Refresh Roundup: week of February 20th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Official Android updates
Asus Transformer Prime: That's right, folks, you're looking at three updates in three weeks for the Transformer Prime. The latest version, 9.4.2.15, is another minor update, and while no change log exists, this release is said to fix the random reboot issues that've plagued some tablets. [Phone Dog]
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket: AT&T pushed out an update this week for its LTE wunderphone. Many users are reporting difficulties installing this version, but it's said to remove CarrierIQ software from the handset. [Android Central, AT&T forums]
Toshiba Thrive: There's no update yet, but Toshiba announced on Twitter this week that it hopes to deliver Android 4.0 for the 10-inch Thrive tablet by the end of spring. [Electronista]
Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (WiFi): Steve Kondik announced the availability of CyanogenMod 9 for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 via his Google+ account. The build is classified as pre-alpha, and the camera doesn't yet work, but it's otherwise said to be in good shape. [Droid Life, Steve Kondik]
Acer Iconia Tab A100 & A500: Acer has already delivered Ice Cream Sandwich for the Iconia Tab A200, and likewise promised similar updates for the rest of its Iconia Tab family. Now, leaked versions of Android 4.0 for the A100 and A500 tablets have made it into the wild and await your download. [Android Central]
Sony Xperia Arc S, Neo V & Ray: Sony has released beta Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs for three of its 2011 Xperia handsets. Users will discover a number of changes over the previously released alpha version, which include UI revisions, an updated email client and quick dial functionality. [Thanks, Shyam] [Sony]
HP Touchpad: Alpha 2 of CyanogenMod 9 is now available for the HP Touchpad. The latest version brings fixes for video playback. [Thanks, John] [RootzWiki]
Motorola CLIQ 2: No official release yet, but Motorola is seeking 1,000 participants to test a Gingerbread update for the CLIQ 2. [Thanks, Jason] [Motorola]
Refreshes we covered this week
Ubuntu for Android: more details and prototype hands-on (video)
Nokia Belle earns corporate street-cred with Microsoft Office apps
ASUS Transformer TF101 Ice Cream Sandwich update rolling out now in the US
ASUS gives Transformer Prime a bootloader unlock tool, Ubuntu promptly ported
Barnes & Noble offers to repartition Nook Tablet storage, concedes you may need more than 1GB
Droid RAZR ICS screenshots leaked, could this be the next Blur?