Add one more social event to your October calendar, as Google has just pushed out invites to an Android event in New York on the October 29th where we expect to be introduced to the next generation of Nexus. The LG E960 Mako — which we’ve taken to calling the Nexus G but has also been referred to as the Nexus 4 — seems to be a sure bet to make an appearance after its many leaks, and a 32GB Nexus 7 variant rates as highly probable. There have also been long-running rumors that we will see Nexus hardware from more than one manufacturer, although lately whispers have focused on the possibility of a 5-inch phablet from HTC, and a 10-inch Nexus-branded tablet made by Samsung. Without the benefit of physical evidence we’d take those with a huge grain of salt, but we’ll obviously be ready for anything. Google even promises a live video stream on YouTube.

Well, the Belarusian tech site Onliner.by made waves yesterday by publishing the clearest photos yet of the alleged LG Nexus, the E960. Now the site has published a quick and dirty review of the unannounced phone, which may go down as one of the worst kept secrets in smartphone history. An editor at the site claims to have scored a prototype version of the handset, and as such, any judgements made should be taken with a grain of salt. There were plenty of bugs, including serious issues with Android Beam, which in our experience has never really worked as well as advertised anyway. This model also only comes packing 8GB of storage, which will most certainly change before launch given its lack of a microSD slot. The site found that both the screen and the 8-megapixel camera were a vast improvement over the Galaxy Nexus, however benchmarks showed that while it’s quad-core Snapdragon outpaced last-year’s Nexus, it didn’t put up the staggering numbers many were expecting. For the complete review hit up the source.

SOURCE via onliner.by

Rumors of Sprint’s $12 billion acquisition by Softbank weren’t exaggerated, they were understated: according to CNBC, the Now Network will announce a $20 billion transaction with the Japanese network on Monday, granting Softbank a 70 percent stake in the company. According to people familiar with the matter, Softbank will purchase $8 billion in shares directly from Sprint, snagging an additional $12 billion in stock at $5.25 a share from other shareholders. The Japanese firm’s payout would net Sprint $3 billion, money CNBC supposes it might use to regain control of Clearwire. Softbank’s cash may also be used to bolster Sprint’s ongoing LTE rollout, which is poised to light up in over 20 markets in the coming months. The details are said to be officially announced tomorrow morning, but we’ve reached out to Sprint for a comment in case it wants to spill the beans early.

SOURCE via CNBC

We’ve been seeing a mysterious Android 4.1.2 update mentioned in conjunction with a few unreleased devices in the past few hours, so it’s only fitting that we’re seeing the official release today. Google’s Android Open Source Project lead Jean-Baptiste Queru has posted word that the 4.1.2 release should be available on Tuesday for at least those relying on pure AOSP builds of the mobile OS. While we haven’t seen the update reach our own devices yet, some Nexus 7 owners already report getting 4.1.2 on their tablets with a pleasant surprise in store: in addition to the expected bug fixes and performance boosts, the software lets the home screen rotate to landscape mode on the smaller Jelly Bean slate. We’re keeping an eye out for when other hardware gets the patch, although it’s expected that the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Xoom will follow quickly enough.

SOURCE via Google Android Group

Talk of HTC’s rumored, giant DLX has veered between the plausible and not-so-plausible. We might just toss the newest tip into that former category. Football4PDA, who’s developing a reputation for uncanny accuracy in leaks, has posted what’s claimed to be the core specifications of HTC’s first phablet. The DLX would mirror earlier expectations of a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro and a 5-inch, 1080p display, but push past the OneX+ in more ways than just physical heft: the extra space might just help it afford 1.5GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front shooter and a larger-still (but non-removable) 2,500mAh battery. We’re not as much of a fan of the threadbare 16GB of storage that’s supposedly in the cards, though, even with a new Android 4.1.2 build in store. Provided that there’s more to the story than just 136 characters, the real point of contention is the ship date — having mostly cleared the decks between its September event and its One X+ introduction, HTC hasn’t left much time for the possibly Verizon-bound flagship to show its face.

