Samsung Phones/tablets To Get Jelly Bean

[TommoPhysicist]

Instead of starting a new thread, hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions in here. Firstly, why does it not charge through the USB if I connect it to a laptop or my USB car charger? They only seem to charge if plugged into the mains socket. Seems a bit daft considering it should be portable.

It does charge, but at one quarter the normal speed (500mA charging shows an X on the battery symbol)

The Samsung charger body has two resistors across the data line allowing a fast charge at 2000mA.

A lame attempt by Samsung to force you into buying their chargers.

Can be overcome using a custom charging lead (I believe two resistors are added between +5V, data, 0V).

http://forum.xda-dev...ad.php?t=903262

[mrbojangles]

Secondly. For a newbie to the Android world, has anyone got any recommendations for Apps that I should download?

A lot depends on what things you want to use your tablet for... But, generally, there was a separate thread here awhile back on people's top Android apps...and those lists from different members produced a lot of good solutions.

http://www.thaivisa....android-phones/

Good link. Cheers TallGuy, dowloaded several of those Apps already.

[mrbojangles]

Instead of starting a new thread, hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions in here. Firstly, why does it not charge through the USB if I connect it to a laptop or my USB car charger? They only seem to charge if plugged into the mains socket. Seems a bit daft considering it should be portable.

It does charge, but at one quarter the normal speed (500mA charging shows an X on the battery symbol)

The Samsung charger body has two resistors across the data line allowing a fast charge at 2000mA.

A lame attempt by Samsung to force you into buying their chargers.

Can be overcome using a custom charging lead (I believe two resistors are added between +5V, data, 0V).

http://forum.xda-dev...ad.php?t=903262

Thanks Tommo. Bit of a rip off from Samsung I think but I'll buy one of those adaptors that are now available.

[Pib]

Instead of starting a new thread, hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions in here. Firstly, why does it not charge through the USB if I connect it to a laptop or my USB car charger? They only seem to charge if plugged into the mains socket. Seems a bit daft considering it should be portable.

It does charge, but at one quarter the normal speed (500mA charging shows an X on the battery symbol)

The Samsung charger body has two resistors across the data line allowing a fast charge at 2000mA.

A lame attempt by Samsung to force you into buying their chargers.

Can be overcome using a custom charging lead (I believe two resistors are added between +5V, data, 0V).

http://forum.xda-dev...ad.php?t=903262

I think it can vary from tablet to tablet as to whether the Data+ and Data- connectors (the two middle connectors on a standard 4 pin USB connector like plugs into your computer) have some values of resistors across them/hooked to the voltage pins or are possibly the two Data pins being shorted which tells the tablet charging circuity/firmware whether the USB cable is plugged into a computer USB port which is limited to 500ma or to a dedicated wall/car charger which can pump out more than 500ma...usually up to 1000ma or 2000ma depending on the dedicated charger. Of course there are dedicated chargers that only put-out 500ma to 900ma, but these are generally made for lower power/small battery smartphones. And actually on a charger which has a max capacity of 2000ma charger I think the tablet will only ask for approx 1500ma max...maybe up to 1900ma max. The charge voltage/current comes from USB pins 1 and 4 which has the 5 Volts across them. Pins 1 and 4 (5V and Gnd respectively) for voltage/charging...and pins 2 & 3 (Data- and Data+, respectively) for data flow/sensing of charger type.

I know with my V971 when it was running something like a video with the CPU running full speed and screen on all the time it was draining approx 1200ma/hour from the battery which means its 6000ma battery would be fully depleted approx 5 hours...pretty normal for such a tablet...long enough to watch 2 or 3 movies. So even if you plugged it into a computer USB port while it was running that approx 500ma max being provided only partially offset the 1200ma being drawn...you still had a 700ma net discharge rate. The V971 manual even said don't charge from the USB port as it would take too long...charge with the tablet turned off from a dedicated charger of 1000ma or more...current V971's come with a 2000ma dedicated wall charger.

My Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 also comes with a 2000ma dedicated charger....the dedicated chargers that come with the Note and V971 are interchangeable (but their USB cables are not...the Note has a special cable)...I can even use either charger to charge my Galaxy Ace II smartphone through its microUSB port...it won't make my smartphone charge any faster as the smartphone firmware only asks for so much current/milliamps...the right amount to properly charge its smaller battery of around 1500ma capacity which is typical for a mid size/priced smartphone...the charger that came with my smartphone is a 700ma charger and fully charges the Ace II fully depleted battery in a little over 2 hours.

