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. 

Starbucks App finally comes to Android devices in Canada and the UK

For many months now, Android users had to watch longingly at their iPhone-toting counterparts as they whipped out their devices to quickly scan and pay for Starbucks drinks and food. Android users in Canada now have the same priviledge and can set up the official Android app for mobile payments.

Available now at the Google Play Store, the Starbucks app brings all the key features to Android such as location information, the ability to pay using bar codes on the screen as well as integration with PayPal for re-upping the coffee fund.

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Genius Scan turns your iPhone or Android into a pocket scanner

The Grizzly Labs, the company behind Genius Scan, today announced the release of Genius Scan 1.0 for Android. After helping more than 8 million iPhone users to digitize and organize their paper documents, Genius Scan is now available to millions of Android users.

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Via Technologies outs $49.99 APC Android PC

Android's open nature means that it can be ported to various devices such as smartphones, tablets and even micro-PC's. Via Technologies has revealed a barebones PC running a modified version of Android 3.2 that is expected to cost arounf $50.00 when it comes out. The APC will be powered by a VIA 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM, 2GB flash memory for storage, and onboard graphics capable of 720p HD video. HDMI, VGA, 4 x USB, audio out / in, microSD and Ethernet. Possible uses are deployment in government and industrial environments as well as in education.

Source: VR Zone