Early Morning Android News: ASUS Padfone, Galaxy S III To Feature Quad Core Processors.

With the Galaxy Nexus release less than a month away, it seems almost sacrilegious to already discount the awesomeness that is inbound. But the mobile world never stays still. In accordance with that position, details of new quad-core Android hardware scheduled to hit the market in early/mid-2012 are beginning to leak out.

First up we have the ASUS Padfone. One lucky early tester took it upon themselves to benchmark the device on GLBenchmark and save the results to the GLB database giving us all a glimpse at the hardware running inside this early prototype. What’s interesting is that according to the uploaded benchmark data, the Padfone is stuffed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 S4 processor. Said chip has a reported operating range of 1.5 GHz to 2.5 GHz, though given the smaller batteries in phones will likely stay towards the lower end of that range.

ASUS isn’t the only smartphone manufacturer dabbling with quad-core chips. A separate rumor claims Samsung is apparently testing a “newly discovered” Exynos 4412 32-nm quad-core processor for use in the next-gen Galaxy S III, as unearthed by records on Linux Kernel Archives. The four cours of the 4412 will reportedly run at ~1.5GHz. What’s intriguing about the Exynos 4412 is that a new Mali-T604 GPU is looking to be the GPU of choice, which if actually used in production phones has the potential to bring a healthy 5x increase in GPU performance.

Claims against both phones above are still at the “rumor” stage for now as no official announcements have been made, nor actual hardware spied. Nonetheless, the case for quad-core processors coming to new high-end Android tablets and phones in early 2012 has been repeatedly rebroadcasted by various sources. It’s almost a guaranteed bet that the dual-core processor’s reign on top is coming to an end. While we can’t speak for the ASUS Padfone, the current rumor points to a Mobile World Congress 2012 announcement for the Galaxy S III.

Stay tuned for more info on the alleged quad-core ASUS Padfone and similarly equipped Samsung Galaxy S III.

Get Some Sweet Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich On Your Galaxy S And Galaxy S II Now!

If you’re a true, die-hard Android aficionado, chances are you’re more than willing to risk hundreds of dollars forcefully upgrading your device to the latest and greatest Android code available, officially supported or not. With that said, owners of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II line of devices have a new thrill to chase. Two new alpha builds of ICS are available for the aforementioned devices.

Compliments of Android dev @xplodwild, the links to the ICS ports:

• Galaxy S ICS Port (alpha 4): Download

• Galaxy S II ICS Port (alpha 7): Download

The process is pretty simple for anyone who’s done the custom ROM thing before — copy the .zip to your SD card > reboot into Clockwork Recovery > wipe pretty much everything + format > install the .zip. Viola!

For continuing info, follow the dev team behind the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II ports @aospsgs2.

Video of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on a Galaxy S II after the break.

Gadgetsteria’s Holiday Gift Guide.

We’ve spent the last several weeks crawling the web for what we think are the best gadgets and devices suitable for your tree (or whatever it is that you celebrate with geeky gifts) this year. Join us after the break as we dive deep into Gadgetsteria’s Super Gigantor 2011 Holiday Gift Guide!

• E-readers & Tablets

• Smartphones

• Games

• Personal Audio

• Stocking Stuffers

Verizon Galaxy Nexus Launching December 8th?

It looks like the long awaited Verizon bound (LTE toting) Samsung Galaxy Nexus finally has a release date compliments of a leaked screenshot showing — December 8th. Props to @TechFanatiX for the scoop.

NeverWet Waterproof Coating Allows Electronics To Submarine Like Never Before.

Being the gadget loving fool that I am carry at least a couple electronic devices with me everywhere I go, water plays into a lot of my decisions. The smallest bits of moisture can cause irreparable damage to even more resilient gadgets in mere seconds. With that said, it’s pretty astonishing to see a “super-hydrophobic” silicon spray created by Ross Technology called “NeverWet” turn even the most delicate gadgets into newfound submarines.

Besides NeverWet’s ability to keep gadgets from succumbing to moisture, it is also crazy good at keeping liquids and other sticky substances from sticking to hard/soft/permeable surfaces. In the two videos after the break you’ll see chocolate syrup run off of a motherboard like it’s heated silicone grease as well as various gadgets sent to a seemingly grim demise in bowls of water. Pretty crazy stuff.

Sadly, NeverWet is still in experiment testing and won’t hit the market until sometime next year. Still, it gives us hope that we can soon carry on with our digital lives with one less worry.

Videos inside…

When Life Hands You 5,000 Beer Cans, Make A Gigantic Speaker!

One man’s trash is another mans treasure. In the world of makeshift concert speakers in Jamaica, that saying couldn’t be more true.

Jamaican beer company, Red Stripe, enlisted in the help of Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki as well as London based music producer/DJ Al Fingers and singer/songwriter Gappy Rangs to construct a massive concert speaker out of 5,000 Redstripe cans to highlight the great lengths music artists/bands go through to perform for large crowds when lacking money for high-end audio gear.

The construction of Red Stripe’s monster speaker is pretty simple, consisting of taped together beer cans. Inside of the beer can structure is a small speaker providing the core music which is then amplified by the beer cans many times over.

It’s pretty crazy to see something so mundane as a simple beer can re-purposed into a concert speaker, and an apparently decent sounding concert speaker at that. Hats off to ingenuity.

Video after the break.

Thailand Floods Could Cause Hard Drive Shortages To Linger Through Late 2012.

The recent flooding in Thailand may affect hard drive supplies longer than originally believed. In a statement to Bloomberg, Seagate CEO Stephen Luczo says the hard drive shortages could last well into 2012, possibly until the end of the year. With that said, Luczo highlights that Seagate’s factories were mostly spared, however, it is the factories of supplies (some 130 different suppliers mind you) that are really the source of the shortages.

A more optimistic tone by sources of DigiTimes claim the road to recovery will in fact be quicker than many have estimated — lessening shortages as early as mid-2012. Luczo counters such claims by highlighting that floodwaters in Thailand won’t be gone in many areas until early December, and that any wide scale recovery simply won’t happen until later in the year.

In short: If you find a deal on a hard drive this holiday season, grab it.