Galaxy Note gets an official Jelly Bean ROM courtesy of the XDA community

An official ROM from a hackers community such as the XDA? I know, it doesn’t make much sense on first sight, but bear with me. Think of this ROM as a leaked release of the official Samsung-made XXLS2 firmware.

We’ve all known for some time that Samsung is cooking a delicious Jelly bean serving for the original Galaxy Note owners, but the company is yet to release that.

So if you cannot bear to wait any longer, here’s your chance of getting some new tricks running on your smartphone. What better thing to do over the weekend with all this bad weather coming up across Europe.

Here’s a userland video that shows some of the new features brought along with the update:

User reports say the ROM has been stable so far, but as usual with these things, if Samsung have not yet deemed it ready for release, there still might be some kinks to iron out. So make sure you know what you’re doing and always have a contingency plan.

So has anybody of you installed it already? Does it fix the black clipping issue?

Thanks for the tip, musashiro.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

JibJab gets political with the Great American Dance Off!

Want to declare your political allegiance in such a way that demonstrates that you have a sense of humor about the entire horse race? JibJab is here to help, with the Great American Dance Off.

As counter-intuitive as it seems, election years are really not the best time to support political figures. And especially not this election year. After all, partisan arguments on both side of the aisle seem to have reached record levels – and record levels of arguing without bothering to actually listen to the other side, it seems – and the risk of accidentally upsetting someone by declaring a preference for one political candidate over another feels as if it is higher than ever before. And yet, it’s also the time when many people feel the most inclination to declare a preference, if only to out themselves as a supporter for a red or blue state mentality to the greater world. How, then, can you tell the Internet which Presidential candidate is going to get your vote without causing a fight on your Facebook comments thread? By dancing with them, of course.

Enter JibJab’s Great American Dance Off! Instead of simply, dryly, telling the world that Willard Mitt Romney or Barack Hussein Obama is your candidate of choice, it proposes, why not do so in a way that demonstrates that you haven’t lost your sense of humor about the whole thing? The Great American Dance Off! allows users to upload a photograph of themselves that will then be inserted in an animation where they will dance with either Obama or Romney that can be emailed to friends, or posted to either Facebook or Twitter.

That JibJab are getting in on the political act this year shouldn’t come as a surprise; it is a company, after all, that made its name initially with an animated duet between George W. Bush and John Kerry performing a version of “This Land is My Land”  in time for the 2004 elections, and followed that for the 2008 elections with “Time for Some Campaignin’” featuring Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, Hillary and Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Although the company announced earlier this year that they weren’t going to release a parody song for this year’s campaign, clearly they couldn’t find the strength to stay away from the subject entirely.

The Dance Off! does more than just allow users to watch themselves boogie with their Presidential bros, however; JibJab are also counting up how many users are selecting each candidate, to create a somewhat unscientific straw poll of JibJab users’ political preferences, and if it’s anything to go by, the real thing is going to end up very close indeed: At time of writing, Romney is trailing Obama by just 33,000 jigs, which – considering the traditional (if, potentially, mythical) left-leaning bias of tech early adopters – suggests that Romney is connecting with more voters than many within the political punditsphere are prepared to admit. Expect a long night come November 6… but at least you can spend part of it dancing.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

RIM execs serenade BlackBerry developers with ‘Keep on Loving You’ music video

Has Research In Motion finally lost the plot? Or is it merely showing everyone it has a sense of humor? A new music video starring company executives thanks BlackBerry developers for sticking with its mobile platform, promising better days ahead.

Research In Motion (RIM) may be experiencing the toughest time in its 28-year history, but it hasn’t forgotten how to have bit of fun.

At its BlackBerry Jam developer conference in San Jose on Tuesday, the mobile company decided to entertain its attendees – or possibly horrify a few of them – with a slickly-produced music video featuring three RIM executives singing a developer-focused version of the classic REO Speedwagon hit, Keep on Loving You.

The video is apparently RIM’s way of expressing its appreciation for developers that have stuck with the BlackBerry platform.

“This video is a thank you to all developers supporting the BlackBerry platform. Your Developer Relations, Alliance and Developer Tools teams appreciate your enthusiasm and loyalty! We’re Going To Keep On Loving You,” reads the accompanying blurb on YouTube.

The three-and-a-half-minute production kicks off with the lyrics:

We’ve all seen these are challenging times, baby,

‘Cuz we’re in transition.

A whole new mobile computing platform may be

one tough proposition.

So don’t be misled,

The launch is just ahead,

We’ll have BlackBerry 10 both in full touch and QWERTY editions.

In a message to BlackBerry developers, vocalist Alec Saunders – RIM’s VP of developer relations and ecosystem – sings, “We’re gonna keep on loving you,” at the same time reassuring them that “our updated SDK is really cool.”

Check it out at the end of this piece and let us know: epic fail or good laugh?

Besides serenading the developers, RIM is also hoping to hold on to existing ones, or even attract new ones, by offering $10,000 per BB10 app submitted to its app store, provided it meets certain quality requirements.

The video was screened on the same day that RIM boss Thorsten Heins announced some better news for the Ontario-based company. Against expectations, BlackBerry subscriber numbers rose to 80 million for the quarter ending September, an increase of two million from earlier this year.

