The first Alpha release of Android 4.0.3 for Nokia N9, is here. Since this is an alpha, it’s not recommended that you use this as your daily driver. However, if you have a Nokia N9, I’d recommend you trying this out. It’s pretty cool having MeeGo and Android booting on the same phone!
Things expected to work:
dualboot kernel (without reflashing), ability to choose OS after power on.
3D drivers, OpenGL
hwrotation (portrait mode only, accelerometer HAL doesn’t work)
touchscreen (multitouch)
hw buttons (volume, power)
ECI accessory (headset buttons)
USB networking
lcd off in sleep mode
alarm driver, RTC
mounting MyDocs as “SDCard” [realized; NOT FIXED, but HACK EXISTS]
basic video decoding (sw) and playback, youtube (choppy)
basic CellMo functionality: network registration, USSD, SMS, data (GPRS/EDGE/3G), signaling. Actually, ofono/ofono-ril stack is used: all things that it able to do on the n900.
bluetooth (scanning, can pair devices. I didn’t test deeper).
charging (note: without any notification in UI)
sensors: accelerometer
audio: playback (audio routing to: loudspeaker, headset or earpiece)
lights HAL (lcd brightness)
root access (via adb shell; su/Superuser.apk)
Download and installation instructions can be found here.
DigiTimes revealed today that the next major version of Google’s Android operating system, version 5.0 or ‘Jelly Bean’, will come in Q3 2012. Previous rumors suggested that it would come in Q2, but apparently the release has now been pushed further in the future.
Manufacturers have only now started to get their Android 4.0 updates out the door. Ice Cream Sandwich is currently running on roughly 2-3% of the devices out there. Let’s hope the update to Android 5.0 will go out a little faster.
Samsung announced today the company’s update plans to ICS for the Galaxy Note. The update will go live in Q2 2012. The reason for the slight delay is a few S Pen optimized applications that will come to the handset together with the update.
Today, we are proud to announce that we will be offering a Premium Suite upgrade for GALAXY Note users worldwide from Q2. The software package includes extra multimedia features and a range of new S Pen optimized applications in addition to an OS upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
There have been numerous rumors of the upcoming Android flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S III. Many of these rumors have targeted the device to be released on May 22, with an almost immediate availability. Today, News.mk.co reports that the Galaxy S III could in fact be released as early as in in May. There’s no way to confirm this, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Sony announced today that the company’s first smartphone, the Xperia S, is shipping globally. In Finland it has already hit retailers, with for instance Gigantti offering it for 495 EUR (including TAX and w/o operator subsidies).
Here’s the post from Sony Xperia Product Blog:
Guys,
We just wanted to let you know that our first Sony smartphone, Xperia S, is shipping globally as I type this.
We’re giving local operators the chance to tell you about specific availability and pricing in individual markets, so please drop them a line for the latest info!
Also, thanks again for all your questions and comments – we’ll be running a weekly roundup every Friday to cover off any popular or mutual themes, so give us a shout if there’s anything you want to raise
The video above is from Samsung Taiwan. It shows you the differences between Android 2.3 and Android 4.0 on a Samsung Galaxy S II. The video will give you a pretty good idea of how things will work after the update. The video in Chinese, but you’ll get the hang of it just by watching :)
GsmHelpdesk Nederland has allegedly gotten their hands on an official picture of the Samsung Galaxy S III. They also claim to have hold of the spec sheet for this, and boy does it sound nice. According to their source the Galaxy S III will be released on May 22.
Here’s what their source has told of the Samsung Galaxy S III (GT-I9300):
4.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus HD screen (720 x 1280), 313 pixels per inch
12-megapixel camera with LED flash
1.3-megapixel front-facing camera
1.5GHz quad-core processor
1GB of RAM
DC-HSPA (42Mbps)
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
WiFi a/b/g/n
microUSB 2.0
HDMI
1,750 mAh battery
32GB of internal memory
131,3 x 63,7 x 8 mm
125 grams
Android 4.0
Care to guess if this is the real deal or a fake? It sounds plausible to me.
Sony took the wraps off the Xperia neo L today. The Sony Xperia neo L is the company’s first ICS smartphone to hit the markets, and it will do so only in China. Sony didn’t mention an international release date for Xperia neo L, so we’ll just have to wait and see if that happens.
Spec-wise the Sony Xperia neo L is a mid-range Android smartphone that comes with a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 4-inch display at a resolution of 800×480, 1GB of internal storage and a 5-megapixel camera. The Xperia neo L is 12.2mm thick, and comes together with a 1,500mAh battery.
