Samsung Exynos 5 Dual CPU detailed, set to dominate the competition

Last time we heard anything about Samsung’s upcoming Exynos 5 mobile processors was back in November, but today they’ve detailed the all new dual-core 1.7 GHz Exynos 5 Dual chipset in the 5250. For those wondering why not quad-core, they have that too, but this is their newest chipset similar to Qualcomm’s recent dual-core S4 in the Galaxy S III. Samsung’s being very vocal about this new chipset, so lets take a look.


What makes the new Exynos 5 Dual special is the fact it’s running two brand new Cortex-A15 processor cores instead of an older A9. You get much higher performance, yields, and battery life just to name a few. Samsung has them running upwards of 1.7 GHz, and state they’ll get over twice the performance of current dual-core processors.

This all means we can expect some mighty powerful Galaxy Tab smartphones here in the future, and possibly even see this in their upcoming Galaxy Note 2. The new 32nm SoC packs twin 1.7GHz cores and supports up to 2560 x 1600 WQXGA resolutions. Not to mention 3D graphics, USB 3.0, and even SATA3.0 support. They even have a new feature called Panel Self Refresh for reduced power consumption. Add all this together and they expect desktop level performance, while getting 30% better battery life and power consumption than their current dual-core.
Don’t be fooled by the “dual-core” in the name, these will be some powerful processors powering their next generation smartphones and tablets. I’m still hopeful to see it in their new Galaxy Note 2.

Story Timeline

• Samsung Exynos 5250 running at 2GHz coming by Q2 next year
• Samsung Exynos 5 dual-core to support USB 3.0 and more
• Samsung announces Exynos 4 Quad for the Galaxy S III
• Samsung confirms Galaxy Note 2 debut on August 29th
• Samsung Galaxy Tab with 11.8-Inch 2560×1600 resolution rumored again

Read More

Motorola RAZR and MAXX international models getting ICS

Motorola RAZR and MAXX international models getting ICS

Starting today Motorola has begun pushing out an update to their international models of the Motorola RAZR and RAZR MAXX. After hearing reports from GSMArena that the update was starting today, Motorola’s European Facebook page announced it was rolling out to “select users” this afternoon.


As a reminder this is not the Verizon models, which already have ICS, but the international GSM versions of Motorola’s popular sleek phone. Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich has arrived for select handsets, and more can expect to see it arrive for them shortly.
Basically it sounds like this is a soak test just like Motorola does here in the US with their feedback network, only for the international market. The update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich brings tons of new and improved features, an enhanced UI, as well as Moto’s new lockscreen and desktop widgets. Multiple links below will give you an idea of what to expect, as the Verizon models received the update last month.
After Motorola teased this update way back in early July with a promotional video, the wait has been a long one. Especially after watching the Verizon DROID RAZR’s get the update well ahead of them. For those with a GSM international Motorola RAZR or RAZR MAXX the wait is almost over, and you can expect ICS to arrive within the next week or two. Drop us a comment below if you’ve already received it.

Read More

Samsung Galaxy Tab with 11.8-Inch 2560×1600 resolution rumored again

Samsung Galaxy Tab with 11.8-Inch 2560×1600 resolution rumored again

It might be time to fire up those rumor mills again because we are seeing some activity on the Samsung Galaxy Tab front. Last year rumors of a Galaxy Tab with “Retina” level resolution for the display was talked about, and never heard of again. Recently multiple reports have come out confirming the tablet again, and it might of even hit the FCC.


During the Apple vs Samsung trial a document leaked, found by The Verge show the tablet to be real, as our friends at SlashGear reported. Now we are hearing the same rumors starting to appear again, as well as an FCC filing with a very similar model name — possibly trying to hide the impressive tablet.

With Samsung’s announcement of their new Exynos 5 Dual processor for smartphones and tablets yesterday, that also states support for 2560×1600 and higher resolutions, this is all starting to make sense. Now a recentFCC filing appeared with Samsung GT-P8110 as the model number — which resembles the P10 branding from the leaked Samsung documents. This could all be coincidence, but we could be seeing a new 11.8″ tablet coming this year.
Samsung has a lot of announcements this month starting with the Galaxy Note 10.1 August 15th, followed by the Galaxy Note 2 at the end of the month at IFA in Berlin, Germany. Chances are we might get a surprise 11.8-inch tablet unveil to end, and steal the show. An 11.8-inch tablet with a powerful new dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and possibly 4G LTE connectivity sure sounds nice. Right? Stay tuned for more details.
  

