LG Optimus 2X, Optimus Black and Sony Xperia Arc S and Mini Pro denied Android upgrades

Proving once again that there are no guaranteed OS upgrades with certain Android smartphone manufacturers. LG and Sony have both recently indicated that certain recent models will not be receiving Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean updates.

In LG's case, it is the Optimus Black and Optimus 2X which are stuck in Gingerbread-land. LG Canada broke the sad news on Twitter recently stating, “The Optimus Black will not be receiving the ICS upgrade” LG Canada said through the popular social network.  LG sent a similar message regarding the Optimus 2X which was expected to get the software updates.

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Review: Google Nexus 7 Jelly Bean tablet

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Google's Nexus 7 is a potentially game changing Android tablet that has the rare opportunity of establishing Google's mobile OS as the preferred choice in the 7-inch space.

Manufactured by ASUS, which saw some success in its 10-inch Transformer line, the Nexus 7 features a fast quad-core Tegra 3 processor, stunning graphics architecture, a great 7-inch screen and most importantly a relatively affordable price tag of $200 for the 8GB version and $259.00 for the 16GB version.

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Google's Nexus 7 tablets arriving in Canadian stores before pre-orders ship

Updated on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 12:53PM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Updated on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 4:11PM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

A number of Canadian early adopters who pre-ordered Google's Galaxy Nexus on June 27 are upset that their tablets haven't yet shipped while some retail stores like Staples have already sold out of their initial stock. Some buyers, like myself,  are thinking of cancelling their onlinepre- orders and instead hope to find one of these 7-inch Android Jelly Bean tablets in the wild. This would  save them some money as Google Play demands a $20.00, 2-day shipping and handling charge.

The 16GB variant of the Google Nexus 7 is apparently available online and in stores from Staples.ca with free one day delivery.

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Android OS 4.1 Jelly Bean update now available to Canadian Nexus devices

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

If you are in Canada and have a HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus smartphone, now might be a good time to check for he Android 4.1 (codenamed Jelly Bean) update. After days of relentless checking, I got frustrated and turned off my test device for half a day. When I turned it on again and ran the test over WiFi and on Airplane Mode (Settings > About Phone > System Updates > Check Now) to see if the update was available, and it was!

It will take a few days to a week for the update to be made available to all devices, these over the air updates do take time to deploy.

So far I am impressed with Jelly Bean's overall performance (slicker, more fluid and less laggy thanks to "Project Butter" enhancements. Google Now, which is their impressive real-time, location based search and voice recognition app is far, far better than S Voice.

There's real potential here and this may seem like a minor upgrade, but it is not. This is really the best reason to own a pure Google Nexus device - fast access to the latest software without any need of rooting or silly workarounds. Here's the complete list of Jelly Bean features.