Android 4.2 OTA update and factory image live for ‘yakju’ Galaxy Nexus

With the Takju variant of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus received Android 4.2 last week, it’s now the Yakju’s turn. To be specific, this 4.2 update is for the international version of the Galaxy Nexus not purchased in the Play Store and you should be running build JZO54K as a prerequisite before updating. Along with the 4.2 update, Google was also nice enough to provide the factory images to go along with the update. The OTA should be hitting applicable devices soon, or you could always try to fetch the update yourself via setting/about phone.

source:  Google Devs

Get a Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Victory 4G LTE for free from Sprint on Black Friday

As we gear up for a busy holiday shopping season, there’s nothing better than finding out what deals will be available ahead of time. Come Black Friday, Sprint will be offering a trio of steals, including a Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE for free with a new two year contract. These two devices will be available throughout the weekend, so you won’t have to camp out overnight on a full stomach.

Like we heard previously, subscribers will be able to pick up a Samsung Galaxy S III for just $50 when signing up for a new commitment, though you’ll need to show up bright and early on Friday to get your hands on one.

Source: Phandroid

Google Voice Update fixes Android 4.2 compatibility issues

Google certainly does work fast as it was just yesterday we reported the issues with Google Voice on Android 4.2 and today, Google releases an update that makes it all better. If you are lucky enough to have the LG Nexus 4 or a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.2, you may have noticed that whenever you add recipients to a Google Voice message the app would crash. The latest update brings Google Voice to version 0.4.2.66 and helps to alleviate most, if not all of known issue for Android users on 4.2.

So if you haven’t downloaded the update yet, hit the break to get a link to the Google Play Store or by scanning the QR code below.

Play Store Download Link

Samsung Galaxy Nexus injunction reversed by appeals court

Do you remember all the patches and workarounds that Samsung and Google had to push out to consumers last summer to remove unified search from Android devices, specifically the Samsung Galaxy Nexus? That work was due to an injunction awarded by Judge Lucy Koh to halt sales of the Galaxy Nexus which was the subject of a patent lawsuit Apple filed against Samsung. In granting the injunction halting sales, Koh determined Apple could suffer irreparable damage and loss of market share unless sales of the Galaxy Nexus were halted as long as they included a universal search function.

Reuters is now reporting that an appeals court has repealed that injunction. In their appeal, Samsung had argued that sales of the Galaxy Nexus would not harm Apple. It appears the appellate court agreed with that position and may have even gone a bit further in assessing Apple’s claims. According to the court’s document issued today, Apple failed to present evidence that tied sales of the Galaxy Nexus to this feature. The court also determined that there is no dispute that the Galaxy Nexus does not have a feature equivalent to Siri, which was a major part of the ’604 patent at issue as well as a selling point for Apple’s products, but not the Galaxy Nexus. Going even further, today’s decision indicates Apple must show people buy the Galaxy Nexus due to the presence of the claims included in the ’604 patent, which is more than just search in general or even unified search, if they want to eventually prevail.

In a bit of strong wording, the court also indicated that the district court had “abused its discretion” in issuing the preliminary injunction. The issue now goes back to the district court for reconsideration.

source: The Verge

Open webOS Galaxy Nexus source code now available

I wasn’t always the Android fanatic that I am today, I originally started as a strong supporter of webOS. When webOS died about a year ago, I was a little sad to see the card based OS go. Now it seems that webOS has found a comfortable home as an open source community project. Now this project was only recently released for the community to tear at, but already it’s found its way to Google’s flagship Android phone; the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. What was the perfect Android development device has now taken another step into a whole new world.

Only a few days after the port was released, the source code has now been released as well. Now it seems that the flagship of the Android world will now be the flagship for Palm’s forgotten OS as well. I personally am really excited to see what the super talented Android community can do with this new development platform. It may even help spawn some new ideas for Android development as well. A small part of me is happy to see the Android community take their open source brother under their wing.

Source: XDA-Developers

Sprint rolling out Jelly Bean update for Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S 4G starting September 6th

Sprint customers who own Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Nexus S 4G devices will be happy to know they are about to receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Sources have confirmed Sprint plans to rollout the update for the devices starting September 6th. According to Sprint’s internal information, Galaxy Nexus devices will receive update FH05 while Nexus S 4G owners will receive update JRO03R. It appears the updates will be “clean” versions of Jelly Bean with no overlays or OEM changes. The updates will be initiated by Google; users will not be able to download and install on their own.

source: Android Central

Samsung engaged in “beat-Apple” strategy by copying iPhone Apple claims in court hearing

Last week all eyes were focused on a courtroom in California where Apple and Samsung were engaged in a litigation battle. That was only one front in the war between the two smartphone manufacturing giants. Across the country, in an appellate courtroom for the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, Apple and Samsung engaged each other to start this week in yet another Apple v Samsung case.

This particular hearing was the result of Samsung’s appeal of an order from Judge Lucy Koh to ban the sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phones until the patent infringement trial takes place in March 2014. Samsung is trying to get the ban overturned, to get Judge Koh’s finding that Apple is likely to prevail overturned, and they are challenging the validity of the patent in question. On that point, the patent is the one that involves the ability of Google search to return “hits” for items both on the device and on the Internet – a unified search result.