Read More

International HTC One X getting Android 4.0.4 update, with fixes

Just like the AT&T HTC One X received earlier this week, the international model is getting an over the air update today that should make many users happy. Along with improving the OS to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, you also get a much needed change to the menu and multitasking button. This will help remove the large black bar present for the “menu” button on Sense UI.


HTC has formally announced the update today, and mention multiple other enhancements and fixes specific to HTC Sense UI, as well as Android as a whole. With 4.0.4 the camera has been improved, browser has received enhancements, and they’ve added tons of stability tweaks. Here’s what HTC had to say regarding that menu button:

The primary update will include an upgrade to Android version 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), in addition to an improved Sense experience which will: enable the ability to map menu function to the ‘recent app’ key (improving visual presentation in non ICS apps like Facebook)

What this means is the two square looking multitask button can now be used as the “menu” button for Android too. You can enable it in settings, and long pressing that will bring up any menu options now that many are on-screen with Android 4.0 ICS and above. After the update head to Settings > Display > Gestures and Buttons to change how you’d like the multitask and legacy menu button to operate. This is basically just an added option for those two don’t like the current implementation.
We can expect this same update to be arriving for the HTC One S and other Sense 4.0 devices in the coming weeks, but today it’s available right now for the international HTC One X. Be sure to check for updates as usual, or just wait for the notification and enjoy.

Read More

Samsung Galaxy S III black color option coming soon

This week the folks at Samsung have caused a little disturbance for those who don’t like the current color options for the Galaxy S III smartphone. For some unknown reason Samsung decided against the traditional black color, and only have a Marble White, Pebble Blue, and Garnet Red flavor. However Samsung’s Facebookshowed off a black model, and now retails could be confirming the news.


The Facebook photo linked to above clearly showed black during Samsung’s Olympics coverage. Many spotted a few screens showing either a black model, or a poorly photoshopped blue smartphone. However the image above, and now Carphone Warehouse’s inventory listing could prove otherwise.

Above is a screenshot from the online retailer Carphone Warehouse, clearly showing a Galaxy S III black color option. Now this could be old, but on initial launch their system only showed blue and white according to Android Police. This leads us to believe Samsung is set to start shipping black versions of the Galaxy S III. This also matches previous reports that “multiple” color options will be available this fall.
Pretty odd for people to get all fired up over the color of their smartphone, but I know many wanted the regular plain Jane black color option, and didn’t get it. If Samsung does plan to offer different colors, we expect them to make a formal announcement at IFA 2012 August 29 and on in Berlin, Germany. We’ll be their live too so stay tuned for all the details.

Read More

Android Community’s gigantic TegraZone Nexus 7 Giveaway

Android Community’s gigantic TegraZone Nexus 7 Giveaway!

Welcome back to another fabulous giveaway from Android Community and NVIDIA – this time we’ve got no less than 3 Google Nexus 7 16GB tablets for you, hot off the manufacturing line! What we’re going to ask you to do is get involved in the Android Community forums and represent for your favorite Tegra-toting device or TegraZone game. It’s easy!


We’ve got a total of three brand new Google Nexus 7 tablets (see our full review here) that you’ll be able to get a chance to win by following the following three steps. ALSO NOTE: SlashGear has a similar giveaway going on connected to their own Tegra hub – 3 more Nexus 7 tablets up for grabs there!
It’s quite simple – all you’ve got to do is show your NVIDIA love:

1. Head to [this Android Community forums post] — and if you don’t yet have an account, register here.
2. Comment on your favorite NVIDIA Tegra 2 or Tegra 3 device on the market OR your favorite TegraZone game. These can be games and devices that are out now or will be out soon – and you can find a vast collection of both [here in our Tegra hub] and be sure to say WHY you love or want it!
3. Sit back and cross your fingers!