RIM’s future rests heavily on its next mobile operating system, BB10, which is set to launch early next year, together with a number of new handsets. Hopefully the Keep On Loving You video released on Tuesday won’t have scared off too many developers, and the phones can come to market with plenty of BB10 apps to choose from.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

SongPop Plans to Add New Features as It Celebrates 4 Million Daily Active Users

                                                                                                                (Image Credit: SongPop)

If you’ve heard people talking about the latest social game – Song Pop – it would certainly make sense. Twenty-five million people have downloaded the app since mid-May, says FreshPlanet, the company behind the game. And of that, 4 million, or 16 percent, are actively playing and guessing songs every day.

It’s one of the fastest-growing apps, according to AppData, although Draw Something hit 50 million downloads in 50 days.

The app, which is available for iOS, Android and Facebook, lets you guess the name of popular songs. You can sign in via Facebook and when you play against a friend it is timed to see who can choose the song title the fastest; the one who guesses the fastest wins the round. (You don’t have to guess simultaneously, your opponent can guess on their own time.)

The game, like just Draw Something or Words with Friends, can become quite addictive, in large part because you’re playing against friends. And the company’s CEO and co-founder, Mathieu Nouzareth, is determined to make it an even more social game.

“We are building more social network features in the game and we will launch a chat system,” Nouzareth told ABC News.

The majority of users login via Facebook and 16 million people play actively on Facebook itself. In addition to the chat system, users will be able to create profiles. Nouzareth also shared that the company is expanding the music selection.

Zynga bought OMG Pop, the maker of Draw Something, for $180 million in March, but Nouzareth isn’t thinking about selling to any big company just yet: “Right now, we are very much focusing on building the business.”

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Hands-on with Solid Gray backpack: Ninja Turtle-style storage for your gadgets

The indestructible Solid Gray backpack we heard about last fall is finally in our hands, but does its quirky design actually make sense for everyday use and abuse?

It’s back-to-school season, so backpacks might be one of the first things on your mind before heading back to classes. Wouldn’t it be great to own something one-of-a-kind that will have everyone on campus wondering where in the world you managed to find it? The Solid Gray backpack should do the trick. Boasting hardshell sturdiness fit to protect all your back to school gadgets, is this the right backpack for your new year? Come along on this hands-on to find out.

Look and feel

Made of a single sheet of copolymer, the Solid Gray backpack is, first and foremost, extremely lightweight. The weight feels comparable to a tablet, which, considering the size, means it’s pretty thin. The origami-meets-armadillo-meets-ninja turtle design is certainly strange and unique, and it almost makes you look like a stormtrooper student heading to class.

Opening the bag is also quite odd. There are two levers at the top that you push up to release and down to close. Since the copolymer material isn’t particularly plush, it takes a bit of pushing to get the levers to move. Inside, you’ll find the base lined with foam. Unfortunately, only this bottom level is lined, which makes us wonder how this bag is supposed to protect your gadgets in their entirety.

Comfort level

Since the bag is designed to look so pretty crazy, it comes as no surprise that wearing it isn’t particularly the most pleasant experience. What do they say… beauty is pain? So is looking like you’re from the future, apparently.

Don’t expect cushions of cloud wrapping your shoulders and back — although the straight back does have two flexible slits to help it bend better, the bag does little to conform to the body. Especially on a female body like mine, the bag barely followed the curves of my back and behind, making it feel a little awkward to wear and sit during commutes. But then again, comparing copolymer to fabric is quite difficult. This is why we’re not surprised the bag isn’t exactly the most fun thing to wear. It feels as if the bag wants to help correct my posture instead of carry my stuff.

Solid Gray can accommodate a volume of 15 liters, or approximately four gallons. It will also fit a laptop up to 15.6-inch in screen size. This is plenty of volume, but the strange shape of the bag is hard to adjust. Much of the weight of the bag, once items are stuffed inside, falls in the extruding part, which does little to evenly distribute weight. Again, this isn’t fun to endure if you’re aiming to travel heavily with this bag. Did I mention the edges of the bag are also a bit sharp? Be careful when opening and packing the bag as you might end up scratching yourself if not careful.

Durability

Being that Solid Gray is a hardshell, it also makes quite a noise when you swing it around or toss it on a chair. Despite the fact that it’s supposed to be protecting your belongings, the clunk! sound that occurs when it makes contact with anything makes me nervous for my gadgets. The inside also offers just one main strap to hold things down, making it harder for smaller gadgets, such as an iPod Nano, to stay in place.

While the bag does help protect against external elements from reaching your items, I fear that it’s the items rubbing against each other inside that’s the issue. Yes, the straps can hold some things down, but running to class will still cause the tinier gadgets to tumble around. I want to love this bag, but having no individualized pockets is also a peeve. The bag is also just water resistent rather than waterproof because of unsealed seams, so little droplets might still find their way inside the bag if worn during moderate rainfall. Solid Gray offers a separate rain cover for purchase, but who wants to pay extra on top of a bag that already costs upward of $100? It may be marketed as a bag, but it feels much more like a box with straps.

Final verdict

Is the Solid Gray backpack one super-cool looking piece of gear? For sure. If you dig the futuristic, stormtrooper style, you won’t find another bag like it. Is it the most practical bag for back to school season? Not particularly. Those interested in something nerdy and fashion-forward would enjoy this bag for casual wear or packing clothes for overnight trips, but for daily use at school or work, this probably isn’t the right backpack. I would also prefer if Solid Gray incorporated a hook at the top of the bag so hanging it up at home would be easier for storage.

The innovative design is definitely there, and with a few tweaks, Solid Gray has the potential to be an awesome nerd’s accessory. For now, it’s still got a little growing up to do, and a lot more comfort to add. Solid Gray is available now in white with white or black straps, or white with a logo design along the middle, for $170 and $195, respectively.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com