below to see all of the features Samsung is promising its customers, then ponder whether the software is worth waiting countless months for an upgrade to the newest version of Android:

  • Ice Cream Sandwich Is Slowly Becoming The Norm

    Android fragmentation is a multi-tiered problem. There’s the multiple devices and multiple versions of the Android OS that has many developers unable to effectively develop for all of them. Google has been working hard on the Android OS problem and it seems to be paying off.

    The latest numbers in regards to Android distribution shows that Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) is still the most popular version of the OS with 63.6 percent of the market. Most consumers are still on their two-year contract with their current phone (like me) and our carriers/device manufacturers refuse to move us to Ice Cream Sandwich.

    That being said, there are a few carriers/OEMs who are pushing out Ice Cream Sandwich to various devices. Couple with that the explosive growth of Android and you have ICS moving on up through the ranks. The latest numbers show the latest version of ICS as having 10.7 percent of the market. It’s the third largest section of the Android market after Android 2.2 (Froyo) at 17.3 percent.

    With Jelly Bean coming out in the middle of July, it will be interesting to see the adoption at that point. The only devices that are getting Jelly Bean out of the gate are the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Nexus has been banned in the U.S. thanks to the efforts of all the seeing eye of Sauron Apple, so that leaves the Nexus 7 to carry the weight of bringing Jelly Bean into the world of rankings.

    It’s also important to note that many carriers have delayed or won’t be delivering ICS to devices until later this year. The majority of people on Android 2.3-powered handsets will be able to get their hands on ICS at some point which should help drive ICS adoption up. It will still be a while, however, until Gingerbread is dethroned from the top spot.

    The rest of the data includes interesting stats on the relative rise over time of various Android operating systems and a breakdown of screen sizes. It would appear that most Android devices (57.5 percent) are equipped with a normal hdpi screen.

    The increased adoption of ICS is only a good thing for Google and Android OEMs around the world. The sooner they can get everybody on board with ICS, the sooner Android can evolve to the next level. Google might also want to slow down on the new versions until everybody can catch up.

  • Celebrate Freedom With HTC’s DROID Incredible 4G LTE On July 5

    What’s the most patriotic holiday of the year? If you’re American, you’re going to say July 4 or Thanksgiving since both let us partake in the American tradition of eating way too much. While a product launch wouldn’t work on the actual Independence Day on account of nothing being open, the day after is a great way to celebrate.

    It seems that HTC and Verizon agree and are releasing the DROID Incredible 4G LTE on July 5. The date comes from screenshots Droid-Life obtained that seems to confirm the launch. It’s fitting to launch the phone on July 5, the day after our forefathers declared independence from the tyranny of King George III and his reported use of technologically-backwards feature phones.

    All joking at the expense of King George III aside, how much will the phone cost you? Under a two-year contract, you can get the HTC DROID Incredible for $199. Unfortunately, the phone will be propagating its own form of tyranny with the Verizon Share Everything data plan. It seems that Verizon even delayed the phone so that it could entice shoppers into chaining themselves and their families to the draconian data plan.

    So what will $199 and a two-year contract with Verizon get you? The DROID Incredible features a 4-inch screen at 540×960. It’s powered by a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM. It features 8GB of internal storage that can be upgraded with the usual MicroSD slot. It will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich and probably be upgraded to Jelly Bean at some point in the near future.

    If HTC can get off to a good launch, it might be able to take away some market share from Samsung’s superior Galaxy S III. The S III has not had the best of launches and some customers may be frustrated enough to go with the competition. All I know is that Verizon customers can’t go wrong with a phone that loves freedom enough to give it some space.

  • Ice Cream Sandwich Brings Sweet Delight To Droid RAZRs Everywhere

    It’s the beginning of summer and all anybody wants is some cool, refreshing ice cream. While it’s not exactly the same thing, Android phones want some relief from the stale Gingerbread they have been eating all year. The Droid RAZR is the latest Android device to move from Christmas treats to cool sweets with Ice Cream Sandwich.

    It was announced last week that Verizon would be pushing an ICS update to Droid RAZR and RAZR MAXX phones soon. Soon apparently means today as Verizon has announced that ICS will start going out to owners of the aforementioned Android devices over the next few days.

