Sure, these pocket computers we call “smartphones” act as our camera, music player, internet communications device, portable gaming console (of sorts) and, of course, a phone but don’t you wish they had longer battery life? This is especially the case with Android smartphones which come with huge, battery-hogging displays and 4G LTE radios.
I’ve strongly opined that Android devices do not need a security app to stay away from malware, but since controversy sells, vendors keep on developing bloated security apps and people keep on buying them.
Every now and again, a game releases for mobile devices which simply takes over - engaging nearly every user it encounters and becoming a cult favorite in the process.
In a timely announcement on the eve of Apple's big media event, Google has really wrung the changes to its online content-selling infrastructure - know hitherto as the Android Market.
The Galaxy Nexus comes with a 4.65” Super AMOLED HD 720p display that is considered to be among the best in its class. It produces crisp and vivid images; a little too vivid for some, actually, as it turns out that the display isn’t set at best Gamma, Color Balance and Color Temperature values. Over on XDA-Developers, mumchristmas has found a way to correct these values and we’ve got a simple-to-follow (at least for those of who you are familiar with flashing ROMs/kernels) step-by-step guide ready after the break.
When it comes to mobile operating systems, most of the talk is centered around iOS and Android, with Apple and Google’s OSes generally considered to be the two most advanced offerings out there. That isn't to say that the competition doesn't have something to bring to the table, with the likes of Windows Phone gaining a small amount of traction in the marketplace and definitely looking likely to feature heavily in the future.
With Android 4.0 being publicly available since November 2011, users might be forgiven for wondering why their device can't benefit from the features that Ice Cream Sandwich brings. After all, when Apple releases an update to iOS, users can generally grab the latest version immediately as long as the hardware supports the update. Users of several premium handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S II have been waiting for a number of weeks for Samsung to finally announce when they will be allowing users to update to Android 4.0 ICS.
It seems that we are living in a world where the technology scene is under such close scrutiny, and has such intense public interest that we are already seeing speculation about the name of the 6.0 version of the Android operating system before we have even seen a public release of Android 5.0 Jelly Bean. Google executives have been hinting recently that we may see a public release of Jelly Bean in quarter four of 2012, but nothing has been officially confirmed yet.
Siri was introduced as one of iPhone 4S’ three major features late last year. As many of you will already know, it is a personal assistant living inside your iPhone that lets you do things like sending texts/emails, setting up reminders/appointments, starting timers, getting directions to local restaurants, shopping malls etc. etc. using the power of your voice. Now, while Microsoft is satisfied with its “TellMe” system on Windows Phone 7, Google is reportedly looking into a personal assistant for Android 5.0 Jelly Bean.
Don’t like Android’s stock messaging app? We aren’t too affectionate about it either. It has its share of shortcomings; shortcomings that can be made up for by a. getting a completely new messaging app such as Powow or b. installing plugin-like apps. We’ve covered a bit of both lately, such as the excellent Powow and SMS Enhancer. Today, we’ll be covering yet another app that enhances the messaging app on Android. It’s called SMS Popup and you check it out after the jump!