Two of the key issues argued during the hearing were whether Apple has to prove it lost market share and whether the protected feature is one that drives sales of the device. Samsung contends both of these points needed to be proven by Apple to justify a pre-trial ban. To counter Apple, Samsung offered up sales numbers for both the iPhone and the Galaxy Nexus, showing the Nexus commands maybe 0.5% of the market while Apple controls about 33% of the market.

In addition to the arguments surrounding market share, Samsung also argued that people change smartphones due to the overall experience provided by either iOS or Android, not the specific function of the search utility. They also made their argument about the problem with invalidating device sales based on a single patent connecting to a single feature on a device which is comprised of thousands of “technological marvels” and how this could potentially halt the sale of all devices.

For their part, Apple made the argument that Samsung was engaged in a “beat-Apple” strategy that included copying key features. Apple’s attorney also argued the comprehensive results were a key factor in consumers choosing an iPhone.

The three-judge panel expressed some frustration with both parties and the rhetoric present in various court filings. They did not indicate when they might issue their ruling.

source: Bloomberg

Play your Android games in style; Check out this homemade PS3 controller Samsung Galaxy Nexus dock

Lets face it, gaming on an Android device (no matter how big the screen is) can be quite challenging, especially if you’re playing first-person-shooters or even games from an emulator. Wouldn’t it be a dream to use a console’s controller to play these games with, perhaps a PlayStation 3 controller? A Reddit user by the name of TheRealBigLou has done just that by creating his own homemade PS3 controller dock for his Samsung Galaxy Nexus where he’s able to play his Android games with the wonderful controls of a PS3 controller. You may think this feat took some complicated contraptions to make, but it actually only took a couple of Boston clips, some rubber bands, an NFC sticker and a creative mind to achieve this amazing creation.

TheRealBigLou was also kind enough to give a description of how he made this:

So I had a Galaxy Nexus and a Dualshock 3 controller… this was great for playing games but I always had a problem of propping my phone up and being close enough to see what was going on. I decided to create a dock and in true ghetto fashion, I used random office supplies I had lying around.

Essentially, I took 3 Boston clips and 4 rubber bands and fit them together so that the arms of one clip hold the phone while the arms of another held onto the Dualshock 3. I bent the arms with pliers to create better gripping strength. I originally used normal rubber bands but switched to the black hair rubber bands you see in the pictures. This was for both aesthetics but also because they are stronger and hold more tension for their size.

A smaller Boston clip wedges between two larger ones to keep them spread apart but also to make the structure more rigid. One rubber band provides tension for the arms holding the phone, another provides tension to clip to the controller, a third one hold these arms to the smaller clip, and the last one holds the clip part of the big Boston clips together.

I also added heat-shrink tubing to the arms that hold the phone. I ran out but plan to do the same for the arms that clip onto the controller. This just helps it grip better but also protects the devices. An NFC sticker is added to automatically set up the Sixaxis app.

Definitely quite innovative, don’t you think? I for one could use this and would make it much easier and more enjoyable to play your games. Any of our readers out there willing to give this “DIY” project a go? If so, comment away and send us your pics if you were able to successfully duplicate this!

source: Reddit

Sprint Offering Free ZTE Optik Tablet With Purchase of Any Smartphone From Aug 12 To Sep 30

Owning both a smartphone and tablet is certainly a luxury, sometimes one is hard to attain for someone, much less both. According to sources from Techno Buffalo, Sprint is trying to make that easy for you by offering a free ZTE Optik tablet if you purchase any smartphone along with a 2 year agreement from August 12th through September 30th.

If you’re not familiar with the ZTE Optik, here’s a quick rundown on its specs:

• 7-inch WXGA display (1280 x 800 resolution)
• 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor
• 16GB of internal memory
• 1GB of RAM
• 4,000 mAh battery
• 5-megapixel rear-facing camera
• 2-megapixel front-facing camera
• Android 3.2 Honeycomb

Remember, it’s absolutely any smartphone, even the Samsung Galaxy Nexus that’s currently available for free with a two year contract. While this is a sweet deal in itself, the kicker is that you also have to tack on a two year data plan on the tablet. Either way, free is always good, right?

source: Techno Buffalo

Samsung Rolls Out New Update For International Version Of The Galaxy S III, Quietly Removes Local Search Function In The Process

Hot off the heels of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus fiasco, it seems as if Apple has indirectly had its way again, this time seen in a recent OTA update for the international version of the Samsung Galaxy S III (I9300 model). Following suit of the Stateside models from carriers like AT&T and Sprint, reports are coming in that Samsung is pushing out an update which includes the new software version is known as XXBLG6, while the baseband included is identified as XXLG6 for the international model. In addition, OTA on the smartphone identifies itself as a “stability update”, but reports indicate the update also removes local (on device) search functions within the phone’s built-in Google Search app. It’s a bummer, I know.

While the update seems to have removed one of the most underrated functions seen in the Galaxy S III, there is no doubt the dev community will be working on a mod or hack to bring the feature back. Still, it is a major, major disappointment for the few people who did take advantage of the cool feature.

The 27MB update is available now through OTA or Kies Desktop software so I9300 users can grab it anytime now. Or of course— you can just hold off on it and you know, keep the local search feature for a little while longer.

source: XDA