Android 12 without limits: here it is in action on a Galaxy S3!

Android 12 without limits

The roll-out of Android 12 and of the respective proprietary interfaces is continuing in these months through the official channels, reaching the most recent devices declared compatible with the new operating system by the respective brands. But what happens to older smartphones, now abandoned by their manufacturers for years? A large community of developers specialized in modding is determined not to leave them behind.

The latest experiment, which concerns the new Google operating system, features a real veteran of mobile telephony: we are talking about the Samsung Galaxy S3, presented by the South Korean company in 2012. Exactly ten years after its release, this smartphone is experiencing a prosperous second life thanks to the community of modders.

Generic photos As reported by XDA Developers, who conducted this experiment, Samsung's support for Galaxy S3 system updates has long since ended, but the device has already received a proprietary kernel from Linux, in addition to the Sailfish operating system. A developer from the XDA team then went a step further by installing the LineageOS 19.0 custom ROM based on Android 12 on the Galaxy S3.

if (jQuery ("# ​​crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh2_1"). Is (" : visible ")) {console.log (" Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh2_1 slot id: th_mobilelabs_d_mh2 "); } We can see the result of the experiment in action in this video:

As you can see in the video above, many of the basic features of Android 12 (including the easter egg that identifies this version of the operating system) are fully functional on the Galaxy S3: among these we find the data network and Wi-Fi, camera, Bluetooth and media playback. This surprising result is due to the presence on board the smartphone of the dated but still performing quad-core SoC Exynos 4412.



if (jQuery ("# ​​crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh3_1"). Is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh3_1 slot id: th_mobilelabs_d_mh3"); } Obviously, this first LineageOS custom rom based on Android 12 has some shortcomings: the experiment conducted by XDA does not hide a series of bugs, due in part to the fact that it is still under development. For the moment, in fact, the SIM PIN unlocking, the use of the microSD card as the main storage system and the NFC module of the Galaxy S3, already integrated by default on the 2012 top of the Samsung range, remain out of use.

The world of modding and aftermarket updates therefore continues to reserve surprises and push the potential of smartphones otherwise declared obsolete to the maximum: if you know how to juggle IT tools and have kept your old Galaxy S3 in a drawer, why not try to give it a new life with this ROM?

The Samsung Galaxy S7 FE is a perfect tablet for productivity but also for the most creative, thanks to the compatibility with the S Pen. Buy it in promotion on Amazon!

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These clever ideas gave us hope for technology this year

Sometimes the best advancements in technology are the ones that don’t try to change everything.

Instead, they come in the form of simple improvements to the products we already use. They’re the ideas that seem so smart, you suddenly wish every company would copy them.

At a time when the tech world is swinging for the fences with metaverses, blockchains, augmented reality, and AI, let’s take a step back and celebrate some smaller innovations that you can take advantage of today. Here are the cleverest little ideas that made tech more enjoyable to use over the last year:

Simple productivity boosters

Take notes from anywhere: Jotting ideas down has gotten a lot easier in MacOS Monterey, whose Quick Note feature lets you pop open a miniature notepad without leaving your current app. Just hit Fn-Q on the keyboard, or move your cursor to the bottom-right of the screen, then start writing. In Safari, you can Ctrl-click any highlighted text or share links to append them to your Quick Notes as well. (The same feature is also available on the iPad by swiping diagonally from the bottom left corner of the screen, or pressing Globe+Q on a keyboard.)

Faster file access: To make Chromebooks better at getting things done, Google added a neat feature called the “Tote” to the ChromeOS task bar. With one click, you can access recent downloads, screenshots, scanned documents and favorite files, which you can pin through the file browser. That way, whatever you’re working on is never more than a click away.

A more useful MacBook notch: Of all the smart ideas people had for dealing with the new MacBook Pro’s camera notch, NotchCam is the most practical. The $1 Mac app open a quick preview of the webcam when you click the notch area, so you can check yourself before hopping onto your next Zoom call. For good measure, it even works with notchless Macs.

