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Google's Pixel 2 is hiding an old-school menu button
Google has a bit of a throwback tucked away in the Pixel 2. Depending on the app, you can access the old-school Android menu button by tapping in the lower righthand corner of the screen, as spotted by Android Police. As you'll see in the video embedded below, it doesn't seem to do much, but hey, it exists. Android Police says that to access it, you need a Pixel 2 running the stock software and an app that targets Android Honeycomb or an earlier version of the OS. As of now, it'll appear in the settings menu, along with Google Maps and Inbox.
Google explains why it's not fixing web security in old Android phones
You might not be happy that Google isn't fixing a web security flaw in your older Android phone, but the search giant now says that it has some good reasons for holding off. As the company's Adrian Ludwig explains, it's no longer viable to "safely" patch vulnerable, pre-Android 4.4 versions of WebView (a framework that lets apps show websites without a separate browser) to prevent remote attacks. The sheer amount of necessary code changes would create legions of problems, he claims, especially since developers are introducing "thousands" of tweaks to the open source software every month.
KitKat's share of Android devices more than doubles to 5.3 percent
After months of treading water, Android 4.4 KitKat is finally taking off. Google reports that 5.3 percent of Android users are running the newer OS version as of early April; that's more than twice the 2.5 percent that it claimed one month earlier. There's no official explanation for the jump, but it's most likely thanks to a wave of KitKat upgrades from HTC, LG and Samsung. Most older versions lost share as a result. It could be a long, long time before KitKat overtakes Jelly Bean (which dipped to 61.4 percent), but the transition is under way -- and it's only likely to accelerate now that flagships like the Galaxy S5 and new One are reaching store shelves.
Jelly Bean claims 59.1 percent of Android device share as KitKat inches forward
Google has released its first Android device share data for 2014, and it's now clear that many users are flocking to a newer OS version... just not the latest version. While the shiny new KitKat release did climb to 1.4 percent of active devices in January, Jelly Bean was the real winner -- the older software jumped from 54.5 percent in December to 59.1 percent this month. There's no real mystery as to what happened, though. KitKat remains limited to mostly Google hardware, whether it's the Nexus line or Motorola phones; we haven't quite reached that point where large numbers of third-party devices either get KitKat upgrades or ship with the revision pre-installed. That surge may come soon, however, and the team in Mountain View can at least take comfort in knowing that over 60 percent of Android's active customer base is reasonably up to speed.
KitKat claims 1.1 percent of Android device share a month after launch
KitKat may be the new kid on the Android block, but it's already faring quite well. Google's latest OS dashboard reveals that 1.1 percent of active Android devices are running the new platform roughly a month after it became available. Not that its arrival is slowing down Jelly Bean's growth, mind you. The older software now represents 54.5 percent of all Android use, thanks in part to a two-point surge in devices running Android 4.3. However well Jelly Bean is doing, we expect KitKat adoption to rise quickly -- both the Nexus 5 and the first official KitKat upgrades have only been around for a few weeks at most, and there are more updates on the way.
ICS and Jellybean now on a quarter of all Android devices, but over half still stuck on Gingerbread
It seems like only yesterday that Google bundled Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 in its little biscuit layers and sent it off into the world (it was December, 2011, actually). That Android flavor has since climbed the charts rapidly, around four percent each month for the last while, and now occupies the ROM on 23.7 percent of robot-based devices -- up from 20.8 percent last month. That's in part due to new devices (like many in China) still coming out of the box with it, on top of older warhorses like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 finally grabbing some ICS. Meanwhile, its smooth-running younger sibling, Jelly Bean, made a slight gain to 1.8 percent of all Google-run slates and phones -- though that will likely change when the Galaxy Note II hits the market en masse and the Galaxy S III OTA 4.1.1 disseminates to all its owners. Meanwhile, Gingerbread still dominates Google OS installed devices at 55.8 percent, probably thanks to delays or denials of newer flavors to legacy devices.
ICS now on one in five Android devices, Jelly Bean grows to 1.2 percent
Last month was the first time Jelly Bean poked its head up in the Android distribution charts, debuting at 0.8 percent. It's bumped that stat by a significant proportion, if not a crazy absolute amount, to 1.2 percent of smartphones and tablets using Google's OS. But ICS 4.0 was the biggest gainer, moving up sharply from 15.9 percent to 20.8 of devices at the expense of Gingerbread 2.3, which dropped about 3.5 percent from July. Still, at 57.2 percent saturation, that version is still the richest Android confection by a wide margin. Our aging Galaxy S contributed a bit to its demise this month, thanks to CyanogenMod, so where does your own device sit? Check the source for a further breakdown of the stats.
Engadget's back to school guide 2012: tablets
Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're leaning back with our tablets -- and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of August we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- you can hit up the hub page right here! Your back may be straining from the textbooks, laptop, gym gear and lunch in that dangling overstuffed messenger, but you're still gonna want to save room for one more item -- a tablet. After all, while you can surf, tweet, play games and watch video from your other devices, there's nothing like doing it from a simple glass window that sits in the palm of your hand. As the hardware gets more powerful, these devices are rapidly becoming versatile enough to let you justify leaving the laptop at home on less-intensive days, so why not check out our picks of the finest devices you should be using and abusing before, during and after class.
