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Refresh Roundup: week of March 19th, 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

  • Droid Charge: Verizon has the Droid Charge as the next on its chopping block to receive the carrier's Remote Diagnostics software. The update will also enable support for the Wireless Alerting System, bring a refreshed UI and is said to resolve choppy audio on voice calls. It'll also fix a "no tone" issue with the dial pad and users will no longer lose data connectivity whenever the USB cable is inserted or disconnected. [Computerworld, Verizon (PDF changelog)]

  • Archos G9: A few weeks back, the G9 tablet received its official update to Ice Cream Sandwich. The latest update, revision 4.0.5, is meant to circle back and squash a few bugs that relate to Bluetooth, HDMI, the touchscreen and WiFi. [Android Community, Archos (changelog)]

  • Motorola RAZR: European users in France, Italy, Spain and the UK will be receiving a new update for their Motorola RAZR. Firmware version SPU15 is said to add greater media upload and synchronization capabilities, a new user interface and the ability to configure SMS auto-replies. Battery life, camera performance and system stability have also been improved. [Phandroid, Motorola (changelog)]

  • LG Thrill 4G: After having been forgotten for so very, very long, a new update from LG will bring AT&T's Thrill 4G into the land of Gingerbread. Unfortunately, it's not available as an over-the-air download, and as an insult to Mac fans, you'll need a PC to install Android 2.3. [Android Community, LG]

  • Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 edition: This handset is primed to get an updated version of Gingerbread -- Android 2.3.4, to be specific -- which also enables support for the Wireless Alerting System, correctly saves camera settings and adds further system stability. It's also said to improve data connectivity while in Mobile Hotspot mode and is said to prevent the device from randomly powering on. [Droid Life]

Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery

  • CyanogenMod 7.2: For users who've yet to move onto CyanogenMod 9, version 7.2 of the popular custom ROM has now reached release candidate status. Most significantly, over 20 devices have been added to the official support list since the release of CyanogenMod 7.1, and the ROM also brings some backported goodies and bug fixes from the likes of CyanogenMod 9. [Thanks, Kevin] [CyanogenMod]

  • Acer Iconia Tab A100 & A101: If you're dying to load up some custom ROMs onto that Acer tablet, then you're well on your way -- a new method exists that'll help you unlock that 7-incher's bootloader in no time. Follow the second link for instructions of how to install ClockworkMod Recovery. [Thanks, Rick] [xda-developers (1), (2)]

Other platforms

  • BlackBerry 7.1 OS: The BlackBerry Curve 9360 on Mobilicity, along with the BlackBerry Torch 9860 and Torch 9810 on Bell each received their update to BlackBerry 7.1 OS. [MobileSyrup]

  • BlackBerry Torch 9800: Bell and Virgin Mobile each pushed out BlackBerry 6.0.0.706 to the Torch 9800 this week. [MobileSyrup]

  • HTC HD7: The 8107 update for Windows Phone, designed to solve the mystery of the disappearing keyboard, began rolling out to HD7 owners on T-Mobile this week. [WMPoweruser]

Refreshes we covered this week