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Samsung responds to Galaxy S4 storage woes, part two: possible fix through “further software optimization”
07 days
by J
About two weeks ago, Samsung issued a response for all those who expressed concerns over the Galaxy S4′s then burgeoning storage issue. It said that users should learn to deal with the situation, considering that the Galaxy S4′s storage space was being put to good use through all of the extra software features that come with it. This wasn’t really the response that most people were looking for, and in the comments section of that article, we saw people say just as much.
Fortunately, it looks like Samsung never stopped looking at the issue, and now it has issued a new response. We think this is one that a lot of people won’t have any trouble getting behind now.
According to a statement just released to the guys over at CNET UK, Samsung can “appreciate this issue being raised,” and that they will work on improving communications for a better understanding of it. And not only that, but they are also looking at “the possibility to secure more memory space through further software optimisation.”
That’s one way of saying that a future software update could soon arrive to slim down, if not completely take away, some of the Galaxy S4′s more superfluous software features.
Samsung wrapped up its statement by saying this:
Samsung is committed to listening to our customers and responding to their needs as part of our innovation process.
If the recent unveiling of the Vanilla Android-flavored Galaxy S4 at this year’s Google I/O is any indication, we’d say that Samsung is listening quite well to its customers. That, or it’s just gotten extremely lucky, and was at the right place and the right time when Google decided to choose to support a non-Nexus flagship handset. Either way, we’re looking forward to how Samsung will deal roll out these much-needed “software optimizations” to see if the storage problem goes away.
Do you think Samsung can do it? Let us know what your thoughts are by commenting below.
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Buyer beware: There is a “root any Android” software you should never use
025 days
by J
It’s not everyday that someone tries to charge you for a root guide. In fact, pretty much every root method ever is available free of charge if you search for it and do a little reading. It sounds shady, but it really isn’t. People who create root methods do so for the love of having their devices rooted and aren’t really looking to make a quick buck. After all, these are our devices, and we shouldn’t have to pay to do what we want with them. So you can imagine our disdain when we were directed toward a site that offers to root any Android device for a one time fee of .
The site is called root-android.org. Here’s how it works. You shell out to get access to the Member’s Area. There you can download software that can, according to the site:
The Auto Rooting software is specially designed to work with all Android devices in the world today. This includes all Android tablets, phones, computers, and e-Readers. It does not matter what version of Android you are running, The Rooting Software works with all of them. – root-android.org
What a preposterous claim, right? There are a variety of reasons not to trust a site like this. For starters, there is an animated woman graphic in the bottom right corner that tries to talk you into that. They might as well put picture of palm trees in their banner and claim that they made 00 a month working from home. Aside from questionable marketing tactics, we have three really good reasons why you should never buy or use this software.
Not all Android devices can be rooted
The very biggest claim this site makes is that it can root anything. However, as anyone familiar with the rooting culture can tell you, that is a big honking lie. It’s kind of hard to put trust and faith into a product that, right out of the gate, makes promises it cannot hope to keep. Not all phones can be rooted. For that matter, there are a number of devices that have very complicated root methods.
There are a number of instances where devices cannot be easily rooted. When OTA updates come in (Especially HTC Devices), they usually patch up all known root exploits and developers have to find a new way to obtain root. Or if the device isn’t popular enough to be rooted by the developer community and current exploits don’t do the trick. When the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 were released, their locked bootloaders prevented root for a period of time before developers found a way around it. The point is that there are times when phones can’t be easily rooted and there are even a few rare instances where root cannot be a achieved at all. Most of the time it’s temporary but it does happen. In these instances, this software will not work for you.
You can get all of this and more for free
If someone offered you a good, free meal, would you turn it down to go spend on the exact same meal in a restaurant? No? Of course not, because that’s not what sane people do. Every single root exploit that you can find in this software is available free of charge at one of the Android development sites. Whether it be XDA Developers, RootzWiki or one of the other places, you can find all these root exploits for free. Not to mention that taking what’s already free and making people pay for it is just plain unethical. Look at what they did to water.