Ice Cream Sandwich takes a bite out of Gingerbread, represents 15.9 percent of Android devices
Two major updates later (three if you count the tablet-exclusive Honeycomb), and Gingerbread is finally starting to falter. According to Google's latest two week survey of devices accessing the Play store, Ice Cream Sandwich is on the rise, filling out 15.9-percent of the Android user base. That's a full five points ahead of Android 4.0's July score, and it's eating into the OS' other flavors: Gingerbread (Android 2.3) dropped by 3.4-percent, Froyo (Android 2.2) by 1.8 and Eclair (Android 2.1) by a meager half a percent. Google's latest confectionery update, Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), made an appearance as well, eking out a shy 0.8-percent of the market. Check out Google's collection of charts for yourself at the source link below or let us know where your devices falls in the comments.
Lenovo IdeaPad K1 gets smeared with Ice Cream Sandwich
Lenovo is putting out a vanilla version of Android 4.03 for customers eager to rid their IdeaPad K1 of Honeycomb. Fans of stock iterations of Google's mobile OS will love the fact that the update will rid the slate of all of the PC maker's customizations -- as well as any other data on the tablet. If you're feeling brave enough to make the upgrade, simply head on down to the source link and follow the instructions, but be warned, if something goes wrong, you're on your own. [Thanks, Parth]
YouTube for Android 4.0 ends buffering on your favorite videos with precaching, adds remote
As Google I/O 2012 rolls along, the YouTube team is updating its Android app to v4.0 with a load of new features, but you'll need Android 4.0+ to take advantage of them (at least for now, see below). Available in 47 countries, the new app brings a brand new UI with support for channels that reflects the redesign rolled out on the website last year (not the circle-centric look that it is testing with a select few), and it can precache videos from your favorite channels for viewing later. All you have to do is select "preload" in the setting menu and it will pull down videos from your subscriptions and Watch Later queue when plugged in and on WiFi. To actually view them later you will still need to be online, but they'll load instantly from the device's storage instead of streaming. Another new feature is integrated remote functionality to control playback on connected TVs and other devices. This apparently extends to more than just Google TV, as we're told to "expect more updates later" on how this feature will become broadly available. If you're not rocking the latest Android software don't freak out yet, as the team indicates these features will come to more devices later. Developers should be excited too as there's a slew of new YouTube APIs available, hit the source links below to check them out or download the app yourself.
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity shows up at Best Buy, commands $600 price tag, 64GB of storage
You didn't think ASUS pushed its souped up Transformer slate through federal approval for the sake of its health, did you? No, if Best Buy's online store has anything to say about it, the Transformer Pad Infinity's FCC excursion was preparing it for sale. It's not quite ready yet, but when it is, Best Buy will apparently be handing the slab out for $599 and change, netting buyers 64GB of storage, NVIDIA's Tegra 3 processor and a 1,920 x 1,200 10.1-inch Super IPS+ display. The listing appears to be for the WiFi-only version of the tablet, with no mention of the Snapdragon S4-equipped LTE variant that ASUS announced earlier this year. According to the product page, the unreleased hardware is currently "sold out online," but at least you know how many pennies you'll need to pinch. Check it out at the source link below. [Thanks, Uly]
LG backing off tablets for now, would rather circle smartphone wagons
LG has decided not to chip in any more tablets to the huge pile that's already out there, and will focus on smartphones instead. It hasn't exactly stormed the market anyway -- with recent tab offerings like the Optimus Pad LTE falling flat -- and has said that the move would free it up to improve its No. 4 spot on the world's cellphone charts. It insists the decision has nothing to do with Microsoft's recent Surface announcement, and says it doesn't compete in that particular sphere anyway. So that's that.
Engadget Giveaway: win one of two Pantech Elements, courtesy of DTS!
After a pair of audio-centric giveaways, you'd think we would be done with the genre for a while, right? Wrong! Today's offering isn't necessarily a pair of headphones or fancy speaker system, but rather the Pantech Element, a waterproof Android tablet that just so happens to be equipped with DTS digital audio decoder technology. What does this mean? DTS, a company that has been cranking out state-of-the-art audio for years, has integrated its sound into the Element to enhance your multimedia and gaming experience. We agree, it "sounds" like a great idea. Hop into the comments to enter, and good luck!
Google: Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 7.1 percent of Android user base
Well, it's about time that Ice Cream Sandwich made some headway -- even if the process is much slower than consumers deserve. According to the Android developer hub, Android 4.0 now accounts for 7.1 percent of all Android smartphone and tablet installations, which is a sharp and welcome increase over the 2.9 percent figure that we reported just two months ago. Naturally, Gingerbread users still account for the lion's share of the Android ecosystem with 65 percent, but it's worth pointing out that this segment also grew during the last month -- no doubt at the expense of Froyo and Eclair. Don't know about you, but we like our desserts fresh, thank you very much. Go ahead and hop the break to see the full breakdown.
