Google to drop support for Android Jelly Bean

Here's your signal to upgrade soon if you're still clinging to old Android phones running on Jelly Bean. The company will no longer support Android 4.1 to 4.3 Jelly Bean after August. The phones will still work, but you could lose access and support to apps over time as Google and its developers abandon this version.

Not many people will be affected by this change as less than 1% of Android users are still using handsets powered by Jelly Bean as of this month. But as GadgetMatch pointed out, it's good to not stick with using devices that feature too old versions of Android as developers tend to drop these in favour of working on newer features.

A large number of Android devices won’t be able to run Google Chrome soon

A recent commit for Google Chrome suggests at least 32 million Android devices won’t be able to use the mobile browser soon. The API level for the Chrome mobile browser will be raised from 4.1 to 4.4, so this means those devices that still run on Android Jelly Bean will not be able to use Chrome. Based on the latest figures, Jelly Bean is still used on 3.2% of Android devices and if there are roughly one billion phones and tablets using Google’s open source mobile OS, this means it can possibly affect 32 million devices. But then again, it might be time for an upgrade. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean first came out on July 10, 2012, while the first stable version of Chrome on mobile came out on June 27, 2012.

Source: PhoneArena

LG unveils Android-powered, notebook-sized Tab Book 11 in South Korea

Want an Android-powered tablet that can easily pass off as a notebook? LG recently unveiled the Tab Book 11 in South Korea. It is an 11.6-inch Android Jelly Bean tablet that runs on an Intel Core i5 Haswell processor, Intel HD 4400 graphics, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid state drive. It has a Full HD 1920x1080p IPS display and includes two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, and a microSD card reader. It’s quite a hefty device though at 2.3 pounds due to the non-detachable keyboard hidden underneath the tablet. We’re not sure if this thing will make its way out of Korea but if it does, would you get one?

Source: Ubergizmo

Sony releases Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to more Xperia devices

Following the recent Android Jelly Bean update for the Xperia Z Ultra and Z1, Sony is rolling out the 4.3 version of its OS to the Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z, ZL, and ZR. These four devices will be gaining access to the OS updates features as well as the Smart Social Camera from Sony. There will also be a new suite of Sony-made apps for these Xperia users, including MyXperia, Messaging, Small apps, TrackID, Sony Select, and Smart Connect.