android
Sony Tablet S Gets Official Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Like all most Honeycomb-tablet owners, all Sony Tablet S owners have been waiting on tenterhooks for an announcement as to when their beloved tablet will be getting a succulent bit of the Ice Cream Sandwich OS. While there have been plenty of unofficial ROMS out there for you to dabble with, Sony has now pushed out an official update for the tablets with exactly what you have been waiting for. And mind you, it comes with many new features. Firstly is the native screenshot capability which only could be achieved via rooting previously. Now, with just a press of the power and volume down button, a screenshot can be captured.
Secondly, is that the update brings direct access to the SD card, besides those, is a cornucopia of new features like an enhanced web browser that includes offline viewing, a new panoramic camera mode, enhanced gallery media viewer with photo editing tools, an enhanced lock screen with included notifications with the ability to unlock directly into a camera app. On the home screen, users can now create folders for apps by simply dragging them together and the folders can even be renamed however you would like it to be; a true testament to the so-called customizability of Android.
They’ve even added this exclusive “small apps” that can run over other apps simultaneously to enhance the multi-tasking on this tablet. That latest feature gives a desktop-ish experience to the Sony Tablet S. The update can be downloaded over-the-air (OTA) and the next time your tablet connects to a Wi-Fi connection it will prompt you with a few simple instructions and after just a few minutes, you will be able to taste the sweet and succulent flavors Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has to offer.
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?