On top of taking free software and making you pay for it, they’re also taking away recognition to developers. People worked hard on some of these exploits. Those crazy people at unlimited.io keep hacking HTC phones despite HTC’s best efforts. What about those XDA devs who unlocked the Verizon Galaxy S3 bootloader and then shortly thereafter, the Verizon Galaxy Note 2 bootloader. These are names you should know because these are the guys doing the real hard work to get you rooted so you can have full control over your own devices. Did we mention they do it all free of charge?
You should learn more about what you’re doing
Would you start tearing parts out of your car before you learn how an engine works? Would you hire a chef who’s highlight cooking achievement is making Mac’n’Cheese right “most of the time”? No, of course you wouldn’t. Under that same line of logic, you shouldn’t go rooting your device without knowing what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. It’s not like putting decals on your rice burner just to be cool. You’re gaining access to sensitive parts of your device where, if you’re not careful, you can really mess things up.
So this software gets you root. Do you know how it gets you root? If you’re running a potentially risky exploit to root your phone, you should probably know what that exploit is. It could help you troubleshoot if a problem arises. Now, this may sound hypocritical because most popular devices these days actually have one click roots (that are free, by the way) where they don’t necessarily explain the exploit.
The difference is that these are posted in forum threads where you can simply post and ask what they did. Most developers have no problem explaining what they did. In fact, the only time you’ll see a dev hide their methods is when they don’t want their methods to be patched. In many cases, these one-click methods and tool kits are open source, so you can go read the source code and see exactly what they did for yourself. More importantly, if you have trouble, you can post in the thread that you had trouble and someone will usually point you in the right direction. They may not be overly nice about it all the time, but usually they help get the problem solved. The point is that if you’re going to force your way into the secure and sensitive parts of your device’s file system, you should know a little more about what you’re doing and you should probably know where it came from so you know where to go to get real help.
Summary
It may sound like we’re being overly harsh here, but we assure you we’re not. This website is making you pay for stuff you can find for free. They’re most likely using root methods that were developed by someone else and were intended for free use. They’re hiding everything they’re doing behind a pretty user interface so you really have no idea what they’re doing to your device. Worst of all, they’re claiming their service can do things that it cannot do. When it’s all added up, it equals a disaster for your Android device. It’s essentially like being put under by a doctor for surgery and when you’re about to pass out, you see him pop the “how to perform surgery” video into his DVD player.
If our logic just isn’t hitting that nerve, check out what their customers actually have to say. Devices not being rooted, 30-day money back guarantees not being honored, and all sorts of other seedy behavior are being reported. So if you are thinking of using this, or know someone who is thinking about using this service, our best advice is to not use this service. Nothing good can come of it. So get the word out and let’s help keep people from being ripped off!
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Resolve App for LighthouseApp lets you track your software support issues on the go
0
Resolve App by Dragon Forged Software is an iPhone front-end for the popular bug-tracking service LighthouseApp. As such, it requires that you have a LighthouseApp account in order to use it, but once you do, it gives you quick. convenient access to all your issues, right on your iPhone.
Resolve App includes real-time push notifications for ticket updates, ticket attachments via iCloud, custom ticket states, ticket and milestone project sorting, tag, milestone, and priority editing, and more. It supposed multiple projects, and you can view open, closed, invalid, and hold tickets, and all open and archived projects. There’s even a built in browser and support for Markdown.
I bought it and played around with it a little using a demo account they were kind enough to provide me. I’m not a developer, so I lack sufficient foundation to judge the merits of LighthouseApp, but developers and designers I know have spoken highly of it. Resolve App does a good job of taking what looks to be a fairly dense, dynamic, and serious information set and making it usable on mobile.
If you’re a LighthouseApp users and you want to take your support tickets with you on the go, give Resolve App a look and let me know what you think.
- .99 – Download now
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Resolve App for LighthouseApp lets you track your software support issues on the go
Tags: custom-ticket, dragon-forged, iphone, lack-sufficient, lighthouse, popular, support, support-tickets
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Verizon announces new software update for the Pantech Marauder
064 days
by J
Verizon has officially announced a new Pantech Marauder software update and, although it does bring a few new features, it is not an Android version update.