    Here’s the specific ICS features you can expect from your Droid RAZR/RAZR MAXX:

    Ice Cream Sandwich features upgraded functionality and new features, such as Face Unlock. By looking directly at the screen, the smartphone recognizes its owner and automatically unlocks the device. It also includes Direct Access Lock Screen, which allows you to easily open camera, text messages, and dialer from the lock screen.

    Customers can use the front camera to video chat with friends and family to share summer stories or even just to wave hello. The new Video Calling icon makes it easy to access video chatting apps like ooVoo and Tango.

    The upgrade also enhances the voice input technology, typing your words as you speak emails or texts. Speak continuously for paragraphs at a time, add punctuation and even edit mistakes with voice input.

    The update to ICS also makes the Droid RAZR a global ready device. What does that mean? You can now use the Droid RAZR to make calls and browse the Internet while abroad in more than 220 countries. Of course, you will have to get an international plan, but it’s better than having to rent a phone for the month you’re in a foreign country.

    The update should be pushed out to Droid RAZR/RAZR MAXX users over the next few days. Here’s hoping it goes better than AT&T’s premature launch of ICS to Galaxy S II users.

  • Sony Xperia S Gets Some Ice Cream Sandwich Love Today

    Is today Ice Cream Sandwich day or what? Sure, AT&T may have potentially flubbed its rollout of the operating system to Galaxy S II handsets, but not everybody is screwing it up. Sony gets it right, even if they pissed off everybody who bought the Xperia Play.

    Sony announced today the availability of Android 4.0 on the Xperia S. This is the latest phone from the 2011 Xperia line to be upgraded to ICS. The ICS update will be available over the air, via Wi-Fi or through a USB connection on your PC. If you’re going the PC route, it’s easiest to update over the web via Xperia Update.

    For those upgrading to ICS, here’s what you can look forward to:

  • Lock screen with improved functionality
  • Resizable widgets (improved personalization)
  • Improved control of your mobile data consumption
  • Recent Apps button for clear overview of your applications

    • In a super cool move, Sony has also included an update to their media software with the ICS firmware download as well. Here’s what you’ll get:

    The “WALKMAN” application blends the best of signature Sony audio technology with social features; to discover the music your friends like and share personal favorites. Facebook integration gives you a visual way to interact with content – accessing album art, artist images and information, directly from Gracenote.

    The “Album” application brings new intuitive ways to sort and browse high quality photos and videos in blazing speed, as well as providing instant viewing, commenting and sharing of photos on Facebook and other online albums, leveraging the great camera capabilities of Xperia S.

    The “Movies” application streamlines the playback and viewing of movies in high quality audio and video, whilst using intelligent database search to grab movie posters and information for a richer experience.

    As far as I can tell, that’s a pretty sweet update. You’ll be able to get the update today or throughout the next few weeks as it rolls out to all customers around the world. You’ll receive a notification to download the 200MB update once its ready in your area.

    For those who are more visually minded, Sony has created a quick video that shows off all the new features that ICS brings to the Xperia S. Here’s hoping it hits your device today.

  • Motorola Droid RAZR and RAZR MAXX Getting Ice Cream Sandwich Soon

    As I sit here in my dark corner of the fragmented Android empire, I weep over my lack of Android 4.0. My agony is made even worse by the fact that the HTC Inspire will never get ICS. I used to have the Droid RAZR and RAZR MAXX as companions, but that will soon change.

    Pardon the self-pity as Droid RAZR owners have reason to celebrate. According to Phandroid, Motorola has begun sending out texts to owners of the two smartphones that alert them to an incoming ICS upgrade. It’s about time too since Motorola announced the upgrade back in October of last year. Of course, implementing ICS can take time so maybe we can forgive them this time.

    So, did the text say anything about the upgrade beyond its impending arrival? Not that Phandroid is aware of. All they know is that users will have to delete the My Verizon app once it hits. They will then have to download the updated ICS version of the app from Google Play.

    The two RAZR models are just the latest to get ICS support as many smartphone manufacturers have begun upgrading phones running on 2.3 to 4.0. It’s been smooth sailing as far as upgrades go except for a small scandal instigated by Sony. It was found that the Xperia Play would not be getting an upgrade to 4.0 even after Sony had released a 4.0 ROM beta for users to try out.