GameStop gives in to its sweet tooth, stocks Android tablets at over 1,600 stores
GameStop selling Android tablets in-store isn't anything new, but we've been curious to see how well the initiative would take off following a soft launch at 200 locations last November. Things seem to be going swimmingly, as the company now has "more than 1,600 locations" stocking the slates. If you'll recall, the devices all come with pre-installed titles of the retailer's choosing, with models from the likes of Samsung, Acer, ASUS and Toshiba. There's still yet to be any word about whether you'll eventually be able to trade-in your own, but it would seem like a logical next step -- aside from becoming an AT&T virtual carrier. Hit up the source link below to see if a store in your area is part of the lineup.
DRS unveils trio of ruggedized tablets in Windows and Android flavors
Drops, shocks, heavy vibrations, dust, water and temperatures in the extremes -- just the kind of punishment you'd expect a DRS Armor slab to put up with, and the firm's latest do so without the briefcase-like look. With MIL-STD 810G certification and an IP65 rating, the 7-inch multi-touch slates can withstand some rough and tumble -- though there's no word if they can pass the tesla coil benchmark. At 1.3 pounds, the Android 3.2-loaded X7ad squeezes out eight hours of battery life with a 1GHz dual core Tegra 2 processor. Its Windows-minded doppelganger, the X7et, holds a six-hour charge, sports an Atom Z670 processor and tips the scales at just under 1.5 pounds. If the chunkier look strikes your fancy, the 12.1 inch X12kb has you covered -- though at 5.5 pounds, it's the lightest MIL-STD-810G certified convertible tablet currently available. The swivel screened slate has up to eight hours of battery life, a Core i5 560UMCPU processor, a polarized LCD glass display, a spillproof keyboard and touchpad in addition to a one-click stealth mode that disables light and sound for "covert operations." With GPS, WiFi and Gobi Wireless Broadband options, all three of these are ready for missions at home and abroad, however you might need that stealth function to find out the (currently unspecified) pricing.
Samsung rumored to tweak Galaxy Note 10.1 inside and out
It certainly looks like Samsung has redesigned the 10.1-inch version of its Galaxy Note, which it promised back at MWC. At a German event this week, a slimmer version of the tablet was snapped sporting a built in S-Pen slot that had also been sweating off some extra pounds. So much so, that the company will retail a dedicated pen holder to make your electronic doodling more comfortable. We've also heard unconfirmed rumors that the biggest change to the tablet was internal -- with the Galaxy S III's quad-core Exynos chip replacing the original dual-core innards we'd seen previously. We reached out to the company on that point to see if it could shed any light, but its people weren't able to make any comment ahead of its official debut. [Image Credit: Eraser112]
Google reportedly planning stable of Nexus devices with Android 5.0, will sell 'em direct
Hand firmly grasping hat? Good. The Wall Street Journal is reporting on quite the bombshell today, noting that Google is about to cause its carrier partners in the States all sorts of grief -- indirectly, of course. Just weeks after placing its heralded Galaxy Nexus on sale for $399 unlocked, the report states that said move is only the beginning of a new initiative. Likely to be formally revealed at Google I/O, the mega-corp is planning to partner with a variety of OEMs (rather than just one at a time) in order to have up to five Pure Google (read: Nexus) devices available at once. Better still, the whole stable will ship with Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) and will be sold directly from Google in unlocked form to consumers in America, Europe and Asia. The move is significant in a myriad ways. For one, more unlocked Nexus devices means more choice when it comes to carrier selection. Furthermore, the move is likely to quell fears that certain partners may have about Google making Motorola Mobility its favorite after a $12 billion acquisition. Not surprisingly, Google's not commenting on the matter, but sources "close" to the situation say that the company's hoping to have the 5.0 cadre on sale by Thanksgiving -- you know, just in time for Black Friday and the looming holiday shopping season. We're all guessing that this will address the growing "app situation" head-on; by making a push to eliminate carrier-infused bloatware (while also providing early Android OS access to more partners), we're hoping that the whole "skinning" dilemma is addressed, too.
Google TV's TV and Movies app gets to know you better with ratings, favorites and more
At the center of the revamped Google TV experience that rolled out last fall is its TV & Movies app, which is a blended guide of content currently airing live on TV and available for streaming from the popular internet services (Netflix, Amazon, HBO Go). As Product Manager Rishi Chandra mentioned when we caught up with him at CES, personalization is something Google will be focusing on going forward and that's shown in the updated app being pushed out today. When it's first opened, users will login and be asked to rate a few movies and shows so it can get a sense of their tastes to know what to present, Netflix-style. There's more information displayed up front too, with expanded descriptions, and details below each show so viewers can find out about the episode that's on more easily. For a few more details on what's new and refreshed, check after the break.