Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and S Advance may receive Jelly Bean upgrade

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It was recently reported that Samsung would be updating their flagship Android smartphone the Galaxy S III to Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean) by October and this news should please most users who have purchased this handset. Two more Samsung smartphones, namely the Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy S Advance, as per a post by GSMArena, may get the Jelly Bean update as well.

If this update does take place, these handsets may not get the Ice Cream Sandwich OS and may directly be upgraded to Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean). As per the post on GSMArena, the author states, “We've got some great news for those owning the NovaThor U8500-powered Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy S Advance. Apparently the two mid-range smartphones will be getting the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean treatment without any Ice Cream Sandwich jump in-between.”

May come on two more Samsung handsets

They go on to state that this information was provided to them by their readers from Bulgaria who alerted them about this possible Android v4.1 update to the Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy S Advance handsets. They state that their readers had contacted the local Samsung branch in Bulgaria and queried if these two handsets would be receiving Android v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). They were surprised when they were given the reply that these two handsets would be getting a direct upgrade to Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean) and would not get Ice Cream Sandwich before that.

The report by GSMArena also states, “Of course, it could be that whoever is in charge of supporting the Samsung Bulgaria Facebook page got their facts wrong, but if that's not the case, the company deserves a pat on the back for taking such good care of its mid-range offerings. It will probably take a few more months for the update to be finalized, but we are really hoping it will come before the end of the year.”

One of last year’s best handsets, the Samsung Galaxy S II will be getting the much anticipated Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update in a month or two. Any Galaxy S II that has been manufactured in April 2012 or later comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box.

According to SamMobile, the firmware being tested by Samsung is working fine and the company will release the public KIES release version. Provided no further problems are caused by the update, the Galaxy S II will get the update to Android v4.1.1 in September or October.

For those interested in purchasing the Galaxy S II, here is a quick look at its highlighted features:

• 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus Gorilla Glass display sporting a 480 x 800 pixel resolution with 16 million colours
• Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a Mali-400MP GPU
• 4G (HSPA+ 21MBPs), EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA compliance(AllShare), Wi-Fi hotspot support, Wi-Fi Direct
• GPS with a-GPS
• Bluetooth 3.0+HS, USB 2.0 with MHL for media out and USB-on-the-go
• 8MP AF camera with LED flash supporting 1080p video capture @30fps
• 16GB and 32GB capacities with 32Gb microSD card support
• NFC support
• DivX, XviD video codec support with 1080p video playback support

New range of iMac desktops could be in the works

When Apple took to the stage at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, the brand had taken the wraps off its latest notebooks. The notebook that took the centre stage was the MacBook Pro with Retina Display capabilities. This new notebook was praised the world over for reasons much more than its above average resolution. Apple's desktop line-up took a backseat, and did not warrant a mention at the event, though it did receive a slight bump up in specifications. Many rumours since then indicate that Apple could be making a new range of desktops. A recent report by Fox News backs these speculations by claiming that a new range of iMacs are in the works.

As per the report, the author Clayton Morris states, “Multiple sources tell me that a new lineup of desktop machines from Apple is imminent. A quick look around Amazon's website shows dried up supplies for the 27-inch version. The popular MacRumors website looked at Apple store supplies and found dwindling availability as well, although 21-inch iMacs do appear to be widely available.”

May be coming soon

Apple may add Retina Display to its upcoming iMacs. However, the report quotes Instapaper creator Marco Arment who stated in a blog post, “I’ve now heard from multiple sources that while an iMac update is indeed coming this fall, it will not have Retina displays.”

While we may not witness a high end resolution on the next iMac desktops, some hardware specifications may surely make the cut. These include the new Ivy Bridge processors, improved graphics chips, USB 3.0 along with expanded SSD capacities. Though there may be some major improvements, something that will not make the cut will be the optical dries, a feature which Apple may ditch altogether when they upgrade their desktops.

Commenting on the removal of the optical disc drive, Apple Insider states, “The appearance of new Mac Pro and iMac models in the USB booting support list doesn't definitively mean the models won't have optical drives, as it also lists MacBook and MacBook Pro models that do incorporate an optical drive. At the same time, Apple has clearly indicated in the newest Mac mini and Retina Display MacBook Pro that it plans to get rid of optical disc drives as soon as possible across the board, providing an external USB drive as an option for users who need one. Users increasingly have fewer opportunities to use optical drives, as the bulk of third party software is now available as a digital download either directly from the vendor or through Apple's App Store. Apple also sees digital distribution as the future of music and movies, as exemplified in Apple TV, which has never included an optical drive.”

In June, in a letter to a Mac Pro customer regarding a concern about the Mac Pro refresh, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has stated that Apple was working on an update for that particular line-up of desktops. He stated, “Our Pro customers like you are really important to us. Although we didn’t have a chance to talk about a new Mac Pro at today’s event, don’t worry as we’re working on something really great for later next year. We also updated the current model today. We’ve been continuing to update Final Cut Pro X with revolutionary pro features like industry leading multi-cam support and we just updated Aperture with incredible new image adjustment features. We also announced a MacBook Pro with a Retina Display that is a great solution for many pros.”

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