[hecatae]

Video Chat Support.

Jean-Baptiste Queru, Android Software Engineer with Google, has uploaded Android 2.3.4, build GRJ22, to the Android Open-Source Project.

Availability of the this code means that those involved with the projects releasing custom ROM replacements like CyanogenMod can start the task of integrating Android 2.3.4 into their work.

http://groups.google.com/group/android-building/msg/79ccaf7ebfa22744?pli=1

CyanogenMod are hoping to have this in place by the weekend

[Hands0n]

I have had a day, on and off, of abject failure in trying to update my "stock" Samsung Google Nexus S from Android 2.3.3 to 2.3.4. At least one of the fixes in 2.3.4 are absolutely vital to me, particularly the WiFi bug they fix has plagued me since 2.3.3 was installed.


New feature: video chat in Google Talk
Previously only available to tablet users on Android 3.0, Google Talk with video and voice chat is now available on Android phones running 2.3.4 that have front-facing cameras, starting with Nexus S. For more information please see our blog post:
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/04/video-chat-on-your-android-phone.html

Bug fixes for Nexus S & Nexus One
Phone shuts down or reboots: a very small percentage of users reported this problem, which is fixed with the latest release. (Nexus S)
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=44db6d8e31129d4c

Wi-fi & 3G icons both indicate active: for anyone who saw this strange behavior in your phone’s status bar, it should now be fixed. (Nexus S)
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=62b9e23a049f4ef0

Battery life: some users let us know that their batteries didn’t seem to be lasting as long; battery life should be improved for these folks. (Nexus One)
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=5d1a4878e4ace375

GPS location/navigation: some Nexus One users who noticed location and navigation problems after updating to 2.3.3 should notice improved location accuracy. (Nexus One)
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=4e60b45c18d6665c

So what went wrong?
The 2.3.4 update zip file performs a verification of the Android handset's OS to make sure that it is the correct one to be updated. And so when I was performing the update procedure it was failing with the following error.

assert failed: apply_patch_check)” …..”)
E:Error in /tmp/sideload/package.zip (Status 7) Installation aborted.

I spent quite a bit of time trawling all of the forums, both the more technical such as XDA and the other simple user and news forums. This same error was being reported everywhere but there wasn't any clue as to how to work around it. It was getting very frustrating, particularly as I am not exactly new to any of this - although I am not an OS developer by any stretch of the imagination.

On XDA and others there was a lot of dialogue about users being on custom ROMs and different versions of Android. This update would only function on GRI40, nothing else. There was also a lot of suggestion about installing the stock GRI40 and then perform the update to 2.3.4.


How did I fix it then?
Then it hit me. My "stock" Android 2.3.3 GRI40 KDI was nothing of the sort! It was a modified ROM. I had, some time previously, changed the bootanimation from stock to something a whole lot more interesting. That was the only thing that was different about my installed OS on the Nexus S.

So, I installed a stock 2.3.3 GRI40 and then applied the 2.3.4 update and it worked! As simple as that.

Details and links are on XDA, here --> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13323825&postcount=70

NB: Because I was already on 2.3.3 I chose not to wipe before (re)installing 2.3.3 from the linked file. It worked absolutely fine. Your mileage may vary, particularly if you are currently on anything other than 2.3.3.

[Hands0n]

So how has the update been this past 13 or so hours?

My primary concern with Android 2.3.3 since I updated to it was the odd behaviour of the WiFi and 3G handling that got completely screwed up. In use the two indicators would illuminate alternately and any data transfer in progress would either completely break down or be horrendously slow - which was a fair indication that the Nexus S was in fact flip-flopping between the two radio technologies. In doing so, it would be having to resolve new internal routing tables continually. In doing so, there would be little to no time to actually perform data transfer. And so I used the Nexus S in 3G mode only since 2.3.3 - or switched off 3G and set to WiFi-only. A laborious chore, even with the use of dedicated widgets.


Wi-fi & 3G icons both indicate active: for anyone who saw this strange behavior in your phone’s status bar, it should now be fixed. (Nexus S)
http://www.google.com/support/forum/...b9e23a049f4ef0

There it was, in 2.3.4, the exact issue resolved. So has that come about in real life? I believe that it has indeed done so. I had a little scare last night when the Nexus S started doing the same again but that turned out to be a bit of flakiness in my Sky router's WiFi and I had simply caught the smartphone trying to work out which network to use in favour of the other. It flipped over to 3G and stayed there until I rebooted my Sky router.

What I now see is good continuous use of the WiFi at all times that I am in my WLAN area. And when coming out of standby the Nexus S first uses the 3G (normal behaviour) while it re-registers on the WiFi before switching across to that.

Other than that, the Nexus S does feel a bit nippier - but that could just be down to the fact that the cache got cleared during the update.