Android 4.1 headed to DROID RAZR HD, RAZR MAXX HD

After the junior member of the new DROID lineup, the DROID RAZR M, received the Jelly Bean update almost a full month ago, it was with ever-growing anxiety that we all waited for similar updates to come to its elder brothers, the DROID RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD.

That time has finally arrived and DROID owners can now enjoy the benefits a more detailed notification area, Google Now, and Google Voice Search.

The updates should be available to both the RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD via OTA updates.

The DROID RAZR HD is available on contract from Verizon for $199.99, while the DROID RAZR MAXX HD and DROID RAZR M are available for $299.99 and $49.99, respectively, also with a 2-year commitment.

Source | Via

Android 4.2.1 update rolling out to Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and 10

Google has started rolling out the Android 4.2.1 update to the new nexus devices. The update fixes the “December bug present in Android 4.2 People app” as well as some Bluetooth issues.

The update is around 1MB in size and is reaching the Nexus devices slowly. If you don’t get the update right-away, don’t worry, you will soon get it.

Lava XOLO A700 Dual SIM phone with 1GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.0 coming soon

Lava has started teasing their upcoming XOLO A700 on their Facebook page. Looks like the X series is for Intel phones and the A series is for Android phones that are powered by ARM processors.It has a 4.5inch (960 x 540 pixels) 16M color capacitive touch screen IPS display and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577 processor. It runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It has a 5MP auto focus camera with LED flash at the back and a VGA front-facing camera.

Lava XOLO A700 Specifications

• 4.5inch (960 x 540 pixels) 16M color capacitive touch screen IPS display with 245 ppi
• 1GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577 processor
• Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Dual SIM (3G + 2G)
• 5MP auto focus camera with LED flash, 720p video recording, HDR and a VGA front-facing camera
• 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
• 3G (HSPA 7.2Mbps) , WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v2.1, aGPS
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• 1700 mAh battery

No details about the launch date or pricing yet. Online retailer Infibeam has listed the phone as coming soon, but at the back of the phone it is mentioned as 8MP camera. The company is also planning to launch XOLO A800.

enable one handed operations on Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Control your big Galaxy Note 2 with just one hand.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 comes with a big 5.55 inch screen making it quite big to be handled by one hand even for those who have large palms. But Samsung has provided enough features in the smartphone that enables users to operate it easily in one hand as well.

So here's how you can enable single handed operations on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Step 1

From the home screen, press the applications menu key on the display.

Step 2

Locate and select the 'settings' tab in the Applications Menu. This is one way to reach to the device's settings page. You can also access it through the device's short menu as well by choosing 'settings' under the 'options' key on the device.

Step 3

The settings menu will open up the device's settings page. From there, scroll downwards and select the 'One-Handed Operation' tab and select that to open the related menu.

Step 4

The following menu will show you the options where all single handed operations are applicable for the Galaxy Note 2.

The single handed operation majorly relates to calling keypad and the keyboard wherever it might have a utility, for instance messaging notes and even internet browsing.

Step5

Select options you want to be accessible for single handed orientation on your device. If you are keeping a pattern type lock screen, make sure that you enable the option otherwise unlocking the device with one hand, without enabling it in the single handed operation option, might be a bit difficult.

Step 6

After that exit the menu and you will notice that the call keypad is now smaller and inclined towards one side of the display. The option is open for the users to choose which hand they are more comfortable using the device with.

The arrow key would now appear on the side of the keypad allowing you to change the orientation of the keypad from left to right and right to left.

Step 7

Similar thing happens with the Qwerty keypad or the 3x4 keypad, whichever you have chosen. You can also choose the side orientation of the typing keypad as well just the way you did for the dial pad for the phone in step 6.

Here is how to install Android on your PC

Android is the world’s most prolific mobile operating system, and in a couple of years it might well become more popular than Windows with mobile devices ending up in almost every pocket. But what if you could install Android on not just your mobile device, but computer as well? Turns out, it is possible.

Having Android as your main computer operating system however is not guaranteed to work - driver support, and a ton of stuff may or may not be there, so it’d be best if you first try running Android via a USB drive to check compatibility.

Otherwise, all efforts to bring Android to PCs is courtesy of the Android-x86 project. Android is a Linux-based platform after all, so the core is there.

We have to stress that everything is still under development and not final, so this is more of an undertaking for tech enthusiasts rather than the average user. 

Hit the source link right below for the complete tutorial and a bunch of links to read more about the project.

source: XDA Developers via Android Authority

What’s new in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Google unveiled the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 last month with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) that also rolled out to Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 as a new incremental update to the Android 4.1. We got the update both on our Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7 devices. Let’s see what new the Android 4.2 has to offer.