SOURCE via Football4PDA(Twitter)

Rumors have been swirling that LG will get its first crack at a Nexus phone this year. If there’s any merit to that claim, we might have just received an early peek. An XDA-Developers forum goer has posted a collection of photos for the E960, which appears to be a variant of the Optimus G — until you realize that it’s using software navigation keys, doesn’t quite resemble the international or AT&T Optimus G models and is oddly badged as the “Full JellyBean on Mako.” Given that Google likes to name its reference Android phones after fish, it doesn’t take much to suspect that a device codenamed Mako is more likely to become a Nexus than an Optimus. The completely stock but unreleased Android 4.1.2 build of Jelly Bean certainly helps fuel the rumor mill. If the E960 does carry Google’s honorific, though, some may be in for a disappointment knowing that the model that reached the FCC last week doesn’t have LTE. We won’t rule out that this is one of multiple Nexus variants, if it’s a Nexus at all, but the 3G edition’s filing hints that Google may not rock the boat for its 2012 flagship.

SOURCE via Google Group

As the initial wave of iPhone 5 reviews hit, it looked as if Apple’s dual-core A6 processor was sporting a clock speed of around 1GHz. We saw reports ranging between 1.00 and 1.02GHz, but a new Geekbench build (v2.3.6) has today revealed a horse of a different color. According to Primate Labs’ own John Poole, the latest version of the app — which landed on the App Store today — “features a dramatically improved processor frequency detection algorithm, which consistently reports the A6′s frequency as 1.3GHz.” In speaking with us, he affirmed that “earlier versions of Geekbench had trouble determining the A6′s frequency, which lead to people claiming the A6′s frequency as 1.0GHz as it was the most common value Geekbench reported.”

When we asked if he felt that the A6 was capable of dynamically overclocking itself for more demanding tasks, he added: “I don’t believe the A6 has any form of processor boost. In our testing, we found the 1.3GHz was constant regardless of whether one core or both cores were busy.” Oh, and if anyone wants to dip their iPhone 5 in a vat of liquid nitrogen while trying to push things well over the 2GHz level, we certainly wouldn’t try to dissuade your efforts.

SOURCE via 9to5mac

Disappointed that your country or favorite carrier missed the initial cut for the iPhone 5 launch? Odds are that you’re all good now. Worldwide, 22 more countries have joined the mix as of today, including wide swaths of Europe as well as New Zealand; you’ll find the full list in the release here. Americans also don’t have to turn to the big carriers, as they can now opt for prepaid carrier Cricket in addition to a slew of extra providers that include C Spire as well as regionals like GCI and nTelos. In some cases, you’ll even snag a discount by going with one of the smaller networks.

Most Android malware lives in the margins, away from Google Play and the more reliable app shops. It’s nonetheless a good idea to be on the lookout for rogue code, and McAfee has stepped in with thorough explanations of how one of the most common scamware strains, Android.FakeInstaller, works its sinister ways. The bait is typically a search-optimized fake app market or website; the apps themselves not only present a legitimate-looking front but include dynamic code to stymie any reverse engineering. Woe be to anyone who’s tricked long enough to finish the installation, as the malware often sends text messages to expensive premium phone numbers or links target devices to botnets. The safeguard? McAfee would like you to sign up for its antivirus suite, but you can also keep a good head on your shoulders — stick to trustworthy shops and look for dodgy behavior before anything reaches your device.

SOURCE via CNET

RIM has had to deal with a few big names leaving their BlackBerry apps behind, but it’s managed to keep four of the biggest on board for its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 devices. That includes Facebook, which will have a native app that RIM revealed for the first time at today’s BlackBerry Jam Americas conference. Not surprisingly, the app itself doesn’t look a whole lot different than the Facebook apps for Android or iOS, but it is fully integrated with the OS and promises to take advantage of the new Flow interface and features like the BlackBerry Hub. RIM also confirmed that BB10-specific LinkedIn, Twitter and Foursquare apps will also be available at launch.