In its early stages, Android wasn't a great platform. It's main problem was lag, but in the past twelve months, Google's mobile operating system has become a much smoother, much more streamlined experience. Of course, Project Butter isn't the only positive enhancement presented to Android recently, and the introduction of many new features and apps - particularly Google Now - have been defining factors.
The luxury house of the X Factor's Savan Kotecha illustrated just how much of the world we now have at our fingertips. A music producer for the hit TV talent show, he's really kitted his pad out, and a large portion of his gadgets - including electric blinds, cameras and door locks - are all controlled from the comfort of his iPad. Although he spent a fair wad, these kinds of technologies are becoming more and more available to the average consumer, and as Samsung is now demonstrating with its Smart Air Conditioning systems, if it's electronic, it can be controlled by a mobile device.
At the present moment in time the most popular mobile operating system of choice is Android. It isn't a coincidence that Android is also one of the most configurable and customizable operating systems that ships with mobile devices, allowing users to not only change the look and feel of their device, but to also change input methods through the installation of various different keyboard layouts and configurations.
As well as creating exciting new titles for gaming fans on smartphones and tablets to enjoy, developers and publishers are seeing more and more value in simply porting old classics through to mobile devices. Not only does a re-release / port press on the nostalgic buttons of those who previously enjoyed said title, but it also forges an all-new army of fans, and the news of Final Fantasy IV arriving soon on iOS and Android will do exactly that once more.
Rooting has almost always been a necessary concept with Android devices, and if you’ve ever used one while being interested in unleashing the full potential of your smartphone or tablet, you would have rooted it at some point. There are many benefits to gain out of gaining superuser (root) access on an Android device, the biggest of them being able to run custom ROMs – homebaked firmware that unlocks those areas of your device that the manufacturer deemed potentially dangerous to play around with. One thing that all rooting techniques, in general, have in common, is the fact that they all require the use of a computer. Whether you’re flashing a rooted kernel on a Samsung device using Odin, or firing up a command prompt to key-in the commands yourself, or even using a one-click method like CF-root, you will always find that you need a computer to accomplish that. Well, not anymore, now that Root Transmission is here.
Everyone loves a good update to an app that is regularly used and highly thought of, and that is exactly what has happened with Google Now for compatible devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and up. The official Android blog took great delight in introducing the latest update to the intelligent personal assistant software that was first introduced to the Android world with the release of Jelly Bean back in July of this year and should be an extremely welcome update for those travel conscious Android owners out there.
Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III smartphone is beginning to see an update to Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2, and although this may not, on the face of it, sound all-that riveting, there are plenty of exciting new features to behold. Among them arrives the very handy multi-view function, which was first introduced with the Galaxy Note II, and vastly improves the multitasking capabilities of your device by allowing you to see more than one app running at a time.
Snapseed has been a revelation in the increasingly-popular image editing game, but since Google acquired Nik Software - the firm behind the iconic app - last September, there have been few recent murmurings touting the demise of Snapseed. Those have been well and truly put to rest today, though, with the release of Snapseed for Android; and in more good news, it's also absolutely free of charge.
What we use our smartphones for the most is, unarguably, communication. There can be various forms of communication – cellular, short messages, IM, social networking, email and whatnot – but the fact remains that the basic usage of any smartphone device stays the ability to connect to the world and communicate. It’s also a no-brainer that you don’t keep glued to your phone twenty-four hours a day, which is why these devices continue to operate and send and receive communication for us even when they’re not being actively put to use. For those times when we were not actually looking at the screen (heck, we didn’t even hold the phone in our hands; it was in the pocket), we have notifications – ringtone alerts, vibrations patterns, LED lights – but there’ll always be a notification.
Rockstar Games promised, and has finally delivered a mobile version of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. To commemorate ten years of the legendary title, a touch-friendly version has been created, and for those running on iOS, it is now available at the App Store for download.