This giveaway starts on Friday, August 10th, 2012 and runs until Friday, August 17th at midnight. We’ll pick a collection of our favorite entries and from that set we’ll choose three winners at random – we’ll announce the winners on Monday, August 20th in the forums and right here in this original giveaway post!

Competition is open to residents of the US only, over the age of 18. One entry per person. Family members of NVIDIA, ASUS, Google, and SlashGear/Android Community are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified Android Community forum post; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized.
The winners will be contacted by an Android Community/SlashGear staff member IN THE FORUMS upon being selected and will be expected to respond to that staff member; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected.
Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners agree that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to Android Community, SlashGear, and NVIDIA.

Each of the three prize packs consist of a pack including one Google Nexus 7 tablet, and that’s it! There are no other alternative for prize winners unless this prizes become unavailable, in which case Android Community reserves the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value.

Read More

New updates for T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide and G2 arrive

New updates for T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide and G2 arrive

Today T-Mobile and HTC are pushing new updates for two phones that are getting on in age. The myTouch 3G Slide and the G2 are both receiving minor updates, despite the fact that both have been around since 2010. True, that was only two short years ago, but two years in smartphone time may as well be an eternity.


Regardless of their age, they have both been updated. Don’t expect to find much of anything in these updates, however, as both only deliver a security patch and improve software stability. Sorry, but there aren’t any of the cool, new features you were hoping for when you read the title.
Both of these updates are only available as RUUs from HTC’s website, so you won’t be receiving any OTA notifications. You can snag the update for the G2 here, while the update for the myTouch 3G Slide can be found here. The pair of updates will delete the personal data from your phone, requiring you to back up your data if you want to keep it, so you’ll be doing a bit of work if you want to install them.
These phones are both showing their age these days, with the G2 still running Android 2.3.4 and the myTouch 3G Slide stuck way back on Android 2.2. Sadly, we probably won’t be hearing too much about future updates for either of these phones, though you never know. After all, with these updates surfacing today, HTC and T-Mobile may look to fix a few more things before they move on from the handsets entirely.

Read More

NFL 2012 Preseason Live app for tablets only $20

Who loves Football? For those not in the US I’m talking about the NFL. Preseason is off to a great start. The regular season is almost here and although we love Android, many also love NFL just as we do. For those interesting in following their teams progress and pre-season you can watch every single game live, or on demand with the official NFL app, but it’ll cost ya.


The NFL offers a Preseason Live package for only $20 and you’ll get to see any and every game live, or on demand from any computer or even your favorite Android tablets. Just head to NFL.com/preseason for more details. Sadly we are hearing pretty terrible reports when it comes to the actual Android app, and it is only available for tablets with no smartphone support. You can still watch on a computer though.

For those interested you can get the NFL Preseason Live 2012 app from the Google Play Store. It is a free download but will require a subscription to the $20 Live subscription, but for those die-hard fans this should be perfect. Hopefully the app will work better for some than what we are seeing in the reviews section, because it isn’t looking good. The app was just recently updated and hopefully another is on the way to fix a few pesky bugs.
The season has started off great. Manning is throwing balls again, Rodgers will be amazing as always, and Tebow will continue to be popular simply for taking his shirt off — and that’s all. We can’t comment on the quality of the Android app, but using the service on a computer last year was amazing and I watched every game of my Packers. Head to the links above and enjoy your favorite NFL teams.
As a reminder, Verizon users can get NFL Mobile for awesome content as well.
  

Read More

Samsung DROID Charge updating rolling out soon

Samsung DROID Charge updating rolling out soon

Early last week Verizon started pushing an update out to their popular Samsung DROID Charge but quickly stopped and pulled the update. Today however it appears to have the green light again from Samsung and Verizon, because Verizon has just confirmed it’s on the way. Head down past the break for more details and support documents.


