Owners of the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus, GSM Nexus S, and Xoom Wi-Fi should be noticing Android 4.0.4 hitting their devices sometime this evening. The update, which just began rolling out earlier this afternoon, brings stability improvements, better camera performance, smoother screen rotation, improved phone number recognition, and more. Google announced the update on their Google Plus page, earlier this afternoon.
Update: And just like that, Microsoft has decided to do the right thing and award Sahas his prize.
Microsoft concocted a brilliant marketing campaign where they challenge mobile users to complete various tasks faster than a Windows phone. Any contestant able to “smoke” a Windows phone with their current mobile phone will be awarded a Hunger Games Special Edition PC worth over $1000. Even if you lose the challenge (which Microsoft has made certain of), you will win the opportunity to trade-in your current phone for a free Windows phone (excluding the Nokia Lumia 800). The contest has been hit heavily with accusations of Microsoft rigging the contest via various methods including deliberately throttling Wi-Fi speeds for non-Windows Phones. Despite the many unfounded accusations, one challenger has come forward claiming Microsoft blatantly denied him his prize after legitimately “smoking” a Windows phone with his Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
One of the first accessories purchased by mobile consumers happens to be a protective case. Consumers certainly have good reason to protect their investments and nothing’s quite as depressing as dropping a brand new $600+ naked device onto concrete (I should know). Now if we were your normal local brick and mortar mobile carrier or accessory store, we might suggest a “cheap” $20 silicon cover to protect your device. Since we’re anything of the sort, we’ve found you a case that will not only protect your device, but will Androidify it!
There’s a pretty sweet deal going for anyone looking to pick up an unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus. For about 13 more hours, the Daily Steals site is offering an unlocked 16GB GSM Galaxy Nexus for the insanely low price of $459. Okay, it’s not “insanely low,” but it’s still a heck-of-a-lot cheaper than the usual $700 price tag.
If you’re into benchmarks, you may be interested in the latest results from the Intel powered Santa Clara set to hit France in June. We’re all curious to see how Intel’s new Medfield chips perform and whether or not they will shake up the mobile market as they claim they will. A German blogger recently took the Santa Clara for a spin through Rightware and Vellamo, both of which are browser benchmark tools. Rightware tests the browser’s performance in JavaScript and HTML rendering. The Intel chip performed quite nicely, scoring a 89180 which is slightly better than the iPhone 4S (87801) but still well under the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (98272).