    Google’s recent acquisition of Motorola does have me questioning the manufacturer’s future plans with Android 4.0 and future versions. Will Jelly Bean debut on Motorola hardware? Recent rumors suggest that it will be made by Asus, but a Motorola Jelly Bean tablet is definitely a possibility now.

  • Songkick Concerts App Hits Android Phones

    Concerts are the way to go if you really want to support the music artist. The only problem is that concert schedules are really hard to keep track of unless you’re really into the concert scene. Songkick helps people keep track of where their favorite bands are and when they’ll be in town. It’s convenient, but it could always be more convenient.

    To help with that, Songkick announced today that they have released Songkick Concerts on Android phones. Like Spotify before it, the app has been optimized to take advantage of all the latest and greatest enhancements afforded by Android 4.0.

    “Following on from our explosive growth on iPhone and Spotify, the Songkick for Android app has been the loudest request from our users, and we’ve spent time understanding how to really take advantage of the awesome functionality in Ice Cream Sandwich,” said Ian Hogarth, Songkick CEO and co-founder.

    If you’re new to Songkick, here’s how it all plays out. The app will first scan the music in your library, Google Music account, Pandora, Last.fm, etc and create a list of favorite artists from those selections. It will then take your location and look for any concerts in the area that will feature the bands that you have been listening to. It’s all rather genius and would probably spur more than one person to go to more concerts.

    Well, you can take the “would” out of that conjecture as Hogarth confirms that Songkick does lead to more concert attendance:

    “Research shows that fans go to twice as many concerts once they have Songkick, and a huge number of music fans now listen to music on the go on their mobile devices. We can’t wait to get Android users out to see more shows with their friends.”

    If you want to use Songkick Concerts on Android, then you’re going to want to sign up for a Songkick account – it’s easy and free. Here’s the full list of features you can expect once you get Songkick Concerts set up on Android:

  • Instantly scan your music library, your Google Music account, and your Last.fm app to track your favorite artists.
  • Import your favorite artists from your Facebook, Pandora or Last.fm accounts.
  • Get a personalized, local concert calendar for your bands.
  • Receive alerts when new concerts by your artists are announced.
  • For every concert, you can view the full line-up, venue, map, and compare the best ticket offers.
  • Jump-to-letter alphabet scrolling makes it quick to move through your tracked bands.
  • Browse all events in your calendar or any city worldwide. Add more locations for cities you are interested in or plan to visit.
  • Invite friends to concerts, and add them to your Google Calendar.
  • Embedded Google Maps make navigation quick and easy.
  • Customize your tracked bands, so you never miss your favorite artists playing live.
  • Browse the full tour schedule for the bands you like.
  • Keep track of your concert plans all in one convenient place.

    • You can get Songkick Concerts from Google Play right now. If you’re an iOS user, you can grab the app here.

  • Spotify For Android Updated With Full ICS Support

    Spotify has been around the mobile scene for a while now, but Android users have been dealing with being treated like second-rate citizens compared to their iOS counterparts. Not anymore as Spotify has relaunched on Google Play with full ICS support and other features that make the iOS version so popular.

    While the newly updated Spotify app will work on any Android device from 2.3 onward, you’re going to want an ICS phone to take full advantage of all the great new features in Spotify. Beyond the 4.0 integration, the new Spotify app has all-new slide-out navigation that makes it easier to find what you’re looking for. It also comes with a widget to control Spotify from the home screen.

    As for the actual inner workings of the app, it finally has crossfade and gapless playback settings. Even better, the new Spotify includes an “extreme” sound quality for streaming music at 320kbps. There’s also last.fm scrobbling and support for playlist folders.

    Some of the other odds and ends that you can find in the new Android app include a new social element that lets you see friends’ profile pages and playlists. There’s also the ability to see artist imagery in high resolution. Finally, the app is just faster and more stable than past versions.

    Gustav Södertröm, VP Products at Spotify, said: “For all our Android users, this Spotify update is a huge leap forward. We’ve rebuilt it from top to bottom, making it faster, slicker and much better looking.”

    Of course, to use all of these new great features, it’s required that you get Spotify Premium. You get a 48-hour free trial upon downloading the app, but you can extend that to 30 days through a special offer. To get the new Spotify, just hit up Google Play and download it to your device today.

