firmware updates
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Google's first-gen Chromecast will no longer receive major updates
The Chromecast is a simple device that does exactly one thing and does it well. Six years after its debut in 2013, the original Chromecast is still useful, even after the Chromecast Audio came and went, and the introduction of the more powerful Chromecast Ultra.
Samsung chips promise secure 100W USB-C fast charging
Samsung released two new USB Type-C power delivery (PD) controller chips for power adapters, SE8A and MM101. The chips included built-in security safeguards and are able to communicate with devices that meet USB-PD 3.0 specifications to deliver the optimum power for each device. With up to 100W-charging, they support fast charging on power-hungry products like laptops and tablets, too.
HTC confirms One X and X+ won't be upgraded to Android 4.3 or higher
It looks like Android 4.2.2 will be the end of the upgrade roadmap for the HTC One X and X+, two of the company's primary flagship phones in 2012. The phone maker tweeted out -- and later confirmed to the press -- that neither handset will be upgraded to Android 4.3 or anything newer. As frustrating as this announcement is, we don't consider ourselves shocked: the original One X launched nearly two years ago, and we speculate that the 15-month-old X+'s Tegra 3 processor may have been the reason for its fate. Take a look at HTC's official statement below. We can confirm that the HTC One X and One X+ will not receive further Android OS updates beyond Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed both devices to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.
Sony Alpha firmware updates bring record button disabling on NEX-7, DSLR lens improvements
Sony's NEX-7 may be fast approaching its first birthday, but that doesn't mean the company's ready to give up on pushing out updates. The camera's first new firmware version, 1.01, should be hitting today, bringing with it the ability to disable the Movie Record button to avoid accidental taps (finally!), boosted image quality with a wide-angle lens, improved audio playback and expanded EV bracketing. An option to disable the EVF eye sensor doesn't appear to be included with this revision, unfortunately. Other updates hitting at the same time include E-mount lens firmware v.01 that'll enable NEX-5R/NEX-6 Hybrid AF functionality with older lenses, A65/A77 firmware v1.06 and A37/A57 firmware v1.03, both of which deliver the ability to enable/disable the movie record button while also adding a variety of lens compensation options for select Alpha optics. All of these updates should now be live -- head over to the source link below for the hook-up.
Nikon releases D4 firmware 1.02 with minor display, formatting, network stability improvements in tow
Have you managed to get your hands on Nikon's elusive D4 full-frame DSLR? It should be smooth sailing from here, with the occasional firmware update being your only critical acquisition going forward. D4 firmware 1.02 brings a handful of minor fixes, but if you're in need of any of the enhancements listed below, it's surely a must have: Format memory card can now be added to My Menu. Gamut for Adobe RGB images displayed in the camera's monitor has now been changed. This enables more vivid display of images. The stability of network connections when the FTP upload option is selected has been increased. When recording movies using a lens with an aperture ring in [P] or [S] exposure mode, and Aperture ring selected for Custom Setting f10: Customize command dials>Aperture setting, the minimum aperture was applied. This issue has been resolved. When a still image captured during movie recording with 1920 ×1080; 30 fps; crop, 1920 × 1080; 25 fps; crop, or 1920 × 1080; 24 fps; crop selected for Movie settings>Frame size/frame rate and Live frame grab selected for Custom Setting g4: Assign shutter button was displayed in Capture NX 2 or ViewNX 2, the position of the focus point displayed differed from actual recording position. This issue has been resolved. An issue that caused the camera to freeze when attempting to format a memory card (setup menu > Format memory card) while the camera was connected to a network in HTTP server mode has been resolved. OS X and Windows users alike can hit up the source link below to get their download on.
Nikon pushes out D4, D800 firmware update, fixes lock-up issues and other bugs
It wasn't long ago that we heard about the "lock-up" woes D4 and D800 owners were experiencing on their shiny new shooters, but luckily for them, Nikon just outed a fix to take care of those issues. Aside from solving the aforementioned annoyance, the firmware update (B:1.01) also mends a problem allowing RAW files to be network-transferred while in JPEG-only mode, as well as a bug causing bits like aperture and exposure compensation to change unexpectedly when using certain custom settings. You can grab the updates now via the source links below, and be sure to let us know how it all turned out in the end.
