If you're an Android user and a fan of custom launchers, well, I have some good news and bad news. The good: TSF Shell, a standout custom launcher which demoed back in December to critical acclaim, has finally been released. The bad: they want a mind-blowing $17 (yes, that's seventeen dollars) for it.
The guys over at OnLive Inc. have been a busy bunch of individuals, bringing us the iPad launch of their OnLive Desktop application a few days ago, and today releasing the Android version of the software which is now available in the Android Market. A lot of you may hear OnLive and relate it to the ability to stream video games without the need for a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360, and you'd be right. The company are also responsible for that gaming platform but have also extended their cloud services further in recent months.
Ubuntu is one of the best Linux distros available in our eyes, and at least one member of the Redmond Pie team uses it as a means of building a home-made Time Capsule for backing up a Mac. On a slight tangent, let us know if you'd like to see a tutorial on getting that up and running!
Just six days after announcing that the company has shipped 20 million units of its popular Galaxy S II smartphone, Samsung has received two highly-respected awards from the recently-held 17th Global Mobile Awards at 2012’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Check them out after the jump!
Have we told about how Android lets you pick and choose different components of the operating system such as its keyboard, launcher, dialer and first-party apps such contacts and gallery? If you’ve been following my app reviews lately, you probably have heard me saying this multiple times. I like repeating myself on this conceptual difference between Android and iOS because I believe more people need to know about this.
Security, or the lack of it, is very much a hot button topic these days, and nowhere more so than in the mobile space. It seems things may be getting worse before they get any better.
When Android users take their phone out of the box for the first time, things gnenerally work; average users don’t really customize their Android experience but enthusiasts like to hunt for the perfect third-party alternatives to things that they think don’t work. The browser on Gingerbread and below is a good case in point: it’s a lackluster offering that is slow and not customizable at all. Searching for the best alternative browser on Android through Market can be gargantuan task, but if you do your homework you’ll find that Dolphin Browser and Opera Mobile are fan-favorites.
Whether you call it a play toy or a useful utility, Siri is undoubtedly one of iPhone 4S’ hottest features. While its popularity among iPhone 4S users is decreasing, demand for a strong Siri alternative for Android remains as strong as ever. This is evidenced by the countless number of Siri-like apps available in the Android Market, which we cover from time to time.
It would seem that the freight train that is the Android mobile operating system is continuing to steam through the mobile industry with Google's Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content, Andy Rubin, announcing that the OS is receiving over 850,000 activations per day which represents a rise of over 250 percent since last year. It has to be said that these are pretty impressive statistics considering there is only one device currently being sold which comes pre-installed with the latest Android 4.0 OS, Ice Cream Sandwich. Even more so, when you consider that only approximately one percent of Android devices in existence run Ice Cream Sandwich.
I personally feel that Android needs a strong, unified syncing solution that harmonizes your desktop computer with your smartphone and tablet. Apple has got this nailed with iTunes and iCloud but Android is severely lacking in this department; users have to install a bunch of different apps that sync different kinds of files: you have Dropbox for photos/videos, Google Docs for documents, doubletwist’s excellent AirSync app or Google Music for your music library etc. etc. Android enthusiasts tend to see this as a plus on Android’s part but I don’t.