The update, bearing code name S910LVWD211F.D1 (very easy to remember, I know,) brings a list of new features including Google Chrome to the LTE Ice Cream Sandwich device that Verizon announced in August 2012.
Other new features are Verizon Remote Diagnostics, a combined inbox which allows you to manage multiple email accounts (email also has conversation view now,) as well as the fact that you can now encrypt data on the SD card. Some other small updates have been made to the UI, weather widget and BackUp Assistant.
The update is available over-the-air (OTA) and Verizon has made available a handy guide for installing it (see Source link below).
Curiously though, a user on Android Forums claims to have spoken to a Verizon technician that says the update should not be installed, as it can brick the phone. I would imagine Verizon would have taken off the notice, should that be true.
How about you? Have you ever had an update cause bigger problems than the ones it solved?
The post Verizon announces new software update for the Pantech Marauder appeared first on Android Authority.
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Samsung Galaxy S4: here are all the new TouchWiz and software features
069 days
by J
The Samsung Unpacked event for the Samsung Galaxy S4 has come and gone and we’re left to decipher all the things that the Galaxy S4 will be. They didn’t spend a lot of time talking about the hardware, sadly, but they did spend a great deal of time outlining a plethora of new software and TouchWiz features that people will be able to enjoy with the new Galaxy S4. Read on below to see what Samsung has in store for their customers for the next year.
Galaxy S4 Dual Camera (for video and chat)
The first bomb Samsung dropped on the Unpacked event was the Dual Camera feature. At first we thought Samsung had lost their minds and put a second camera on the Galaxy S4. Thankfully, they didn’t pull an EVO 3D. Dual Camera refers to the camera app’s ability to use both the back and front facing cameras when doing a multitude of tasks. First, you can use the Dual Camera to take video. You use the 13MP back camera to shoot whatever you wish while the front-facing camera records a video of you. So if you’re at your kid’s baseball game and you’re taking a video, you can video both your kid and you at the same time. For a lot of people this is going to be a really awesome feature. For many more, it won’t be.
Dual Camera on the Galaxy S4 can also be used during chats. You can use the front-facing camera to record your face and then use the 13MP back shooter to record what you’re looking at. This is a much more useful and cool use of the feature. With this, people will be able to chat with you face to face and if you want to show them something you’re looking at, use Dual Cameras and they will be able to see it too.
Of course, since the feature is there, Samsung included Dual Camera in photos too. The Galaxy S4 can take a dual picture of whatever you want to take a picture of, and you. This would be cool, but it’s hard to imagine anyone using this feature unless it was high school girls taking selfies while they took photos of other random stuff. Prepare yourselves, the dual food and duck face pictures are coming.
Galaxy S4 Shot & Sound
In an effort to recreate every horror movie ever made, Samsung has included a new feature in the Galaxy S4 called Shot & Sound. Ostensibly, this feature is used to take a picture of something and then add a short verbal missive to kind of explain it. So you can take a picture of a sunset and make a comment about how beautiful sunsets are. Then you can send it to people who can see the picture and hear your voice. While it’s cool, it’s not particularly useful. We could imagine a bunch of people making their most terrifying face and adding a verbal message asking their friends if they’d like to play a game.
Galaxy S4 S Translate
This was the first truly impressive feature we saw during the Unpacked event. S Translate will translate people speaking in more than a dozen languages instantly. This is actually a highly useful feature. If you’re asking for directions in a country where you don’t speak the language, there is no problem. You choose the language and speak into the Galaxy S4. It will translate what you say into any language you select and spout it back out to whoever you need help from. They can respond and S Translate will turn their words into text that you can read. Awesome.
Additionally, this functionality has been built into a number of apps, including the Samsung messaging app and the email app. So if you get an email in Japanese, it can be translated to English within the app itself. Essentially, there is no more worrying about having to copy and paste everything into Google Translate.