As usual Verizon has just updated their support page with full details and update information. The change log and update looks to be rather large, but seems to be the same as previous versions. For now we aren’t fully sure what the update will bring but Verizon is stating quite a bit.
Below is the update information that states UI tweaks, performance enhancements, call quality improvements and more but sadly they’ve also added more bloatware. Everything listed below was also listed on the update back in March so we’re assuming this is mainly a bug fix update. It also could be preparing the phone for a possible Ice Cream Sandwich update coming soon, but that doesn’t seem likely.
Has your Samsung DROID Charge seen an update? If not we can expect the update to arrive in the next 24-48 hours as they usually do after hitting Verizon’s support page. Charge owners, let us know when you get this and if you notice anything new.
 

Story Timeline

• DROID Charge Review
• Droid Charge Review at SlashGear
• DROID Charge Heading To Verizon Tomorrow
• Samsung DROID Charge ready to power up with Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Verizon rolls out DROID CHARGE Gingerbread OTA update
• Samsung DROID Charge update gets the green light -- brings new UI tweaks

Read More

How should business-to-business (B2B) marketers best

How should business-to-business (B2B) marketers best use question-based social forums?
For business-to-business companies in particular, LinkedIn Groups, Quora and HighTable are just three examples of forums where marketers can demonstrate their knowledge.
In this article I’ll cover how B2B marketers can best approach these sites and provide eight recommendations for generating qualified leads and driving sales.
Note: The examples used all come from actual Q&A site conversations, with names removed for privacy purposes.

Overview of Question and Answer–Based Sites

When Q&A social media sites first came out, they were intended for people to exchange ideas and gather information. Unfortunately spammers and non-experts took away from their usefulness for a while.
But a few recent factors have brought Q&A social media sites back into the fold:

• There’s a proliferation of social media profiles where contributors have an actual identity to maintain. Posting unhelpful answers can hurt a person’s social media reputation significantly now.
• It’s harder to find answers to specific questions because there are over 500 million URLs today. Internet searches can be overwhelming.
• The salesy quality of Internet search ads can turn off a B2B audience. B2B searchers seek guidance, not a sales pitch.
• Social media sites have become more specialized (and well-funded). Sites like LinkedIn, HighTable and Quora provide direct access to a specific type of audience.

As a result, B2B marketers have an opportunity to consider: a captive and specific audience looking for guidance on issues that often relate directly to the problem or issues B2B marketers are trying to solve.
Here are eight tips that, when taken together, will result in more leads and increased sales.

#1: Comment from the Perspective of a Thought Leader

Above all, marketers have to position and think about themselves on Q&A sites as the thought leader for their particular business. Approaching a Q&A forum like a used car salesman approaching a browser will alienate the target audience.
Prospects on Q&A social media sites are usually in a higher position on the sales funnel. Aggressive tactics do not resonate here. Instead, take on the voice of a thought leader, which requires the following:

• Answer questions up front: People who go to Q&A sites are looking for answers to questions, not wishy-washy stances. Answer the initial question directly and then provide supporting evidence to back up the claim.
• Provide both qualitative and quantitative supporting evidence: Obviously having data and insight about certain topics is not possible in 100% of cases. That said, opinions backed by data or hard numbers carry more weight. But providing just numbers will not impress either. There has to be an interpretation of the numbers to demonstrate a position of expertise.
• Acknowledge alternative solutions: Remember, people are not perusing Q&A sites for a sales pitch. They are seeking a well-thought-out opinion. Failure to acknowledge alternatives or other options makes for a weak point of view.
• Write clearly and concisely: Perhaps this goes without saying, but typos or run-on sentences will not wow prospects.

Read More

Can android get Windows drive By virues &spyware

The existence of a vulnerability does not mean the use of a vulnerability.  You are correct that apps such as Flash, Acrobat, etc contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited.  Right now, the main threat vector we're seeing are trojanized Apps.  These can be modified legitimate apps or copy cats Apps.  At some point I would expect to see attacks via a drive by download type or while using apps such as Flash, etc.

Put it another way for right now.  Let's say that you are a hacker who wants to make money.  Say that 80% of traffic to your site is on a Windows machine with 10% on Mac, 5% on iOS, and 5% Android.  Where would you invest the time and effort in?  You'd go for the biggest slice.

