Daily News Courier

No, Pandora’s latest update doesn’t refer to Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie

Oh, my, folks sure got themselves into a tizzy this afternoon, didn't they? See, the Android Pandora application got itself a sizable update today. And the third item in the changelog was (and still is) "Compatibility support for upcoming Android OS."

ZOMG! A new, unannounced version of Android?!?!? Jelly Bean, perhaps?!?!? Key Lime Pie?!?!? Licorice?!?!? Meringue?!?!? Newton?!?!?

Not so much. As we suspected, it's just a bit of future-proofing, and isn't referring to any specific and as-yet-unannounced version of Android. In fact, that's exactly what Pandora told us.

"That line just refers to some minor code cleanup that had hard-coded functionality to the current version of Android – Ice Cream Sandwich. This update just future-proofs the Pandora app for the upcoming versions of Android." 

Now, that's not to say there's nothing of note in this update. More and better settings? Sweet. Better and easier sign-up? Excellent. Plus a host of other fixes, including the removal of the "change network state" permission, which should help the tinfoil-hat types sleep better at night.

But no new version of Android was tipped tonight, folks. That'll have to come another day.

Download: Pandora for Android

Rage Against the Smart Meter

Seeing Big Brother in the grid, some citizens are mounting opposition to wireless electricity meters.

Ed Friedman doesn’t mind the tinfoil-hat jokes. Just don’t install a smart meter on his house.

Verizon reportedly blocking access to Google Wallet on its Galaxy Nexus

Pop quiz: List, in alphabetical order, all of the Google Nexus phones that officially have access to Google Wallet.

If you aswered the Sprint Nexus S 4G — and only the Sprint Nexus S 4G — you're exactly right. And it looks like it might stay that way for the time being. 9 to 5 Google, citing an unnamed source, reports that the Verizon Galaxy Nexus won't have access to Google Wallet, despite that sweet NFC chip tucked into the phone's battery.

And the kicker: Verizon is said to be the one keeping Google Wallet off its Galaxy Nexus. (Never mind that it's a Nexus phone, and remember that we're expecting a couple of Verizon-specific appliations preloaded. We called it Verizon's Nexus for a reason.) And the reason for no Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus, according to the anonymous source, is that it's a direct competitor to ISIS, another NFC standard backed by Verizon, along with manufacturers LG, HTC, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

Oh, and guess who else backs ISIS: AT&T and T-Mobile — two U.S. carriers that have network-specific versions of the Samsung Nexus S in the United States, which, despite also having NFC capabilities, have no official build of Google Wallet. (Like with the Galaxy Nexus, you can hack Google Wallet on just fine, thank you very much.) Maybe that's just our tinfoil hat talking, but you can't deny that Google Wallet's only officially available on a single phone. 

Source: 9 to 5 Google; More: ISIS
Also: Verizon Galaxy Nexusx forum