As things wind down for the holidays, and the torrent of international Android news temporarily slows to a trickle, there’s just enough time for one last weekly round-up. And despite the incoming festivities, there’s been plenty of interesting pre-Christmas news.
The week started with news of a serious security vulnerability in certain Samsung phones, which could allow a rogue app to take complete control of affected handsets. The was exploit discovered in kernel code for phones running Samsung’s Exynos CPU, meaning it affects devices like the international Galaxy S3 and S2, as well as all Galaxy Note 2 models. It’s a bg deal, and Samsung has acknowledged its existence, saying it’s working to deliver a fix “as quickly as possible.”
CES 2013 is just around the corner, and we learned plenty this week about Sony’s next high-end offering. Dubbed the CX660, “Yuga,” and rumored to come to market as the Xperia Z, the new Sony flagship looks set to feature a 5-inch 1080p screen, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro and a fancy new design with a glass back. Russian site Mobile-Review did an unofficial hands-on piece with a prototype, confirming many details about the phone. And according to late-breaking rumors, the ‘Xperia Z’ will also be the first handset to incorporate Sony’s ‘OptiContrast’ tech for reduced screen glare.
In update news, the international Galaxy S3 got its ‘premium suite’ upgrade in the UK and other European countries, bringing Android 4.1.2, ‘multi-window’ full-screen multi-tasking and many other new TouchWiz features. Meanwhile, Aussie carrier Telstra got around to pushing out the original Jelly Bean update for the phone, based around version 4.1.1.
We also wrapped up our Galaxy Camera coverage this week, publishing a full video walkthrough of the Android-powered point-and-shoot camera, and also delivering our full review. The bottom line — it’s good, and there’s definitely a future in smart cameras, but Samsung’s first effort leaves some room for improvement. Check the full review to find out exactly why.
And finally, if you’re doing any traveling in the UK over the holidays, you may want to check out Google’s Field Trip app, which became available to British users through Google Play this week. Field Trip is designed to help you discover interesting places around you — for example restaurants, bars, venues and historical sites. Field Trip’s database is still growing, but the app seems to work best in the south of England.
We’re not expecting too much breaking news in the next week, for obvious reasons. But we’ll be kicking off 2013 with a bang, as we prepare to travel to Las Vegas for CES 2013. Stay tuned to AC, and all the other Mobile Nations sites, for full coverage of everything mobile-related at the show.