Right now, the extent of the protection we currently provide is in the Web Protection component.  Right now, there is virus protection and we do plan to add further layers of protection.  NMS uses a system similar to Safeweb.  You can use the Safeweb site to check a site, but keep in mind that there may be a delay before that is added to the system that NMS uses.  Primarily to ensure that the site is in fact targetting the Android platform.

Read More

What do you think about Pirate?BEWARE!!!

What do you think about Pirates? No, I’m not talking about the swashbuckling kind Johnny Depp played, though thinking about him now is making me go all gooey inside.  I’m talking about those people and websites that take authors books and give them away, with no regard to the author, the publisher, the editors and everyone else involved in creating that book. If you’re like me, it pisses you off. So here is my rant to all the pirates and everyday folk who think its okay to scoop up a book you didn’t pay for. 

I will admit, sometimes its tempting to grab up a freebie. Someone suggest a site that has plenty of good stories waiting for you to download. I mean, everyone likes free stuff.  You check it out, see one you really really like and think, ‘what harm could it be to take one?’ 

It’s not okay to walk into a book store and just take any book you like. Why not? They’re just sitting there on the bookshelves right? How hard is it to just pick it up and walk out? Hmmm…well, let’s see. It’s Illegal!People think that just because it’s on the Internet, the normal laws don’t apply. Well they are wrong. Theft is theft and eventually it will catch up to you.  I tell you right now, if you steal a Nora Roberts book, or a Stephen King book, they’ll have their lawyers so far up your arse you’ll be afraid to poop. Same thing goes with every author, big or small, not to mention the publishers. You’re stealing their income.  There is not a day that goes by that I don’t get a Google alert telling me one of my books has been pirated. I don’t mind giving away the odd free book as part of a contest or to promote myself, but having ten, twenty, one hundred taken from me takes away all those royalties. It pissed me off. You wouldn’t take it kindly if someone were to suddenly take away half your pay check. It’s mighty hard to pay bills when there isn’t enough income to do so. 

I spend weeks, months to create a story worthy of being published. It’s my baby, my heart and soul. Those characters are as close to me as any living breathing life. I build them from scratch, chose their lovers, put them through hell and finally wrap it all up in a nice tidy bow at the end. You think that’s easy? Try it!  Each page is delicately constructed into a believable story. I spend days doing research to make my story have some reality. And once the story is finally finished, I go over it several more times again and make necessary changes, correct spelling errors, go through it for grammar. And then I send it off to a publisher who I pray with all my being that they will accept it.  Then if they do, it goes to editing where they go through your work sentence by sentence to make it the best book possible. And once that is done, and sometimes it takes several runs through the manuscript to make it perfect, it gets sent to a final editor and to myself for one last turn to go over it all. Then it gets published and Yah!! I have a published novel. But that’s not the end. From there the publisher and I work tirelessly to promote my book, to get it out into the cyber world. I’m proud of my work, thrilled an excited to have my work published. Then in one email my excitement comes to a halt. Someone has stolen my work and putting it on a website for anyone to take.  How Dare You!

So if you think taking a free book on some site offering all the latest books is okay, think again. We have ways of stopping you. It’s not that hard with today’s technology to get a hold of every email address of someone who has taken a book for free and send the police knocking on your door. We will send out take down notices and force the viral doors closed on every pirate out there.  So watch for me thief, because one of these days you may receive an email from me and trust me, you don’t want to piss me off.

Read More

HD Dolphin Browser updated

The extremely popular 3rd party browser for Android, Dolphin Browser HD, has received a quick update today in the Google Play Store bringing lots of new changes. For one, they changed the name and simply removed the “HD” tag for some reason, then they’ve improved tons of visuals and performance of the app. More details below.


With Google’s Chrome Browser now being available on Android I’m not sure how long 3rd party browsers will continue to be popular, but for now Dolphin has a huge following. Being one of the best options for Android for a long time we know why. Today’s update has improved the interface for tablets, the address bar got a visual makeover that also has better results, and they’ve improved performance across the board.
They optimized the address bar in landscape mode to work better with the keyboard on multiple devices, which should help with those small screens — or large tablets. Dolphin has improved the bookmark management and made the entire experience more visual. Then they improved and stabilized the sync options, and even added a shortcut to Dolphin Sonar.
As usual, the last update to the changelog simply reads, “Various stability and performance improvement.” So users can expect to see some sort of stability with daily web browsing, as well as performance throughout the application. Get the new and improved Dolphin Browser from the Play Store link below, then enjoy all those add-on options available.

