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Want to make sure your gadget is running the latest software? Sometimes that’s easy… sometimes it’s less easy. And sometimes it’s officially unsupported.
Today’s roundup of tech stories from around the web includes a few OS updates: Hackers have figured out how to install Android 4.4 KitKat on Google’s now-defunct Nexus Q media streaming orb. Meanwhile, Mozilla has provided official instructions for loading Firefox OS 1.1Â on the ZTE Open, one of the first phones to ship with Firefox OS 1.0.
Mozilla’s update brings support for some pretty basic features, including push notifications, MMS picture messaging, and downloading media files from the web browser.
Here are some of the headlines in today’s tech news.
- How to manually upgrade a ZTE Open to Firefox 1.1
There’s no over-the-air update for the ZTE Open phone yet, but if you want to update from Firefox OS 1.0 to version 1.1, you can do it manually. [Mozilla Hacks] - If you’re one of the few folks with a Google Nexus Q TV box, now you can run Android 4.4 on it (unofficially)
Google sort of killed the Nexus Q before it had a chance to live… but if you happen to have one lying around, it can now run the latest version of Android thanks to an unofficial KitKat port. [xda-developers] - BlackBerry reportedly cancels two low-end phones before launching them
Speaking of killing products before they even launched, apparently BlackBerry is taking a writeoff on two phones that won’t be launching in emerging markets anytime soon. [WSJ] - Rumor: Samsung may be working on a fitness tracker, the Samsung Galaxy Band
Samsung already has a product you can wear on your wrist. Soon the company may have another, this time designed to track your steps, distance traveled, and other fitness stats. [Pocket Lint] - Untethered jailbreak for older Apple devices running iOS 6.1.5
This weekend a jailbreak utility was released for devices running iOS 7. Now there’s a new untethered jailbreak tool for devices with A4 processors and iOS 6.1.5. That includes the 4th-gen iPod touch and 1st-gen iPad, neither of which can run iOS 7. [9to5Mac] - Is Asus teasing a dual-boot tablet? Or just multiple colors? Or something else?
Asus has posted a pre-CES teaser video that’s leaving some folks scratching their heads. Engadget figures it’s a sign of an upcoming dual-boot tablet, but it could be a teaser for multiple products, a device that comes in multiple colors, or something completely different. We should find out in a few weeks. [Engadget]
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Yep – I have an Archos 80 G9 Turbo that Archos failed to provide any OS upgrade path for, and due to low buyer traffic (the original 80 G9 non-turbo, really was a terrible processor and memory choice for Archos), well, due to low buyer traffic, there has been no Ubuntu hacker provided option that has popped up either. So, it is stuck in old OS version land… AND, with that move, Archos made a mistake as some others I know, will not buy another Archos product because of the possibility they will pull the same trick. My suggestion is to go with a very popular open tablet, the more open, and the more popular the better (as it will have the hacker attention to extend it’s life that we all will want).
Sometimes upgrades are not all that. Like the Android 4.3 auto-update last week that broke text re-flow in all the web browsers on my tablet.
Thanks, Google.