Jelly Bean

Looks like we are in for more snow today and possibly a messy ride back home in the evening. NCAA basketball was keeping me busy last few days, though my favorite UConn Huskies are not playing this year. So, my engagement with the games are not as intense as it has been in the past. My bracket does not look that great, but Ohio State game was a scare because I have them winning it all… (Not that I am an expert in this stuff) Then, of course, Monday rolls along and I feel like I wasted a lot of time doing nothing. In fact, I completed a homework assignment for the MOOC I am enrolled in, did a fair amount of errands and installed a motion detector LCD light outside the garage door without being electrocuted! And spent most of Saturday driving to Hanover, NH and back.  It was not all that bad. However, now I am having second thoughts about it. It actually moves based on the object’s position and is based on heat sensitivity. There are some complaints about it being insensitive during hotter months. On the other hand, I may not have to turn it on during the hotter months…

In talking to a colleague last week, I was reminded of the good old days (like a year and a half  ago) when I used to have a Google Nexus phone until it was stolen from my lap in a roadside cafe in Athens. This was very disturbing to me on a lot of fronts. Being robbed (even if it is a phone – it was a nice parting gift from friends at Pace) is not a pleasant experience, but then, the threat of data loss is even more scary. Anyways, the colleague was telling me the virtues of having a Nexus, which I knew from my earlier experiences. Basically, you get all the most recent versions of the Droid operating system first released on Nexus. He was showing off Google Now and I asked how I get it. Based on his suggestion, I tried the Play Store, but it was not to be found. He asked me what version of OS I had and I was positive I had the most up to date. It turns out I had the most up to date as decided by AT&T, which is not by any stretch the most recent one. He was polite, but I can see him laughing. I had Gingerbread and he had the Jelly Bean. I felt old and terrible. I wanted the Jelly Bean at all cost!

Ice Cream Sandwich

For a couple of days, this is all what I could think about, really. I was itching for a Nexus, so I priced out one. Because they are making these to be usable worldwide, it is unlocked (Great!) and supports every alphabet soup of wireless and cell phone protocols that there are (GSM, HSPA, UMTS and 3G). It has wireless charging, awesome! But, ONLY 3G. Just when I feel special that I have 4G/LTE and believe that as a privileged user, I have the highest possible speed (Nah!), they want me to downgrade to 3G? There are rumors that there is a secret to getting 4G on a Nexus, but that means breaking in and “rooting” the phone. I would have done it, except, I have become way more cautious than I really should!

Then I tried to look to see if I can move up from Gingerbread! Aha, I found a way. It turns out I was late to the game. The way to do this is not to wait for AT&T to update the OS OTA (Over the Air). Instead, you need to run a program called Kies (No idea who comes up with such names!) on your Mac, yes, it is available for the Macs. I installed Samsung Kies on my Mac and all smiles, I connected my phone to the Mac, but Kies would not recognize my phone. I tried various combinations. My MacBook Pro has three USB ports. For some time, I was unable to mount the phone as a USB drive from the first USB port, though it charges the phone fine. Moved it to the second port, no luck and the third, no luck.

Then I tried a lot of combinations – turn off WiFi, Reboot the phone while connected to the Mac, reset the battery. Nothing! Simply Nothing! 1:00 AM on Friday. Frustrated, I went to bed. All of Saturday was consumed in driving to Hanover to drop the things off at Dartmouth (our son’s spring term is starting) and finishing the homework for the MOOC.

I started the whole thing again at 11 PM on Saturday. This time, I was not going to give up. I just noticed that even when I am not running Kies, my Mac was refusing to mount the phone as a drive. OK, so I went to the basement and found another mini-USB cable. That was it! A mini USB cable, connected to the third USB port att 11:30 PM on Saturday! I will remember this for a long time to come… 3 hours past the Earth Hour! After 20 minutes, I felt like a child again. I had Ice Cream Sandwich. By the time it updated all my applications and I reset the screens to my desire, it was 1 AM again and time for bed. A much happier man going to bed though.

Next day, I attempted to move to Jelly Bean. Unfortunately I can’t! This is so frustrating to me. Who is AT&T to tell me what OS I should be running? I WANT MY JELLY BEAN!

I have to wait or root my phone to get the Jelly Bean. I am tempted.