Galaxy S4 Smart Pause and Smart Scroll
We mention these together since they are an extension of last year’s feature called Smart Stay. Smart Stay used the front-facing camera to track your eye movement so it would know to leave the screen on while you were looking at it. Smart Pause and Smart Scroll use this same technology to allow you to control other parts of your phone.
For Smart Pause, the phone will automatically pause and start video based on whether you’re looking at the screen. So if you’re watching a movie and you look at something else, the video will pause automatically so you don’t miss anything. When you look back, the video will start once again. Smart Scroll essentially senses when you need to scroll somewhere and does it automatically.
Galaxy S4 Air Gesture
If you owned the Galaxy Note 2, you’re already somewhat familiar with this feature. With the Note 2, you could over your S Pen above a screen and interact with things without touching the screen. Air Gesture increases this functionality to include your fingers as well as an S Pen. It’s really simple and straight forward. You can interact with things on your phone without actually touching your phone. Rather, you can simply hover over things to interact with them. Nothing people with S Pens haven’t seen before, but still nifty if you’re into that sort of thing.
Galaxy S4 Samsung Knox
Samsung Knox is not a new feature but Samsung has confirmed that it will be on the Galaxy S4. Knox is a pretty awesome application, so it’s worth discussing again. What Knox does is breaks up your phone into 2 halves. The first half can be used for business and be controlled by people like your IT department at work. The other half is controlled by you.
What’s really cool is that neither of these sides can interact. Your IT department can’t interact with the personal half and your personal half can’t interact with the business half. So businesses can invest in the Galaxy S4 and give them to their employees. The employees can make part of the phone untouchable to the business. Everyone wins. This feature is only available on SAFE (Samsung For Enterprise) enabled devices, which include the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. The Galaxy S4 joins that list.
Galaxy S4 Story Album
Jumping back to camera functionality for a minute, the Galaxy S4 now has a smart photo album maker. Called Story Album, it creates albums based on when and where pictures were taken. So if you’re at a get together and you snap 25 pictures while you’re there, Story Album will group those all together for you. This is actually a moderately useful feature for people who love to take a bunch of pictures with their smartphones. Did you take 100 pictures while you were on vacation? Story Album will help you keep them sorted and help you upload them to wherever they need to go. For those who aren’t photo bugs, this feature will likely go unused.
Galaxy S4 S Voice Drive
Well Samsung thankfully put S Voice down as a main assistant app for TouchWiz devices. Thank you, Samsung! However, they didn’t kill S Voice off entirely. It returns in a driving mode app that is pretty much a beefed up version of every other drive mode app. S Voice will now read your texts while you drive, make phone calls, search for music, open navigation apps, and do all the other things people do with their smartphones while they’re driving. It can pair with your car’s Bluetooth if your car has Bluetooth so you can use the speakers to hear the stuff the phone is telling you. As a safety feature, it’s actually not half bad.
Galaxy S4 S Health
Samsung apparently cares more about your health than its letting on since S Health will be released with the Galaxy S4. Essentially, S Health is a calorie counter application that monitors things like your calorie intake and how many calories you burn during the day. As if people needed yet another way to micromanage their health.
However, some features of it are pretty nice. It can keep track of your calories (both burned and taken in) over a period of time. You can also get accessories to use with S Health to measure your heart rate, blood pressure, and other vitals. Like calories, all these stats can be logged for future reference. So if you’re really into keeping track of your health, S Health may be a cool feature.
Galaxy S4 Drama Shot
Another camera feature? You betcha, and this one is just a fancy name for one we’ve all seen before. Better known as burst shot, Drama Shot allows your Galaxy S4 to take up to 100 pictures in just a few seconds. The only defining difference between this and burst shot is that with Drama Shot, the S4 will create a collage of the pictures you took to create a single, epic picture. A Drama Shot, if you will. I apologize for that awful pun.