Read More

LG optiumS l series

Anyone who has ever tried to take notes or write a quick memo on most smartphones knows that it’s often not a quick process. You have to search out the correct app and launch it. Then use the on-screen keyboard to type out your message. The on-screen keyboards aren’t the best if you need to type out a long memo or message.


LG has announced that its entire line of Optimus L-series smartphones are getting a new feature that makes taking notes very easy. The new feature is called QuickMemo. The feature is being rolled out in certain regions now, and will be available globally by the end of Q3 2012. The QuickMemo feature allows the user to instantly screen capture any content including web pages, photographs, and videos.
Once the content on the screen is captured, the user can write, draw, or jot a memo directly on the screen captured using their finger. That means no need to launch an additional application and no need to mess with an on-screen keyboard. Once the memo notes are taken, they can be shared via text, chat, or e-mail service.
Users who download the QuickMemo upgrade can activate the feature by pressing the volume keys or via the notification bar. The Optimus L-series of smartphones includes the L7, L5, and L3. LG has also announced that it will be releasing pink versions of the phones in the series.

“The QuickMemo™ is one of the representing features for LG’s UX(user experience) to enhance the quality of communication by sharing ideas with more personalization.” said Paul Bae, Vice President of marketing center of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

Read More

OUYA‘s games listed

We’ve entered the final hours of OUYA‘s Kickstarter, and with the clock winding down, the OUYA team has made a couple exciting announcements. First and foremost, the team shared some new renders of the console, and as it turns out, OUYA is very tiny. Of course, we weren’t expecting it to be massive since it won’t use any discs, but we weren’t quite expecting it to be this compact either. Have a look below.


As if these new renders weren’t enough, OUYA also announced that it has partnered with the team behind XBMC, a pretty famous open source media player. Apparently fans demanded this particular team-up quite frequently through outlets like Reddit and Twitter, and being unable to ignore the requests any longer, OUYA and XBMC decided to go for it. Talks between the two are “young” still, so we don’t have too much information to share, but XBMC says that more details will be coming soon.

In other news, OUYA will also be supporting TuneIn, a free radio service that offers access to 70,000 different stations and 2 million on-demand programs across 230 territories and countries. This partnership undoubtedly came about because iHeartRadio will only be available in the US, so OUYA had to give international users something they can get excited about too. Want more OUYA news? How about this list of planned OUYA games? The list was put together by @bluecollarart, and features games from developers who have made some kind of commitment to launching on OUYA:

Read More

Motorola Teases the new smart phone Reveal set

Motorola has jumped to the likes of Facebook for the platform to announce and unveil their next Android powered smartphone. Today they’ve confirmed a “big reveal” is set for this coming Friday, and we all have to guess what it is. I’m betting an original RAZR flip phone. The picture and quote below is all we have to go on, but I’ve already figured it out.


This almost certainly is the Motorola DROID RAZR HD, and headed to Verizon. Although some sites manages to miss this little detail, Motorola clearly states this is a smartphone and will have 4G LTE. That leaves Verizon or AT&T, and AT&T just got the Atrix HD. Yup. Everything points to Verizon and the DROID RAZR HD.

Here’s what Motorola had to say in regards to the mystery photo at the top of the page. Clearly they are hinting at a squared smartphone, but this is in their words:

Let’s play a game, Guess the Smartphone. We’ll give a clue each day all week and make the big reveal on Friday. I have the power of 4G LTE. Which smartphone am I?

We’ve seen a few leaks of the Motorola RAZR HD and the Verizon DROID RAZR HD equivalent over the past few weeks, as well as multiple FCC filings. I have a feeling they’ll be announcing both the regular version, and a RAZR HD MAXX both for Verizon — at the same time. Last week the phone leaked more than once, and one even had what appeared to be recent final software versions.
We won’t know until Motorola makes the announcement come Friday, but this is pretty much a lock for the RAZR HD. If so they’ll probably release it sometime in early September, but I’m hoping for end of August.

