Ice Cream Sandwich ready for Verizon’s Motorola XOOM 4G LTE, support docs posted

Following an invitation for members of the Motorola Feedback Network to take part in a new software soak test, Verizon has posted the changelog for the Motorola XOOM’s Android 4.0 update. The update will soon be available for users with 4G LTE-upgraded XOOM models and will bring the tablet’s software version to IMM76kK. Verizon has taken the opportunity to highlight some of the numerous changes XOOM owners can expect thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich, including homescreen folders, data usage monitoring, and a customizable launch bar.

The update will also address bugs and enhance performance, which should be music to the ears of those with the XOOM. The lengthy changelog is continued below.

[via DroidLife]

Google Adds In-App Subscription Support, Managed Through The Play Store

About a year ago, Apple debuted in-app subscriptions on its App Store - now Google is following suit with the introduction of in-app subscription support on the Play Store. Developers can take advantage of this system very easily, by simply adding a subscription option to their apps with a price and billing period (subscriptions will show up for users in their Play Store under a new category). Google takes care of the rest - all subscriptions are auto-renewing, and can be managed by users through the Play Store interface.

Bigger developers can utilize an HTTP support API to hook in-app subscriptions into backend enterprise servers for validation and cancellation (read: DRM), as well as to make multi-platform subscriptions easier to manage. For example, buying a subscription to a publisher's entire suite of services on a variety of apps through a single in-app purchase could be accomplished without the need for messy logins - download another one of the publisher's apps that grants access to premium features through the subscription, and it just works.

One of the first developers taking advantage of the HTTP API will be GluMobile, in the form of an in-game currency subscription (disgusting, I know) that can be used across all of the company's titles, without the need for a 3rd-party login or account management service. Nifty.

To learn more about in-app subscriptions, check out this Android Developer Blog Post.

Android Developer Blog

Samsung cares, releases new support app to help prove it

Samsung as a company is massive and although I'm sure we all would prefer it if they concentrated only on mobile devices, that's not the case. They have a ton of products out there on the market ranging from mobile phones, fridges, washers and more. Supporting all of those products can be quite a hassle but Samsung wants you to know they do in fact care about each and every support question that may be out there, no matter which one of their products you may be using.

In an effort to show that they've gone ahead and released a new mobile app called Samsung Cares. The Samsung Cares app covers a wide array of Samsung products and for each you can view online tutorial videos, review support documentation and even check your warranty status, repair status and more. Plus, if you're still not finding the information you need it provides support numbers for Samsung directly. Sure, some folks may not find it useful at all but the fact it even exists is a nice gesture from Samsung. Want to check the app out? The link is below for downloading it.

"Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada. Chris is fluent in all mobile languages and loves anything with a power button."

Latest CyanogenMod 9 Nightlies Now Include Theme Engine Support – AOKP Gets In On The Action As Well

  

If you’re currently running a rooted device that happens to be blessed with CyanogenMod 9 support, you’ll be glad to know that the world famous custom ROM now includes theme engine support in their latest “nightlies.”

Just like we saw back in CM7 (their previous Gingerbread custom ROM), users can once again take their customizing to new heights with the option to change everything from the color and icons of their favorite ROM. Very unlike CM7 however, is the Theme Chooser app has been kicked to the curb in favor of the new “Themes” option, accessed straight from within the settings app.

Also added in the latest CM9 nightlies are custom lockscreen shortcuts (picture above) that can be tweaked to launch your favorite and most used apps. Oh — and if you’re an AOKP fan, one of the devs from that project let everyone know via his Twitter today that this new themeing engine will also be making its way into their ROMs as well.

I always felt ICS could use a little more pink in it. Definitely excited to give this a go. Here’s a quick video showing off this fresh new feature in action.

[CM9 Nightlies | Google+ | Via Droid-Life]

Verizon LG Spectrum Build VS920ZV5 Ready To Go, According To Verizon Support Docs (No, It's Not ICS)

Big Red isn't skimping on the updates over the past couple of days (though none of them are ICS) - yesterday we saw changelogs for upcoming Droid RAZR/MAXX and Droid 4 OTAs, and today, details for an upcoming OTA to the LG Spectrum hit Verizon's site.

While this update appears to be nothing more than a incremental Gingerbread update (which brings the device up to Android version 2.3.6) it does bring quite a few fixes and enhancements to the device:

As always, there's no word as to when the update will start rolling out, but most OTAs start within a few days of the documents hitting Verizon's support site.

[Verizon]

Verizon LG Spectrum Build VS920ZV5 Ready To Go, According To Verizon Support Docs (No, It's Not ICS)

Big Red isn't skimping on the updates over the past couple of days (though none of them are ICS) - yesterday we saw changelogs for upcoming Droid RAZR/MAXX and Droid 4 OTAs, and today, details for an upcoming OTA to the LG Spectrum hit Verizon's site.

While this update appears to be nothing more than a incremental Gingerbread update (which brings the device up to Android version 2.3.6) it does bring quite a few fixes and enhancements to the device:

As always, there's no word as to when the update will start rolling out, but most OTAs start within a few days of the documents hitting Verizon's support site.

[Verizon]