Galaxy S4 Adaptive Display
This is another one of the features of the Galaxy S4 that we actually kind of liked. This one is not a difficult feature to implement or explain. Simply put, the screen changes things like contrast and brightness depending on what you’re doing. So if you’re watching a movie, it’ll switch to cinema mode. If you’re reading an email or an eBook, it’ll switch to that mode automatically. This can be a savior for people with sensitive eyes and generally useful for people who like a little more out of their screen when doing things like watching movies.
Galaxy S4 Eraser
We promise that this is the last camera feature. We also saved the best for last because Eraser is actually kind of awesome. Say you’re taking a picture and someone walks through your shot. Erase actually takes a few pictures at once, analyzes the data, and removes pretty much anything that isn’t the subject or the background from the picture entirely. It’s much cooler to see it in practice than it is to explain with words. However, the premise is pretty clear. If there is something in your picture that shouldn’t be there, Eraser can help you get rid of it without having to re-shoot any pictures.
Galaxy S4 HomeSync and Smart Switch
We’re including these together because they both involve outside pieces of hardware. HomeSync uses a separate piece of hardware, also called the HomeSync, to sync your phone with your TV. This may sound a little lame at first but the scope is much greater. You can sync your phone to your TV from anywhere. This will be mostly useful for families but pretty much anyone could enjoy something like this. The hardware comes with 1TB of space that can be divided among 8 users if need be. Then each user can take photos or video and sync with HomeSync and anyone at home can see what’s going on.
Smart Switch also requires some additional hardware, but this time it’s your computer. This is really only useful for people coming from other devices. You can plug your phone into your computer and make a full backup of all the info. Then you simply plug in your Galaxy S4 and Smart Switch will transfer everything. As stated, most people will only use this once to get info off their old phone. What will be interesting will be if the Samsung Galaxy S4 itself can be backed up. If apps, contacts, etc can all be backed up at once, this could actually be a handy tool for root users too. Right now, that’s strictly conjecture.
Galaxy S4 Media Hub and ChatON updates
Most of this list consists of new features by Samsung for the Galaxy S4, but some old friends have gotten revamped and re-introduced. ChatOn has been updated and will now support voice chatting. Ostensibly, this will work with the Dual Camera feature so people using ChatON can see both the front and rear camera feeds if someone is using dual camera. Media Hub has also received an update bringing some improvements, although Samsung didn’t talk about it all that much. It pretty much does the same stuff it always has, just better.
Galaxy S4 Group Play
We put this feature last because it is, by far, our favorite. Group Play allows users to play the same media on up to 8 devices at once. This can be pretty cool if you want to share a song with everyone in the house or something like that, but the best is yet to come. You can connect 6 devices and create a 5.1 surround sound system. Just set up devices in appropriate spots and play the song. This also includes support for multiplayer games so you can play games across devices just like you can share media. How awesome is that?
Galaxy S4 new Touchwiz and software features wrap up
There was a lot to love about the Galaxy S4, but there was a lot that wasn’t very impressive also. Many blogs around the Internet are calling the Galaxy S4 and between-er device and we can see their argument. Most of these new features could’ve worked well within the confines of the the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 hardware. However, they’re here, they’re on the Galaxy S4 and while the event as a whole was mildly disappointing, some of these features are genuinely useful and fun.
We’d love to hear from you. What did you think of Samsung’s new features for the Galaxy S4? Does it make the S4 worth grabbing up if you already have the S3 or the Note 2?
The post Samsung Galaxy S4: here are all the new TouchWiz and software features appeared first on Android Authority.
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Samsung Galaxy S4 – all you need to know: hardware, software, accessories and availability
069 days
by J
Samsung on Thursday announced the Galaxy S4 and we’ll tell you everything there is to know about the device, leaving the theatrics at the door – that’s right, Samsung, that Galaxy S4 introduction was definitely strange.
What’s important is that the Galaxy S4 is here, and ready to launch in 155 countries at the end of April. In what follows we’re going to tell you everything there is to know about the device, from specs to new software features to launch details and pricing.