As FYI, just this afternoon I got a notice on my Samsung Galaxy Ace II smartphone (on the list to get JB) that there was an update for it....I thought maybe this is the JB update...but nope, it turned out to be just an update for its current Gingerbread 2.3.6. After the update which took about 10 minutes to install I had new kernel, baseband, and build numbers but it was still running 2.3.6.

[siam2007]

what's the update-status of the Samsung 7'7 ?

It was Samsungs most expensive and high-class TAB ever, but still came out with Honeycomb and has now somehow disappeared from the market, even it's release date was just 12 months ago.

it seems like there is no "automatic updating" possible, and I am not exactly an expert and have never used KIES software and no clue about it.

any hint where I could get this TAB updated to at least ICS if Jellybean is not available ?

[lomatopo]

what's the update-status of the Samsung 7'7 ?

Can you share any details? Model number? (P6800)? Current Android rev.? Baseband? Where did you buy it?

Does it work OK for you now? Which ICS or JB features do you think you require?

I am pretty certain there is an ICS update, not sure about JB.

http://www.android.gs/update-samsung-galaxy-tab-7-7-p6800-to-official-ics-xxlq1-firmware/

[TommoPhysicist]

My Tab 2 10.1 tried to upgrade OTA this morning ........ failed cos it was rooted.

Downloaded the file to my PC, launched ODIN, updated manually, then rooted.

Seems to work

Gallery can view photos on my WD Live Hub, using nearby devices.

Video player tries, and fails to view my movie collection. ....... processing.

[raro]

Off topic, but who came up with this annoying naming of software versions? I can perfectly remember the order of numbers, but the correct order of sweets is beyond me.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

[mrbojangles]

Off topic, but who came up with this annoying naming of software versions? I can perfectly remember the order of numbers, but the correct order of sweets is beyond me.

You just have to remember Alphabetically. "I" for IceCream Sandwich is the outgoing version, "J" for JellyBean is the current/new one. The next one will be starting with a "K".

Don't know who exactly came up with the idea though. Probably Google

[raro]

Off topic, but who came up with this annoying naming of software versions? I can perfectly remember the order of numbers, but the correct order of sweets is beyond me.

You just have to remember Alphabetically. "I" for IceCream Sandwich is the outgoing version, "J" for JellyBean is the current/new one. The next one will be starting with a "K".

Don't know who exactly came up with the idea though. Probably Google

ah-lor? Learn something new each day

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lomatopo]

The next one will be starting with a "K".

Don't know who exactly came up with the idea though. Probably Google

Key Lime Pie.

Cupcake, donut, eclair, froyo, gingerbread, honeycomb, ice cream sandwich, jellybean, key lime pie

After that: Lemon meringue?, Lollipop? Marshmallow? Nougat?

Just internal Google development names - initially used to keep competitors confused, while waiting for a final decision on product packaging/naming/numbering.

[TommoPhysicist]

Allshare Player, sort of works, can only stream video in the shared 'my document' folders.

But does work well for sharing files on your home PC worldwide.

Also works fine for streaming video on your local wifi.

Much better solution is Potato Server on your PC, Remote Media Center on your tablet.

Can then stream video from your home PC, to anywhere in the world ..... bandwidth allowing.

[siam2007]

what's the update-status of the Samsung 7'7 ?

Can you share any details? Model number? (P6800)? Current Android rev.? Baseband? Where did you buy it?

Does it work OK for you now? Which ICS or JB features do you think you require?

I am pretty certain there is an ICS update, not sure about JB.

http://www.android.g...xxlq1-firmware/

It is Samsung 7.7", Model GT-P6800bought in HKG in January 2013, long before it was available anywhere in South-East-AsiaAndroid 3.2Baseband ? Errrrr..... what is that ?it does work okay for me so far, but of course I would like to have it updated to the latest version available, particularly as many APPs seem to not so much like the 3.2 Version.which ICS features or Jellybean feature I do require ? I don't know as I am not aware in which fields ICS and Jellybean are more advanced than 3.2I am not exactly an Expert, BTW......

