Refresh Roundup: week of January 28th, 2013
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
Motorola Defy XT: Republic Wireless has unleashed a significant software update for both the single-band and dual-band Defy XT. Call quality (including the elimination of echoes) is said to be improved in this build, and customers can now send SMS messages over WiFi. Users will also find the ability to access their voicemail without a password, and it's also now possible to dial 911 when only a WiFi connection is present. Hit up the source for the complete rundown of new features. [Republic Wireless 1, 2]
Motorola RAZR i: An update to Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) is now available within France for this Intel-powered variant of the RAZR M. [Android Police]
Galaxy Nexus: It's taken longer than some might like, but Sprint has begun rolling out Android 4.2.1 for this smartphone. The rollout process is said to take place over the next three weeks. [Phandroid]
Samsung Galaxy S III: Following last week's update for the Galaxy S II, T-Mobile has released an update for Samsung's current premiere smartphone that's said to bring security fixes and an "improved user experience". The update is available both over-the-air and via Samsung Kies. [Android Central]
HTC EVO 4G LTE: Sprint has taken the wraps off of an update that's said to improve proximity sensor performance while on a phone call. The revised software also improves WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth compatibility. It also brings MHL enhancements and greater system stability. [Android Central]
ASUS PadFone: An update to Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) is now available for the Taiwanese version of the original PadFone. [PadFone Club]
Sony Xperia T: Shortly after releasing an alpha build of Jelly Bean for this smartphone, word came from the Netherlands that an official update to Android 4.1.2 is starting to roll. [Xperia Blog]
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: Canadian owners of this tablet are receiving some love from Samsung this week, as an update to Android 4.1.2 is now available for OTA installation. [MobileSyrup]
Motorola RAZR HD: Customers of Rogers and Fido report that an update to Jelly Bean -- specifically, Android 4.1.2 -- is now available. The new software is said to weigh in at approximately 308MB. [MobileSyrup]
Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery
Samsung Galaxy Note II: A new bootloader unlock method has been released for this Verizon smartphone, which is designed to sidestep the carrier's most recent effort to lock the bootloader as part of the Exynos security update. [Droid Life]
Samsung Galaxy Note II: Nightly builds of CyanogenMod 10.1 are now available for the Sprint and Verizon variants of this smartphone. [Android Central]
Other platforms
HTC 8X: T-Mobile has released a minor update that's said to improve audio quality within Skype. [WMPoweruser]
Windows Phone 7.8: If you're dying to get into the world of resizable tiles but your carrier has yet to release the update to Windows Phone 7.8, you might be interested in a clever workaround that's designed to bring immediate gratification. [Windows Phone Hacker]
