Refresh Roundup: week of October 31, 2011

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout attips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updates

• LG’s got plenty of Gingerbread coming to its premier Optimus devices, beginning with unbranded models in Europe. This week, the Optimus 2X began rolling out. The week of November 21st will be the timeframe for owners of the Optimus 3D, and the Optimus Black is expected to get its dose of Android 2.3 beginning the week of November 28th. [Facebook]
• A Motorola Droid Bionic bug fix update is expected within one to two months, according to a post on the Motorola Owners Forums. [Phandroid]
• The original Verizon-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab (y’know, the first seven-incher) should now be bestowing gifts of Gingerbread — Android 2.3.5 — upon its users. It aims to improve the front-facing camera, power management and device security. [Droid-Life]
• Extra security is to be had on Rogers’ HTC EVO 3D, as version 1.20.631.3 is ready to download. This is the security fix which HTC has been working on for the past month. Additionally, it increases performance and fixes a force close issue. [MobileSyrup]
• Gingerbread has arrived on the Samsung Galaxy S… on Cellcom of Wisconsin. Yep, the regional carrier’s offering up improved battery life, miscellaneous performance enhancements and download management. [AndroidCentral]
• The ASUS Transformer’s nabbing a maintenance release known as 8.6.5.18. Along with the usual list of bug fixes, it also adds app backup support. [Droid-Life]

Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery

• HTC made kernel source available for the Rhyme, myTouch 4G, Jetstream, Sensation XE and XL, EVO 4G+ and the Thunderbolt. [AndroidCentral]
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus boot, recovery and system dumps are now available. [AndroidCentral]
• Also, the Motorola Droid RAZR’s been rooted. [Droid-Life]
• The LG Optimus 3D’s much-awaited Gingerbread update (Android 2.3.5) is expected to roll out on November 21st, but it’s already been leaked via XDA. As a disclaimer, the build — as it currently stands — has been reported to be rather unstable. Once it does officially arrive in stable form, it promises HSPA+ support for speeds up to 21Mbps as well as a few other video enhancements. [AndroidCentral]
• An XDA forum member has compiled a manual root method for the Motorola Atrix 2. [AndroidCentral]

Other platforms

• The HTC Freestyle, an AT&T-branded BrewMP device, has a ROM update up for grabs. It doesn’t specify what exactly has been enhanced, but make sure to back up all of your data before updating. [HTC]
• Along with the latest beta of iOS 5.0.1 comes its obligatory Redsn0w jailbreak, version 0.9.9b8. [Redmond Pie]

Refreshes we covered this week

• Which devices will get Ice Cream Sandwich?
• Apple seeds iOS 5.0.1 beta 2 to developers
• Apple confirms iOS5 bugs causing battery drain, promises fix in a few weeks
• webOS 3.0.5 clues point to integrated Twitter, better TouchPad performance
• Sony Ericsson brings gesture input to Xperia line

Refresh Roundup: week of October 31, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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