From the get-go it’s important to notice that while the Galaxy S4 has some interesting hardware under the hood, Samsung actually focused more on the new software features that will be found on top of the Google’s Jelly Bean – and yes, we can say that this time around we had a pretty good idea of what the Galaxy S4 would offer both in terms of specs but also new features.
Hardware
We’ll certainly get to review the screen performance, the battery life, the processor’s efficiency in great detail in the future. Meanwhile we’re just going to list the full specs for the handset, reminding you once again that the leaks were almost right on the money:
Specification |
Samsung Galaxy S4 |
| Operating System | Android 4.2 Jelly Bean TouchWiz Nature UI |
| Size | 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm |
| Weight | 130g |
| Display type | Super AMOLED |
| Display size | 4.99-inch (12.67cm) |
| Display resolution | 1920 x 1080 Full HD |
| Display density | 441ppi |
| CPU | International version
US version
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| GPU | International version
US Version
|
| RAM | 2GB |
| Internal Storage | 16GB/32GB/64GB |
| MicroSD card slot | microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC up to 64 GB |
| Main camera | 13MP |
| Front camera | 2MP |
| Battery | 9.88Wh |
| Networks | GSM, HSPA, LTEMicro-SIM |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-bandWi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot |
| Connectivity | microUSB, MHL 2, USB host, DLNAInfrared blaster |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 with A2DP |
| GPS | A-GPS, GLONASS |
Software
Yes, the Galaxy S4 will run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean right out of the box with TouchWiz on top, but Samsung is packing a lot of other features of its own inside the phone. Here’s they are, briefly explained:
- Dual Camera: the person taking the picture or recording a video can also be placed in either of them. It also works during video calls.
- Sound & Shot: record audio while taking pictures and pair the resulting files
- Drama Shot: take 100 shots in a few seconds and automatically create a collage of images
- Eraser: take multiple shots to erase background elements that shouldn’t appear in the final photo
- Air View: preview an image just by hovering a finger on top of it, without actually touching the screen
- Story Album: create photo albums on the phone, and even send them in physical form (-30 for 10-page album)
- Adapt Display: the screen automatically adapts based on viewing conditions and the actual content to offer a better performance
- Air Gesture: control the phone without actually touching it
- Smart Scroll: slightly tilt the device to scroll through pages
- Smart Pause: pause playback when looking away from the screen
- S Translator: translate between nine supported languages (English US, English UK, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian). The feature includes voice-to-text and text-to-voice support, and it’s able to perform translations of image contents. It works both offline and online.
- S Health: manage your fitness exercises by pairing the smartphone with additional accessories including the S band, Body Scale or a heart-rate monitor.
- Samsung Knox: use the smartphone as an enterprise solution and balance work and personal features in a two-phones-in-one style. The feature will be available on other Samsung smartphones.
- Samsung HomeSync: automatically sync files between devices
- S Voice Drive: interact with the phone via Bluetooth while driving
- Smart Switch: backup Galaxy S4 data on computers. Support for moving between any smartphone to the Galaxy S4 is included.
- Samsung Hub: magazine interface for buying content
- Group Play: simultaneously play the same track on up to eight devices, and even create a 5.1 surround system. Support for multiplayer games is also included
- ChatON: new app version supports video chat with up to three people and can be combined with Dual Camera
- IR Sensor: control your TV with the smartphone
- Temperature and humidity sensors
Accessories
In addition to the S band S Health accessory we mentioned earlier you should know that the Galaxy S4 will have a variety of other accessories including cases and covers. You can expect Flip Covers in a variety of colors, but also a new S View Cover that has an opening which will let you see the screen and control the phone even while it’s mostly covered by the rest of the case.
Also worth mentioning is that the Galaxy S4 will work with gloves on, without requiring any special gloves to let you control the display in winter.
Availability
As we have already told you, the Galaxy S4 should hit a variety of markets in late April. The handset will ship in 155 countries, from 327 carriers, but Samsung was not willing to actually reveal any exact launch dates.
Furthermore, the phone doesn’t have an official price yet, but we can tell you it will ship in three capacity versions (16GB/32GB/64GB) and two color options (black and white) initially.