Read More

Toshiba Thrive table Android 4.0 Ice

Good news for the few rocking a Toshiba Thrive tablet. Their 10-inch model is finally getting the much awaited update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Toshiba is a little behind on their initial announcement dates for the update, but at least it’s finally available. More details after the break.


Toshiba originally detailed an early spring release date for their ICS rollout for the Thrive tablets, but that never happened. Quickly that update schedule was pushed back to “this summer” and eventually to “early fall.” Today however it’s finally available for download as we speak.
As usual, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich brings plenty of changes, features, enhancements and more. Performance has been improved, as has the browser, Face Unlock should be available, and many other things I’m sure you’ve already known about for months while waiting. Overall this update should only improve the hefty tablet.
Toshiba also specifically mentions audio/video fixes and enhancements, improved WiFi signal strength, as well as enhanced camera features — but that was also a feature of ICS. For those looking to dive in the process is simple. Just launch the “Service Station” app and check for updates, or head to the forum link below for more details. The 7-inch tablet will be waiting a bit longer, hang in their folks!

Read More

ESPN Fantasy Football app Ready for 2012

Football season is officially here, and ESPN was quick to the draw and have already updated their popular app for all those preparing for the NFL Fantasy season. I’ve watched Soccer, Olympics and more, but I’m so ready for NFL to start. With pre-season here ESPN has just updated their Fantasy app.


Just like in 2011 ESPN has updated their official ESPN Fantasy Football app for the 2012 NFL season. It was just made available last night and those looking to prepare for drafts, study up on pics, or watch their favorite NFL teams in action this is one of my favorite apps available.
It might not be NFL Mobile with live streaming of Red Zone games, but for the Fantasy fan this is as good as it gets. Below are a few screenshots of the new and improved 2012 app, although I barely see anything different. It’s completely free and is one of the best apps to manage a fantasy league I’ve ever used. Everything is touch friendly, and they even have that same “news ticker” on bottom giving you up to minute updates from everything sports.
I’m already set for the Fantasy season and have already knocked out a few mock drafts. What about you guys? With Aaron Rodgers on my side, surely I’ll be winning lots and lots of weeks. In case you haven’t been paying attention, Pre-season has already started with more games coming up all week long. Who’s excited? Get the new app from the link below.
    

Read More

Nexus 7 8GB "sold out" on the google play Store

While we don’t know exactly what type of sales numbers Google and ASUS have seen with their new Nexus 7tablet, we expect them to be great. With such an amazing device all for the low price of $199 how can it not sell? After it sold out just about everywhere initially back in July, we are now seeing it sell out on the Google Play Store too.


As of this afternoon Google has changed the status of their 8GB Nexus 7, and now it’s listed as “coming soon” leading us to believe they’ve sold out. I have a feeling they have no more stock left, and are waiting for ASUS to churn out more units from the factory and get them shipped to buyers. The 16GB version had the same fate early, and then came back a few weeks later.
Currently the 16GB Nexus 7 is still listed as “In Stock” and users that purchase it should be able to get it right away, but the 8GB model appears to be MIA. We’ve seen the tablets estimated ship date be pushed back a few weeks, leading us to believe they were low or out of stock, but now it’s been completely removed. Instead of just saying “shipping in 3-4 weeks” like before, it now says “coming soon.”
It’s safe to say the demand for Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has been overwhelming, and it’s been selling like hot cakes. Sadly Google and ASUS have been silent on any actual numbers. I’d love to see just how many Nexus 7 tablets have actually been sold. I have a feeling the number is quite high, but we won’t know until they break their silence. For now only the 16GB model is available from Google, and we’ll update once we know more.
Update: Now that is just weird. They are now listed back as “In Stock” and are shipping in 3-5 days like before. I think Google might be confused!

Read More

MySQL.com Security

In light of a recent security incident, customers are advised to update their antivirus definitions and run a full antivirus scan on all computers that accessed the MySQL site between September 20th, 2011 and September 28th, 2011. Also, out of an abundance of caution, we advise MySQL account holders to then change their MySQL account passwords.

Read More