Even though Google's Android is used by a multitude of popular OEMs in the marketplace, seldom does a device release without a few software tweaks from both carrier and vendor. While Samsung has TouchWiz, HTC has Sense, and after the Big Sense 5 update accompanying last year's release of the HTC One, the Taiwanese company's soon-to-announce flagship will pack the much-improved Sense 6. Thanks to a leak, we can now take a closer look at Sense 6 running on HTC's current high-end handset, and by the looks of things, plenty of enhancements have been made.
Considering the gold rush that ensued upon the release of the iPhone 5s back in September, it's none too surprising that in the UK, mobile carrier Vodafone has sought exclusivity over the gold variant of Samsung's forthcoming Galaxy S5. The deal means that on British shores, only Vodafone will carry the device, which is due for release on April 11th, and the network operator will begin taking pre-orders from March 28th.
The Galaxy S5, which Samsung announced a couple of weeks ago at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, has yet to see the light of day in the retail market, but with the device having been handed out to a select few industry insiders already, we've seen a steady increase in new videos and close-up coverage of the eagerly-anticipated handset. Following the extensive hands-on clip we saw yesterday from Eldar Murtazin, he's back with a comparison video of the Galaxy S5 and the preceding Galaxy S4, offering a vivid, first-hand look at how the upcoming device holds up against the current flagship.
As with any major new release from Samsung, the Galaxy S5 includes a bunch of exclusive features and apps, but, as ever, dedicated Droidsters have been quick to pluck said features and distribute them among the rest of the Android community. Even though the sought-after handset is not yet upon us, the guys over at XDA-Developers have shared the APK files of apps like S Note, WatchON, and Gear Manager, and although there's no guarantee that they'll run perfectly on whichever device you happen to own, they're now readily available for your downloading pleasure.
HTC's elusive 'M8' handset is due to be announced later on this month, but while the Taiwanese company will have wanted to save some details until the official unveiling, the cat is already out of the bag thanks to an unofficial hands-on video. The lengthy clip arrived amid a wave of leaks pertaining to the so-called "HTC One 2," and now, the device's new stock wallpapers have emerged and you can download them right away.
You have to admire Samsung's continued and irrepressible efforts to push such a high volume of top-end devices out into the market as possible, and in doing so, appeal to as many different niches as it can. As was the case with the Galaxy S4, the just-announced Galaxy S5 will spawn a bunch of spin-off handsets, and following on from the camera-centric Galaxy S4 Zoom, we now how have what looks a fairly legit leak of the Galaxy S5 Zoom's tech specs via GFXBench.
Back in December, we got word that FOX would be teaming up with TinyCo to develop the very first official mobile game for the long-running series Family Guy. Having been on our screens for so many years, it would seem strange that an animation of Family Guy's stature hasn't been handed its very own title before now, but for fans of Seth MacFarlane's iconic comedy show, the teasing screen captures released on Thursday are sure to whet the appetite.
Due to the open-source nature of Android, maintaining its security is an ongoing and trying task, but while there are plenty of scam-artists creating malicious software and trying to poke holes in various apps and services, there are still plenty of developers and security experts trying to stem the tide. The developer behind Replicant, which provides free, open-source alternatives to proprietary Android systems (read: OpenOffice-like, but for Android), has discovered a flaw in certain Galaxy devices that could potentially allow an intruder to remotely "read, write, and delete files on the phone's storage."
It's not the first time that it has happened, but that doesn't make it any less humorous when a celebrity's smartphone endorsement backfires. After all, we all like it when giants fall, do we not?
A couple of days back, Rovio Entertainment pushed a teaser trailer of a medieval-themed title, which it promised would be “the most epic soft release ever.” The trailer itself didn't give too much away besides the theme, but now, Kotaku has got wind that the title will mark the Finnish company's first delve into the adventurous world of role-play titles. Due to release later on this week in Australia and Canada, we're more than a tad bit excited to see where this might lead, and although there's no shortage of great RPGs knocking about, Rovio has proved time and again that it knows just how to keep us sufficiently entertained.