Refresh Roundup: week of September 12, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. 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 from 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 The HTC Merge on US Cellular can now be bumped up to Android 2.3.4. It appears to be a manual install, so visit here to download the file and learn exactly how to update your device. [via UnwiredView] HTC has added another device to its growing list of phones and tablets that now support the HTCDev bootloader unlock tool. [via PocketDroid] The LG Optimus S on Sprint is now on the receiving end of an OTA Gingerbread rollout. [via UnwiredView] Great news, Samsung Infuse 4G users: you're getting an update. The bad news: it's a maintenance fix, rather than a full-out Gingerbread upgrade. Still, it may be worth the download if you have the time or opportunity. [via AndroidCentral] Samsung has released the kernel source for the Epic 4G Touch. [via PocketNow] Sprint's certainly getting a lot of love this week, and we're not done yet: the Motorola Photon 4G is beginning to push out another smallish bug fix meant to curb WiFi issues experienced by a few users, and appears to be a gradual rollout. [via SprintFeed] The original Motorola Droid X is expected to receive a maintenance refresh as early as tomorrow, which is intended to resolve a widespread issue with the keyboard. If you're in this category, definitely keep a close eye out on this space. [via Droid-Life] We're hearing that the Droid 2 R2-D2 update to Gingerbread, which we originally reported on last week, is officially rolling out to eager fanboys and fangirls countrywide. [via AndroidCentral] Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery Those CyanogenMod7 builds for the HTC Sensation and EVO 3D we were talking about last week? They're now available. As extremely early builds, download and flash at your own risk. [via AndroidCentral] Since we're talking so much about HTC, here's one more thing: you can now grab a ROM for your HTC Desire HD that enables the beats audio technology. [via GSMArena and Android Community] A dev has been hard at work pulling various Motorola Atrix ROMs and porting them over to the Droid X2. The first one available is plain vanilla Android 2.3.4, if you're just not feeling up to using MotoBlur (aka the now-nameless Moto UI). [via Droid-Life] The initial build of the Motorola Droid Bionic bootstrap is available for install, which essentially will enable you to bootstrap your recovery and create backups on your device. Custom ROMs still aren't around for the Bionic yet (although early builds of CM7 began showing up this week), but the bootstrap is a big step toward achieving that goal. [via Droid-Life] Other platforms Symbian's Anna update is continuing to expand support to more countries, including Italy, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey. The refreshes for the US, Canada and Australia -- according to an email from Nokia -- is expected to arrive within the next two weeks. [via MyNokiaBlog] Refreshes we covered this week AT&T Windows Phone 7 devices to receive Mango this fall BlackBerry PlayBook to get OTA update next month that will offer native email, calendar
Refresh Roundup: week of August 29, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. 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 from 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 The biggest update we saw this week was a widespread push of Android 2.3.3 to the Motorola Droid 2. This one is done OTA, so simply go into your settings menu and check for updates to see if it's there. (thanks to everyone who sent this in) While we saw a rollout of Android 2.3 to a select few LG Optimus Ones in June, we're hearing reports that the update's now getting pushed out again to a few more regions. This refresh must be done manually through LG's updater tool, so you'll definitely want to check to see if your phone is one of the lucky recipients. [via PocketNow] US Cellular took to its Facebook Page to let customers know it's working on revamping the Samsung Mesmerize to Gingerbread at some point, though no official date or timeframe was given aside from "as soon as possible." [via AndroidCentral] HTC announced the arrival of Android 2.3 for the Thunderbolt and Droid Incredible this month, via its Facebook page. [via AndroidCommunity] In fact, some users have already reported getting Gingerbread for the Incredible, and we suspect the rollout will be complete no later than the end of the month, to fulfill the company's promise. [via Phandroid] Gingerbread is in the plans for the Motorola Milestone 2, and according to the company the refresh will begin rolling out in early Q4. [via MyDailyGadget] The Samsung LC11 LTE mobile hotspot is getting a new build, EF07, that appears to improve its handling of multiple devices and congested WiFi locations. It also adds security patches and new protocols. [via Verizon] An