Google begins Android 4.1 Jelly Bean rollout

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds, Software,

Google's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean mobile operating system was officially unveiled at Google I/O 2012 just a couple of weeks ago, and it looks pretty fantastic. If you've been hoping to get your hands on it and your the owner of a Samsung Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ smartphone, it's time for you to rejoice--the Jelly Bean rollout has begun for you! Do note that this refers to Galaxy Nexus devices that run on AT&T and T-Mobile networks. Owners of the Verizon Wireless Galaxy Nexus will have to wait a bit longer. The Nexus 7 tablet, Nexus S, and Motorola Xoom are next on the list to receive Android 4.1 goodness.

Anyone start playing with Jelly Bean yet? Feel free to sound off in the comments.

Twitter 4.3 for iOS and Android brings expanded tweets and more

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Social Networking, App Updates, Free Apps,

Today Twitter for iPhone 4.3 was released on the App Store, a major update to the official Twitter client that brings with it the ability to view enhanced and expended tweets right in the app. Here's a rundown of the features:

• Expanded Tweets -- when you view Tweet details containing links to partner websites, you can now see content previews, view images, play videos, and more (rolling out gradually)
• Enhanced experience around selected events with the bets Tweets and photos from those involved
• Push notifications for Tweets -- choose to receive notifications from people you follow any time they tweet or retweet
• Ambient notifications -- enables you to see brief non-interruptive notifications in the status bar while you're using the app
• Improvements to search autocomplete for users
• Discover -- now indicates when new stories are available for you to view
• Tappable avatars take you directly to user profiles
• Performance improvements
• Support for password entry in app when experiencing authentication issues
• Support for the Hungarian language
• Icon (image at right) features the new Twitter bird!

You can download the new Twitter for iPhone and iPad now, completely free.

Apple set to bring back horizontal iPod nano design with iOS-style home button?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Design, Portable Audio / Video, Rumors,

Macotakara is reporting that Apple is set to redesign is iPod nano line, getting rid of the small clip form factor in favor of a more traditional horizontal design. The next iPod nano will purportedly also be about 1/4 shorter than the previous horizontal design, and will also feature a home button, similar to what's found on iOS devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

Read More | Macotakara

How my Chevy Volt almost got me seriously injured (or killed)

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Product Reviews, Transportation,

Update 1: We're trying to deal with Chevy to get resolution that both us and the dealer believes to be the best option. GM would rather us forget about everything, it seems.

We've been keeping tabs on the Chevy Volt ever since the electric vehicle was unveiled in September 2008. We covered the 230 MPG announcement, and were on-hand for the introduction of the OnStar Mobile Integration announcement which showed how you would be able to send commands from your smartphone directly to your Volt (and other OnStar-equipped vehicles) remotely. While there were other pure EVs out there, the maximum range would leave some stranded without any other option but getting towed while the Volt had a gas tank that could run a generator to continue creating electric power even when the pure electric battery ran out. The Volt, in our minds, was the car of the near-future. Until EV range is bumped high enough to never cause charge anxiety, Chevy's flagship EV provided the best trade-off. So we leased one. That's where things started to go very wrong.

Click to continue reading How my Chevy Volt almost got me seriously injured (or killed)

Dropbox Pro storage space doubled, new 500GB tier added

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Storage,

Dropbox, the cloud storage darling of the Internet, has just announced that it's doubling the storage on Dropbox Pro accounts. That means that from here on out, for $10 per month (or $100 per year) you get 100 GB of storage, while $20 per month (or $200 per year) gets you 200 GB. The company is also adding a new 500 GB option as well, but pricing on that one will be revealed later this evening. Of course, you can still get yourself a completely free Dropbox account with less storage.

Read More | Dropbox via The Next Web

Samsung Galaxy S III review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Features, Google, Handhelds, Product Reviews,

The Samsung Galaxy S III is more than just another Android device launch. Arguably, this is the first phone of 2012 that has the right mix of hardware and software that make it a worthy upgrade from any other device. For Samsung, it's the new company flagship device for the year, much more so than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (which is a fantastic phone in its own right.)

This is the device that Samsung has always wanted to make. Based on the latest publicly-available version of Android, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (yeah, we know 4.1 Jelly Bean is right around the corner,) Samsung has built its own custom Android apps to run on the device to bring exlusive features to its handset. We're talking about S Voice, S Beam, S Memo, Direct Call, Smart Stay, and more. Purchasers in the US and Canada even get 50 GB of Dropbox storage for free (Verizon and AT&T buyers not included, sadly.)

That's a lot to take in, and ultimately the question is, does the Galaxy S III live up to the hype? Join us in our full Samsung Galaxy S III review as we answer that very question.

Click to continue reading Samsung Galaxy S III review

Apple releases OS X Mountain Lion Golden Master to devs

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, PC / Laptop, Software,

Mac OS X devs, listen up! Apple has just seeded the Mountain Lion Golden Master, and you can grab it right now. The GM status denotes that this is the final version of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion that will be distributed publicly later this month, barring any debilitating bugs. The build number is 12A269, while the latest Developer Preview update was 12A256. Mountain Lion will sell for $19.99 on the Mac App Store later this month.

Next Amazon Kindle Fire to get 1280 x 800 display

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Rumors,

Amazon is readying the successor to the Kindle Fire tablet, and AllThingsD is reporting that the device will have a nice, crisp, high-resolution display when it arrives. The display resolution will purportedly be boosted to 1280 x 800. This is the same display resolution (and possibly even the same panels) you'll find in the Google Nexus 7 tablet as well. Interestingly, this means that the Kindle Fire aspect ratio will change, as the current model has a 1.71 ratio while a 1280 x 800 display is 1.60.

Read More | AllThingsD

Weekend Reading: Spider-Man, Cyberforce, and Norm Breyfogle

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Image Comics,

This is the week where the comics industry slows down for a couple of days as everyone saves their big news for Comic Con International in San Diego. That gets going on Wednesday evening - Preview Night - and you can expect the announcements to start flying faster than anyone can cut and paste a press release, and everyone's abuzz with their favorite version of the four Spider-Man movies.

For now, though, the internets still have some things to read:

A weather-battered Beau Smith looks at Spider-Man.

Longbox Graveyard also has a look at Spider-Man, of the Steve Ditko era.

Hero Complex reports the return of Marc Silvestri’s Cyberforce, with the words “Kickstarter” and “free” as part of the launch equation.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Spider-Man, Cyberforce, and Norm Breyfogle

Pink Nokia Lumia 900 hits AT&T stores July 15th

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Design, Microsoft,

Today Nokia revealed the pink Lumia 900 Windows Phone device. Set to launch on July 15th, it'll cost $99 with two-year contract like the white, black, and cyan hues of the device. This one is an AT&T exclusive for the time being, so if you're interested, mosey on over to your nearest AT&T store this Sunday to grab one. Remember, these won't be upgradable to Windows Phone 8, but Windows Phone 7.8 will provide many of the visual features that 8 will bring anyway.

Be sure to check out our full Nokia Lumia 900 review and unboxing gallery.