Lockscreen Widgets

The new Android 4.2 lets you add widgets to the lock screen. You can add a range of widgets including Gmail, Clock, Messaging, Sound Search and more. Even if your device is pass word protected, you can view the widgets, but can’t access them. You can now swipe to the right to launch the camera in your phone. You can also launch the Google Now from the lockscreen by swiping up.

Multi-user support (for Tablets)

In the tablets, you can enable multi-user support from the settings. This is much useful when multiple people are using the same tablet. It lets you log into your personal account and maintain your own settings right from the lock screen. It also saves all of your app data so that the other users don’t need to download all the apps again.

Notifications and Quick Settings

The Android 4.2 offers Quick Settings options that has shortcuts for Brightness, WiFi, Airplane mode and Bluetooth. In the phone there is a quick settings button on the drop-down notification bar, you can use one finger to swipe down for notifications, two fingers for quick settings. In the tablets you can pull down in the left for notifications and pull down at the top right for quick settings.

New Camera UI and Photo Filters

The new Android 4.2 camera doesn’t have any settings menu, you can either hold on the camera UI or touch the circle on the bottom to access the settings that lets you control white balance, change picture size and more.

The Photo Gallery has photo filters that lets you add a list of Instagram-like effects such as Vintage, Latte, Litho, X Process and more.

Photo Sphere

The new Photo Sphere feature in the lets you capture 360° panoramas. You can view the images in the gallery or share them on Google Maps, Earth and Google+. This feature is available on phones but it doesn’t work on Nexus 7 since it lack a rear camera.

New Keyboard with Gesture Typing

The new keyboard has gesture typing just like Swype. You can glide along the keyboard to input the words. You can disable Gesture typing from the settings. Some of the gesture typing features include, dynamic floating preview that lets you see suggested works while gesturing and floating gesture trail.

Pinch-to-zoom in Gmail

You can enable Auto-fit messages in Gmail for pinch-to-zoom feature in Gmail version 4.2. This fits the entire e-mail in a page so that you can zoom into the e-mail rather than panning across the e-mail in previous versions of the Gmail app.

Daydream

The new Daydream features is just a screensaver that you can enable to run when the phone or the table is charging when it is docked. You can set different day dream screensavers such as Clock, Colors, Google Currents, Photo Frame or Photo Table.

Google has also made some improvements to Google Now with new cards for tracking flights, hotel and restaurant reservations, movie and music recommendations. This version also has Miracast support for sharing the display wirelessly, Magnification gestures and Accessibility shortcut for blind users.

Map Android Phone In Windows To Access Files Over WiFi Using SwiFTP

If you are a gadget geek at heart and love to do anything that encompasses remotely accessing your device from anywhere, give SwiFTP FTP Server a shot. It is a free open source Android app that lets you remotely connect to your phone over WiFi / 3G to upload and download content. This Android application converts your phone into an FTP server which is accessible by a unique FTP IP generated by the app.We tested this app on HTC Desire And HTC Dream G1 and it works perfectly on both.

Download And Install SwiFTP

First download SwiFTP on your Android phone via Market. You can search for “swiFTP” in the market to get the app.

Once launched, give it any username or password, select the port (default is 2121), and select other settings before clicking Save.

Now click Start to begin the server.

Note down the FTP address (see Wifi URL in the screenshot below) generated by the app and use it to connect via any desktop FTP client. You can also map the network location for quick access in Windows Explorer.

Access Android Phone Files By Mapping Network Path In Windows

To map the device as network path, in Windows Explorer, under Network Location section, right-click to select Add network Location from context menu.

This will bring up Add Network Location wizard. In first step, enter FTP address of internal IP (WiFi URL) followed by port number (2121) as shown in the screenshot below. Click Next to continue.

Now enter an appropriate user name (the same which you used in the first step) to connect with FTP server and click Next to proceed further.

In the last step, give an appropriate name of network location and click Next.

In  informational dialog of wizard, you can enable Open this network location when I click Finish option to immediately view & manage your Android handset’s content. Once done, click Finish.

You will be prompted to enter the password, after which, it will immediately open network location, allowing easy access to your Android handset’s files & folders.

The advantage of mapping is that you can choose to save the password and access the folder quickly from My Computer without having to enter the credentials over and over again.

If you are facing some file accessing speed issues, you can try out dedicated FTP client application like FileZilla.

We tested it on Android 2.1 running on rooted G1 and non-rooted HTC Desire. With rooted Android phone, you get the full root access. Testing was done on Windows 7 32-bit OS.

Download SwiFTP (download from project page or you can simply install it from the Android market)