The Samsung Galaxy S series may be the most popular in the Android scene, but the Korean company's phablet Note range has certainly risen to prominence over the past couple of years. 2011's initial launch was followed by a successful follow-up last year, and as such, anticipation levels for the Note III are as high as they've ever been. With the Galaxy S4 now done and dusted, it's perhaps one of the main focal points in mobile space, and an unnamed Samsung executive has apparently dished a few more intriguing details.
The popular Google-branded LG Nexus 4 has been around for quite a while now, and while most high-end smartphones tend to launch in a dark and light combination (black and white, unless you're thinking Samsung Galaxy), the Nexus 4 has only been available in black. LG has been prepping an accompanying white variant to broaden consumer choice, though, and now, the Korean company has just announced its availability.
Switching from one smartphone to another is not really an easy feat, and even more so if the platform is different from the one that you’re currently using. Just recently, I decided to make the switch from iPhone to Android as my primary business phone, mainly because my work relies heavily on Google Apps and Android binds relatively better with those (and because my company promotes Android over iPhone). Nevertheless, while the rest of it was pretty smooth, one area that took some thought was getting my text messages from the iPhone to the new Xperia Android phone. Thankfully, there is a solution, even though it takes some time, we’ll show you how to go about it.
Mobile devices make it relatively easy to digest your messages and notifications from a variety of different sources and apps, but the situation is far from ideal. Utilities like Facebook Home have sought to make things a little less cluttered by unifying SMS messages with those received via the social network, and a newish app called GText for Chrome and Android seeks to so a similar sort of thing, but for SMS and Gmail.
Samsung today accidentally gave the world a sneak peak at a smartphone that we've all pretty much known was on the way, and that phone is the much talked about Galaxy S4 mini.
One of the highlights of Google's I/O, particularly for those with an affinity to Samsung-made devices, was the news that a variant of the flagship Galaxy S4 would be arriving on stock Android, bypassing all the crap additional extras Samsung likes to bundle therein. Now, rumor has it that HTC could be planning a similar move with its flagship ‘One’ smartphone, which currently ships with an overlay of bloatware including Sense 5 and the divisive BlinkFeed. The report, if true, would certainly appease the purists who like a 'clean slate' of Android when they purchase a new device, and given how unconfirmed sales figures have placed the HTC One in a strong position against the Korean company's latest and greatest (selling one unit for every two Galaxy S4s), it's a move that would help the Taiwanese vendor keep tabs on its strongest rival.
As everyone probably knows at this point, each time an Android app is installed it has to tell the user what it will want access to. Be it location, SMS or general internet access, it's all laid bare for us to see. It means that we can ask questions when an app asks for far too many permissions for what it's supposed to do, for example. The problem is, not everyone pays attention.
Widgets make the world a better place, and luckily for those on Android, the Play Store is awash with them. Depending on which apps and features of a device you use most commonly, tailoring one or a number of home screens to your exact requirements is very easy thanks to the multitude of accompanying widgets available.
Samsung's ads have been known to be a little weird in the past, and its press events can be just as bad. Lest we forget the infamous Gangnam Style moment that led to a Bollywood actor prancing around on stage like Psy. For a company so large, you'd think it could afford one or two advertising specialists wouldn't you?
Anticipation for the Galaxy Note 3 and Android 4.3 release is approaching fever pitch. If you happen to be a tad bit excited about the prospect of its release, I'm sure you'll be impressed by the just-leaked benchmark scores.