  • Google TV Set-Top Box Will Stream Content From Android 4.0 Devices

    One of the coolest things that Microsoft showed off during its E3 press conference this week was SmartGlass. In essence, it allows any mobile device to share information with the Xbox 360 in a meaningful way to deliver content both ways for games and movies. It’s an evolution of Apple’s AirPlay that allows mobile Apple devices to stream content to Apple TV.

    This is all to say that Google is now jumping into the over the air streaming from mobile devices to televisions. It’s unfortunate, however, that the company is not pulling a Microsoft by reinventing the wheel. They seem perfectly content with just copying what Apple has done, just with an Android twist.

    Speaking to Computerworld, set-top box maker Honeywld Technology said that the upcoming Google TV set-top box will enable Android 4.0 devices to stream content to the set-top box. Just like with AirPlay, Android users will have to install an application that will enable the streaming functionality.

    Honeywld was showing off its new Android 4.0 set-top box this week at Computex. It features 4GB of flash storage, 1GB of DDR3 RAM and a microSD slot. As for ports, it features an ethernet and HDMI video out. Just like Apple TV, it will also feature wi-fi.

    The key difference from past Google TVs is that Intel is no longer making the processors that power the devices. Just like every other device that’s not a high-powered PC these days, ARM will be supplying a Cortex-A9 processor that runs a customized version of Ice Cream Sandwich.

    While the Honeywld set-top boxes will begin shipping in Taiwan next month, the company will not be able to ship them worldwide. The company hopes that a third-party distributor picks up the device for international sale. Regardless, we should start seeing Android 4.0 Google TV set-top boxes arriving on store shelves in the third quarter of this year.

    It’s unfortunate to see Google and its partners putting in all this work into the next round of Google TVs, while putting the bare minimum amount of effort into the software behind it. I’m sure people will appreciate Google’s version of AirPlay, but the bar has been raised after SmartGlass. I’m sure Apple is not far behind in their own version of interactive television so Google better step up their game if they want Google TV to have a firm grip on the living room.

  • Ice Cream Sandwich Update For Verizon Galaxy Nexus Rolling Out Now

    In December of last year, the much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Nexus became available on Verizon’s network. It was Google’s flagship Android device, the first phone to run the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Within just hours of release, though, a software update was released. Android 4.0.2 fixed a few bugs and tweaked a few features.

    Since then, though, Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus users – who lined up outside Verizon stores to get their phones – haven’t gotten any updates at all. While other Android devices have gotten updates to Ice Cream Sandwich, Verizon has left Galaxy Nexus users to languish while those who buy the GSM Galaxy Nexus directly from Google Play get updates as soon as they’re released. That has changed today, however, as Android 4.0.4 (which is itself already two months old) has at long last begun rolling out to Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus customers.

    The update brings several new features and fixes. Fixes include problems with email and text messaging, the display, voice call audio, voicemail, and others, while the calendar app gets a few enhancements. The update should be rolling out over the air to Galaxy Nexus users. If you’re not willing to wait for the update to push to you, then you can get it yourself from your phone’s settings menu.

  • Samsung Galaxy S III Officially Released

    Samsung Galaxy S III Officially Released

    Today marks the official release date of Samsung’s new flagship Android smartphone, the Galaxy S III. In some countries, at least. The phone is now available in 28 countries around the world, but mostly just in Western Europe. Because the U.S. uses different network technologies than Europe, the phone’s release has been delayed in North America. There is not yet an official release date for a U.S. version.

    Since most U.S. carriers use or are planning to implement 4G LTE networks, the Galaxy S III is not fully compatible with any U.S. carrier. The hardware inside the phones will be different from the worldwide version when it hits North America, with the phone’s quad-core processor replaced with an LTE compatible dual-core. T-Mobile, though, lacks an LTE network and Galaxy S III’s on that network could be closer to the version released worldwide today. Also, TmoNews is reporting that the blue version of the phone will be launching on T-Mobile in the U.S. on June 20th.

    With Samsung rising in the Android smartphone market (and smartphone market as a whole), carriers are expecting the Galaxy S III to sell millions. Over 9 million pre-orders have been taken for the device. HTC’s only smartphone comparable to the Galaxy S III, the HTC One X, is available only on AT&T and Sprint in the U.S. With the Galaxy S III set to release on all U.S. carriers, Samsung is in a position to take a strong lead as the top Android smartphone manufacturer. That is, if they don’t run into the same import problems HTC is dealing with.