Currently, the latest version of Google's Android is 4.4.2 KitKat, but it looks now like an Android 4.4.3 update is on the horizon. There have been plenty of leaks to corroborate this, and having trawled through endless Chromium code, Android 4.4.3 running on both the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 have been discovered.
The new HTC One M8, which was announced on Tuesday by its Taiwanese manufacturer in both New York and London, looks a solid improvement upon its predecessor, the HTC One M7. Released last year, the M7 was subject to much critical acclaim, and while significantly improving upon it looked a rather difficult task, it's fair to say that the M8 enhances the feature-set with relative aplomb. The build quality is the most immediately obvious improvement with the new handset, and thanks to a new drop test, we get to see just how much stronger this year's flagship is when challenged by its older brother.
It's an accepted fact that lithium-ion batteries - by their very nature - will degrade over time. Even if you buy a smartphone and it manages to live up to the outlandish, exaggerated claims made by the manufacturer with regards to how long it can run between charges, we know that after a year or two, retention will decrease considerably. A new power bank, which goes by the name of the BatteryBox, aims to change the current state of play with a revolutionary, energy efficient 'BatteryOS' that prevents degradation and keeps powering your devices efficiently - even five years after you begin using it.
Comic book-based movies are currently in vogue, and in the run-up to each new theatrical release, we tend now to see an accompanying title for mobile devices. With Captain America: The Winter Soldier soon to hit the box office, the customary mobile edition has just hit the iOS App Store, as well as Google's Play Store for those on Android. We've got all of the details, as well as those all-important download links, coming up after the fold!
It seems that someone at Facebook likes nice round numbers, because the social network has released Facebook Messenger 4.0 for iPhone and Android. Big new updates are great, except when they're not big at all, which is certainly the case with Facebook Messenger. See, the app has seen its version number bumped to the lofty number of 4.0, but do the changes warrant a new point-0 release? Probably not, no.
In what has to be one of the most leaked phone releases of all time, two days ago HTC set to the stage to officially announce their newest flagship smartphone, the 'all new' HTC One M8. The previous iteration of the HTC One line, the M7, happens to be one of my favorite smartphones of all time, so I was extremely excited to get this one into my hands. As the original HTC One was such a success with the general public, and technology community as a whole, HTC aimed to build on its success and take the methodology that ‘if it ain't broke, don't fix it.’ I'm extremely glad they did.
Such is the open source nature of the Android ecosystem, that it presents itself as an attractive prospect to malware makers, and other such unscrupulous entities. It's often the case that potentially dodgy apps circulate outside of the confines of the Google Play Store, and thus, by avoiding third-party download services, Android users can remain relatively safe. However, renowned security firm Trend Micro has just discovered a new type of bug that can secretly turn devices into digital currency miners, and worryingly, at least two Play Store apps are thought to have been affected.
The wait is almost over for Samsung's next flagship smartphone, with the highly anticipated Galaxy S5 going on sale worldwide next month. The Galaxy S line of smartphones is almost a home run when it comes to sales, but the handsets aren't always universally well reviewed by those who like to dig a little deeper than simple screen size or fancy software features. This year Samsung hopes to right that.
These days, the success of any product is almost directly proportional to how well it’s marketed, and in that light, it’s no surprise that the advertisement industry uses probably more film than the entire Hollywood combined in a year. Well, HTC seems to have captured this essence fairly well, illustrated remarkably through the Taiwanese manufacturers newly-released ad for its newly-released flagship, the HTC One M8.
Whenever a new smartphone is released there's always someone asking the inevitable question: what happens when I throw it across the ground, or maybe dunk it in water or give it a few blows using a hammer?