[lomatopo]

I am pretty certain there is an ICS update, not sure about JB.

http://www.android.g...xxlq1-firmware/

It is Samsung 7.7", Model GT-P6800bought in HKG in January 2013, long before it was available anywhere in South-East-AsiaAndroid 3.2Baseband ?

Are unable to upgrade this unit to Ice Cream Sandwich/Android 4.0.x? You should be able to upgrade over WiFi, or by using KiES, or ven by downloading the firmware and flashing it using ODIN.

Here is the same link, again:

http://www.android.gs/update-samsung-galaxy-tab-7-7-p6800-to-official-ics-xxlq1-firmware/

[2unique]

Both my friend and I had to replace our main boards last week apparently this JB firmware can cause the main board/mother board to deteriorate on the S3!

Phone kept restarting itself for 2 days before crashing completely...

Sent from Android please excuse errors in type or judgement

[Pib]

According to this SamMobile article it looks like Jelly Bean 4.1.2 for the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 (like the wife and I have) may be released in March/April 2013. Apparently pre-release testing is underway right now. Link

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

My wife has a Thailand purchased Galaxy S Advance (I9070), one of the models listed in Pib's OP above re a promised Jelly Bean update from Samsung.

Straight to JB next month. http://www.todroid.c...ate-in-january/

Well, Samsung didn't quite make January for updating the Galaxy S Advance to JB, at least not here in Thailand.

Checked my wife's AIS sourced phone last night for updates. Had none, and it's still running Gingerbread 2.3.6.

According to the linked blog, there's already an official JB update for the phone out in Russia, but apparently not elsewhere as yet. Now the talk seems to be heading toward March.

http://www.sammobile.com/2013/01/07/samsung-start-jelly-bean-updates-galaxy-advance/

[Pib]

According to this SamMobile article it looks like Jelly Bean 4.1.2 for the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 (like the wife and I have) may be released in March/April 2013. Apparently pre-release testing is underway right now. Link

Here's a 25 Feb 13 SamMobile article on Jelly Bean 4.1.2 for the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2. Link. Guess you can download/install a "leaked" version using Odin now at your own risk. I'll wait for the official Samsung OTA release which is hopefully get close (i.e., within a few months maybe).

[Pib]

And I just read another article on SamMobile about 4.1.2 being pushed to the Samsung Note N7000. So, I wondered about the Note 10.1" (N8000) which my wife uses. I grabbed the Note 10.1", checked for an OTA software update, an update had already been downloaded (114Mb worth), it asked if I wanted to install now, I said yes, and in approx 7 minutes the upgrade was complete. The tablet was upgraded from JB 4.1.1. to JB 4.1.2. I just checked to see if YouTube siill worked, it did, I turned the tablet off, will play with it tomorrow (if the wife allows) to see if I can find/notice any real changes/improvements from 4.1.1.

[lomatopo]

At the top-most level: Google/Nexus devices, there may be a 4.2.2 release out. Android 5.0 (Key Lime Pie) is due at Google I/O May 15 - 17.

I assume there will be some new Nexus devices: N5 (Sony?)? New N7? N7.8?

I think the SGS4 is due next month (March 15) so that will not have KLP, in its initial launch anyway.

[Pib]

Here's an article with a nice chart comparing the major features between the Android versions (the chart lists Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie but doesn't list any features yet). The chart also shows the market share for each version. Interesting in how the bulk of the market share is still in the lower versions of Android like Gingerbread versions 2.3.3 - 2.3.7 which still commands over 45% of the market share...and it looks like the various Jelly Bean (JB) versions have around 15% of the market share right now. But as Jelly Bean continues to get pushed out to update/upgrade Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich versions to JB and new phones get released with JB/Key Lime Pie already installed then the higher versions will slowly continue their march to take the largest market share position.

When a person looks at the features/changes made with each new Android version release, the new features/changes are usually minor in many cases and there's a good chance a person may never notice or use the change. However, the way industry hypes each new release and the way some people make posts along the lines "how they can't wait to get the new release" it can make a person think the release of a new version is an earth shaking event. But hey, a lot of minor feature improvements/changes/bug fixes/etc., adds up after a while and is definitely worthwhile to have; not earth shaking, but worthwhile.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Overall, I'd say there were a lot of useability improvements from Gingerbread to ICS, and that upgrade didn't seem to cause too much unanticipated grief. So overall, probably worth doing, although Gingerbread was/is a pretty stable platform.

