CyanogenMod 11 M1 Arrives on Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 Devices

An updated version of the CyanogenMod 11 custom software is now available for download for the owners of Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 devices out there.

The decision to make the M1 flavor of the builds available for these smartphones is meant to save time by making a shift from the previous release schedule, which involved pushing out only nightly builds at this stage. Through making this move, the team behind CM 11 also ensures that users will deliver feedback on the issues they find inside the software, thus speeding up the process of fixing them. “Taking reports against the constantly changing nightly codebase is too resource intensive, but at the same time, waiting another month to get them going is, in all honesty, wasted time. So, with this change, we are going for the best of both,” a post on the CyanogenMod blog reads. According to the CM team, there should be little to no device-specific issues met in the AOSP-supported Nexus devices, given that their hardware code comes almost entirely from Google.

However, should there be problems with the software, they are expected to be related to the CyanogenMod features that have been included in said builds. “By acknowledging them sooner, the entire CM 11 roster will benefit. Speaking of the rest of the roster, we will be enabling CM 11 nightlies for the non-Nexus devices as well,” the blog post continues. The process of building CM11 for these devices (Galaxy Nexus is included here) will take a bit longer, as there might be issues that haven’t been unveiled yet.

“We will be monitoring nightly usage and issues, and use that info to move towards adding more devices to the M1/M2 list and the eventual 11.0 release,” the blog post explains. The team also announced that specific details on the nightly builds would be provided in the coming days, and that the new Android 4.4.1 code is already being studied.

CyanogenMod 11 M1 arrives on Nexus 4 and Nexus 5
Image credits to CyanogenMod

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MSI GT60 2OD-261US Industry’s First 3K Gaming Laptop

Gaming laptops usually come sporting 1080p or under, but this standard is about to change, as MSI pulls the veil off its latest GT60 2OD-261US gaming laptop.

The notebook features a display with a resolution of 2880 x 1620 and MSI says this is the “industry’s first 3K gaming notebook.” The gaming device is also available in workstation flavor with the same impressive resolution. MSI’s claim is a bit bold, considering that the Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display runs at 2880 x 1800, but most people purchasing a Macbook Pro usually don’t use it solely for gaming, either way. MSI aims to provide users with the perfect gaming experience, which surely can’t be achieved without sharp, bright and crisp graphics. The product’s display is also equipped with an anti-reflective 3K panel. On top of that, the producing company has added the latest 4th generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVDIA GeForce GTX 780M graphics (NVIDIA Quadro K3100M in the case of workstation).

To complement game experience, MSI also offers Killer DoubleShot wireless technology, a SteelSeries full color backlit keyboard and Dynaudio Premium Speakers with Subwoofer. “Gamers demand the most out of their systems and are constantly trying to attain a more complete experience, starting from system performance to multimedia effects. The GT60 with 3K graphics immerses the portable gamer into a realm never before experienced," said VP of Sales for MSI, Andy Tung. As for the GT60 workstation, the specifications remain pretty similar, expect that here we'll find support for the latest Adobe Creative Suite 6, AutoDesk and SolidWorks. More than that, MSI allows users to take advantage of the Matrix Display capability in order to be able to connect the laptop up to 3 external displays.

Don’t worry about overusing the devices, as MSI has implemented the Cooler Boost 2 technology that is capable of constantly monitoring system temperature and lowering it if necessary. The new laptops won’t come cheap, so be prepared to pay $2,199 / €1,609 for the GT60 gaming version and $2,799 / €2,048 for the workstation.

MSI unveils world's first 3K gaming notebook
Images credits to MSI

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Android 4.4.1 Update for Nexus 4 and 5 Now Available for Download

It's been less than a day since word on the upcoming Android 4.4.1 KitKat update surfaced and Google has already started the rollout.

The update is now live for Nexus 5, Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 (2013) LTE, but other Nexus devices are likely to receive the update. While this is indeed good news, we're still not sure what changes it will bring to each of these Nexus devices. Aside from some of the camera changes confirmed for the Nexus 5 there hasn't been any official word on what are the improvements included in the Android 4.4.1 KitKat update. According to Google, the following camera improvements will now be available on Nexus 5 once Android 4.4.1 KitKat update is applied: “HDR+ lets you to take great shots in challenging environments, say where there's a large contrast of bright and dark portions of the scene and also in low light situations. When you press the shutter button, instead of taking just one picture, we take a burst of shots in about 1/3 of a second, and apply computational photography to intelligently fuse images together.

All of this gets a boost with an update to Android 4.4.1 rolling out today to Nexus 5. It improves the camera with faster focusing, especially in low light, faster white balancing, for truer colors, the ability to pinch-zoom the viewfinder in HDR+ mode and less shutter lag.” Google is pushing this OTA (over the air) update in stages, so it might take a while until it reaches all Nexus devices. Nexus owners can manually check for availability beginning today or they can simply download the Nexus 5 Android 4.4.1 OTA (KOT49E) update or Nexus 4 Android 4.4.1 OTA (KOT49E) via Google.

Keep in mind that aside from the camera enhancements, the update fixes a huge number of bugs that affected Nexus 5, so those who own the smartphone might want to upgrade as soon as possible.

Nexus 5 "About phone" (screenshot)
Image credits to AndroidPolice

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