We’ll be back with more details about the Galaxy S4’s launch once we have release dates for various markets.
The post Samsung Galaxy S4 – all you need to know: hardware, software, accessories and availability appeared first on Android Authority.
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Verizon: Galaxy Nexus to receive a software update soon
083 days
by J
Back in November, we wondered out loud about why Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus was still stuck on Android 4.1.1, even though the GSM variant was already sporting Android 4.2.1. Four months on, not only has the Galaxy Nexus reached its end-of-life status on Big Red, but the once flagship device is still stuck on the same version of Jelly Bean.
Given Verizon’s track record, it’s best not to get too excited about the following news, but it looks like Galaxy Nexus owners is about to receive a bundle of surprise.
ianxcom1 Good question! Samsung will push the update directly to your device over the air. Sorry, no release date. But, it will be soon.^LH
— VZW Support (@VZWSupport) February 28, 2013
Answering a question from an irate customer on the company’s Twitter page, one Verizon rep said that the OTA software update will be pushed to the device by none other than Samsung. Funnily enough, Samsung said that they have no information regarding the update.
If the Samsung part isn’t weird enough, notice that the rep didn’t specify whether it’s going to be Android 4.1.2 or something newer instead — the latter is preferred, of course. Plus, it’s never encouraging when reps start to throw around the word “soon”. Here’s hoping that Verizon will take the time to further clarify the Twitter post.
Still hoping for a happy ending?
The post Verizon: Galaxy Nexus to receive a software update soon appeared first on Android Authority.
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EFF proposes adding working code to software patent applications
095 days
by J
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is calling for a change in the software patent system, requiring any submission to come with working code. This simple yet elegant proposal will help thwart patent trolls who, in the current state of the system, are able to secure their intellectual properties with mere broad or vague definitions. These exploiters later use them to take advantage of legal loopholes in order to squeeze out money from unknowing parties under the pretense of licensing.
By requiring to include working code, anyone who gets a patent will then be restricted to the invention they claimed. This means that functional claiming, a characteristic tactic in software patent trolling to assert one’s right to a function of their program instead of just how it was particularly done, will no longer be applicable. In other words, they can only lay claim to the particular solution they proposed, instead of all possible approaches–including broad and vague methods–to a problem.
Requiring applicants to attach running software code, or at least comprehensive, line-by-line notations, to their patents is part of the EFF’s Defend Innovation project to foster new ideas and inventions through the patent system instead of actually impeding it. Other proposals in the reform project include shortening patent terms, shifting legal fees towards patent trolls and away from innocent parties, and assessing the software patent’s value to the economy.
If the Patent Office and lawmakers do listen to the EFF’s recommendations, then this might be a good sign that software patent trolling days are numbered.
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Verizon’s HTC Droid DNA To Get Software Update To Version 2.04.605.2 710RD
0100 days
by J
Verizon’s latest edition to their Droid line is set to receive an over the air update in the very near future. Don’t get your hopes up for Android 4.2.1 or even Android 4.1.2. However, the update includes many important bug fixes and functionality improvements. The DNA’s software update comes in at a whopping 103.5MB. After you update, your DNA will run software version 2.04.605.2 710RD and baseband version 1.01.01.0110.
Here’s the official changelog:
- User can load videos on HuluPlus
- Improvements to Hotspot connectivity have been made
- Improvements to Audio Quality for wired headsets and earpieces have been made
- Bluetooth connectivity and volume level for specific models have been improved
- Enhanced reliability and stability of the Contacts List have been made
- Wi-Fi Connectivity has been improved
- Improvements to default browser for zooming capability have been made
- Incoming messages display with the correct timestamp
- Enhanced Recent Apps functionality has been improved
As an HTC Droid DNA owner, I’m happy to see the Hotspot connectivity improvements, Recent Apps functionality improvements and the mentioned audio fixes. All of these have been quite annoying. Here’s to a less buggy phone, DNA owners. Now, when are we going to get this Sense 5.0 that’s rumored to be announced with the HTC One, next week?
