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Paranoid Android's HALO does Chat Heads-inspired multitasking, goes open source
It's been a couple months since we first saw the fruits of team Paranoid Android's labor around in-app pop-up window multitasking, and it looks like Paul Henschel and co. are finally sharing the finished product. HALO, as it's called, loosely combines the ideas behind Samsung's Multi Window and FaceBook's Chat Heads into a slick multitasking interface. The feature is activated from the notification tray. It places an icon -- or halo -- on the display, which can be moved around very much like Chat Heads, or dismissed by double-tapping and dragging it towards the red X at the top. Swiping sideways from the halo shows a series of white lines and text bubbles that match and highlight the notifications in the status bar. Releasing your finger is like tapping on the selected notification, but instead of launching full-screen, the app opens in a pop-up window on top of whatever's already running, just like Multi Window. The background app continues to run while you interact with the foreground app -- to dismiss the pop-up window, simply tap outside of it. Other cool functionality includes swiping up to dismiss the last notification and the ability to pin apps permanently to the halo. But what's really most exciting is that team Paranoid Android's decided to make HALO open source so anyone can be involved. Check out the awesome demo video after the break.
AT&T to update Samsung Galaxy Note II with Multi-Window tomorrow
Most US models of the Samsung Galaxy Note II have already been updated with Multi-Window -- a split-screen feature that allows users to view two apps at once -- but AT&T is the last of the four national powers that hasn't pushed the feature out to its customers. That will change tomorrow, as AT&T has confirmed to us in an email that it will roll out the new build over the air at some point during the day. We're happy that users won't have to rely on Samsung's proprietary Kies desktop software to update their devices, but minor downloads like this are typically facilitated OTA. There's no word on if the ROM will be pushed out in phases to minimalize the impact on AT&T's servers, but don't be terribly worried if you don't get notified right away. Continue below to read the carrier's official statement on the matter.
T-Mobile reveals Multi-Window feature coming to Samsung Galaxy Note II on December 19th
We saw the productivity-increasing feature make its way to Sprint's Galaxy Note II not too long ago, and it looks like it will soon show up on T-Mobile's model as well. According to a support document on the Magenta carrier's website, Samsung's Multi-Window trait is due to hit the 5.5-inch, S-Pen-toting device on December 19th, via an upcoming software update. The aforementioned T-Mobile page doesn't list any other major changes (save for some fixes to issues with Exchange and Gmail), but the addition of the Multi-Window feature alone could certainly make it worthwhile for owners of most everyone's favorite phablet.
Samsung Galaxy Note II for Verizon: what's different?
The Galaxy Note II is a big phone that has attracted an even bigger following: Samsung shipped over 5 million units in two months, even before the holiday shopping season commenced in full force. And we don't expect the company to slow down either -- now that the device is available worldwide and on all four national US carriers (not to mention a regional player as well), Samsung's likely to pick up the pace exponentially. We've already painstakingly reviewed the Note II in all its glory -- twice, actually -- but Verizon's particular variant has a few key differences that are worth noting. What kind of carrier "enhancements" and other goodies can you expect as a reward for your 300 hard-earned dollars? How does the Note II match up against the rest of Verizon's lineup? Follow us past the break and we'll give you the full scoop.
Sprint updates Samsung Galaxy Note II with Multi-Window feature
Multi-Window is a key feature for the Samsung Galaxy Note II because it adds split-screen functionality to the device's 5.5-inch display -- allowing you to run two apps at the same time -- but unfortunately it has been noticeably absent on the phone's US versions. Until today, the carriers have remained oddly silent about if or when their model would even receive it. Two weeks after its initial release, Sprint's Note II will receive an update (L900VPALJC) that enables the missing feature, in addition to some minor enhancements to GPS, email and SMS. We're expecting to see the rollout start today, but Sprint advises us that it may take up to five days before it hits your particular unit. It's about time -- and we can only hope that the other carriers will follow up with updates fairly quickly. Head to the source link to find out how to install the update, as well as full details on the other fixes in the new build.