The initially released version of JB got a lot plaudits for making devices' operation "smoother" and again offered various usability enhancements. But the secondary JB release seemed to create a lot of unanticipated problems, which have been posted on here previously.

I've had a mobile and a tablet make the transition from original purchase GB to manufacturer-provided ICS upgrade without much grief. But I'd be a bit more reserved about any potential JB upgrade, depending on which version was being offered.

[Pib]

Something else that can possibly be as important as the core Android operating system upgrade say from ICS to JB for user enjoyment and perception of major operating system improvements is the User Interface (UI) that the Android tablet/smartphone manufacturer integrates/designs around the core Android version.

I mean the difference between a plain jane JB/ICS User Interface and pretty/additional features added JB/ICS User Interface. The UI can really make a difference in how people perceive and enjoy their device....heck, even the boot-up screen & sequence can make a difference in the perception. Things like the camera App specifically designed for your model with plenty of features/settings vs being a generic/few features/few settings camera App, and just how the UI themes/menus are structured to aesthetically appeal to the User. Yeap, the manufacturer designed UI integrated with the Android operating system can make a big difference at least on the surface...and some people never go much below the surface in the day-to-day use of their Android device.

And just for example, I've installed the various manufacturer releases of JB on my Onda V971 tablet (Onda seems to do a good job in releasing firmware updates)....each release had a noticeably different UI...different Apps (sometimes called bloatware) which couldn't easily be un-installed unless the firmware was rooted (and firmware is rooted on the V971)...different theme backgrounds....etc....although the basic JB version was still 4.1.1. And as mentioned in my earlier posts, I reverted back to ICS 4.0.3 on my V971 for various usability, speed, and battery life reasons...and the UI with the ICS pleased me just as much as the UI with the JB. After I removed most to all the bloatware Apps I was pretty much back to basic JB release which didn't seem hardly different from the ICS release. Yeap, the manufacturer's UI can make a big difference.

[lomatopo]

For people here in Thailand I am pretty certain you are relying on the local subsidiary (Samsung/Thailand) to localize releases, QA them and then distribute them. Based on past/recent experiences you might want to add 3 - 12 months to any first regional release before you should expect one for THL. With 'unusual' variants (low volume) you might have to wait even longer.

http://www.samsung.com/th/article/firmware-update-announcement

(Google translated)

[lomatopo]

I installed Android 4.2.2 (Google/Nexus) on my SGS2 today. It is almost too fast.

[snarky66]

I am using a S2 (SGH-I777) here in USA. It has 4.0.4 I called my local ATT tech support who told me I can bring the phone in but if they flash it to JB I might lose all my data. KIES states that for sure if I install it I will lose all my settings & data. Waste of time I reckon.

"Settings" "About" "Software Update" says I have the latest version.

[pmugghc]

According to the chart lomatopo posted the S2 should have received 4.1 (I assume 4.1.2) in March. Did anyone get it yet? OTA or Kies?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Shurup]

It wasn't made available for Thailand yet AFAIK.

I downloaded and flushed the 4.1.2 for Nordic countries and received another OTA update since.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

My wife, as I mentioned above, has a AIS Thailand sourced Samsung Galaxy S Advance...

Due for Jb, but didn't get it back in January... Now mid April and still nothing. Still on GB.

[Pib]

Finally, Jelly Bean 4.1.2 has been released for the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 (GT-I8160L for Thailand).

A few minutes ago, I was messing around on the Sammoble website and checked their firmware area...it showed a Jun 13 JB 4.1.2 release for the Thailand GT-I8160L. Thailand was the only country on the list so far to reflect the JB update for the GT-I8160L....I'm sure more country specific releases will come for the GT-I8160L as the website shows other models of the Ace 2 like the GT-I8160 and GT-1860P started JB 4.1.2 country specific releases over the last few months.

This upgrade takes the Ace 2 all the way from Gingerbread 2.3.6 to JB 4.1.2...no in-between steps like first going to ICS 4.0 or JB 4.1.1.

Ok, I'm now using a Samsung S4 but I turned on my Ace 2 and checked for an OTA firmware/software update...there was one....it's now downloading an update package 400.73MB in size. Keeping my fingers crossed the update completes the download and the OTA firmware upgrade flashes OK...if it does I will turn on the wife's Ace 2 (she now uses an S4 also) and upgrade her Ace 2 also. Fingers crossed...166Mb of 400Mb downloaded.