Grab text from the real world: Apple is hardly the first to let you copy real-world text from your camera—Google’s Lens feature has been doing it for years—but it had the smart idea to bake its Live Text tool into every input field in iOS 15. Just tap on any space where text might go, then select “Scan Text,” and you’ll see a miniature camera view for transferring words, phrases, or phone numbers onto the screen. This subtle tweak in execution makes the whole concept much more useful.

Fixing frequent annoyances

Fewer notification nags: Apple’s Focus feature didn’t initially seem like a big deal when it launched as part of iOS 15 this fall, but this more granular form of Do Not Disturb can be a huge help in cutting out specific distractions in your life. The Work mode is especially useful, as it can stop your phone from lighting up with emails or Instagram alerts when you’re heads-down on a project. You can also set up modes for driving, sleeping, reading, and more.

Auto-auto-rotate: Tucked deep in the settings menu on Google’s Pixel phones, you’ll find what is arguably the most useful display setting of all time: Starting with Android 12, you can now enable face detection for auto-rotate, so the screen only switches to landscape when your head runs perpendicular to the phone. In other words, you won’t trigger auto-rotate while reclined in bed or on the couch, but it’ll still kick in when you’re looking at photos or videos in landscape mode. Google ought to mandate that other Android phone makers support this feature from now on.

Smarter location limits: Taking a page from iOS and Android, the Brave web browser now lets you grant one-time permission to privacy-sensitive features, such as your location or the webcam. That means you can allow a retailer or restaurant to look up locations nearby without giving that site permanent access to your whereabouts. It’s a smarter way to approach privacy permissions on desktop browsers.

Less obtrusive hardware

Automatic earbud awareness: Samsung built a pretty ingenious feature called “Voice Detect” into its Galaxy Buds Pro earbuds earlier this year. When you start talking, the earbuds can automatically turn off noise cancellation and switch to Ambient mode—which lets in outside sound—then switch back when they no longer detect your voice. It beats the awkwardness of having tap a button or squeeze your earbud stems just to have a quick conversation.

Stand meets dock: If you’re using your laptop at your desk, you might want a laptop stand to prop up the screen and USB hub for connecting external devices. Kudos to UGREEN for doing the logical thing and combining both into one product. The X-Kit laptop stand has two USB ports, a 4K HDMI output, and SD card slots built into its rail, so you can turn your laptop into a desktop workstation just by plugging it in with a USB-C cable.

The secret speaker: After launching a bookshelf-speaker hybrid in 2019, Ikea went a step further this year with its Symfonisk picture frame, which is actually a Sonos speaker in disguise. If you don’t like the included abstract art, you can buy an interchangeable cover or get a custom print from a third-party vendor. The only hard part is figuring out how to tastefully hide the power cord.

Media made better

Simpler private listening: For years, Roku’s mobile app has allowed you to listen to TV privately through headphones, but in 2021 it became more accommodating to Bluetooth buds. With a new sync feature, you can eliminate audio lag between the earbuds and the TV and keep your earbuds paired to the phone. Other streaming players require Bluetooth pairing directly to your earbuds, which is a much bigger hassle.

Something for everyone: While most major streaming services now support multiple user profiles, nearly all of them also make the false assumption that only one person watches TV at a time. Apple wised up this year by adding “For Both of You” and “For All of You” recommendations in the TV app. When multiple users have set up a profile on Apple TV, this row suggests things to watch based on everyone’s viewing habits. It’s a long-overdue idea that makes more sense than setting up joint profiles.

Music for two: Speaking of joint recommendations, Spotify’s Blends feature launched out of beta in August, letting any two users create a shared playlist based on their combined tastes. Both users can see a match score showing how closely their interests align, and the playlists update on a daily basis based on what each person is listening to. Put to proper use, it should settle a lot of music-related arguments on road trips.

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