update for the Droid 3 was apparently available to soak testers and leaked online, but was pulled from Motorola servers shortly thereafter. It appears to add video chat support in GTalk and adds a new radio that's supposed to save battery life. The via link still has the update available for anyone interested. [via Droid-Life] Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery The root method used on most Motorola Android devices has been employed to root the Droid Bionic before it's even been released. [via Droid-Life] LG has released the kernel source for its Gingerbread build of the Optimus S. [via AndroidCentral] The HTC Dev site expanded its support for the bootloader unlock tool this week, now encompassing all versions of the Sensation -- including T-Mobile's. [via AndroidCentral] Other platforms SPB Shell 3.0 is now available for Symbian^3 devices. It brings a fresh 3D-style UI to the OS, and can be yours for $15. [via IntoMobile] Updates already covered this week HP planning TouchPad OTA update for added functionality HTC Flyer Honeycomb ROM leaks Samsung Nexus S updated to 2.3.6, fixes voice search and breaks tethering
Refresh Roundup: week of August 8, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. 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 from 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 Acer took to its Facebook page in Malaysia to announce that the Honeycomb 3.2 OTA update for the Iconia Tab A500 has been delayed until August 25. [via Phandroid] The LG G-Slate is starting to receive Honeycomb 3.1. [via AndroidCentral] We've also heard the HTC Flyer's on the receiving end of a 2.3.4 bump in Germany. [via HTC Inside (translated)] Motorola's announced that Honeycomb 3.1 has arrived on the Xoom in Europe, after several months of waiting. [via ITProPortal] Tomorrow, Sprint's pushing out a maintenance fix known as RD.00.02 for the Motorola Titanium. From a leaked screenshot, the main "enhancement" is correcting a bug that kept users from dialing from a meeting on the Exchange calendar. [via SprintFeed] Android 2.3.4 is making its way to unbranded HTC Sensation units in Europe this week as an OTA update, and will likely spread to carrier-branded devices over the next couple weeks. [via Phandroid] Both Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada are rolling out Gingerbread to its Galaxy S Vibrant. The download is available to any of its users by accessing Samsung Kies. [via MobileSyrup] HTC began pushing Gingerbread to the Inspire 4G on Monday. If you still haven't received your update OTA yet, instructions can be found on how to do it manually via its website. [Thanks, Brian] Are you an HTC Desire owner that's been eagerly awaiting Gingerbread? It's here now, but the manufacturer isn't going to push it out OTA -- rather, you'll need to do it on your own, so head to the via for a video tutorial on how to do it step-by-step. [via PocketNow] T-Mobile has announced that its OTA Gingerbread rollout for the G2x is now officially over. If you missed your opportunity, you may still download it using the LG updater tool. [via TmoNews] This is definitely a rumor, but an HTC support rep apparently emailed a concerned Incredible user to assure them that Gingerbread was still indeed in the plans for the year-old device. No timeframe was given, however. [via Phandroid] AT&T took to its Twitter account to state that the Infuse 4G is on track to receive Gingerbread sometime this month. [via AndroidCentral] Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc. hackery We heard last week that the Motorola Photon 4G had been rooted, but it required the use of the phone's fancy (and expensive) HD dock. This obstacle has since been removed, and you can root your brand new phone without it. [via AndroidCentral] Speaking of the Photon 4G, a System Boot File (SBF) is now available for the device. The SBF is a backup that comes in handy if something goes awry and your phone ends up getting bricked. By using the SBF, your phone will be restored back to its original factory defaults. [via SprintFeed] A dev preview of CyanogenMod 7 for the HTC Sensation 4G is now being shown at a YouTube near you. Did someone say CyanogenMod 7? Well, this week also witnessed a user updating their Motorola Triumph to Android 2.3.5, but almost nothing works properly on it; since the kernel source hasn't been released for it yet, the update isn't quite up to par. CM7 is also said to be coming to the Motorola Atrix 4G and LG Optimus 3D soon as well. [via Phandroid] Other platforms The tools used to flash Windows Phone Mango's RTM version has been leaked, and you can find instructions on how to get it on this XDA thread. Remember that you do this at your own risk. [via WMPowerUser] A few rumors circulated the web this week that Mango would be released on September 1. WP7's own Joe Belfiore was the one responsible for shooting down that rumor via Twitter. [via WMPowerUser]
